A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 49: The Shifting Future
Blood soaked the floor of the lab, pouring from the dead engineers scattered around the room.
The Trion barrier machine laid in pieces in the center of the room and immediately, a Gate was opening by Mogami.
Kinuta was dead by Jin's feet, but the Trion barrier was still up and running.
The agents were separated all over HQ, trying to fend off the Trion Soldiers.
Mogami was towering over Yuma, who was holding his empty shoulder while his arm laid uselessly on the ground beside him.
Tachikawa and Kazama facing off against Yugo.
The virtual combat training room getting destroyed.
Kitora getting thrown off the roof of HQ.
Osamu screaming with a look of despair on his face.
Infinite futures were beginning to pop up in front of Jin's eyes. They weren't stopping. More and more windows to show him the possible paths to the future kept appearing even as Jin watched the wind blades come to life on Fujin in Mogami's hand. What was Mogami's goal here? Depending on how they acted here would determine the next set of paths to the future they would fall onto.
The reasoning for the Mimics attacking them lately was so Mogami and Yugo could get their hands on their Black Triggers. Mogami still had Fujin, but they needed to get the ring back from Yuma. That should have been their main goal. There was no reason for Mogami to want to come this way, and yet, here he was. The only thing here were engineers, the agents, and the Trion barrier.
A future where the agents are battling Trion Soldiers inside HQ.
The only way for that to come to be would be for the Trion barrier to get destroyed and for Yugo to be around somewhere.
Knowing that future was coming though, Jin could easily prevent any of Mogami's attacks from reaching the barrier.
Multiple wind blades soared through the ground as Mogami swung Fujin a few times. Jin took a step towards the Trion barrier to defend it, but only a step before he was freezing in place when he heard screams of pain and the sound of splashing behind him. Jin didn't even need to look behind him to see what had happened to the engineers, all he could do was stare in horror at his mentor.
*Mimics*
Yuma crossed his swords in front of him to block Tachikawa's Senku completely. The moment the whirlwind blade died down, Yuma twisted around and slammed his sword into Kazama's Scorpion which successfully snapped the blade in half. At the same time, a Bolt seal with anchor attached to it appeared from Yuma's other hand. All the agents near him immediately moved away.
Activating his Black Trigger seals on top of a normal Trigger while allowing all his opponents to come to him so he didn't waste time or energy chasing after them was the style Yugo adapted when he arrived in the city. Turning their power against them and manipulating the field. Yuma was fighting exactly like Yugo had been all week. It was not at all like the style of fighting Yuma used as a child. Having trained Yuma since he was a small child, Yugo knew his style quite well. Yuma was never able to match using Yugo's style the same way as he was too young and small to use a style that turned someone's strength against them. It wasn't easy to do to twist people around and use their own momentum against them.
Yuma was always such an energetic kid who enjoyed fighting so Yugo chose a different style of fighting for him to learn. It was one based on speed and agility that would match his small nature. It was a style that had fit him perfectly, though Yugo didn't know if he still actually used it since he hadn't seen Yuma fighting seriously the whole week. When he did get involved, he relied on his Black Trigger since he had lost his normal Trigger to Yugo.
Perhaps a part of Yugo should be fond that Yuma was using his fighting style, but in all honesty, Yugo didn't like seeing it. There was a saying, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," to make it sound like anyone should be glad about being copied as it was a sign that they were amazing enough for others to want to copy them. If they couldn't beat Yugo's style then they should copy it. The problem with that train of thought was that a copy could never beat the real thing.
Besides, people tended to forget the rest of the saying.
'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay greatness to.'
Only those who truly weren't skillful tried to copy someone else. That wasn't to say someone couldn't use a trick someone else used or learn a similar technique, but those who one hundred percent copied someone from the same weapons to the same style of fighting were so mediocre.
If there was something that Yugo was absolutely certain of, it was that his son was not a mediocre fighter. It had been years since he last saw his son in a serious fight or in training, but Yugo knew from the skill that Yuma showed as a child that he would be a great fighter one day. He just needed more experience and time to grow. He needed to focus on his own fighting style though. Using a different style of fighting would just make things more difficult for him.
Yugo watched his son fight for a moment longer, wondering why he was even doing this, before he walked away. There were too many agents in the room for him to just hang around too long. It was lucky for him that none of the agents were turning around and looking up towards the balcony he was on.
It wasn't yet time.
*Mimics*
The future shifted.
Jin pushed the vision of the engineers getting killed by Mogami to the side. If Mogami targeted them, all Tamakoma had to do was defend them. It would be hard for the others to do as they couldn't see the wind blades before it was too late, but Jin could predict where they would go.
However...
Jin's eyes narrowed as his attention shifted to the next window that had popped up. They could protect the engineers from getting killed by Mogami, but that would give him free reign to send all the attacks he wanted at the Trion barrier. If that barrier went down, it would lead to chaos inside the base. There were plenty of agents inside HQ to deal with Yugo's army, but there were still so many engineers and other personnel around that were working late.
Mogami locked eyes with Jin, smirking in a way that said he knew just what Jin was seeing. "Pick your poison." He warned before he was swinging Fujin multiple times to send the wind blades soaring into the floor, but didn't release them just yet.
Everyone in that room knew how the wind blades operated so no one moved an inch. Konami's eyes scanned every inch of the floor and roof and each wall, looking for the attacks that were likely coming. It was truly impressive just how well the wind blades hid. She couldn't find a single trace of the blades lying in wait. They were completely invisible until Mogami decided to attack.
Konami was a very fast fighter. She was sure she could reach Mogami, but if she moved, she left Terashima defenseless. He used to be a fighter, but he no longer held onto a combat Trigger. The engineers could activate their self-defense Triggers, but those were just to give them a Trion body to protect from Neighbors. There was no Bail Out function equipped to them. Mogami could easily break through them and kill them right after.
It was all about speed.
Who was faster?
Mogami with wind blades?
The engineers with activating their defense Triggers?
The Tamakoma agents with moving to protect the engineers or aiming for Mogami?
No matter how fast any of them were, it would still take a few seconds to make a move. Mogami was already set up to attack so he would always be faster than any of them in this situation.
Mogami didn't waste any time to give them time to decide their move. He was already raising Fujin above his head.
Trion barrier or the engineers? What was he aiming for?
Yuma twisted away from Jin, walking across the roof. "No, it isn't. It never has been. You just made that your job. Your real job is to protect the city from Neighbors. That is what is important here. You can't risk the safety of the civilians for one person." He looked up at the sky. "I know you want to save my life, Jin-san, but like I told you before, I won't begrudge you if you fail. The safety of the city and the citizens is top priority. As an agent of Border, my life is second to their protection. That is what it means to be a soldier. Taking care of my father's Mimic is top priority. If I die in the process, then I die, but I will kill him before the citizens or my friends are put in danger because of him."
The Trion barrier getting destroyed would lead to more chaos inside of HQ and could possibly lead to more of their civilian personnel getting killed tonight. Even so, could Jin just turn his back on those right in front of him for the sake of preventing possible deaths in the near future That would be like playing God with making the decision of who's life was more important.
No.
It wasn't even an option.
"I won't let Mogami-san become a murderer."
Jin looked over in surprise at Konami's quiet declaration. That was right. It wasn't just about protecting the lives of those in the moment which was important, but it was also about conserving Mogami's memory. His late mentor wasn't a murderer. It shouldn't even be up to debate about what Jin should be focusing on. If the Trion barrier got destroyed, it would cause chaos inside of HQ, but chaos was something his allies could handle. Every single life inside of HQ right now was extremely important.
Yuma was right. He couldn't sacrifice any lives for the sake of one person.
It would be better to prevent the attack from happening at all, but that just wasn't feasible. One way or another, Mogami was going to get his way. Border just needed to be ready to counter it.
"Protect the engineers!"
Jin's warning came in the nick of time as the wind blades were shooting from the walls, floor, and ceiling all at once. Even if the agents knew they were coming, it was hard to defend against so many blades coming from so many directions. Tamakoma-1 did their best, but when they couldn't know where each blade was coming from until too late, they still ended up getting hit.
Konami felt one of the wind blades slice through her arm, producing a small cut, but was able to brush it off easily so she could block the other ones. What she couldn't brush off though was the shout of pain behind her or the sound of blood dripping. She glanced over her shoulder very briefly to see Terashima holding a cut on his arm and felt a small sigh of relief escape her. She hadn't wanted him to get hurt at all, but at least it was just a small cut.
Two Scorpion blades formed in Jin's hands which he used to block every wind blade that was set to come after him and Kinuta. Kinuta pushed himself up on his elbows just as Jin's Scorpion swung behind Kinuta's head to block the wind blade rising from the ground to slice Kinuta's head off.
With all the agents separated in the lab as they defended all the engineers from getting killed by his wind blades, Mogami's attention shifted to the machine in the center of the room. That certainly looked important enough. He heard the words 'Trion barrier' earlier but didn't know what that meant or where he could find it. He just knew if he followed the Trion signatures of Jin and his friends, he would find it.
Something that was able to prevent the Gates from opening had to be a powerful machine so it had to be the machine in the center of the room. Before the agents could finish defending from all his wind blades, Mogami stepped forward a bit and from under that foot, his Escudos suddenly started to pop up from the ground and ceiling from where he stood all the way to the other side of the room on either side of the machine to keep all the agents away.
"The machine!" Kinuta shouted. So much money and time had gone into the creation of the Trion barrier and it became an invaluable tool to them when situations got chaotic. They couldn't just lose it now!
Jin heard Kinuta's shout, but was a bit busy getting flung back a few steps as one of the Escudos slammed into his arm. With all the complaints that came from Kinuta constantly, Jin would swear that he cared more about his equipment than he did his own life. He was always so serious about protecting the base and the technology they used. Though, that was only the case for his own life. When it came to his personnel, he would much rather see them safe. The fact that he was shouting at Jin just meant that he had a high expectation of Tamakoma to keep his men safe and defend the base at the same time. Jin supposed that could be considered high praise since for as much stress that Tamakoma caused him, he did always acknowledge how useful they were in every attack, but, despite how strong Tamakaom was, they were not invincible and they couldn't prevent every bad scenario from happening.
A new window popped up in front of Jin's eyes. Konami left Terashima behind and threw herself at Mogami. As she was falling from her drop, her Sogetsus ready to strike, a wind blade that Mogami had left hidden shot down from the ceiling to strike her through the heart from behind her.
"Konami, don't!" Jin shouted hurriedly. The Escudos were in the way so he couldn't see the other side of the room where Konami was but he hoped that she had heard him. His attention snapped back to Mogami who was now drawing his Kogetsu. He had used all fifteen wind blades for his initial attack so he was going to need time to reload the wind blades.
They couldn't give him the time to reload the wind blades, but it was also possible there was more than one still hidden in the room. Still, Jin couldn't stand still because of that fear. They defended the engineers from most of the wind blades so they should be safe for now so this would give Jin the chance to move.
Despite the warning from Jin ringing in her head, Konami didn't stop her initial plan of charging at her old friend. Her dear friend from the past who always looked out for her and was always the one to scold her and Jin when they got up to mischief would not become a murderer. He would not hurt his organization like this. She wouldn't let him have the chance again.
With Jin's warning echoing in her ears, Konami knew a trap was coming. That was the only reason Jin would shout a warning at her as she knew that he trusted her enough to handle a fight, but traps that could kill her were worth a warning. This fight had only just started. None of them could afford to bail out when this battle could go either way.
Seeing his cute agents charging at him from either side of his Escudo barriers, Mogami responded by activating another wall of Escudo to not only block Jin from reaching him but to also stop the two agents from behind him shooting him as he saw the rifle on one of the agent's arms. For Konami, he unleashed the last wind blade he had stored to attack her from behind. He didn't watch what had happened with her as he switched his attention to the Trion barrier. His Kogetsu swung in two quick successions to use his Senku. The two blade slices formed an 'X' as they swung to the Trion barrier machine.
It was only because of Jin's warning that Konami took Mogami's directing his attention away from her as a sign that the trap was being unleashed. Mogami was not foolish enough to take his eyes off the enemy in the midst of an attack unless he was confident that he was going to be safe. Konami abruptly twisted in the air and crossed her Sogetsus in front of her to stop the wind blade coming down from the ceiling just as she heard the sound of crunching metal.
Konami flipped backwards over in the air as the wind blade died down so she could land properly on the ground. She immediately twisted around so her back wasn't to Mogami. As she turned, she saw the wind blades that had been reloaded onto Fujin. Konami kicked off the ground to launch herself at Mogami before he could use them against her.
Instead of rising to her full height, Konami stayed low and swung her Sogetsu in an upward arc. Mogami's Kogetsu swung down to meet her blade. Very briefly, Konami's eyes flickered to the side to see the Escudos in the way that were keeping her team and Jin from assisting her before she was focusing all her attention on her dead friend, who was smirking back at her.
"That's not you." Konami hissed before she was blocking Fujin with her free Sogetsu.
Mogami pressed on his blades to put more strength behind them to push Konami back a step. "Is this really the time to be talking, Konami?"
Konami slammed Mogami's blades upwards to free her Sogetsus, but instead of backing off, she pressed even more by slashing her Sogetsus at Mogami. Each of her attacks got blocked, but she didn't stop because if she backed off, it would give Mogami free reign to attack her with wind blades. "You-" Konami hissed. "You are destroying Mogami-san. Even if you attacking the engineers was just a trick to distract us, our Mogami-san would never choose that method! He wouldn't hurt anyone like this just for a distraction!"
Mogami knocked Konami's Sogetsu above her head and locked it up there with his blade while locking her other Sogetsu downwards so he could lean forward to get in her face. "I always wanted cooperation and understanding, but don't misunderstand, Konami. I was a Border agent for far longer than you. A peaceful option where we can just talk everything out is not always possible. It is what I would always try to go for first, but don't mistake, I can make the tough decisions when I must."
"And when have any of those 'tough decisions' been about trying to kill someone as a distraction?" Konami retorted angrily. Instead of trying to free her weapons this time, she chose to take a page out of Yuma's book and brought up her leg to slam it into Mogami's unprotected stomach, sending him skidding backwards. It was a shame she didn't have any seals like Yuma did with his Black Trigger, but it still got her the result she wanted.
The Escudos may be blocking the exit from the lab, but the walls were still free, and between Escudos and walls, the walls were a lot easier to break through. Despite the fact that Mogami couldn't see through the wall, a Shield was already being activated the moment he landed by it to defend from the Asteroid bullets that were tearing through the wall.
The bullets didn't last long, but they did the job of weakening the wall which gave Jin the chance to slice through it with his Scorpion and immediately throw himself at Mogami, who met his attack head on. The anger shining in Jin's eyes was hardly a surprise, especially when he just got the same look from Konami.
"As much as I would love to stay and have a reunion with all my cute agents, I've got places to be." Mogami said.
Jin's eyes briefly flickered to the side, seemingly looking at nothing, but having trained his student for years, Mogami was able to recognize the telltale sign as Jin glancing at a new window that had popped up to show him the future.
He never did learn.
Taking this moment of distraction, Mogami slammed Fujin at Jin, and of course, Jin was able to react fast enough to bring his Scorpion up to block, but over the past couple of days, Mogami had learned just how weak the durability of the Scorpion blade was. With the force behind his strike, he was able to shatter Jin's sword easily. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Konami lunging for him again so he activated another Escudo right when she was about to be on him. Getting hit by it sent her flying backwards and Mogami took the time where she was getting back on her feet to jump away from Jin to get some distance.
Jin's eyes flickered to Mogami as he moved to focus entirely back on him again. By the twitch of his jaw to show his frustration and knowing his own plans, Mogami knew what Jin saw and how it was going to anger him, but that wasn't going to stop Mogami.
His cute students were right in front of him, showing him anger and frustration, but Mogami could see the love they held for him underneath it. Well, maybe not the Mimic of him, but the real Mogami Soichi. It was revealed in their words.
They were mad he was doing this because it didn't match their memory of him. The anger was driving their actions because they wanted to protect the memory of Mogami by stopping him from doing things he would normally never dream of doing. It was truly heartwarming to know, that even after all these years have passed, the loyalty and love they held for him had never wavered.
It wasn't going to stop Mogami, but there was a part of him that was feeling the love he had for these kids grow even more. If he could, he would stop, but that would go against his mission and the mission always came first.
*Mimics*
Yuma dragged his hand through his hair, messing it up in the process but he didn't care. Acting as his father to give the agents practice against his fighting style wasn't exactly fun for him. He had to put himself in his dad's show completely and so he had been so focused on mirroring his style and just killing the agents, he couldn't get any true enjoyment out of it. He just needed a moment to let his mind relax, but even so, his feet froze as he stopped near the doors to leave the virtual combat room.
The moment he stepped out of these doors...
"Not going to pass out, are you?" Kageura asked as he shoved Yuma's head around as he walked pass his friend, pausing at the doors as he decided to wait for Yuma to get a handle on himself before opening the doors and turning the room off.
Murakami pulled his eyes off of Tachikawa and Kazama who were over at the other side of the room and looking up at the wall as they tried to get Tachikawa's sword out of the wall. "Don't joke, Kage." He scolded as he turned back to his friend and followed after him to the door. "We don't need a repeat of yesterday."
"He's the one freezing." Kageura said as a way to goad Yuma into moving, though Yuma never fell for things as goading. He was the type to constantly return goading with his own and end up doing it better and with a touch of manipulation.
Yuma's hand gripped the doorframe of the combat room tightly as he stepped out of the safety of the room and immediately felt the drain on his Trion. The cracks began splintering from his hand all the way up his arm to his neck and then his face where his eye snapped to pieces and disappeared, causing half of his vision to go out again. He really should have chosen to just live in the virtual combat room. This was perhaps worse than the past few days where the injuries had been forming slowly. Having them hit him all at once left him stumbling for a moment so it was a relief when Murakami suddenly caught his arm to help steady Yuma until he managed to get his senses back.
"He's just mad that Yuma-senpai just killed him two times." Shun said cheerfully, skillfully dodging a swipe towards his head from Kageura as he exited the combat room and ran up the bleacher's stairs towards Yoneya and Izumi. He did glance briefly over his shoulder at Yuma, but his goal was to get out of the way since Murakami had Yuma and he thought it was best that they didn't crowd around Yuma right now.
"What are you grinning about?" Izumi shouted at him as he approached. "You just got killed multiple times."
Yoneya snickered. "My favorite part was seeing you slam into the room's walls."
A whine escaped Shun at the teasing as he fell into a seat on the bleachers. He hadn't even wanted to be involved in that second match. It should have just been Tachikawa and Kazama against Yuma. It became a mess of a fight since Shun didn't know how to fight with Tachikawa and Kazama. Knowing how devious Yuma was, which was something Shun learned the very first time he fought his friend, it wouldn't surprise Shun if Yuma started that fight while Shun, Murakami, and Kageura were still in the room since he knew it would cause a mess. Murakami might be able to handle working with Tachikawa and Kazama, but Shun and Kageura would add a bit more chaos to it. "Why don't you go fight him and see if you do any better?" Shun retorted.
"Cause he wants a break." Yoneya said, glancing at the virtual combat room where Murakami was helping Yuma steady himself.
"Okay?" Murakami asked.
"I'm fine." Yuma said stubbornly, pulling his arm free from Murakami's steadying hold as he found his feet stable again. He glanced up towards the bleachers and found confusion forming as his eyes scanned the room for Jin and Tamakoma-1. Why would they just disappear? His eyes landed on Osamu as he bounded up the steps towards him with the question in his eyes.
Murakami sighed as Yuma ran off. He really wasn't surprised that Yuma was still stubbornly trying to show off his strength and confidence. For the couple of months he had known Yuma, he had never seen any show of weakness from him until this week hit and he had to face his past again. Yuma was trying to get some control back by putting on his show of strength.
"Did they leave?" Yuma demanded as he made his way up the stairs.
"They had something they wanted to check out." Osamu replied.
Yuma hummed as he stared at Osamu. His side effect didn't go off, but he didn't expect it to. Since Osamu knew of his side effect, he never bothered to lie to him, but then again, even before he knew about it, Osamu never lied. Despite being known as a strategist that relied on sneaky tricks, Osamu really was too much of an honest person. "Jin-san did seem to be worried about something earlier." Yuma said instead. Jin who had come to the rank wars to have fun with his friends had suddenly decided to not get involved and now just ran off the moment Yuma, Tachikawa and Kazama were all distracted. "Did he say what it was that he was concerned about yet?"
"Something about Trion Soldiers." Kako replied.
Yuma tilted his head as he thought that over before looking down at his ring. The Trion barrier was active so Gates couldn't be opened so that should mean his own Gates couldn't be opened. It seemed to be true as Yugo didn't bother to try leave Japan after he got both Black Triggers as Kinuta was so quick to activate the Trion barrier last night.
"Hey, Kuga!"
"Hmm?" Yuma glanced over his shoulder to see Arafune marching towards him with a determined expression that had Yuma blinking a few times. "You look ready to go to war."
"If that's what it takes." Arafune wrapped an arm around Yuma's neck, practically choking him as he looked over at Osamu. "And you. What kind of captain are you?"
It was Osamu turn to blink in confusion as Arafune glared at him. What exactly had he and Yuma done to deserve Arafune's serious captain mode? "I'm sorry?"
"You should be." Arafune said, glancing down at Yuma. "How long have you lived in Japan?"
"Since December." Yuma's voice was a bit strangled, but Arafune hardly acknowledged that fact except to loosen his grip ever so slightly.
"December!" Arafune gave Osamu a disappointed look. "Five months! He's been here five months and in all that time, you never bothered to teach him how to properly use yen?"
That's what this was about?! Osamu just stared at Arafune blankly. It's not that he didn't try to get Yuma to understand Japanese money. He just saw it as a lost cause after the tenth time he wanted to slam his head into a wall after trying to get Yuma to understand. It would have been easier to teach Yuma how to use yen if he even knew how money worked. For all the life lessons that Yugo gave Yuma, it was like he never gave his son any money and taught him how it worked in the Neighborhood. That would have at least given him a bit more understanding. It was likely Yugo supplied everything for Yuma when he was a child and then when he died, Yuma was offering his services to Calvaria so he likely had no need for money when they would support him for the help they gave him.
"I've tried. I don't understand why it is so complicated for him to understand! That, or he is just messing with me by pretending to not get it." Osamu protested.
"Do you really think I would do that?" Yuma asked, feeling a bit offended. When there was no immediate response from Osamu as he had to take the moment to think the question over, Yuma felt dismay wash over him. "Osamu!"
"Wow, so sad. Even if your own captain doesn't trust you." Suwa teased.
"I'll beat the understanding of how our money works into your head." Arafune promised as he dragged Yuma off.
"You're in good hands, Kuga. Arafune is a great teacher." Murakami said, trying his best to hide his laugh, but ultimately failing so he ended up turning his head away from the group.
"Wait! Hyuse only just moved to Japan too. He needs to learn this as well!" Yuma, the traitor, said as he tried to get his feet back under him so he could put some more resistance in. He had a feeling that there was no getting away from Arafune, so he would totally drag his friends down with him in this sinking ship.
Hyuse turned his back on his partner getting dragged away. "I am not involved in this."
"I mean, you could be." Suwa said, making no attempt to hide his laughter. Arafune might not be able to get it in Yuma's head tonight, but at least it was an amusing show.
"I will cut you." Hyuse threatened.
"Hyuse." Osamu scolded. "No threatening."
"Yuma threatens people all the time." Hyuse argued.
"It's not alright from him either!" Osamu snapped before breathing out slowly to try to let some of his stress go. He pinched his nose and closed his eyes as he focused on his breathing. Why did he have to be the captain of two crazy Neighbors?
Arashiyama clapped Osamu on the shoulder. "The challenges of being a captain. Trying to reign in the chaos of your team."
"I'm pretty sure this is a problem most teams don't have." Osamu muttered. He could see some of the teams having arguments like this like with Katori squad, but it just felt like another level for him since he had two Neighbors that he had to work hard on keeping their secret. It was just another level of stress for their team. So many problems would arise if it was found out he recruited two Neighbors.
"Every team is going to have arguments at some point. It's only natural with conflicting ideals." Arashiyama replied, though his eyes did shift from Yuma to Hyuse. Though, he supposed, it would be difficult with two Neighbors who were so used to war. Their ideas of combat and life in general would be a lot different.
"Hyuse, get over here!" Yuma shouted, trying to escape to get to his partner, but Arafune grabbed his shirt and yanked him back.
"You can suffer alone." Hyuse retorted, refusing to turn to look at Yuma. He did not care to know how Meeden's money worked. He had no money of his own so when he went out with Tamakoma, which was already rare enough, they handled the money transaction. Hyuse would be completely useless in that area.
Kako laughed. "Does Tamakoma-2 have any team spirit left? Or did that teamwork only last for the B-Rank wars and now they are falling apart?"
"The team effort is at its best in combat." Osamu said. "Outside of combat, it is a lot of everyone for themselves." By that, he meant that Yuma and Hyuse were constantly having a war in the training rooms at Tamakoma. Hyuse was quite competitive in training and Yuma thought it was amusing so he found ways to tease Hyuse outside of the arena to annoy him which would usually lead to another match later on with Hyuse even more determined to cut Yuma's head off. At least it didn't effect their teamwork when they worked together in matches and in the field.
"Arafune-san." Yuma whined. "What's the point of doing this now? Can't it wait until another day when we're sure I'm not going to die soon? Otherwise, this would just be a waste of your time."
The response that earned was a whack on his head that had Yuma rubbing the spot. For all their concern about the cracks in his body, his friends were finding it hard to knock off the roughhousing. And by that he meant, they weren't cutting it out at all.
Arafune opened his mouth to start his lecture, but before he could get a word out, Yuma was already getting distracted by a swishing sound and movement in the corner of his eyes that consisted of a familiar black uniform. Yuma flew to his feet so fast and abruptly that he ended up knocking Arafune backwards so he was lying down on the bleachers. While upside down, he watched in shock as Kuga Yugo entered one of the virtual combat rooms on the other side of the room. The hell...where the hell did he come from?
"Dad!" Yuma's shout drew the attention of the other agents.
Tachikawa looked towards where Yuma was looking to see the bane of his existence standing in the center of the combat room on the other side of the room. "Oh? Is it time for me to get my revenge?" He asked eagerly, resting his hand on the hilt of his Kogetsu.
"Get serious." Kazama scolded.
"I'm never going to get to go home and sleep in my damn bed." Kageura griped.
"Not again." Suwa groaned, pushing himself up to his feet. He already had to deal with Yugo once today. After that fight, he had no desire to see this guy ever again. No offense to Yuma or his real deceased father. This version of Kuga Yugo was just an absolute pain in his ass.
"Can't we catch a break?" Shun whined. He did not want to bail out to because of this guy for a third time.
Yuma sweat dropped at all the complaints about his dad. It truly was a shame that they couldn't meet the respectable version of his father. They would honestly probably be less annoyed with Yugo if they didn't have to constantly fight him as an enemy.
Even though he was on the other side of the room, Yugo stared directly at the group of agents as he raised his hand and a blue seal formed on the back of his hand that he was showing them. The seal rose above his hand to form black Gates all over the room he was in.
"Mikumo," Kazama stepped down on the stairs, eyes locked on the virtual combat room to watch as the Trion Soldiers began to drop down from the Gates. As long as Kuga Yugo was in that room, he had unlimited Trion and could summon as many Trion Soldiers as he wanted. This had to be one of the worst possible outcomes they could have had. "Take Kuga and leave."
"What?" Osamu said surprised.
"Kuga has been targeted by his father all week and unless he's in the training room, he can't use his Trigger right now. Get him away from his father." Kazama ordered. "We'll handle this."
"Get the Trion Soldiers out of my way." Tachikawa told Murakami and Kageura. "I'm going for Kuga."
"This is just the perfect opportunity for him to get his revenge." Izumi said, eyeing his captain. If it got him to stop mentioning that ambush that Yugo used to kill them, he was all for Tachikawa going against Yugo.
"Do you really think you can handle Kuga Yugo alone?" Utagawa asked.
Tachikawa smirked. "I got a better understanding after fighting Chibi."
Yuma really had to wonder if he would ever get his name back when this was all over. He didn't care what nicknames people gave him. He would accept being called anything, but he was used to being called by his surname from Tachikawa. The Chibi nickname really was weird coming from him, but this was not the time to be thinking about this.
A sudden tugging on his arm had Yuma glancing over his shoulder to see Osamu there. "We're leaving."
Yuma didn't resist as his captain dragged him away, but there was a surge of frustration he felt as Osamu dragged him up the stairs and he was left staring at the backs of all his friends as they all rose to their feet, facing the combat room on the other side of the room. He hated that he had to run. There was no shame in retreating in battle as it was necessary sometimes, but he hated the fact that he couldn't fight at all.
It was making him feel so useless.
"Captain," Kitora glanced back as Tamakoma-2 left the room. It's not that she doubted Osamu's team, but they only had him and Hyuse who could fight right now. If Kuga Yugo was here, Mogami Soichi had to be here as well and neither of these Mimics should be underestimated.
Arashiyama nodded. "Go back them up. Mitsuru, go with her." He ordered, gaining a nod from each of them before they were both running off. He was quite proud of how Kitora would often choose a task in any attack that allowed her to give help to her allies. He knew Kitora liked getting praise, but instead of staying to fight the big enemies in attacks that would get her the most praise, she always chose to help her comrades and go where she thought she would be the most help.
"We need to deactivate that room." Kazama said, glancing at Suwa out of the corner of his eyes. "Otherwise, he'll be able to constantly summon Trion Soldiers and we'll never get to him."
"If he opens the door to let his Trion Soldiers out to attack us, it will turn off immediately." Suwa pointed out.
"The fact that he managed to activate the room tells me he knows what he is doing." Kazama retorted. "He can stay in there and summon as many Trion Soldiers as he wants while we stand here discussing it. Just go deactivate it. We'll try down here."
"Geez, always throwing orders at me." Suwa complained. "Hisato, let's go!" Even if Yugo and all his Trion Soldiers were down here, Suwa was not going to run off anywhere on his own. There was no telling what kind of traps that Yugo could have laid down.
"Midorikawa," Arafune said. "Give me a Grasshopper."
"Huh?" Shun looked over at the sniper. "Where do you want to go?"
Arafune pointed up. "To the balcony. I can get a better angle up there and focus on protecting the doors so the Trion Soldiers can't get out of here when they do get out of the training room."
"That's a good idea. We can't do much down here." Kodera agreed.
"Okay," Shun activated his Grasshopper and quickly threw three pads down for Kodera, Arafune, and Satori to propel themselves up to the balcony before turning his attention back to the virtual combat room that Yugo was in. The amount of Trion Soldiers he's managed to summon while the agents got ready for the fight was insane. "Those Rabits are all yours, Yoneyan-senpai. I'll take the Marmods this time."
"Scared of bit of a challenge?" Yoneya challenged, twirling his spear. Even if they broke that room to stop Yugo from getting unlimited Trion, it wasn't going to take away his ability to open Gates. The only difference was that once he was out of that room and using his limited Trion again, it was going to start hurting Yuma once more.
"I just think it's your turn finally."
Reaching the training room that Yugo was in, Kazama went to slam his hand into the panel to open the room so that the room would automatically turn off, but instead of the control panel, his hand met with an orange seal activating. Kazama immediately pulled his hand back and jumped away from the panel as he was unsure which of the orange seals it was. Instead of getting attacked by anything, chains sprung to life and spread over the door and the panel like prison bars to block the agents from getting in.
"When did he have the time?!" Tachikawa demanded, kicking the chains in frustration, but nothing happened. Having been trapped in the chains the other day, he knew how strong they were, but that was when his limbs were trapped and he couldn't move at all. Since he wasn't being tied up with them this time, he could put up a fight this time. "Kogetsu Whirlwind." He thought as he pulled his sword from the sheath to unleash his Senku onto the door. The extending blade slammed into the chains, but the chains didn't give at all and his Senku dissolved into being completely useless.
"I suppose it's only natural a Black Trigger seal couldn't be destroyed that easily." Kazama said.
Tachikawa felt his brow twitch in annoyance. First he ambushes and kills Tachikawa the day he arrives and now he was mocking him with the very same chains. Nothing was unbeatable. These chains were going to get destroyed and then Kuga Yugo was next.
*Mimics*
Jin allowed himself to be pushed back by Mogami's next attack to help lessen the force his Scorpion took from blocking Fujin. Though his eyes were seemingly on Mogami, Jin was really staring at another window of the future that popped up by Mogami's shoulder. This time it was of Yuma and Kitora on the roof of HQ with Mogami about to plunge a sword into Yuma's heart. Before Jin could see any farther into that future, his full attention was snapping back to Mogami who jumped down the hall to put distance between them.
Konami twisted around the Escudo that knocked her back earlier to chase after him with Jin but before they could even get a few steps down the hall, Senku blades were flying their way. Konami threw herself in front of Jin and used her Sogetsus to deflect both of the whirlwinds. While she was busy with that, Mogami used the free moment to activate his Escudo again to fully block off his side of the hallway so he could get away from them.
Staring down at the Escudos, Jin found his eyes narrowing. If Mogami got away here, it would lead to him going after Yuma's group and there was the fact that Yugo was around here somewhere as well.
Konami slammed a foot into the Escudos in frustration, but it did nothing except cause a loud ringing noise. Escudo was meant to be a shield for defense, but since it cost a lot of Trion to use, it wasn't a very popular Trigger and became outdated when Shields were heavily improved over the years. Despite that, Mogami always kept Escudo in his Trigger set because he liked to use it as a barrier like this to stall his opponents. It was exactly how Jin used Escudo which wasn't surprising since Mogami was the one who taught Jin to think outside the box when he was fighting.
Releasing a sigh, Konami straightened up. "Are the engineers all okay?" She asked. If they could at least make sure Mogami didn't kill anyone, his legacy wouldn't have to be tarnished here.
"Everyone's okay in here." Karasuma said as he stepped out of the lab. He didn't think Mogami would throw any more attacks into the lab since he managed to destroy the Trion barrier, but he wasn't willing to take the risk of leaving them undefended in here. Since Mogami had left though, it gave them a chance to regroup.
"Forget about that!" Kinuta shouted, clambering over the rubble to get out of the lab. "Our barrier just got destroyed. Do you understand what that means?"
"It's crystal clear." Jin said, staring at the wall of Escudos blocking their way.
"It's not just about what Kuga can do. It means more Mimics can show up." Kinuta retorted.
"There's nothing we can do about that." Terashima came out of the lab from the hole in the wall on his side of the lab, holding his arm where the cut was, though that didn't stop the blood from pooling down his arm. He leaned around the Escudos in the lab to look at the mess that was the Trion barrier. "It will take time and lots of Trion and equipment to fix the Trion barrier. There is no way we can get that done before this attack is over."
"Don't worry about it. We will take care of the Trion Soldiers." Reiji promised. "As long as nothing gets into the city, we can deal with this."
"The Trion barrier was to keep the Mimics from leaving with the Black Triggers but as long as Yuma can keep hold of his ring until this is over, Mogami-san and Kuga-san aren't going to be trying to leave anyway." Karasuma added.
Yuma wasn't trying to lose his ring on purpose, but there wasn't a lot he could do with his Trion siphoned away from him. These Escudos in the hallway were a way to block Jin and the rest of Tamakoma so Mogami could get away from them. It was causing even more shifting in the future. HQ was a giant place and yet, Jin kept seeing the future where Yuma and Mogami met.
In a normal circumstance where Mogami was still alive, he would be thrilled at Yuma meeting his mentor. His mentor deserved the chance to meet his best friend's son, but not like this. Not as an enemy going after his friend's son to hurt him.
This wasn't just about defending Border and the city from the Mimics anymore. Konami's declaration from earlier said it all. Mogami and Yugo needed stopped because there was no doubt in Jin's mind that they hated every single thing they were doing. Jin wasn't going to stand by and watch his mentor kill anyone. He wasn't going to stand by as his mentor attacked Border. He wasn't going to stand by and let him hurt his best friend's son that he never got to properly meet. He wouldn't let his mentor suffer through being forced to do all these terrible things to the organization and city he loved, to the friends he so dearly cherished.
"Konami." Jin said.
"Everyone better get back." Konami shot a warning towards Kinuta and Terashima even as she was already activating her Meteor.
"Haven't you Tamakoma agents wrecked HQ enough?" Kinuta shouted, though he was pulled back by Reiji while Karasuma kneeled down and activated his own Escudo to add another layer of protection to the lab. Kinuta truly couldn't wait for the day when the Tamakoma agents finally got out of HQ and went back to their own branch.
Jin activated his own Shield to cover himself as Konami unleashed her bullets onto the wall of Escudos blocking the hallway. As the bullets slammed into them, Jin found himself focusing on the new windows of the future that were popping open. Trion Soldiers. Kuga Yugo fighting the agents. Mogami going after his cute juniors. Tamakoma and Jin getting stalled and not able to assist the other agents. Konami bailing out...now!
It was Jin's turn to throw himself in front of Konami. The moment his foot hit the ground, he was activating his Escudo from the ground. The sound of bullets slamming into Escudo was pretty instantly the moment it had fully formed.
Jin sighed in relief. Konami wouldn't bail out now, but that did nothing to change their path. They were still going to be trapped here with the Trion Soldiers that Mogami had left for them.
Konami leaned her back against Jin's Escudo and peaked her head out before quickly pulling it back into the safety zone. "Black Rabits so there are from Kuga-san. How? He's not over here."
The only way for black Rabits to be here would be either Yugo was hidden over here somewhere or a Rad, but the Trion barrier was just destroyed. Yugo would have had to open a Gate to get a Rad but Jin was certain that Yugo wasn't in this area of the base. Was it possible they missed a Rad when they were cleaning them out last night and Mogami just happened to have it on him?
"Where did Mogami-san go?" Konami asked. "Jin!"
Jin kneeled on the ground, absentmindedly tracing multiple paths on the floor as he looked into the immediate future of the paths that were beginning to get unlocked. None of the paths were set in stone. Each person had multiple options that they could make and depending on which option they took, it would shift the future down a new path. One thing was certain in all these futures, this time, Mogami's target was Yuma. It was possible for other agents to step into his path, but according to the futures Jin had seen, Mogami did not plan to engage any of them or spend much time being distracted by them. His focus was going to be entirely on tracking down Yuma, or in better terms, the Black Trigger.
"He's going for Yuma." Jin said, still pretty distracted by mapping out the future. "Kyosuke, Reiji-san! Give the engineers a safe path out of here and then help Konami destroy the Trion Soldiers in our path!"
"Putting all the work on us." Konami griped. "What are you going to do?"
"I need to get to Yuma." Jin eyed his friend with a confident smirk. "I'm sure you can open the path for me."
"That's all?" Konami scoffed. She twirled her Sogetsu so the ends were facing each other.
"Connector on." Her Trigger glowed as her Sogetsus connected to morph into her axe.
"Try giving me a harder task next time, Jin." Konami said before she was planting a foot on Jin's leg to give herself more leverage as she threw herself over the top of the Escudo as that was less expected than just going around the side.
The sounds of Konami going at it against the Rabits to distract them met Jin's ears. If it was just one black Rabit, Jin would have absolute faith in Konami being able to defeat it, but the fact that there were five Rabits all equipped with Black Trigger seals meant this wasn't going to easy. If the Rabits truly wanted to stall them, all they needed to do was use bullets and lead bullets to push them back. Konami couldn't take on all five at once, especially in a narrow space where she couldn't dodge and move around as freely as she wanted. Just one of them needed to activate Bolt to force her back and fighting in a confined space like this wasn't going to give them the space they needed to get around the bullets to close in. This was a battle that needed Reiji and Karasuma.
Konami came down from her jump, slamming her axe at the closest Rabit. The Rabit brought it's arm up to defend with a Shield, but the power in her axe and her swing allowed her to break the Shield easily and continue on to its arm. A black Rabit's armor wasn't anything to be scoffed at though so her axe wasn't able to cut all the way through its arm. She yanked her axe out and swung it below its damaged arm at its side. With how strong the armor was all over, her axe only made it halfway through the Rabit's gut before it couldn't get any farther. Even with this damage, the Rabit wasn't stopping. It was still trying to kill her but it was more sluggish.
Out of the corner of Konami's eyes, she saw two of the other Rabits opening their mouths to reveal their Bolt seals. Konami tightened her grip on her axe and braced herself as she swung the Rabit around to put it in the path of the bullets from the Bolt seals to finish it off while she threw up her Shield to defend herself from any stray bullets that got pass it.
The Bolt seals couldn't go on forever so when it felt like it had gone on long enough for it to be coming to an end, Konami ran forward and jumped on the Rabit she was using as a shield to throw herself over it while keeping her Shield active as the two Rabits behind it shifted their attention up to her.
"Kyosuke, Reiji-san, try to avoid using Geist and Full Arms right now. We don't need you bailing out this early." Jin ordered.
"What did you see?" Karasuma asked, glancing at the wall of Escudos he had made to block off this side of the hallway to give the engineers a safe place to run through without any stray attacks from the Rabits getting to them. Jin and Konami were alone on that side until Reiji and he got this finished.
"If we don't stop Kuga-san, HQ will be overrun with Trion Soldiers, but Kuga-san and his Trion Soldiers is the distraction while Mogami-san heads for Yuma." Jin explained.
Karasuma stayed kneeling on the ground as he waited for the last of the engineers to get down the hall. Kinuta was standing by him and Reiji as he refused to leave until he was sure all of his men had evacuated from the area, though if Jin was right and HQ was going to get overrun by Trion Soldiers, it didn't matter where the engineers went.
"Should we call the squads on defense duty back to HQ?" Reiji asked. Even though the Trion barrier had been in place all day, the agents scheduled for defense duty had still gone out since Mogami and Yugo were still around. That was more than enough reason for the squads to be in the Restricted Zone even if there was an order to not fight them earlier. They could at least keep an eye out for the Mimics and stop them from attacking, but it seemed pointless now with Yugo and Mogami both in HQ.
There was silence from Jin for a few seconds as he most likely looked into the future again. "No," Jin decided. "With the Trion barrier destroyed, the Gates can begin to open again. We can't neglect our defense outside by having everyone focus on inside of the base. We do need to warn the agents on defense duty that the Gates can be opened again."
Reiji nodded. "Understood. I'll have Kinuta-san take care of that." He glanced at Kinuta, who looked back at him at hearing his name get involved in the conversation. "Can you alert the agents on defense duty that the Gates will be opening back up?"
"I can, but if this is turning into a huge battle, you will need someone to take command. Otherwise, it will be pretty chaotic with having agents all over the place. I take it Director Shinoda is still here somewhere?" Kinuta asked.
"Jin-san, is Shinoda-san here still?" Karasuma asked.
"He and Rindo-san are sleeping in Tamakoma-2's squad room." Jin replied. "And Kido-san should be in his office."
"Someone needs to go wake them up and then get Kido-san to the war room." Reiji said. "It's too dangerous for all of them to be just wandering around the base."
"The directors are more than capable of keeping themselves safe once they are awake and are aware of the situation." Karasuma pointed out. "I can go warn them while Reiji-san stays here to back up Konami-senpai."
"Try to find the operators as well." Jin said. "Yuri-san and Usami should still be here somewhere and hopefully some of the other squad's operators didn't go home yet."
"Shinoda-san will be able to get the operators to their stations quickly once we can get in contact with them." Reiji said.
Karasuma nodded. "Right. Once I'm finished with this, I'll try to get back here quickly."
"Go wherever you're needed. Konami and I have got this." Reiji assured his partner.
"Got it. Kinuta-san, do you need me to escort you to the war room first?" Karasuma asked.
"I can come with you to Tamakoma-2's squad room. No point in making you run around to multiple places when we don't have the time." Kinuta said.
"Understood. Ready, Reiji-san?" Karasuma looked back to his captain to see his nod. Taking that as his cue, Karasuma put his hand back on the ground and deactivated his wall of Escudos now that all the engineers had evacuated from the floor. Hopefully with their defense Triggers activated now and moving to a hopefully safe location, they will be fine while the agents focused on the attack and getting the directors to safety.
Karasuma had Kinuta go down the hall first while he followed him from behind just in case a Trion Soldier came up behind them, but Karasuma had absolute faith in Reiji and Konami in keeping the Rabits in check. The biggest worry would be if Yugo showed up or if Rads started to appear all over to open Gates in front of them.
*Mimics*
"Even if we shut the room off, it's not going to prevent Kuga-san from being able to open Gates." Hisato said as he raced after his captain.
"But he won't be able to call as many since he will have to use his Trion up to open the Gates and bring out his Trion Soldiers. We either force him to use his Trion to do it which will bleed his reserves dry or we overpower him with the amount of agents we have surrounding him in the room." Suwa replied.
"He walked into that room, knowing we were all in there, without any fear." Hisato pointed out.
"I don't think of the over complicated stuff." Suwa replied. "That's Jin's problem. Our job is simply to prevent the Trion Soldiers from escaping that room and dealing with the father."
"What happened to the Trion barrier though?" Hisato asked.
"Jin was worried about something happening to the Trion barrier. It seems that his concern was right." Suwa replied, but it was also Jin. He had to have known the Trion barrier was going to get destroyed and was trying to prevent it from happening. He never said anything about Yugo or Mogami showing up though. Surely he had to see them coming as well. Trion Soldiers in HQ? It could only be because of Yugo. Perhaps Jin just trusted them to be able to handle this without needing to give them direct orders of what to do. With Kazama around, there wasn't much need for Jin to manipulate the situation completely. Kazama was quite capable of taking charge.
Suwa focused forward again when they came to the door to the control room and he found himself surprised when he really shouldn't have been that orange chains were locked over the door. "This has become a completely useless endeavor." Suwa complained, kicking at the chains that were in the way. One job. All he had to do was turn off the virtual combat room for Kazama and he couldn't even do that.
"We can break in through a wall." Hisato suggested. "Or chip away at these chains. They may be produced by a Black Trigger but that doesn't make them invincible."
Suwa glanced down from the balcony to where Tachikawa and Kazama were to see them still unable to get into the training room because of their own chains being in the way. "We'll leave the complicated stuff to them. Let's see who can deactivate the room first. Them trying to break through the chains or us breaking through a wall."
"That will be easy win for us. The wall can't stand up against as hard as the chains." Hisato said as he grabbed the hilt of his sword and shifted his attention away from the door to the wall next to it. "Kogetsu..." He whipped his sword free of the sheath. "Whirlwind!" The Senku slash extended from his blade as he pulled it out of the sheath and sliced into the wall. It wasn't enough to break the wall down completely so Hisato swung his sword in the opposite direction as he unleashed another Senku to finish the job. "A lot easier than going after the chains."
"So, who has to take the blame when the directors come demanding to know why there is a hole in the wall?" Suwa asked as he clambered over the rubble to get into the control room. Yugo had to know those chains weren't going to stop them forever so his purpose in all of this was just to slow them down so he could summon as many Trion Soldiers as he could.
"The wall will be the least of their problems." Hisato jumped over the rubble to follow his captain into the room. Since he came in second, being behind Suwa, it was Hisato who noticed the seal that began to glow on the door that they didn't manage to open. An orange seal that was only familiar to him because he read the briefing on Yuma's Black Trigger. "Suwa-san!"
Hisato ran forward and slammed his shoulder into his captain's back, shoving him forward while raising a hand behind him to activate his Shield. It wasn't enough to stop the bullets from the Bolt seal that Yugo had left behind for them though as the bullets tore through his shield easily and then through him.
His warning to Suwa had been enough though. Through his shield and his body and then finally Suwa's Shield that had been activated from Hisato's shout, the bullets got stopped before Suwa could get killed. "Hisato!" He said as his friend fell backwards, black Trion spilling from the holes in his body.
"It seems I'm out first." Hisato said. This sucked. He hadn't even managed to do anything yet, but at the very least, unlike during Aftokrator, he didn't mess up and get his captain captured again. "Sorry, captain."
With those parting words, Hisato bailed out. Now that the trap had already been used, Suwa was safe so he could turn his attention back to the computer. "You did good, Hisato. You prevented us from both bailing out." Suwa said over the comms.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." Hisato said.
"It was enough." Suwa replied as he began to mess with the controls to turn off the virtual combat rooms. "But stay in the operation's room and lock the door. HQ is about to get dangerous, especially if the Trion Soldiers get out of this room."
"Understood."
*Mimics*
"Jin." Reiji said as he raised his assault rifle towards the ceiling. Without wasting a moment, he pulled the Trigger to unleash his Hound. The Hound bullets twisted in the air to move away from the ceiling and over Jin's Escudo to head towards the Rabits.
Konami jumped off the back of one the Rabits and flipped backwards to move behind the group of Rabits to get away from Reiji's Hound. The moment she landed on the ground, she was swinging her axe at the back of the Rabits before they could turn to face her. Her attack was strong enough to slam the two Rabits she was targeting into the wall.
"Jin!" Konami shouted as she continued her assault against the Rabits.
Jin used another Escudo to launch himself over the Rabits that got damaged from Reiji's Hound. They were full of holes, but not down yet as Trion Soldiers created from Yuma's Black Trigger were not so easily defeated. Their armor was so tough that even if an attack broke through it, the armor would slow the attack down and prevent it from getting to the Trion Soldier's core to kill it.
That wasn't Jin's concern though. Reiji and Konami would be here to handle the Trion Soldiers. His job was to find Mogami before he could get to Yuma and do any more damage. With that in mind, Jin landed in a crouch on the ground behind Konami as her axe tore through one of the Rabit's to cut it in half.
"You better keep my student safe." Konami said.
"You don't even need to say anything. I'm always going to protect my cute kouhai." Jin replied, but he didn't look at Konami as he was focused on the Gate opening at the end of the hall. Instead of more Rabits, Marmods dropped out of this Gate. It was likely because the Rad in the hall didn't have enough time to gather enough Trion for anything more than Marmods after the hoard of Rabits it summoned earlier.
"Black Marmods." Konami commented, glancing down the hall briefly before she was focusing back on the Rabit in front of her to block its fist. "I'll take care of them." Her Meteor formed above her which she broke into her bullets. "Just go right past them." Konami's Meteor fired onto the Marmods, but even before her bullets reached them, Jin saw the Shields forming in front of the Marmods. Konami's Meteor wasn't going to destroy them, but she could focus on that later. For now, her goal was to allow Jin to get out of this hall.
Jin chased after Konami's Meteor so the moment they slammed into the Marmod's Shield and surrounding walls and floor, resulting in an explosion that created a smoke screen, Jin was able to throw himself through the Marmods' blades. His Scorpion blades came out to give him the chance to slice blindly through some of the blades which would help Konami later on as he safely passed through the enemies. He didn't stop moving as he passed them, not even when he threw his Scorpion at the wall that he was passing as he caught sight of the Rad there. His Scorpion pierced it through the center, pinning it to the wall. At least this way they wouldn't get attacked by any more Trion Soldiers appearing.
As he ran down the hallway, Jin's eyes narrowed as he activated his side effect and more windows began to appear in front of him. He had known where Yuma was earlier, but Mogami should have no idea of how to find him, but the futures of Mogami and Yuma meeting were still all over the place.
What Jin needed was to get to Yuma before Mogami did. In an event like this, Jin could see the future shifting in front of him, but without anyone in front of him, he couldn't determine their exact locations. He knew at some point, Mogami, Kitora, and Yuma would end up on HQ's roof, but that was something Jin wanted to prevent altogether. If he had Shiori or Yuri, he could get them to connect him with the other agents so he could learn where Yuma's group was and warn them to avoid the roof at all costs.
Jin's steps slowed down to a halt when he reached the intersection at the hallway. Trion Soldiers all over HQ. A battle on the roof. Tachikawa and Kazama against Yugo. Karasuma coming to the aid. Yuma's Black Trigger being activated?
No.
A Black Trigger could be activated by anyone who was compatible with it. The amount of Trion someone had didn't matter, but Yuma's Trion was so low right now that he shouldn't be able to access his Black Trigger, and if he did, Jin was certain it would cause incredible damage to Yuma. Yugo was already draining the Trion from the Black Trigger so it was in a precarious place. If Yuma activated his Black Trigger, it might be enough to just push it to its limit at last and leave him for dead. Yuma knew his Black Trigger was close to breaking so why would he try to activate it? How does he manage to activate it when all his Trion is being used to hold his body together?
Was he still in the virtual combat rooms?
No, that couldn't be it. He clearly saw a possible future of Mogami on the roof with Yuma and Kitora so Yuma had to have left the training rooms with his group.
Jin's best bet would be to head to the training rooms and try to trace their path from there and hope Shiori or Yuri connected to him soon, but that would take too much time.
Time they didn't have.