Act: 49
"Alright then."
As the electric beam was coming in his direction, Shizu reached his hand out and, followed by a subtle grin, he whispered a few words.
"Re: Place."
His hand began to glow the same color as his star. The moment it began to shine brighter, his star started to form on top of his palm. Standing still in the direction of her attack, Shizu's body disappeared while that beam shot past, destroying the wall in the distance.
"Heh. Already over, poor 2-star. Nevertheless, I can say he put up a rather interesting fight. Much more impressive than what higher stars achieved."
*Yerrrn *
"..."
*Fzzttz*
With enough force, his hand broke through the electric barrier from the outside of her bubble, and he forced his way in even further, causing his arm to get cut up and have blood instantly pour out. He felt a constant burning feeling and withstood each bit of the pain. Pushing himself further, he built up enough force and managed to burst his way inside her defense. His arm felt ever so numb to the bone, yet that didn't stop him; he quickly grabbed her by the neck, ripping her out, and pinned her body to the ground. This caused her to lose control of the bubble, which made it pop, and a light shower of water drenched over his head, making his hair fall and cover his eyes. Brushing his hand over his forehead, he slicked his hair back and wiped away the water.
He said in a calm but infuriated tone.
"Like I said to you earlier, it's over for you, and I didn't need to hit you, but I can't have Takao doing any more harm."
She moved around aggressively, trying to break free from his powerful grip while shouting back at him.
"Let go of-"
Her eyes shot open, watching as he raised his clenched fist. Without hesitation, he slammed his fist down at her face. Her hair flew in the opposite direction from the impact, making her entire body fragile; losing all tension, her head dropped to the right with both eyes shut.
Shizu was surprised it worked. She had fainted entirely. Removing his fist an inch beside her face, he gradually got up. To watch as Kaneshiro stalled their fight with Takao. He was impressed by how much they held ground—waiting for the right moment to step in, leisurely studying the fight patterns. Kaneshiro took a few steps back, avoiding Takao's mini lasers. They saw how he began to charge up more, hopefully catching them this time. Seeing the right opportunity, Shizu dashed in from his blind spot. Takao glanced over to his right a bit too late, only for his head to get forced into looking in the opposite direction from Shizu, driving his fist into his jaw. His body spun around like a nail drilling into a wall. However, one of his barriers shot straight up, hitting Shizu and crashing him onto Kaneshiro. The two piled on one another. He quickly got off, and the two stood back up. Shizu looked behind.
"Sorry about that..."
"..."
No response.
'Hopefully, they're not mad...'
"Kaneshiro-San. Could you take the others through the door he was blocking? I believe it's the way out and for the teams to win. So! Could you please do that? I'll try to protect you from this headache!"
Kaneshiro nodded in response. They rushed to gather the rest of the classmates, grouping them next to the student council members. Taku and Oto were finally able to stand. Everyone was sitting together, some even resting unconscious on each other's shoulders. Taku shouted at Shizu, gaining his attention.
"I will stay and help you fight him! It's right we teach him a lesson-"
"No."
"Huh? What do you mean no?"
*POW*
Shizu's body bounced back from Takao, opening a portal and jabbing him in the gut. He recovered quickly and ran up to Takao, sliding downward, and with his right leg, he sprung up, kicking him across the face, to transition into a punch that also hit him across the face. This pressured him to fall back and lean against the wall, with his head bobbing left and right.
"Hurry up! Please."
Kaneshiro rushed everyone to the door, opened it, and safely took them deeper into the ruins. One by one, they entered, and some in a group. Taku looked back at Shizu.
"Damn you! You better win, or else."
He followed in with the others, leaving Kaneshiro, who stopped and gave Shizu one last piece of information.
"Mana. She's trapped in one of his dimensions or portals- things, whatever it is. Be warned, I feel that when you free her, he will be potentially stronger or capable of using more Star energy. Good luck."
They took a step back to pick up Sumiye. Lastly, turning around and disappearing within the room. The large stone-structured door closed, leaving a loud slam to seal the deal.
"Takao. Takao, finally, it's just you and me."
Shizu cracked his bruised knuckles, blood slowly dripping from his nose and arm.
Takao spat out blood towards him while laughing in the process.
"Shall we dance? Shizu, hahaha!"
"Uh. No?"
Takao leaned back. Falling through the floor and into his portal, Shizu kept his guard up, rotating around, watching from every angle, making sure he'd not get a surprise attack. Takao's laugh vibrated throughout the premise- the uneasy feeling. An arm, hand reaching from underneath.
Shizu caught on and grabbed his arm with both hands, pulling him aggressively out of the gold and black portal. His eyes were wide while both made eye contact with one another; spit shot out of his mouth and ran down his shirt from the heavy feeling of pressure pressing against his chest. Takao was launched into the damaged wall once more; how much more could he take of this, Shizu had thought? However, now wasn't the time to think about that. The only thing on his mind was saving Mana; oddly enough, he was given the opportunity.
"Thanks, Takao. Making this easy for me."
Shizu had hoped in the portal before it closed. Falling in darkness but not? Unable to tell the bottom from the top, the atmosphere felt distorted. Ignoring the void, he spotted a woman in the distance and a pool of blood beneath her feet. His eyes showed worry, and he started to notice, the closer he got, just how bright this place was. Millions of bright yellow kunai's surrounded her. She stood still, her hair tied in a ponytail, only swinging something in her hand, which could be her kunai. She faced this circular hole that wasn't too far from her. That fired out all those yellow kunai at an insane rate. Possibly 100 of them every 0.2 seconds.
I landed safely, blinking rapidly so my eyes could adjust for me to see her arm movement. Even for me, it was hard to tell... Such speed, a blur most of the time. I cautiously walked around the ones stuck impaled to the floor, and after some time, they disappeared.
'I can't stand and watch this!'
"Mana!"
Shizu was surprised and acted rationally. Sprinting in front of her, with one destructive, charged punch, with enormous force, disrupted the output of the kunai. The kunai started to clog, with each of them hitting another, though some still shot out, stabbing Shizu in both of his arms and on the right side of his chest.
Wanting to evacuate, he swiftly took Mana off her feet, moving away from the hole.
"Are you ok...? You got stabbed pretty badly."
She said in a calm, collected manner. I was surprised at how she could even contain herself.
"I'm completely fine! No need to worry. Have you found any way of getting out?"
'I lied! My whole body is sore, and these bruises I will get later will not be worth it, not to mention more scars! Although... She has it worse, and her body is soaked with fresh blood... Is she pitying me because I'm a 2-star?'
"It doesn't matter... It'll always follow you... I tried to get away but was stabbed repeatedly."
"Takao! Let us out already!?"
His menacing voice echoed again, though it sounded as if he was using a microphone.
"Fine Shizu. Hehe. I'll be so nice and allow you two to leave peacefully this time."
'Such a fucking stupid boy, there's always a catch, Shizu. Right as I see that disgusting face of yours. Ph Burn to the skull! Hahaha.'
Shizu watched the portal slowly open from the floor.
"Why does everything with him always have to be on the floor? Not to mention, it was his favorite resting spot when I fought him. Heh."
"Ouch... That one will hurt his ego."
She replied with a little smile that hid all her pain.
"It's time to end this."
He walked up to the portal while still holding Mana in his arms, looking down at Takao with his hands out, anxiously waiting for him to come through. He giggled, adjusting himself and ripping out a kunai, which he gently dropped through.
*Boom*
A burst of flames appeared and then disappeared. Followed by the laughter of Takao. Shizu jumped down, rotating himself in motion from straight down and now sideways, kneeing him in the chest.
Takao's mouth opened from the pain, and Shizu landed, setting Mana down on her feet.
"Mana, do you think you'll be ok to fight?"
She looked at him.
"I have your back."