"Show him who you truly are Atashi." Mr Moikawa insinuated the teen with the lies and hate that Atashi's shadow wanted to hear.
"Don't listen to him Atashi!" Douma yelled at his friend who was slowly giving in to the anger surrounding him. "This isn't who you are! Eiko wouldn't want to see you like this, you're a great brother!"
Wait do I really have to go through with this? No the life that I have now has always been my dream, I have no other choice. Atashi unleashed the flames from his spear that were starting to scorch the floor leaving burnt patches.
Mr Moikawa scurried towards Atashi begging him to make sure Douma doesn't destroy the building because of the ongoing operations he had in store for Cryptic Sanctuary's future projects.
As usual, Atashi didn't respond he remained silent and undecipherable, sometimes giving Mr Moikawa chills of uncertainty in the boy's dull expression. "Control the extent of your powers Atashi! I worked hard for all this, I seek your understanding and cooperation. Cryptic Sanctuary's legacy has to remain-"
Douma glanced at Mr Moikawa who fell to his knees with a hand on his hip, groaning from the sudden sharp pain he felt. "Ugh, my back still hurts from that incident. I must've stood too close to Nebulas when he was fighting that Chupacabra. That tail whip was so unbearable I almost got knocked out. Not sure if I annoyed Nebulas which is why he did that, maybe he was trying to save me from that monster. I'm still having a backache and it's been weeks!"
Their team really is uncooperative. Although there seems to be a lot of miscommunications within Mr Moikawa's alliance, those a part of it were meant to be on the same side. They didn't care about others, only themselves.
They may not see it that way, but it was obvious to others. Douma got ready as Atashi swung his spear at the shrine leader who leaped back in response to Atashi's sudden attack.
Meanwhile, Mr Moikawa sat there recalling the most excruciating part of the battle between Nebulas and the Chupacabra; when Nebulas ripped the creature to shreds right in front of him. Mr Moikawa never forgot the cries of the creature and its limbs falling to the ground with blood splattered around on the floor. It was a mess.
"Raging Firestorm!"
Douma backed away as Atashi summoned several fireballs that began raining down, sending Mr Moikawa into a frenzy.
"You're practically destroying yourself Atashi! I won't go easy on you this time, I mean it!" At that instant, Douma got his fans out and fired his two ice sickles that nearly struck Atashi in the air, the boy landed on the ground and prepared his next attack carefully.
Spinning his spear containing flames spiraling into a fiery wheel, the boy in the orange sweater rolled in the air and regained his balance with his right foot, swerving towards Douma with the spear getting closer to where he stood.
Douma blocked the attack with his fan and flung Atashi away towards one of the walls.
Mr Moikawa yelped witnessing Atashi maneuver around right before he was about to collide with the wall. The teen must have been very skilled in acrobatics to be able to avoid that collision.
Soon both Douma and Atashi were back at it again with the clashing of weapons. Keen to Douma's observations, Atashi was a lot more skillful compared to before during their first battle in Tokyo. He was watchful with his own movements now. The Atashi back then would've struck without thinking which is why he was such a careless fighter back then. Always fighting irrationally and getting mad when things didn't go his way.
"Once I tear you to bits, nobody will pick on me ever again!" Atashi yelled landing another hit on Douma's golden fan.
"Is that what you want Atashi? To be seen as a monster?" Douma responded calmly, pushing Atashi's spear away with the same fan that clashed with it.
Atashi still had the trait of a bull. Douma braced himself as Atashi slammed his spear into the blonde's fan, thinking he had let his guard down when that wasn't the case. This was still an issue for him during battles, he had the tendency to attack without observing his opponent's movements.
"Dammit, stop fighting like a coward!"
That's funny, Atashi still couldn't figure out his mistake. He was still insisting on keeping up with the clash even though it wasn't getting him anywhere. Douma unleashed his clouds of frost at Atashi sending him backwards.
Blocking the chilling wind with his arms, Atashi reflected on what Douma had said moments ago. "You don't know me this is the only way I can prove myself worthy of other people's respect."
"Is the respect we've given you not enough?"
"So now you're trying to pry into other people's problems, great."
"That's not what I'm trying to do."
Atashi plunged his spear at Douma's direction over and over again until he caught his breath from the exhaustion and moved away.
What in the world is Atashi doing now, his attacks are sluggish. That's gotta be the worst way to stall your opponent. Chasing after Atashi who was running in all corners of the vicinity, Douma summoned a rain of icicles towards the point Atashi was headed to.
In a panic, the teen dove towards the side with a few scratches from the incoming icicles. Atashi held onto his bleeding shoulder and sprinted towards the center of the platform, preparing another fiery catastrophe that Mr Moikawa feared the most from this battle.
"Moeru Kudo Style: Mezameta Hono!" Atashi plunged his spear into the ground sending mounts of raging flames towards Douma who teleported away from them and reappeared a few feet beside Atashi.
"Thank you Atashi, I'm glad to have you as my brother."
"No! Eiko!" Atashi widened his eyes in shock. That voice, Eiko wasn't here was she?
Images of the memories he and Eiko had together flashed in his mind. Atashi remembered when Eiko said that exact sentence, he bought her a gift for her birthday. It was a soft toy that she always wanted. Atashi saw it at a store, Eiko never got the chance to get it so he decided to give it to her as a surprise on her birthday, a gift that would mean a lot to her.
Douma unsheathed his fan and slowly approached Atashi with light footsteps.
The next image that popped up was of his classroom; Atashi was sitting at his desk packing his stuff while Haru was talking to him about the sports festival.
Atashi's breathing quickened. He turned around and saw Douma getting closer. "Am I that horrible...?"
"No no no! This is just a mere distraction, you're trying to deceive me with these-"
Douma flicked his finger inches away from Atashi's forehead, sending him crashing into the wall.
"What are you doing Atashi?! You mustn't lose!" The plump man blurted out.
"Think about it Atashi, even your own thoughts are telling you to forgo this. It's not worth it."
Atashi sprang up from the cracks and rushed towards Douma with another flame wheel that was dispersed by Douma's golden fan.
"Do you even know what that masked man was planning?" Douma wasn't sure if Atashi knew his name it didn't seem like it. "Your family was in danger, Reiji and Aunt Mai would have to watch everything that belongs to them turn into dust."
The teen didn't listen he just went on slashing Douma's fans with his flaming spear.
"I'd probably be living in fear if I had a brother like you Atashi. Not only that but you almost got Eiko and Reiji killed because of your stupidity."
"Well one's thing's certain and that's only because of my correlation with this totem that he has entrusted me with." Atashi spat angrily.
"And that is?" Douma narrowed his eyes at the approaching figure of Atashi.
"To kill you."
The flaming spear impaled the ground as Douma backed away and blocked the remaining fireballs with his fan.
So this was his purpose all along and he didn't even object to it. Instead he went on with it even if it meant breaking his family apart, Tanashi wasn't even going to spare Atashi and his family. He would've still carried out his plan. How gullible can you be Atashi? To trust someone who had already showed you his true intentions just because you wanted to be a bigger laughingstock than you were before. You have no morals. Douma dodged the incoming eruption of flames headed his way. The vision he had back at Mr Oshiro's house was definitely a retelling of Atashi's confrontation with Tanashi. This was a very unfortunate situation for Eiko, she was given false hope all this while.
"Once I get rid of you, the Hasu Mountains will become a hotspot for Cryptic Sanctuary's profits. It will do us a favor by putting aside the trash flowing out of there and claiming the only thing worthy of being called a prize possession, the Ren Lotus." Hearing Atashi's explanation was unsettling, he was completely consumed by his own vengeance. There was no rational thinking going on up there at all.
"You're a monster and I don't regret saying that."
"Oh you don't have to because I already am one."
Douma watched in horror as Atashi slammed his spear into the ground again, sending waves of fire outwards to every area in the building, even outside. The flames began rising in the closest areas, slowly spreading like wildfire.
Mr Moikawa fell to the floor and crawled towards the entrance to his office. "Yikes! Watch it Atashi you're not the only one here!"
A surge of darker shades of flames circled Atashi like vultures. There was a strange overwhelming power that Douma could sense building up. The entire vicinity was shaking vigorously, Douma feared for the worst. Anybody who passes by this place wasn't safe anymore.
"That's not all, I will show you the monster that I've been hiding within me. It's been waiting to come out for a long time."
Both Douma and Mr Moikawa stepped away from the center of the platform. Atashi grinned and emitted the flames towards the ceiling with a loud scream.
"Metamorphosis!"
This can't be. Douma found it hard to believe that Atashi possessed such power, the metamorphosis phase could only be awakened by certain individuals. Their spirit would've awaken that transformation through a particular value, belief, or a physiological representative in the form of an animal for instance. It wouldn't just snap in someone.
Atashi was engulfed in the raging flames his shadow disappeared in the fiery glow.
"This is getting interesting! Rise from the flames!" Mr Moikawa despite being scared was still cheering Atashi on. The boy clearly didn't care about the man's life, he was too busy fighting his own demons in that pit of rage.
"No it isn't you pathetic degenerate." Douma responded firmly.
"Shut up you imbecile! Can't you see I'm trying to watch the show? This is only the beginning, you haven't seen it all yet."
Have it your way then. At least I'm not trying to get myself killed. While the flames were taking in the form of a larger figure within that wall of fire, Douma got his fans ready.
Soon Douma was met with a fiery colossal creature with smoldering flames surrounding it and bulky plates of armor on its shoulders and knees. It had large fists and two horns sticking out of its head. Behind it was a large weapon that appeared to be an axe capable of tearing apart an entire forest in one hit.
The monster narrowed his eyes at Douma angrily. Mr Moikawa crawled out of his hiding spot and looked at it with excitement.
"About time you showed up, Eonith, Guardian of Serath's Ancient Treasure."
Douma held onto his fans firmly, this monster could attack any second now and if it does, this whole place will turn into an active volcano.
"Hahaha! So what are you going to do now, founder of Paradise Shrine?" Mr Moikawa cackled.
This monster was also paying attention to Douma's movements. The blonde had to think of something fast or the world will suffer another wrath of Mr Moikawa's vile plans.
~~~
The bus made a turn to a supermarket in town. Slowly coming to a stop by the road, Shinobu got up from her seat and proceeded down the bus in a hurry.
Where could he be? Getting down here is my only option I don't wanna get stranded because of you Douma!
Seiyu Supermarket was still bustling with people even at this hour. The sky was getting darker by the minute, and Shinobu feared she won't be able to find Douma once it gets dark. She hadn't prepared for this after all. Finding her way back was going to be another problem, but she could handle it as long as she remained calm.
Meanwhile, a green-haired teenager carrying a backpack was wandering around the parking lot of the supermarket. He was holding a magnifying glass and a paper with a strange drawing that couldn't be perceived from a distance.
Yushiro placed his magnifying glass back in his pocket and studied the drawing he did back at his grandma's house. "Hmmm the storm's gone. I was just about to do some thorough detective work to confirm my hypothesis." His main focus was finding out about the connection between Douma's powers and the events that have been taking place on Earth recently. Yushiro was certain this particular ray that Douma unleashed on that day was responsible for the storm's ongoing formations.
"Is that a map of The Nile?" Three men were standing beside a car, smoking their cigarettes while also watching Yushiro carry out his detective work outside the supermarket.
"Hahaha wrong place buddy. This is Seiyu Supermarket not the uh Nile Supermarket."
Yushiro narrowed his eyes at the three men who broke into laughter, the one who taunted him was flailing his cigarette around. How dare they made fun of Yushiro's detective work, at least he was doing something unlike those three bums who had nothing better to do.
"Hey maybe you should consider investigating your backyard! You just might finding something in your little sandcastle!"
Again with the insults, these men were such slobs. Yushiro walked away briskly. He followed the walkway leading to the entrance of the supermarket, not paying attention to his surroundings he was frustrated with the sudden interference. Things were going smoothly until this happened.
At the same time, Shinobu was also walking down the same path, her purple eyes gazing upon every corner to see if Douma was around, unaware that she was about to collide with the person coming towards her.
Both parties fell on their backs, rubbing their heads in anger.
"Hey watch it!" Yushiro yelled.
"Idiot, open your eyes next time!" Shinobu yelled back.
It took them a while for them to recognize the person on the other side. "Yushiro? What are you doing here?!" The violette asked she wasn't expecting to see Yushiro here.
"I should be asking you the same question." The boy replied.
Shinobu wasn't sure if she should tell Yushiro the truth. It didn't make the most sense but at the most, Yushiro would just be confused by her decision to travel all the way here just to look for the blonde.
But there is a possibility that he might have seen Douma somewhere. Yushiro had to be around here longer than Shinobu, she just got here. It was strange that Yushiro was doing some detective work here of all places, he wasn't going to find anything, that's for sure.
"Well it's Douma. He hasn't returned to Hasu Mountains ever since the storm dispersed. I'm afraid he might be injured or stranded somewhere."
Yushiro raised his brow, he looked at Shinobu skeptically and crossed his arms. "I see, maybe he ran away because you're such a naggy girlfriend."
"It's not funny Yushiro. You don't understand, Douma saved us from these disasters. If it weren't for him we would still be living in fear everyday."
The boy's lavender eyes blinked a few times trying to process what Shinobu was saying. Yushiro then expressed the same sadness that Shinobu was feeling. Now that he thought about it, the storm was gone just like that, he didn't even know how he was able to walk around without constantly shivering or feeling frightened by something that would have observed him in the bushes or crevices if it was still around. He felt free, after a longtime of taking shelter in his home.
Everyone was practically jumping in joy when the weather returned to normal. It was devastating that Shinobu couldn't share the same level of happiness with everyone else.
"Let's find him then."
Shinobu looked at Yushiro, a flicker of hope sparked in her chest. She was grateful to have bumped into him this evening.
A mysterious truck drove into the quieter part of the supermarket's parking lot. It was parked there, being the only vehicle in that area. Two men in dark attire got out and arranged the back of the truck that was filled with cartons. That's what they appeared to be, both Shinobu and Yushiro were suspicious about this, the men seemed really secretive about something.
"I'll get the items, you stay here." One of the men walked to the supermarket leaving the other behind.
"Nows our chance." Yushiro whispered as both he and Shinobu quietly approached the truck, careful not to make a sound in the tall grass.
When they got close to the truck, Shinobu noticed the familiar logo on the side of its door. The same one on the other truck that she and Douma found on the mountain. These men were from that secret organization that was responsible for all this.
"Looks sketchy enough." Yushiro seemed to have been able to read Shinobu's disturbed expression. He remembered the headquarters that both she and Douma were talking about back at Atami.
"We're gonna have to think of a plan-"
"No time for that."
"Yushiro! Are you out of your mind?!" Shinobu watched as the teen got up from where he was hiding and walked over to the man carrying the crates from the truck and arranging them.
"Hey you! Let's talk. Carrying those boxes must be incredibly tiring for someone with a scrawny stature like yourself Sir."
Shinobu shook her head in disbelief. "This is embarrassing, we're screwed."
The man turned around and snorted when he saw Yushiro standing there so proudly.
"What do you want kid? Can't you see I'm busy here go home."
He's one to talk, the guy can barely carry a crate. Yushiro glanced at the stacks of cartons and other packaging in the truck. With these people coming to these places frequently, how has nobody found out about them yet?
Shinobu caught up with Yushiro and stopped in her tracks when she saw the load hidden in the back of the truck, about to get away without the authorities' knowledge.
"So what's your brilliant plan Yushiro? It's not getting us anywhere we're sitting ducks!"
"Calm down Ma'am, I'm thinking."
The violette crossed her arms and looked away. She didn't have high hopes when it came to Yushiro and his plans in these kinds of situations. It was clear, he didn't have any now he has to think of one to get them out of this mess.
"Follow me."
"What?"
Yushiro hopped on the back of the truck and did some exploring. Shinobu demanded him to get out of there, signaling him to leave at once, but he ignored her and continued walking pass the stacks of boxes.
The man who was a few feet away from them was sorting out the boxes on the ground. He wasn't aware that Yushiro had snuck into the truck.
"This is a terrible idea." Shinobu stomped towards Yushiro, she didn't care if getting him out meant dragging him to the point where he starts wailing, their lives were at stake.
"Hey let go of me- Somebody help!" Yushiro yelled, struggling to get away from Shinobu who was fuming.
"Yeah keep crying for everyone to hear! That'll end this case, brilliant plan Yushiro!"
"You don't get it this is our only chance to sneak into their headquarters!"
"Are you serious right now? We don't know anything about their secret hideout, you're gonna get us into trouble!"
Suddenly footsteps approached them, it was the man who was arranging the boxes. Both Shinobu and Yushiro immediately hid behind one of the cartons as the man closed the door shut leaving them in darkness.
"Oh great, guess we've got more problems to deal with. Thanks a lot, Yushiro."
"I'm not complaining, we're making progress."
The man from earlier came back with the stuff and got on the truck, starting the engine. Both Shinobu and Yushiro scurried on the floor to get a better view of where these men were headed to. Based on their conversations, it was definitely their secret hideout. Yushiro's heart started beating in anticipation, his expression showed it to and Shinobu wasn't happy about it but she had no other choice but to follow along.
The truck started moving out of the parking lot and down the road, it made a turn towards a less busy part of town. An animalistic cry sounded from one of the boxes startling both Shinobu and Yushiro who were leaning against the bigger stack of boxes, hidden from the men's field of vision at the front.
"What was that?!" Yushiro whispered.
"I don't know but it sounded like an animal in distress." Shinobu crawled towards the 'box' and noticed a cloth sticking out with railings underneath.
This wasn't a box... but a cage. Shinobu saw a claw grabbing onto the railings accompanied by growls. Whatever was behind that cage didn't sound happy to be here. Albeit it was held captive in an unknown place.
Both Shinobu and Yushiro hid in the empty boxes they could find, waiting for the journey to end, in fact they wanted this whole thing to come to a close that should've happened.
The truck drove down the quiet road, traveling to its destination that its passengers were prepared to handle.