"If I were you, I'd just let this hopeless friend rot in this miserable place. There's nothing in store for me anymore, my fate's been decided." Atashi rasped, leaning against the wall and taking a few slow breaths.
Douma noticed the flames around Atashi subsiding. A sign that the boy had finally accepted defeat, it wasn't even a battle between them to begin with. It was a battle between Atashi and his own inner demons that he's been at war with for a long time.
"There's still time for you to get up and forego this power," Placing his hand on the fallen axe that was still impaled against the ground, Douma waited for Atashi's response. He wasn't going to leave his friend here, Atashi still had the chance to change things. "Or like I said before, use it to the fullest, with a meaningful purpose that is."
Despite the truth in Douma's words, the fiery monster didn't entirely trust him. To Atashi, this was part of Douma's strategy to lock him away from society for what he is now, when Douma wasn't even an ordinary civilian. The hypocrisy that could spark when that happens, Atashi will only end up losing everything.
The fiery monster got up and stared at Douma dead eyed. From his stiff movements, Douma could tell there was still a sense of wariness emanating from Atashi laced with distrust.
"And how do I know this isn't a trick?"
Point proven. Atashi still had second thoughts about this despite the chances that have been given to him.
"Well if I wanted to end our friendship here, I would've finished you off by now with this." Douma raised his fan that he was still holding onto which surprised Atashi because he didn't even notice the weapon in his hand. Even though Douma had the opportunity to finish this battle, he didn't.
Atashi glanced at his axe on the ground and picked it up.
"Ready to kick some butt? It's about time we teach these scums a lesson." Douma asked, landing beside the colossal beast.
"You bet. This place is falling apart anyways so we might as well." Atashi replied with the same level of confidence.
~~~
The truck made a turn into an abandoned industrial area along this narrow road that barely had any vehicles passing by, especially at this hour when it was getting dark. It stopped at a garage with stacks lined up against the tables. This was located behind the entrance of this strange building.
Both Shinobu and Yushiro hid in the boxes that were filled with lighter items as the men carried all of the load out of the truck and placed them onto the floor of the garage.
Soon after both men carried the boxes into the building that both Shinobu and Yushiro couldn't see clearly but they knew this was a secluded part of town where visitors like themselves weren't being expected.
The two men dusted off their hands and left the storeroom that the boxes were kept in. Shinobu followed by Yushiro slowly got out of the boxes and examined the storeroom which appeared very unwelcoming with murky walls and a very dim atmosphere.
"Is this the place? Man it sure looks unsettling." Yushiro crawled from the stack and tiptoed towards the shelves and door that was closed shut.
"It's a secret lair Yushiro, are you surprised? We're not supposed to be here." Shinobu replied agitatedly she wasn't looking forward to this not one bit.
Pressing his ear to the door, Yushiro listened closely for any conversations outside but it was eerily quiet.
Amidst the adrenaline running through her veins sending shivers of fear, Shinobu raised a brow, puzzled at Yushiro's bravery despite the horrifying setting of this strange place.
"There's no one outside let's go-"
"Hold on Yushiro who made you in charge? Just because I came along doesn't mean I agreed to this."
Yushiro gave Shinobu an annoyed look that made her mad. "Then you can just go home, I don't need a scaredy cat like you to slow me down. I have a mission and it certainly doesn't involve you so stop complaining."
Shinobu watched as Yushiro turned the doorknob and snuck out of the storeroom to the gloomy halls. "Oh great this wasn't part of the plan. Way to go Yushiro you're going to get us into serious trouble." The violette caught up with him and stopped in her tracks when she smelled something pungent.
What's this? It smells like something's burning. Instinctively, she began to look up and noticed smoke coming out of the crevices on the ceiling. Something was going on up there and the cracks and rubble falling and landing on the ground confirmed it.
The violette winced when she saw flashes of light along with shadows of flames. The rumbles of the structures collapsing from whatever was happening up there made her worried but not for the reasons that Yushiro thought when he stood there waiting for Shinobu to start moving to the safer spots of this base.
Douma's gotta be here somewhere. In addition to exploring this place, Shinobu felt the weight of her shoulders knowing the possibility of stumbling upon Douma. So she didn't have to worry much about his whereabouts, the blonde was close and she'd find him soon enough.
As long as they didn't get caught.
"Look I get your concern and all but we can't stay here for too long, it's only going to put us in danger and that's the last thing we want to happen." Yushiro wasn't putting up that unbearable attitude anymore which was a good thing. It seemed like he remembered Shinobu's initial objective before this.
Shinobu nodded and followed after Yushiro to one of the areas down the halls. To avoid getting caught by any guards, they decided to take a route that would keep them away from the dangers of this place for the time being.
Just as the two friends were about to catch their breath from running, the sound of someone forcefully pushing the door open startled them.
Laughter was heard on the other side. That same laugh which sounded disturbingly familiar.
Shinobu narrowed her eyes at the familiar figure approaching them, another one following closely at the back.
"If it isn't the brat, and another brat." Akira sneered holding up the case containing her large deadly scythe. "Hiding here isn't going to save your skin. It doesn't matter who my victims are, I can sense the trail of your fear even a distance away."
Yushiro turned to face Shinobu who was getting frightened from just hearing the woman's voice. "You know this woman?" He asked nervously.
Without saying a word, Shinobu slowly nodded and focused on the two people standing in front of them, Akira with her usual sinister smile that showed her cruel nature and Kaito with the unreadable expression that never faltered.
Akira immediately got out her scythe throwing her case to the floor as she ran towards both Shinobu and Yushiro with the weapon's sharp edge pointing directly at them.
"It's game over you brats!"
Both Shinobu and Yushiro hastily threw themselves out of Akira's way, causing her to mistakenly swing her scythe at the stack of boxes that were supposedly behind them. The woman pulled out the scythe while boxes toppled over her.
When Akira got out of the mess she ambushed Shinobu and Yushiro again, with a particular target in mind as she swung her scythe continuously at Shinobu who stealthily dodged it. The violette wasn't expecting herself to be that agile but panic seemed to be on her side this time around.
From the looks of it, Akira knew what she was doing as Kaito appeared in front of Yushiro in the blink of an eye and grabbed the boy's arms.
"Hey let me go!" Yushiro struggled against Kaito's strong grip. The man who was also wearing a mask like Akira took out his two blades and placed one of them close to Yushiro's neck threateningly.
"Stay where you are. Don't move." Kaito brought his katana closer to Yushiro who began screaming at the top of his lungs when it was only an inch away from him.
Getting up before Akira could land another strike on the ground, Shinobu quickly knocked over a few items on the side to obstruct Akira's path and ran towards a pipe laying on the floor. She picked it up instantly and slammed the pipe on the back of Akira's neck causing her to scream in pain from the impact while struggling to get by the falling items.
Shinobu ran towards Kaito and swung the pipe at the man who immediately released his grip on Yushiro and slashed the pipe that Shinobu blocked his attacks with several times.
Scurrying on the ground helplessly, Yushiro frowned when he couldn't find anything to defend himself with. He stood up and ran beside Shinobu to assist her with the ongoing fight between her and Kaito.
Although the violette had found a weapon to defend them both, Kaito was still the skillful fighter with those two katanas waiting to break through the rusted pipe, leaving both Shinobu and Yushiro at a disadvantage.
"Don't just stand there like a fool! Finish them!" Akira yelled hoarsely.
Kaito took that as a form of pressure and forcefully shoved Shinobu and Yushiro away, giving him the chance to land a direct hit on both of them at once with his two weapons glistening under the light on the ceiling of the room.
Picking up her scythe, Akira ran towards both Shinobu and Yushiro with a little more effort. She couldn't afford to trip over another box or item in this room. Her targets were right there, defenseless from their attacks. The pipe pose no threat, so there was nothing to be afraid of. This was a quick job done.
Akira plunged her scythe in the direction of the two friends. The violette narrowly hopped over one of the boxes and hid behind them while Yushiro slid between the two assassins towards the corner leaving them stunned at their tactics.
"You idiot! You let them get away!"
"Well you were closing in." Kaito shrugged, nervously looking at Akira who was now fuming.
Yushiro clumsily dodged their attacks as Kaito continued chasing after him while Akira started thrashing all the boxes and shelves that Shinobu was crawling past. She had to get out of this spot, Akira was demolishing it at a fast pace.