s-CRY-ed Secondary 2

Rahimi Kiryu

‘I was… dreaming. In this dream, I was another person, in the most agonizing pain of her life. But the physical pain was nothing… nothing in comparison to the guilt and shame in her heart. Regret, sadness, fear, it made the pain numb. Then slowly… slowly… all feeling starts to disappear. Someone standing over her… I can’t see their face… hear their voice…. I’m scared. I’m so scared. Is this the real end? Is this… dying?’

“I love you, Koruma. I’m sorry.”

‘That voice! No! It’s her… it’s Mom! Mom, open your eyes! Listen to me, you’ve got to wake up! You’re going to kill us both! Mom! No, Mom! Mom!”

“MOTHER!” Koruma screamed at the top of his lungs. The bed under him exploded into atomic particles, and his alter was on his leg before he hit the ground.

“GAAAHH!” Rahimi fell out of her chair and hit the floor, roused out of her sleep.

“Who did it?! WHO DID IT?!” Koru stood up and thrashed his head around with a ravenous look on his face.

“Koru-chan? What’s wrong? What ca-“ She was stopped mid-sentence as his hand went for her neck and slammed her back into the wall.

“Was it you?! Huh?! HUH?!”

“Koru… choking….”

“ANSWER ME!” Suddenly strong green vines wrapped around his arms and legs. “Uh? BWAAAHH!” He was slammed against the opposite wall hard by them as Rahi was released.

“Woah now boy. Try to calm down a bit.” A burly man with black hair in a tight ponytail held a watermelon with one hand as the vines tied the boy into the wall tightly.

Rahimi coughed and caught her breath. “Mr. Urizane?”

“You! You’re an alter user! You must’ve done it! It’s all your fault!” Koruma’s rage deepened as he folded his wings back, fighting against the wall as his alter-coated leg strained the vines, starting to stretch them.

“Ngh!” Urizane grunted as he tried to keep the raging alter under control. “Mimori… you’d better do something quick!”

“Hang on!” Rahi’s mother rushed into the room with a bucket of water. “Koruma Yuta, WAKE UP!”

The pre-teen took the cold, wet attack straight to the face. He jolted before going limp, panting. The alter started to disappear from his leg and back. “Th-thanks…. I… I needed that.”

Mimori motioned to Urizane, and he nodded, slowly letting the boy loose from his restraints as mother and daughter supported him. “Now, if we could all just get along.” He juggled the fruit in his hand.

From down below, a knock came on the door. Rahimi nodded to her mom. “Go, I can take him.” Mimori turned to the exit as the girl wrapped her arms around the numb boy. “I was so worried about you, Koru-chan!”

“Rahi… how… how did I...?”

“You came through my window last night and instantly passed out. Koruma, what happened? Do you remember? Where’s your mom? Where’s Ms. Yuta?”

“I was making… sunset… no, fire… then….” His eyes snapped wide open, glazing over as he relived it again. He fell on to the girl and hugged her tightly. “Rahi… RAHI! She… she’s….” Koruma sobbed.

“Koru….” She returned the hug and stroked his short brown mop.

Urizane frowned and turned around, gripping the railing as hard as he could as he looked to the front door. Elian was there, giving his report to the woman. “When I got there, the house was completely in shambles. I couldn’t help but vomit. It was obviously an alter attack.”

“But then where’s Kanami?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t even found traces of her DNA around. I have the twins searching the area for any clues, but we might have a cold trail other than whatever it was Koruma witnessed.”

“I don’t think you’ll find anything, Elian.” Urizane came down the stairs. “The way that boy is going on, she’s gone… our little Kanami is….”

“Dead! She’s dead! Oh how long I’ve waited to see that sweet little child die!” Mujo practically pranced around the Yamite residence in celebration.

“Just as long as you keep your promise and pay up.” The older Yamite grunted.

“Of course. I am a man of my word.”

“Not only that, but you left my son to do clean up. He still hasn’t returned. I question your judgment on that.”

“Come now, Mr. Yamite. I merely granted one of his greatest wishes.”

The door opened slowly, and a suffering boy holding his chest stumbled through it. “If you thought that wish was getting pummeled, then you were right.”

“My my, dear boy, did you get beaten?”

“Ah. That bastard Koruma stopped me right before I was about to take my prize.”

“You lost to a REGULAR?!” His father roared.

“Oh, he’s no regular, Father. The prick hid his ability and attacked me with it, breaking through my guard.” He grunted as he sat down on a trunk. “I doubt even half the ribs on this side are intact.”

“You had better make up for this, boy!” Yamite Senior growled.

“I know. Once I heal, he’s mine.”

“Not with that alter, boy.” Mujo sighed. “If it couldn’t defeat him that time it won’t defeat him later. You’re weak and filled with defects.”

“I don’t care! I’ll get him. He turned on that switch inside me!”

“Well then, because of your determination, allow me to offer to refine you.” Mujo took off his glove as he licked his lips. “If you endure the pain, I will improve your alter right here and now.”

“YES!” He balled his fists. “I’ll do anything! He’s going to get it, I swear! That possum of an Alter user!”

“Yes, that is the spirit! Focus on that anger, that hatred, and let it shape you as I refine your mind!” He thrust his uncovered hand into Yugi’s forehead, not onto, into. They just seemed to meld together as Yugi screamed in pain. “That’s it! The feeling I so love! Oh this satiates my hunger! Quenches my thirst! And in return your Alter will become more powerful than you can imagine!” He yanked out his hand and the boy fell to the floor in a heap.

“Yugi!” His father ran over to him. “What the hell did you do?!”

“Do?” Mujo smiled as he put on his glove again. “I merely improved him. Once his body heals, you’ll find that his Alter’s strength will have grown by order of magnitude. Get him treated for his wounds.” He walked to the door with his hands in his pockets. “I will call on you again soon, I assure you both.”

Koruma looked into the glass of water in front of him as the others looked at him from around the table. He lifted his head to see Rahimi. “I owe you a bed… and an apology.” He sunk his head again. The reflection in the water turned to that of Yugi. “DAMN IT!” The glass flew across the room and shattered.

“Koruma Yuta!” Mimori reprimanded.

“Sorry.” He looked away. “Guess I owe you a new glass too.”

“Koruma….” Rahi sighed, looking on in worry at the depressed boy.

“Koruma, I know it’s really tough on you right now.” Elian looked straight into his eyes. “But you have to tell us what happened. Who attacked your home? Where’s Kanami? Is she dead? If she is, could you tell us where you buried her?”

“Dead? Yeah… she’s… she died in my arms.” He stared at his hands, and brought them into fists. The others winced and looked away. “I was too late. I got there too late!” He gritted his teeth as tears dripped onto his knuckles.

“Who did it? Koruma, tell us. Do you know?” Urizane ground his teeth, trying to keep calm.

“I don’t. When I got there, there was only….” His eyes returned to life. “That’s it!” He raced past them and opened the door.

“What? Koruma, where are you going?!” Mimori gasped as she followed.

“School.”

“School? AH! The kids! They don’t know! I didn’t even get the chance to can-.”

“DON’T CANCEL IT!” Koruma yelled as the ground under his left leg indented. “Don’t cancel classes.” His leg split apart. “Everyone has a right to know.” Platinum rings squeezed it back together. “About the Lost Ground and the Alter.” Green and grey armor coated his leg. “An Alter user killed my mother.” Two wings coalesced on his shoulder blades. “And this Alter user.” Six green feathers sprouted on the wings. “Will avenge her!”

“Koruma, wait!” Elian cried.

He looked over his shoulder. “You wanted to know what happened to my mother, Mr. Elian? Well, here she is.” He stretched his wings out and took off.

“He’s too unstable. He’s a loose cannon right now.” Urizane grimaced.

“Then it’s up to me then.” Rahi ran pel mel towards the boy. “Hitoriga!” Three potholes appeared behind her and the Alter slid beside her, lifting her into the tail with the whips. “Koru-chan!”

“I’ll find him.” He ignored her. “I’ll find him and beat him out of him!”

“Koruma, who are you talking about?” Hitoriga slid up beside him.

“He’ll know. That bastard Yugi!” Rahi’s eyes went wide and Hitoriga tackled the boy. “What the?”

The mass of Alter plummeted to the earth. Rahi jumped off as Hitoriga pinned the boy. “Koru-chan, this isn’t like you! Get a hold of yourself!”

“Damn it, Rahi! Let me go! If he leaves before I get there, it’ll be too late!”

“No! You’re totally out of control!”

“Then you leave me no choice! GRUN!” He flexed his wings, pounding them into the Alter stuck on his back. Kicking away, he coasted along the surface as he righted himself. He took off. “I don’t want to do this to you, Rahimi, but if you’re going to stop me, I’m going to have to disable your Alter!” His toes curled under his feet and the hammer dropped in front. The two outer feathers broke apart and covered Koru’s back with a purplish rainbow energy as he thrust forward. “Tertiary Inferno Gale!”

“I’m sorry too, Koru.” She stared at the pitfalling Alter, timing the descent. “Hitoriga!” The two connected and a dust explosion covered the battlefield.

As it cleared in front of Rahi’s unwavering gaze, in the crater that the impact caused, Hitoriga’s whips were wrapped around Koru’s Alter leg, forcing it into the ground just inches to the side. “Heh!” He swiped his wing at the enemy, giving it a hard blow to the faceplate. What he didn’t see is its arm, slamming into his unguarded side, throwing him away. “Guah!”

The blue and white Alter’s whips wrapped around the boy’s limbs before he could rise, and it rose into the air, using its engine to press the boy further into the dirt so he had no chance of rising a second time. “Koru, you’ve got to open your eyes! You’re just using this as an excuse the get back at Yugi for yesterday!”

“SHUT UP! What the hell do you know?! He was there! He was there and he tried to rape my mother before she died!”

“AH!” Rahimi gasped.

“I hurt him, but I was too mixed up before to do anything else. What would you do, huh?! HUH?! How would you feel?!”

The girl sighed and the whips went limp. “If it were me, I wouldn’t have even left a body, since she’s all I have.” She took him by the arm and lifted him up. “If what you’re saying is true, then if we find him, we find Ms. Yuta’s killer.”

“Yeah. So I have to stop him at school before he leaves!” He slammed his foot down and leapt into the air. Soon the alter he fought with only a few moments ago was by his side. “Rahi?”

“I’m coming with you. Someone has to keep you from going berserk, and it looks like I’m the only one around that can match your Alter.”

“Heh.” He smiled for the first time today. “You’re the only one I’d trust to do it, Rahi.”

s-CRY-ed

s+CRY+ed

In front of the schoolhouse, the children either talked with each other or stared at the door in confusion. “Where are the teachers? They’re both really late.”

“And there’s no note on the door saying school’s canceled.”

“Yeah and I had to walk here, since my Dad was called away.” Boris grumbled as he munched on a slice of Alter pizza.

“Hey guys!” One of the boys rounded the corner. “The tool shed was unlocked. One chair was already done, and one was half finished. Looks like Koruma ditched halfway through.”

“But Koru-kun wouldn’t do that.” A pigtailed girl gripped her hands together. “He’d get majorly in trouble with his mom.”

“Both of the hammers are gone too. I wonder what happened.”

“Do you think we should go? I’m not sure if anyone is coming.”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Boris sat against the shade tree and looked up into the sky. “Umh? Hey guys, here comes Hitoriga.”

“Eh?” The kids turned towards the west, seeing the speck. “Hey, what’s that thing next to it?”

“Let me take a look. Step back guys.” A short black-haired boy cleared a space. “Thor’s Cannon!” An alter anti-aircraft turret appeared in front of him, and he hopped in the seat, getting a bead on them with the sniper scope. “That’s definitely Hitoriga, but I don’t see anyone other than the Class Rep riding it. The other… no… the other looks like Koruma!”

“WHAT?!” Half the class yelled.

“Hey, let me see, Koji.”

“Me too! Koru wasn’t an Alter user.”

“Stop it! Don’t push! We’ll all see in a second, they’re heading right for us!”

Everyone gathered around the shade tree as they approached. Rahi was first on the ground, and Koru was next, touching lightly before folding his wings behind him, looking into the dirt. The world was silent for a moment, before the pigtailed girl spoke again. “It IS Koruma! Koruma has an Alter!”

The kids suddenly crowded him. “Did you have that thing the whole time?”

“What’s it called, say, what’s it called?”

“You were a latent user, it has to be, am I right?”

Hitoriga pulled in front of the boy and its whips smacked the ground in front of them hard. “Stop suffocating him! Can’t you see he’s miserable?!”

The class silenced and backed away. The boy looked to his partner. “Thank you for that.” She just nodded, before he turned to the crowd. “Last night, my mom… she…” He swallowed. “Died.”

Whispers erupted from the crowd that turned into louder conversation quickly. Hitoriga slapped again. “PIPE DOWN, NOW!”

“… She was killed… murdered by an Alter user for no reason. I don’t know who it was, but there’s one person who might. Did anyone see Yugi Yamite today?”

The kids looked to each other, blinking and asking the question to themselves. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him at all today. Have you?”

“No, I figured he wouldn’t show up because of yesterday’s incident.”

“I see.” Koruma sighed. He lifted his head up as two tears ran down his cheeks. “I should have known he wouldn’t show up. I injured him too badly for that.” He slowly walked over to the tree and put his forehead on it.

Rahi reached out her hand towards him, but thought better of it and looked away. Instead, Boris pulled out a Chili Cheese Dog from thin air. “Here. It’s not much, but it makes me feel better when I’m down.”

“I don’t want your food, Boris. I want my Mom back. Unless you can create an Alter body for her and bring her soul back, then no thanks.”

“Koruma….”

“Why didn’t I find out when I first fought him?! DAMN IT!” Koru pounded the tree, and it exploded into atoms. “Huh?!”

“K-Koru, keep your head, you hear me?” Rahi spoke to him quickly.

“It’s not me, I swear!” From beyond the tree came a tall, lanky man in a grey business suit, and a gas mask. “Is this your doing?”

There was no answer from the man as he continued walking forward. “Class Rep, you seen anyone like this before?”

“No…. I don’t like this.” Rahi ran forward a couple of steps in front. “Stop right there!” The masked man halted. “As Class Representative, it is my duty to inform you that you are trespassing on private property. State your name and business immediately.”

The masked man said nothing, and whipped his arm out to his side. From behind him, more of the same man came forward, all lining up together. “There’s seven of them?!” Koruma blinked.

They gripped their opposite wrists and seven hexagonal Alters formed in midair, six with a large almost-comically drawn glove, and one with a large set of long, gnashing teeth. Rahi gasped. “Koji, protect the regulars and non-battle Alters! Everyone else, get ready, these guys want a fight!”

“If it’s a fight they want, then they chose the wrong guy to pick it with!” Koruma drove forward.

“Koru, don’t! You don’t know what they’re….”

“Kuh! Gah! Bwaah!” Three of the hive punches shot out at him, blowing him to the ground.

“Capable of….” She sighed.

“I’ll handle him! It’s high time I finally brought out my alter!” A boy in a leather vest cackled. “Behold Tyranno-Terror!” He stood on the head of a bio-Alter T-Rex and it roared at the enemy, which didn’t even flinch. It stomped forward slowly, reaching down to bite the masked men, but they jumped and dashed out of the way. “Hey! Go faster! Why aren’t you running after them?!”

Rahi facepalmed. “The Tyrannosaurus was a scavenger, not a hunter. Its bulk makes its legs extremely slow.”

“What? But that means….” Four fists rained down upon him.

Hitoriga’s whips were around him in a flash and threw him back to the others. “Boris, heads up!” The fat boy created a giant sponge cake that the boy landed softly in.

“Kngh! Kngh!” Koji winced as he fired round after round from his cannon, trying to hit the floating fists. “They’re too fast!”

“Then we’ll just have to take out the controllers themselves!” Koru was finally back on his feet. He spread his wings and ran forward. “GREEAAAHH!”

“Koru, left high!” Rahimi yelled as a fist came raining down on him.

He kicked off just as the attack hit the ground under him. He turned in midair and dropped his clawed heel on the fist. The Harmonized Alter coasted along the surface as another hit came his way. He tried again, smashing it into the ground, but this time the hand opened up and caught his foot. “What?!”

“KAH!” A girl yelled as a small circular object slammed the fingers holding him, breaking them. “Are you all right, Koru-kun?” The pigtailed girl from before pulled back her weapon, a standard yo-yo with spikes on the end.

The damaged Alter’s user looked at his hand, and the deformed fingers. He mercilessly pulled and popped them until they were set enough to make a fist. Rahi grimaced at the action. ‘It doesn’t make sense. They have to have a reason for attacking us. There’s no damage to the school, so they’re not looking for anything there. They must be after….’ “Rena, back off and help defend the inners!” She yelled to the pigtailed girl. “Koru and I will try and draw them off!” Rahi leapt on Hitoriga and went to cruising speed. “Koruma!” She held her hand out to him.

He grabbed it and lifted off, Hitoriga’s engine going to full burn, dragging them both away at high speeds. Most of the enemy Alters turned towards them, while one was left to pester the kids. “I knew it. Koru-chan, I think they’re after you!”

“What?!”

“They might be in league with the person that killed your mother! You’re alive, so maybe they want you!”

“So what should I do?”

“Don’t fight them.” She let go of his hand and swooped around in front of him. “I’ll protect you!” She gunned forward into the mass of fists. “HaaaAAAHH!” She moved her hands like a conductor in a symphony, wordlessly directing Hitoriga’s whips to attack. Two whips smacked two fists into the ground. Two joined into one in a spiral and pierced the palm of a third. Two more knotted together in a lump and sent the fourth flying.

“Uh? Rahi, above!” Koru raced forward.

She looked up, and the toothy one was about to come down upon her. From the school, a sniper bullet shot it off course. From his chair, Koji smiled. “Heh. Got one.”

“Rahi, you okay?!” Koruma kept closing.

She looked over her shoulder. “No, don’t! Koru, look out!”

“Huh?” He paused, just as a fist slammed into his side, sending him tumbling away. All of the other hands, wounded or not, converged on him in a crushing grip. “KGH!” He winced as the one with teeth began to chomp menacingly at the boy. He tried to get free, but the hands crunched him harder. “AAAGGGH!” He passed out.

“Koru… Koruma!” She dove for him, slamming Hitoriga into one of the hands. One of the others released from the pile and came up to her. “Huh?” It flicked her off her ride. From her freefall, she reached up for Koruma, just as she saw the fanged hexagon open its mouth to lop off his head. “No.”

“INFINITY SIXTEEN HYPERSHOT!” The hands disappeared as seven grunts sounded from the Alter users. On the ground, a giant deformed beast of an Alter galloped forward. The man riding it caught Rahimi in his arms, and the beast’s tongue lashed out and snagged Koruma, rolling his limp body up to it.

Rahi blinked for a moment, her eyes trying to focus. “Do…ctor Ta….” She passed out in his arms.

Chapter 3 Preview: The unknown enemy revealed. The clash in the place of peace. Next time on Scryed Secondary: Asuka Tachibana. Does the haunted past hold the key to the future salvation?

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I had one hell of a time trying to get this battle scene written. Well, I hope it was worth the wait. Read and Review as always.