CHAPTER 48: VOID CITY PART 3
Yutsu smiles faintly and his metal detaches. He spawns and enters a portal, vanishing from the area, and confusing the four.
Maya: What the- he just left!?
Mausho: What a bitch.
Rinka trudges up to them, and they all turn.
Rinka: How's it going?
…
Every skiller fighting takes a second to look at something, in the middle of the area, an opened portal has Yutsu thumbing up out of it.
…
Eivee looks back at the approaching Xika and Osora.
"Ultimate Skill, I'm kind of a robot."
Instantly large amounts of steel embrace his arms, jet engines build on his legs and his eyes shine blue. Xika hurts his testicles, lies down, holds his breath, continuously hits his head against the ground, and then swings his sword. But even with the handicaps, it does nothing to Eivee's steel.
Osora squats down next to Xika.
Osora: I say we skedaddle. We can't deal with some robot guy.
Out of nowhere, Rinka arrives being chased by Minaro and the others, he dodges rays, loose strings, and bullets. Xika and Osora's attention jumps to them.
Rinka: Haha, you guys are really out for me!
Minaro and Mausho strike Rinka at the same time and he blocks. Eivee's engines start, he zooms and slashes Osora's right eye and part of his face open.
Xika gets up, Eivee's steel arm enlarges and extends and he strikes him in the stomach. Rinka continues running, still dodging, not even bothering to look back.
Mausho turns his head.
Mausho: Xika, Osora, come over here!
Next, he leans close to everyone.
"We need to get out of here, let's find our black cat and leave, cuz I've noticed we're not beating these guys." He whispers.
Minaro nods.
"Follow me and attack when I do." He adds.
Osora helps Xika up and they make their way to Mausho, who is signaling them in a puzzling way that Eivee is rushing towards them and that they should turn around and attack, which they fortunately understand.
Rinka finally looks back, he's awestruck upon spotting Mausho and the others lunging to Eivee.
Facing Eivee are bullets from 2 different directions, Xika's attempts to cleave, lasers, a spear of string and Mausho's sparking fist.
He stands still and grins. Xika doesn't harm him, the spear, lasers, and bullets all reflect off of him and back to the group.
Minaro blends into the lasers, Mausho and the others dash out of the way. Rinka suddenly comes down and punches Doa, she blocks but is pushed back into the way of the upcoming onslaught.
Rinka: Run! Run, your life depends on it!
He goes for her, Maya's strings quickly snatch her and take her away.
…
Eivee's eyes lock onto Mausho but right as he prepares to make his way to him, Minaro rushes out of the lasers and punches Eivee in the face.
…
Dynima: It's over for both of you!
Sosa and Iza stand next to each other.
Sosa: Something horrible is happening to our energy, what do we do?
Iza: I don't know. I feel like if I keep going I'll fall asleep.
Dynima rushes ahead but stops because lasers block her way and out of them, pops out Minaro again, this time holding a quasar.
Dynima: Who the hell are you!?
He slams it into Dynima's stomach, tearing some of it open and blasting her back.
Minaro: Both of you start running, we're leaving the city!
Mausho and the others run by, Eivee and Rinka are tailing them, Sosa and Iza start moving.
Sosa: I just wanna say, I'm not sure if Iza and I can run for long. Our energy has been horribly drained!
Mausho stares and thinks.
Mausho: Just run until you can't.
Eivee shoots missiles, causing the group to spread out. He flies forth and slashes Sosa's achilles tendons then spins his blade to slam it into his head, rendering him unconscious.
The whole group is perturbed.
Rinka: Trying to run away is the worst thing you could have done!
Iza: We need to get Sosa!
Mausho: I know.
He turns around and sprints for Sosa. Eivee spins his blade again and slashes Iza's tendons causing her to scream, then he spins the sword again, strikes, and knocks her out as well.
Mausho notices this.
"Fuck… I genuinely don't know what to do in this situation… We can't run from them or beat them."
He lifts Sosa up and from a distance spots Raskan and Shima fighting Panchu.
…
Raskan stares at his watch, "Numb hits" is displayed on it. He looks up and is instantly met by Panchu jumping into him sideways.
"Ultimate Skill, 200 x 200 stomps."
His final skill grants him the ability to instantly deliver 200, 200-pound kicks to one opponent close to him.
Right away, Raskan is walloped to a bloody mess and collapses, Shima dashes by and the same occurs to her.
…
Mausho's face is nothing but anxiousness.
"This is horrible."
He looks around, Xika gets his head hit by Eivee and is knocked out, Rinka and Minaro trade blows while Doa and Maya support.
"We're gonna die."
Mausho is hit by Eivee and left wasted.
Doa: Minaro, all the guardians are going down! We need to get out of here.
Minaro continues fighting but is clearly divided.
…
Everything is now blurry for Defei due to the constant eye strain. He moves around in random directions, hoping to do something.
"This is it for me."
Instantaneously Neishi slams her pole into Defei's head and brings him down, he is unconscious now. Loud sounds can be heard in the distance, Neishi immediately turns and detects Kofron riding over on his guitar, releasing wave after wave, buildings slightly being moved.
Kofron gazes at the floor, spotting all of his wounded peers scattered apart and Minaro, Doa, and Maya being approached by the skillers.
"Oh god, my homies have been beat! What the hell!?"
Kofron attempts to kick his guitar as hard as he can but Neishi zooms ahead and trips him with her pole. She grabs him by his hair as he falls and tosses him down. Once he crashes to the floor, she flies by and strikes him with her pole, now yellow. The electricity shreds through his skin as his body scrapes and skips across the concrete, Kofron is now unconscious as well.
…
At the same time, Zeph is falling from the sky, he's covered in few but noticeable lacerations and is heading down straight to the current conflict.
"... I can't bring out Spike anymore."
Brian speeds down and right before Zeph hits the ground, he catches him, which shocks Zeph.
"Wha-"
Brian lets go, quickly stabs his shoulder with his katana, and punches him in the face, knocking him out. Following, he heads over to the others.
…
Behind wreckage and torn structures, Liz is hiding, watching the current events anxiously. All the skillers move to stand next to each other, while Minaro and his friends are in tense stances, anticipating the worst.
"These skillers are so strong, I need to get in there and heal but if I do they'll definitely… Will they kill me? They didn't kill anyone else, those injuries are bad but they can still be saved… I have noticed they're holding back their full power… This is all too stressful."
…
Maya: Minar-
Eivee slams his sword into her head, instantly leaving her senseless. He turns and hits Minaro who tries to block and avoid but cannot, multiple times, also leaving him senseless. Doa is grabbed by one of Dynima's ghost hands and is held tightly.
Panchu dashes behind a bunch of rubble and grabs Zizin, who yelps as he's tossed onto the ground next to Doa. Panchu goes behind somewhere else and now has Liz who he also tosses.
Zizin starts to cry, Liz stands and Doa is unhanded by the ghost hand.
Zizin: This is the end for us, this is the end for me!
A portal becomes visible behind the skillers which all except Rinka nonchalantly step into and disappear, he giggles.
Rinka: It's just us now.
"What the hell could these guys be planning?" Liz thinks.
Doa looks at her.
Doa: W-what do we do?
Liz: … We need to leave.
Doa: What about the others though?
Liz: We need to leave, but it's hard. I don't want to leave them here. Our friends and the skillers.
Rinka squats and hits the ground playfully.
Rinka: You're lucky I'm letting you talk for this long.
Zizin rises and starts sprinting.
"I don't wanna die."
Moments later, he bumps into Neishi who is leaving another portal, he screams and stumbles.
Neishi: Guardian Zizin, Guardian Liz, and whoever you are… If you try to run away and not fight the foe in front of you. We shall end you.
Liz: Why?
Neishi: Do not ask for our reasons, just know that if you win, you can leave unscathed and with your allies, even the downed ones.
Liz: I don't believe you!
Neishi: Believe us, or we'll end you.
"That's stupid."
Rinka: Come at me!
Neishi steps back into the portal, everyone turns back to Rinka.
"How are we supposed to win this?" Liz thinks while Rinka snickers.
Rinka: Do you feel it? The confusion, the unsureness, the uneasiness!? Tearing apart your heart and brain? I can tell you feel it, you're not sure what's going on, you're scared of what's gonna happen and the only thing you can focus on now is whether or not today will be your last day living!
Rinka walks over to Sosa and steps on his head.
Rinka: The guardians are pathetic! Braindead, incompetent, useless, idiotic, miserable sacks of-
Zizin stands, now visibly angry but still shaking in fear, the thoughts in his head are scrambling.
Zizin: Hey!
Rinka leers at him.
"What can I do - Why did I - I can't - these fucking skills - I'll do whatever - Can't do - born useless - listen - "
Only some of the thoughts in his head were clear to him. They were words from Zeph shared with him some time ago.
"You know the way you're born doesn't determine what you can do right? If being so useless makes you feel like shit, then get better dude, train, fight, work out, get better skills, do whatever you need to do."
Zizin recalls moments he shared with some guardians.
When Zeph and Mausho tried their best to improve him, it was very tough but fun.
When Defei, Raskan, and Kofron took him to a concert, it was an unforgettable night.
When Iza and Shima tried to help him work out and he failed miserably. It was a great and funny day.
When Liz taught him how to cook a fish. He loves fish.
When Xika and Sosa played video games with him all night. It felt like he had two big brothers.
And the most important one of all, when he was first accepted by everyone into the guardians.
…
Zizin: Shut the fuck up! Don't insult the guardians! They're better than you! They'll always be better than you!
Rinka's serious leer and expression switches to a delightful grin.
Rinka: Ha, did I make you mad?
He spits on Sosa's face.
Rinka: Come over here, show me how mad you are with your actions, not words.
Zizin: I will!
Zizin doesn't budge and just continues to tremble, Rinka busts out laughing.
Rinka: So stupid.
His laughter dies, and he looks ahead and dashes, reaching Zizin and punching him in the face. He runs past Doa and Liz in pursuit of him, Zizin hits the ground and slightly bounces up.
"My nose! At least my ass is okay, thanks, bouncing."
His tentacles come out, wriggling confidently.
"I'm gonna fight! But I don't know how to fight!"
Off in the distance, Doa cocks her shotgun and pistol and dashes ahead while Liz runs elsewhere.
…
On the balcony from before, all the skillers are there, observing the fight below.
Panchu: What are we anticipating to happen?
Yutsu: Honestly, I'm not sure, there's a few things that could happen, just know that in the end, we'll most likely have to go back down.
Dynima: … Are you sure the kamus are going to enjoy this?
Yutsu: The way we made this battle happen was a bit boring but the kamus don't care how it starts or ends, they just want some good action.
Eivee: Let's hope it's delivered then.
….
Rinka swings his fist and to Zizin's surprise, his tentacles quickly snag onto it and heave Rinka far away.
Zizin: Woah.
One tentacle pinches his face and points to Zeph's body.
Zizin: What? What about him?
The tentacle repeats an action, attempting to get Zizin to go over to the body by pointing, which he eventually does.
Zizin: What do you want?
The tentacle grabs his arm, pulls it, and places it over Zeph's forehead. Zizin's eyes widen, a feeling of power sparks in him. Rinka arrives, and immediately, a monster similar to Zeph's rushes out of the ground towards him, prompting him to jump.
"How was I able to take his skill? I don't think he's dreaming, he's unconscious, not sleeping."
The tentacle points at Defei now and Zizin makes his way over him, again placing his hand upon his head causing another surge of power. He turns to Rinka, who stabs the monster but it doesn't disappear, he stabs it more and it continues to exist.
Rinka: This damn thing won't die!
Zizin shows his palm and several thin streams of hot water shoot out. Rinka notices it and avoids it but the water streams swiftly turn and hit him, pushing enough to get smacked by the monster's tail.
"Holy, I'm actually doing something!"
Out of nowhere, a tentacle slaps Zizin's head really hard and scrambles his brain. Instantaneously, he learns brand new info on every skill he has.
…
Zizin has 4 skills, here are what they actually are and their real names.
Skill 1, Omnitacles, the 2 tentacles that spawn out of his body are insanely strong and smart. They are also a little bipolar but try their best to stay confident and protect and guide Zizin towards success.
Skill 2, Skill Sapping Metamorphosis, the one ability Zizin had mistaken for being able to steal the powers of those sleeping, instead is the ability to take skills from people whose eyes are closed, and the skill he takes will be a stronger, better version than the former.
Skill 3, Ultra Bounciness, he can make any part of skin bouncy, extremely bouncy.
His last skill is the volcano erupting, there is no need to inform you of it again. That skill is truly dead weight.
…
"Woah, thanks tentacles … You know what, I'm giving you things a name … Pulps, I'm calling you pulps… Thanks for the slap and the info… This is all really surprising… Maybe, I'm not as useless as I thought I was."
The monster swings its arms, Rinka jumps over it and launches a knife at its eye, finally causing it to fade away. Doa arrives and fires her pistol at him, Rinka turns, avoids, and punches the pistol out of her hand.
Zizin is looking around, inspecting the bodies of his friends.
"Should I get Mausho's skills? Maybe Iza's? Wait, Raskan! If I get his skill I'll have a bunch of them. But do I need a watch? Shit! I might need a watch!
Doa activates her ultimate skill and quickly uses her shotgun. At the same time, Rinka's armor is summoned which protects him, and he manages to punch through her weapon and hit her in the face. Zizin turns because of the sounds.
"Ah! I have no time to choose, I have to help that girl out!
Zizin and Rinka run to each other, the void on him flares violently. He releases a barrage of punches on Zizin which the tentacles manage to counter with their own barrage of slaps.
Rinka: Haha! Those things can keep up with me!
In due course, the tentacles are able to stick themselves to one of his hands, Rinka releases his black shockwave to stop any further action from them. As Zizin is launched back, he shoots more water.
…
Inside the void, Nunda is breathing heavily, running away from everyone.
Rinka: Stop running! You asshole!
Nunda chuckles lightly.
Nunda: If you stop chasing me, I'll stop!
At that moment, he senses two strong presences, one is running at a medium pace, and the other is rushing towards him. Rinka stops running, his face of stern unsureness switches to being extremely annoyed.
Nunda: 2 more void-using fuckwadds. Great.
Bom, a guy with long brown hair covering one of his eyes wearing gray and brown kind of square-shaped armor, stands stiffly in the distance. His eyes are blue and black.
And -
Shania, a woman wearing purple witch clothes walks up. She has long dark pink sharp hair also covering one of her eyes and with some lighter pink mixed in. Her eyes are green and rosy.
"You were right, Bom, Mazu is here!" The woman exclaims.
Rinka turns and continues running.
Mazu: Bom, Shania, follow that guy!
The chase continues.
Mazu: What are you two doing here?
Shania: We sensed you fighting and we were like, huh, wonder what she could be fighting, maybe she needs help! So we came to check!
Mazu: Thanks for coming. We're beating up that guy, he's a body-stealing asshole.
…
Liz begins to heal Doa, who is kneeling.
Doa: Thank you.
Rinka's void armor protects him from the incoming water.
"I'm definitely going to lose control again."
His stamina is running low.
"I guess I should leave as much damage as I can. Void Form 400%"
Void erupts out of his body and ultimately stabilizes. Zizin quickly shoots water out of his feet and clumsily zooms towards him. Rinka catches him and slams him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
Rinka: Hope ya enjoyed your moment! The guardians are pathetic bitches, go join em!
Rinka clobbers Zizin in the face, instantly fracturing his skull. He turns and spots Doa rising after being somewhat healed by Liz.
Doa: ... I don't think we can win this.
Liz: … We probably can't, but there's nothing we can do about this.
Doa takes a deep breath and sprints ahead.
…
Returning to the void, Nunda is still running but has been getting slower and slower.
"Fuck it, I'll use whatever I have left to hurt them."
He turns.
Mazu: ¡Muere culero!
She kicks him, Bom uppercuts him, Shania slaps him, Rinka hits his stomach, Imma-Ite kicks his side and Sumairu strikes his shoulder.
"... This is the most tired I've been in a long time but I have to keep going!"
Nunda retaliates but continues to be hit.
"I'm starting to lose control… FUCK!"
…
Rinka is fatigued, his head hangs low and he is looking at Doa approaching him.
Rinka: Wow, you're still here, even if you can't run, I would have guessed you would.
Doa: You told me not to run, so I'm not going to.
Rinka: Heh, you're stupid.
She moves and punches him in the face. He continues looking at her after the impact, now extremely agitated.
"... For some reason, before I lose control, I wanna kill this girl, I wanna destroy her!"
Rinka: Try to stay alive!
" Void Form, 700%."
The void on Rinka flares more and he gasps intensely.
"It feels like my lungs are going to burst!"
He dashes and sends out an onslaught of punches at Doa which she attempts to block but her guard is broken. She's overwhelmed and hit all over and with each strike, blood sprays into the air.
"This is the only life I'll claim today! No one should mind."
Doa vomits blood then chokes and coughs because of it, Rinka grabs her by the hair and slams his knee into her face.
Liz starts running to them.
"He's gonna kill her!"
…
On the balcony, the skillers are still watching patiently.
Dynima: He's gonna kill that girl… Is that okay?
Eivee: I thought no one was supposed to die… Yutsu?
Yutsu: … She's not a guardian, so it should be okay, maybe it'll even give Rinka and Minaro a reason to get even stronger?
…
All of Doa's face is broken, her tears are mixing into her blood, and Rinka continues to ruthlessly beat her.
"I'm going to leave this girl as a pile of fuckin mush."
Doa tries to muster some strength to run away but cannot.
"I'm going to die… I'm really gonna… Die."
Liz: Stop hitting her, you deranged asshole!
Rinka: Hey! Get the hell out of here!
Liz arrives and attempts to hit Rinka.
"Void Form 1000%"
He stops hitting Doa and punches the air, a giant void fist rushes out and slams into Liz, it takes her very far away.
…
In the void, Nunda is being jumped by everyone.
Rinka seizes the opportunity to move away and starts to try to retake his body but before he can, Nunda grips his leg tightly.
"I'm not done up there so you're not leaving yet!"
Rinka stomps on his arm but he continues holding on. So Rinka just breaks his fingers and kicks him in the face.
Rinka: Get the hell off of me.
Rinka looks up, he's quickly lifted into the air and the colors of the world begin to show.
Nunda: GET BACK DOWN HERE, BITCH!
Rinka hovers in place being held back by Nunda's neverending will. Everyone is still hitting him.
Imma-Ite: How is this guy still going!?
Bom: He must have some insane stamina.
Rinka exerts intense energy trying to break free from Nunda.
…
The void on Rinka is fading away, he turns back to Doa, she sniffles while trying her hardest to stay standing.
Rinka: Still standing, huh?
He starts to make his way over to her.
Rinka: Your buddy is trying to get his body back, can you survive till he does?
Doa eye's light up.
"Rinka…?"
Rinka: I'm just kidding, your friend is never going to get his body back. And if he ever does, you won't be alive to see it.
…
Younger Doa wakes up, she's lying on some grass next to a large tree with tons of overgrown roots. Heavy rain is pouring down so she moves underneath the tree where she sits on a root and watches everything get wet.
Older Doa is in the distance watching her.
"I was a kid, kids are supposed to be feeling love, yet all I knew was suffering. All I knew was bad. Every day, I was in pain, clueless as to what was going on… despite all of that, I'm here, I'm still alive."
Younger Doa shivers, Older Doa reaches her and embraces her.
"Younger me wanted to stay alive, so I'll make her proud."
…
"Come back, Rinka."
Rinka lunges forward, Doa lifts her arm up and instead of putting her fingers in a pistol formation like she usually does. She uses 3 fingers as the tip of the gun and her other 2 fingers as the trigger. Making a shotgun with her hand.
Immediately magical bullets fly out that hit Rinka and severely blast him back.
"Rinka, come back."
…
There are a couple of more ways to gain or improve skills in this world, very rare ways but they are there nonetheless.
Doa just experienced one.
"Skill Evolution" is a phenomenon where someone's skill will evolve, granting it an extra feature or making it stronger, more tactical.
Skilleontologists claim that it rarely occurs and only when strong feelings are present.
…
Doa's arm trembles, she shoots again and Rinka is flicked in the shoulder.
Rinka: Haaaa! You can't stop me.
Her legs give in and while she kneels, Rinka kicks her down. He stands over her and the void wraps around him as he prepares to do a devastating slam.
…
In the void, Rinka continues to struggle against Nunda's command. Nunda yells in incomprehensible agony.
Mazu: ¡Cállate!
Mazu stomps on his head, Imma-Ite punches his back.
Imma-Ite: This guy won't give up, goddammit!
The pressure of the energy Nunda is exerting starts pulling Rinka's hair, skin, and body back. It looks as if he's being hit by thousands of gusts of wind.
"Please! I want my body back!"
Nunda: Rinka! I'm never letting you up! Fuck youuuuu!
…
Rinka decides not to do a slam and squats down instead. He grabs Doa's palm and quickly pushes it back until it breaks. She lets out a cry of misery.
Rinka: I almost forgot to give you my last goodbyes.
He slowly goes for her other palm, she immediately reacts and makes that one into a shotgun and fires. At such a close range, it brings Rinka to his knees, and blood spills from his face and neck.
Rinka: You bitch!
Doa's arm plops onto the floor.
"Rinka… come back."
Rinka stands and steps on her neck, slowly scratching his foot against it. Afterward, he lifts his hands into the air and puts them into a slam position.
"I'm sorry, little me, I really tried."
Rinka aggressively slams his fist into Doa's face repeatedly. After the 4th slam, with her last ounce of energy, Doa makes another shotgun while Rinka is focused on mutilating her face.
She promptly shoots the side of his head and blasts him away. A moment later, he rises again.
Rinka: Die already!
Doa closes her eyes.
"Please Rinka, come back."
Rinka takes one step before freezing in place, he yells angrily then his head slumps.
The amount of damage Nunda could take before finally giving in to his fatigue had been reached and it was thanks to that final shotgun attack from Doa.
…
In the void, Nunda continues to yell and move crazily, Mazu breaks his arm.
Mazu: Shut up already!
Bom breaks his spine.
Bom: He sure loves yelling.
Nunda: I'LL COME BACK AND I'LL TORMENT YOU-
Imma-Ite kicks him in the face, at last knocking him out.
Imma-Ite: … Hell yeah! He's out cold!
Shania: Yay!
Rinka feels the pressure around him soften immensely.
Rinka: Thank you, everyone!
He zooms up and disappears into the darkness.
…
His body blinks, Rinka is back in control.
"I'm back, holy shit!"
He looks around, his happy attitude quickly ceases to exist and his heart instantly drops upon noticing Doa, soaked in blood.
"What the fuck."
Next, he spots the guardians.
"What the fuck!?"
He looks at his hands, blood drips from them.
"Oh god, what the fuck."
He manages to catch a glimpse of Minaro and Maya, and memories of his dead family rapidly flash in his head.
"No! No! What the fuck!?"
A portal opens up near Rinka and Dynima steps out of it, catching his attention.
Dynima: What did you do!? What happened to everyone!?
Rinka: I- I didn't do this I swear!
Eivee steps out next.
Eivee: We saw you do it pal.
Rinka: N- no I didn't do this! Someone took control of my body! They did it!
Dynima: You sound crazy! Stop lying!
Rinka starts to cry and Liz returns to the scene, she is shifting behind rubble.
"The kid is back and they're taking advantage of him! Those assholes!
She ponders for a moment.
"What are they even trying to do?.. What do we even do? This whole thing is outrageous!"
Dynima tugs at Rinka's hoodie.
Dynima: Get up! We're taking you away, not only did you hurt our peers but you've killed hundreds of people!
Rinka: W- what? Please, I wasn't in control of my body, I have the void! Nunda was in my body!
Dynima: Quiet down already!
Suddenly a small rock flies through the air and hits Dynima's forehead, causing her to be even angrier.
Dynima: Who did that, we'll arrest you too!
Liz sprints out of the rubble.
Liz: Rinka! Get up! You did nothing wrong, those are skillers! They hurt everyone!
He stares at them and sniffles.
Dynima: Get out of here, you're a lunatic too!
Liz: We need to get out of here, Rinka! I can still heal everyone, even your friends!
Rinka quickly stands and jumps back.
Rinka: I remember your voice, we spoke on the phone.
Dynima: Ugh, the jig is up I guess.
Dynima and Eivee spawn their weapons.
"I knew these guys were lying, no way they were gonna let us leave." Liz thinks.
Rinka: … So what's going on?
Liz: We've been trying to find a black cat. So we can get the hell out of here! But we haven't been able to find it.
Rinka: Oh.
Liz: Can you fend off the skillers until I can find him?
Rinka: … I'll try.
Liz runs off while yelling out Bukkaru's name.
Dynima: Eh, we'll let her leave.
Lightning strikes, Rinka emerges and kicks Dynima in the face. Eivee attacks, lightning strikes and he's also hit.
Eivee: Damn, that's fast.
Dynima: Hey, that guardian said you didn't do anything, but you kinda did, right? Had you gotten here sooner, I think some of this could have been prevented.
Rinka: I know.
"It's been in the back of my head. If I could have beaten Nunda by myself, everything would be much better."
More images of his dead family and now his hurt friends are flashing in his head.
"It's this fear of death, not even my own, just everything about it, it brings me down and I know it does."
"My fear of death weakens me, I try to forget about it, but it always lurks in the back of my mind."
Rinka recalls some other memories.
…
Every time he's fought in the past, he's avoided killing his opponent, just so he wouldn't have to see death.
One time when he was 14, he was taking a shower and out of nowhere, had an existential crisis.
"One day, I'm gonna die and they're going to put me in a casket. I'll never see the world again? I'll never think or feel again?"
A year later, now in Minaro's shower, he's weeping.
"Death is horrible… I hate it, why do we die?"
…
Rinka picks up some broken glass and holds it like a blade.
"I'm going to get rid of my fear, It's the reason my situation is so fucked up. I need to try and face death head-on."
Lightning strikes, Rinka almost stabs Eivee's neck with the glass but he breaks it with his sword.
"I already know where we go when we die, It's not that bad."
…
Bukkaru spots Liz and jumps to her, meowing a bunch.
"Hey, how's it going?"
Liz: Follow me!
"What? What's going on."
Liz: Just follow me! We need you!
"Okay!"
They begin moving.
"Tell me what's going on though."
Liz: Everyone is injured and we've been looking for you to get us the hell out of here! Why didn't you stick with us!?
"Hey! I was sleeping, you tired me out by making me teleport everyone."
…
Rinka continues to zap around, attacking and avoiding. A few seconds later, Bukkaru and Liz show up, with Bukkaru looking very concerned.
"Oh god!"
Liz: Teleport everyone out of here, to Koyai forest, about 17 miles away from its exact entrance!
"... Okay!"
The entire area is quickly engulfed in a purple ball and once it fades away, everyone except the skillers is gone.
They look around blankly.
Eivee: … They left.
Dynima: … I guess we're done here.
TO BE CONTINUED…