Chapter 26

STOMP* STOMP*

Yuji continues to run faster and faster, as the sound of the Archdemon's footsteps did not seem to get farther from him.

"It's not fading..." Yuji said as he starts gasping.

"And please let me be wrong... but the sound seems like..."

Yuji looked behind him.

His eyes suddenly shrunk, as shivers went down his spine, giving him more pressure than what he had before, as he noticed the massive creature which was running like a gorilla, getting closer and closer to him.

Yuji looks back in front with a terrified expression on his face, as his chest tightens up making it harder to breathe.

"It's... gonna kill me..."

"I'm... going to die..."

As he kept running and running, his vision starts to darken slowly.

Filled with despair and fear, Yuji looked at Elizabeth's face, as he was barely able to breathe.

Suddenly, he was reminded of multiple times his life could have been in danger, he remembers how it was like living an everyday life full of danger.

Suddenly, a memory flashes from Yuji's eyes.

Sob* sob*

A coffin in the middle-end of the area.

People in black everywhere.

And Yuji, in a corner, looking down on the floor, trying to stop his tears from coming out of his eyes.

Erina approaches Yuji, wearing an all-black dress.

"Yuji..." she said.

"I'm... ok..." Yuji replied.

Erina leaned against the wall beside Yuji, observing him carefully.

"Mr. Yuji, I presume?" a what seemed to be a soldier stood in front of them, with an all-black suit and a black beret on top of his head.

Yuji looks up and looked at the person, as he stayed silent.

"Ms. Akane... was a great person..." the soldier said, "She was a great comrade, a great friend... and possibly... a great mother...".

"The best..." Yuji said, with a teary voice as he struggles not to cry.

The soldier smiled.

"There's a message for you that Ms. Akane wanted to give you... if ever this situation happened..." The soldier said.

"What is it?" Yuji asked.

"Always look up and Live," the soldier said.

Yuji and Erina stayed silent.

The soldier continued, "To live you must survive, and to survive you must have a strong desire to live! because living and surviving are two different things that need one another..."

Yuji chuckles after hearing the whole speech.

Erina's eyes enlarged, seeing Yuji smiling after hearing the speech that put her in confusion.

"That woman... always got something to say..." Yuji said in a laughing tone.

"To live is to survive... and to survive... you must desire to live..." Yuji whispered.

"I don't quite get it... but it totally feels like it shouldn't come from a dead person you know..." Yuji thought as he stared at the picture above the coffin.

Suddenly, Yuji goes back to reality, as he inhaled a huge amount of air.

Yuji shook his head as he tries to focus.

"Dang it... my life is flashing before my eyes..."

"But... somehow I feel calmer..."

As he stared at Elizabeth's face he remembered.

"I still have a promise to grant... and you told me to live too..."

"Living and surviving are two different things..."

He suddenly remembers the people he has been with so far.

"I... want to apologize to your sister... and thank her..."

"I... want to see... if they all made it back ok..."

Suddenly regaining composure, Yuji looked in front of him with a focused expressionless face.

"I... don't want to die..."

"I'm... not gonna die!"

Yuji's eyes glowed bright red, as he looks carefully at his situation.

"I can't lose the Akuma by just running... I have to shake things up!".

Yuji looks around and saw a tall building that seemed to be an apartment building.

"It's tall... but most importantly it's thick!"

Yuji dashed to the building door and barges through.

Yuji ran quickly to the very far end of the building and stopped right beside a large window.

Yuji then quickly inhaled a massive amount of air, as if he was suffocating.

He began panting as he kept standing straight looking up.

"Damn... it feels like... I'm slowly drowning as I force myself,".

CRASH*

The front of the building began to collapse as a massive hand crushed the entrance.

"Heh... I knew it..." Yuji said as he continues to pant.

"This place at least gave me time to breathe, " Yuji thought as he glances at Elizabeth's purse.

Yuji was suddenly curious and opened the purse.

"This is... the syringes,"

"So, she put two of those in here..."

CRASH*

The middle part of the building started to collapse, being followed by the rest of the building.

Yuji closed the purse and went back to being focused, as he jumped out the building window.

Right as he jumped out, a tall Akuma with a bat-like hand stood in front of them.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE..."

SMACK*

The Akumas swing sends Yuji flying across the area, as he held Elizabeth tightly.

Rolling on the ground, he quickly used the force from the impact as momentum to get up, dropping Elizabeth.

"Hehe..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"Thanks for the boost!" Yuji shouted as he picked up Elizabeth and continued to run in the direction where the Akuma sent them.

"Damn, that hurts... but this is a chance!"

"I might be able to get away from that archdemon from this distance!"

The archdemon stood still, as it looked directly at Yuji, running away from a far distance.

"The ground isn't shaking... it's not following me?"

The Akuma opened its mouth, slowly getting wider and wider.

Yuji looked behind him to see what was going on.

"What the...?"

Yuji thought as he continues to run with the intense feeling of anxiety.

"What's... this..."

"I'm this distant from it... but..."

"Why do I... feel like this is bad,"

Suddenly a large sharp needle-like object came out of the Akumas mouth, and like a bullet, it quickly made its way toward Yuji.

STAB*

The needle pierced his back shoulder, sticking inside, unable to pierce through.

Yuji loses balance, falling to the ground and rolling forward as he lets go of Elizabeth.

Yuji stopped rolling, and from a distance he could see Elizabeth's body, laying in front of him.

"What... the hell!?"

Yuji kneeled as he tried to stand up, then suddenly.

His heart began to pound hard, his whole body shivered, as his heart rate was going faster and faster, as if his body was warning him about something dangerous.

Yuji looked at the large needle-like object stuck in his back, he felt that the danger his body is signaling was the malicious object which stabbed him.

Yuji quickly removed the needle-like object from his back, then suddenly.

"AAAAAAHHHHH"

Yuji shouted from the intense pain.

The archdemon stood still from a distance not going after him.

The Akumas around the area started to slowly walk over to Yuji.

"AAGHH" Yuji groaned, bowing to the ground.

His chest tightened as his heart began to beat very slowly, yet every beat was a heavy pound vibrating all over his body as if his heart was about to explode.

Yuji's eyes began to glow with fading light, as Yuji tries to endure his situation.

"Have I... been injected by that thing?" Yuji thought.

"Is that needle... something to transform people?"

" If that isn't the case... then I don't know... what the hell is this feeling!"

Yuji looks at Elizabeth as he was starting to gasp.

Instinctively, Yuji struggled to crawl over to Elizabeth, with one shivering hand as his other hand was holding his chest tightly.

"It's... painful to move... But... why am I..."

Yuji notices the purse on top of Elizabeth, "Huh?"

Yuji recalls what Elizabeth said, "If you plan on being bitten... then please inject yourself right after... for safety,"

Yuji started to gasp harder, as he was struggling to breathe, his vision started fading as everything seemed to get darker and darker.

Then, he made it to Elizabeth.

Yuji quickly grabbed the purse and grabbed the syringe inside, as if he was a man thirsting for water long after a walk in the desert.

Yuji held the syringe and injected himself at the opposite shoulder from where the needle-like object came from.

Suddenly flashes of unfamiliar memory appeared in Yuji's head.

"Aw," a deep voice groaned, as the person gets injected with a syringe.

"That... wasn't my voice..." Yuji thought as he looks from the perspective of the said person.

A white area, people in lab coats walking around everywhere.

A person in a lab coat wrote down notes, sitting in front of him.

"Is this all doc?" the man with the deep voice said, "I'm gonna be able to help my family, right?"

"Yes," the doctor replied.

"We just have to inject this to you every day, and you'll see the effects," the doctor said as he picked up an odd-looking syringe from the table beside him and showed it to the person.

Suddenly Yuji went back to reality, as he breathes a massive amount of air.

"Once again... I felt like drowning!" Yuji thought as he gasps.

"What... did I just see...".

Yuji stood up and sees numerous Akumas walking toward him, as the Archdemon made a deep growl from a far distance, it then began to slowly walk over to him.

"I'm... feeling fine again... then!"

Yuji looks behind him and notices that there aren't any more roads.

"There's only a large building behind me..."

"And from the looks of it... I don't know if it will have an exit behind it..."

Yuji assessed his situation thoroughly and looks for the best way to get out of the situation.

"Now that the pain is gone, I should try to be calm even in this situation..."

"Not just that... somehow… I think my body is lighter..."

After looking around the area, Yuji reached a conclusion.

"Even after that..."

"I'm Fucked..."

"The buildings around are too narrow, and if there is at least one Akuma inside..."

Suddenly numerous Akumas came out of the buildings around him from all directions, "Well... that just made it worse..."

"Am I... really going to have to fight my way through...?"

Yuji took a deep breath, preparing for the worst possible situation.

"IN THAT CASE!"

SLASH*

Suddenly a long metal spear ran around the area near Yuji, piercing every head of the Akumas near him.

"HUH!?" taking him by surprise.

Crash*

Suddenly, a girl with long silky hair came falling from the sky and grabbed the floating spear that was flying around the area.

"Let's get out of here," said Yukina.