Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 55: Bad Luck in Play
It's a standoff.
I lock eyes with Integra.
Integra meets my gaze, unwavering.
Momoyo glances at Integra, her expression unreadable.
Seras shifts her gaze to Momoyo, her body tense.
Integra then turns her attention to Momoyo, her eyes sharp and calculating.
Alucard, however, is looking directly at me, her gaze intense.
Wait... what?
I blink, startled, and turn to find Alucard standing next to me, a frown etched across her face.
"What did you do?" Alucard asks, her voice cold and unwavering, causing the others to freeze in surprise as they witness her materialize out of thin air. "I've been trying to find you for a while now. Whatever you did has made it impossible for me to locate you. It's only because I got bored that I started following Integra. Lucky for me, I found you. So answer me—what did you do? In fact, you even made this girl here impossible to sense, just like you." She gestures toward Momoyo.
"I did something to make it impossible for anyone to detect me normally." I smirk, watching as Alucard narrows her eyes at me, clearly intrigued.
"Is that so...?" Alucard says slowly, her gaze piercing and thoughtful.
"M-Master?" Seras glances at Alucard, her voice filled with uncertainty.
"Quiet." Alucard snaps, causing Seras to flinch. Then, her gaze turns back to me, sharp and unyielding. "Another thing... Why haven't you summoned me at all?"
"What do you mean by that?" I raise an eyebrow, confused by the question.
"Why haven't you summoned me to fight your battles?!" Alucard's voice rises, her eyebrow twitching with frustration. "I made a contract with you, knowing full well you'd be in countless troubles. And yet... You have not once summoned me to fight your battle! In fact, you forced me to stand by and watch you fight instead! Don't think I've forgotten that I should've fought Momoyo here, not you!"
Her words are laced with irritation and a sense of betrayal, as if my decision to handle things on my own had crossed some invisible line.
"Because I felt like it." I smirk at Alucard, watching her take a step back, her frown deepening as her gaze locks onto mine.
"You've changed..." Alucard says slowly, her voice laced with a hint of unease. "Your eyes... they contain madness."
The smirk fades from my face, replaced by a hard frown as I process her words.
"Is that so..." I mutter, cracking my neck as I glance up at the ceiling. A whirlwind of thoughts rushes through my mind, each darker and more unsettling than the last. None of which is good.
I knew it was too good to be true—becoming a Triple-Pathways Beyonder, even with the help of a Seifrot.
I remove the Door Pathway, and instantly, I feel myself relaxing, the tension leaving my body.
Shit.
Now, with my head feeling a bit clearer, I can't help but reflect on the actions I've taken. I'm amazed at how reckless I've been in the past. But at the same time, I know I need all the help I can get, especially considering the deadly futures I've glimpsed through Computational Divination.
After thinking about it further, I equip the Door Pathway again. I need the edge of being a Triple-Pathways Beyonder, especially compared to just being a Double-Pathways Beyonder. Or at least, that's the case for now, at Sequence 9.
I feel the slight changes I hadn't noticed until now.
A sudden idea pops into my mind. What would happen if I were to equip all the Pathways at once?
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Alucard shouts, her voice snapping me out of my inner thoughts. "Don't think that staying quiet will steer the problems away."
"Hm." I glance at Alucard, then shift my attention to Integra, who's staring at me with a frown, her eyes narrowed.
Alucard throws a punch at Momoyo, who, in response, quickly returns a punch of her own. The two clash, their fists meeting with such force that a shockwave erupts through the school infirmary, shaking everything around them.
Seras instantly appears in front of Integra, who has a revolver drawn, aimed directly at me.
What the hell?!
However, my Spirituality doesn't trigger, leaving me unsure if Integra is truly planning to pull the trigger or if something else is at play. The uncertainty gnaws at me, making the situation even more tense.
I flick my left hand, sending milky mist-shrouded wires flying straight at Seras and Integra. As expected, Integra fires at me, but the wires slice through the bullet midair, disintegrating it before it can reach me. Without missing a beat, I charge at the two, ducking low as Seras moves with inhuman speed and strength, striking at me faster than the average human could ever hope to detect.
I duck down, reach out, and grab her belt, quickly wrapping it around her arms and tightening it. With a swift kick to the side of her heel, I knock her off her feet, sending her flying toward the clashing Momoyo and Alucard.
Appearing directly in front of Integra, I see her flinch, quickly readjusting her revolver toward me. In an instant, I snatch it from her hand, disarming her with ease, and pistol-whip her head with just the right amount of force to knock her out cold.
I flip the revolver in my hand and aim it at Seras, firing a shot directly at her left kneecap. She slams into the ground, her momentum halted, just as she attempts to rush at me again after barely escaping the chaos between Momoyo and Alucard.
Milky mist-shrouded wires materialize around Integra's body, swiftly wrapping her up to prevent any movement and ensuring she'll be unable to fight back once she wakes up.
I take a few measured steps toward Seras, spinning on my heel and landing a sharp kick to the side of her head. The force sends her crashing into a nearby cabinet, leaving a dent as her head imprints into the wood.
Of course, that wasn't enough to take down Seras—she's tougher than that. But it's all I need for now. I rush over to redirect Momoyo's incoming punch to the side, effortlessly sidestepping it, while I slap Alucard's left hand, now transformed into a blood-red claw. I make sure to avoid any direct skin contact with it, as my Spirituality warns me to stay clear of the blood's touch.
"Hey, what's the big idea, Chikao?!" Momoyo scowls, glaring at me with growing frustration.
"Get out of the way. This is between me and her." Alucard's eyes glow with an eerie light, and the shadow around her deepens, making the room darker as most of the lights are sucked into the growing darkness. "She is a problem that needs to be dealt with."
"Yeah? Come at me, bitch!" Momoyo snarls at Alucard, the words slipping out in a defiant growl. My right eyebrow twitches in mild surprise.
I'm pretty sure canon Momoyo doesn't even curse or use bad slang like that.
"Gladly!" Alucard growls in response, her voice low and threatening. From her left arm, a massive black dog emerges, its form surrounded by a red outline, its body covered in multiple eyes that seem to stare in all directions.
Both Alucard and Momoyo charge at each other, but before they can make contact, an ordinary-looking single glove materializes on my right hand. In an instant, both of them freeze in place as I use Error's Uniqueness to Steal their thoughts, gaining control over their minds, if only for a moment.
Quickly, I wrap them up in the wires, using the momentary advantage to transfer all my exhaustion into them, draining their energy in return for mine.
Next, I move toward Seras, landing a punch to the back of her head with a force so strong that my right hand aches slightly. The blow knocks her out cold. Before the three seconds are up, I stow away the Error's Uniqueness, knowing I need to act fast.
In the process, I also transfer the lingering pain to Alucard, using the Immortality Marble Glove to share the burden with her.
I take a deep breath, my eyes scanning the chaos around me. The beds are in ruins, with shattered debris scattered across the room. The windows are smashed, and many of the medicines inside the cabinets are broken beyond repair—most are beyond saving, requiring a full replacement.
My right eyebrow twitches again as I notice the glaring giant gap in the ceiling, a fresh wound in the otherwise sterile environment.
Overall, the school infirmary is now completely unusable, and the day isn't even over yet. To make matters worse, it's only the first official day on the job—technically, it's the second, but today marks the real start.
I let out a sigh, scratching the top of my head in frustration.
"I thought my luck turned out good after temporarily stealing away Fates, but it seems my natural luck is just plain bad." I mutter aloud, voicing my frustration.
I continue scanning the room, then find myself wondering who's going to clean up all this mess—restocking the medicines, fixing everything that's broken. Hell, even the beds might need replacing, considering how most of them have been shredded beyond repair.
My gaze shifts to Momoyo, who's glaring at Alucard, who returns the stare with equal intensity. Neither of them makes a move to struggle free from the wires; they've likely tried, only to realize it's impossible to break free.
I shift the burden onto Alucard, making sure she feels the weight of it all to prevent her from facing Momoyo. I focus particularly on the burden of being forced to stay still, making it impossible for her to use her powers to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. On top of that, I transfer my own urge to call it quits, the overwhelming desire to take a long nap, letting her bear that weight as well.
I suppress the urge to head to the local gas station and drown my frustration in alcohol. The thought of numbing the headache and stress is tempting, but I know better than to indulge, not in my current state.
I frown, the weight of another problem settling on my shoulders. Besides keeping these two from starting another fight, I have no idea what to do next. I doubt Rion and Sakamoto have a solution to this mess.
Speaking of Sakamoto, I glance over at Integra, my mind spinning with questions.
How did she manage to get here without being stopped by Sakamoto? And who's allowing Integra to move so freely in this school, especially when so many powerful factions are keeping tabs on the place? Integra shouldn't be able to appear here at all—not even with Seras' help.
It would be a great thing if I could head to the Sefirah Castle to use Computational Divination to get the answer, but right now, it's impossible. Not the best place nor time to perform the ritual needed to enter the Sefirah Castle.
Either way, today is going to be filled with troublesome problems. Whether it's the factions lurking in the background, clearly planning to stir up trouble, or the looming threat of Momoyo's family coming down on me and bombarding me with questions. Then, there's Alucard—her usual self is nowhere to be found, and her moodiness only makes everything worse.
I just can't catch a break.