The Bellators

1:5:2

As the Tempest attempts to grab Agil, holding him back from pursuing the battered Kokei, Victor kicks the Tempest hard in the abdomen, causing his body to coil forwards and let out a pained gasp of air. He watches as Agil leaves the kitchen, out of his range, left to deal with Victor while Kokei was vulnerable.

Victor continues to kick the Tempest, and past the table along the left side relative to them, all of the seats at the dining table are to be empty, as the table is entirely abandoned with the batches of cupcakes left on the table untaken. None of the three guests were seated.

In the far gray room, Kokei's body lays against the shelves, not having moved after Rohan left. Her pink eyes are partly open, noticeably disoriented, as dark red blood is dried on her white cupcake hoodie. Nearby, the sound of grunting and yelling follows loud bangs and booms, as though a war was being fought inside the relatively small house.

From the other side of the room, a man approaches the beaten Kokei, vulnerable with the Tempest and Artificer dealing with their own threats. The man reaches Kokei and stares down on her, and she gradually raises her head up to look at him, tilting her head in confusion before softly muttering, "Ekitai?"

Kneeling down, Ekitai inspects Kokei, "Are you okay? Come on, you need to get up, it's not safe here." He extends his pale, boney hand out to her, genuinely serious about their predicament.

Kokei grunts tiredly before grabbing onto Ekitai's hand, firmly gripping it for support. Ekitai stands up and pulls her, aiding her as she accumulates enough strength to stand on her own feet before she staggers forwards.

Still adrift, she asks, "What's going on? There was someone at the door and...then I'm here...what's all that sound...?"

Ekitai steps back to give Kokei space, attempting to explain, "Well, there's these people who came in and I think they're after Rohan, I guess it makes sense since I did meet him when he got attacked by a group of people, but I swear those guys are something else, maybe even Exhumans but I don't know. Are you okay?"

Kokei shakes her head, letting go of Ekitai's hand and placing her freed hand on her forehead, still shaken. "What? Attacked? Exhumans? Ekitai...what did you bring into my house?"

Ekitai glances back towards the kitchen and then returns his gaze to Kokei, perplexed for a moment by her question. His eyebrow raises as he asks for clarity, "Wait, huh?"

Kokei lets out a displeased sigh before persisting, "Who are these people you even brought in? Ekitai, what kind of people are you hanging out with? Come on Ekitai...why can't you just take things seriously...I've worked so hard to avoid all this, why are you bringing it to me?"

Ekitai's jaw hangs out as he lowers his head in shame, for the revelation dawns on him amidst the chaos that it was his fault for Kokei's state, and her house being turned into a battleground. He raises his head and watches as the Tempest dashes backwards into the dining room, a glowing cable of blue light attached to his back and connected to the far window, reeling him away. Suddenly, Victor appears directly in front of the Tempest, his body surprisingly airborne in such fashion as if manifesting out of thin air, his fist instantly contacting his face which causes the Tempest to fly backwards into the window. The cable snaps, and in reaction the Tempest dashes to the side, moving towards the entrance side of the house.

He then turns his head to the left to see that past the table and in the distance, the Artificer is firing shots at Rodrick, who's continuing to block it while attempting to swing his sledgehammer.

Calamity and chaos ensued inside his innocent friend's home, with the greatest victim being the house as it's ravaged by both sides. Standing before it all, viewing it all, he stares at the fight broken out against the man he befriended after meeting him in a fight. Thinking about it for a mere second, it should've been immediately clear what would've followed this man he invited to his old friend's house, and he should've known it would cause such catastrophe. Now dreading the guilt of his foolish actions, Ekitai acknowledges that he had brought a bomb into his friend's home.