Cross Worlds

Chapter 28: "Riku Fantasy's Will"

Riku's back slams against the wall behind him, making him grunt once more, but he stands strong as he looks forward to see what's become of Hiroshi. Hiroshi seems much worse for wear, as his body is clearly being held up only by the crevice formed in the wall his body is slammed into. It's clear he's been damaged quite heavily by the explosion due to the burns on his chest, laid bare now that most of the clothing covering it has been burned away. Riku doesn't want to celebrate too early, but he can't help but smile. "Even if you aren't dead, I got you... I fucking got you, you jackass..."

Riku drops to his knees and coughs up some blood. He looks around at the destruction the explosion has caused. If they weren't below ground, he's certain several Apollo members would be rushing down any moment now. However, there isn't even so much as an alarm going off. He's surprised that the hole in the ceiling and floor below aren't larger than they are considering how easy Hiroshi made it look to break it. "I guess his ability is just that strong... Jesus, what a psychopath." He grunts as he stands up, walking over to the holes to view the floors above and below, though there isn't anything of importance to talk about there. The only thing Riku notes is that there's an elevator door not too far from him on the floor above.

"The only thing left to do then is..." He glances over at Hiroshi, gripping the hilt of his gunblade. "...finally kill him, and use his keycard to get the fuck out of here." Even though he's wounded and in pain, Riku takes one step after the other without any pause or hault, as if he was as healthy as when he stepped into the facility. Once he stands but a foot away from Hiroshi, he simply stares at him. "I wish you...the greatest pain, in whatever hell you end up in." He raises his blade and thrusts it towards his chest.

Unfortunately, the worst has come to pass. Hiroshi is not only still alive, but conscious as well, and the aura that surrounds his body makes Riku's blade bounce off of it as if he just tried to stab a slab of concrete. "What..?!"

Hiroshi looks up into Riku's eyes, his gaze glowing menacingly as he pushes himself out of the wall and punches Riku in the gut with his aura encased fist. Riku coughs up blood as the force of the punch sends him flying all the way to the other side of the room. "I'm rather disappointed in you, Riku Fumiya. That was a smart trick, playing the 'I've given up' card. Yet not only did you not follow up your attack in any way, you didn't even notice my anti-magic field was still standing strong."

Riku's eyes widen as he glances around the room, realizing his blunder and internally scolding himself. "Son of a birch..!" Riku mutters under his breath. His eyes widen as he sees a few gray ribbons flying towards him, too fast for him to avoid in his current state. The force of these ribbons is so powerful that it kicks up quite a bit of dust as they slam into Riku and the wall behind him. Riku groans and yells out in pain as he's lifted from where he stands, ribbons stabbed into his arms, legs, and torso. Hiroshi controls the ribbons in such a way that Riku is forced to drop his weapon before slowly being pulled over to Hiroshi.

"I took your advice. So tell me, how do you feel right now, Fumiya?" Hiroshi smiles as he wipes a drop of blood from his lips. "Your last resort didn't work, you dropped your guard believing you had won, and now there's nothing left you can do to beat me. You have no more of those strange pills, your weapon is on the floor far away from you, and even if you were to try that strange trick from before, I've immobilized you to keep that from happening, just in case. Tell me Riku, how do you feel right now?"

Riku groans a bit as he tilts his head back and spits on Hiroshi's cheek. "I feel like sending you to hell where you belong..." Hiroshi smiles still, but narrows his eyes and furrows his brow. In the blink of an eye, he slams Riku into the ground with his ribbons and pulls them out of his body. Riku gasps in pain, but is quickly shut up as he receives a punch to the face from Hiroshi. Hiroshi then grabs a fistful of Riku's hair with his other hand and lifts him back up, all before he even has a chance to properly fall on the ground.