Frenzy (Pokémon Danganronpa)

Chapter 47: Bargaining

LEON'S POV

Only when the dust settled did we truly realize the predicament we were in. The moment Hydra fired his attack at Loki I felt the pressure in my sensors deteriorate temporarily. Everyone else seemed also to recognize this and freely move around to scatter in different directions. We did not predict having to fight Hydra, but we did discuss what we would do in the likely case that a difficult opponent presented themselves.

The first to deviate from the formation was Luster, who quickly rushed forward to retrieve Loki after she was attacked.

"S-She's unconscious, what the fuck do we do?" Luster gritted his teeth as he ran to my side. From what a quick glance showed me, Loki was badly injured, and most likely wouldn't awake for hours.

"Hydra will prove to be a great threat, but the plan continues. We must stall for as long as possible." I replied with a sense of hope. I myself was having doubts about our outcome, but there was no use to worry right now...we had to survive.

"Here he comes!" Laker warned as we watched Hydra resume his zombie-like march towards us. When I think of it, he resembled the sluggish movements of a Mingle, which certainly has something to do with Sam's operation on him.

I was the first to feel the painful effects of his aura. It was as if an outside source intruded into my brain and rang the loudest siren imaginable.

"We need a new plan, Loki is still out!" Luster turned to face Sammy with a disturbed expression.

The younger Braixen in question froze for half a second. I felt a wave of dread wash over her energy before instinctively reaching forward and placing a paw on her shoulder. "Sammy, you've got this." I reassured.

Sammy calmed down just a little before backing up into me and facing the oncoming threat. "When in range, Hydra broadens his aura so that it acts like an intense gravity field. He can immobilize targets that way, but if he were to focus his aura elsewhere the effects temporarily weaken. Our choice is to either fight him so we're able to move freely, or to run and keep our range."

"I don't mean to make this harder, but..." Sherwood frowned. "I have to stay near Sam so she doesn't escape...and we're runnin' out of time."

"So we'll fight him." Rayne stepped forward with a glare of determination.

"Are you crazy!?" Laker raised a brow at the Manectric. "You'll get killed!"

"In all fairness, she probably has the highest chance of survival out of all of us." Grace reasoned with a worried gaze. "But it still doesn't solve our problem."

"Well, I'm good to go." Vince also walked forward while stretching his limbs. "He may have stopped me and Zantai last time, but we're all here. I can act as a distraction."

"What's our new goal?" Luster hummed lightly.

"Same thing, but with something added. We still have to continue stalling for Sam's withdrawals to worsen, but I believe we should try and subdue her to make our lives easier."

"I'm still a little worn out..." Zantai grumbled as he seemingly felt a sore spot on his chest.

"We have no time to waste. We must hurry before more reinforcements gather." I warned.

Before we knew it, it was suddenly harder to stand up straight. Hydra had approached close enough to where his energy weighed us down. This time was different, however...it was as if I could somewhat read his aura.

"Sherwood, look out!" I blurted out loud as quickly as possible before I watched Hydra lunge forward and launch his fist towards Sherwood.

Thanks to my callout, Sherwood reacted, his eyes sparking a pale white as he evaded the attack in one fluid motion. In that one moment, I could tell what happened; Hydra had used Bullet Punch and Sherwood barely evaded it with the help of Detect—a move similar to Protect but it allows you to dodge anything.