Fate of Realities

File 42: Desperation

Persona tried to open the door to the bathroom, but it fell down by itself, it's hinges fallen apart due to the fire surrounding the walls. The group stared in horror as they found Inferno lying down on the floor, his ribs exposed.

"Inferno!" yelled Persona as he ran in, trying to restore his injuries, hoping that he wouldn't die, "Not this soon! Not this soon!"

"Persona! Wait!" yelled Will, recognizing this sort of setup, "It's a trap!"

Before Persona could react, his stomach burst open, his ribs exposed and clawing the air like crab pincers as well. Val was ready to barf at the sight as Exodus switched her vision around to try and find the enemy.

"Val!" yelled Will, "Your flowers!"

Val threw two flowers at the ground near where Persona and Inferno laid. This prevented them from dying, no matter the circumstances. What kind of ability was this?

"Ah, fuck it!" yelled Exodus as she pointed at the wall inside the bathroom, "Bullets! Shoot any hostiles!"

Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!

Soon, plates began to appear in the air, the bullets bouncing off of them as they redirected to hit the target! Not only that, but they were spun by another set of bullets, giving them Rotation!

Spchlk, spchlk, spchlk!

Three direct hits! Just as Exodus had decided. At that moment, Persona opened his eyes, finding himself staring at Inferno's body. He seemed like he was breathing, but he was in a very critical condition. It was a good thing that Inferno couldn't be burned. If Persona and the others arrived any sooner, he would've died.

"Come on, buddy.." mumbled Persona as he slowly lifted his hand to touch Inferno's injuries, "Get up... you've survived worse than this.."

"Approach carefully," said Will as he stepped closer to the bathroom, "We don't know what it is that the enemy does to activate his ability. It seemed like he could do it in an instant."

But before Will could step inside, Mateo's bloody face sprang from behind the door, glaring in frustration. At that moment, Will realized:

"It's on sight!" he yelled as he fell down in agony, his skin slowly turning red, "Get away! He can activate his abilities the moment he sees you!"

Val instinctively pulled Exodus away, giving the both of them flowers to protect themselves from dying. Suddenly, Will stood up and slashed at Val, his eyes bloodshot red.

Twang!

The Berserker Blade couldn't pierce the Emerald Shield that Val had around her and Exodus. Will made multiple slashes at the Emerald Shield, almost as if he was mind controlled by Mateo.

"I'm going to try a risky move!" yelled Val.

"Boss is still alive, so do as you please!" said Exodus, trusting both Val and Persona.

Val extended her hand from the Emerald Shield, the Berserker Blade chopping it off in less than a second. As Val yelled in pain, she kicked her own hand at Will, who didn't see it coming and was hit. Soon, he turned into a frog.

"That should keep him off of us.." mumbled Val in pain, falling down to her knees, and clutching her arm, "Please.. this hurts so much.."

Exodus reloaded her gun and went inside the restroom. She was the only one who didn't have any injuries. The moment Will went on a rampage, Mateo disappeared. Exodus looked around the restroom, pointing her revolver at anything that could be a threat.

"Boss, Inferno!" yelled Exodus as she got them to stand up, "Wake up! The enemy is still here!"

"Shit.." mumbled Inferno, "I couldn't take him down! He kept regenerating!"

"It's alright.." said Exodus, "Super Regeneration doesn't matter when it comes to Rotation! We need to locate the enemy fast or he could cause some more trouble! Persona, please restore Val and Will's wounds!"

—

"The hell are these people..?" mumbled Mateo as he limped through the mansion walls, "Can't they lose hope already? I've already displayed my power to them, and they still persevere.. Shit.. Not to mention.. that girl had a gun that stopped my regeneration. I fled in panic like an idiot.."

As Mateo turned around the corner, he noticed the library, where Ikarus was tending to Minny. He had a spoon full of beans that he found near the mini-fridge behind the library counter. He tried to feed it to Minny, but she wouldn't open her mouth due to unconsciousness. He kept trying again, but all he did was make a mess out of Minny's face and spreading it with beans.

"I'll open up his ribs and make him devour that woman!" thought Mateo in frustration, locking his eyes on Ikarus.

As Ikarus tried to spoon feed Minny again, he felt a strong disturbance as his shields automatically went up and broke automatically! He then heard a large thud from outside the library. Ikarus used his wings to flap out of the library with great speed, carrying Minny in his arms to find Mateo stuck to the ground due to gravity.

"So you're the one who attacked me!" yelled Ikarus, as he readied his bow, "I didn't see it, but it had to be some form of physical attack! It must've been powerful, since my shield broke!"

Ikarus shot three arrows at Mateo, who yelled in agony, "Why is everything turning out wrong!? This.. hasn't happened to me before! I'm supposed to be invincible! The asteroid gave me strength! Lord Jukkon gave me strength! I'm Mateo!"

"Lord Jukkon, eh?" piped up Will Ramuri, turning around from the wall, "So you were the anomaly that's been plaguing this dimension.."

"Impossible!" yelled Mateo in disbelief, "I turned you into a boiling red monster! How did you find an antidote so quickly?"

"He didn't.." continued Persona, as Exodus, Inferno, and Val came from behind him, "I merely restored him back to how he originally was."

As all of them gathered around Mateo, Mateo began to think to himself.

"Lord Jukkon," he thought, "These people.. are too powerful! Lend me your strength!"