H and the younger Guardian circled around Ichiro. Ichiro just stood still and tried to look at the time on the imaginary watch on his wrist.
"Are you two gonna attack me or what? I don't have all night you know. I wanna tune in to Kiritsu..."
The two young Guardians suddenly rushed at him. Ichiro leapt to evade them but even before he could reach the peak of his jump, H2 was already in the air waiting for him. He gave Ichiro a roundhouse kick. Ichiro was able to block it but his guard was broken. H suddenly jumped behind H2 and unleashed a barrage of punches. Ichiro got dazed and H and H2 started stomping him until he hit the ground. They kept on stomping him until he was buried then the two of them jumped out and fired a volley of energy blasts.
"I didn't know that kids these days are violent!" Eri said. "You should stop picking on those Berryz Koubou and C-ute girls, Reina."
"I don't pick on them!" Reina said defensively. "Why don't you tell that to Sayu. She's always asking poor Maimai for some snacks when we have joint rehearsals."
"Hey! She gave those snacks to me. I didn't ask for them!" Sayumi pouted.
"Cut it out, girls." Ai told them as she continued to calm Risa down.
"Michii-kun..."
"Don't worry, Risa. I've got a feeling that Mitsui-kun hasn't given up yet."
"Ai-chan..."
"Did we beat him, Aniki?" H2 asked.
"Not yet." Just as H said that, a barrage of energy blasts came from the hole they created. H was able to evade them but H2 wasn't lucky enough. After he got hit by one,
a couple more of the blasts followed. H got in front of him and tried to shield H2 from some of the blasts. Though he was able to block them, the blasts were still powerful enough
to deal some damage.
"You two kids are pretty strong, ne?" Ichiro said as he climbed out of the hole in the ground. "You got me all dirty."
"Hey, wake up." H told H2 as he shook him. "I can't beat him without you."
"Don't tell me you two are going do a fusion dance then kick the shit out of me. That won't work here. Hahaha."
"I can't move my legs, Aniki."
"Darn it! I'll try to hold him off. Download whatever you can from Dan-san's FTP site so you can move your legs again." H said as he deactivated his Active Shield. A green aura covered H. he raised his hand and suddenly his rings beamed onto his fingers. He looked at the rings that were still warm with M's electric charges. "M. I'm going to beat him this time." Then he noticed something different with the rings. What the? He color coded the rings accordingly! What was he thinking?"
"Aniki! Dan-san's FTP site is just full of video clips and photos!"
"Really? Try S's FTP site."
"Wait...It's the same as Dan-san's. Only there's a directory named 'JAV'. Should I look for it there?"
"Don't. Don't go inside that directory. I'll just send it to you...There. Did you get it?"
"Yes. I'm installing it right now...Done! Look Aniki!" H2 said as he stood from the ground. "My legs feel lighter now!" he said as he did some kicks. H2 deactivated his Active Shield and was covered with a green aura too. Then the two of them took a fighting pose.
"Do you think those auras scare me?" Ichiro asked them."Go ahead, attack." He said as he put his hands at his side and closed his eyes. H and H2 moved in to attack him. When they were within striking distance, Ichiro opened his eyes. A powerful, black aura emanated from him, knocking the two back, even dispelling their auras. The girls and the other Guardians also felt the impact of Ichiro's aura and were being pushed away until Tezuka created a shield for them. Ichiro's aura took the form of a dragon before it went inside him again.
"Ichiro has unsealed his power. Now our chances are slim." Tezuka told them. "I just hope Dan prepared for this..."
Once H and H2 got back on their feet, they continued with their attack. H started with an overhand right. It landed on Ichiro's face but it didn't faze him. H2 gave him a roundhouse kick that landed on his head but it also didn't have any effect. They kept on attacking Ichiro and Ichiro kept on taking all their attacks. When both of them were going to knee Ichiro in the midsection, Ichiro suddenly grabbed them by the throat.
"You never learn, do you H. Don't you remember how Yoshizawa and your little captain cried when I killed you."
"Don't you dare go near Shimi-chan!"
"I won't. For now. Maybe next year. When she's taller." Ichiro said as he grinned. H2 kept on kicking even if he knew it didn't do anything. "Hehe. And you also brought another of Yoshizawa's clones to die with you."
"Shut up!" H said as he punched Ichiro again.
"Hehe. Still no manners after coming back from heaven eh? Perhaps it would be better if I send you back there again."
Ichiro's laughter was drowned by two gunshots. They didn't know where it came from but those shots severed both of Ichiro's arms, setting H and H2 free. The leapt back to where Tezuka, the other Guardians and the girls were.
"Come out Dan! I know it's you!" Ichiro shouted as he stared at his arms. Blood, sparks and oil were coming out.
He was right. Dan came out hold a mean looking pistol. He walked closer to the others and checked their condition.
"Dan-san! Am I glad to see you!" D said.
"Hey, I know you! Aren't you the in-house doctor?" Sayumi asked him.
"No he's not the in-house doctor, Sayu. Trust me. I know." Ai said.
"Ahahaha. I may look geeky but I'm not a doctor, Michishige-san." Dan answered.
"The geeky looking ones are the more pervy ones..." Eri said.
H sat up and coughed. "I beg your pardon. That is absolutely fallacious, Kamei-san." he said as he fixed his glasses.
"Oh yeah? Then can you tell me what he's doing with Miki-san and BoA-san?" Reina said as he pointed at Dan, whose hands were on top of Miki and BoA's chests.
"I think he's trying to apply CPR, Tanaka-san." K answered.
"Do you have to put your hands INSIDE their clothes when you apply CPR? Reina asked.
"Yes Reina. I saw Miki do CPR to Yossi before and Miki even took off Yossi's clothes." answered Eri.
"Yeah. Miki did that to me before too..." Aya added. "...in the showers."
"I'm not applying CPR. I'm checking if their systems are still okay."
"Does checking their systems include excessive touching and..."
"Of course."
"Well. If you say so then I believe you."
"Good. Are you alright, R?" Dan asked him.
"I'm fine. Even that partial installation of the Active Shield was quite useful." replied R.
"Who are you?" Ai asked.
"No time for that, Takahashi-san. I'll explain everything later. What about you two?"
"We're fine. But we can't get his hands off us." H said.
"It's like his hands are alive or something." H2 added.
"Oh no! Dan! Ichiro, he has nanotech regen..."
Before R could finish, Ichiro's hands suddenly let go of H and H2. One of the hands grabbed the pistol from Dan's hand while the other grabbed Risa before it returned to Ichiro.
"Dan. It's been a long time." Ichiro said as his hands began to re-attach. "This is a powerful toy. You could have killed me if you aimed at my head. But I forgot. You don't kill."
Ichiro pointed it at their direction and started firing until the gun ran out of bullets. Then he crushed it in his hands and threw it away. Risa was still crying when Ichiro looked at her.
"Poor Niigaki. I know what's going on your mind right now. You're blaming yourself for M's death and for bringing the other girls along. I've always wanted to know how your lips taste like. I admit. Even if you lack talent, your looks make it up for it. You won't believe how much weight I lost when your photobook came out. It's alright. I'm going to make you feel better in a while. But I'm not going to be like M. I won't make you forget what I'm going to do to you. I want you to remember every detail..."
"Michii-kun..."
Ichiro was about to tear off Risa's shirt but someone grabbed his wrist.
"I told you, I have a Son Goku complex."
"You kids never get tired of dying, don't you?" Ichiro said in surprise. "But it doesn't matter. I will kill you again!"
It was M.
"Let her go."
"What if I don't?"
M tightened his grip on Ichiro's wrist, forcing his hand to let go of Risa. M then let go of Ichiro's wrist and grabbed Risa's and he started to walk towards the others. Ichiro looked at his wrist and it was deformed, and the pressure made by M’s fingers was visible. He got pissed and tried to attack M from behind. Before he could land his attack, M was able to to hit him with a backfist in the face. Ichiro crashed into the same area
where he kicked off M earlier.
"Michii-kun." Risa said before he broke down on M's chest. "Michii-kun..."
"Stop crying, Gaki-san. I'm going to protect you, no matter what."
"I....I thought you really died this time."
"Haha. I will die if you don't stop crying." M said as he wiped the tears away from Risa's eyes.
"What happened to you M? We scanned for you earlier but you weren't responding." K told him.
"Oh that? Hehe it's because...."
"Now I get it! I thought you were crazy when you asked me to do it but now it's all clear to me!" Dan interrupted.
"What are talking about, Dan?" D asked.
"You see, M here asked me to max out his Active Shield. I told him that if I do that, he won't be able to do any damage unless his shield breaks."
"What's the max value for it?"
"1910201988."
"So he purposely got himself beaten to within an inch of his life so that his Dynamic Guardian mode would kick in." said S. But that was too risky!"
"It is unadvisable, yes. But he took the risk and now that his shield is broken, M's capabilities will be increased by the max value multiplied by three, or possibly more. The boost you get from a shield getting broken is higher than the boost you get when you deactivate it." Dan explained. "Plus, M's Frame is capable of that."
"How come it took a while for me to regain consciousness, Dan? I thought I was never gonna wake up."
"The process takes longer than the other method, Though I never thought that it would come to this."
"You mean this method was is still in the experimental stage?"
"Well...yeah."
"Doesn't matter. Though I can't feel any difference.Now my power level is over nine thousand!!!! Hahahaha...ha...ha" M said as he laughed. "What?" The others looked at him with their 'eh' faces. Except Risa who was now smiling.
"I'm off." M said as he started to go after Ichiro. But before he could go any further...
"Michii-kun..."
"What is it Gaki-san?"
Risa walked closer and fixed his scarf.
"There. That's better." Risa said.
"Hehe. Thanks. I thought you were gonna give me a good luck kiss or something."
"Do you want one?"
"Nah. I don't need luck. I have you anyway."
"Come back safely, Michii-kun."
"Of course. I'm not going to die. Not just yet. Because I heard that Yajima Maimi will be having a photobook and you're scheduled for an Alo-Hello."
"Yeah..."
"..."
"...Eeehhh? Eeehhh!!!! What? Alo-Hello? Eeehhh!!! Michii-kun?"
"Oops. Sorry for the spoilers. But have I told you how cute you look when you react like that?"
"Really?"
"Really."
"..."
"Anyway, I'm off, Gaki-san." he said as he walked forward. Risa walked back to the others. M looked back made sure that the others will not be caught in the line of fire.
M waited for Ichiro to return from the forest. Ichiro walked slowly while holding on to his nose.
"That was a strong one, boy. Now my nose won't stop bleeding, just like the time when I saw Ishikawa and Shibata making out in the lockers."
"Really? Now that is hot!"
"Yeah. But enough of that. It seems that you're the only one standing in my way."
"I'm going to stop whatever you're going to do. I'll never let you get your hands on Gaki-san or any of the girls again."
"Make me." Ichiro said as he released his aura again. But M wasn't pushed back.
Ichiro charged his hands and fired a full blast energy wave at M. M just swatted it into the air with one hand.
When it was in the sky, M raised his hand and pointed at it. Then the energy wave exploded and lit the sky, just like fireworks.
"Walking the path of heaven, the man who rules over all..."
"Show off." Ichiro said.
"I bet you can't do that." M answered.
"Try me."
"Fine."
Now it was M's turn to release his aura. It was a red aura that took the form of a phoenix. The aura pushed Ichiro back and he tried to stay standing. M pointed his index finger at Ichiro.
"You underestimate me." Ichiro said.
"No I'm not. I'm just making sure this hits you."
A huge enegry sphere formed at the tip of M's finger then he fired it towards Ichiro. Ichiro knew that there was no way he could swat the sphere of energy into the air so he decided to block it instead.
Once it made contact with his arms, his flesh got fried. The sphere kept pushing him away. He was able to contain it for a few seconds before he reactivated his aura and kicked the sphere into the air.
He looked at how much his arms got damaged. It took longer this time before they were able to regenerate. Though it regenerated, some areas were beyond repair. But Ichiro wasn't really concerned. Because he looked at M, who was also checking that part of his arm that made contact with his energy beam earlier. His flesh was also burned, revealing portions of the Frame installed inside him.
It wasn't really clear who sustained more damage or who had the advantage.
But one thing is for sure.
This is not the last chapter.
Yet.
Topic: Detonator M (Read 97901 times)