Not Again! With Beau

[shortforever]

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Week 0, Friday

[shortforever]

[Yeah he's going right up to Beau, wherever she is, and kicking lightly at her foot to get her attention.]

Hey.

[disreguarded]

[ this rude child - no, beau's just chilling in the grass somewhere hoping the earth will reclaim her, so when he kicks her foot she peers up at him. ]

Hey. Glad you didn't get eaten. You dealing okay?

[shortforever]

I'm alright, I guess.

[A pause, and then a grimace.}

I don't want to see Akechi again. I thought we were done with him.

[disreguarded]

[ she pats the ground!! sit with her. ]

If it makes you feel better - one, I also don't wanna see his ugly mug. And two, I don't think it was actually him. I think it's this place fucking with us.

[shortforever]

[Time to sit down next to her!]

Yeah, I don't think so either. Which is good, I really didn't want to see Akechi again, or meet my older self. So if they're not here, that's all for the better.

[disreguarded]

[ in the rain apparently, i forgot there was rain. o well. ]

Yeah, I can't even imagine what it'd be like to have to meet your older self. I super don't wanna meet any other version of myself. [ a beat. ] How's that going? Are people going easy on you with the alternative-you talk?

[shortforever]

[IT'S FINE maybe they're under the edge of a porch or something.]

I think the issue is that most of the people who knew older-me were also sleeping with him, and they don't want to think about their old fuck buddy as a teenager.

[So yeah, nobody's really talked to him too much about it.]

More power to them I guess. There's stuff about myself that I'd rather not find out.

Week 1, post trial

[shortforever]

[Chuuya is looking for her! Because he wants to talk this through with her and see what she thinks about something.

And also, he's still kind of mad from the trial and maybe they can spar a bit too.]

Hey, Beau?

[disreguarded]

[ she's in a weird mood - she's like seven different types of beat up and sore, and she's upset, because wow this week one trial was just like the one at the house, huh. but she does stop when she hears her name, glancing over her shoulder. ]

Chuuya. [ she says, with a small, small smile. ] You good?

[shortforever]

Considering I got accused of murder and I know at least a handful of people here- if not more- honestly think I did it?

[He shrugs.]

I'm alright, I guess. Antsy. But alright.

...are we good?

["You don't think it was me, right?"]

[disreguarded]

I don't think it was you, if that's what you're asking. [ she says, watching him closely. ] I think you aren't going to just break your word to Akira for no reason.

If it was you and someone got scapegoated because of you, I'm gonna be super fucking pissed. But right now, no. I don't think it was you.

[shortforever]

If it was me I wouldn't have left him to get eaten by a bear. If I have to kill someone, they'll get a quick death. No drawn out suffering.

[Nevermind that Yu was probably dead when the bear ate him.]

[disreguarded]

Yeah. And I can't just fucking assume it was you because of the knife, either.

Who'd you vote for.

Week 2, post-execution

[shortforever]

[Time to go track down his second-favorite one-eyed wonder!]

Hey, I gotta tell you about some shit. You up for a depressing talk?

[disreguarded]

Always. [ she says, wryly. she's just sitting somewhere outside, it's fine. ] What's up?

[shortforever]

You know how me, Akira, and Dazai disappeared on Thursday? Well, we ended up in a fake version of Blue's house. Except everything was wrong there. It was like, the worst timeline or something. We never found any of the monsters and everyone died.

[disreguarded]

Oh. [ hm. she super hates that. ] Isn't that what the threat was? That everybody's ending is lost if we don't figure this shit out?

... What was it like?

[shortforever]

Really shitty. Everyone's morale went right down the drain and by the end of it nobody was really trying anymore. And then everyone's ghosts started getting eaten by the house and the girls died for real, and I didn't find blue but I'm sure nothing good happened to them.

...they really were counting on us to save them all. [The four NPCs, he means.] We can't leave them in that bad future.

[disreguarded]

... Fuck. [ she exhales slow. ] No, we can't. We'll figure something out to save everybody.

I hope that's just this place fucking with us and it isn't actually happening somewhere.

Week 3, Monday (cw: violence, blood in the images)

[shortforever]

[He wasn't expecting to get blasted through the warehouse door like that. Normally he can stop any projectile with ease- his gravity control makes quick work of bullets or grenades. But this is no bullet, this is a bright yellow shot of pure energy, one that's unaffected by the laws of gravity.

Faintly, Chuuya can hear Randou explaining it to Dazai. He's too far away to hear those words though.

"Son of a-"

He's on his feet, diving in again. But by the time he's back up and ready to fight, the world around him has shifted. It's now glowing faintly yellow, making the warehouse seem otherworldly. Fitting, for an ability that lets the user create pocket dimensions. But still, Chuuya rushes back in, ready to fight Randou once more.

Randou, as always, talks with a calm voice. He's never been one to get too emotional, and Chuuya can't wait to wipe that smug look off his face. "I'm surprised that didn't kill you. I suppose I should have expected as much from Arahabaki's incarnation."

Out of the corner of his eye. Chuuya can see Dazai trapped in a special bubble within the yellow space. Of course Randou would keep him locked out of the special dimension, one touch from Dazai would send the whole thing crumbling down. Chuuya's the one who will have to fight Randou, then.

With his gravity powers, Chuuya is able to navigate around the space easily. he dives in and kicks, only for Randou to use his power to make little stepping stones and get away. How frustrating. Such a normal-looking man shouldn't be able to move so quickly.

"Chuuya-kun," Randou says, taunting him as he blocks another of Chuuya's kicks, "You can't touch me in this space. But I can attack you as I wish."

Suddenly, the glowing yellow shield turns into beams of light, which blast at Chuuya. Chuuya's on the defensive, fighting to stay ahead of those blasts. Eventually he maneuvers into a position where Dazai's special bubble is between Chuuya and Randou, and he can pause and just breathe for a moment.

That's when the corpse in the bubble with Dazai starts moving. In an instant, Dazai is cut down by the large scythe the corpse is carrying, leaving a long diagonal slash across his chest.

Chuuya swears he can feel his heart stop in that moment.

"But an ability shouldn't be able to touch him!"

"The former boss's scythe is a real weapon," Dazai says, sounding way too calm considering how injured he is.

"So it really could kill you," Chuuya says in response. A scythe like that he could fight off easily, just like Dazai could make short work of Randou. But Randou has trapped them on the wrong sides of the barrier, and they can't swap who they're fighting. How devious.

Dazai sits there for a moment. He doesn't move, but Chuuya can see the light in his eyes. He's calculating, figuring things out. "The former boss is dead," Dazai says finally, and he turns to look up to Randou, "What did you do to him?"

That's when Randou's calm smile turns into a rather insidious smirk. "My ability can turn corpses stored in this subspace into supernatural beings I command."

"And you have been hiding this ability from the Port Mafia this whole time...Just who are you, Randou-san?"

"I was a spy from the West," Randou answers simply, "I came to this nation to obtain a high-energy being that Japan had supposedly discovered."

"Arahabaki," Dazai supplies.

Randou nods, and then turns his gaze over to Chuuya. "My whole plan has been to kill you and take control of you, Chuuya-kun, and subsume you as the replacement supernatural being that I have control over." And then his gaze flickers back over to Dazai. "If the current boss of the Port Mafia learned of this, he would have me assassinated. So I must respectfully ask that you die alongside Chuuya-kun."

For a long moment after that, everyone is silent. Dazai is no doubt processing all of the information he has just received. Chuuya, similarly, is swallowing down quite a spike of anxiety. This man, Ranou, he's powerful. And Chuuya doesn't know if even the power of gravity can stop him.

After all, Chuuya isn't strictly Arahabaki, god of chaos. He's still Chuuya Nakahara, a human. Where does the 'human' end and the 'god' begin? He doesn't know. But he's not just going to die here without finding out that answer.

Dazai, likewise, seems to have that resolve. When their eyes meet, very little has to be said. "Let's kill them. Together."

And that's enough for Chuuya. Somehow this brat he hates has become his ally in living. What a strange world it is.

They have to fight separately at first, thanks to the barrier. Dazai, dodging the former boss's scythe, and Chuuya, dodging around Randou's energy blasts. When he gets a chance, Chuuya runs in to try and kick Randou again, only to have his foot caught on the shield.

"Eight years ago, I tried to take Arahabaki as mind, but you decimated the city with your power. I won't make that same mistake twice. This time I'll end your life and absorb your body into my power!"

Suddenly Randou wraps that glowing shield of power around Chuuya's foot, twisting it, rending his leg around on itself. Chuuya screams out in pain as he falls to the ground. And then Randou throws a huge beam of light at Chuuya, aiming to end the fight once and for all.

A red glow, a flash of power, and a sudden burst of gravity. When the dust settles, Chuuya is on his feet- as much as he can be, given his broken leg- and glaring up at Randou.

"Hey. Want to know why I always fight with my hands in my pockets?"

Slowly, he pulls them out, letting his arms hang by his side as red glowing power flickers around his body.

"I thought that, if it felt like I was going to lose the fights I'm in, it might make me fond of my humanity."

But he doesn't go after Randou again, oh no. Instead, with his good leg backed up against the barrier behind him, he turns and holds his hand out towards Dazai. "Hurry up and move towards me, you piece of shit!"

Dazai runs for Chuuya.

Randou tries to move the barrier away from Dazai, to keep him from touching it.

Chuuya focuses his gravity powers to his hand, forcing the barrier to warp around it, keeping one portion of the barrier right in front of his hand.

Dazai reaches him, and they manage to clasp hands. Chuuya's gravity-powers instantly shut off, but so do Randou's powers. The same powers keeping the former boss moving, and Randou himself up in the air.

The barrier falls, and both Randou and the former boss drop to the ground.

It's over. They're both broken and bleeding, but they're alive, and that's what counts.

---

That whole memory isn't really what Chuuya had meant to show off, but it's what Beau gets to see when Chuuya comes back to deer cabin for dry clothes. And given the nature of the memory, he just waits to see if Beau says anything. Because wow, all that doxxing.]

[disreguarded]

[ oof, that's - so much to take in at once, like it always is. beau stalls, stutter-stepping on her way across the room. a beat. ]

That... [ she starts, and looks at chuuya. ] Uh. Hey. That was... a lot.

[shortforever]

...yeah, it was.

[He's leaning against a wall now, both for stability and to at least try to look cool. That particular memory isn't a great one, but he can act like it didn't bother him much.]

He still has that scar, you know.

[Dazai, he means.]

[disreguarded]

[ where does she even start with this ]

Yeah, I fucking bet he does. [ ... ] What's Arahabaki?

[shortforever]

Me.

[He had to give the shitpost answer first, since she saw his deep dark secret and all.]

If you listen to legends, Arahabaki is supposedly the god of chaos.

[disreguarded]

You really don't look like the god of chaos. Like at all.

[ she knows the god of chaos and chuuya ain't it ]