Guilty Fear

"Yea, I left that office earlier today. That should be interesting; keep in touch." A young man spoke on the phone for a few minutes before closing the lid and looking up at the sky. He could see the red tinted clouds slowly disappearing before vanishing completely from view. He had no idea what was going on exactly, nor did he have much of a care anymore. As he walked the streets of Shibakuzoi, his eyes looked up to see the hospital up ahead, and suddenly a strange sensation sprayed within his forehead. It caused him to crumple over and stagger, as he grasped his head with his hand and gritted his teeth in pain. Taking a deep breath, he would shake his head and walk across the street towards the hospital. Cars swerved to dodge him, but the man did not stop, as he continued onward into the hospital without any sign of stopping.

Pushing open the doors, he did not stop at the counter, as the nurses tried to get his attention. No, he stumbled up the stairs and headed for a certain room where a certain person would lay unconscious. This urge beating into their head right now was of murder, but for some reason he could not let these impulses escape his body like usual. No, instead it was stuck beating into his head, basically forcing his hand to act on his own. When he reached his destination, he pushed open the door to see the female named Lorielle laying in her bed. This time he wouldn't fail to take her life. The one loose end that he left alive...

“You seem to be forgetting something.”  She wasn’t going to show her face to him. Instead, she had bolted in right after him as she saw him enter. After all, Limbo had only just ended, and to her this was the place she spent the most time. She could tell if someone was acting suspiciously, and she had been using that to her advantage. Maybe she was the only one watching and the only one left that cared, but that wouldn’t stop her now, “You really shouldn’t catch the eye of a person like me.”  When she turned the corner, her face really was covered by a hoodie. She had recently learned how valuable these things could be when you didn’t want to show your face, “If I were you, I’d step away from her. This is the only warning you are going to get from me.”   Yes, what she was doing was suicidal, even she could tell she had lost her mind by coming here. Even so, she wasn’t willing to let it all end this way, “Back away. NOW!”  She would get closer to him. If he made a single move towards Lori, she would be able to get in his way. One way or another she wasn’t going to let this person hurt her friend.

She had tried asking Cyril to help, but she wasn’t sure how much sway her words had with him. Probably none. He wasn’t obligated to help her, especially when it was so dangerous. All she could say was that a traitor with a unique skill that was after someone she knew, and that he may owe a little something for the one time she helped him. Sympathy and guilt were great manipulators. Actually, maybe it was better she came alone. She couldn’t make sure he stayed safe the entire time. This way, she only had to help herself and Lori, “Would it help if I said please?” At least she could keep her head in these moments.

The man shut the door behind him and then looked towards the hooded figure before him. Two golden eyes stared at her from the shadows that danced within the hospital room, and soon a wide smile followed behind it. Putting a hand in his hair, the man gave a few chuckles before giving a smile that seemed to stretch further than his jaw line. "The rescue party? You're alittle small to be a rescue party." The main chuckled beneath his breath as his hand was in his pocket, obviously grasping something. He used his foot to kick one of the waiting chairs infront of the doorway and used it to make as a makeshift lock so no one could easily push the door open thanks to the chair's leverage. "I have nothing to prove with taking two lives today, but at the same time I could use the excitement. That little bitch needs to die, and if you plan on protecting her I can kill you too." He took a step towards Lorielle, his hand still in his pocket, and his yellow eyes peering at the hooded figure trying to play hero.


"Heroes Heroes Heroes. Fucking Heroes. You know I wanted to be a hero too once. That was before I found out this world was fucked up and not worth the time to save. This bitch tried to play Hero, and so I'm going to fucking kill her. The Principal tried to play Hero, he needed his neck slit for it. Heroes died seven years ago, there are no more heroes. I'm going to show you that right now if you even dare think about getting in my fucking way." His hand reached for Lorielle's neck, ready to squeeze the life right out of her body. Killing her had become a personal goal of his for awhile now, and with this voice... no this impulse in his head.. it only seemed right to do. "This isn't a game. There's no knight in shining armor that's going to save you. When you're dead, that's the end. No matter what anyone tells you."

‘Dammit all. I do owe her after all,’ he thought. It bothered him, but she was right. The least he could do was check it out. He made a decent effort to hurry to the hospital in Shibakuzoi the minute he was contacted. He usually remained with her, but of course this was the day he was not with her; the day the red areas left and the sky returned. How bothersome, he had failed. But it seemed he still had some of his powers, but the Destroyer was gone along with Limbo it seemed, so his latent boost was also gone. A pain, but he was not without something. Plus, this may make life a bit more interesting if something did show up. It did not bother him all that much that Limbo was gone. His other self was still out of the picture and most likely gone with it, so he might as well be real. His mother was probably lost as well, but no matter. He will find his own way to enjoy his life, without the Gods, without family. All he needed was his power, and his home back in Yoro.

Though, Gabby was going to have to wait on him. Cyril was hurrying sure, but he was not even in Shibakuzoi when he was contacted, so he was now on his train ride nearing the stop to the city. Would it turn out to be a fun time at all? He could only think of the ideas that she had that caused her to request his help. Originally they had planned something else that required disguises, which allowed him to some money enough to get a coat with a hood, contacts to change his eye color to green, and glasses, as he did not have too much time to prepare. The plan however seemed to fall apart the moment the red clouds vanished. But it was okay. He would enjoy himself…somehow.

Kahn certainly had a lot to think about on the way to the hospital. He sat on a bus heading toward the hospital, they had the peace they desired. At the cost of one more life, the ones trapped in Limbo, Ruo, Cyril, Hibiki, most likely Nola Shepard, Damien, Joey, Nanashi, Lorielle, and countless others. The attendants and one called Igor said their good-byes, some rather neutral others full of tears. Noctis gave him some last words of advice, he needed the passion...was that really all he lacked? Perhaps...he had a lot to reflect on, and now he would confront another one of his demons. Part of him already knew what awaited him in the hospital, but the optimist in him egged him on to go and see her. To confirm what he already knew, he had one last vain hope after this, but he hoped that it would not come to that. Even that was jut another candle waiting to be snuffed out.

Well the news had made him pretty damn depressing. Heck everyone on the bus kept away from him because of this aura he was exuding. If he was lucky Lorielle would be alright, surely something had to be going his way. Oh right....the peace that everyone desired. At least that was what the group had going for them. Oh well...there would be more time to reflect later, on the good and bad. Furthermore, if that god came back...how would they combat that? Would they get their powers back, or would they have to start all over. A shame...a real damn shame. He could have done a lot of good with that power, but it was gone now. All he had were his human powers and maybe the weapon bound to his soul.

"Passengers we will be arriving at Shiba General Hospital shortly, please be ready to depart if this is your stop." The bus driver said on the intercom. The red haired avenger would shift in his seat and grab his backpack and get ready to place it on his back. Almost time to face the music.

She wasn’t going to make a move to stop him from locking the door. If he wanted to seal this room from the outside world, she would have to open it back up. If she couldn’t, it would only make it more suspicious when somebody came by. If anybody came by. Gabby let out a little laugh as Aburai spoke, [color=#9933ff] “I’m not little. I’m not really that big either, but I’m not little.” As long as he kept his distance from Lori, she would be fine, “However, you’re not going to be killing anyone here. Definitely not her, at least. Not her.” He was getting to close to her now. It was enough to make her cringe. He continued speaking, and Gabby would listen, trying to plan her next move out. She had to admit something to him, “Personally, I don’t really care about the world either. I never wanted to play the hero, just live my life however I felt like it. Although, my way of living was pretty boring. But here’s the thing…” As Aburai lowered his hands towards Lori’s throat, she flipped to stand on her hands and lowered her feet to kick him in the side of his head. She was aware that she was not the strongest person in the world, but most people would at least flinch at that kind of thing. If she was lucky, she would have knocked him off balance and he would fall down. She would put herself back on her feet with a bit of a thump after the force she had built for herself.

As soon as she did that, she knew this would be a fight. She had been hoping to avoid that kind of thing, but at least she had one thing on her side; noise, and lots of it. By this point, she had shouted and made a ruckus with her attack on him. If that noise didn’t get someone’s attention, she would be surprised. Especially with the way he had entered the hospital in the first place. She would continue talking to him, “I’m not a hero. Actually, a lot of people would consider me the opposite. Heroes only exist in fairytales anyway. More than that, I’m not a good person. I can’t cope with the truth, so I keep fighting, even though I know my friend won’t come back. A person like me is the kind the world abandons without a second thought.” She could only sigh, “Heaven and hell may not exist either. I thought about that many times. The fact that those places may only be a dream and a nightmare is something we’ll never been able to escape. If that’s the case, we’re all doomed. But, if that really is true, that’s even more of a reason for me to stop you. If this is all I can do to repay Lori for what she did for me, then I will do it. I’ll make sure her ‘life’ isn’t cut short.” No, she wasn’t a hero. Things like heroes didn’t exist. What she was doing now was something completely different. Dedication, an obsession, maybe even just an impulse. Whatever the reason, she kept coming back here and now she was willing to do whatever she had to.

Apparently the little fourteen year old feather weight thought she held some power behind her blows. The grown man took the kick, but he did not fall over. He felt it, but it surely was not as strong as it could have been if she held abit more weight. All this did was make him lean forward faster and use Lorielle's neck to catch himself. With his hand already around her neck, he'd suddenly clench his grip around her neck, attempting to cut off her air supply. An abnormal grin came across his face, almost receding his jaw line. Even distorted chuckles came from under his breath while he looked over his shoulder at the small girl who tried to stop him. "All that noise isn't going to help you. No one can stop me. Sure, those red zones disappeared but that doesn't effect me in the least. Keep it up, and I'll show you exactly why you little bitch." He removed his hand from his pocket, and his phone was grasped in his grip. He practically dared the small girl to try what she did again. She was more of a nuisance than an actual threat to him, just like all the other fucks that were interfering in his fun. Even with nurses and doctors beating at the door from all the commotion, he was not worried in the least. After all, he was the most powerful Persona-User in Ueitawa. Though a self proclaimed title, he demanded to be the only one. And as such, the blonde bitch had to die.

The scar left on his chest from her formerly alive Persona still ached every time he looked at her. Though he picked that strange elk bitch apart, the job was not done until Lorielle suffered the same fate. Maybe this was the reason he wanted her dead so bad. Or maybe because it was exciting! Who knew, but those distorted chuckles continued beneath his breath as his golden eyes stared the little girl down. "I'll let you in on a secret, kid. Maybe you'll understand when you grow up. Life seems so hopeful when you're young, but you'll see just how fucked up this world is once you grow old. Just remember no one owes you anything in this world, so you HAVE to take it by force. And friends? They're there for one second and gone the next. You won't even miss her once she's gone. Trust me, I've been there."

Finally the trip was over, and the train left him in Shibakuzoi. Rushing off the station, he would quickly run over in the direction of the hospital. It was not even enough that he had to simply run there, he also had to find the room she was talking about. He could make it in the hospital in little time given his speed. It would not be too long before he would make it to the hospital to see that people were actually in a sort of commotion. Cyril was not one to assume, nor was he the type to panic unless it involved his own skin. However, Cyril could not take any chances with this. He also could not afford to waste much time; now realizing it was a good idea for Gabby to give him the directions to the room itself. He would pass the front counter and make a quick dash to the stairs, ready to climb them to get to the hall where the girl was.

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Kahn got off the buss when it arrived at the hospital, he saw someone dart into the hospital, but he did not get a good look at the person as someone passed in front of him. Someone they loved must have been in an emergency. As he entered at a walking pace he noticed how the receptionist seemed a bit frantic, actually a few people were frantic. He heard something about how there was a commotion upstairs. Lorielle's room was upstairs...what could be happening. Then he remembered the killer's promise, to deal with Lorielle. Green eyes went wide as the realization struck him, and he bolted for the elevators as they were closer. He got in one of the open ones and smashed the door close and floor two button. If the killer was here then he had only one choice, and that was to face him head on. He had a feeling he knew who it was, but today he would find out for certain. The killer was no doubt strong, but like Kahn he was still human. He could not survive something that a normal human could....fatal is fatal...supernatural powers won't change that.

Gabby could hear others trying to get in. It was probably the staff that failed to block his entrance in the first place. If she went to open the door, Lori would die, if she tried to stop Aburai here she would be on her own. Her choice was an easy one. When Aburai put his hands on Lori, she could only think of one thing to do. If kicking wouldn’t work, she would have to use something else. She wasn’t that strong, she wasn’t that fast, in the end, she really wasn’t even as smart as she thought she was. Especially in this situation. She kept messing up and it was only hurting Lori. Aburai was looking at her now though. He was staring at her and holding his phone and killing Lori. If the red zones vanishing didn’t mean anything to him, she could guess why. People gave away what they were thinking all the time. A phone was his hint. She could guess that was the thing he meant. Somehow, that phone was a weapon to him. Could he still use his abilities? She had to wonder just what he could do.
 
She had no idea what to do next. Whatever he had waiting for her, she knew it would be bad. That was the only thing she knew for certain at this point. He kept talking. For a murderer, he sure did talk a lot, especially about strange things. Gabby was young, and she already knew the world was messed up. If it weren’t, she wouldn’t be here fighting right now. Youth was not hopeful, just not as messed up for most people. Even so, she didn’t agree with him on one point, “Aburai-sensei, you’re a dreadful liar. You miss him, don’t you? Your friend, I mean. If you remember him, you must miss him, even just a little. You would even bring him back if you could, I bet. Was he young and hopeful and did he want to protect the world? Was he your hero? Did you turn your back on him because you couldn’t bear to think that he was gone, or maybe because he wasn’t to you?” Maybe she was projecting. The reason she kept coming here, after all, was to see Lori and make sure she was holding up. She could only assume that he had to feel the same way about his friend. He seemed to care enough that losing him caused Aburai to pick up such a twisted view of the world.
 
“Even if you don’t, there is no way I couldn’t miss her.” Despite everything he was saying, he was still talking to her. He was even trying to give her advice. He really was a teacher, or just a mad man. “I suppose it isn’t fair to ask those questions of you, is it? I’m just a nosy kid, in the end. I have to admit that I am a little sad it ended up being you who was Lori’s attacker though. You seemed like such a good person, but I guess that was a lie.” The more she spoke, the more her stomach sank with disgust at herself. She couldn’t let Lori die like this. He said it all himself: She had to take it by force. She couldn’t call Garula, meaning she only had her own power. She lifted her right hand and curled her fingers together, aiming for his head again. Her left hand would also form a fist, but would be aimed at his hand that held the cell phone. No, she wasn’t powerful on her own and she wasn’t the best fighter, but she wasn’t dumb either. As her fists got closer to their target, she wouldn’t punch him. Instead, two long, silver katars would appear on her hands. The right one would cut horizontally as Gabby tried to get Aburai in his eyes, the left one would slash up as she tried to drive her weapon into his phone and cut it to pieces. She was more concerned with the phone, however. She had an idea of what that thing was capable of, and she couldn’t let him keep it. She had to at least buy a little more time for somebody to break down that door and come get this guy. For her, that meant risking whatever he was planning to do.
 
Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered. After all, Lori was just a girl who was lying comatose on the bed, and she was an easy target. Gabby didn’t have to put herself in harms way. She didn’t have to fight for this person’s sake, but she wanted to. Lori was her friend, and Yhoundeh had suffered so that she wouldn’t die. She wasn’t sure if she could say exactly why she was doing this, but she could feel it deep in her gut. She hated this person and had to stop him. It wasn’t just for Lori anymore though. Something else was telling her to fight. Her entire body felt like it knew what to do, more so than even her head. Yes, this was going to be quite the feat.
 

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When the girl spoke, the man's amber eyes shifted over to her and narrowed. His facial expression was more neutral than anything, yet his hand still grasped Lorielle's neck while the other held his phone firmly. He sucked his teeth at her words, talking like she knew anything about him. The Aburai everyone knew wasn't the true Aburai. Just another mask to wear in public to hide true intentions. It was always like this. Giving a scoff, he cursed under his breath. "You sure do enjoy talking when you don't even know the context of what you're saying. You want to know the truth about my friend's death? I was the one who killed him those seven years ago. Thinking I was someone special... I killed him. After that, everything changed. Natashi helped me cover it up to seem like a car accident, and I fled Ueitawa in my shame. This incident did nothing but open my eyes to the truth..." Aburai's eyes looked back towards Lorielle as he hand continued to squeeze the life out of her. "This world is hell. With the power of Limbo, it could all be fixed. This illusion we live in would end, and we'd have a world of our own blessing. Our own rules. Those dead would return, and humanity would become absolute. I was the first to receive this power, given to me by a being wearing the skin of my old friend. The other half of my power was given to Natashi. He received the flesh from this being that was carved into a mask, and I received the blood."

Aburai began to snicker beneath his breath as his eyes went back to the younger female. "We were two sides of the same coin, and for once I felt as though I could fix my mistake in the past. Natashi had his role, gathering those to this new world where they would disappear within Limbo and find their ideal self. My goal was to push people towards the idea that this world was hell. Death was just a tool to display that. It was... fun. And even though it was fun, I was still pissed the hell off. You damn kids just kept getting in our way... Playing the fucking hero. When you play that role you're just hurting those around you. I tried to warn you multiple times, now look what has happened. You've all lost people important to you, and it's going to keep happening. This reality is nothing but a living hell." Aburai's attention was now on the girl even though the door being banged on was getting louder. He didn't seem to care whatsoever.

He noticed the girl was once again readying an attack and forcefully pulled Lorielle off the bed and held her infront of him like a hostage. If Gabby continued her assault, she'd be in risk of punching (or in this case slashing but he hadn't seen these weapons yet) Lorielle and causing some damage. He kept his cellphone secure and behind Lorielle aswell as the majority of his body, as he used her like a human shield while still choking her out with his forearm. "I see you're still angry, little girl. You're just a kid, so I can see why this is bothering you so much, hahah! If it makes it easier, you can turn around while I kill this bitch. It won't take much longer now. I'm giving you one more chance. Walk away."

Making it to the appropriate floor, he’d run into nurses and doctors pounding at the door into the room that Gabby had told him about. He’d move up to the door, pushing by one of the doctors and try to bust in himself. He knew very well he could easily just use his soulbound weapon since it seems that was still useable with Limbo gone. But he certainly was not going to summon it in thin air in a hospital with people. He would turn to one of the nurses with an annoyed glare. “Well hurry up and get police! We can’t wait all day for something stupid to happen!” he said before moving back to bang on the door, feebly attempting to get in. He was physically weak. And it would draw too much suspicion on himself to use his weapon. He needed power, and he was short on time. Regardless, he had to look inside at least for a moment before he could leave with his honor intact. That was all. Nothing else would happen. He had to hurry, as the longer he remained here, the longer he would look suspicious himself, and that could not be afforded at all.

Kahn got out of the elevator and turned to see a commotion outside Lorielle's door. Nurses, doctors, and......some stranger? Was he here to help the Killer? The Killer he knew was working alone, so that was an unlikely possibility. Regardless he had not time for such concerns he had to act and fast.

He rushed over to the door, simply barking for the group of panic stricken doctors and nurses to move out of his way. If not then he would shove them out of his way, not too hard, just enough to move them. "Move." He would tell the disguised Cyril, and if he didn't comply then he would offer the shadow a glare before pushing him in an attempt to get him out of the way. He would look at the door, and recall a few times he had broken into few places when he was on an avenging mission. From there he had learned that you have the kick the door where it was weakest, which often times was around the door knob. He gestured for everyone to back up before steadying himself. He took a moment and focused the light that he could create into the sole of his right shoe. He made sure to keep it dim so it would not alert the crowd around him, but it struck with the same force it would have normally, regardless of the brightness. He rose his right leg and aimed just below the door knob. He exhaled with an angry cry as he kicked the door with all his physical might and the strength that his own avenging light would grant him. He heard something behind the door shift away from the force, and the door broke off its hinges.

The red haired youth would be the first one in the room, and who did he see but Aburai with Lorielle in forearm hold, suffocating her. Using her as a shield to protect her from the armed Gabby. He glanced back at the crowd. His guess was correct, "Let her go, you bastard! He would say, his voice was surprisingly low, but the anger was clear in his eyes. He was giving Aburai a chance to adhere to his command, the teacher was lucky he held Lorielle as a shield. Otherwise, Kahn would have struck him down on the spot. He had enough with losing, losing, losing, losing. He was going to do something right or die trying, and if he failed to save Lorielle, he knew what his next course of action may be.

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Gabby was ready to cut Aburai when he used Lori as a human shield. To that, Gabby had to dismiss her weapon and pull back her fist so she didn’t hit her. She could try to hit him, but that meant she could also hit Lori. She was not in the mood to take that risk. But, this left her with a sever lack of options. Of course, she could always walk away. She was still given that option. Just walk away and let this happen. Stop fighting back and accept that he had won. She could always do that. He was even giving her the option to. What else could she do anymore? This was a no win situation. Isn’t that what he said? He wanted to show people that this world was hell? Well, he was doing an awfully good job of it. She didn’t know what else she could do. Every move she could think of all ended the same way. She didn’t have Garula to fight for her and even what power she did have was completely worthless, “Why can’t I save her…” She mumbled, trying to hold herself together. She had to admit, this looked like the end…
 
As she thought that, she could hear the pounding at the door grow louder and louder. In fact, it was starting to annoy her, ‘Just break the thing down already. Obviously no one has been opening it.’ Like an angel with a sick sense of humor, it finally broke down to reveal someone. Honestly, she had been hoping for the police, but instead she got a ball of red hair. Yeah, as far as she was concerned, all hope was lost. Or, maybe not. He was most likely as useless as she was, but he did seem to be more concerned with Aburai than her. She had to hope that was a two way street. She got closer to the arm that he was using to choke Lori and attempted to slip her own arms between him and Lori. She knew she wouldn’t be strong enough to pull it away completely, but she could try to keep it from getting tighter. If she couldn’t get her own arms around his, she always had her next move. She opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she could. without breaking the skin With the outside world open, she had a little more hope that something would happen. She just had to keep buying time. Even if this was all she could do, she had to keep fighting. There was always the chance he could knock her away before she could manage to bite him, in which case she would just get back up and keep trying. She figured that wouldn’t happen though, since one of his arms was holding Lori and the other was hiding behind her back. Out the corner of her eye, she stared at Kahn. If he could see her eyes past her hood, he would see what she was saying: ‘do something’. At least she wasn't the only one anymore. If she could just slow him down, the others could do something else.

Man what a persistent bunch of dumb bastards. Not only did the door come down and some dumbass came in yelling, but the little bitch tried to jump on him and pull him off her friend. Fucking annoying as all hell. But that was okay, this just gave him an excuse to use "that" power. He'd be sure to leave no survivors. "Now that we have an audience, welcome to your funeral! HAHAHAH!" With this said, his phone began to glow a red color, same with the various phones within the room and soon the entire hospital. The people who lacked the potential to operate during red zones would become like mindless zombies, while those who could would still be able to operate. Aburai gave a twisted smile during this time, and took a deep breath now that he was in his natural habitat. Letting go of Lorielle, he'd raise his foot immediately and stomp down on her head repeatedly. "HaHAHHAhahaHAH! Motto! MOOOTTOO!" As he did this and laughed like a maniac, his shadow grew upon the wall before transmogrifying into a blood red clown of sorts. It floated behind Aburai and gave its own cackles as a red liquid, most likely blood, dripped down from its body and hit the floor.

Aburai would stop his stomping and kick Lorielle's body towards the small blonde that was so interesting in protecting her friend. At this time, his Persona moved infront of him and sized up those who could operate in this red zone. Aburai, on the other hand, reached into his vest and pulled out a cigarette. Using his lighter, he would light the stick and take a drag with a twisted smile on his face.

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