The Attack of the Rubeki (3)

From what the smart Rubeki named Pestilence told me, the information was coalescing in my mind and explaining a story nobody else knew about.

Pestilence was killed in The First Trial long ago when Sky used to be in there. The problem with his reemergence wasn't the fact he was brought to the Real World, but the fact that he came back, as if he wasn't really killed. Providence and Sky fought near the very end of his time in The First Trial, but Pestilence was killed before that. Reclaiming the bodies of humans all around promoted his rebirth?

I stood across from Pestilence as he pulled out an arrow, loosening it toward me. It was easy to shoot out of the air and I pulled the trigger with a straight face. As the smoke came out of the barrel of the gun, Pestilence vanished, and reappeared as half of his body leading into the billowing smoke with another arrow pulled back.

An easy push moved his body and created distance between us. I was astonished with his mobility. I didn't expect Rubeki to move this fast.

"You are afraid, of me? Looks like this bow can still shoot." Pestilence said. He slid the words out of his tongue with a hint of irritation as he circled around me. Holding my gun, I waited for him to make the next movement.

"I don't do this trash talk thing before battling. I want answers out of you. What are you doing here? Why aren't you in The First Trial?" I asked him.

"Hm...I wonder. It's not like The First Trial merged with the Real World." He shot back sarcastically. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh that's so funny! The real reason why you're not dead. Providence is back, right? Go on, break the news for me. I hope you know that we're able to take her out on her own without Sky's help. So why are you back? What's your purpose?" I asked.

"No need to get philosophical, Aristotle."

"Can it, you puff of green smoke."

Pestilence laughed and pulled the bowstring back, focusing his gaze right on my leg. He planned to cripple me in order to attack me more effectively.

I shot his arrow out of the air before it could even get halfway, pushing my body upward with the force of the shot, and curving it down toward him in order to put a hole in his head.

As soon as I got in the air, he vanished once more. I expected him to appear underneath me, but he still remained missing.

I landed on the ground with suspicion, running toward Shike and Belle to figure out what was going on. I was totally left in the dark and couldn't understand the logic of Rubeki, but they could.

Shooting at Rubeki loosely with the gun returned them to their human state, falling out of the black smoke. They laid defenseless on the ground. 

I saw three in a group lying together and I jumped in quickly, holding my gun out to aim for the next Rubeki I seen.

Oddly enough, the Rubeki ran straight past the people, refusing to attack twice. Their behavior was erratic.

"Shike, what's going on?" I yelled out to him. He watched as the Rubeki ran straight past him as well. They had a target that we couldn't see.

"I can't even fathom a reason they're doing this. They don't care about... wait..." Shike stopped dead in his tracks, trying to think about a motive.

"What's further in the city, what do they want?" I asked. I attempted to boost his thinking, preparing to shoot my gun down toward the ground to boost myself upward.

Belle perked up when the information seemed to scale her brain.

"Sky."

At the announcement of his name, the Rubeki froze in their stampede and turned right for Belle. They didn't move, they only observed.

"That's who they're looking for. I've never seen them behave like this... they're not just following orders, they're under somebody's control. I wish we had somebody that knew more about them..." Belle muttered.

"I wish I could help." Boo dropped in from above, landing on the ground with a sheathed katana swaying on her hip. "Providence was my mom, I'm sure you know that much Carl. She always talked about controlling the Rubeki, but never did it very well and controlled as this. Maybe I have an aunt or something stupid." 

"We all have interestingly families, don't we? A girl named Twilight Autumn came up to me and told me I was her son. Of all people. I'm sure she was lying, I can't see the connection." I told everybody. They nodded, weirded out by my mellowed attitude. 

I didn't feel any conflicting feelings toward Twilight and instead viewed her as an enemy. She professed to me that she controlled the Rubeki, yet gave no proof. I was curious about how she would act moving forward, or where she would pop up again.

But now, it was an undisputed fact that the Rubeki were going straight for Sky. Alicas was in the way.

"What can we do now? We can still take out a few, can't we? Lessen the load for Sky?" Boo asked the group.

"Don't be ridiculous, we're not the only people on Earth." Fudo said with a smile. He pulled out an old radio gifted to him by Khalil, and started playing with a dial on the side of it.

"Raiden? Acchi? Anybody? This is Fudo of Alicas!" He repeated. He switched the dial several times, until he was met with static on the opposite end when he replied.

"I am unfamiliar with these people... somebody who was with me vanished into thin air and left this behind. Fudo of Alicas, where are you from?" The voice returned to him.

"Antarctica... we're calling in to see if we can help Sky and take the pressure off of him from incoming Rubeki. Are you able to do anything about it?" Fudo asked.

"S-Sky?! His name... you know Sky?! He's my friend! I was with him in the beginning. You see, people thought I drowned, but I was captured and brought down to Earth. I'm looking for people in Antarctica!" The voice said.

My head tilted as I looked at the radio with wide eyes.

I stole it from Fudo's hand.

"...Red...?"