"Heh, How does the ground taste old man?" Said the guy who twisted her wrist to bury Tanaka's head deeper into the cold ground.

"Bad, Oh wait.. I should say.. I don't know because my mouth was closed the whole time." It was a little muffled that only he could hear but his slow words sparked a sense of fear in his heart.

He knew that he placed his weight onto his hand but it didn't move an inch from where it was before. He swallowed, beads of sweat had started to form at his forehead when he realized that something was wrong. He could no longer push his hand and pull it out from his head, he could no longer move a muscle.

"Hey, Richard.. Stop playing around with this guy and let's move on. Those couples went ahead to kill the girl she saved so who knows what they would do next. It's like awkward to stop those bunnies when they go at it.."

A female voice echoed behind the back of his head but there was nothing that he could turn to look where it came from except for his eyes. It didn't even reach her. His heart had started to beat like an overworked engine who roared as it gained more speed. He wanted to ask for help but his jaws had been locked, he wanted to request their assistance but he can't even move his tongue. He wanted to at least let out a loud grunt but even his throat won't contract. The only noise that he could produce was the sound of wind rushing through his nose..

"Dude.. are you okay.. Do you need help or something?" A man then followed up after a brief moment of silence.

He widened his eyes. He felt a thick layer of thread pushing her cheeks on the side and before he knew it, he had shaken his head to decline. He felt a few things as thin a needle pin into his throat. It was painful, he felt it burrowing through his skin and muscles until it found itself encircled around his vocal cords. He wanted to scream, he wanted to roll on the ground but all he could do was shed a single tear that none of them could see.

Just like when he thought it was over, he felt it again starting to curl at the bottom of his jaw, into his tongue and into his cheeks. It kept going until the lower half of his face turned numb. He felt several of it piercing through his stomach as it painfully crawled until it reached both of his lungs. It wasn't long before his body was forced to move.

His mouth had closed and opened a few times, and after a few nudges and tries, he was finally able to produce a bit of a sound saying, "Yeah.. I'm.. okay.. He-Hey.. I wan.. to.. shh-sho.. you something.. move.. a bit... Kulosah.."

"Ha? What the hell.. You.. well, I guess it wouldn't hurt.." The woman clicked her tongue and walked towards him.

"What? Hahaha.. what are you trying to pull here... What's with the terrible robot accent?" The man scratched the back of his head and moved on as well.

"Yeah.. I guess that would be fine.." The other man who was the farthest from them marched as well.

Those three walked towards him despite their obvious sense of hesitation. He shouted in his head because that's the freedom that he could get. No matter how hard breathed or no matter how hard he wanted to break free and run around, he just can't move. The man was the first to see his face that was hidden with shade and,

"Yo.. what the hell.." He took a step back as he lost the strength in his knees. He loosened and opened his lips as if his stomach craved nothing but air. He saw his comrade's face covered with blood, sweat, and tears. He didn't have enough time to think so he just clenched his teeth and raised his hand to those who were following him shouting, "You.. you guys get the fu-"

He would very much like to continue his words but he felt like as if there was a piece of wire that shut his mouth. He could still move a finger but it still felt like he lost control. The only one that was able to get away was the last person who went in with them, the other one shared the same fate.

"Your next line would be 'what' " They then heard the reaper on the ground whisper.

"Wha?" Said the girl second farthest away from him.

"What?" Said by the kid who was still away from him to some degree.

"Ahahahahahaha" The man that shoved the reaper into the ground then moved to its side. Tanaka made his rise backward like Pinnochio trying to stand up with a set of tangled strings."I can't.. I can't believe that it actually worked!. Then.. how about this... The next thing you'll say would be, How did you do this?"

"...." Both of them bit their tongues and the air was then filled with silence until Tanaka clicked his tongue.

"Cheeky bastards." He chuckled as his lips contorted into a hollow smile, giving depth to his face which was covered by blood. He then picked up his broken glasses on the ground and patted the dust off of his cloak before he said, "I could tell you if you asked politely but. Since none of you could ask me now except for the lucky one in front of me, I'm gonna tell you anyway.."

"You monster.. let my friends go..." She had a commanding voice but her tongue went back in her throat as he met his gaze. She then followed her words with a low voice saying, "Please..?"

"Oh.. such a sweet voice.. I didn't expect that.. coming from you no less. With that, you'll get a prize." Tanaka tilted his head and snapped his fingers. The man closest to him then raised his chest in the air with his arms far behind his back like a possessed body going through an intense exorcism. At that point in time, he got a bit of control and screamed 'help' before his jaw down to his ribs and lungs were ripped apart from his body.

"Yo what the f-" The other man got a bit of his freedom as well but he got turned into mush out of thin air. The only ones left are the girl who remained bound by his strings and the boy who was free to do what he pleased.

"Daniel.. Run and go call for Uncle James.." She groaned as she felt a few pieces of wires making their way through her skin making it bleed.. "This is as far as we can go.. sorry.."

Tanaka raised his hand as he took his time to approach her but he froze just when he was about to snap his fingers. The bald boy who had sticks for legs raised his arms towards him and gave him a brave face to which he returned the favor by giving him an indifferent reaction. She had the chance to free herself so she jumped back to hold her bloodied neck as she tried to catch her breath.

"Ah.. so that's how you were able to kill off my comrades..." He said like a scientist who made a groundbreaking discovery. "And here I thought that you guys were so strong. It turns out you guys didn't even fight. If you thought tha-"

"Quick!! Finish him while I hold him off!" Daniel cried.

Tanaka turned his attention to his side and saw the lady running towards him. He scoffed and followed, "...that I need to snap my fingers to activate my powers."

His words were like razors that cut deep into his heart and ears. The moment he said that, the lady that went after him lost his legs so fast that she never got to wonder what happened before she lost her head. What left of her was her torso and her arms wriggling around as if she still had a fight left in her. Both of them watched her struggle around as she bathed in her own blood without knowing what happened.

"James was it.. Now all I need to do is to work around and take him out." He then turned his attention towards Daniel. "Hey.. wanna make a deal with me.. set me free and I'll give you a quick death."

He didn't reply as he tried his best to keep it together now that he had just watched his comrades die.

"Come on.. I hate killing kids, especially the bald and thin ones. Think of it like this... Everything will go black after one second. It will be quick.. that isn't bad right?"

"I'll... I'll kill you..." He said as he walked closer, Tanaka felt the energy binding his arms were improving its intensity.

"Oh come on.. what are you gonna do, kill me with guilt, make me feel bad to the point that I'd kill myself?"

"Shut up.. I'm a man now and I got a place that I could return to.." He bore his teeth against him like a kitten showing her fangs against a lion. Tanaka found it cute. "THAT'S THAT'S THAT'S WHY I-''

He was about to take some action but a shadow flew by and brought him a huge gust of wind. He closed his eyes and when he opened it. He saw a door lodging itself in the middle of his body like bookmark too big for the book. The boy's body couldn't take the weight so his legs gave up to let his lifeless body fall on the floor.

"A door? Really?" Tanaka turned his head to look where it came from and he saw the battered Mary who walked out of the space where it probably came from. Her eyes looked dead and straight as she walked towards him without a word. He couldn't say anything in return but a part of him was happy to know that she was alive.

"Hey guuuys are you o-kaaaaay... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??" Said Rei who saw the body of that boy when he teleported behind him. "Damn.. this is a door isn't it?"

"Yes, and If you're gonna ask how, I didn't do it. Mary threw it like a shuriken." He turned his head towards Rei with a smile. He was a little surprised that he was in a bad shape as well. "Well.. I thought you run away.. Goodness, you're not any better.. What happened to you?"

Tanaka saw Rei losing a huge chunk of cloak and flesh around his left shoulder and her left arm looked like a leftover of a chicken drumstick. His knees were trembling, his breathing was ragged and his arm looked like it was gnawed off. He sat down to let his nicked and dull sword to rest.

Rei then pushed his bangs wet with blood at the back of his head and said, "I needed to rest for a bit.. I've killed a few people and a lot of imps, a hella lot of them.. it made me realize how important a shield is. Also, Albert needs some help."

"What?" Tanaka turned his head towards Rei. Mary who sat a few feet away from them glanced at Rei as well.

"Well..." Rei sighed. He raised his head to see how Tanaka reacted and he saw Mary sitting on the cold ground, covered in bruises and blood. His eyes widened as a surge of blood pumped through his head. He gritted his teeth and jumped from his seat to grab Tanaka's shoulder, he glared and him for a second before he turned his head to Mary saying, "Mary, what the hell.. WHAT THE HELL.. Tanaka! What did you do to her? Mary! Did this old man touch you"

Mary bit her lips and averted her gaze. She hugged her legs and lied on the ground with an unfazed expression like a wet chick drenched by a crimson rain.

"You dirty old man.. how could you do thi-"

"Hey.. piss off. I'm into women around my age, also I don't think I would be able to do that even If I wanted to... " He pointed him down to look at his crotch before Tanaka showed him a sad smile. "Sooo, You need some help with that arm right?"

"Yeah, I need to save Albert. I called and got to talk to MC, I need Albert alive so I could gloat at his sorry fanboy ass..."

"Really?" Tanaka scoffed as he scratched his cheek. "What a sweet boy you are"

Rei then knitted his brows and replied, "Yeah shut the hell up. Also, it turns out that we're the last ones left and all the other groups have been taken out. They did fight back and thinned their forces a bit though and yeah let me take that offer, please fix my left arm so I could grab my sword"

"There," Tanaka conjured his strings to surround and fill his arms to where his muscles should be. His left hand fastened itself into the sword as Rei adjusted where it should be. "Just take note.. I don't heal people. That's just some lame prosthetics but, I can guarantee that you won't be letting go of that sword until I say so."

"Thanks.. It's pretty painful but this should be enough, I'll figure something out." Rei squinted his eyes as he patted his shoulder muscles filled with woven strings. "I should go now.. I have to rush and I can't teleport there in one go."

"What?... what's your plan?"

"Go there, save Albert and profit. His mask got shattered but he told me that he'll meet me at the rooftop no matter what. You should probably go there as well.. if not" He looked at Mary who had a dead look in her eyes, his lips curved down for a second and he followed, "well.. if not, then that's fine too."

"Well... I mean I could try.." Tanaka smiled and raised both of his thin arms to highlight his fat stomach protruding out his exposed shirt. It reminded Rei of a dog standing upright. "...save him for us if we can't get there in time. Do you have any idea on who is he fighting against?"

"He's fighting off the guy that blew the brains out of that girl earlier. Albert mentioned that he can somehow bend bullets." Rei fished a short metal rod in his bag and used it as a gag. He turned his head to them for one last time and ran away saying, "stay frosty and keep safe, help is coming"

He watched him disappear into the distance. He took a deep breath and sighed as he looked at his aged palms. He knew that he couldn't promise anything because a part of him didn't want to let others know that he's hurt. He imagined a bit what could have happened to her but it pained his heart that he had to ask her for help. But in the end, he had made his decision so he fell onto one knee and said, "Mary, I need your help."

"What?" She replied with an angry tone but then it was soon replaced by a tired and a sad demeanor. She sat up and clenched her fist without taking off that ice cold expression of hers, She averted her gaze and with a shaking voice, she said, "What do you want me to do?"

"Darling," Tanaka said with a determined face as the moon gave light to the wrinkled highlights of his face. He reached out to her with an awkward smile and said, "I need you to fly."