~TOWICL~ Phantom Thief Returns

Chapter 9: Eternal Dark Part 3 (Prologue)

Recap:

Satoshi did the final touches to the magic circle, he lifted his head and spoke to no one in particular, "Keep going Krad, Keep playing with Dark for now."

"No, please don't Hiwatari... You can't-" Daisuke was struck by another form of magic.

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AT THE AZUMANO CITY

Riku's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pang of pain on her chest. Her sister noticed her and followed her as she separated from the class. Saehara shouts at them for escaping from duty, but the younger Harada made some good excuse and caught up with her twin sister.

Risa followed her twin all the way to the clock tower, where she found her on the uppermost floor of the clock tower. She supported her back on one of the four main posts while staring helplessly at the Central Art Museum and the police below them. She stubbornly kept her tight grip on the heart pendant and her sister figured out who she was worrying about.

"Don't worry about Niwa, he's fine." Risa reassures her sister.

Riku felt contentment in her sister's words and let down her worries a little. Suddenly, her pendant started glowing and both of them can hear Mio's voice pleading for help. "Please... please lend me your power. If we don't stop it quickly –"

Riku lifted her pendant, faced her sister before and asking Mio, "What happened? Why are you in my-?"

"I locked myself in the pendant that night. It was all I could do." Questions started running through Riku's mind. "That night...?"

Suddenly, she recalled the night where she gave Daisuke the other pendant and asked him to do a ritual. She heard Mio's voice, calling for Daisuke that time before a blinding light escaped from the joined pendant. After the light disappeared, they both forgot what they are doing. At the end of her flashback, she exclaimed, "I remember!"

"Please, I need both of you to help me. If we don't hurry, we'll be too late. Both Dark and Daisuke will be - "

"NO, NIWA!"

Outside the Central Art Museum, the angels were still fighting. Dark was weakening from Krad's perpetual attacks, which he failed to dodge. He apologises to his host for bearing the same amount of pain. "Sorry Daisuke, hang in there!"

Back at the world where Satoshi and Daisuke are currently in, Satoshi finished his magic circle and stood in the middle of the red glowing formation. Daisuke strived to get up from the floor and ran towards Satoshi, despite the severe pain he was enduring, to stop him from committing suicide. He shouted his name, "Hiwatari!"

"STAY BACK!" Satoshi shouted to him, but he persistently tries to break through the magic wall, hurting himself more. "Niwa."

Red whips shot out from the intersection of the lines in the magic circle and rips through Satoshi's shirt, grabbing him tight on the limbs. He then whispered to himself, " I've decided I don't care about my life, Niwa. It would have ended before long, anyway."

Inside the Central Art Museum, Kei continues hitting the skull seal with his axe. He was laughing by himself, "With just a little more effort, this will be..." The skull glowed white.

At the Niwa household, Kosuke continues to share the pain together with Daisuke and Dark. Even if he was not wearing the Rutile of Grief, he was still connected to the two. He lies on a bed with a cold wet towel on his head. Beside him was a basket with Towa and With, stone hard inside it. As the pain increases, he called out his son's name, "Daisuke..."

Krad and Dark continued fighting outside the museum, gliding on the air with a feather at hand. When their feathers met, a huge amount of feathers were created, swirling around them, hiding them as they barge in the museum.

The rest of the citizens continue evacuating, while the news team are heading towards the museum. Suzaki stopped in her track and started covering for the report about Dark and the other angel. When she spun her head, she was surprised to see their feathers everywhere.

While everyone outside the museum were at chaos, Kei continues breaking the seal when a blinding light came. Kei covers half of his vision. When the light dispersed, Mio stood in position with the pendant crushed in her right fist, pointed towards Kei.

"Very smart! You must have used the Harada twins' bodies." Kei concluded.

Mio opened her eyes and spoke, "This has to end right now!"

On the other side of the museum, Krad kept sending feather attacks towards Dark. One hit him successfully, which sent him crashing on the nearby wall. Regaining his focus, he dodged the rest of the attacks.

Back to the world Daisuke and Satoshi were at, Daisuke managed to split the magic barriers that block his way, telling him that he shouldn't give up that easily. Red whips continue gripping hard on Satoshi's limbs.

Back to Kei, after a short argument, Mio used the power of the pendant to show Kei flashbacks on his life, where he treated Satoshi as the most important treasure he has. But somehow, Kei's hard to teach a lesson.

Red whips tore Satoshi's shirt off as they drain his strength. But somehow, Satoshi was still looking forward to enduring pain to death as payment for Krad's murderous assaults not just to the Niwa family, but also to the innocent citizens of Azumano.

"I lived true to myself, I am myself, I am COMPLETE!"

"Don't you even remember your own words?" Daisuke shot back. "Ypu said that you wanted to live like a normal middle school student."

"I would NEVER say that!" Satoshi shouted back. He repeated his words calmly to himself before shutting his head to his lower left, with his eyes shut close, and bursting out. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"NO!" Daisuke leapt, dragged Satoshi out of the magic circle, and pinned him against the floor. "Don't ever isolate yourself!" he said that with tears escaping his eyes. "As long as you live, you'll find that person! That one person who's happy just because you are there!" Daisuke's grip on his shoulder tightened. "You can't do it! You can't take your own life! You CAN'T!"

Absorbing his words, Satoshi started crying as well. He whispered, "Niwa, I just –" The rest of his words were lost in tears.

Daisuke shut his eyes close and begged his friend, "Hiwatari, please live."

Hearing the teens' conversation in his mind, Dark gained more courage to fight. "Daisuke, I'll protect that feelings of yours."

Dark was able to stop Krad in his tracks and rip his wings off. The pain caused too much of Krad's time and Dark was able to envelop the two of them in his back wings. Dark's wings glowed light blue, bolting off like a meteorite, breaking anything that blocks its way. It's like a metal ball, being pulled by a very strong magnet, and that magnet is the Black Wings.

Kei sensed his partner approaching his plays in an uneasy way. He shouted, "They're here!" He turned to Mio with the axe levelled on his shoulder. "One more step, and you will-"

He was cut off by the crushing of the nearby wall and he was sent flying with the axe on his arm.

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