MIAB

21: Falling Inside the Black

"S-Shun?" Ming-Ming whispered, lowering her blade. The younger twin looked the same as he always had, except he had a gash on his right eye. He was dressed in the same clothes he had been wearing when he was captured and he looked almost as bad as Zeus. He smiled shakily before falling to his knees. Ming-Ming immediately caught him before he fell forward.

"How did you escape?" Oliver asked, walking to the two blunettes while Zeus felt the wind stirring. He frowned and looked at his surroundings as best as he could from his spot on the ground. This couldn't be Shun; he had seen the boy fall and become Ouranos's host before his eyes. So who was this boy? Was he a clever illusion made by Chaos? Or was he Ouranos?

"I pretended to be Ouranos and they all trusted me because of it." Shun answered before sitting upright, "We need to get out of here. Zeus needs to see a hospital, Oliver." He got to his feet, helping Ming-Ming do the same, "I think I can find a way to do so."

Oliver's narrowed eyes surprised Ming-Ming before the blade on the green-haired boy was pointed at the blunette. Shun took a step back, looking confused while Ming-Ming looked just as confused. Shun's expression was filled with hurt, "Oliver? What's wrong? Why are you pointing that thing at me?"

"You can't be Shun." Oliver said.

Shun looked at him with a very confused look before he looked around and glanced at Oliver once more, "We don't have time for this! We need to leave, guys. And fast, before they find out about my deceit. Or do you want to be caught by Chaos?"

"You're not fooling anyone," Oliver answered, "If this was the real Shun, he would have called me Oliver-kun, no matter how much I tell him to not call me that. Hikaru said that it's a habit he's trying to break from Shun but he's been failing. Not to mention that the real Shun would not want to leave here without Hikaru by his side, at least."

Ming-Ming backed away from 'Shun', realizing that Oliver had a point. She remembered that Shun had been injured on his side when he was captured and that wound was not present in his clothes.

Shun sighed, "You're right. I am not Shun Kuwashima. That boy hasn't existed for quite some time, you know." His entire appearance changed before he looked like the last time Zeus had seen him. He made his hair cover his scarred eye before turning to them, "I am Ouranos, holy beast of the sky."

"What do you want?" Ming-Ming asked, serious as the grave.

"I have some free time while the humans fight Hades and Gaea and decided to collect Venus and Unicolyon. I'd collect Zeus but Chaos would probably destroy his bit-chip and finish the job." Ouranos extended his hand out, "Hand them over."

"Never." Oliver glared while Ming-Ming did the same.

Ouranos pouted, "No wonder Tartarus said to not do it the easy way. Oh well." He closed his hand, forming a fist. The air around Ming-Ming and Oliver was now gone. They both gave out a gasp for breath, the blunette falling to her knees and dropping her blade as she gasped for air.

"Stop it." Zeus cried out, seeing how the two humans were struggling to find air, "You're killing them!"

"That's the point." Ouranos said while he waited for a couple of minutes as the two humans slowly suffocated. He frowned before opening his fist. The two bladers fell forward, gasping for the air they had been deprived of. Ouranos walked towards their blades and took out their chips, "Thank you for your service."

"N-No . . ." Ming-Ming croaked out, "S-stop . . ."

Ouranos tossed aside the blades and the wind hacked them to pieces, reminding Oliver of the way Bryan used to blade. The broken pieces fell to the ground before Ouranos vanished, leaving behind a half-dead holy beast and two tamers that had just lost their partners.