CH. 100 - A Ghostly Attack

 In the party, a large deformed man wanders around. The shadow figure from before looks at everyone around them, almost salivating at the sight.

 “How lovely… everyone here is dressed up in costumes.. means someone like me can fit in!.” He mumbles to himself. Then a boy laughs as he steps back, accidentally bumping into the man.

 “Woah, whoops! Sorry dude, I didn’t-” he says before noticing the man’s appearance. He looks at the crooked head on lopsided shoulders, covered in rags with orange glowing eyes covered by darkness. The boy sweats nervously and steps back. “I-I’m sorry. I’m just gonna…” he says while pointing over his shoulder and hurrying away. The man watches before a gross smile spreads across his face.

 “Heh… he touched me… he actually touched me..! Maybe here I can finally find love..!” the stranger says before turning around and looking at Airi. He focuses on her laughing before smiling again. “I think I’ll start with her…” he says before walking her way. Airi laughs with some other students as the man steps towards her. He stops, and she notices his large figure before looking nervous.

 “Hi… do we know you?..” she asks as the other students step back.

 “No… but you will.” He says with a slimy tone as he reaches out to her. She steps back, avoiding his grasp, causing him to get mad. “Don’t be like that. Just let me touch you, you’ll see!” he says while reaching for her again. Airi looks disgusted as she steps back even more before Lucy’s voice picks up.

 “Keep your hands away from her. You’re being a real creep.” She says. The stranger turns to look at her.

 “Oh? Maybe you want it then..” he says before quickly extending his arm to grab her. Lucy is shocked as it extends inhumanly long, but before he can touch her, suddenly the man is struck across the face. Hisana drives her fist into his cheek with a neutral look on her face before the man is sent flipping through the air, hitting the ground with a thud. Lucy sighs before looking at Hisana.

 “Thanks, dude.” She says. Hisana just huffs as Kitaro sweats, watching her.

 “I knew she packed a punch, but dang…” he says. The man then starts screaming and shouting, holding his head in pain.

 “Owowow! Why did that hurt so much! I want to touch you but not like that!” he shouts. Everyone is shocked, but not by his words. They watch as the man floats off the ground while he shouts. He then looks at Hisana angrily. “That’s it! I only wanted to fulfill my dream! I only keep living because I wanted to touch someone passionately, but now… now I’ll just touch you dead instead!” He shouts as the rags once covering his body start falling off him, almost through him. The stranger’s body is revealed as a glowing yellow form with droopy designs from his tattered astral clothes and hair.

 “It’s a…” Suiyoubi says before Daiki shouts.

 “Ghost!” he screams. People start freaking out as the stranger gets riled up.

 “My name is Kobah and I live to feel the touch of someone, anyone! If you all run and scream from me now, I’ll just kill you all and move onto the next city!” He shouts, dashing through the air right at Hisana. She’s shocked as suddenly Fullsky comes dashing his way and slams her foot into his face, causing him to go hurdling into a nearby table. She stomps down and stands tall as her friends all light up seeing her in action.

 “Fear not, kids. We’re here to keep you safe.” Fullsky says, covering part of her face with her scarf.

 “We??” Chizuru and Hisana ask excitedly as Kobah gets back up. He sits up in the wreckage of the table and glares at Fullsky.

 “Why you… gah!” He shouts when suddenly Watchdog slams his heavy boot onto Kobah’s face, back into the ground.

 “Yeah, us.” He says, now wearing his mask. Fullsky turns to her friends and whispers.

 “Guys, we need you to keep the heat off us as we get rid of this creep. If anyone gets suspicious about us, turn them away!.” Fullsky says with a whisper before swiping her hand down in front of her face, creating her mask.

 “What should we say?.” Suiyoubi asks in a hurried whisper.

 “We’ll tell people Shiori and Hikigaya left to go fool around..” Lucy says back with a smirk. Fullsky blushes and rolls her eyes.

 “Whatever.. just keep the secret shut!.” she says before turning around. The others turn away too and start rushing out. One of the other students stops and notices Fullsky and Watchdog before smiling.

 “Woah! Hey, it’s actually them! Everyone look! It’s Fullsky and Watchdog!” he shouts.

 “Where’s Shiori and Hikigaya? They’d love this!” Daiki says as Sugawara and Touma start pushing them along.

 “They already evacuated and we should too! Come on!” Sugawara says.

 “Why? If they’re here, then we’re totally safe!” Daiki tries to argue when Touma just picks him up and rushes off with him. “Aw, man…” he mopes. Principal Ai and Ms. Samuel push kids along, guiding them away from the area.

 “Who are they? More trouble?” Principal Ai asks.

 “I don’t know, but the kids seem to like them, so I think we can trust them.” Samuel says, looking at Fullsky and Watchdog. Back in the situation, Watchdog leans on Kobah as he speaks.

 “So why exactly does a ghost want to touch people so bad?” he asks as Kobah struggles under his boot.

 “Grr… you wouldn’t understand! Not when you’ve got such a hottie always around you!” He shouts before grabbing onto Watchdog’s leg with yellow electricity around his hand. Watchdog is shocked for a moment before he’s thrown off of him forcefully. Watchdog flips back before stumbling with a bit of a limp.

 “Ow. Okay, I actually felt that.” He says, stomping his leg a little.

 “Kobah the ghost. Stop this now and turn yourself in.” Fullsky says commandingly as Kobah stands up and floats a little.

 “Or what? You’re gonna kill me? Oh wait! I’m already dead! And where would you even put me? Chief has a special cell for ghosts?” He asks sarcastically. Fullsky and Watchdog are a bit surprised by his words. “Yeah, that’s right. I know allll about you. I’ve worked hard to avoid your attention and try to achieve my dreams, but then you just had to show up here. Why’re you even here??” he shouts. Watchdog stomps forward and thrusts his arm out, shooting a bone spike right at his chest.

 “We’re here to protect people from villains like you!” he shouts as the bone spike stabs right through Kobah’s chest. He looks down at the spike before smirking.

 “I’m a ghost, dude. This shit’s not gonna work on me!” he shouts before blasting the same electricity into the bone, which blasts into Watchdog, shattering the bone spike and hitting his body with intense force. Spurts of blood fly from his mouth and nose under his mask. Fullsky looks at him, shocked.

 “Watchdog!” she shouts as Kobah flies her way with intense speed.

 “I know your boytoy there can’t really hurt me! So I’ll just focus on you!” he shouts as Fullsky looks at him right as he thrusts his palm at her. She lifts her arm to block the attack before quickly spinning and letting him fly past her. Kobah then turns and backhands her so she blocks but is sent stumbling back. Kobah then lifts his hand in the shape of a circle and points it at Fullsky. A glowing energy forms in the circle, causing Fullsky to coat her fists in a liquid metal coating and guard. Kobah smirks.

 “Being a ghost has given me loads of time to learn new tricks.” He says before blasting a small energy beam right at Fullsky. The energy hits her guard but instantly phases straight through her arms. She’s shocked as the beam shoots straight into her chest. The impact force blasts out, causing her to fall back a bit with a pained shout. Kobah laughs as he shoots her a few more times, each one hitting through any guard she puts up and blasting a small shockwave into her body. Suddenly, a bone whip wraps around Kobah’s neck. He looks back to see Watchdog holding him back with a grunt. Kobah scoffs at him before phasing through the bone whip and flying right at him. He slams his fist into Watchdog’s face before driving an uppercut right into his chin.

 ‘That’s right. Keep your eyes on me.’ Watchdog thinks as Kobah laughs, assaulting Watchdog repeatedly. Behind them, Fullsky takes a sharp breath before pulling her arms back. They glow with bright kinetic energy as Kobah looks over his shoulder at her with wide eyes.

 “Uh oh.” he says and tries to fly away when Watchdog wraps his arms around him, keeping him here.

 “What’s wrong? I’m not done.” He says with a smirk as Kobah starts to phase out of his grip, but it’s too late. The second of hesitation gives Fullsky the chance to slam her hands together and fire a directed sonic blast right at Kobah. The impact hits him and blasts him back into the stone wall behind him with a yelp of pain.

 “Guh.. I guess being a ghost doesn’t stop basic pain..” he groans as Fullsky suddenly grabs onto his collar and lifts him off the ground. “Woah! Okay, wait! You can’t blame me for trying! So how about this?” He says scared before lifting his palm with bright electricity energy pointed right at her face. Fullsky clocks it instantly and grabs onto his palm with her own to stop the blast. This causes lightning to blast out in sporadic ways everywhere else. Nearby, Alice leans out from behind a stone pillar, watching the fight excitedly.

 “I get to see Fullsky and Watchdog fight up close! This is the best!” She says before Kitaro rushes up to her and tackles her over.

 “Look out!” He shouts as a stray lightning bolt strikes above where they just were. They look back for a moment before Kitaro grabs her arm and pulls her along forcefully as they run. “Come on!” He shouts with a frustrated tone as Alice follows.

 “Wait, I wanna see the fight!” She shouts. Samuel ducks as the boom from the blast rings out, shaking the building a little. She quickly grabs Ryuji’s shoulder and speaks to him.

 “Have you seen Shiori and Hikigaya? I can’t find them!” She asks frantically.

 “Yeah, they’re already outside the school.” Ryuji answers swiftly.

 “Are you sure?” She asks again as Ryuji nods.

 “I’m sure we’ll see them again once it’s all over.” He says as Samuel looks concerned but nods and pushes Ryuji along as they leave.

 In the courtyard, Fullsky manages to overpower Kobah and crush his hand, stopping the energy blast and causing him to scream in pain. He growls before kicking Fullsky off himself. She flips back before Kobah points his circle blast at her again, but before any shots can land, Watchdog jumps in the way and eats them. The shots almost seem to do nothing to him as he charges Kobah. He’s shocked and dodges a heavy swing from Watchdog only for Fullsky to create energy whips and latch onto his neck and wrist. She then swings him around and slams him into the ground with a heavy thud. Kobah groans as Fullsky stomps on his chest and leans over him.

 “As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure Chief does have a place for people like you.” She says with a smirk before pulling back a metal covered fist and punching him, everything going black.

 Outside the school’s entrance under the night sky, students and staff are gathered from the party as the sounds of chaos fade and peace officers start showing up with other emergency responders. Principal Ai looks at Samuel with a serious look as she speaks.

 “Get a headcount of your class. I’ll have the other teachers do the same.” She says as Samuel nods. She turns around and begins gathering the attention of her class.

 “Everyone. It’s alright, I’m just going to do a head count to make sure everyone is here and safe.” She says as Chizuru and Haru look at each other concerned, knowing Shiori and Hikigaya aren’t here. Samuel starts roll calling her class with a slight shake in her voice before getting to Shiori’s name. “Shiori? Shiori?? Oh no, where is she? And Hikigaya! I thought they were with you!” Samuel panics as she looks at the group. Lucy sweats while trying to come up with a lie.

 “Uh, yeah, so funny thing, uh…” she stutters before Chizuru and Haru speak up at the same time.

 “Bathroom!”

 “Kissing!” They shout before looking at each other, wincing at their misaligned lies. Chizuru stutters out first to try to recover.

 “They went to the bathroom!” She says.

 “Yeah! So they could.. kiss?” Haru tries to blend it together. They both flinch at their own words as Samuel stares blankly at them before shouting.

 “Now?? They thought doing that now was a good idea?? They could still be in danger! We have to find them!” As Samuel panics about the situation, behind the group a rustling can be heard very faintly. Shiori and Hikigaya struggle as they try to make it to the group quickly, whispering to each other.

 “..we gotta lose the masks.!” Hikigaya whispers.

 “..wait, the blood.! ..let me clean it off.!” Shiori whispers as they almost trip over each other, coming from around the corner trying to clean up from the scuffle they just had. As they stumble over, the class and Samuel notice them so they stop and straighten up.

 “You two! There you are! Where were you?” Samuel asks, upset. Shiori tries to answer as Hikigaya doesn’t know what to say, but before she can say anything, Samuel hugs them both. “Next time, evacuate with everyone else, please.. don’t scare me like that again…” she says softly as they are surprised but smile and hug her back. Samuel sighs as she stands up. “Okay. That’s everyone. We’re okay.” She says, smiling a little as the group giggles to themselves a bit, knowing with Shiori and Hikigaya here they weren’t in any real danger. Chizuru secretly approaches them with a sly look.

 “So what happened?.. Was it amazing?..” she asks in an excited whisper.

 “Nah, we just restrained him and left him there. Chief will handle the rest.” Shiori says while crossing her arms. Alice then giggles and jumps on her back.

 “Oh dude! What I'd give to see the whole thing!” Alice says with a big smile as Shiori smiles too. Hikigaya smiles at them before looking over and seeing Chief speaking to Principal Ai. He nods before walking into the school with other officers. Hikigaya watches for a moment before making his way over.

 “Be right back.” He says openly to Samuel and the others. Shiori quickly notices and follows.

 “Wait, where are you two going?” Samuel asks.

 “Bathroom.”Hikigaya says.

 “Kissing.” Shiori says before they look at each other, not on the same page.

 “Yeah, we’re going to the bathroom…” Hikigaya says.

 “To kiss?” Shiori finishes his thought before they shake their heads and rush into the school once again. Samuel groans as she lets her head fall back.

 “Ugh… those two are gonna make me pull my hair out..” she groans as Hisana pats her on the shoulder.

 “There, there.” She says with a smile.

 Soon, the mess is cleaned up by the peace officers, taking Kobah away in fancy, high tech looking restraints. Principal Ai declares the party over as the students and staff begin to head home. Despite everyone else leaving, the group waits for not very long as Shiori and Hikigaya return to them.

 “Finally! Took you long enough!” Haru playfully complains.

 “Done enough kissing for now?” Kitaro teases. They blush and smile, nodding.

 “What was that all about?” Chizuru asks.

 “We just had to give Chief the rundown about what happened, then tell him we’re officially back as Fullsky and Watchdog.” Shiori says with a smile.

 “What did h-he say to that?” Touma asks softly. Shiori and Hikigaya smirk as they think to a few moments ago...

 “Just so you know, I won’t be taking it easy on you anymore. You’re fourth years now, so I’m cracking down on arresting you both when I see you out there.” He says firmly. Watchdog smirks at him.

 “We look forward to it.” He says as Chief smirks back.

 “He was pretty supportive, I’d say.” Hikigaya says as Shiori giggles.

 “Aw yeah! More hero stuff!” Alice says enthusiastically as Suiyoubi sweats and shushes her.

 “Shh! Not so loud!.” she says with a strong whisper. They laugh as Hikigaya looks around, noticing something.

 “Hey, where’s Lucy and Ryuji?” He asks.

 “Oh, you know them. They’re probably off doing something inappropriate again.” Sugawara says as Chizuru blushes and covers her ears.

 “Ah! No, no! I don’t wanna think about that right now!” she says as the others giggle and laugh at her reaction.

 “Come on, guys. Let’s head home.” Hikigaya says while walking off. Shiori and the others follow right behind him as they smile and laugh about the Halloween party they just had.