DARKNESS

"S-so Umanooooo, how have you been?" Cero's lips twitched with an awkward smile.

The girl walked over to him and slapped him, but her hand went through him. "Ah, damn, forgot that I am a spirit." She glared at Cero. "Cero, I need a wish."

"Of course, my dear." 

"I wish I could slap you." 

"Eh?" 

She slapped his face, making him fall down. "The wishing warrior must be disappointed."

Cero rubbed his face. "Nah, he is a disappointment himself." He got up and smirked. "You should have wished for something better."

"You are too weak to be granting better wishes." She walked past Cero while he pouted. 

She floated in air, glaring at him. "So how's Toby?"

Cero's ears twitched; he directed his gaze to the ground. "Suicided."

"Of course, because he had you as a so-called bestie." The sky above them darkened as she rose higher in the air. 

"Why me..." Cero ran towards the shield. But as soon as he reached it, the shield dispersed. Everyone walked out of the shield.

"Where is that new guy?" Cero gasped for air.

"We sent him away...what happened?" Nive (girl) asked, glancing at Umano.

"She is a spirit; Ren should—" 

"Sent him off..." Nive (girl) glared and pointed at Umano. "Your mess."

"She can summon more spirits..." Cero grabbed Nive's shoulders, shaking her. A scar appeared in the sky, which opened up. Spirits of different shapes emerged out of them.

"Cerooo, are you ready to die, dear..." Umano giggled.

 Nive (girl) raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Can't you find a normal girl for once?"
From her pocket she pulled out a small book and opened it. She raised her arm, and a staff appeared in her hand. "I guess I will take care of this mess."

The smoke from lightning cleared. Black slime was splattered everywhere. A scally creature unrolled, letting out Patricka and Puppet Girl. The slime slid along the sand, splattering together to make the slime man.

"Woah, they are actually not that weak..." The slime chuckled and looked at the puppet girl. "Can your undead handle them for a bit?" 

"Your undead?" Philomena mumbled. 

"Mhmm...I am a puppeteer for the undead..." She chuckled, waving at Philomena.

The zombies hurtled towards them. Philomena made a shield to prevent an attack. The ground shook, and centipedes slithered out, wailing in the air. Kaya and Rose attacked the centipedes.

"My babies want to join too." Patricka laughed.

The ground shook, followed by a scraping sound. Whooweis and Horte crawled out of the sand. Howling and screeching, they crept towards Star Awesome members.

"And what are you, a puppeteer for the monsters?" Damian sneered.

"No, I am one of them..." She pouted.

"Yeah, no one cares." Shar kicked her, sending her flying off. 

Sen and Yao jumped onto the Hortes. 
"You guys take on the prominent ones; leave the minions to us." Yao yelled.

The sky rumbled once more with more lightning.
White light surrounded Philomena.
Damian and Philomena attacked the slime and Puppet Girl as the latter pair charged towards them.

.

.

.

The five weaklings walked under the setting sun. Casting eerie long shadows. 

"So what are we supposed to do?" Ren walked behind Yuzuru.

"Dunno..." Ayu scrolled on her phone, holding Vivian's hand.

"Aww, nice of them to send a pair of couples." 

All of them turned around to Jacksaw at the far end.
Yuzuru glanced at Vivian and Ayu. "Couple, me and one of them, ew."

Ayu sighed and kicked him. "Not you with us, you and Ren."
She hugged Vivian. "Me and Vivvy."

Jacksaw chuckled, "See, Ayu isn't dumb."

Yuzuru and Vivian exchanged glances.
"Come here, Jacksaw."

Yuzuru and Vivian sat on top of Jacksaw.
"A prince will come for me..." Vivian slapped Jacksaw's head.
"And I already like someone." Yuzuru also slapped his head.

"Who, Sen?" Vivian chuckled.

"N-no, Amanda." Yuzuru scratched his nape and got off Jacksaw and walked over to Ren. "And you must love Riley by now."
Vivian got up, glaring at Ren. 

Yuzuru pulled Ren closer. "Take her before this siscon takes her."

Ren gasped and looked at Vivian. "I don't think I have romantic feelings for Riley....."

Vivian smacked Yuzuru on the head. "We aren't here to discuss our feelings, and I am not a siscon."

Ayu hugged Vivian and squinted her eyes. "U-um, what's that?" She pointed at a darkness approaching them from the far horizon.

They all turned towards the darkness. Tremor went past Yuzuru's body, and he took a step back. "Demons."

They all huddled together; Yuzuru made a transparent shield over them.
"If they break it?" Ayu tightened her grip on her phone.
"We fight them..." Jacksaw sighed.

Ren remembered the demonic experience he had earlier. "I am scared..."

Yuzuru patted him. He looked towards the darkness. "Tell me how you guys prefer death, easy or painful?"

"What type of question is that?" Ren yelled.

"You know we are immortal, right?" 

"Yes, but we still die, even if we come back to life." Ren shivered, looking towards the darkness and back at Yuzuru. "Death is still painful."

"Of course it is; that's why everyone back there was fighting." Jacksaw smiled at Ren. "We are still afraid of the pain of death."

"But if we aren't killed, our enemies will torture us; you have no idea how painful that is." Yuzuru smiled faintly.

"We'll fight as much as we can, but as soon as someone loses and is about to be taken away, kill that person." Vivian directed Yuzuru and stood up. 

"The one who kills will be tortured later?" Ren grabbed Yuzuru's shoulder, which was visibly trembling. 

"Don't worry, if Sen can do it, so can I." He stood up, followed by the rest of them. 

As the sun drowned into the night, the darkness of demons neared them. Their breaths resonated in the silence.

"Bet the others sent us here because we were fighting too much." Vivian shook her head and sighed.

"Damn it, I feel like a scapegoat...." Yuzuru nervously chuckled.

"I'm sure they were all mad at my edits." Ayu fidgeted.

With those words the darkness engulfed their shield. They could hear scratching and cracking noises; suddenly everything went silent. The darkness subsided, and the starry sky became visible.

*Knock-knock.*

*knock-knock*

*Knock-knock.*

*knock-knock*

From all around, demons took human-like faces and knocked on their shield. A few were still scraping the shield. A crack became apparent in the shield.

"Stay alert, Jacksaw." Yuzuru glanced at him.
"mhmm"

"What's going on here?"

A person covered in a cloak walked towards them. The demons screeched at the voice, bumping into each other and moving opposite to the hidden man. Some of them turned into darkness and seeped away.

IT'S HIM.

LET'S GO ATTACK THE OTHERS

RUN

I can't change my form. 

He'll KILL USSS.

The man raised his hand. The demons began burning, turning into ashes. He mumbled, "Useless." He looked at the shield and walked over to them. "Who are you people?"

"Who the hell are you?" Yuzuru yelled.

"Not someone you should be worried about." He spoke softly and touched the shield. Black scratches appeared all over the shield, and it suddenly collapsed.

"Hmm, weak." He lowered his head cover, his silver hair ruffled. He extended his hand forward as his surreal blue eyes glistened.

They all blushed and took a step back except Vivian, who took a step forward. She took his hand.

"I am Vivian, and you are simply gorgeous."