![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orange_lilyYugo goes crashing through the penthouse window, the flames he used to propel himself flickering out behind him, and comes face to face with Keisuke menacing an elderly man in his pyjamas - who Yugo presumes is Sanada. He remembers, as Keisuke reaches out one hand towards Sanada and transforms into a looming, cloaked figure, that Keisuke had been down in Tokyo on business when the Sabbath ritual had created the Phantoms.
He's moving in to attack when chains burst from the ground, fending him backwards and then wrapping around him. Yugo feels Phoenix scream with rage inside his head, as another Phantom, one with horns and glittering armour all his own, emerges from the ground.
"Forgive the intrusion, Mister Phoenix," he says, and beckons Keisuke - the Phantom of Christmas Yet To Come, even - away. Keisuke grabs Sanada and retreats into a portal, which closes with a snap of cold air around him.
"... Dude, are you his boss?"
"I am one of the executive admins of operations here in Shiragiku, yes," the Phantom says. "Krampus."
"Dude. Festiveharsh."
"I would have introduced myself earlier, but I was reluctant to face one of the Greater Phantoms. Had myself and my brethren not fled from Tokyo, Wiseman would surely have hunted us all down. He would have killed us, or chained us as he did Legion," Krampus said. Yugo wriggles slightly, seeing if there's any way out of the chains. There isn't. There is only the monologue. "Each time we feed on another Phantom, we grow stronger, but it's difficult to gauge precisely how much more powerful we've become."
Yugo squints through the mask. "Are you just going to monologue at me?"
Krampus stares at him for a moment. Then, in one fluid movement, he produces a sword and slides it through Yugo's chest, the armour cracking around it.
Yugo just foggily feels Phoenix flare at the back of his mind before hellfire explodes outwards from his armour, incinerating the chains and forcing Krampus backwards. For a brief moment, it feels like he's not in control of his body, that Yugo has been forced backwards and Phoenix is at the forefront now.
His armour is boiling. Cracks are spreading along it, glowing red, flickering with embers. Krampus sweeps his chains around himself, sending waves of frost out. They turn to steam in the air.
Something thumps in the middle of Yugo's head. The world blurs and goes black.
---
He pries at the disk on his wrist and screams. The dirt turns to ash.
---
He wakes up feeling like he hasn't breathed in hours. His lungs suck in air painfully.
Scrambling, he touches his chest. He can feel where the sword passed through. There's a bruise there, still livid and tender to touch. But as sick and weak as he feels, it's only a bruise.
Soukichi and Yuriko are standing over him.
"- How long was I out?" Yugo starts.
"We found you this morning. It's evening now, Christmas Day," Soukichi says.
"... Is Sanada?"
"He's not turned up yet. That probably means he's alive. I have connections in the police looking for him, and Yuriko has 'bots out doing patrols."
"How did I get away from ... ?" Yugo blinks. His armour turning to fire, Krampus staggering backwards, gold metal moulting to admit red plumage, diving out of a window. A sharp pain in his head makes him stop thinking about it.
"Sanada's penthouse was wrecked, but we didn't find you anywhere near it," Soukichi says, and Yugo notes the tinge of suspicion in his voice.
He finds himself scowling, and wonders where the bubbling up of anger in his chest is coming from, because he's not like that. He's never been like that.
He rolls out of bed, and Yuriko's hand is on his shoulder immediately, nearly pushing him back down. She's stronger than any human is, he knows that, and he wonders how much self-control she uses not to crush people's limbs in everyday life.
"You should recover," she says sternly. "We'll deal with - ..."
"Dude, you can't, remember? Neither of you can transform safely, you can't deal with anything," Yugo says, perhaps a little more harshly than he means to, and eases her hand aside, standing up and picking up his t-shirt. His legs feel like they're going to give out. "I'm going out looking. Maybe my brothers will know where to look."
They left some turkey for him, he notes. He downs some on the way out of the flat.
He's moving in to attack when chains burst from the ground, fending him backwards and then wrapping around him. Yugo feels Phoenix scream with rage inside his head, as another Phantom, one with horns and glittering armour all his own, emerges from the ground.
"Forgive the intrusion, Mister Phoenix," he says, and beckons Keisuke - the Phantom of Christmas Yet To Come, even - away. Keisuke grabs Sanada and retreats into a portal, which closes with a snap of cold air around him.
"... Dude, are you his boss?"
"I am one of the executive admins of operations here in Shiragiku, yes," the Phantom says. "Krampus."
"Dude. Festiveharsh."
"I would have introduced myself earlier, but I was reluctant to face one of the Greater Phantoms. Had myself and my brethren not fled from Tokyo, Wiseman would surely have hunted us all down. He would have killed us, or chained us as he did Legion," Krampus said. Yugo wriggles slightly, seeing if there's any way out of the chains. There isn't. There is only the monologue. "Each time we feed on another Phantom, we grow stronger, but it's difficult to gauge precisely how much more powerful we've become."
Yugo squints through the mask. "Are you just going to monologue at me?"
Krampus stares at him for a moment. Then, in one fluid movement, he produces a sword and slides it through Yugo's chest, the armour cracking around it.
Yugo just foggily feels Phoenix flare at the back of his mind before hellfire explodes outwards from his armour, incinerating the chains and forcing Krampus backwards. For a brief moment, it feels like he's not in control of his body, that Yugo has been forced backwards and Phoenix is at the forefront now.
His armour is boiling. Cracks are spreading along it, glowing red, flickering with embers. Krampus sweeps his chains around himself, sending waves of frost out. They turn to steam in the air.
Something thumps in the middle of Yugo's head. The world blurs and goes black.
He pries at the disk on his wrist and screams. The dirt turns to ash.
He wakes up feeling like he hasn't breathed in hours. His lungs suck in air painfully.
Scrambling, he touches his chest. He can feel where the sword passed through. There's a bruise there, still livid and tender to touch. But as sick and weak as he feels, it's only a bruise.
Soukichi and Yuriko are standing over him.
"- How long was I out?" Yugo starts.
"We found you this morning. It's evening now, Christmas Day," Soukichi says.
"... Is Sanada?"
"He's not turned up yet. That probably means he's alive. I have connections in the police looking for him, and Yuriko has 'bots out doing patrols."
"How did I get away from ... ?" Yugo blinks. His armour turning to fire, Krampus staggering backwards, gold metal moulting to admit red plumage, diving out of a window. A sharp pain in his head makes him stop thinking about it.
"Sanada's penthouse was wrecked, but we didn't find you anywhere near it," Soukichi says, and Yugo notes the tinge of suspicion in his voice.
He finds himself scowling, and wonders where the bubbling up of anger in his chest is coming from, because he's not like that. He's never been like that.
He rolls out of bed, and Yuriko's hand is on his shoulder immediately, nearly pushing him back down. She's stronger than any human is, he knows that, and he wonders how much self-control she uses not to crush people's limbs in everyday life.
"You should recover," she says sternly. "We'll deal with - ..."
"Dude, you can't, remember? Neither of you can transform safely, you can't deal with anything," Yugo says, perhaps a little more harshly than he means to, and eases her hand aside, standing up and picking up his t-shirt. His legs feel like they're going to give out. "I'm going out looking. Maybe my brothers will know where to look."
They left some turkey for him, he notes. He downs some on the way out of the flat.
