Absolute In/Existence

"He's coming."

Tiger's ears twitched and he turned to look at Sora confused.

"Huh? Who-"

As Tiger was still speaking, he felt wind push at him and a blur pass right before his eyes. Tiger widened his eyes as he instantly recognized the blur.

Mirio sprung from the ground, a big smile on his face. He lifted a hand, already balled into a fist, before it hit Tiger right on the chin.

"Haha!"

Hearing that laugh that Tiger felt was a little obnoxious, Tiger felt his mind cloud as he flew back from the force of Mirio's punch.

"Hahaha-"

"Look who came."

Mirio cut his laugh short, his stomach churning nervously as he turned to look at Sora.

Face to face, Mirio felt his smile waning as he looked at Sora's menacing face inches away from his.

'Strange…' Mirio thought.

He felt goosebumps all over his body as he felt Sora's cold and piercing gaze.

"Welcome!"

Sora yelled as he threw a punch at Mirio. Yet just like Sora had expected, Mirio permeated, letting Sora's fist go through him.

"Villain! You're days are numbered!" Mirio yelled, trying to put on a play to calm his nerves.

However, Sora simply smirked and didn't pull back his fist. Instead, Sora took a step forward, his eyes squinting into crescent moons full of mockery.

"My days may be numbered, but yours end today."

Sora gave a low and heavy chuckle.

"Haha, y-you're not taking me down so easily. I didn't come alone today."

Nervously, Mirio slipped back through the ground, feeling some slight fear towards Sora's actions. He didn't know what Sora planned to do, but he felt a bad premonition.

Just as Mirio disappeared into the ground, Sora turned to look at the downed Tiger. Stomping on the ground and cracking the floor, Sora moved rapidly as he picked up a piece and threw it at Tiger.

Pak!

A piece of the floor tile hit Tiger squarely in the head harshly, instantly waking him in pain. He was going to yell in pain when he suddenly heard Sora's voice.

"Act quick. Mirio permeated once more, Listen attently and follow him Tiger. Dodge his hits with your speed and stay on him."

Sora watched as Tiger instantly jumped up to his feet and ran, his ears twitching as he followed the sound of Mirio's breathing whenever he reappeared. Yet before Sora could see more, he heard something from behind.

"Nejire Wave!"

Bang!

Two large spirals of energy appeared and struck Sora from behind. He couldn't dodge, not only did his body not react in time, but even if he could react, he didn't have the technique to dodge the attack swiftly, to redirect it or even offset the force.

So, Sora tanked the hit with his bare body, sliding forward a couple of feet before stopping. His shoulder only received minor scratches and was exposed, his outfit was damaged from Nejire's attack and it was already repairing itself..

Luckily his body's durability was high due to the Great Body Forging Technique.

"Ha! The great Nejire-chan makes her appearance," Sora chuckled.

Nejire had a serious look on her face, she raised her arms in front of herself and began to conjure up more wave energy. She converted her vitality into pure energy and condensed it, preparing to launch it at Sora.

"It's such a shame that you're a hero."

Sora bent down, his hands digging into the ground and breaking it as he pulled out a large thick slab of concrete. Raising his arms, the slab of concrete hovering above his head, Sora narrowed his eyes, amused.

"With you a hero and me a villain, we can never be together," Sora said, catching Nejire off guard.

"Ah?!"

Her control over her energy faltered for a second before she managed to control the wave energy. Nejire's face flushed and she pouted at Sora.

"Our love will never be accepted. No matter how much we may love each other, the world won't accept our relationship."

Sora continued, his eyebrows lowering in amusement. He smiled widely and chucked the huge slab of concrete at Nejire whilst she was distracted by his words.

The cute heroine bit her lips, the accumulated wave energy in her hands fluctuating. She looked down at Sora before shifting her focus to the slab of concrete he threw at her. Nejire blasted the wave energy to the slab of concrete and sent it flying in another direction.

"D-don't say stuff like that!" Nejire stammered

The embarrassed heroine yelled at Sora, her face red. Yet when she focused back to look where Sora was, he was nowhere to be seen. Only a hole remained in the ground.

"Soraa!!"

…

"Guh!"

Tiger received Mirio's punch straight to the gut after arriving to where he would reappear. The cat boy was thinking about just stopping there, but he didn't. He withstood the pain and pushed forward, sticking close to Mirio like Sora had said.

'I won't give up!'

Determined not to fall or lose, Tiger held on, trying not to fall unconscious. He wanted to show his strength, show that he's just as strong as Nejire, Mirio, and Tamaki.

Mirio slipped back into the ground, confusion settling in as he wondered what Sora and Tiger are trying to do by getting close to him.

Darkness enveloped him, the world went dark and Mirio slowly counted in his head. Without counting, Mirio would lose himself, unaware of how much time would pass.

'1… 2… 3… now!'

Canceling his permeation, Mirio shot out of the ground. Light and color entering his eyes and finally being able to see the world.

Ta…

A soft footstep sounded behind Mirio and he turned his head vigilantly as an orange blur sped to his side. Mirio reacted quick and dove back into the darkness.

"Haa… almost…" Tiger panted.

His vision was blurry, but he could still follow Mirio. Tiger felt his paws grow heavy and his breathing grew difficult.

'Ahhh… my body…'

Heaviness began to set in and Tiger was preparing himself to continue moving. He couldn't stop, not when he wanted to prove that he was also strong.

"You did good, kid."

A young but heavy voice sounded beside Tiger. An arm touched his chest, supporting him from falling to the ground.

"Thank you… Eternal," muttered Tiger as he began to rest.

Sora dragged Tiger over to the bomb before turning to look at the flushed but irked Nejire and half-permeated Mirio in the ground.

"Guard the Bomb," Sora said as he stepped away from Tiger and smirked at Nejire and Mirio.

"Mm…"

Tiger nodded.

Flexing his muscles and preparing himself, Sora took a step forward, beginning the fight between himself and them.

"Let's go!"

Mirio dove into the ground with a shout and disappeared from sight. Nejire followed suit by flying higher as far as the mall allowed her.

She gathered her strength, wave energy forming in front of her. Her eyes locked onto Sora's figure.

Sora chuckled.

He looked up at Nejire and then closed his eyes as he focused on his hearing. Sora looked for Mirio, using his superhuman hearing to accomplish that. It's all thanks to the Great Body Forging Technique that it had enhanced his body in not just the physical aspects, but his senses as well.

The wind rustled and the sound of clothes entered Sora's ears, but they weren't the sounds he was looking for. He waited and finally, he heard a small inhale of air. In less than a second, Sora moved from his spot, treading rapidly but extremely careful.

Each step was heavy, hoping it prevented him from tripping as he made his way over to the noise. His eyes were open and Sora locked his eyes onto the head popping out of the ground.

Right beside the bomb, Sora stared at Mirio shooting out of the ground.

"Well if it isn't a ghost!" Sora exclaimed, a smirk on his face.

Mirio looked at Sora, his eyebrows raised as he dove straight back to the ground.

"What a timid guy. Right, Nejire?"

Sora lifted his, looking right at Nejire who was finally ready to shoot the wave energy out of her hands. She looked at him, a small tint of red on her cheeks.

"I'll take you down, Villain!" Nejire puffed.

Sora chuckled in response.

Woosh!

Nejire let go of the wave energy in her hands and sent it hurling to Sora who just stood there and looked at the incoming energy. She watched, but she didn't stop moving, Nejire was already preparing the next attack.

She accumulated a lot of energy, knowing that her usual attacks won't harm or stop Sora. Nejire had to accumulate it and then finally attack Sora in order for it to hurt him.

Faster.

She implored.

Gather faster!

Nejire focused her mind into gathering the wave energy at faster pace than before. Hoping to help Mirio and give him enough time to touch the bomb and finally declare their victory against Sora.

Boom!

Sora stood there, tanking the wave blast to his chest. The chest portion of his clothes burst apart shredded and even his chest had more scratches than when he received Nejire's attacks on his shoulder.

"It's stronger now…" Sora muttered.

He looked at his chest that had already healed and his clothes that fixed itself and was now in good pristine condition. Sora raised his gaze and looked at Nejire, glad that his friend was growing stronger.

Not a single worry about his own strength that was remaining stagnant.

Ha…

Sora's ear twitched.

He heard Mirio exhale and instantly figured out where he was. He smiled and lifted his foot.

"Yo! Casper," Sora greeted Mirio.

"How!"

Mirio exclaimed in surprise as he found Sora standing in front of him. He furrowed his eyebrows and threw a punch at Sora's waist.

Pa!

It landed on him, but Sora didn't budge at all, like he had not felt anything at all. Rather, it was Mirio's fist that now hurt.

'So tough!' Mirio groaned.

Mirio pulled back his hurt fist and launched his next strike with his other hand. This time to Sora's face, hoping that he could cause some form of damage.

In response to his attacks, Sora simply lifted his hand and launched a crude punch with his raw strength. Not a single bit of technique behind it.

Permeating his body and fist, Mirio let the punch phase right through himself as he readied his fist to cancel it's permeation. But as Mirio's fist traveled to Sora's face, Sora began to twist his body in the direction of Mirio's fist.

Mirio furrowed his eyebrows. Sora's actions are making it hard for him to cancel his permeation to hit Sora's face. If he were to cancel it now, his fist would simply fly out of Sora's body and avoid Sora's face.

'I need to get out of here!'

Sora narrowed his eyes, watching as Mirio vanished into the floor with a frustrated look on his face. As well as annoyed that he was being countered in such a way.

Moving his eyes, Sora finally decided to focus on Nejire.

In order to win, he needs to get rid of Nejire and then finally deal with Mirio. However, he needs to be fast or Mirio will claim victory by securing the bomb.

Narrowing his eyes, Sora searched for something to use in order to restrain Nejire. He knew just how strong willed Nejire and his other two friends were. Just simply knocking them out or showing them his strength will make them give up, they will just stand back up. To fight against that, he needs to restrain them.

Looking around, Sora found what he needed.

"Nejire wave!"

Nejire shot another wave energy attack, this time more accumulated than the previous two times. She narrowed her eyes, hoping this can finally help Mirio and give him enough time to secure the bomb.

Attacking and hurting a friend made her heart ache, even if it were necessary.

Sora looked at Nejire's attack and stood still, ready to take it with his body. The massive spiral of wave energy made it's way to him, distorting the air and making a lot of noise.

Prepared to take on the energy, Sora suddenly turned his head. A patch of yellow hair sprouted from beside the bomb. It rapidly left the ground and was soon followed by a head with a nervous smile on it's face.

"Clever kid… but I won't let you win just yet," Sora grinned.