Chapter 74

“What the hell?! Hope! What do we do?!” yelled Bisco. “There’s only one person this flashy…!” Hope said. “Ah-ha-ha-ha! So it really was you, Hope!” “Joy!” Cackling laughter rang out over Tokyo, and the buildings on the wall began shifting, rearranging. The red ones moved up to form hair, the white ones became skin, and pretty soon a mosaiclike representation of a human head and upper body sprang forth from the city. “We’re just about to apply the mushroom antidote program to the main server! You’re too late! But, you know, Hope, it’s not too late for you! Abandon those apes and return to us!” “Never! I am a friend of humanity! If I am to return to Apollo, I’m taking these people with me!” “Is that so? Then I suppose this is good-bye. You’re just more trash for the trash heap, Hope!” Then several buildings stretched out of Joy, the City Wall, twisting in the air before descending on the group. Fwish! Fwsh! The two Mushroom Keepers’ arrows struck the buildings head-on, and the resulting fungi tore them apart, but Joy simply shifted and rearranged the tower blocks of his urbanized body, repairing the damage immediately. “Aaah-ha-ha-ha! Was that a flea bite? Hoo-boy, what an itch!” “Dammit! A whole lotta nothin’! Where the hell are we supposed to shoot him?” “Remain calm, Akaboshi,” said Pawoo, her eyes twinkling beneath her skullcap. “The flashier your opponent, the harder they’re trying to hide their weaknesses. Hope! The real one must be hiding somewhere within this wall, right? Any ideas?” “You’re quite right. However, I’m afraid I haven’t the foggiest…” Hope went to wipe the sweat off his brow, but just as his hand touched his forehead, he had an idea. “Of course! She’s with the core! The one beneath the mark on all of our foreheads!” “Beneath the mark?!” Milo looked back up, and sure enough, there among the urban sprawl that made up the white skin of Joy’s head, there was a single red building, positioned in the exact center of Hope’s mark. “It’s that one!” he shouted. “Bisco, we’ll use the Mantra Bow!” “Got it!” The two took a deep breath in unison and leaped up on King Trumpets. In midair, they went back-to-back, and a cloud of gold and emerald spores surrounded them. Milo chanted, “Won/shad/viviki/snew!” and the spores coalesced, forming a shimmering longbow in Bisco’s hands. “Get ’em, Bisco!” “Take thiiiis!” Bisco fired his Mantra Bow, and the golden arrow obliterated the red building, leaving a great big Rust-Eater in the center of Joy’s forehead. “W-waaah! Mushrooms! They’ve torn a hole in the shelter!” Joy panicked, and for a moment he stopped his attack. He tried to move more buildings to cover up the damage, but the Rust-Eater had already taken root and prevented them from coming near. The two Mushroom Keepers somersaulted back down onto the road. They were both panting, drenched in sweat. “He’s in an underground shelter!” said Hope. “We’ve got to press the advantage before he regenerates!” “And just how many of those things do you think I can fire off, huh?!” “Milo! Akaboshi!” The three turned to see Pawoo astride her motorcycle once more, barreling toward them at top speed, the glow of the streetlights glinting off her staff. “I’ll finish him off! Give me a lift!” “Pawoo!” “C’mon, Milo, together!” The two drew their bows and fired into the ground ahead of Pawoo. The mycelium dug deep into the asphalt road, and the earth began to shake in anticipation. Vrooom! Gaboom! As she rode over, Pawoo struck the spot with her staff, and the force triggered the explosive King Trumpets beneath her wheels. The motorcycle was catapulted high up into the air, streaking through the night sky like a shooting star, as if guided toward that hole in Joy’s face, from where he had just managed to wrench the Rust-Eater free. “…?! Wh-what is that?! No, stay back!” Joy shrieked as the buildings making up his body started to collapse. Crumbling off the wall, they plummeted to the streets below. “A-amazing! Pawoo’s in! She actually made it!” “Get back, dumbass!” Bisco pulled Hope back just as a cluster of buildings shattered against the ground. The pixel art making up Joy’s face disappeared entirely, and the whole wall gently fell back ninety degrees to its original position. “Hope…look at that!” said Milo, pointing. Where everything else had fallen away, one long line of buildings remained, all stopped at different heights, like a staircase leading up to the floating sphere of the Imperial Palace. The palace glowed with an almost heavenly white light as it hung in the night sky, waiting. “He wants us to come in.” “Works for me,” said Bisco, cracking his neck. “We’ve come a long way to leave without givin’ Apollo a souvenir or two.” “B-but shouldn’t we go help Pawoo first?” asked Hope. “She’s over in the shelter, fighting the real Joy as we speak!” “Ain’t you been payin’ attention? We ain’t got time for that. That’s why she had to distract that guy in the first place. Besides, she don’t want or need our help. If we show up, she’ll break our necks after she’s done with his.” Bisco set off running toward the long staircase, and Milo grabbed Hope and followed. “Aaah! Bisco! Milo, are you okay with this? That’s Bisco’s wife! Your sister!” “No one can beat Pawoo one-on-one, indoors. Don’t worry.” Milo flashed a reassuring smile and hastened his feet in pursuit of his partner. “Jabi, Actagawa, and Pawoo…they all trust us to finish the job. They’re the bow that projects us forward. That’s why we have to hit the target, Hope. We’re their arrow…” Hope was about to protest when he saw the fragile eyes hiding behind Milo’s smile. He looked ahead at Bisco. They both wanted to save her. Of course they did. But to do so would defy the love she shared with them. It was something beyond the expression of mere words, but Hope felt it. He felt the sorrow that mired their minds, even as they pressed on with determination on their faces. And Hope felt ashamed that he had not seen it and squeezed his eyes, as if to banish the careless words he had spoken. When he opened them again, they were free of anguish, clear and resolute. “I understand. Then let us go! I will place my life in your hands as well!”