Chapter 48: Voluntarily

"W… what?"

No. 7's stuttered words were followed by silence; a silence loud enough to drown even the gasps and cries of the other members of Justice Defenders.

They were just talking with Black Defender minutes ago, laughing and joking with him about how they would be the only students that would capture a member of this mysterious group that suddenly made itself known to them. But now, he was dead.

Green Defender's muffled screams then broke the silence, her cries whispering in the air even as her mouth was covered with blue chains of light. But slowly, her cries became clearer as the chains withered away. And as soon as she found herself able to move, she rushed towards Black Defender's body.

She was hoping everything was but a dream, but as Black Defender's headless body fell to her arms, the warmth of his blood all but made it clear for her.

This was real.

"N… no," Green Defender then removed her mask, not even caring that she was revealing her face anymore, "Francis… why…"

She then tightly embraced Francis's body, her tears, mixing with the blood that trailed towards her.

"You… you monsters!" With the rest of the Defenders finding themselves able to move again, they all rushed towards Green Defender, putting up their stance as they all faced the three villains in front of them.

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Their stance was filled with resolution. Their legs, however, gave away their fear as they trembled enough to shake the ground beneath them.

"What… have you done, No. 7!?" No. 12 then grabbed No. 7's arm, turning him towards him as he let out a loud whisper, "We weren't supposed to kill anyone here!"

"...It wasn't me."

No. 7, however, calmly swatted No. 12's hand as he once again turned towards the Justice Defenders. Where… is it? No. 7 thought as he tried to look for Black Defender's severed head. His search, however, was disrupted as he heard the sound of footsteps fading away from them.

He quickly turned his head towards the noise, only to see Dark Frost running away.

"Catch her!" No. 7 was about to run and chase Dark Frost, but before he could do so, a voice rang in his head.

"What do you mean it wasn't you!?" And suddenly, the Justice Defender's formation was rattled as Green Defender pushed herself out of their protection, quickly rushing towards No. 7.

"You will pay for this!"

She moved her arms to the side, and as she did so, they stretched beyond what a normal arm was capable of, before flattening into a thin, and seemingly sharp blade.

"Go and chase Dark Frost, I will handle this!" No. 7 could not help but click his tongue as he ordered his comrades to follow Dark Frost.

"What!? You think we will leave you here after you killed one of them!?"

"That wasn't me! Just g--"

"No!"

And before No. 7 could finish his words, another familiar scream reverberated through the air; followed by the sound of a thud whispering through his ears.

"What…" No. 7 muttered as Green Defender, who was previously rushing towards him, suddenly fell and dropped to the ground; her head, violently rolling away from her body. Seeing this, both his comrades could not help but slightly back away.

"I… I told you, it wasn't me!"

This time, not only the Justice Defenders, but the 3 villains were on high alert as their eyes hurriedly scanned the surrounding area. The remaining members of the Justice Defenders were slightly confused as to what was happening. All of them thought that No. 7 killed Black Defender, but when Green Defender's head flew away from her body, they didn't even see any signs of a blue light.

Just… what exactly was happening here?-- was their collective thought.

And then, slowly, out of nowhere, Green Defender's head floated in the air.

"Who… who is doing that!?"

"!!!"

And then suddenly, a minute, but lingering crunching noise whispered into all of their ears as Green Defender's floating head disappeared.

No.

It didn't disappear-- it became smaller. Or perhaps the better wording for it was that it turned into a ball. In almost an instant, Green Defender's head was compressed into the size of a baseball.

The ball was so perfectly smooth, it almost seemed like a living, breathing planet. Well, at least that's what Riley thought as Green Defender's compressed head slowly floated towards him.

"It truly is too bad sister was not able to hear you scream in pain, Green Defender."

"Y… you?"

"...Why!? Why did you do this!?"

The remaining members of the Justice Defenders completely shifted their attention away from the Dark Millenium villains as they all stared in shock towards Riley. Even No. 7 and his comrades were now completely on their guard, not even minding anyone else but the white-haired boy with a weird smile on his face.

"I didn't do anything, Justice Defenders," Riley then muttered as he carefully placed Green Defender's compressed head into one of the pockets of his coat, and seeing that one of the pockets were already bulging, it was safe to say that Black Defender's missing head was with him as well.

"The Dark Millenium did this," Riley then said as he waved his finger, "And now, No. 11 is going to kill you, Red Defender."

"What are you--"

And before Red Defender could finish his words, he felt his body suddenly being pulled by an invisible force, pushing him towards the three members of Dark Millenium.

"Where… where are you going, Red!?"

"I… It's not me! I'm being pulled!"

"No. 11!?"

And as Red Defender's body seemed to be moving on its own, the same thing was happening to No. 11 as his feet started walking towards Red Defender, meeting him halfway. And without even a slight pause in his movements, his hand started to make their way around Red Defender's neck.

"G… uhrk!"

"N… no, it's not me! I'm not doing this!" The panic in No. 11's voice was obvious for everyone to hear as his head turned back and forth between his comrades and the Justice Defenders, "I… I didn't sign up for this! We're not supposed to be killing innocent people!"

"That… is truly funny, No. 11."

Riley's quiet chuckles whispered through the air. However, it sounded more like thunder as it reached everyone's ears. Was this guy… actually laughing at this? Isn't he supposed to be a student of Mega Academy?

Did they miss him? Was this boy in the Potential Villain's list!? No. 7's thoughts were in disarray as he tried to scour his mind for any information regarding the white-haired boy, but nothing seemed to be coming up.

"You… stop this!"

One of the members of the Justice Defenders then rushed towards Riley, and as he did so, the earth beneath him erupted, with the chunks of stone quickly attaching themselves to his arm, turning into a large fist as he neared Riley.

"Die!" White Defender roared as soon as his earthen fist made contact with Riley's face.

"..."

"W… what?"

His earthen fist, however, slowly crumbled, revealing the small smile on Riley's completely unscathed face.

"As for you, White Defender," Riley then muttered as he looked White Defender straight in the eyes, "You were killed by No. 12."

"W--"

And before White Defender could even utter a word, he felt a sharp, but extremely warm feeling in his heart. The only thing he could do was look down, and as he did so, his slowly fading vision saw a hand poking out straight from the insides of his chest-- holding his mangled, but still beating heart.

"G… Grah!" A scream then thundered through the air, not coming from White Defender, but from No. 12 as he pulled his arm from White Defender's torso. He then quickly waved his hand, trying to get the blood off of it; but alas, the only thing that was removed from him was the food he ate earlier; causing him to remove his helmet as he puked all over the ground.

The man did not really look like anyone prominent… just an ordinary middle-aged man.

"Please, please don't make me do this!"

"Oh? Red Defender is still alive?"

Riley then blinked a couple of times as he turned his head towards No. 11, whose hands were still wrapped around Red Defender's throat.

"Are you showing mercy, No. 11?"

"W… what!? Are you insane!? You're the one doing this!"

"I'm not doing anything, No. 11," Riley's smile grew even wider as he slowly made his way towards No. 11, "Darkday is merciless, so it stands to reason that the organization under him should be too, correct?"

And as soon as he finished his words, a loud crack pierced through everyone's ears.

"E… eek!" No. 11 could not help but let out a shriek as he felt bones being crushed between his palms, "N… No. 7, save me… Save me!"

"No. 7 can't do that, No. 11," Riley then let out a small but deep sigh as he shook his head, "He is busy killing the rest."

"W… what!?"

No. 7, who was petrified in his spot, was finally able to move a step back as he heard his name being called upon by the white-haired demon, "You… are you going to control me as well!?"

"Run, just run!" The remaining 2 members of Justice Defenders abandoned every notion of fighting back; their thoughts, no longer thinking about their dead teammates as they rushed to get away from this nightmare.

"No, Number 7," Riley once again let out a sigh, "You're going to kill them all on your own voluntarily…

...because I will kill the three of you if you don't."