┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
chapter forty-two!
CHECKMATE
└─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘

( the divine move, pt. ii )

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

EVEN IN THE PALE, dim lighting of a half-covered moon, Stiles looks like death. The little remaining color in his face has continued to drain with each passing hour. He constantly trembles from the sheer force it takes him to stand upright. As he exits the backseat of the Jeep, he stumbles and catches himself on a nearby bicycle rack. Dominic immediately flees his car to throw one of Stiles's arms around his shoulders and keep him on his feet.

Vera and Dominic had tried to spend the day preparing for battle, but it's difficult when they still don't have a perfect plan. All they have is the ticking clock that marks another second where Stiles's energy drains.

Now, looking at him clearly in so much pain makes her heart break for her friend. She's already lost Erica, Boyd, and Allison. Stiles's demise would be unbearable.

Vera catches Dom's eye. They share a grave expression as the gravity of the situation settles into their bones. Unable to hold her gaze for long, Dom tears his away and adjusts his grip on Stiles. Despite being shorter, he's much more muscular, able to hold the teetering boy upright without much effort.

Scott does a quick head count before taking a step toward the school. Before he can take another, Stiles stops him.

"Scott, hold on," he says. His voice sounds like it's taking everything in him to raise it above a whisper. "I know what you're all thinking— if this works, it might kill me, too. But even if it does, you have to go through with it. Stick with the plan, okay?"

"The plan is to save you," Scott replies. "That's the plan I'm going with."

Stiles nods. The group walks slowly toward the side entrance of the building, about to push them open, when the sound of tires screeching on pavement interrupts them. Vera turns and throws her hand in front of her face when headlights blind her. An antique-looking car, likely some 70s or 80s model, swerves into the parking lot. It almost spins out in the process, creating rubber streaks on the asphalt. The driver doesn't even bother with steering it into a parking space. They stop it in the middle of the lot and kill the engine with a pathetic sputter.

Vera glances at the others to see if any of them have answers, but they all look just as confused as she is. The only one missing from their group is Isaac; they didn't expect anyone else to be here.

When the driver exits the vehicle, Vera finds herself with more questions than she'd had before. Because the person tossing their keys in hand and running toward them is Sebastian Balotelli. And Kaito McCoy — Scott's Good Samaritan — is in tow, jogging after him with something in her hand that Vera can't see in the darkness.

"Hey," Sebastian says when he's closer. His tone is casual, like they should have expected him to show up. "Sorry we're a little late."

"Hi?" Scott responds, blinking. His bewildered gaze flickers between the two newcomers like he expects them to evaporate into thin air.

"We came to help," Sebastian elaborates. He motions to Kai.

"Is that a sword?" Dominic asks. "Where did you get a sword from?"

Now that they're closer, Vera can see that the mysterious object in Kai's hand is, in fact, a humongous sword. It's almost medieval-looking, with an ornate, black handle and a long blade that glints in the sparse streetlights surrounding the parking lot. She holds it at her side like it's no big deal that she's wielding such an elaborate weapon.

Kai looks at Scott before tearing her eyes away and aiming them at the ground. "Um, I found it. It'll help if the Oni attack."

Once again, she seems to be caught up to speed with the supernatural events of the town without being briefed by any of those involved. Aside from their fleeting meetings in the hallway, Vera can't recall another time she's seen Kai. Yet she knows about the Oni and casually found a ginormous sword to fight them with.

Vera and Lydia share a look that says, We are totally interrogating this girl later. For now, they don't have time to pry answers out of the timid girl's mouth. They may as well accept the random help and move on.

"Works for me," Vera says with a shrug, hoping she sounds more lighthearted than she feels.

Scott nods, taking that as his cue to continue leading them on their journey.

He opens the doors to reveal a winter wonderland.

Instead of the expected corridor lined with blue lockers on either side, they somehow walk into a Japanese garden. Skeletal trees covered in frost surround the area. A small bridge lies in the middle of the scene. Everything is colorless, as bleak as their sense of hope is starting to become, which makes Vera's stomach turn as she takes in her unexpected surroundings.

Snow crunches under their feet as they pass under a stone archway. The temperature drops thirty degrees the further they walk, causing Lydia's teeth to chatter as she hugs herself— since she's wearing a dress, she's the least equipped for this type of weather out of the entire group. Vera links her good arm with one of Lydia's and pulls her close so they can share body heat.

The doors slam shut behind them of their own accord, trapping them inside.

"Ooo — kay," Dominic mumbles. Then he repeats under his breath, "I signed up for this, I signed up for this, I signed up for this—"

Stiles, soaking in the warmth that Dom provides, cocks his head to the side. "Well, this is definitely not part of the plan."

Kai swallows thickly, appearing as if she'd rather pull her beanie over her face to block out the world than be here, but remains otherwise calm. Her grip is white-knuckled on the hilt of the sword at her side. In contrast, Sebastian's eyes are calculating as he scrutinizes their surroundings, his thick brows drawn in close together.

Movement causes Vera to look toward the archway. A hunched figure appears from behind one of the stone pillars, walking with the odd, uneven gait of a reanimated corpse. She recognizes him— or his clothes, at least. The beige pants, brown jacket, and bandages around his entire face and head are the same things Stiles wore when he and the Nogitsune split into two bodies.

The glaring difference is the razor-sharp teeth from inside a bloodstained mouth that grins back at them.

The Nogitsune changes his course and takes several steps toward them. Kira unsheaths her katana. The spirit stops, but not out of fear.

His voice is slurred from his teeth as he says, "Like I promised, Stiles, we're going to kill all of them. One by one."

Oni appear on either side of him within the blink of an eye. The one on the left raises his blade to strike, but Kira stops it with her own, driving the point of his sword into the ground before bounding back toward their group.

As the Oni take slow, methodical steps toward them, Kai raises her weapon with shaking arms. A sword that heavy takes strength to wield. Judging by how much effort it takes just for her to hold it, she's not experienced. But the determined crease between her brows shows that she's sure as hell going to try anyway.

"What the hell is this?" Scott asks. "Where are we?"

"Between life and death," the Nogitsune replies.

"Bardo," Lydia says.

The spirit raises a bandaged finger to point at her. "But there are no peaceful deities here, Lydia. You're dying, Stiles. And now everyone you care about is dying, too."

"What?" Stiles questions. "What do you mean?"

Black shadows move behind her. There are four Oni here, not just two, steadily closing in on the group.

"I've captured almost all of the territories on the board, Stiles. The hospital, the sheriff's station, and now the animal clinic."

He clenches his hand into a fist to imitate him seizing these so-called territories, but what board he's talking about, Vera doesn't know.

Her heart thrums in her ears, unsure of where she should look. At the Nogitsune, who's still talking? At the quartet of Oni surrounding them? Or at Stiles, whose life is ticking away each second they spend listening to the spirit drone on?

"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?"

"No, and I don't want to," he answers.

Ignoring his sarcastic reply, the Nogitsune explains anyway.

"When a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but that's not the cut that kills him. The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin, who beheads the samurai with his own katana." He reaches out a trembling hand to point at Scott this time. "Scott... Scott is your kaishakunin." He steps toward them, moving on unsteady legs. "I'm going to make your best friend kill you, Stiles. And you're going to let him... because just like you, they're all going to die. Everyone touched by an Oni's blade. Unless Scott kills you first."

He's leering into Stiles's face now, his teeth gleaming.

"Why?" Stiles questions. "Why are you doing this?"

The Nogitsune straightens up to his full height. "To win the game."

As if that was some sort of cue, the Oni all assume fighting stances in sync, swinging their blades around before falling back into an offensive position. Scott shifts to his werewolf form in an instant. His ruby eyes gleam like drops of blood, standing out against their colorless surroundings. Dominic flicks out a hand and lets a ball of flames dance over his palm.

The sound of joints cracking causes Vera to look to her right. Sebastian's head tilts to an uncomfortable angle, first to one side, then the other, as his sideburns lengthen. Razor-sharp incisors protrude from his mouth. He releases a threatening roar with his claws extended out of either hand. This doesn't come as much of a shock to Vera as does the color of his eyes. They're not the molten amber of a regular Beta, nor are they the crimson hues of an Alpha.

Sebastian's eyes are the ice-cold blue of someone who has taken an innocent life.

A spike of fear shoots through her for a moment before she allows logic to take hold of her emotions. This is a guy she's known since her Freshman year. She knows Sebastian. There's no need to be afraid of him... right?

She turns back to the spirits that are closing in on them. Her first instinct is to dodge and strike, but she can't when her dominant hand is wrapped in a cast, and after what happened to Allison, she's too petrified to turn intangible. Vera panics as chaos ensues around her. It's not like her to chicken out of a fight, but she has no idea what to do that won't make things worse.

Dominic's movements are illuminated by arcs of fire. Scott and Sebastian's claws slash wildly at the Oni's armor. Kira is trying to help Kai use her sword while deflecting the blade of a spirit with her katana, her face pinched with determination.

"Get back!" Sebastian calls to Vera, jumping in front of her to block a blow. He jams his elbow into the Oni's wrist before it can bring its longsword down. Putting his weight on his back leg, he kicks the other one straight into the warrior's face, causing it to reel backward in an attempt to regain its balance.

Vera hesitates. She hates being left out of fights; it makes her feel human all over again, even if she wasn't technically defenseless back then due to her combat skills.

Before she can do something incredibly stupid, a hand yanks her back by the collar of her jacket. She backpedals into Lydia, who's now holding Stiles upright and away from the danger.

She has a knowing look in her eyes. "You heard him."

"How is this happening?" Scott asks Kira. "How are we in this place?"

"You're asking me?" she exclaims incredulously. "A month ago, I'd never even touched a sword!"

The fight is looking just as futile as the last one. No matter how much force and power they use, it's never a match for the Oni, who never seem to tire of battle. It's mostly Lydia's grip that keeps Vera rooted into place. She rocks on the balls of her feet, anxiety coursing through her veins. She would break her hand all over again if it would help her friends.

"This can't be real," Lydia says.

"Yeah, tell that to them," Stiles replies sarcastically.

One of the Oni knocks into Kira's arm, sending her katana flying until it lands in the snow nearby. Vera's eyes flicker from her to the weapon as she calculates how she can get it back to her. Two of the spirits are starting to corner her. She probably wouldn't be able to sneak up behind them, but maybe she could try tossing it to Kira with her good hand—

Stiles moves before she can make a decision, stumbling over to the sword and swiping it from the ground. He doesn't give it to Kira. Instead, he aims the point of the blade at his navel, one hand on the hilt to drive the sword home.

Everything stops. All of the Oni turn toward the scene as if waiting for further instructions.

"Stiles, no!" Scott cries, his voice slightly slurred by his fangs.

The Nogitsune releases a threatening growl when the Alpha tries to take a step forward to stop him. He reluctantly stays put, even if it's killing him inside not to grab the sword and throw it far away.

"What if it saves you?" Stiles asks. "What if it saves all of you?"

"What if it's just another trick?" Lydia counters.

"No more tricks, Lydia," the Nogitsune replies. "End it, Scott. Let your friend fall on his own sword. Do for him what he cannot do for himself. Do it, Scott. Be his kaishakunin. Give up the game."

Stiles trembles more violently with every pressing word from the trickster spirit, his fearful breaths coming out in frantic gasps from his bloodless lips. The blade shudders in his grip. Scott shakes his head, trying to ward off the insistence in the Nogitsune's voice.

"You have no moves left."

Then, Stiles pauses. He peers into the blade, angling it slightly to the right. He turns to look behind him. Whatever he had seen in the reflection makes him lower the katana, and Vera immediately rushes to support his weight when he staggers.

So close. She had been so close to watching another one of her friends die right in front of her.

She's still coiled tightly in trepidation, anticipating a tragedy that may or may not come anyway. Her muscles are stiff with tension as she puts Stiles's arm around her shoulders. His hand is freezing, but she can barely feel it due to her cast, clinging onto his fingers with the few that aren't trapped in plaster.

"I do," Stiles says. He tosses the katana to Kira, causing some of the tension to flood out of Vera's body in relief. "A divine move."

The Nogitsune snarls in disgust at that phrase.

To the others, Stiles says, "Stop fighting them. It's an illusion— you have to stop fighting them. It looks real and it feels real, but Scott, you gotta trust me, it's an illusion."

Vera peers around at the scene with new eyes. She notices things she hadn't questioned before, like how Dominic's body heat and flames haven't been melting the snow, or why there's a desk in the back corner.

They have been fighting air. The Nogitsune got so far into their heads that he was able to alter their perception of reality, distracting them. Taking away their most precious element— time. Trying to convince Stiles to let him win.

Scott takes a step toward the quartet of Oni that are now blocking the exit. As soon as he's within reach of their blades, one lunges and slashes his chest, sending blood spraying onto the snow at their feet. Vera flinches at his cry of pain. He stumbles, but continues on, pushing through the agony of another slice down his leg.

Finally, he reaches the Nogitsune. Scott reaches out and seizes him by the shoulders, shoving him backward with an enraged shout until the spirit's back collides with the doors.

Their group bursts into the dark hallway of the high school.

Vera hadn't realized she was breathing so heavily, but now that the chill is gone from her bones and she's in a familiar setting, the adrenaline starts to fade.

Scott's hand reaches up to touch the place on his chest where the Oni had slashed his skin open. Instead of a gaping wound, there's nothing there. Neither is the gash on his leg.

"We're okay," he says, his voice sounding almost mystified. "We're—"

He suddenly flies into the wall of lockers at his side. Vera turns to see herself looking at Stiles — or, rather, a version of him that somehow looks even sicklier, the shadows of the dark corridor accentuating the ones under his eyes, making him look gaunt. She recognizes the dead look in his eyes instantly.

This is the real Nogitsune.

He gives the group a falsely sweet smile before slamming his fist into Kira's temple and causing her to crumple to the floor like a rag doll. Dom lunges forward with his talons extended. The Nogitsune merely grabs his wrists and smashes his face onto his knee.

He dodges several blows from Sebastian in rapid succession, seeming to take glee in being up against someone who can truly fight. But in the end, he tires of the fruitless battle and grabs the boy's leg, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the hard tile headfirst like he's weightless.

And Kai... poor Kai. Vera wishes she had enough time to pull her away from the fight before she could try anything, but it's clear that she wasn't going to let the others fall without trying to help. She doesn't even have time to properly raise her sword before the Nogitsune knocks her to the ground with his advanced strength.

"This was my game," he says, his voice teetering on the fine line between enraged and psychotic, as he finally looks toward where Lydia and Vera are frantically trying to pull Stiles away. "You think you can beat me at my game?"

The height difference between the trio makes their attempt to escape the spirit nearly impossible, especially since they don't want to take their eyes off of him. It results in them shuffling backward as he stalks toward them. His voice grows louder and more deranged as he threatens them, clearly pushed off the deep end by the mention of their play.

"Divine move. Divine move? You think you have any moves at all? You can kill the Oni, but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old— you can't kill me!"

"But we can change you!" Lydia bursts out in a desperate attempt to throw him off-guard.

And it works. The Nogitsune halts, going completely still, reeling everything back inside of him. His voice sounds more like Stiles when he says, "What?"

From the other end of the hallway, Vera can see the shadows of her friends beginning to regain consciousness. A Kai-shaped shadow scurries out the way they'd entered, presumably to find the real Oni and use her weapon for good— whatever makes it special enough to defeat them. She quickly moves her eyes back to the spirit to avoid tipping him off.

"You forgot about the scroll," Stiles tells him.

"The Shugendo scroll," Lydia adds.

For once, the Nogitsune almost appears afraid. His purple-rimmed eyes go wide as the realization sinks in. "Change the host."

"You can't be a fox and a wolf," Stiles says.

Vera tilts her head to the side, daring to get a bit cocky now that she knows it's about to be over. "Adios."

Claws imbed themselves into the Nogitsune's shoulder. Scott sinks his fangs into his upper arm, causing him to release a long, agonized scream. The Nogitsune stumbles when released, but then a sword drives through his back and protrudes cleanly through the bottom of his ribcage.

Thunder crackles through the air. The overhead lights flicker weakly, illuminating the blood on Scott's lips in flashes of fluorescent light. The blade pulls back, revealing Kira both hands on the hilt of her katana, now stained with crimson and black.

Vera steps back as the Nogitsune's body contorts and falls to his knees. His head bobs forward, and she thinks he's about to spew blood all over the place, but instead he coughs out a fly. It buzzes as it flies past the group and toward the closest exit, only for Isaac to appear out of thin air and trap it in a cylindrical container.

She doesn't know if she wants to kiss him or smack him upside the head for being so late.

The Nogitsune's body continues to writhe, only to fall eerily still. Hairline fractures appear on his face. Then he collapses, and as soon as he hits the floor, his body turns to plumes of dust.

And Stiles slips out of Vera and Lydia's grips, falling to the ground right after him.

________

a/n:

FINALLY OH MY GOD. WE ARE FINALLY HERE. i'm so sorry that this took so long, but alas, life. you know?

i had so much fun writing this chapter!! i'm setting some things up for the sequel,,, and let's just say,,, things get interesting. congrats to the people who guessed seb's werewolf-itude back when he was introduced at the beginning of 3b

thank you all for reading and for your patience!

— kristyn

( word count: 3.7k )