Yo
I could barely breathe.
Eli's damn hair wrapped around my neck like a noose, lifting me off the ground, squeezing my throat till stars danced in my vision.
Nami swung her metal pipe like her life depended on it, trying to knock Eli off me.
But the more she swung,
the more Eli threw me around
using my whole body like a damn ragdoll,
slamming me through walls, roofs, stands, whatever was in her way.
The whole village was getting destroyed by my face.
And all I could think was:
Bro… why the hell didn't we run to a modern city…? I'm about to die in a village with mud houses.
Then Eli's hair coiled tighter.
My chest burned.
My lungs fought for air.
She dragged me across the ground like garbage,
then lifted me, her voice echoing everywhere
Eli:
"BABY… come back to mama…"
Her body grew
stretching, twisting, massive
mouth wide like she wanted to swallow me whole.
I grabbed the hair with both hands, kicking like a maniac, trying anything to free myself.
Cairo? Man Ran.
Cairo took one look at Eli's demon-size and said:
Cairo:
"Yeah nah… I got NO plan for this,"
and dipped.
Just ran.
No shame.
No warning.
Dude said "survival first."
Nami Losing It
Nami:
"YO! WHERE THE HELL YOU RUNNING TO?!
DON'T YOU SEE RENJI IS ABOUT TO DIE?!
FIGHT THE DAMN GHOST!!"
Eli laughed
a sick, cracking laugh that crawled into my bones.
Eli:
"How pathetic… one of you runs.
Run all you want
I'll find you.
I'll kill you.
Then devour my baby.
He will stay with me forever."
Nami:
"STOP TALKING THAT BS!
HE'S NOT YOUR DAMN BABY!"
She rushed forward, pipe raised—
but Eli's hair grabbed her mid-air
and WHIPPED her into a house so hard the wall cried.
I watched her bounce off the ground and thought:
…yeah. We're dead. We're so dead. This ain't a ghost you 'beat.' This is a final boss.
My eyes got heavy.
Air slipping away.
The world fading.
Then… that damn cat.
"Kiii—ki."
That stupid meow.
Kiki.
And sitting on top of him…
was CAIRO.
Apparently when he "ran,"
he actually fell off a roof
and landed on the damn cat.
Nami:
"BRO! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SNITCH
YOU BROUGHT BACKUP?!"
Kiki jumped at me,
bit my shirt,
and yanked me down from Eli's hair.
I hit the ground HARD.
Skull ringing.
But at least I was alive.
I stood up stumbling ready to fight.
Then Kiki literally vomited up a katana.
Just bleerrggh TANG! on the floor.
Cairo:
"YO YOU DAMN SNITCH CAT!!"
Nami:
"He's not a snitch!
He legit gave us a katana and brought Cairo back!
HE'S MORE USEFUL THAN YOU!"
Me (Renji):
"BRUH THIS AIN'T TIME!
WE NEED A WAY OUT OR WE DIE!"
I grabbed the katana, unsheathed it, the blade ringing sharp.
Nami snapped her pipe in half dual-wielding like a boss
eyes blazing.
We all charged.
Eli's Rage
Eli:
"Baby… don't worry.
Mama's coming."
Her hair slammed into the ground like meteor strikes,
every hit shaking the earth.
Every time we dodged,
another building collapsed.
Dust everywhere.
Screams in the distance.
Cairo finally stepped up.
Cairo:
"Aye
you big-hair-monster…
you ghosts always brag about power,
but you can't even fight us in REGULAR SIZE?!
Coward!"
It was stupid.
It was reckless.
It was Cairo.
But it worked.
Eli shrunk
her massive form cracking and folding
back into a more human shape.
Still deadly.
Still terrifying.
But smaller.
Me:
"Oh great.
Now she's crazy AND fast.
A damn ninja ghost."
Round Two Equal Ground
Nami dashed first, swinging both pipes.
Eli backflipped, kicked her across the dirt.
Nami grabbed her hair mid-fall, wrapped it around Eli's leg,
and dragged her into a wall
then punched her over and over.
Cairo jumped in, swinging with everything—
Eli caught his punch with her palm,
smiled,
then punched him in the ribs so hard he folded.
Her hair shot out, wrapped his neck,
lifting him into the air.
And in that moment I realized
This was a damn lesson.
A lesson you only learn once:
Never break the pride of a ghost.
Especially one who still thinks you're her baby.