Megumi barely had time to blink. One second Sukuna was a few meters in front of him, and the next he was soaring through open air toward a nearby residential building.
BOOOOM!
The side of the building exploded from the impact, and from the other side emerged Megumi, standing on top of Nue as he looked around for Sukuna. He soon found him staring casually with his hands in his pockets. Megumi commanded Nue to fire lightning.
KRACKK! BANG!
The spot Sukuna once stood in exploded with crackling lightning bolts that left red-hot craters where they landed. However, before Megumi could start looking for Sukuna again, he saw a shadow looming over him and Nue.
Up above he saw Sukuna, hands still in his pockets, raising a leg lazily to stomp on them both. It connected, snatching all their forward momentum as they slammed into the ground violently. Nue was half-dead from that alone; any more damage and Sukuna would actually kill the shikigami.
"Return to my shadow, Nue," Megumi said, absorbing Nue back into his shadow as he then activated Rabbit Escape.
Thousands of rabbits burst from Megumi's shadow, charging at Sukuna to block his view of their master. However, the plan began to fail as fast as it formed when, with a flex of Cursed Energy, thousands of weak Dismantles shredded the small shikigami into a blood mist.
"Interesting, I didn't know you had Rabbit Escape so early..." Sukuna sighed. Before Megumi could get far, Sukuna appeared behind him, grabbing him by the hem of his pants before chucking him dozens of meters into the sky. "Haha, that was fun! You make a good ragdoll, kid!"
Sukuna vanished from the ground. Megumi was disoriented as he spun wildly in the air.
"Behind you~"
BANG!
Sukuna spiked Megumi toward the ground. His body slammed through two houses before he bounced off the street.
"G-Great Serpent!" Megumi shouted from the rubble. A massive snake attempted to swallow Sukuna whole, but its body was shredded to dust the moment any part of it reached within three meters of him.
"Sorry, but I can't waste too much time. Who knows if this brat'll take back his body soon," Sukuna grinned. That turned into a frown when another burst of rabbits flooded the area, letting Megumi run off again. "Are you for real?" Sukuna shouted at Megumi as he slapped away a rabbit that tried to punch him.
Megumi was panting heavily as he took out his phone in a hurry. He felt lucky that Sukuna didn't seem all that intent on instantly killing him; it was like he wanted something from him, but he didn't understand what it was.
"Shit!" Megumi dived down as a powerful slash divided the building he was hiding behind and all the buildings between him and where Sukuna stood, hands in his pockets.
"There you are. When are you going to do your little suicide summoning thing, haha?" Sukuna asked as he started walking toward Megumi, who stood ready to use another Rabbit Escape to get away.
"Not so fast..." Sukuna said, his back now against Megumi's back. He had already crossed the distance before Megumi could process it.
BOOM!
Sukuna turned faster than Megumi could register and slammed a fist into his chest, cracking his ribs as Megumi went soaring again.
"Damn, these kids are durable. How come that Special Grade couldn't take as many blows?" Sukuna wondered to himself as he started walking toward Megumi's direction again.
In the air once again, Megumi knew he had only two options: summon Mahoraga and at the very least try taking Sukuna down with him, or contact Gojo-sensei to clean up this whole mess before he died. Mahoraga seemed too risky. It would have been okay if they were still near the detention center, but Sukuna had chased him toward the edge of the evacuation area—and it seemed he did so on purpose, too. He had to call Gojo. If all else failed, he'd have no choice but to risk Mahoraga, but only as a last resort...
"Come on! Pick up..." Megumi panicked, holding the phone to his ear as he used Nue to land relatively safely.
"Yo, Megumi-chan," Gojo answered casually.
"Gojo-sensei, it's Sukuna! He's loose and is hunting me down right now!" Megumi explained. He felt Sukuna getting closer fast despite the curse's casual demeanor.
"Huh? How the hell did that happen?"
"There was a Special Grade and Itadori stayed behind to fend it off while me and Kugisaki escaped. I'm guessing he lost and let Sukuna loose to deal with it..." Megumi said, as Gojo's voice became somewhat serious.
"Alright, I'm on the way. This mission I'm on seems like a wild goose chase anyway," Gojo said, just as a voice radiating malicious intent sounded below Megumi.
"Done talking to Gojo yet?"
Shiiinnggg!
The tips of Megumi's fingers that held his phone were sliced off. His pupils narrowed.
"Oops. Almost cut off your arm there. You actually need those hands to summon the big guy, right?" Sukuna chuckled, grabbing Megumi by the face at blistering speeds and slamming him into the street below.
"Auuugh!" Megumi coughed blood as it leaked from his head.
"I know that isn't enough to kill you, Megumi..." Sukuna's gaze was dark, making Megumi's heart beat rapidly like a cornered animal. His hands instinctively began moving to make the hand seal to summon Mahoraga when he stopped and grinned.
"What the hell... I still have a few more tricks before I need to resort to that!" Megumi said, as if he'd lost common sense.
"This isn't apart of the script?" Sukuna said as he saw something most unexpected.
Megumi's hand winded back. Something Sukuna only expected from Gojo, Todo, or Yuji occurred. The sound around them vanished, and he felt something that was a genuine threat appear in that moment.
"Well fuck my life..." Sukuna thought as a fist slammed into his face.
"BLACK FLASH!"
Megumi thought as something within him awakened. Sukuna flew like a ragdoll before correcting himself mid-air and landing a few meters from Megumi. There was a faint bruise on his cheek that soon vanished with a quick application of RCT.
"This did not happen in canon..." Sukuna said, a surprisingly impressed grin stuck on his face. "You have truly shocked me, Megumi Fushiguro. Tell me, how does it feel to have your mind opened after experiencing a Black Flash for the first time?"
Megumi still had a manic look in his eyes.
"Ah, you're likely in 'the zone' right about now. Well, I can help you work off that sensation then. And as a reward, I'll even let you live to grow into that potential as well, brat."
Sukuna vanished, punching Megumi in the stomach. Megumi gasped, but he grit his teeth and punched Sukuna back, doing more damage than usual—though not nearly as much as his Black Flash. Sukuna smirked and kicked Megumi through a building, only for Megumi to catch himself so he didn't fly off again.
"Nue!!" Megumi shouted, summoning a Nue that was larger than before as it released a storm of lightning.
BOOM!
Everything thirty meters around Sukuna was scorched, the center of the blast red-hot. Sukuna was already sitting on a nearby roof. "Wow, even your shikigami got stronger after that Black Flash."
"Let Yuji return already!" Megumi said as shadow-like claws coated his arms.
"Those claws... they feel like those mutts of yours. You already learned to channel their power without a complete summoning?" Sukuna was being amazed again and again today.
Swinging his arm toward Sukuna, five slashes made of shadows ripped through everything between them. Sukuna countered the attack with invisible slashes that made them dissipate before reaching him. Megumi leaped at Sukuna again, shadows coating his legs to boost his speed as he roared in anger.
BANG!
His claws clashed against Sukuna's arm, which was coated in Cursed Reinforcement, as they came to blows. Megumi launched dozens of punches as Sukuna ducked and parried them without letting any slip through—or that was the plan, at least.
As Sukuna dodged one attack, his leg fell into his own shadow and a punch landed on his face. As he freed his leg, Megumi ran full speed and jumped, kicking Sukuna in the chest with both legs at full force, sending him sliding backward. Sukuna's feet dug trenches into the ground as he stopped himself from sliding and used his reversed momentum to launch himself at Megumi, kneeing him in the stomach. Megumi vomited blood again before Sukuna added more force, sending him flying once more.
"We can continue this back and forth until the brat wakes up, but..." Sukuna's smile was twisted. "We both know you'll die before then."
Standing up out of the wall he was caved into, Megumi stood weakly. The Black Flash surprised even himself, and the understanding he gained of his technique made him feel unbeatable, but...
"What was I thinking? I tried to take on the King of Curses by myself. That boost got to my head too quickly..." Megumi thought wiping his mouth of blood. "I've got no choice..."
He closed his fists, forming the hand seal to start the subjugation ritual for Mahoraga. But before he could start the chant, a figure appeared between him and Sukuna.
"Megumi... settle down," Gojo said, having arrived a bit late. He had to teleport a few times to get here, as he was quite far away during that mission. Luckily, he'd arrived in time; Megumi was about to summon Mahoraga and likely kill himself and Yuji to stop Sukuna.
"Gojo... you came..." Megumi said as he felt the adrenaline leaving his body.
"Don't worry, Megumi. I'll have Shoko patch you up soon. But first..." Gojo's figure blurred and he punched Sukuna so hard he flew over a hundred meters away, instantly knocking him out. "That's for hurting my students..."
He stood with his blindfold off, looking at the tattoos fading back into Yuji, who looked like he was sleeping peacefully.