Even with his upgrade in power, Hiro approached the parking garage cautiously.

He remembered what it had been like before, when supers were flying around causing all sorts of mayhem. Then there had been what had happened after the Doom System had finally forced him to participate, starting with his fight against the Wall Street bull.

Best to remain cautious.

Hiro did just that as he moved down to his fallout shelter, where he checked his things, his eyes tracing over his family altar and the map of the New York City subway system he’d cobbled together. He still had several boxes of Survivor Tenders, and it was weird how eating one completely replenished his energy levels.

“Wish they tasted better, though,” he said to himself as spooned peanut butter onto one of the bars and finished it, aware that he had also gorged himself at the coffee shop.

Moving on. Time to get my shit under control.

Hiro could already draw his katana in a fluid way, but he also wanted to make sure he could access his vape pen and his kunai if need be.

Buster Kunai and vape pen in the left pocket?

He tried this out. Both fit. This would allow him easy access to his tools, especially if he was holding his blade. The only problem with this arrangement was that his katana was sheathed on the same side.

Practice makes perfect, he thought as he drew his weapon again and again from his left side.

He didn’t like having everything clustered together like that, but it made sense, and he could adjust better later.

At least I’ll have the vape pen in the next interim. And I can keep the other cartridges in my right pocket.

Hiro popped the Decoy cartridge into the vape pen. Maybe I should go with something stronger, but I don’t want to waste it.

He fixed his mask over his face. What if I scare Valeria off?

He took the mask off for now and stashed it away. What’s with my…? Oh, that’s right.

“The caffeine I had in the past,” Hiro whispered as he noticed the way his thoughts raced.

He headed up the ladder and into the parking garage.

Hiro stopped on the same floor where he had first met Valeria, and was just turning around when a man stepped out of the dark holding a pair of short blades.

“I’m not the main character,” Hiro said.

The man was shirtless under a bulletproof vest. There were scratch marks up and down his arms and blistered chafing near his pits. He wore tactical pants with various items on his belt, extra pockets lining his legs, his pants tucked into a pair of black boots laced up his shins.

A grin spread across the man’s dirty face and a health bar appeared above the man’s head. “No, you’re not.”

Fuck, Hiro thought as he drew his katana. “We don’t have to do this.”

“No, we don’t. What do you have?”

“What do you mean?”

The man’s eyes narrowed on him. “Your supplies. They’re mine. Whatever you got. Hand it over. Any Roulette Weapons you have? Mine. Whatever is in your backpack? Mine. Do it, asshole.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

When Hiro didn’t comply the man flashed behind him, Hiro barely swiveling to avoid one of his blades.

Did he just teleport!?

Hiro tried to slash at him only for the other Survivor to disappear and reappear behind him again.

“Fucking coward!” Hiro swung on him.

Clank!

Their blades met, the man’s attack charged with an explosive blast of energy that flipped Hiro onto his stomach, triggering {Bounce}.

Boing!

Hiro hit the ceiling and came crashing down.

He rolled to the side to avoid two quick attempts from the Survivor. He blocked another, the power from which he was able to return with {Refund}, forcing the attacker backward and straight into a cement wall.

The man teleported away before he hit the ground.

Triggering a horizontal {Bounce} allowed Hiro to get a better vantage point. Now fifteen feet away from where he had just seen the Survivor, Hiro was just about to toss his Buster Kunai when the man vanished completely.

Excruciating seconds passed.

“Fuck, fuck.” Hiro whipped around. “Where are you?”

He cast his hand out.

~Kore nani, kore nani, kore nani, kore nani, kore nani, kore nani, NEKO!~

His phantom demon cats exploded out of various portals, all rushing around until they swarmed around the Survivor, who had been fully invisible up until that point.

Hiro thought he had the Survivor pinned until the man started throwing the demon cats off him. They yowled with pain as he beat them back, his muscles bulging, a transformation taking place not unlike Hiro’s {Lupine Shift}.

The rogue Survivor’s transformation wasn’t werewolf in nature, it was larger, with the mane of a lion and a maniacal head that reminded Hiro of some of the evil oni masks he had seen in a Japanese temple.

Hiro released his Buster Kunai in the man’s direction and attempted to take his own transformation, yet he was prevented by some unseen force.

What’s going on? he thought as the Survivor sidestepped his attack.

“You are one of the ones that can transform,” the Survivor said, his voice much deeper now. Occasionally, one of Hiro’s cats would try for him, only to be batted away. “That’s too bad.”

Hiro grabbed his vape pen and kept it hidden in his left hand, katana in his right. “Yeah?”

“I have a power that prevents others from transforming. It’s helped me… a lot. You will be the thirteenth Survivor that I have killed. Baker’s dozen, I believe. I can’t remember why they called it that. I guess it doesn’t matter.” Spikes jutted out of the lion-faced Survivor’s shoulders and several barbed tendrils lifted off his back. “This will be fun.”

Hiro took a puff off his vape pen and released a cloud of mist, his Decoy cartridge spent.

Survivor took off in the opposite direction as he chased Hiro’s decoy. The man, now with spiked tendrils flailing everywhere, shouldered past a parked vehicle with flat tires, his strength enough to move the vehicle out of place.

Do I run? Hiro thought for a brief second as he was given an opportunity to flee. Fuck no, I don’t.

Hiro hastily popped the Bleed cartridge in his vape pen.

“Fuck you,” Hiro said as he took off after the Survivor, who continued to chase his decoy.

As he neared him, Hiro moved back into action with {Blade Whirlwind}. He planned to spam him a few times then hit him with Bleed, yet the Survivor dodged left, colliding with a parked SUV that Hiro had looted weeks ago.

He shattered the window, but had already launched himself off using tendrils by the time Hiro was ready to use his katana again.

“You die, now!” the man shouted.

Still on the defensive, Hiro managed to cut one of his opponent’s tendrils away, yet another pair grabbed his legs and whipped him to the ground, causing him to lose his vape pen. The sudden jolt triggered {Bounce}, Hiro hanging on for dear life as he was tossed into the ceiling and then yanked toward the Survivor.

Both hands on his katana, he attempted to thrust the blade forward only for the lion-faced man to shift right.

How much longer will he keep his transformation?

Hiro’s thoughts filtered away as the Survivor’s tendrils dug themselves into the sides of his legs, six inches below the knee.

Wracked with pain, Hiro swung his katana in desperation. He had miscalculated, and it would likely cost him his—

Thunk!

A bolt burst out of the center of the Survivor’s forehead. The man staggered, but held onto Hiro with his spiked tendrils.

Thunk!

Another bolt, this one blooming out of the man’s throat.

Thunk!

A final bolt, this one piercing his chest.

The man’s eyes twitched, and he fell.