Everything around me opened fire, I trusted my armor to stop all the smaller bullets while I focused on dodging the tank shells, a few of the larger rounds made craters all over me but aside from feeling like I’d been beaten up it didn’t actually manage to stop me. Something else did though- as I was running forward I stepped down and heard a ‘click’ before the ground beneath me exploded upward. My leg was destroyed and the other semi shredded, it felt like my insides had been melted too. Because of my speed I was slightly in front of the blast when it went off leading to me being sent careening forward toward the closest tank.

I was reeling from the shock (both types) as I hit the side of the vehicle and slumped down, I knew I wouldn’t have long before they closed in! I looked down at my legs, or just one of them. Lefty was gone and righty would take a few seconds to fix, overall I probably had a minute, maybe two before I could continue on. Not good! The tank was blocking me from the sight of everyone else and realizing that they started moving backward!

I made a split second decision as I slammed one of my hands into the treads- tearing them apart and crushing my hand. This didn’t entirely stop them but greatly slowed them down. Good enough. My right leg was already fixed but my left was only at the stage of a bony scaffold without any muscle or protection… but I reckon I could still use it to hop around, I’d have to since the other tanks were moving forward!

My crushed hand was still jammed in the side of my mobile cover, I leveraged as much strength as I could, it didn’t feel like enough! “COME ON WORK DAMN YOU!” And with a burst of red light and a loud crack my arm swelled to outrageous proportions and I managed to flip and launch the tank away from me and toward the blockade! I quickly hobbled after it and used my now massive arm like a charger from a certain zombie game to plow my way forward!

My massive arm didn’t have any bone armor (hence the crack when it exploded through it) but it did have an insane amount of steely muscle fiber! That plus the size allowed me to make it through the barrage relatively unscathed… besides the arm of course- it had been absolutely shredded to pieces and was now looking more like normal (size wise). I launched myself into the water and tried to use my tail to speed away.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

It didn’t work? I glanced back and saw the half healed tail flopping around, damnit! I didn’t know whether the mine or bullet storm was responsible for its current state but I sure as hell couldn’t use it for now… not well at least. I sprouted all the extra webbing and fins all over my body as I made my way to deeper water, I more sank than swam my way outta there. The bullets weren’t able to reach that far into the water and they’d stopped trying shortly after I’d entered.

I did hear something else though… a whirring noise? I turned around and was face to face with a torpedo, Motherfuc-

*BOOM*

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *THUMP*

Ughhh… Where… Where am I? I looked around and noticed I was washed up on a beach. Wha- “Aughhhh!” All the memories flooded back- rebirth, red dirt, crocodile, demon leaf, swimming, dark maw, land, running, sea, death. At least I didn’t end up as a plaything for those bastards. I dragged myself off the sand and into a nearby bush… I’d figure out where I am later, for now I just want to sleep.

However long later I woke up and reluctantly started searching around for any signs about my current location. While walking I started thinking about the last few weeks (I think it was weeks, no idea how long I was dead for), I’d been through quite a lot, ironically some of the deathly experiences had made things easier, without the crocodile making me tougher and the demon leaf making me suit up I’d probably have been in deep shit the moment I landed on Korean soil… if not before that in the more polluted areas.

Speaking of- I wonder how tough the armor is now? It seems every time it upgrades itself to be strong enough to withstand whatever hit it previously… So am I now strong enough to shrug off that torpedo from earlier? Probably not but maybe I’d be in less ‘pieces’ than before. Idle thoughts aside I found a sign, not in english but at least I could tell what language I was looking at- Japanese. I made it! There was plenty of bushland around to hide in and I could probably set up a hideout to learn the language as well as some details like the year or maybe by observing some heroes to see their age?

My trip was nearly over, I trekked through the forest until I found a relatively uninhabited area with a stream flowing nearby. This'd be my new home for a while and I was looking forward to making it look the part… later. Right now I had bigger fish to… cook? I’d gone into the stream to wash off when I’d seen some catfish swimming around, I’d ended up accidentally slicing one in half and decided it’d be better not to waste it and so here I was with a dinky little campfire (Yes I know how hard making a fire is, I used to have to do it in frigid climates using damp materials) making something to eat. I mean, I didn’t have to eat but once it started cooking my stomach let me know how neglected it’d been. I raised a fish slice on a stick- “To my new life” and started chowing down.