Kanji takes a seat on the chilly steel floor of the room. The biting cold seeps through his palms, sending a shiver up his arms. The space lacks signs of irregularity as if it was perfectly crafted from an architectural standpoint.
Kanji "Heh... they really thought ahead. I can tell these are meant to conduct as much of my power as possible. He really believes that it may prevent my escape but... there is one massive oversight-
A shockwave of blue light erupts from the room's core. Swiftly, Kanji shields his eyes...
A tall man of Caucasian descent appears, kneeling. His face mirrors confusion but upon sighting Kanji, a hint of ease washes over him.
Kanji "Took you a while to get here. Does teleportation usually take this long?"
?? "What nonsense are you spouting? This wasn't supposed to go this way. Fuck! I really hoped that you wouldn't swap! I was supposed to kill that big guy!"
Kanji "I see that you're the type of person who doesn't like it when things don't go your way. Your face is quite interesting I must say."
Kanji glares at the man's right eye, a strange mosaic similar to that of a fly's compound vision. Rising to his feet, Kanji shifts to gain a better view, his focus drawn to the man's right arm.
The man jolts back and quickly conceals the appendage behind his back.
Kanji "How cautious? I wonder... that arm doesn't seem to be modified with an insect part. However, it has an extra section between the upper and lower half. It's like a middle section. Perhaps... if I were to guess. It's your special power. Isn't it?"
?? "Wow, this is a very fucked up day. You're scarier than what the general said. Fine. There is no use in hiding it. My name is M112, and my code name is Phantom. I'm well known for my sportsmanship. So... if you can guess what my right arm does then I'll give you one free hit!"
Kanji "Ummm, that is a very fair deal but I doubt you'll uphold your part. Let's see. Earlier you said "big guy" so I'm assuming that you're Adrian's counter. His biggest trait is defense so maybe that arm of yours can go through objects."
M112 "Holy shit... Wow. That is very correct-
A ray of electricity zips past the right side of M112's body.
Pain pulses through him, a surging current that knocks him to the cold steel. Kanji looks on as the man spills green blood onto the polished surface. His gaze lands on the now severed arm.
Kanji "Wait a minute. This is an eye. Is it... your real eye?"
It snaps open, the eye stares at Kanji.
A sensation invades his chest, forcing him to throw the arm against the steel wall. M112's laughter fills the air...
M112 "I can't believe my fucking luck! You just triggered the condition for my power!"
Kanji bears witness as two more right arms surge forth from M112's shoulders. The eyes embedded in their palms blink open, their haunting gaze fixated on him.
Kanji "Do you have a hydra in your arm or something?"
M112 "Ha! That's the 12048th time I was told that! Enough chit-chat! it's my turn!"
Kanji conjures a sword made of sound.
Noticing the sonic blade, M112 quickly plugs in ear plugs.
M112 "Nice fucking try!"
The cultist, charges towards Kanji, arms coiled behind him, ready to swipe.
With precision, Kanji flicks his blade over M112's shoulder.
M112 "What the fuck are you aiming at? Also, this isn't the time to be... toe-tapping!"
In the fleeting second before impact, Kanji disappears. The resonating blade clatters against the cold steel wall, ricocheting back towards M112. Emerging from the soundwave, Kanji delivers a powerful dropkick to the nape of the cultist's neck.
M112 "Huh?! How did you? Fuck! My neck!"
Kanji "I was expecting more from someone who has more battle experience than me. Come on. Show me something unexpected."
M112 "Unexpected... Fine then."
He wrenches off an arm and hurls it. Kanji darts left but the rogue arm animates, snaring his left thigh. The fingers worm their way through fabric and flesh, burrowing into bone.
A vice-like grip clamps down, grinding the bone into dust. A cry of agony pierces the room.
Kanji "Ugh! H..ow? You... can control it?"
Slowly Approaching, M112 laughs.
M112 "Yes, I can control my limbs temporarily in case they were decapitated. Oh about what you said before. I expected you to be some kind of genius but I was wrong. Goodbye! Idiot"
Recovering, Kanji drives his foot into M112's chest, staggering him. He then takes out a chain, whipping it at the cultist's right eye.
M112 "How are you standing right now? Your leg was crushed!"
Kanji "Sorry, but that's a trade secret. Keep sticking around to find out." "That recovery cost me one of my full heals. I should be more careful."
M112 "Oh right! I remember that you have some kind of healing power."
He leaps forward. Kanji stares at his arm and dodges to the left but the arm doesn't move.
M112 lunges forward. Kanji eyes his opponent's arm, anticipating motion, but the rogue appendage remains still.
M112 strikes, driving his knee into Kanji's chest while his hand shoots out to grab Kanji's head.
Kanji quickly fires a sonic pulse at the nearest wall, triggering his teleportation. With his heart pounding a frenzied rhythm, he fades into the room's corner.
M112 "What the hell are you thinking now? You're fucking cornered!"
M112 rips out free his last right arm, launching it toward Kanji's corner. Kanji counters with his chain but the cultist's arm slips through it. Yet a smile graces Kanji's face as the chain ensnares M112's neck.
M112 "What the-
A bolt of electricity surges down the chain, shocking M112.
M112 buckles to his knees, the thrown arm just shy of its target. Utilizing his chain as a conduit, Kanji phases behind the stunned cultist.
Bracing his feet against M112's back, he wrenches the chain taut.
The sound of splintering bones and desperate screams reverberates around the room. Summoning his remaining energy, the cultist drives his trio of extra arms into Kanji's leg.
They rend through his flesh, shattering bone and tearing skin. Kanji, biting down on his chain, persists, pulling with all his might until a sharp SNAP stills his action. The aberrant arms loosen, detaching from Kanji to fall lifelessly to the floor, accompanied by M112's decapitated head.
Another energy surge knits his ravaged leg back together, good as new
Kanji "Huh. This was easier than I thought. Wait, what is that sound?"
From the severed head sprouts a quartet of legs, each one bizarrely sporting a central eye, reflecting the design of the prior arms.
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M112 "You can't kill me that easily!"
M112's head slams into Kanji, his alien legs delivering a brutal blow to his stomach, wreaking havoc on his insides.
Blood-laced vomit stains the steel floor. Summoning the vestiges of his willpower, Kanji conjures another healing surge, mending his ruined body. Through a haze of dizziness, he manages to outrun the M112.
Kanji "Seriously. How many more surprises do you fucking have?"
M112 "I won't tell you anything! Die!"
The cultist thrusts forward, aiming a brutal kick with his grotesque legs at Kanji's arm but misses. In response, Kanji snaps his whip at M112's head, the impact sending him crashing into the wall. In confusion, the cultist scrambles wildly, his legs flailing uncontrollably.
Kanji "Are you pretending right now?"
Kanji unleashes a searing energy bolt, but the cultist avoids it.
Kanji "Ha! I knew it!"
M112 "Fine then! Time for plan b!"
Charging at Kanji, M112 swings leg after leg, each one missing its target but leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Kanji answers the onslaught with a taunting gesture, a middle finger. Enraged, M112 races back to his central body.
M112 "Take this, you prideful bastard!"
Suddenly, the arms of his main body come to life. They tear into M112's own legs before flinging them at Kanji.
As they soar through the air, the rogue legs entangle, forming a greater mass. Cornered, Kanji can't find a way to dodge...
They collide with his ribcage, but their momentum lacks the strength to shatter it.
M112 "Dam...nit. So fucking close. If only... I have a bit more energy."
Kanji "Whew! That ended well. Now time to heal."
Tapping into his penultimate energy reserve, Kanji reinforces his battered ribcage, returning it to peak condition.
A voice emanates from the beheaded cultist, his lips muttering whispers with an unnerving softness...
M112 ["... My body for her holiness cause-
Kanji swings out at the disembodied head with his chain. Each strike sends the head bouncing around the room, however, the whispering continues to play.
From the cultist's compound eye, a myriad of massive arms begins to emerge, echoing the design of the ones he had. These arms grow, reaching for the steel ceiling. They twist and distort, ten eyes opening in a spiral formation, each one appearing in ascending order. Below each eye sprouts a slender leg, morphing into a structure that barely retains any semblance of human form... they resemble branches of a tree.
Kanji "That's one ugly tree."
The twisted tree angles towards Kanji, all of its eyes glowering with overt hostility. A surge of arms erupts from below.
Back against the cold steel wall, Kanji takes a deep breath. With a swift jab, he injects a sheet of electricity into the metallic surface. His body disperses, merging with the electrified wall.
A sea of arms punches through the walls, unable to grasp at his energy state.
Unnoticed by the grotesque tree, Kanji appears on the opposite side of the room. He unleashes a concentrated heat bolt directly into one of the tree's eyes. The attack scorches the iris a fiery red before leaving an empty socket in its wake.
A branch falls from the monstrous tree.
Grinning, Kanji fades back into the electrified wall.
Kanji "My energy won't last retreating like this for long. I need to shoot down all of its eyes."
Reappearing closer to the tree, Kanji fires a barrage of flaming bolts. Only one finds its mark. The tree shudders, a battalion of arms sprouting from its trunk. They claw their way toward him, but Kanji dives back into the floor in the nick of time.
Kanji "Whew, that was very close. There are only a few eyes left and I can feel that I can only do this one more time. Here goes nothing!"
Appearing even closer to the tree, he startles it, taking the chance to whip his chain.
The links tear through the remaining eyes, hollowing out the sockets. Retreating once more, Kanji navigates to a corner of the room, extinguishing the overhead light bulb. In the enveloping darkness, he watches...
Kanji "Is it blind now? I can't tell. For now, the darkness is my friend."
Slipping on night-vision goggles, Kanji charges through the room, his whip cracking against each remaining light bulb.
The twisted tree convulses, its mass blooming an arrow of arms.
A wall of entangled arms erects itself around the tree, shielding it from sight. As Kanji springs into the air, he observes the tree, somehow smaller now.
Kanji "It went on the defensive but how am I going to even get through that wall? Oh, this might be a long shot but let's hope that this works."
Fashioning a sword from pure heat, Kanji hurls it at the arm-made barricade.
The blistering blade streaks through the room– Impact! The heat sears through the wall.
Kanji "What?! How?"
The barrier combusts into ashes, leaving behind a lingering stench of charred flesh. A series of root-like structures, bizarrely formed from arms, surge from below, lashing out at their surroundings. Kanji notices the arms no longer phase through objects– they're frail, bruising against the steel.
Kanji "Ah, I think... that your eyes were the secret to your spectral-like powers. What you said earlier... damn it maybe I am a bit dumb sometimes. Hey, this was fun but I have to end this now."
Propelling himself from the wall, Kanji targets a gap between the arm-roots. The roots recoil, retracting into the ground. A swirling pattern materializes before him, and a barrage of pale fists erupts forward. They batter Kanji relentlessly, targeting his right eye, gut, neck and left arm, fracturing his bones and rupturing blood vessels.
Drawing on his final reserve of stored energy, combined with his own, Kanji fixes his injuries.
Kanji "There goes my last drop of energy. Damn, I could die here... that's hilarious now that I think about it. I think I'm too reliant on my power. I should have done things the more traditional way."
Clutching his chain, he compresses its ends.
Kanji "I too have a secret powerful battle mode but I'm a bit nervous since this is quite experimental. |Access Protocol Reinforcement|"
A cloud of grey mist emanates from the chain, seeping into his skin. Touching his hand to the floor, Kanji...
Kanji "|Access Protocol Reinforcement| Extract foreign object."
A sheen of reflective metal envelopes his skin. Stowing away his chain, Kanji starts cracking his knuckles, the resultant clanging noise reverberating in the steel room.
The tree generates an expansive sheet of flesh that grows to coat the entire floor. Innumerable legs sprout around Kanji, kicking at him to no avail. They merely tingle against his metallic skin, and so he marches forward—
An outsized leg lands a forceful kick, sending him spiraling into the wall.
Kanji "Shit. You can do stuff like that. Fine. Let's do this again."
Undeterred, he darts forward. As another gigantic leg rears to strike at his torso, he seizes it, using it to catapult himself toward the tree. Kanji lands a powerful punch directly into the tree's spiraled trunk. The impact leaves a massive crack that snakes across every inch of the tree.
With a simple flick of his finger and the entire tree tumbles, collapsing into nothing more than a stump.
Kanji "That was easier than I thought. Now... how do I get out of this-
A sudden tearing sound crawls from the stump.
Kanji "Oh you got to be fucking kidding with me! You're not dead yet?!"
Cautiously encircling the stump, he observes as five human-like figures grow from the remains. The stump withers and disintegrates to dust, but the emerging entities are... different. An uneasy conflict brews within Kanji. They advance towards him, landing hits that he silently endures...
Their attacks are pitiful yet he couldn't bring himself to harm them.
Kanji "What kind of trick is this? It feels wrong! What did you do?"
The figures reveal themselves to be a woman and four children.
Two older twins and two infants. Their cries fill the room as they claw and punch at Kanji. It feels like a desperate vengeance for killing a loved one. He is caught in an emotional mire...
Kanji "I... remember... this feeling..."
An echo of the past arises from the depths of his memory.
During the war, when Russia invade Kyushu, he remembered killing a Russian soldier named Petrove Kalivlon. Then he heard a shout from one of the destroyed homes that were caught in the crossfire of war. A young boy springs out, screaming at him. Kanji thought he was upset that his home was gone but... no.... the boy was mourning the death of the Russian soldier. At that moment, he understood everything. However, for the sake of his homeland, Kanji didn't hesitate and eliminated the obstacles that impeded his path.
His hands quake with guilt as he lowers himself to the floor, allowing the woman and her children to strike him until he teeters on the edge of death. He laughs, a hollow sound reverberating in the metallic room, mocking the absurdity of his predicament.
Kanji rises. One swift kick and an entire family disappears, a dreadful echo of the past.
Kanji "Wait a minute. These guys are hollow... Is that a note?"
There is a note in each of them. Kanji takes a seat and begins reading them...
In their hollow shall, there are notes. Taking a seat, Kanji unfolds the papers and begins to read...
Note 1: My beloved Cassandra. The deadline for our debt is near and my options are growing thinner by the day. I was approached by a rowdy bunch of robed men who promised wealth and power beyond measure. Please hide yourself and the kids until I return. I fear that this is the only way to our salvation........... MY DEAR CASSANDRA! I AM SORRY! THIS ARM IS NOT MINE BUT HIS! FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE ME!! CHILDREN RUN! FLEE FROM YOUR PATHETIC FATHER."
Kanji "Hold on, is this about M112 before he was a cultist? Were all the cultists once normal people? I can see that he was desperate and this note entails that he killed his wife. But it doesn't seem like he was in control. I wonder if the cultists have someone higher up that can control them at will. Then again why would they need to do this in the first place if they were trying to recruit him? It doesn't make sense... I should leave my thinking for now. Let's read the next one."
Note 2: "My bundle of joy Poppy. You must be nice to your twin brother while daddy goes to business. Oh and if you are in danger in any way. Please call everyone to the cellar and block it tightly. Alright...... NO, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! PLEASE STOP! STOP PLAYING WITH HER HEAD! DON'T GO NEAR THE..."
Kanji "Sheez, that was a dreadful end. Next one..."
Note 3: "My little hero, Pop. A man must be brave and strong. Stand up to protect those you love when danger arises but also know when to retreat. Remember this my boy and you'll be a true hero..... RUN YOU, FOOLISH BOY! GET EVERYONE AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE! POP DON'T!"
Kanji "Alright, now for these last two. They appear to be part of the same note..."
Note 4 and 5: "THEIR... THEIR LITTLE LEGS... THEIR LITTLE ARMS... THEIR LEGS... THEIR ARMS... LEGS... ARMS... LEGS LEGS... ARMS ARMS... LEGS LEGS LEGS... ARMS ARMS ARMS... LEGS LEGS LEGS LEGS... ARMS ARMS ARMS ARMS... THEIR... EYES... SUCH BEAUTIFUL... INNOCENT EYES."
His foot crashes into the ground in a fit of rage at the sheer inhumanity that the notes told described.
Kanji "Those cultists bastard! This is so fucked up! I'll make them pay! Mark my words!"
In his periphery, Kanji spots a cockroach skittering past. He reaches out, catching it.
Kanji "You got that. General scum!"
He crushes it and begins punching at a damaged wall.
Without a shred of mercy, he crushes the creature and starts throwing punches at a damaged wall.
(To be continued)