"You don't have to keep on living like this anymore!"

Rika Fuse's words echoed in Gouji's mind as he regained consciousness. His head pounded, his body felt heavy, and most importantly, he felt like he had been hit by a truck. As he opened his eyes, the faces of many doctors in scrubs greeted him. That's when he realized that he certainly was not dreaming.

The operating table he was on was clean. A bright fluorescent light above him cast his shadow along the environment, and the doctors all peered down at him with unknown eyes. Gouji tried to move his limbs but found them bound by chains affixed to the operating table. As though sensing his vitals coming back, the operating table rotated upwards, placing him in an almost standing position. The doctors all scrambled away to various nearby consoles that to Gouji looked like something out of some old Showa Era Tokusatsu show.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Gouji Goda." A female voice spoke, breaking the sound of endless beeping, and the sound of air being pumped. "I am Casas B-10, your guardian." As if on cue, a woman wearing a simliar outfit to Basas revealed herself on a platform above. It was about twenty meters higher, and the operating table was positioned so that Gouji could look at her without moving his neck.

"What are you!? What have you done to me!?" Gouji yelled at Casas B-10. The woman chuckled, clearly amused at Gouji's demanding tone.

"We have rebuilt you, Gouji Goda! No longer are you constrained by the limits of human mortality! You have become the first of HEAVEN's next-generation warriors!" Casas B-10 then paused for dramatic effect. "We have replaced your frail, insignificant human parts with superior cybernetic replacements, and spliced your DNA with those of a grasshopper to enhance your physiology!" Gouji's eyes widened.

Had he been turned into some freak of nature? Or, was this all a trick? As he thought that, Casas B-10 let out a chilling laugh.

"W-what's so funny!?" Gouji yelled, feeling as though he had been mocked.

"This is not a trick, Gouji Goda. Once our scientists have readied the serum, you will soon forget about your old life. You will be a true warrior next time we meet!" With a haughty laugh, Casas B-10 left the room. Without her presence, the room felt empty and quite big. Perhaps too big for Gouji's taste.

As he strained against his bindings he didn't feel as though he were any different.

Now that Gouji was alone, he was allowed to look around. He was in a giant spacious room, one filled with what seemed like old tube-styled computers, magnetic disks spinning within them, and various pieces of older technology. Everything was a dull gray as if someone had come over with a marker and decided to blend in every single color with it.

The scientists that were around, if they were even scientists, had on strange black hazmat suits that bore the symbol of what appeared to be a phoenix of some kind with lightning-shaped swords.

"My wound, it's gone!" The wound that Gouji had suffered in his fight against Basas had been healed. That was when he noticed. Gouji's outfit had been replaced with a black-colored form-fitting suit. His hands had on gloves that were colored blue, and on his feet were blue boots that appear to almost seamlessly transition from the seams to them. His midsection was armored, and on his waist was a belt-like object. It reminded him of the various Tokusatsu shows that he had watched as a kid.

Only, this time, it wasn't just something on a TV screen.

"Begin the final operation."

The scientists all began to crowd around the operating table. On an elevated platform nearby, one of them was manipulating the arms of a machine that was affixed to the ceiling. As it descended, the cylindrical tube that was attached to it began to rotate, revealing what it hid inside. A long thin needle. Gouji knew what it meant. What Casas B-10 was talking about. As he struggled against his restraints, the machine's arms lowered themselves down to the height of his head.

"Inputting parameters. Dosage is being adjusted. Standby for additional orders."

The cold voices of the scientists betrayed no emotion.

But, perhaps it was such a dire situation that Gouji couldn't help but remember something from a long time ago.

"Life is like a race. People getting first place is what society wants, but getting second, third, heck even last doesn't make you worthless. After all, it's about the effort that you put in. Remember that."

What did HEAVEN want? Why did it need someone like Gouji to join them? The questions were spinning around in his mind like a car that had lost control.

But, there was one thing that he hated more than getting hurt.

"You think you can take away who I am!?"

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Perhaps it was a change in his mental psyche, perhaps it was Gouji's fear that had made him feel helpless. Whatever it was, Gouji's right arm snapped forward, breaking through the chains as though they were wet paper. Grabbing the machine's arms. he tore it from its frame and threw it at the scientist on the elevated platform. With a shriek, the scientist operating the machinery fell as the controls were smashed. Freeing himself,

Gouji leaped off the operating table as the scientists all began to yell and retreat. Some brandished stun sticks, their tips arced with intense electricity as they tried hitting Gouji. With nimbleness that even Gouji didn't know he had, he ran across the wall avoiding their attacks.

As he dropped down, he did a clumsy leg sweep on them. They flew back, slamming into the metal walls, and screaming in pain. Gouji's eyes widened as he saw the dent marks the impact had made.

"Go down!"

Another scientist yelled. Reflexively, Gouji's elbow shot out, and into the scientist's face with a crunch. He too went flying away.

Looking down at the scene before him, Gouji looked at his hands. They no longer reminded him of a college student working hours away to try and keep a fallen dream alive.

No, they were the hands of something not human. Something beyond human.

Gouji didn't have long to ponder this. A thunderous alarm began to blare. There was only one thing to do. Only one thing that he could have done at that moment. He ran. As his body went into overdrive, he felt light as a feather. Even when he trained at the gym, he felt trace amounts of fatigue that made him want to stop. Not here.

The corridors of wherever it was that Gouji had been brought to were all gray. Red alarms blaring, lights going off. It was an endless assault of sounds that would madden anyone. At a full-on sprint, Gouji emerged from the endless steel corridors out into an opening.

He was in a circular valley, a deep indent that curved inward, with stacks of land going up like stairs. In the center, a statue of a man with fierce eyes looked down at him. On the plaque located below, a quote read, "The Master of Man's fate is Man itself."

Moving across this valley, a sense of unease pervaded Gouji's thoughts.

"HEAVEN UNIT 1! Where do you think you are going!?"

Jumping down from the top of the statue, a man in a strange Spider outfit had arrived. Gouji went into a fighting stance, albeit a clumsy one, and slowly began to circle to the side. Gouji's eyes were fixed on the man. Just a simple look told him all he needed to know about who he was facing. He exuded an aura that was familiar to Basas, and that was enough for him.

"My name is Gouji Goda! HEAVEN! You'll pay for what you have done!"

"Hehehehe! We have improved you! But, if you are unwilling to join hands with us, then die!"

The Spiderman flung himself at Gouji. With a grunt, Gouji managed to barely deflect the attack away. Rolling on the ground, the Spiderman leapt up, his hands ready to strike a lethal blow towards Gouji's neck. Dodging to the side, Gouji balled his hands together and brought them down on the base of Spiderman's neck. With a pained grunt, he collapsed onto all fours.

"Splendid, HEAVEN UNIT 1! You were more than anything that the Great Leader has dreamed of! A combat cyborg who can kill without mercy! A machine that can end the lives of anything, or anyone he can touch!"

Gouji backed away.

"Now, that I have ascertained your true capabilities, die!"

The Spiderman once again flung his body forward. Gouji's body retaliated faster than his mind could react. With a shoulder tackle, Gouji slammed into Spiderman. A sickening crunch resounded in the valley as the Spiderman's body crumpled to the ground, his neck at a strange angle.

"Congratulations, Gouji Go....da..." Spiderman spoke as his life drained from his body. "You were everything that the Supreme Leader had.... hop...ed... for...."

With a sound between a gasp and a whisper, Spiderman's body stopped moving.

Gouji could only stare at the body of the strange spider-dressed man, and the statue of the fierce man above. What exactly did this fight accomplish? No, he already knew that answer. How effective was he? Did he change? Was he even human, or was this some sort of trick? Everything that happened in seconds told him all he needed to know.

"You crazy bastard... it was self-defense."

Muttering to himself, Gouji turned to leave this valley of death.

Where did HEAVEN kidnap Gouji? Where did they take him? That was the question in Gouji's mind. As he emerged from the valley and walked forward, all he could see before him was the ocean. He stood atop a long cliffside, the rushing waves slamming into the side of the rocks with force. Looking down, the jagged rocks were perfect for any would-be intruder. A single fall onto those would be the end of anyone.

"Perhaps... not me."

Further down the cliffside, a small dock was hidden away. A single boat was anchored there. Not a single living soul was within sight, and the sounds of the ocean were the only thing that could be heard. It was an older fishing boat, something that would be common around the coasts of Japan. Was HEAVEN using this boat as a means to travel to whatever island this facility was on? As Gouji examined the boat nothing appeared to be out of place. It was truly an older Japanese-style fishing boat.

"They were using it as cover. Damn bastards. If the facility is as big as it seems..."

It would be impossible to evacuate everyone. That was a fact, it was a certainty. It was a cruel realization that stirred something within Gouji.

As he began to raise the anchor, a booming shook the earth and sea. Cracks began to form along the cliffside that began to extend downwards deep into the base of the island.

"A self-destruct feature!?"

Yes, a self-destruct feature. HEAVEN was one of the top-secret organizations that existed in the world. If their existence was to ever become public knowledge it would severely hamper their ability to operate unimpeded. That was why such drastic measures were considered and sometimes used. Regardless of the sacrifices, regardless of the loss of life, it was all to continue their goals.

As Gouji looked at the smoke billowing into the sky a sense of desolation and anxiety began to fill him. Almost as if it was in his soul. What would become of him?

With the wind billowing past his hair, he noticed that he had bent the railing on the fishing boat.