"I hated every second of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a Champion!' " - Muhammad Ali

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Alard's eyes creaked open although he didn't remember closing them. The sky that greeted him was a cloudless murky white, as if someone had spilled milk all over it. No sun showed itself, yet the area was well-lit by a light that felt natural. Alard tested his mobility, feeling relief when his body obeyed, allowing him to stand up warily.

If this was hell it sure wasn't as advertised. A mist surrounded him and though it felt like he still had the enhanced eyesight of a parasyte user, the unnatural mist was thick enough that he could only slightly make out greenish shrubbery around him.

As he weighed the option of traveling through the mist, a familiarly large figure emerged from its depths, his swirling eye sockets narrowed as he observed Alard. "I'm getting quite tired of seeing your wimpy face," Jigoku said.

Alard shrugged. "Right back at ya." He made a sweeping motion with his hand at their surroundings. "Well? Are we dead?" The thought of the afterlife consisting of being trapped with the parasyte was slightly more comforting than being alone.

Jigoku made a scoffing sound. "No, though you certainly tried your best to make that our reality."

"How?" The last thing he remembered was him royally kicking some rogue ass. Even just remembering the taste of power made a smile tug at his lips.

"The ability you used has a strong recoil, one that I wasn't sure you could handle even after one use and you, in your impressive stupidity used it repeatedly in a span of two minutes."

Alard shuddered as he remembered the blaring headache he had suffered after punching the rogue. He had thought that the pain from becoming an amputee was bad but it wasn't even comparable to that. "Is that why my nose started bleeding?'

Jigoku nodded, folding his arms around his pitch-black body. On a closer look, Alard couldn't tell if he was wearing clothes or if it even was a humanoid body. "That was your brain being fried from the recoil, though I assume it being such a small existence is the reason why I was able to minimize the damage enough for our survival."

Alard grunted. "It's not like you provided a user's manual or anything."

"Perhaps you would have preferred I kept you occupied while your little partner got killed."

That shut Alard up. He had thought it a coincidence that he came to right as Hayaka was about to be turned into mincemeat, but apparently not. Alard studied the parasyte, wondering if his actions were proof that there really was a heart somewhere in his swirling mist of a body.

Jigoku seemed to read his thoughts, and Alard wondered if that was an actual possibility. "Don't get the wrong idea, boy. That elastic boy could prove important in reaching your goal so his continued existence is of some worth."

Alard arched a suspicious eyebrow. "Why do you care about my goal anyway? What do you gain from that?"

Jigoku paused before responding. "I've made a pact with you and it is in my best interest to see it through."

Alard felt as if his words were less direct than they usually were. Was he hiding a deeper motive? Alard quelled his thoughts with a shake of his head. He had stared death in the face to allow the parasyte to enter his being with the goal of doing whatever it took to avenge his family. He didn't care what would happen later as long as he stopped their ghosts from haunting him.

"Very well. Is there a way for me to learn to control the ability output so," he gestured at the surrounding mist, "this doesn't happen every time?" He thought back to the migraine with a shudder, "and so it isn't as painful?"

Jigoku did his awkward shrugging gesture. "That knowledge escapes my reach."

Alard blinked. What?

"How do you not know?" Alard asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

"I'm only two hundred years old." Alard blinked again. "My wisdom and experience are limited, so in a sense, it's a learning process for us both."

"Great," Alard said with an exasperated sigh. "Just great."

The mist started to close in on the pair. "Looks like you're regaining consciousness," Jigoku said. "I'd advise you to practice using the ability so you can know your current limit and push against it gradually and perhaps then you will see improvement in your tolerance levels." The mist completely consumed Alard's vision as Jigoku spoke his last words. "Of course, there's a chance that kills you too."

With those inspiring words, Alard opened his eyes to the familiar sky of Vrille.

"He opened his eyes!"

Alard stiffly moved his head to the side and saw Aura and Hayaka knelt over him. "Enjoying the show?"

Akuma's face popped in front of him as he leaned over from the other side. "I sure did! Tell me everything in colorful detail."

Alard spent the next five minutes reciting what he experienced. Akuma and Aura seemed particularly interested when he glossed over the details of his altered mindscape and abilities.

When he had finished, Akuma shot Aura a look with a rare seriousness about it. "I believe you already know the complications Alard will face if you go mouthing off about this."

Aura nodded in response, her expression grim.

"Wait what?" Hayaka asked. "Am I missing something?"

Akuma seemed to decide if to inform them before his usual carefree smile returned, dispelling the stiffness from his demeanor. Alard figured that was how he handled hard decisions; not thinking too hard or letting it stress him and doing what he wanted. "What Alard has described is a perfect mindscape. Usually, a parasyte user's mindscape is one room in a castle where their parasyte is chained up in. Of course, this varies from person to person but having a mindscape with a large surrounding that feels like an entire world is an extremely rare occurrence. Alard here is basically an anomaly among anomalies." Akuma paused, a theatrical grin engraved on his face. "The only other known Underground parasyte user with a perfect domain was almost locked in a cage to be experimented on. Naturally, he was too powerful to stay under the Underground's thumb."

Alard gulped reflexively as the gears started to turn in his head. Was he powerful enough to not be strapped to some table and experimented on for the rest of his life? Heck, was Akuma powerful enough?

"Why didn't they use you to keep him in check, then?" Alard asked, for the first time questioning Akuma's strength.

Akuma chuckled. "Me and the Underground higher-ups don't usually see eye-to-eye. Dawkins is a rare case, and even he would rather not put me in a situation where I had to be trusted." Akuma cocked his head to the side in a playful manner. "Heaven knows why!"

"What about Jarek?" Hayaka asked. "He seems pretty strong and able to follow instructions." There was more than a hint of pride and respect in Hayaka's voice.

Akuma smiled goodnaturedly, flicking his serpentine eyes to Hayaka. "Well, Jarek may be an obedient lapdog taking orders with a wagging tail, but he's no fool. He was friends with the person in question and the higher-ups wouldn't be able to trick him into kidnapping him."

"What is the name of this person?" Aura asked, her voice filled with emotion. Alard turned to see her staring hard at Akuma, a rare whirlwind of emotions battling beneath the surface of her eyes.

Akuma's grin widened as if he had been waiting for the question. "I suspect you know the name very well." He paused, kicking a rock that skipped away out of sight. "He goes by Kidori."

Aura looked away, her eyes staring out to the horizon. She had expertly bottled her emotions and stemmed the torrent that had plagued her eyes but Alard could see her fingers twitching ever so slightly.

"Anyway," Akuma said clapping his hands, "that's enough for today's history lesson."

"So I have to keep my ability a secret?" Alard asked.

Akuma shrugged. "I'd recommend against it. If what your parasyte-"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Jigoku," Alard corrected.

"-Jigoku says is true then hiding it will hinder the progress of you mastering it. I won't recommend you to or not to tell Jarek, that decision is yours."

"But, won't the higher-ups get wind that he has a perfect brainscape or whatever you call it?" Hayaka asked.

Akuma shrugged nonchalantly. "I can't be certain but they're already keeping a close eye on him because of his rare status, so it is likely."

Alard was starting to feel more and more out of his depth in an ocean filled with very large sharks. Sure he had been willing to become a pawn to carry out his revenge, but a part of him was downright terrified of being hauled to an underground lab and never seeing aboveground again. "Then what's stopping them from coming and snatching me up for their experiments?"

Akuma scoffed as if the question was insulting. He kicked another rock, this time with a little more effort, and the small rock turned into a missile, smashing into a half-fallen building and finishing the job with a large plume of smoke.

The action spoke louder than words. It wasn't a matter of what was stopping them but who. Alard couldn't be particularly sure why Akuma had taken a liking to him nor was he sure he could consider a good thing but as he eyed the clearing smoke to reveal the debris of the building fallen by a rock kicked casually, he felt relatively safe.

As safe as possible in a world where monsters could be found around any corner anyway.

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"What?" Alard shrieked.

"You're kidding," Hayaka said, shaking his head in similar disbelief.

Nessa laughed from her spot on the wall of what was once a store but now only half of it escaped being reduced to rubble. "Nope, Jarek and Akuma are really brothers."

Alard shook his head in disbelief. The two weren't alike in the least, though now that he thought about there were a few similarities in their facial structure. They both had defined cheekbones and height that was the envy of people closer to Alard's. Still, it was hard to imagine the stoic businesslike Jarek shared blood with the carefree unpredictable Akuma.

"That's weird," Hayaka said, his eyes catching a far-away look, "where I'm from siblings would never threaten each other like I've seen them do." A pain-filled cloud floated across his pupils, "especially not my brother and I."

Nessa nodded knowingly. "They certainly aren't the average siblings pair."

"That wasn't always the case," Kenneth said from his spot across from Alard. He had become his main spar partner after Alard revealed his ability since it had become apparent that using his ability on Akuma was the equivalent of eating a bomb. Clearly, their power levels were too far apart for Alard to use his predictive ability. "The two used to be inseparable and then the parasytes came and complicated everything. All of a sudden Akuma was given the tools to be a childish brat without consequence and that often caused the two to clash."

Alard nodded, it wasn't hard to imagine because it still sounded like them.

"One thing's for certain though," Kenneth continued, "their love for each other hasn't disappeared. Although it may not always seem that way."

Hayaka scoffed. "It sure doesn't."

"That's enough rest," Kenneth said, setting down the figure on his back and unwrapping the linen bandages. Being outside of battle, Alard was able to fully digest the absurdity of the sex doll. Alard couldn't say for sure it looked like an average one, but nothing seemed unexpected aside from the fact it was fully clothed.

The fact he had entered a world where clothed sex dolls could fight at the speed of fighter jets made him want to both laugh and cry.

Kenneth touched the back of the sex doll and a very blue dim light that stretched from his fingers to the back of the plastic figure could be seen for a split second before disappearing. "Making a proper lifeline connection grants me more control of my partner here," Kenneth explained, "what you saw back at the lighthouse was a more rushed network that could've gone very wrong." He smiled as if the image of a sex doll attacking Alard and Hayaka was funny.

Alard certainly didn't think so.

The sex doll stood on its own and faced Alard. Somehow, the permanent smile etched onto its face was much more intimidating than a frown.

"This will be your opponent this spar," Kenneth said with a smirk.

Alard sighed. It felt like his life had turned into a bad fighting show. "Am I allowed to...break it?" Alard asked. He had seen its speed firsthand but it seemed to lack power, and judging by the way his attack had incinerated the rogue, there was no telling what it would do to something less durable.

Kenneth paused for a second, then turned to Nessa who met his eyes. The silence lengthened before the two burst out laughing. "Break it?" Kenneth asked, struggling to control his howling.

Alard bristled, annoyed at being underestimated. He could feel Jigoku feeding on his annoyance, influencing it until it morphed into a burning rage.

'They dare underestimate us?' Jigoku mumbled, irritation evident in his tone. 'Let's blow that abomination to smithereens.'

Alard launched off toward the sex doll, his eyes beaming with rage. Kenneth let out a whistle and hopped out of the way just as Alard reached the unmoving sex doll. Alard closed his eyes briefly, tapping into what Akuma had named his Oracle Vision. The world had darkened slightly when Alard reopened his eyes and with renewed confidence, he eyed the sex doll's body and saw red dots which indicated openings all over its anatomy.

He flipped himself around, aiming a kick at the sex doll's neck which bore the biggest opening.

Or so he thought.

With his foot poised to strike, every single red dot suddenly vanished and the sex doll ducked under his leg and slammed a surprisingly pointy elbow into his stomach. Alard felt his breath escape him as he slumped to the floor.

The sex doll stepped back in its original position, not bothering to advance on his downed form. Not that Alard would've been able to stop it if it did.

Alard struggled to remember how to breathe, his mind racing through equations of where he had gone wrong. He hadn't underestimated the thing's speed yet it had found the perfect moment to strike. 'What the hell just happened?'

Jigoku made a snorting sound. 'You got baited by a lifeless object is what happened. That succubus stood still, making it appear to have a multitude of openings, but in reality, it was waiting for you to give it an opening yourself.'

'Do you mean that it has Oracle Vision as well?'

'Don't be foolish,' Jigoku responded, sounding more than a little offended. 'There was no trick involved, just taking advantage of your child-like eagerness. Quite embarrassing really'

Alard rolled his eyes at the sassy Parasyte as he stood. With him pouring his own feelings into his annoyance, it was hardly his fault that he hadn't thought clearly and deemed the number of openings suspicious. Alard eyed the sex doll which stood in the same spot, motionless. It seemed to be made of plastic but was clearly hardened by some invisible substance if the pain he felt had been any indicator.

Alard approached it slowly this time, not yet bothering to summon his Oracle Vision again. Through trial and error, he had learned that activating it four times consecutively was about his limit unless he felt like experiencing a brain-shattering headache with a side of nosebleeds.

The sex doll only reacted when his punch was inches away from it, suddenly shifting its body out of the way and whirling around for a well-aimed swipe at Alard's face. He had anticipated it though, even without his Oracle Vision, and managed to raise a hand in time before bounding back to a safe distance.

As he had suspected, the sex doll wasn't faster than him, but the illusion of extreme speed came from its inhumane reaction time and robotic precision on its perfectly timed strikes after it lured in its attacker. Satisfied with his observations, Alard again approached the sex doll confidently.

"For your sake, I hope this doesn't end up with you on your ass again," Kenneth commented, a big smile still stretched across his face at Alard's past failure.

"Shut up and watch," Alard responded sharply. "This is the true beginning..." Alard closed his eyes, activating his Oracle Vision in a smooth blinking motion, "of my path to vengeance."

He lunged at the sex doll, circling around its figure before aiming a punch at its back where the biggest red dot resided. Once again, as his hand reached just inches away from the pleasure tool it reacted but so did Alard, stopping his momentum just as the sex doll slammed down its arms where his hand would've been had he not stopped. He had realized that the sex doll was completely unresponsive until his attack entered its 'personal bubble' and its counterattacks happened only in that personal bubble, hence the sex doll not advancing when he had fallen.

Now, with the sex doll crouched awkwardly after missing its target, Alard moved as quickly as his body allowed, his foot turning into a blur as it slammed into a painted plastic face. The sex doll jolted backward but not as far as Alard was hoping. Alard barely managed to bob his head out of the way of the red that line appeared before the doll's attack followed.

He had drastically underestimated the durability of the doll and now he prepared himself to defend against the oncoming assault with renewed purpose. Though he had made it up to four consecutive uses of Oracle Vision before, he couldn't be sure that the duration he used it didn't play a factor which influenced his decision to stay on the attack instead of retreating outside of the doll's personal bubble again.

The doll's missed attack didn't bother it as red lines popped up that Alard repeatedly eased out of the way of. After his fourth evasion, he saw a slight opening beyond the red dots within the doll's wide stance. He stepped forward quickly, planting his foot on top of the doll's and crouching as the doll took a swipe at his head.

He could feel the doll try to retreat but his foot prevented the maneuver and instead of aiming a punch at the doll's exposed body he powered up a long uppercut, flinging up his body from its crouched position to throw all his weight behind the punch.

He managed to connect with its chin but other than a slight upward shift in the doll's posture, it seemed to tank his punch. The doll wrapped its arms around him, squeezing him with terrifying strength. Alard gritted his teeth, a small smirk playing across his lips despite the pain that trailed along his spine.

How do you stop something that can react faster than you can? You put it in a situation where reaction time won't matter.

Now, with the doll trying to squeeze Alard into unconsciousness it was too invested in hurting Alard to worry about dodging an attack. And who could blame it? In such a close vicinity, it would be hard to pull off an attack capable of hurting it.

Had Alard not planned for it.

Alard raised his foot, revealing a hit marker under it. The opening on its foot had festered long enough to morph into a hit marker as Alard had predicted and now he slammed his foot back down onto it with all the power he could muster and was rewarded with its ankle down literally exploding, causing the sex doll to fall forward and loosen its grip around him.

Alard stepped back, fully breaking out of its grip, and planted his feet, watching as another red dot morphed into a hit marker on the doll's face.

A sly smile spread across Alard's face as he swung at his target, his blood boiling in anticipation at a sure victory.

'Impressive.'