When I awaken, the heroes are gone.

“Did they all survive?” I ask, rising up.

“Who are you talking about?” asks Old Dude.

“The heroes.”

“Oh, that was over a week ago. You shouldn’t concern yourself with them. You did your job.” Old Dude hands me the bundle of Bananas. “You’re the delivery man. What happens after the package arrives is not your concern.”

I feel the fruit’s vital energy.

When my awareness comes back into focus, I am handing the otherworldly fruit to the Produce Pirate, I felt a warmth come over me.

He let his tears flow freely as he held the fruit.

“What color is it?” I ask.

“Yellow. A beautiful lively yellow.” He removes the skin with religious conviction. “Tonight we live as kings, and tomorrow I will bring this royal food to the people.” The man splits the fruit and removes the seeds. With glowing warmth, he hands me my portion.

“There aren’t any screams when I’m around you.” I open my face and let my energy slowly devour the special fruit.

“It’s not me. It’s all the Mellowns. They calm the nerves. Legend says that those fruit stopped a civil war with their calming aura.” The Produce Pirate places his hand on my shoulder. “You’re not defined by a single action and you should never judge others by one misdeed. Do that and the whole world will be your enemy.” He looks out at the sky above.

He’s right. All those lives I ended, all that blood spilt, and all the blood that will be spilt in the future by me…it’s not my full legacy. I’m not only an assassin. I’m an explorer and hunter of exotic fruits. I bring new life to the community. I’m…not just a death machine.

My body leaks tears of blood that spreads to the ground.

“If you ever need a good release, you can always stop by this palace of produce.”

The merchant’s joy hits me like a wave. My body doesn’t shrivel up or feel weighed down by the positive energy. It accepts it.

I’m worthy of happiness.

My tendrils wrap around me and give me a warm embrace.

“Now you’ve got it. The key to control is surrender.” He hands me a Coconaught. “Your next mission is a dangerous one. Be sure to return. I want you to meet my daughter sometime.”

“You’re a father?”

I search in my mind for a memory of my father, but I only find darkness.

“She turned six just a while ago. There is nothing in the world more precious to me. This isn’t a safe world to raise a little girl so keep it a secret for me.”

I bow to him. “She must be happy to have such a wise father.”

“Ha! I wish. She’s always complaining. Poor girl resents me for keeping her from playing with the other kids.”

“Where is the harm in that?”

“There are spies among the villagers. I can’t trust anyone.”

“But…you trusted me.”

“Anyone who brings new products to my store is worth the risk.”

I clasp his hand with my tendril and then leave.

The inside of the Coconaught didn’t have a picture of someone. Instead it had a location. There was a forest of brambles called Cherry Thicket to the south of the village. It was there I met my informant, a man clad in white armor.

“Greetings, ally. I am White Knight. Wait…or are you the enemy who has come to strike me down?” The hero assumes a defensive stance.

So familiar. Have I met this one before?

I hold up the map parchment that gave me my mission.

White Knight looks over me carefully. “Are you male or female? Hard to tell with your kind.”

A muscular woman comes out from the brambles, her chest bleeding from a fresh wound. “Matter’s not.”

The knight points at me dramatically. “I refuse to work alongside a worthless man. State your gender! If you don’t identify as female, then you’re no ally of mine!”

I loom over him. “Swirling inside this polymorphous body of madness are the souls of both boys and girls, men and women.”

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The frightened hero takes a step back. “Let’s focus on the mission. There are reports of a murder spree in Poor Village. I, White Knight, the number one hero in all of Punk, have been tasked with bringing the killer to justice! This strong female leader, the Static Huntress, is my bodyguard and you’re the one who is going to kill the killer. If that’s too complicated for you, just ask one of the lovely ladies trapped in your mind to explain it to you.”

The elven warrior woman looks my way. “Back up only. Can handle cowardly killer by self.”

“You need healing. Cinnamon Roll, lick this hot momma.”

The little angel from before hops out from behind a rock and runs at the elven warrior.

“Disrespectful to WarWolf that caused harm. No heal!” Huntress holds the girl back from licking her with one hand.

There are WarWolf’s here! How exciting.

Cinnamon Roll notices me and waves. “Hello again.”

I wave back, letting her energy calm my mind.

White Knight bows his head before the huntress. “Please, I beg of you to heal yourself. To see such a beautiful and powerful woman injured…it hurts me.”

“Fine, big baby. Little baby can heal wound.” The Static Huntress rubs her hand on Cinnamon Rolls tongue and then applies the saliva to her gaping wound.

When we arrive at the village, we hear screams coming from several locations.

The huntress sharpens her arrow on her teeth. “More than one killer. Good. Hoping for challenge.”

White Knight puts his hand up. “Stop right there, my muscular maiden.”

Huntress glares at him. “No more flirting. Will only ever love one woman. For all time.” She sobs into her arm.

White Knight punches himself in the face. “I will use all my strength to resist showering you with the affection you so deserve, so please, dry your eyes.”

“Strong woman can cry!” she yells at him, baring her fangs.

“Yes of course, but watery eyes muddle vision. I’m going to draw out the enemy so you’ll need to take the shot.”

White Knight runs past all the huts and then back to us. “Phew. Well, I’m stumped. They’re all screaming but none of them are under attack. If they were in peril, then my heroic spirit would have willed me to their side.”

I zoom into one of the homes, slicing open the wooden walls. A man with flesh torn and limbs mutilated is strung up over his bed.

“What happened?” I ask, cutting him down.

He screams upon seeing me.

The huntress knocks him out and Cinnamon Roll starts healing him.

White Knight lifts her up. “He’ll live. You shouldn’t waste your powers on a male when there could be females in danger.”

“Does before bros.” Cinnamon Roll gives White Knight a salute.

“I’ve taught you well!”

We rush into the next house to find a whole family as a bloodied mess.

They scream upon seeing me.

White Knight sends suspicious energy my way. “Were you the one who harmed this lovely woman.”

“Must have been another RiftRipper.”

Did one of us lose control and become a true killing machine?

“Tongues cut. Only can scream. Annoying.” The huntress knocks them out one by one.

“Wait!” I examine the bodies, reading their faint vital energy. “All alive. It couldn’t have been a RiftRipper.”

Cinnamon Roll drools into the woman’s mouth to heal her tongue. “Who attacked the hot dame?”

“That monster right there! They can’t be trusted!”

“Keep screaming and I hit you again.” The huntress glares at her. “Explain story.”

“It worked with us, a RiftRipper. But last night it came in here and tortured us. It didn’t ask for anything. Just kept muttering to itself. Please, you have to protect us.”

We stayed with the villagers for the next week, there was no sign of the RiftRipper and the villagers were fully healed, so I returned home. The idea of one of my kind being so cruel terrified me and the focus it showed to be able to cut so precisely without killing made me jealous. It didn’t want to kill them…it just wanted to cause pain. Every night when I carved “WarWolf” into my body I was plagued by the thoughts of losing who I was.

The fear of the rogue RiftRipper took hold of me. I became sloppy and unfocused in my work. Later that year when I was tasked to return to Earth to kill a specific hero, I ended up slaughtering a whole city of people. Worst yet, the hero got away. The ghosts of the dead clawed away my awareness and sanity. After my failure, Old Dude lost faith in my abilities and I was assigned basic assassinations ever since. Four years went by without any meaning. Even the Produce Pirate’s words of encouragement were swallowed up the doubt that grew inside me like a tumor.

My lucky break came when White Knight took me on a secret quest. Despite being ordered to wait for the CatBoys to attack the village, we ambushed them. He spoke out on my behalf to the people of my village and for the first time in years they spoke to me again. That heroic influence is beyond anything I could ever achieve.

Old Dude met with me during the festival, taking a seat at the Produce Pirate’s fruit stand. He gulps down a keg of Grope wine and looks at me. “Some villages celebrate the new year. Some have a party in honor of an ancient tradition. My village, my people, aren’t so fickle. We only celebrate when a battle is won. But when we have a festival, it goes on for weeks.”

“I can’t promise you I won’t fail again.” I bow to him, my head swirling with shame.

“Failure builds character.” He looks out at the paper lanterns and kids running around with sparklers. “It’s these joyful times that pose a threat to you. They can dull your blade.”

I feel the energy of the village. “Great Elder, I think this celebration will strengthen my resolve to protect these people.”

Old Dude whacks me with a stick. “Leave the idealism to the heroes. You’re a killer not a protector.”

“Why does the ruler of the lands kill his own people?”

“Out of some twisted sense of responsibility, I think. Best not to delve too deep into a madman’s mind. As for why the recent attack, well it appears that he knows about the fruit of the village.”

“Because of the Bananas? Then it’s my fault.”

“It’s the Produce Pirate’s daughter. She’s a special one, more special than even you. The Source gifted her to our village and the Love Dictator wants that gift for himself.”

“I will protect her for an eternity, even if she is a brat.” I chuckle.

“You’ll need to get stronger. It’s time for you to awaken your special power. Your Cross Over Catalyst will be necessary to fight the armies that will attack us.”

“How do I activate it.”

“Well for heroes, it’s the Angel’s Kiss that serves as a catalyst. For RiftRippers, it’s a bit messy. You have to devour the heart of three heroes and an angel. Heheh! You already have one hero due to that hostage mess those years ago.”

I look at Cinnamon Roll who is biting the long Grope line one by one. I feel the pure energy from her and then see her covered in blood.

I thought my suffering was over. Killing an angel…I don’t think I can bare it.

“Heheh, don’t be so glum. I wouldn’t allow you to harm a hair on her head. You’ll be killing an angel you’ve never met. You’ll have to make the journey to Sunny Village alone. They have two angels apparently so I doubt they’ll miss one all that much.”

Will this power even be enough to stop ISEKAI? If not, then can I live with the consequences? Do I even want to stop ISEKAI anymore if it costs the lives of these people?