Tatsuo is perplexed at his doppelganger self. It wasn’t the first time he entered his own subconscious state, but his double was new to him.

Tatsuo: Hm? Who are you?

Tatsuo (???): I…Am Henteko.

Tatsuo’s face lightens up.

Tatsuo: Huh?! Henteko?!

Tatsuo: That’s strange…Why do you look like me? You’ve always appeared as a snake…Was this something you could do all along?

Henteko: Still calling me that I see…(side remark): Well, at least it’s better than what you used to call me…

Henteko: I’m not too sure myself either, but all this happened as soon as you got hit by that black energy. Maybe this is the reaction of our body absorbing that energy.

Tatsuo looks around, searching for a way to exit the place as he casually comments back to Henteko.

Tatsuo: You may be right…Sorry, but I ain’t got time to chat with you right now.

Henteko: It appears you are unable to leave this space since your body is still in the process of absorbing the energy.

Henteko: This isn’t anything like the usual energies we are used to absorbing. This one here is quite…Unnatural. But out of reflex, your body absorbed some of it.

Henteko: Since the energy is foreign, our body is having difficulty breaking it down. As a result your body shut down.

Again, Tatsuo casually responds - “Oh…is that so…”

Henteko: Yes. What I’m saying is you can’t leave here until our body purifies this energy.

Henteko takes a couple steps forward towards Tatsuo – “Since you’re stuck here, why don’t we chat?”

Henteko: It’s been a long time since we’ve last met like this, when our minds aren’t linked together…

***

*Back at the battlefield.

Sharon, Windie, San, and Darren continue their assault on Heymlir. Heymlir forms a wall in front of him to block a combined attack of Windie’s air blade and Sharon’s arrow. The wall then deforms itself to shape into thin tendrils to which Heymlir sends to attack San and Darren. San swiftly deflects the tendrils as sparks flashes off from the impact between his sword and the black substance pushing off against each other.

The tendrils combine together to form a mallet and it swings itself towards San, knocking him off his footing. His quick reflex was fast enough to place his sword between his body to absorb the impact. San quickly recovers, but the black mallet has already swung itself again. Darren rushes to save San but the mallet disperses into smaller prongs and changes its trajectory for Darren instead. It was already too late for Darren with his momentum.

Darren (thinking): Damn…! I can’t stop myself!

A hand grabs Darren by his collar and yanks him out of the way. Darren and San are surprised to see Jayce back on his feet.

Darren (stammers): ...! You…!

San: You got up pretty fast.

Jayce assumes a fighting stance, “Sorry about that…Can’t believe I actually blacked out there…!” – His whole body was aching but he simply bears with it.

Heymlir: You came back to your senses rather quick. But your body should be at its wits end from all the abuse you’ve took.

Heymlir: It doesn’t matter how many more of you come at me.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A wave of the black substance towers over Jayce and San, and attempts to smother the two. The two dashes out of the way evading it.

Heymlir: None of your attacks can reach me.

The black substance stretches itself atop the group creating a thin, plate shape which then begins to rain down thin black tendrils. The tendrils pierces through the ground as Jayce, San and Darren twist and churn their bodies carefully, as one mistake meant a hole through them.

Windie sends a blade of air at Heymlir but it gets dispelled by a black whip.

Heymlir: There’s nothing you all can do to me anymore…

“This…Is the peak of human potential…”

A sudden ominous chill runs throughout Heymlir’s spine causing him to shudder and begins sweating. Out of instinct, he quickly turns to the direction of the unconscious Tatsuo laying against the wall.

‘....Was it just my imagination…?’ - Heymlir says in his mind as he carefully watches Tatsuo.

The sudden sensation leaves Heymlir open for a couple moments, making him unaware of his surroundings. Unbeknownst to him, Jayce was close enough for striking distance. Those small couple moments allowed Jayce to get a hit on Heymlir, his fist cleanly implanting against Heymlir’s cheeks. Jayce goes in for another strike and Heymlir defends himself with the dark energy, but ends up getting hit yet again, befuddling him. He notices his power didn’t reach in time to defend against Jayce’s punch. San recognizes this and tells everyone to keep assaulting Heymlir.

San: Keep attacking him! He’s finally reaching his limits…! Wear him down! His powers will dwindle the more we draw out this battle!

“This…is now a battle of attrition!!”

Heymlir (thinking): ..! I must finish this fight fast…!

Heymlir begins to focus on picking them off one-by-one and goes for Darren. Black prongs converge on Darren, but he is kicked out of the way by Archer who has returned consciousness.

Archer: I returned the favor, your welcome.

Darren: I didn’t need your help a**hole, you just wanted to kick me!

Archer: I didn’t know, it’s your fault for being so slow.

Darren sits himself up - “Whatever, they don’t need two speedsters. Hurry up and tap in already, I’m done dealing with this.”

Archer: I only see one speedster here. Watch how I do it junior.

In a burst of speed, Archer zips towards Heymlir getting his own hit on him whose power is now too slow to react to Archer’s blitzing speed. Archer seemingly vanishes and reappears at Heymlir’s blindside. Heymlir’s mind is fast enough to react, but his armor could no longer keep up as Archer’s kiddy legs connect into Heymlir’s face.

***

*Meanwhile, back at the lab.

Victor plans to head out to help his friends.

Dr. Crogsbell: Are you really going to head out there…?

Victor (putting his clothes on): Yeah.

Dr. Crogsbell: I don’t have a clue about what’s happening out there right now, but it must be dangerous.

Dr. Crogsbell: You just woke up from your injuries, but yet here you go running headfirst into danger once again! I admire the courage!

Dr. Crogsbell: You are truly fearless!

Victor pauses at Dr. Crogsbell’s words to give it some thought.

“Fearless huh…? That’s not true at all doctor…”

Dr. Crogsbell looks at Victor puzzled.

Victor: I may not look like it to you...But truth is, I'm terrified. If what you told me is actually happening, then I don’t want to go up against that thing, or be anywhere near it. I’m actually quaking in my shoes right now...!

Victor: You know my friends, they’re all really amazing and talented people. Compared to them, I’m just a regular guy…

Victor: That’s right….What will I do once I get there…? What can I do…? But even then, there’s still gotta be some way I can help.

Victor: Even worse than this fear that I have, I can’t just sit back on the sideline and let my pals face the danger on their own! Because despite how great my friends are...In the end…

Victor’s mind flashbacks to the group being together in Pillsberry. Sharon gratefully hugging Victor for not immediately leaving them after they have gone broke while pitifully sobbing in his face. Followed by the moment he and Tatsuo were coming up with ideas for their guild. The two of them bouncing off of each other and laughing at each other's suggestions. Next, he thinks of the time he suggested they do a quest to earn money which spiraled them into the whole $1,000,000,000 slime chase. That’s right. No matter how outstanding the individuals he was surrounded by, in some way, they still…

“They still need me!”

“…I see” - Dr. Crogsbell says moved.

Dr. Crogsbell points up towards the ceiling - “You might be able to make it outside by escaping through the vents here. Mearl can assist you.”

Victor’s face lights up: Thank you Doc!

Just as Victor is prepared to leave, he notices something at the corner of his eyes that caught his attention.

Victor: Hey doc.

Dr. Crogsbell: Hm?

Victor points at an item on a nearby table.

Victor: Is it okay for me if I took this with me?