It happened unexpectedly fast.
I didn't have time to process my exit once I was done escorting Cruz outside my mind space.
"...-m?"
The darkness was now replaced with the horrid scenery of the Dried Up Trenches.
"...-am?"
However, it was weird that my parasite really didn't attempt anything.
"... are you alright?" A pair of hands held my mask.
Maybe just a small blessing in all of this mess, but I don't want to leave it at that.
"I am." Snapping back to reality, I answered to stop Io from worrying.
The successor and I were on the ground a few feet apart.
"Wut???" The unidentified successor appeared even more confused than when we shook hands before.
"Oh!" He sat up and glanced around.
He looked like a regular person, with black hair and plain dark eyes… though his gaze said that he didn't seem to be all there.
Despite everyone holding their weapons ready for battle, he didn't mind it.
"I might need a table for this many…" He pondered out loud.
"He is out of it." Yakumo briefly concluded.
His assessment and tone told me that he wasn't about to cut him down at the moment.
I can't be too sure.
I didn't want them to jump him, so I had to vouch for him, "but I don't think we should consider him an enemy."
"You said something?" The Successor stopped pondering and looked at Io.
"I did not." She shook her head.
"Oh-huh??? What are you lady- CORTANA!?" He started to blabber on his own.
"Your name is it's Cru- OH- I know a bit of Spanish! It means cross, doesn't it- J Man! It's you!... No, it's J Mam'!
This is a divine revelation!"
He threw his hands in the air and got on his knees before starting to pray-
"Amithabha Ami-"
That's the wrong prayer…
Dude was a hard case to defend.
And, from the way he just acted, it seems like he couldn't hear Cruz and me in that odd space of consciousness. It was strange how he wasn't there in the void with Cruz and the Queen's relic, but maybe it only happens when using vestiges to repair the ego of a successor.
That, or it's just that this successor has yet to fuse with the relic as he is still more Revenant than a Lost.
The Successor had the rest baffled as well.
"So… no more surprises?" Oliver asked as he stood between the confused successor and me.
Ah…
"Oliver," I called.
"Uh- Yeah??" He didn't take his eyes off the lunatic.
"Don't you remember what Jinxing is?"
"What-" He froze…
No.
Everything froze in an instant.
I felt as if my surroundings had come to a standstill.
All my hairs stood up, and an unnerving sensation spread around my body.
As if at the bottom of the ocean, overwhelming pressure weighed over me.
I felt as if I were naked in a winter storm.
Cold needles pierced every layer of my being, trying to satisfy their curiosity.
"What are you?"
My skin was peeled, "Is this what you really look like?"
Muscles were torn. "Are you the same?"
Bones became clear as glass, "Who is the one in control?"
My chest was carved open. "Is that really your heart?"
I was frozen on the spot.
I couldn't speak.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't blink.
This…
It wasn't just danger.
I knew what danger felt, what terror did to you…
But I felt exposed.
My entire being was dissected, piece by piece. Unable to fight back.
… I-
I-
Fu-
Calm dow-
{ŵ௹Ϙ-} The thing in my chest didn't scream or bear its fangs, unlike the times before.
It acknowledged this new presence, and it responded in kind…
Power.
No-
Something slightly different was born from my chest.
I know what power feels like.
To move so fast that the air in your way becomes almost solid.
The strength to power through reinforced steel
To possess the perception and clarity to see normal bullets with no issue.
This was not some flimsy strength boost!
What is a winter storm to a mountain but a cold breeze?
Can mere needles scratch the skin of a diamond?
What I felt was Authority.
To sense and grasp whatever I wished for.
And this state allowed me to comprehend what made me feel so exposed.
"Damn…" I sighed as I realized I could move once again.
The feeling in my chest had disappeared before I could suppress it.
'Thankful for that… but you might've messed it up for both of us.'
{..௹ɱɱ}
…I was ready for it, but I was still taken aback. Being stared down by the eye of the Queen was much more intense than I thought.
Fuck! That was unpleasant.
All I could hope was that my parasite intervening in that second didn't set any alarms-
-Hah!
Who the hell am I kidding!?
That had definitely set some alarms.
But I would like to think that the "gotta kill this guy NOW" bell wasn't set off.
I mean, that jackass is not rushing at me… though he will, judging his manner of approaching.
"Ffffuck sake…" I groaned and attempted to calm myself.
I balled my hands into fists a few times to stop them from shaking. I knew a fight was coming.
As Io helped me get up, I got weird stares as if nothing had happened.
The man whom I wanted to punch in the face was simply walking towards us… No, towards me. He paid no mind to the people surrounding me; somehow, that nightmare I felt was something only I experienced.
He likely slipped unnoticed through the opening from the top of the dome, where sunlight shines through.
Yakumo's reaction made that pretty clear. His curious gaze towards me didn't last long.
I saw him from the corner of my eye; his entire body emanated a red aura, only for it to condense and return to his body before turning around with his weapon in hand. Standing near him, I could feel a certain pressure that wasn't even directed at me.
"SHI- GET READY!" For the first time, the experienced ex-mercenary was surprised, startled even.
He was the one with the best instincts, as the others only reacted after him.
"Hu- holy fucking shit!!" Yami fumbled with his weapon as soon as the man was known to everyone.
Jack was just strolling ominously as he brandished a slender, curved black blade almost as tall as himself. The man appeared to be strikingly similar to the one seen in the game, as he wore the same striped black and white dress shirt under a big black leather jacket, matched with leather pants as well.
Guess that the end of the world isn't the end of the drip.
If I were to point out a difference, the build under all that clothing wasn't slim. Aside from being bulkier, all else is the same.
Hell, he even had that white hair gelled back with a fringe covering his right eye. Maybe a stupid decision for survival to cover one's eyesight, but that ominous purple left eye of his told me he didn't need it somehow.
Though that eye wasn't even 'his'.
He didn't wear a mask; I don't know why he would subject himself to the smell of dead coral. However, I could see a surgical scar made a clear division across his face, as his upper left half didn't have his normal pale complexion. It had a distinguished, dark purple tone, like the discoloration of a corpse…
You know, in the game, there aren't any ugly characters, except for the player, if you try… But that is a face that only Eva could love.
Having a man who can probably be somebody's paralysis demon approaching me as if I owe them money, I would normally be cautious.
The sharp pain in my chest said that the original protagonist had some things to say. I have already examined my new body and haven't found any scars. Yet seeing Jack made me feel a hurting that wasn't there to begin with.
Probably the spot where he shot me before I fully frenzied with the blood of the Queen.
'The shot that failed to kill you.'
{...}
And, despite all that…
It was hard to ignore a certain familiarity again—one that didn't come from my memories but from someone's experience.
I had some ideas on how to deal with Jack.
Honestly, acting like I know absolutely nothing is logical, but I really didn't want to do that now.
There was a thing that triumphed over that idea.
A feeling.
And that feeling might involve me seething over the sh!t he just pulled!
In fewer words-
I wanna SMACK the shit outta him!
Damn, what to do…
Oh well, the dude doesn't seem like he wants to just talk to me. It's not like I can avoid a confrontation.
Might as well.
"Sup' best buddy?" I waved with unexpected ease.
My chest was in some pain, but it felt warm.
"Do you remember?" Jack asked with little to no reaction.
YES!
That lack of reaction was better than getting a bad one.
His power walk is unwavering.
"Erm… about that. I think I know, but I don't remember." I poked my temple with my finger.
"I see." He continued walking.
I could tell he was quite the talker!
However, I have a plan!
Sort of!!
Maybe?!
Perhaps?!!
Mayhaps??!!
Perchance?!!!
"But I do know who you are!" Decisively, I pointed at the man as if accusing him.
"Oh really?" He sounded like a tired dad rather than an emotionless machine.
Can't he be a bit happier for our little reunion?
He is meeting a friend he thought was dead…
…At his hands.
Still!
"You do???" Yakumo whispered without taking his eyes off the target.
With an iron-clad face that showed nothing but certainty, I struck, "You are the one who makes me feel this pain in my chest~"
"..."
"..."
"..."
They say that silence can be deafening.
Now I know what they meant.
As if the looks from my teammates didn't convey how much they wanted to beat me to a pulp because this was NOT the situation to be joking about, Jack was very much willing to express it.
"Hah…" Jack sighed, came to a halt, and took a stance before readying his weapon, "...still the same pain in the ass."
Aha! Good thing I trusted my gut this time!
I doubt he will just straight up kill me.
Time to double down!
I suppressed a chuckle, "-a pain in the what???"
"..." Jack gave me a long and hard stare before narrowing his eyes in my direction. The people around me, ready for his assault, were treated as air.
Oh.
I knew it.
The past 'me' and him were close.
I could sense it deep in my soul!
I could feel it-
"-He is coming!" Yakumo shouted as Jack kicked the ground and ran towards us.
"Shit!Shitshtisshtijshfs-" Yami has been an odd mess the moment he saw Jack.
What the hell was he so-
HOLY FUCK!
"Jump back!!!" Yami shouted as he dragged Oliver back, while I did the same with Io.
*Boom!*
The place where we just stood became flying rubble, the reason?
Crimson spikes coming from the ground!
"My throne!" Everyone ignored the distraught successor.
I could feel the thorns' vibrations; they were rotating like drills. They came from deep under the coral way too fast.
Wasn't Jack's Blood Code about blood manipulation!?
The fu*k is this?!
"From where!?" Yakumo asked as the rubble and smoke covered our surroundings.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
"I don't know!" I could sense things coming from everywhere.
We retreated and were intercepted immediately.
In a slight hiccup, where we stopped for a second, they suddenly came to us.
"From abov- fuck! From all sides!!" Yami could feel the silhouettes approaching us amid all this chaos.
They all felt the same.
They were humanoid.
Jack could be any of them.
"We are leaving!" Louis' sword has long been ignited. The flames he invoked around his sword left as he swung his blade towards the red figures.
The moment they burned to nothingness, we escaped through the new opening.
We couldn't let them surround us again.
Especially with the spikes-
Huh?
They were gone…?
Louis was at the front, burning away the puppets with Oliver and Yakumo covering our flanks, while Yami, Io, and I fought off the rear. It looked possible.
Like we really could escape…
As if! The moment I felt overwhelmed by being stared down, I was quite sure that I couldn't run.
It was more than a feeling; it was instinct. An intuition that felt foreign but has been too helpful to ignore now.
I couldn't run away from a man known as the Hunter.
Those steps with perfect balance and a firm stance to cut anything in front of him before attacking us. The pressure I felt from simply being within his sight.
It was obvious.
No need to drag this out with an attempt at an escape destined to fail.
"Guys, you don't need to fight." I left the formation.
"What are you doing?" Yami shouted as I ran to our flank.
"He is after me!" I yelled back. And, as expected, the puppets didn't bother me and fended off my team.
Heh, he wants to meet me that badly?
"Io, can you let me handle this?" I turned to the girl following me.
"..."
… She still followed me.
"It'll be ok."
"..."
"I promise…?"
"Ok." She deviated from the path but followed me from afar.
It took more words than usual to convince her-
Did she ever need convincing before?
"Adam!" Yakumo called, but I was already running through the pathway leading to the outside.
I appreciated the concern, but "For the love of- you don't have to fight! Just stay back!"
I only looked back to see how Jack would follow. If fighting was inevitable, then I'd better get every bit of info I can from him.
"That one!" Yami shoots towards a red puppet jumping in my direction, only for it to evade it mid-air.
It proved to have an absurd movement range, as it twisted even further to avoid a fire slash from Louis, much like a cat.
But-
"Gotcha!" Given that Yakumo was a reinforcement type, he had no trouble jumping high enough to catch it.
However, his fingers couldn't grasp the leg of the puppet.
As an outsider to all that mess, I finally got a good look at it.
Blood.
It definitely was blood. All the things I've seen were blood.
Jack's Blood Code had remained the same.
I had doubted for a second because of the spikes, but they were all highly condensed liquid.
The blood twisted and slipped out of Yakumo's fingers. The man who could crush reinforced metal with his pinky had lost his grip.
Jack was free.
"No, you don't!" Yakumo made a weird twist midair and kicked hard enough for the smoke around him to be cleared by the sheer wind pressure.
WHAT-
A double jump?!
Yakumo attempted another catch.
"Good moves." Unlike before, Jack's words were not exclusively directed at me as he inexplicably just moved out of the way… as if gravity had dragged him upwards.
The Hunter was now outside of Yakumo's range.
"Oliver!" The falling Yakumo called for the man.
"Got it!" Oliver ran to catch Yakumo…
Or it looked like it, Yakumo bent his legs and readied himself as if to jump.
Oliver wound up his hammer and struck the air-born revenant before he landed.
*Thunk*
Jack didn't even look back as another spike surged from the dead coral and blocked Yakumo's path, only for it to be sliced in half.
The man's strength wasn't small, and the speed he had gained thanks to Oliver's hammer, he had become a living cannonball.
But there was so much he could do to someone who could freely move in the air.
"Tch!" So he took out his magnum and aimed at Jack. It seemed an insignificant attempt, but it appeared to be his trump card…
However, he didn't pull the trigger.
"I hope you know what you are doing." He said with a fierce stare as we made eye contact.
I was already waiting outside the nest and began stretching. Not that I needed it, I was just a tiny bit nervous.
Ah-
How long has it been since I've been this nervous before a fight?
It brings back some memories.
I shared Yakumo's sentiment.
I know the impression I struck on Jack was ideal, but I can't act like someone else the entire time.
Besides, I don't even know what the original protagonist acted like. Though I detested it, I had no choice but to set aside any differences between us, to the loss of memories and hope for the best.
From what the other Revenants told me about the past version of me, I'm just a "chill" guy… There is only so much that I can do with that description.
Yakumo stopped his pursuit and safely landed, as no more red puppets and red thorns were to be found.
Not because of the fire that had already been extinguished, but because they all had been recalled.
The red figure that was flying towards me began to slow down.
"..." Jack's gaze was hidden behind a mask of blood, but I could somehow feel an odd stare from him.
"I really want to punch you." I rolled back my arm and answered a question I felt he was asking with his hidden stare.
Man, I still feel uncomfortable.
Jack's blood, which had been a mess around his body, now became much tighter and enveloped his figure firmly. His jacket, which I assume to be his Blood Veil, slid off his body and fell on the floor with a thudding sound.
Shortly after, he began to descend as the blood made his musculature stand out, it gained defined muscle groups and…
'Ain't No Fuc*ing way…'
{...!}
A pool of blood grew on the dead coral just before he landed, creating an exaggerated splash that quickly twisted and attached to his body, adding another layer.
It was as if the blood muscles from before gained a layer of skin…
And at that moment-
*Ẃøøm!*
I heard something through Ichos. The myriad of vibrations that burst from him startled me.
Like a powerful motor turning on at the flick of a switch.
It had not been a second ago that he landed, and I felt the coral under my feet quake as he kicked the ground, running towards me.
His place of landing was torn to rubble, and his every step destroyed the ground he ran on.
This dude…Just…
He looked like a roided Carnage Symbiote!
What the actual- what kind of control do you need to do that?!
His running started to accelerate in speed and power as the blood around his body took on a more defined shape.
I could see them.
No, I could sense their vibrations as he got closer.
Exo Muscles out of blood.
It wasn't a simple condensation of blood to make armor. Each external muscle had a circulation system that operated at an exceptionally high speed, granting him a boost in explosive power.
Ah!
Ahh!
AHAHAHAHA
… ah… I think I'm fucked.
Me and my big fucking mouth!
But I will be damn if I let him gain more speed!
"You missed me this much?!" I nervously laughed as I gained instantaneous power with Berserk and built more momentum with Atlas' code.
____________________________________________________________________________
Word Count: 3, 285
What the Frick?
Adam being a sussy individual, perhaps labeled as a "baka," even? Homeboy Jack has him confused.
Io better watch out.
By the way, did you think I was dead?