The clone's grin widened, his yellowed teeth catching the harsh beams of sunlight pouring through the jagged hole in the tunnel ceiling.
"Well now…" he chuckled, sounding almost impressed. "You actually dodged that?"
He tilted his head, amused.
"Ain't that somethin'. Maybe you got a few more tricks under that rookie coat after all."
He gave the machete a loose spin in his hand before settling into a guarded stance, the heavy blade held across his torso.
Takumi didn't move.
He kept his distance, eyes shifting between the monster in front of him and the train looming behind.
His chest rose and fell heavily. Sweat rolled down the side of his face.
"Almost there… just a little longer." His body was starting to feel it now. "No point lying to myself… keeping this Binder active is draining the hell out of me."
The weight of exhaustion was setting in fast. Every second enhanced by the Binder felt like it was tearing energy straight out of him.
And he knew it. He was hitting his limit.
"I can't beat him like this."
His grip tightened around the cleaver.
"Timotheo's gotta come through. Right now, I'm just buying time."
Takumi shot a glance over his shoulder toward Timotheo and the engineer, irritation creeping into his voice.
"Come on!" he shouted. "Start the damn thing already!"
"I'm trying!" the engineer yelled back, hands flying across the controls as he yanked levers and slammed switches. "The whole system's jammed! It won't catch!"
"Ready for round two?!" the clone roared, his laughter echoing through the tunnel as he charged forward.
Without warning, he whipped his arm out and hurled the machete. The blade spun through the air like a silver disc, whistling straight toward Takumi's face.
Instinct took over.
Takumi dropped into a desperate crouch, letting the weapon fly overhead—but the moment he moved, he realized it had been a trap.
With his stance lowered and his feet planted awkwardly, he had left himself wide open.
The clone was already there.
He lunged in like a charging bull, shoulders lowered and body driving forward with crushing force.
Takumi barely managed to react, hauling his cleaver upward and using the flat of the blade to block the incoming tackle.
The collision hit like a truck.
Shock tore through his arms and chest. His exhausted body couldn't absorb that kind of momentum.
His feet left the ground.
The cleaver was ripped from his hands.
Takumi was sent flying backward, slamming onto the tracks before rolling hard across the jagged steel and gravel.
"I'm actually enjoyin' this!" the clone cackled.
Instead of finishing him, he slowed to a taunting walk.
He was playing with him now—dragging the fight out just to show the brutal difference between a seasoned killer and a student far out of his depth.
The clone closed the distance with a slow, deliberate gait, the machete somehow already back in his grip as if it were an extension of his own hand.
"Keep those legs moving, champ," he said, his voice dropping into a low, mocking drawl. "But let's be real—you aren't getting anywhere. You and I? We're built from completely different stock."
He let out a sharp, guttural grunt of amusement, his smile broadening until it looked painfully wide, his eyes fixed on Takumi with the cold detached interest of a man watching an insect struggle in a web.
"Damn it..." Timotheo muttered, the frustration finally snapping his hesitation.
He didn't wait for permission or a plan; he simply stepped off the train and onto the jagged gravel, his gaze locking onto Damon with a sudden, sharp intensity. "Screw the rules!" he yelled, the words sounding more like a desperate vow than a challenge.
In an instant, his posture shifted, his legs churning as he broke into a heavy, determined sprint. He threw his weight forward, his right arm winding back until it was stretched far behind his torso, gathering every bit of momentum he had for whatever strike he was about to unleash.
Timotheo slammed his palms together, his fingers interlocking for a brief, intense second before he swept his arm wide, tearing a shimmering digital cube into existence. With a sharp, practiced gesture, he guided the construct through the air, letting it hover menacingly behind him like a loyal sentinel.
"Watch out, Takumi!" he roared. He whipped his arm forward, and the cube mirrored the motion, curving in a high, elegant arc around his body before it locked onto its target and launched with the velocity of a cannonball.
The massive cube whistled through the air just as Damon's clone was winding up for a finishing blow. It slammed into the clone's spine with a sickening thud, the sheer force of the impact shunting him forward and leaving him momentarily dazed.
"Move! Now!" Timotheo commanded. Takumi didn't hesitate; he threw himself into a desperate roll across the gravel just as Timotheo summoned a jagged digital column directly beneath the clone's feet. The pillar erupted from the tracks, launching the muscular brute into the air and stripping him of his footing.
Despite being caught in the digital crossfire, the clone's instincts remained sharp. Snarling with irritation, he twisted his body mid-air to look back at his new challenger. "So the other mouse finally decided to come out of the hole!"
As if answering his call, the machete he'd tossed earlier ripped itself free from the tunnel wall and whistled back toward him. He caught the hilt with a loud *smack*, using the momentum of the returning weapon to reorient his body while still suspended in the air.
With a savage flick of his wrist, he sent the blade spinning back toward Timotheo. Caught off guard by the lightning-fast retaliation, Timotheo let out a sharp gasp, his legs moving in a frantic, uncoordinated scramble as he threw himself to the side.
The machete hissed past his ear, missing him by a fraction of an inch before burying itself deep into the earth with a violent *thud*.
The engine groaned, sputtered, and then finally roared to life with a triumphant mechanical thrum. "It's running! She's running!" the engineer shouted, his face splitting into a wide, frantic grin.
A wave of pure, heavy relief washed over Takumi and Timotheo as the massive locomotive began to lurch forward. It picked up speed quickly, the path ahead now wide open thanks to the debris Takumi had shattered earlier.
Both boys scrambled back, pressing themselves against the tunnel walls to make room for the iron beast as it thundered past. Even the clone was forced to break his stance, leaping backward with a snarl just moments before the train's leading edge could pulverize him.
"Nice," Takumi breathed, watching the red tail-lights of the train vanish into the darkness. A genuine smile touched his face for the first time as he moved to retrieve his heavy cleaver from the tracks. He wiped a smudge of grease from the blade before falling back into step with Timotheo.
"That Binder of yours... it's pretty interesting," Takumi noted, glancing at the lingering digital glow of the boy's constructs.
Timotheo gave a stiff, modest nod, though his hands were still shaking from the adrenaline. "It's nothing special, really. I still have no idea what I'm doing half the time." He paused, looking Takumi up and down, his expression shifting from exhaustion to disbelief. "But just so we're clear—you are an absolute psychopath!"
"You kids are startin' to seriously piss me off!" the clone roared, his voice cracking with a raw, jagged aggression. He flexed his arms so hard the fabric of his sleeves strained, his entire frame trembling with a frustration he could no longer keep a lid on.
"How do rookies like you even have the nerve?" he spat, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "Tellin' me I'm strugglin'? Actin' like you're givin' me a hard time when you ain't got a lick o' talent compared to me?" He raised a massive, shaking fist into the air, his knuckles turning white. "I don't care 'bout that woman or the job no more. Crushin' the life out of you two is the only thing I'm fixin' to do now."
As he spoke, the ground beneath his boots began to groan, a steady tremor rippling through the concrete tracks. Takumi didn't waste a second, his fingers closing around the cold hilt of his blade as he hauled it back into a guard position.
"Hey, Takumi... I don't think he's playing games anymore," Timotheo said, his voice tight with alarm. He squinted through the sudden gale of wind and stinging iron dust kicked up by the clone's sheer resonance. He took a hesitant step back, his heart racing. "We should probably get out of here. Like, right now."
Timotheo, feeling the crushing weight of the pressure, took several stumbling steps back. Takumi, however, held his ground at the front, his expression hardening.
"It's not like we've got a lot of options," Takumi muttered, never taking his eyes off the threat. "We're stuck in a tunnel. The only way out is that hole in the ceiling, and I don't see a ladder." He straightened his shoulders, lunging his arms forward to level the heavy blade directly at the clone's chest.
"Ready to die, kids?" the clone asked, his voice dropping into a dark, satisfied drawl. "'Cause you ain't gettin' outta here." He started to lean into his stance, a jagged grin splitting his face, when a sharp, melodic whistle cut through the air.
"How about you simmer down a notch?" a woman's voice called out.
An axe came screaming out of the darkness, whirling at a terrifying speed. The clone spun around, his eyes going wide as the weapon began to glow with a searing, white-hot flare. Before he could even raise his machete, the axe buried itself with a sickening thud directly into the center of his forehead.
The clone froze. A single, thick droplet of blood began to sizzle as it ran down the bridge of his nose. "W-What...?" he stammered, his voice failing him.
Takumi and Timotheo looked past the dying monster to see a familiar face stepping into the light.
"Man, you guys haven't even finished orientation yet and you're already breaking every rule in the handbook," the woman said, her tone as casual as if she were running into them at a grocery store. As she spoke, molten lava began to pour from the head of the axe, instantly liquefying the clone's body from the inside out.
By the time she finished her sentence, the clone had collapsed into a glowing pool of slag. The woman strolled over, grabbed the handle of her axe, and pulled it free with a nonchalant yank. As the blade left the remains, it seemed to drink the lava back into the steel, cooling instantly.
"Don't sweat it too much," she said, glancing at the boys with a shrug. "He was just a clone. The real guy is probably halfway to Shinsei by now."
Takumi finally let the tip of his blade drop toward the gravel, his muscles twitching with a mix of exhaustion and adrenaline. Beside him, Timotheo was still staring at the cooling slag on the ground, his face slick with sweat and his chest heaving.
"Mrs. Cinder," Timotheo panted, a shaky breath of relief escaping him. "You have no idea how glad we are to see you."
The woman barely glanced at the remains of the clone, her expression unimpressed. "You guys looked like you were in a bit of a spot," she said, leaning casually on the handle of her axe. "I figured you could at least handle a duplicate, but I guess I overestimated the new blood."
Timotheo's face flushed, and he defensively crossed his arms over his chest. "Just because you've got that terrifying Binder and an ability that melts people doesn't mean you have to go so hard on us. We're just students, not professional Vanguards yet."
To be continued...