ABANDONED BUILDING – INTERIOR – DAY
The door slammed shut behind them.
Kotobe, Lina, and YoungThug found themselves in the humid darkness of an old abandoned warehouse. Light barely filtered through the boards nailed over the windows, casting ghostly stripes on the dusty floor.
A smell of mold, rust, and old blood permeated the air.
"Where the fuck did he go?" YoungThug whispered, his fists clenched.
Lina strained her ears. Her Ether vibrated, searching for a presence.
"He's here. Somewhere. That's for sure."
Kotobe observed the place, analyzing every corner, every shadow.
Flashback.
CITY STREETS – YEARS EARLIER
Masajo was a child. Alone. Always alone.
On the street, people looked at him with suspicion. A dirty kid with eyes too piercing. No one reached out to him. No one offered him a smile.
He had tried. To grasp success. To find his place. But he was different. His power, he couldn't control it. He scared people. Others. Himself.
Until the day he found Ku.
That strange blade, cold, sharp. It didn't judge him. It didn't reject him. It accepted him, with his flaws, his rage, his solitude.
He took it and cut the hair on one side of his head as proof of his new determination.
Ku had become his only friend. His only family.
And today, they want to take it from me. These cheap heroes.
——
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Masajo appeared in the center of the room, as if emerging from nowhere. Ku hung from his hand, gleaming faintly in the darkness.
"You came. Three little heroes."
Lina stepped forward, determined.
"Surrender, Masajo. You're surrounded."
Masajo chuckled.
"Surrounded? By you?"
He released Ku.
The blade fell toward the ground… and stopped a centimeter from the concrete, floating in the air.
"Ku is a somewhat special blade that allows its user, after making a pact, to completely absorb their gauge in order to conceal their presence — and not only that, it channels their Ether. Thanks to this, any pariah, after seeing their power channeled, can use it properly."
"ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL AHAHAHAH…!"
His eyes clouded over white.
"Sensory Alteration."
Lina screamed.
Around her, the world twisted. The walls moved. The floor gave way. She saw monsters everywhere, shadows attacking her.
"No! Get back!"
She raised her hand and summoned her Giant Worm. A long, slimy purple worm — it was fast.
She charged at Masajo.
It struck him head-on, propelling him above the building through the roof.
As Masajo was launched toward the sky.
As the worm charged toward him to propel him further.
Masajo gripped Ku and positioned himself to dive down onto the worm.
He plunged the blade into it.
The blade cut through the worm like paper.
SCHLICK.
The creature collapsed in two pieces.
Masajo descended cautiously before trying again through the hole the worm had thrown him through, but alas.
No one was there anymore.
He ran through the corridor of what was an abandoned hotel.
Lina, under the effect of the alteration, was still panicking.
"Fuck, we're in deep shit, this is no joke."
"And you, ugly — here, this is a radio connected to a special Association line for Class A heroes."
Kotobe looked annoyed by the insult.
"And what about me? What if I die here? Didn't you think about me, fuck!"
YoungThug shouted, looking completely panicked.
YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE ME?
MULTIPLE ALTERATION.
Their group was surrounded by darkness that refused to leave them.
The darkness clung to them and was already filling the entire atmosphere, while our trio gradually lost their reflexes.
Masajo attacked from the front and slashed YoungThug's shoulder.
Lina's thigh.
As he approached Kotobe, the latter started running straight toward Masajo — he decided to buy time, dodge, then strike him in multiple places.
To subdue him.
Is it me, or isn't he afraid? Maybe I didn't put enough effect into my alteration — after all, it's the first time in a while I've used this power.
He kept attacking Kotobe from all sides while the latter saw flashbacks of the tournament, images spinning endlessly in his head.
He saw the image that was perfectly suited to the situation.
The KO against Dante.
Kotobe ran toward a spot where there was no one.
He extended his arm and threw a punch.
BAAM.
The punch caught Masajo in the shoulder — he was moving so fast, how the fuck did this guy figure out where he was?
Masajo slowly got up, holding his shoulder. He picked up Ku.
"How… ahh… fuck, that hurts."
"Just like that — I didn't know you were going to be there at that moment. I just acted on instinct."
"And I hit the right spot at the right time."
"On instinct…? You managed to do that on pure instinct?"
DON'T FUCKING MOCK ME!!!…
SENSORY ALTERATION.
Lina started screaming as if it were mental torture.
"My alteration is simple — I emit inaudible waves that attack the brain directly."
"Because of that, some of your senses get scrambled."
"I… I have to run!"
Said Lina — you could clearly see her sweating buckets.
She turned on her heel and disappeared into a dark corridor.
"LINA!" Kotobe shouted.
Masajo turned to him and YoungThug.
"Two left."
Youngthug automatically positioned himself in front of Kotobe.
And placed his bat in his hands.
"Fuck! Hey, you go find that bitch — there's only three of us and we gotta help each other — go find her, I'll slow him down."
"But he's…"
"Do what I fucking tell you, I'm higher ranked than you, remember? Now go!"
Kotobe left the room and ran toward the corridor where Lina had gone.
Masajo watched him with an air of royally not giving a fuck that the others had escaped.
"Well, one more or less doesn't matter…"
"Anyway, let's move on — you seem to look down on me, you probably think I rely solely on my power."
"I'm going to show you what the word terror really means."
He attacked YoungThug.
Fast. Precise.
He slashed YoungThug's shoulder and kicked him in the abdomen.
Youngthug stepped back and attacked directly, screaming.
AHHHHAHH — he swung his bat in all directions.
Masajo parried every attack with his blade, looking almost bored.
He lunged at him, got inside his guard.
Before disappearing.
And reappearing beneath him — he attacked with a sweep.
Youngthug lost control.
He pursued him and struck him perfectly on the back of the head.
Youngthug fell forward onto his knees.
He got up with a rage even more intense than before.
Masajo watched him, still incredulous.
YoungThug's bat was glowing with an intense Neon Red.
He attacked and struck Masajo from all sides with even greater speed and strength.
But how is this possible.
His speed and strength increased.
As Masajo was thinking, the strike landed and hit its target with heavy impact.
BAANG.
The metal of the bat struck Masajo full force.
Blood sprayed into the air.
BANNG — another hit landed.
Another one.
Then another.
Then another still.
Masajo couldn't understand what was happening to him as he got beaten down by YoungThug.
How is this possible — where is he getting this strength?
Is it because of his rage?
But it can't be just that — there must be something else… what if it really is just that? Then that means…
THAT'S IT — I'VE GOT IT!
Youngthug stopped for a moment, panting.
"I KNOW THE SECRET BEHIND THIS STRENGTH — JUST LET ME VERIFY IT."
"I'm sure my hypothesis is right."
He attacked YoungThug, who thought he could read his movements for a moment, then…
He saw Masajo jumping from wall to wall with renewed joy, like an overexcited child.
He disappeared and reappeared beneath YoungThug.
And then…
SLASH.
He tore his costume open at the chest.
On YoungThug's muscular chest, there was a mark like a birthmark.
AHAHAHAH!! I KNEW IT.
Masajo exclaimed, all excited.
YOU'RE A BERSERKER — I KNEW IT AHAHAH.
On his chest was an immense {T}
To be continued…