A humanoid figure remained, but what was now standing in the middle of the arena was no longer Quinn. It now had a bald scalp, claw-like hands, the razor-sharp teeth of a monster, and a hunched back. In other words, he looked like a humanoid Beast. The Crazed Bloodsucker, formerly known as "Quinn Talen", opened its now pitch-black eyes, and was immediately startled by the light.
It stumbled over in pain, due to Quinn's alreadyheightened senses being heightened even more due to his transformation.
"REKKKKKKK!" it shouted, letting out a loud, piercing shriek that echoed through the whole training center.
With its eyes closed, the Crazed Bloodsucker ran forward with inhuman speed. When it reached the edge of the wall of the arena, it dug its claws into the wall, and started to climb up like some sort of lizard. It quickly ran up to the ceiling, and wrenched its fist back, before violently smashing its fist into the light fixture. The light immediately went out, with shards of glass raining down onto the ground. With the light now gone, the Bloodsucker opened its eyes. Just like normal, "Quinn" could see perfectly fine in the dark, as if it was as bright as day.
The Bloodsucker let go of the ceiling, causing it to crash to the ground. Once it landed, it bent his knees, and began to walk. It was as if he had taken no damage from the fall.
Quinn then began to roam around the training center. Each time he entered a room, he would smash out all the lights. He only had room in his mind for one thing, his need for blood.
After his "transformation", Quinn's thoughts, emotions, and everything else that made him…him…were now completely gone. His body acted on its own, and that single thought of blood completely occupied him.
Finally, after he had destroyed every light in every room of the training center, he returned back to the training room, and jumped down into the arena.
As if it didn't know what to do, the Bloodsucker simply started walking in circles.
***
Back in the office of General Nathan back at Military Base 2, a foreboding dread filled the room like a dense fog.
He was sitting at his chair, looking down at his wristwatch, as he had his left arm up to his chest. On the screen, the "Contacts" list had been brought up, and there was a name in the very center of the screen.
Paul Snelleart.
Nathan gulped. He had been staring at the name for the past ten minutes. He knew that he had to call the Head General, and tell him what had happened. Especially with a Powerful Original, and even worse, Hikiko Tsukuru involved. However, he was trying to gather up the nerves to do so.
To him, it was the equivalent of calling up your parents when they left you home alone on vacation, because you had to tell them that you had trashed the house. Knowing full WELL you were going to get yelled at.
"Maybe I don't need to tell him." Nathan muttered, nervousness in his voice. "I mean, he's not going to be back until tomorrow. The retrieval group shouldn't take that long, right?" Nathan could feel a cold sweatrun down his back, and his hands were slightly trembling. He then shook his head, trying to physically shake away his nervousness. "C'mon, Nathan! Just bite the bullet!" He replied. "After all, it's not your fault all this happened!"
Though he couldn't prove it, Nathan was certain that Duke was behind this. And if Shizuka's outburst before he had arrived at the meet was any indication, she thought so, as well.
He pressed the name on the screen, and the wristwatch sent out the communication link.
***
Inside the office of Oscar White, the Supreme Commander, on Military Base 1, Oscar and Head General Paul were having a meeting. Paul was sitting in the seat in front of Oscar's desk, and the metal box housing Tsukuru's latest Glathrium deposit was sitting on Oscar's desk, between the two.
"It's honestly amazing that Shizuka's gone two weeks without causing an incident." Oscar said, sounding downright astounded.
Head General Paul let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, we have been having our fair share of problems lately." He replied, scratching his cheek, and looking away. "But…none of them can be…traced backto her.
Hearing this, Oscar narrowed his eyes.
"Such as?" He asked, his clasped hands tightening imperceptibly.
Just as Paul was about to answer, his wristwatch started beeping erratically. Instantly, his eyes snapped down at the wristwatch. When he saw the name, he let out a weary sigh. He looked back up to Oscar.
"Can you excuse me for a moment?" He asked.
Oscar quirked an eyebrow.
"Problem?" He asked.
At Oscar's question, Paul sighed again.
"Let's just say that every base has its own…problem children." He replied. Paul brought the wristwatch up to his chest, and pressed his first two fingers against the screen, answering the call. "What part of 'Don't burn the house down' didn't you two get?" He asked in an exhausted tone.
After Paul's statement, there was a long pause. Then General Nathan spoke.
"The base…is still in one piece." Nathan replied.
Hearing this made Paul subconsciously let out a short sigh of relief. However, it was short-lived, as Nathan continued.
"However…there has been an…incident." He replied.
Paul's eyes narrowed.
"What happened?" He asked in a steely tone, like a parent already knowing that they were about to hear a complaint about their delinquent child.
"There was an incident in the training room on the west wing." Nathan replied.
Hearing this made Paul's eyes narrow even further.
"The one where we keep the Portals?" He asked. "The one that's restricted to students?!"
Nathan could be heard gulping on the other side.
"Yes, sir." He replied. "It seems that a group of three students used one of the Portals. A red one."
Hearing this, Paul's hands tightened into fists.
"I see. Well, send a retrieval group to recover their corpses." He replied.
"I already have, Head General." Nathan replied. "But…there's more…pressing issues. One of the three…is an Original."
Hearing this made both Oscar and Paul's roll their eyes. They both had the same thought.
'Oh, great.'
However, General Nathan wasn't done with the bad news.
"Also, one of the students…was Hikiko Tsukuru."
Suddenly, Oscar's room became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that, General Nathan Blanko?" Paul asked in a low tone.
Nathan gulped. There was nothing worse than your superior calling you by your full name. However, before Nathan could answer, Paul heard the sound of Oscar's chair scraping on the floor.
Instantly, Paul looked up. When he did, he saw Oscar getting out of his chair. He glanced back at his secretary, Jane, behind him.
"Clear out my schedule." He replied in a low tone. "I'm heading out to Military Base 2 at once."
***
Back in the library on the Red Portal Planet, Pioletic, Vorden continued to keep watch while Ian slept. Although, when doing nothing, it was next to impossible to tell how much time had passed. Vorden didn't even know how long Ian had been sleeping for. With the sky always looking like night, he had no way of knowing.
After waiting for what felt like an entire day, it seemed like Ian had finallywoken back up As he lifted himself off of the floor, he continued to wince in pain, and hold his ribs.
"Man, I'm telling you." Ian muttered. "I can't wait to get back home."
Vorden turned to look at Ian. Seeing him struggling to get up, Vorden offered his hand, pulling him up from the ground. But as Ian got off the ground, his face suddenly dropped. In one of the holes he had punched in the bookcases, all that could be seen was a single, large eyelooking through.
Ian immediately, went to his waist, and grabbed a small dagger. He threw the dagger at the eyeball. Due to his strength being boosted by his Beast Gear, the dagger pierced through the eye, and traveled out the back of Beast. Killing it instantly. Then, when he pulled his arm back, the dagger flew backwardsback into his hand.
"Let's book it!" Ian shouted, as he kicked one of the bookshelves over.