The sound of dust falling like rain echoed over the ruins of the shattered forest. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the violent clang of clashing metal. Joe was trading blows with Number 4, who moved with terrifying speed, flaunting his agility as he brandished his long black blade. Number 4 lunged with a treacherous strike, but Joe parried with masterful precision, grounding the blade into the earth. In a split second, Joe delivered a punch charged with immense force, sending Number 4 hurtling through the trees and debris.
"Still tough, aren't you, old man?" Number 4 said, rising from the wreckage. "Fine, let's turn up the heat! You three, go get that brat. I'm going to play with this bastard for a while."
The three subordinates vanished into the forest like black shadows. They didn't realize that Joe was no longer an ordinary man. In the blink of an eye, one of them found Joe standing before him like a mountain. He tried to retreat, but Joe was faster; like a ravenous beast, he lunged and tore the man's head off with his bare hands—a gruesome spectacle.
Joe sprinted after the remaining two pursuing Harten. The veins in his legs bulged like iron cables, and with an explosive burst of pressure against the earth, he seemed to vanish into thin air. In an instant, one pursuer was cleaved in two by the sheer momentum of Joe's charge, while the last found himself suspended by his head in Joe's iron grip. Joe cast the corpses aside with disdain and turned back to Number 4.
"You expect me to help them and die alongside them?" Number 4 laughed mockingly. "I know your explosive power is temporary. The chip in your body is eating your vitals because the atomic fluid has run out. Farewell, you bastard!"
"It seems you've figured me out," Joe panted, his breath heavy. "But winning or losing doesn't matter anymore."
"You mean the kid?" Number 4 smirked. "He's pinned under the trees and bleeding out... I've drained you dry, Joe!"
A Sacrifice for Survival
On the other side, Harten was crawling beneath a heap of fallen trees; his leg was completely crushed and trapped. He heard Joe's voice booming from the distance: "Harten! Stay calm! No one touches you as long as I'm breathing!"
In the heat of battle, Number 4 exploited Joe's distraction. With a telepathic magnetic pull, his black sword took flight, piercing Joe's back and erupting through his stomach.
"I'll torture that boy right before your eyes!" Number 4 snarled.
Joe roared at the top of his lungs: "Harten! Get out, even if you only have one hand left! If you don't break free, we both die!"
Harten looked at his pinned leg and the knife before him. With features masked in terror but fueled by grim determination, he began to strike his own leg with the blade. One blow... then another... a muffled scream tore through his chest until he severed his leg and freed himself. Harten crawled, leaving a crimson trail behind him, until he reached the back of the skewered Joe.
"Should I pull it out?" Harten sobbed.
"No..." Joe wheezed. "Drive it in!"
Number 4 realized the plan and tried to retract the sword with his magnetic field, but Joe, using the last of his strength, angled the blade. With Harten's desperate, screaming shove, the sword pierced completely through Joe's body, lunging out the other side and embedding itself directly into Number 4's head.
The Final Testament
The three of them collapsed to the ground. Joe screamed: "Pull the sword from my body and take his head! Quickly!"
Harten pulled the blade, walking with a cold, hollow expression, using the sword as a crutch. He cornered Number 4, who was trying to crawl away with one hand.
"Wait... come with me..." Number 4 pleaded. "I'll make you stronger..."
"Shut up," Harten whispered. "You hurt Joe."
With a single strike, Harten severed Number 4's head from his shoulders. He returned to Joe, who was drawing his final breaths.
"Harten..." Joe smiled weakly. "Do you want to avenge me? Do you want to finish what I started?"
"Yes... but how?" Harten asked.
"Yes or no?" Joe pressed.
"Yes!"
Suddenly, Joe reached into his own wound and pulled out two syringes; one filled with a mysterious fluid, the other Different, like a gelatinous fluid, it contains something important and dangerous that must not be released. . "Take these... to fight the monsters..." Then, his eyes closed forever.
Four Years Later
In the heart of a rainforest, within a dark cave, a young man awoke. His long hair reached the small of his back, and his body was a map of deep scars. He stood firmly on two strong legs and gazed silently at the two syringes placed before him—one empty, the other still waiting for its moment.
The era of Joe had ended, and the new era of Harten had begun.