The wind whipped Takuya's hair. It felt good. Cold. Clean. He clung to the wall. He was halfway up the school building. The sounds of the city below were muted.
This is insane.
He carefully moved a foot. It held. Then a hand. The sticky feeling was still there. He could feel the tiny vibrations against his palms. It was part of him now.
He reached the roof. He pulled himself up. He looked around. No one. Good. He didn't need another audience. Not after the cafeteria. Not after Nijika.
He remembered her face. The bright vermillion eyes. Usually so full of warmth. Now wide with shock. Then pure, unadulterated anger.
Takuya!
Her voice echoed in his head. He winced.
He scrambled across the rooftop. He dropped down into a side alley. He landed silently. Light on his feet. Too light. Too fast. He could feel the power buzzing under his skin. It was still new. Still strange.
He moved through the backstreets. He kept to the shadows. He pulled out his phone. He looked at the map. The abandoned house. Garia. He had to go back. He needed answers.
He found his spare motocross bike. He had parked it a few blocks away. He started the engine. The familiar growl was a comfort. A small piece of his old life.
He rode fast. He weaved through traffic. His senses were still cranked up. The roar of engines. The smell of exhaust. The subtle shift of the road beneath his tires. It was all too much. Yet, he felt a strange precision. A heightened awareness. He was faster. He was sharper.
He reached the edge of the forest. He hid the bike under a thick cover of trees. He walked the rest of the way. The air grew colder here. The shadows deeper.
The old house stood before him. It was dark. Silent. Just as he remembered it. He pushed the front door open. It creaked. A long, drawn-out groan.
Inside, Garia sat in the same worn chair. He was waiting. His silver-white hair seemed to glow in the dim light. His eyes, silver-blue, fixed on Takuya. They were piercing. Ancient.
"You have returned," Garia said. His voice was a low hum. An echo. "And you wear the Bracelet."
Takuya looked down at his wrist. The black band. The red spider emblem. It was there. It was real.
"Yes." Takuya's voice was rough. He felt a fire in his chest. "My father. He died because of them. I will make them pay."
Garia simply nodded. A slow, deliberate movement.
"The vengeance path is a heavy one," Garia said. "But it is yours to walk."
Takuya felt a strange mix of relief and unease. He had expected more. A lecture. A warning.
"What happened to me?" Takuya asked. He held up his hands. He looked at them. They feel… different. "I can't control anything. My strength. My senses. My… sticky hands."
He remembered the cafeteria. The ruined lunch. Nijika's uniform. He swallowed. Shame flared.
"The Bracelet injected you with the Spider X gene," Garia explained. His voice was calm. Measured. "It has altered your very genetic structure. You are now, in part, a native of Planet Spider."
Takuya stared. A gene? Altered? Like… an alien? The words swirled in his mind. He was no longer just Takuya. He was something else. Something more.
"So… I'm like you?" Takuya asked. A strange excitement bloomed in his chest. "Does this mean I'm strong enough to fight them? The Iron Cross Army?"
Garia's eyes narrowed. A faint, sad smile touched his lips.
"You are naive, boy," Garia said. His voice was sharper now. Less ethereal. "Look at yourself. You struggle to control your own body. You nearly exposed yourself to your friends. You have no training. No discipline."
Takuya felt a defensive heat rise in his cheeks.
"I know how to fight," Takuya insisted. His voice cracked slightly. "I've been in plenty of street brawls. And I'm a motocross racer."
Garia let out a soft, humorless chuckle.
"Street brawls are games for children," Garia stated. His gaze was cold. Unyielding. "The Iron Cross Army is a military force. Centuries of conquest. Their soldiers are trained killers. Their Machine Bem Monsters are engineered for war."
Takuya felt his confidence shrink. He thought of the Ninders. The way they had cornered his father. The swift, brutal efficiency.
"In your current state," Garia continued, "you would fall before even their most basic infantry."
The words hit Takuya hard. A punch to the gut. His bravado vanished. He was nothing. Just a boy with new powers he couldn't control.
"You need training," Garia declared. He stood up. His movements were fluid. Silent. He walked to a section of the wall. He pressed something hidden.
A soft click sounded. A section of the wall slid open. It revealed a dark passage. A flight of stairs. Descending into blackness.
Crrreeeak.
"Follow me," Garia commanded. His voice left no room for argument. He walked into the darkness.
Takuya hesitated for a moment. He looked back at the dim room. Then at the dark stairs. His path to vengeance. It was going to be harder than he thought. Much harder. He took a deep breath. He stepped forward. He followed Garia into the unknown.
* * *
The darkness swallowed Takuya whole. He stumbled, arms out, trying to find a wall. The air grew cool and damp, smelling of ozone and something metallic, alien. What did I just get myself into?
A soft hum started up, growing louder. Blue lights flickered to life. Takuya blinked, his eyes adjusting. The passage opened into a vast, cavernous space. It was huge. Like a hanger.
Sleek, dark metal walls curved around him. Glowing panels ran along the floor and ceiling. This wasn't some old, abandoned house. This was a whole other world. A ship. A massive, high-tech spaceship. He'd only seen things like this in anime.
"What is this place?" Takuya breathed, his voice an excited whisper. He looked at Garia, who stood calmly beside him.
"This is the Marveller," Garia said, his voice resonant. "My vessel. My home. It has been hidden beneath this mountain for four centuries."
Four centuries? This ship has been here that long? Takuya stared, trying to wrap his head around it. The Marveller was a spacecraft, Garia had said. Used for galactic travel. A mobile base. A combat ship.
Garia turned, his expression serious. "We are not here for sightseeing, boy."
Garia led Takuya deeper into the Marveller. Past humming consoles and glowing displays. They entered a large, open room. It had no windows. Just smooth, dark walls that seemed to absorb the light. Holographic projectors hummed. They showed different combat simulations. Sensors covered every surface.
"This is your training ground," Garia announced. He gestured around the room. "Here, you will learn to control what has been given to you."
"You possess superhuman strength," Garia began, ticking off points on his elongated fingers. "Agility. Reflexes. You can cling to surfaces. Your body heals faster. And you have the precognitive sense."
Takuya looked around. So, what, I just run around? Punch things?
"First, we will test your strength."
A thick, metallic panel rose from the floor. It was made of some dark, reinforced material. It looked like a training dummy, just a flat wall.
"Punch it,"
Takuya stepped forward, shaking out his arm. He wound up, putting his whole body into the strike. His fist connected with a loud THUD.
The wall vibrated. A spiderweb crack spread across its surface. Takuya stared at his hand. No pain. Nothing. The panel was dented inwards.
"Good, your strength is considerable. You can now lift roughly ten to twenty tons, depending on your focus. More than enough to contend with lesser threats."
Ten to twenty tons? That's insane.
He thought about his motocross bike. He could probably throw it now.
Next, the room shifted. Panels retracted, and a series of laser grids, moving platforms, and swinging obstacles appeared. It looked like a high-stakes obstacle course from a game show.
"Now, speed, agility, and reflexes. Navigate the course without touching the red lines. Do not stop."
Takuya nodded. He took a deep breath, focusing.
Just like a race, but without the bike.
He pushed off. The world blurred. He dodged the first laser grid, a red beam slicing through the air where he had been a moment before. He leaped onto a moving platform. His movements felt fluid, natural, like he was born to do this. He was fast. Really fast.
He cleared the course in what felt like seconds. He hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Your speed is impressive," Garia stated, as the course deactivated. "You move at speeds between thirty and sixty miles per hour. Your reflexes are several times faster than a normal human's. Now, try the wall."
A section of the wall lit up. Takuya walked over, placed his hands and feet on it, and pushed. He stuck. Completely.
He tried to pull his hand away. It wouldn't budge. He pulled harder. Still stuck. He started to panic, tugging and grunting.
"Relax, the adhesion is a mental command. Like any muscle, it requires conscious control. Release your tension."
Takuya took a breath and tried to calm down. He focused on his hand, telling it to let go. Slowly, the sticking sensation faded. His hand peeled away from the wall with a soft shplick.
"It is about will; your healing factor is also greatly enhanced. Minor injuries will mend in moments, severe ones in hours or a few days. But you are not immortal."
As Garia spoke, a small, silver sphere shot from a hidden panel towards Takuya's head.
A tingling sensation erupted at the back of Takuya's skull.
Danger!
He ducked without thinking. The sphere zipped past, missing his ear by an inch. It embedded itself in the wall with a soft thunk.
Takuya looked back, heart pounding. What was that?
"Your spider-sense," Garia said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "It warns you of danger. It is a mental alarm, a premonition, a thread pulled taut in the web of fate. It will guide you, but it is not infallible. It can be overwhelmed or fooled."
"And webs." Garia gestured to Takuya's left wrist. "The Spider Bracelet provides organic webbing. Motion your middle and ring fingers to your palm."
Takuya looked at his hand. He pressed his two fingers to his palm. A thin stream of white web shot out, sticking to the far wall with a THWIP.
He pulled. The web held.
"They are strong. They will not break easily."
This body was insane. Takuya felt a grin spread across his face. He could punch through walls. Outrun a car. Stick to surfaces. And now, shoot webs. He felt like a walking shonen protagonist.
***
Advance Chapters on patreon.com/Najicablitz.
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