The Dark Somnium - "I'm a guard stationed at a Secret Government Prison" (Full Story) Creepypasta | Scary Stories

Episode Date: September 8, 2021

This Creepypasta Scary Story is the full story of the secret government prison story from the nosleep subreddit, the full title is "I'm a guard stationed at a 'secret' government prison. A few hours ago, there was a major breach." written by u/Mr_Outlaw--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/darksomnium/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who's the worst, most despicable person you can think of? Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Louis Garvito, Paul Pott. Of course, you can make your own arguments for any of them, or anybody else for that matter. Yet, all of these people have one thing in common. They're human. Preposterous people try to act like monsters, either due to lofty, ridiculous ideals or some primal urge to revolt against society as a whole. It's quite the bizarre phenomenon, yet none of these admittedly sick people have truly fallen into the abyss. Perhaps they've stared down into it, dipped their feet in it, but none of them have taken the plunge as a whole.

Despite their efforts, they weren't able to separate themselves from their inherent humanity. But that's a good thing. That's why they were relatively easy to take down. The bad news is that every once in a while, special cases will arise. In our circles, we call these individuals the void people, or just voids. Individuals so far gone that they can hardly be considered humans anymore. The cause behind entities like this? Well, I wouldn't know.

Nobody really does. Maybe they were born with that latent potential. Maybe they underwent some obscure supernatural transformation. Maybe their experiments gone awry. Aliens from another planet. Shit. Maybe they're literal demons from hell. Brought here by some fool who just had to conduct some fucked-up ritual.

Who the hell knows? The only detail that matters is the fact that they exist, and dealing with them is more than a bitch. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of maximum security prisons. Places where drug kingpins, terrorists, prolific serial killers, etc. are sent. The places meant to contain the worst among humans. Well, those are a joke compared to where the voids are kept. At a pair of undisclosed coordinates built in the underground,

of a tiny island somewhere deep in the Atlantic, there exists a prison unlike anything you could imagine. We simply call it the chasm, a penitentiary for pure unbridled evil, a collective evil that would surely yield humanity's extinction in a couple of months if it were allowed to run rampant in the world. Let me emphasize this a bit further. The individuals that require being held there are not merely criminally insane, they are criminally Absolutely, out of this universe fucking bonkers.

Of course, you wouldn't know any of this, would you? The government would probably sacrifice a thousand children before they divulge a single detail about the place to a person without high enough clearance. But, you know, that's just how they are. Before I came, there were exactly 32 being confined there, save for two that were still being actively pursued through the Brazilian underground and Russian tundra, respectively. That was about all of them in the world.

At least, we assumed that was all of them. Can't really be sure about anything these days. Each holding cell was fortified to hell, specifically designed to counter and contain the respective void they were holding. If they managed to escape, there were eight drones armed with gatling guns, blades, grenades, and rockets waiting for them within a larger chamber. If they managed to break through that, then 20 guards in mechanized suits would have to step in.

However, everybody understood the futility of that protocol. Those guards were getting slaughtered in second. regardless of the void that they went up against, maybe minutes if they were really skilled. I'm not entirely sure why any of us regular guards are stationed here at all. Viroquacy, I guess. Who knows what the government's thinking? If the situation were ever to get too drastic, then there was really one feasible countermeasure in place. A last resort, so to speak.

The higher-ups would call in something known as Task Force Void Nova Hammer, or TFVNH for short. I've never seen them in action before, nor do I know much about them. Not that I really want to, though. If you ever find yourself witnessing them in person, that must mean you're having a bad, bad day. So why am I disclosing all of this Uber classified information that would either get me killed or thrown in the deepest hole conceivable for the rest of my short life? Well, I'd estimate that there's about a 90% chance that I'm going to die by the end of

today, and even if I do make it out of this fiasco, my life's never. ever really going to be the same. So, fuck it. Here we go. My day started out more or less normal. I was part of the unit guarding somebody named Jim Henninger. Well, that was his real name. It doesn't provoke a lot of fear, does it? That's why we had to call him something else. Standing at 5'7, 171 centimeters, 135 pounds, or 61 kilograms, we were all required to memorize their physical stats. He doesn't look like much. However, if you ever find yourself in the same room with him,

no matter how big and tough you are, you're going to get dissected or something. The main danger surrounding him stems from the fact that he seems to be able to teleport on Will. One second, you'll be staring at his dark, lifeless eyes, and after one blink, he'll disappear in a cloud of black haze, only to end up breathing right down your neck.

For that reason, there's got to be at least ten sets of eyes on his monitor at all times. There's no way around it. If he's not being watched, he will escape. He's also kind of unkillable. No matter how many bullets you put through his head or blades you plunge into his chest, the guy just won't croak. And once he gets a scalpel in his hands, oh boy.

Of course, he's just one of the 32, and comparatively speaking, on the tamerside. With that said, my guard shift ended without any incident. Routine stuff. Following that, I went on break in the lunchroom, with my buddy Sandhu. Our conversations were usually pretty dry, but at least I can talk to the guy. It's hard to get along with any of the other guards.

They're all just weird in one way or another. Anyway, lunch was usually the most enjoyable part of a working day in the chasm. What I didn't enjoy was the blaring fucking alarm and the deafening, repeating automatic voice, blasting the word, that went off as I was about to take my chili out of the microwave. I could see Sandus' face drop at the disturbance. Are you fucking kidding me? He mouthed.

Now, I'd only ever experienced one minor breach up until that point, and it was from the surgeon. I guess none of us were paying any attention that day. He made it about eight miles off the coast using a stolen boat, racking up a total body count of 145 in his wake. It took three full days to wrangle him back, and four more weeks to fix all the damage that he'd done to the infrastructure. That was all just one prisoner. If we were dealing with three or more, then our combined efforts as guards wouldn't have stood a semblance of a chance. There had only ever been one major breach in the chasm's history, in which eight voids had broken out nearly simultaneously. It was also apparently the only time that TFV and H had to step in.

This was all around 12 years ago, long before I became a guard myself. The aftermath of that? I don't have enough clearance to know, but I'm willing to bet that it was nothing fun. We did have a breach procedure. It was a lengthy document, outlining exactly what we were supposed to do and where we were supposed to go. I've read it before, and it's fucking garbage.

It's essentially predicated on the idea that we're cannon fodder, and that we're obligated to do whatever we can to contain the prisoners. If anybody actually followed the procedure, they'd die instantly. Well, what the hell are we supposed to do? Somebody asked. They only got shrugs in response,

except for Sonson, that is. I fucking hated Sonson. The guy seemed to believe that his life's an action movie and that he's the invincible main protagonist. Are y'all fucking pussies? He screamed at the top of his lungs with a stupid grin plastered across his face. We never get any fucking action. Let's fucking go. Before anybody could stop him, he picked up his rifle, swung the door open like the giant fucking dumbass he is. Since the alarm was blaring, we could barely hear anything that was going on outside the corridors.

For that reason, we were all rather shocked upon seeing Morgie the Corgi standing right outside. Imagine some guy walking around wearing a dirty, giant, creepy dog costume. Now imagine that guy is 7 foot two, with a voice that's simultaneously deep, raspy, and childish. That's Morgie the corgi for you. I could see the bravado leaving Sonson's face the moment he laid eyes on the abomination in person. We'd only ever seen him through a screen before. I always hated it when people tried imitating dogs, but hearing it coming from Morgie was a bit different. and a lot worse. Before Sonson could even put his finger on the trigger, his head was mashed into pulp.

Morgie began pouncing on other guards. Effortlessly crushing limbs with his oversized paws. He'd switched between running around on his feet and crawling on all fours. The last thing I saw before running out of the break room was Morgie, forcing the remaining horrified agents to play fetch with him using a stray arm. But of course, it's not like I managed to escape anywhere better. The entire place was in a fucking tizzy. The squad leaders were frenetic, attempting to scrap together some kind of suppression force. I couldn't understand why they were so delusional.

Are we guards supposed to be badass? Fuck yeah! Due to our field prowers, we are specifically selected from the existing pool of CIA agents and military personnel to be dropped into this godforsaken place. Put us against a trafficking militia, terrorists, etc. We'll smoke them. But what we can't deal with are things that aren't supposed to exist in the first place.

We watch creature features and slasher fix with the inherent understanding that we are watching fiction, a type of visual catharsis for our inherent fascination with the dark and grim. It's not supposed to be real, and we have no idea how to act once we find it standing right in front of our faces, not even us so-called elite agents. Like I said, I'm not sure why they even bothered keeping guards in the chasm to begin with. These were the thoughts that ran through my head as I bolted through the hellish corridors. At one point, I stumbled upon a crowd of guards, leering over some rails,

shockingly, they didn't seem concerned in the slightest. What the hell are you guys looking at? I asked them. A guard, I recognized as Fenton, turned around. Oh, this is going to be sick. He grinned, gesturing for me to look below. I didn't even know where I was going, so I didn't realize that I'd wandered into a level right above the weight room. It was a sprawling gym with an abundance of the best equipment attainable, but there was one guard that used it the most.

Bronco Petrovic, a Serbian American whose oversized frame hardly makes any fucking sense. I swear, when I first met this guy, he couldn't have been over seven feet. He's around 8-2, or 249 centimeters now. I'm not quite sure what kind of bizarre experiment they ran on him, but they sure as hell overdid it. He was in the middle of overhead pressing what appeared to be an ungodly amount of weight when one of the escaped voids wandered into the weight room floor. It was loose, standing at a 6-2-188 centimeters, 205 pounds, 93 kilograms. Like all the other prisoners, the guy was a complete mystery. His mostly bare body was comparable of that of a bodybuilder's, save for the hundreds of

gnarly scars decorating his skin. The more disconcerting part of his aesthetic was the fact that he only had one half of his face. The other consisted of his exposed skull, with some kind of red electrical current running through his cranial bones. He had the same current running through his hands, which allowed him to savagely electrocute whatever organic material he touched, quickly rendering it into a pile of steaming black mush. I guess that my fellow agents didn't bother reading up on the prisoners they guarded because

Bronco never stood a chance. It didn't matter if you were superior to lose in terms of strength. One touch and you were gone. The only practical way of taking him down was by using ranged weapons, and even then, that task was easier said than done. Bronco grunted like the dumb meathead he is, before grabbing an Olympic weightlifting plate and chucking it like a frisbee at Luz. It connected, seeminglyly, gattering his ribs,

but it wasn't nearly enough to take him down. As soon as he rushed forward, the fight had been decided. Bronco attempted to tackle him, a mistake so horrible that his whole body began twitching as his skin made contact with Luz's fingertips. The electricity spread through his giant flame, causing his vitals to shut down within seconds. In no time at all, he was reduced to a heaping mass of scorched flesh on the floor.

He didn't even have time to scream. I could see the respective faces of my stunned colleagues drop as they witnessed what they likely deemed an improbable outcome. Idiots, that's what they were. But truth be told, I was also an idiot for even bothering to stay. Not long after, the sounds of cracking bones and heavy footsteps began emanating from an adjacent walkway. Along with the rest of the agents, my gaze shifted toward what was sure to be another incoming menace. The locked metal door to the corridor was suddenly dented from the other side. A big fucking dent, mind you.

It only took one blow to blast it off its hinges completely. Standing at 6.6.198 centimeters and 242 pounds, 110 kilograms. And arriving in a haze of blood, guts, and limbs, was the Slashaflick-esque killer, coquicily known as Wirehead. In congruence with his name, his entire head, save for a single eye, was wrapped in rusty barbed. He wore a decrepit old leather jacket and jeans. complete with a large pompadour on top, like an 80 or whatever high school delinquent. Everyone's main concern was the weapon in his hands,

a large iron bat wrapped in the same barbed wire on his head. If you didn't die from the impact, unlikely, the subsequent infection would surely get you, and don't ask us why we didn't take his weapon away when we contained him. We did, but somehow, some way, he got it back. These things really can't be helped. What the hell is going on? I thought. Breaches happened, sure, but it seemed as every fucking void had somehow escaped.

How was that possible? In any case, I couldn't afford to think deep into it at the moment. As Wirehead began moving down the mystified agents in his way, I found myself accidentally making eye contact with loose from below. I nearly had a heart attack as I began pushing through the crowd, even though I was implicitly certain of the fact that no other location within the chasm would have been much safer. I was still being driven ahead by my fight-of-flight responses away from that immediate threat. It was kind of funny. I'd been through so many life or death scenarios that my reaction to adrenaline coursing through my veins had been dulled. Well, it sure is hell got invigorated today. I guess that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings,

because right as I was about to climb a staircase, I felt an oversized arm slam into my chest, knocking me over in the process. I looked up to see another guard, Sade, leering down at me. Sure, I was happy it wasn't one of the voids, but Sade wasn't much more pleasant. What are you running for? He shot me a smug grim. This is a breach, isn't it? Why don't we do our jobs here and fix it? Oh, fuck off!

I spat at him before trying to duck past. No luck there. He caught me by the collar and slammed me to the wall. He certainly had the weight advantage. Still, I didn't practice hand-to-hand combat just to be rag-dolled by some asshole. I slammed my elbow down into his wrist, which managed to loosen his grip. I followed up with a knee to the stomach and attempted to strike his neck, but then he caught my wrist mid-mid-punch. Nice moves, he said, with an obnoxiously sarcastic tone.

He took his palm and rammed it into my chin, nearly causing me to black out. In the meantime, wirehead was getting closer. I guess we'll have to take this up another time, he said. Somebody's got to work around here. I had no idea what he was thinking, trying to take on one of the voids, but I wasn't trying to see his delusions through in person. Still in pain from his palm strike, I pulled myself up and began running once more, all while the sounds of carnage escalated around me.

But there was a glaring issue. I had no idea where I was going. The exits were surely going to be blocked off from the outside. Do we have some kind of safe room? I thought to myself. No, of course we didn't. We were entirely expendable. They 100% expected us to fight these things head on, even though there was zero fucking chance

of victory on our side. There was only one thing I could do here. Survive until TFENH showed up. Obviously that wasn't any kind of guaranteed reprieve, but my options were slim. Nevertheless, something rather surprising transpired. Amidst the cacophony of frenetic orders from our superiors, a familiar voice snuck in through my radio. It was Sandu.

I picked up my radio and isolated his transmission. Yeah, where are you, man? Obviously, there wasn't much information there, but it was better than running around aimlessly. Thankfully, Block C was fairly close, so I was able to make it out without running into another void. However, when I got there, it was still as chaotic as ever. I swiveled my head around, trying to spot Sandu. I yelled into my radio, but his response was drowned out by everything around me.

As I searched, I began sensing a perplexing, sinister pressure that made it feel as if I were sinking into the concrete beneath me. I hardly had to guess the source. It was Diaxec. 9 foot 5, 287 centimeters. I don't know how much he weighs. Dyaxec was comparable in appearance to something you'd see in the corner of your room during sleep paralysis. a hulking, faceless figure wearing a sweeping black robe that jerked around in unsettling movements as he, or she, who knows, walked. I wasn't sure how exactly he killed people, mind you.

As soon as anyone got within a certain distance to him, they'd freeze in place and began bleeding from their eyes, and then they just stay that way forever. Obviously, that wasn't something I was looking forward to. As I looked ahead, I could see some unfortunate guards already getting caught in his death zone in an attempt to avoid a similar face. I turned the opposite direction and began running. Then, I nearly shipped myself. Standing about 10 feet away was the undead Nazi. 5'8, 173 centimeters, 143 pounds, 65 kilograms. His name essentially told it all, a man wearing a dirty, tattered SS uniform,

with a cracked gas mask covering his face. In one hand, he gripped his signature Count Messeur 42 blade that was inexplicably unbreakable, No matter what the hell he tried doing to it. He held a flamethrower hose connected to a massive tank on his back, which sprayed out some kind of scorching black flame that would supposedly yield pain beyond comprehension if you were ever to come in contact with it.

You could say that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only other way out was taking the plunge over the rail in front of me, onto the mass of screaming bodies 50 feet below. Before I considered simply saying my prayers, I felt a hand tug at my sleeve from the side, giving me another heart attack. But this time, it was good news. For once, I looked over to see Sandu poking his head out from what appeared to be some kind of hidden door in the wall. Let's fucking go!

He whispered, shouted, before pulling me in. He closed the door behind him, plunging us into complete darkness. What the hell is this place? I asked, hardly expecting a detailed response. Sandu illuminated his face using his phone's flashlight. They couldn't tell you, but it's fucking crazy. I could hear the Nazi beginning to spray his flamethrower from out in the corridor. I suddenly wondered whether a Nazi.

diaxic's power would apply to the other voids. In any case, it was better not to be in such close vicinity to them, so I followed Sandu. He led me down some kind of hidden hallway. The walk was rather long, maybe about eight minutes, and I eventually found myself in what appeared to be some kind of surveillance control room. It was still dark, but there was an array of monitors giving off enough light to comfortably navigate around. But here's the strange thing. The place looked kind of haphazard. No chance it was being used. by the higher-ups. The monitors were scattered around, connected by a mess of wires to multiple outlets spread

throughout the room. There was only one chair. I guess this is beyond explaining, I said. Yeah, no shit, huh? Sandu replied, before gesturing towards the monitors. Check it out. What the fuck did we just find? I took the suggestion, letting my eyes drift over the screens.

What I saw would have been normal in any other scenario. Each monitor was streaming a different section of the prison, all displaying the utter carnage that was going on outside. The guards were being ripped to shreds. Some tried fighting. Most were running, but what they had in common was the fact that they were all being utterly obliterated by the voids. I could see the surgeon giving somebody a force lobotomy, grinning like hell while doing

so. At the same time, Morgie was chewing on a severed head like a toy. But then I caught something interesting on a screen below. It was wirehead and loose, staring each other down. That's when a rather obvious revelation hit me. Of course, the voids weren't only going to kill the guards. They were sure as hell going after each other as well. That much should have been apparent from the beginning.

I grinned, feeling some kind of obscure hope creeping into my system. That hope was only bolstered when I saw the Nazi, utterly dowsing Daxic with a relentless wave of black flames, with the latter struggling to move forward as a result. I guess these bastards can be heard after all, I thought to myself. But, of course, my hopes were merely transitory. I wasn't going to kid myself. Even if only one void was left standing at the end of everything. That just meant it'll be the strongest one of them all.

And we can't stay in here forever. At this point, my future is uncertain at best. Maybe I'll get lucky, maybe not. But in the meantime, I suppose I'll just enjoy the show. See how things turn out. Just ignore it. It was easier said than done. And honestly, was it even a good idea?

In my head, I ran through a list of potential voids. voids that could have been lurking behind us. Of course, none of them were really ideal, especially not the rowdy clown, whose laugh sounded hauntingly similar to the one we were hearing behind us. Then we heard it again, louder this time. I muttered a barely audible fuck in response. Realistically, if it did turn out to be one of the voids, putting up some kind of resistance would have been pointless anyway.

We were as good as done for. With that logic in mind, I turned my attention back to the void. the monitors, hoping that whatever the hell was behind us would stay put for a bit longer. In the meantime, Hugo and Kale were about to fight the gladiator and his minions. Hey, Englishman, Kail said. You regenerate quickly? Hugo sighed, stretching his neck out. First of all, do not call me that.

It's rather crass, and no, not much faster than the average man. But no matter. God has ordained me as a holy commission. He won't let me die until I fulfilled my duty. Kale just laughed. You're a real piece of work. Let's see if your god helps us make it out of this. You too aren't who I'm looking for.

The gladiator bellowed before releasing both leashes. Take out the trash. The freak ran about six steps before having its face caved in and neck subsequently snapped by Hugo. In the meantime, the centipede began crawling towards Kale. Who the fuck created this thing? He asked, shuddering slightly. The centiped lifted itself up, swiped. wiping two of its arms at the visibly disturbed vampire.

Now shit, don't touch me! He shouted before kicking its face, removing its muzzle in the process. He regretted that decision instantly. The centipede had four or five rows of spike-like teeth, with a horde of flesh-covered tentacles squirming out of its mouth. One of them grabbed kale by the leg, dragging him down. God damn it! He shouted, attempting to squore him out of the appendages grasp.

Nevertheless, Hugo came to the rescue, turning the centipede's head into mush with one vicious stomp. He shot kale. cold glaze. Take his name. Kale shook the tentacle remnants off of his leg. His face still utterly disgusted. Yeah, yeah.

Holy fucking shit. That is nasty. And then they both stared at the gladiator, who was grinning something malicious. I'd rather fucking die. Kale responded. Hugo added. The gladiator drew his smoldering sword,

which must have been the size of a person. He roared. The two rushed him simultaneously, attempting to bury the burning menace with a flurry of quick strikes. But that wasn't the best idea. They couldn't even touch the gladiator without suffering from burns themselves. Kale sighed. Some asshole just had to dig this fuck up, didn't they? The gladiator stepped forward, unleashing a big swing that singed a few hairs off of Hugo's head. Bastard!

He shouted before sending a hard cross at the gladiator, shattering his chestplate armor in the process. You're pretty strong there, Brit. We might just win this one. Kale grinned. Like I said, God will give me enough strength to overcome these trials. moved toward the gladiator with seemingly unwavering resolve. His eyes shiting a bright crimson. His face was wrought with such intense, stoic determination that I nearly forgot that his ultimate goal was to commit global genocide and began cheering him on. The gladiator sneered at the challenge, swinging his blade once again. This time, Hugo deflected it with an elbow, cracking the metal while doing so. He followed up by directing a flying hook kick at the gladiator's jaw,

managing to rip it off completely. Kale followed by biting into the gladiator's shoulder and tearing a large chunk off, burning most of his face in the process. He said, spitting out the charred, undead flesh. Not my cup of tea. Are you all right? Hugo asked, staring at his scorched face. Yeah, it should heal up in no time. However, the gladiator was relentless, letting out a frenzied roar before bolting towards

kale. He managed to dodge most of the gladiator's blows, only taking the full brunt of his last punch. Still, that one blow was enough to form a deep, fleshy crater in his torso, while also sending him flying into the steel rail, causing it to bend. The fuck! Kale stammered out, staring down at the unsightly wound. Nope, that's not good.

Hugo exhaled. This situation has become bothersome. He went back after the gladiator, sending a ruthless barrage of strikes his way. There was an evident skill gap between the two voids, with Hugo landing about 90% of his attacks. On the other hand, the gladiator only managed to land three or four clean hits of his own. Nevertheless, each of them dealt far more damage than any of Hugo's. After about a minute of fighting, Hugo's left arm was completely mangled. His right ribcage had been shattered, and the entire right side of his face was burnt.

The gladiator had also taken a fair amount of damage, but not nearly enough to even slow him down. Kale groaned as he attempted to insert himself back into the fight, but that task wasn't an easy one. He could barely move with his torso just about completely destroyed. A final trial. Hugo said somewhat solemnly. What the hell are you talking about? Kale asked, still groaning. and then for the first time since we began watching Hugo smiled.

God will sit. Using his good arm, Hugo removed the upper section of his robe, revealing a pale, mutilated, scar-ridden body beneath. He muttered another prayer before looking up at the ceiling, tears now swelling up in his eyes. Thank you. He muttered, along with his eyes, the scars on his body began glowing in deep red.

Trix won't be enough. The gladator thundered before swinging his blade Hugo's neck. I don't think I managed to catch exactly what happened next. However, I was certain that I was about to see a head rolling. The gladiator's blade shattered into what looked like a million pieces. At first, I didn't even notice the gaping hole in the gladiator's chest. The gladiator was interrupted by his neck being brutally cranked to the side. As the flaming behemoth dropped, so did Hugo. By then, Kale had regenerated to the point of being able to walk. He stumbled over to the near comatose bishop.

What the fuck was that? He asked, half grinning. I detached myself from my earthly limitations, an egregious sin, but I needed to fulfill my holy mission. Well, shit, that's pretty cool, I guess. Not your psycho mission, but the whole detachment thing. He held out his hand in an attempt to help Hugo get up. However, Hugo shook his head in response. This is as far as I go.

Not something I can recover from. I only have judgment to face now. Oh, shut the fuck up. Kale said, picking up Hugo's lint body and lumbering it over his shoulder. We'll find you some painkillers, and you'll be back on your feet in no time. Why would you help me? Hugo asked. You understand what I'm after, don't you?

My ideals. Well, I don't think I could have handled the gladiator on my own, so I guess I owe you, you crazy fuck. He looked over at Hugo. grinned. And who knows? Maybe you'll learn something. Yeah, there's a lot of scum in the world, but there's also a lot of beauty. We don't have to destroy it all.

Hugo passed out before he could finish the thought, still carrying him over his shoulder. Kale took off running down another corridor. I did a quick sweep of the other monitors. Satan bought had taken out two more of the lower tier voids while Morgie was engaged with a high hurricane void named the mechanic, 6'5-196 centimeters, 276. 70 pounds, 122 kilograms. Like the name suggested, he was a very large, burly man in a mechanics outfit that enjoyed obliterating skulls with blunt tools.

It's a real ruthless guy. On another monitor, the undead Nazi had just finished slicing the shit out of the devil nurse, who was a mid-sunami. So that's 12 down, I thought. 20 left. The shit show wasn't even anywhere near done. Check it out, Sandus said. There's still four voids who haven't escaped yet.

Sure enough, he was right. First off, there was the Titan, 15 feet 7 inches, 475 centimeters, 1,438 pounds, 652 kilograms. A colossal entity with destructive capabilities that were nigh impossible to deal with. It was a humanoid with an immensely muscular frame further accentuated by the fact that there wasn't an ounce of fat on his entire body. It's harder than steel, skin, was reddish and cracked all over, with a road map of razor-like veins bulging at every square inch. And then there was the face. It had six sets of glowing blue eyes and a mouth full of fangs that exposed gums that were caustic to the touch.

His holding cell, if you could even call it that, was a bit more fortified than the rest. I'm under-exaggerating, of course. It was fortified to goddamn hell. No electronic locks connected to a central system either, which, is probably what caused the breach to begin with. Good thing, too. He was a low asteroid. The next one up was the warden, 8'7, 261 centimeters, 435 pounds, 197 kilograms.

Ironically enough, this guy apparently used to run a prison of his own. What kind of prison that might be was beyond me. He had pale white skin, shadow-like eyes, long, slicked-back silver hair. His trench coat was long and perpetually bloody, sweeping the floor as he walked. I've heard stories about the guy. Supposedly, he killed upwards of 700 prisoners during a breach at his prison, managing to come out unscathed from a devastating explosion afterwards. He was as dangerous as a void could get without being considered asteroid tier, being

a high hurricane. Funny enough, his cell was wide open, with guard bodies and destroyed mecks suits littering the space. But instead of getting up and walking out, he simply sat. That, expression devoid of anything at all, like it usually was. Obviously, he was up to nothing good. The next one was quite the doozy, the strongest void in the entire chasm, in fact. He went by a simple moniker, the calamity of Earth, or just the calamity for short.

Its gender was unknown, its height and weight unknown, appearance unknown to everyone except the top officials overseeing this entire fucking operation. Hell, we don't even know where it was kept. The only thing we had to monitor was a simple panel containing three lights. Green, safe, still contained. Yellow, breakout in progress, evacuate immediately. And red, breached. Too fucking late.

What did we know about this thing? Nothing, save for the fact that a breach would most likely result in a global catastrophe. Of course, it was a high asteroid, the only high asteroid in fact. And then there was the last still captive void, but unlike the three overpowered monsters I've already talked about, he was a lot different. The kid. It's 5'6, 168 centimeters, 142 pounds, 68 kilograms. As his name implies, the kid was just that.

A kid from his appearance. He couldn't have been much older than 16 or 17 at most. The only thing we knew about him was that he apparently had extraordinary undisclosed abilities. Abilities he used to slaughter his entire village back in Kerala, India. But who the hell knows what actually happened? To me and nearly every other guard, he just seemed like your average meek teenager. In fact, we rarely ever exerted caution around him. Unlike the rest of the voids in here, he just did as he was told, always with this incredibly

sullen expression on his face. I suppose that I can't blame him, given the circumstances. We didn't even bother putting a threat level on him. Nevertheless, we were instructed to keep him there. There's a lot of stuff going on here in the chasm that us guards don't. don't quite understand. I make no reservations about that. I know for a goddamn fact that not everything we're doing here is saintly work.

Do a lot of voids in here deserve to be locked up? Not even. They deserve to be wiped off the face of the earth. I never understood why we bothered holding the more malicious ones, using taxpayer money just to keep them alive. And then there were the ones who I wasn't quite sure belonged to it at all. Did they even do anything wrong? Who knows?

But one thing was for sure. They were different. Exceptional, I guess. The subjects of state curiosity. I always tried suppressing these thoughts. I mean, who the hell was I? Just some random fucking guard, not some arbiter of morality. Still.

Fuck it, this isn't the time. So let's see, what happened next? I turned to face a random monitor, trying to take my mind off of the kid. I caught what appeared to be the middle of a fight with the two combatants being Jack the Ripper, 6'1, 185 centimeters. 170 pounds, 77 kilograms, the infamous serial killer. Apparently, he'd performed some arcane ritual wall on death's door that granted him an extended lifespan and superhuman strength

in exchange for what was left of his already dwindling humanity. He hardly resembled a human when we caught him, with a mouthful of sharp, rotting teeth, eyes sunken beyond reason, and a face riddled with cuts, burns, and various infections. It was quite the sore sight to behold. At that moment, he was once again at death. store. The person who put him there?

Bella Vauclaine, aka the bloody painter. 5'155 cm. 122 pounds, 55 kilograms. Despite looking more or less like a normal woman, she was a brutal assassin that wasn't too concerned with the aftermath of her job. After killing her target, she painted a bloody picture on the walls. Sometimes she'd supplement her art with a few organs. She wasn't incredibly strong, but that didn't matter all too much.

She had this obscure ability where she could summon blades out of thin air at the tips of her fingers and then used some Esper-like ability to shoot them off in rapid succession, almost at a machine-gun-like rate of fire. She had no problems reducing her targets to mincemeet, the ones she really disliked, that is. When we finally captured her, she maintained that she only killed the ones who really deserved it. However, any chance of appeal, not that there was a chance to begin with, was shattered when she punctured the throats of three guards.

She still claimed that it was an accident to this day. Do I believe her? Well, it's about 50-50 with me. Like I said, she had jack on the ropes, with what must have been over 100 blades planted firmly within the killer's body, including both of his eyes. Still, he had yet to give up as he swung wirehead's bat. He must have picked it up, blindly and wildly around him. Bella wasn't unscathed herself.

It looked as if she'd taken a couple of pretty bad hits to her ribcage and thigh. In addition to that, she had a gnarly bite mark on her hand. Nevertheless, she smiled as she pointed her fingers like a pistol at the frenzied jack. Prophilette, unfair. She said, before blasting the killer to shreds, finally ending his grim legacy. Once she was done with that, she let out a loud sigh, clutching her ribs and wincing in pain. Unlike most of the other voids, she wasn't capable of taking too much punishment. After walking for a bit, she came across Luz.

While still badly mangled from his confrontation with Wirehead, he was walking again. I didn't even know that he could regenerate that quickly. The two stared at each other for about half a minute before Bella stuck out her hand and smiled. It was a risk for sure, but while Luz didn't reciprocate the smile, he cooperated, accepting the handshake without electrocuting her. Another team-up, and one that I wouldn't necessarily have expected. I did another quick sweep of the monitors. Morgie had taken out the mechanic, although he was limping now.

and his next fight wasn't going to be an easy one. He was a few steps from coming across Satan bot. In the meantime, and funny enough, the undead Nazi was about to square off with the sadistic Soviet. 6'2, 187 centimeters, 215 pounds, 98 kilograms. Low earthquake tier. Instead of being zombified like the Nazi, he was more mechanical. More specifically, he was about 60% robotic, with his human bits slowly beginning to rot away. The surgeon was engaged in a bloody duel with Spider-Man, 6'9, 206 centimeters,

215 pounds, 102 kilograms. Unlike Peter Parker, this guy was basically just a large tarantula with human skin and a half-human head. Kale and Hugo were in the medical center with the former tending to the latter's wounds. I thought about everything for a second, trying to run the numbers through my head. There were four more voids that had definitely escaped that I hadn't seen yet on any of the monitors, but I was only really concerned about two of them. You see, within the chasm, there were four asteroid-tier voids in total.

Two of them were still contained. The problem was rather obvious. Beyond that, there were now 14 voids dead. Four who still haven't joined the fight, 14 currently active. All four asteroids still in play. Three high earthquakes as well. TFVNH likely on their way. Holy fuck, I thought to myself.

The real fight hasn't even started yet. About a sudden, ruckus laughter nearly gave me a heart attack. I looked at Sandu, but his face was dead serious. That meant... Shit. With everything that was going on, I completely forgot about the elephant in the room, but sure enough, they were finally ready to reveal themselves. As footsteps began emanating from the darkness behind us,

I braced myself for whatever horrific entity we were surely about to encounter. But instead of that, it was an unfamiliar guy that looked to be in his mission. 20s with messy, dirty blonde hair dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He was probably about 5'10 or 130 pounds. Soaking wet. What the hell? Sandu said upon seeing him. The man continued laughing as he strolled towards us.

Oh, man. He blurted out in between chuckles. There's shit in both your pants right now, isn't there? Don't lie to me. Well, the joke's gone on long enough. Who the fuck are you? Sandu asked, sounding somewhat agitated. The man put his arms up in an ostensibly defensive manner.

Relax, I'm just an observer here. But his bloodshot eyes seemed to bulge out as they wandered over to the monitors. It looks like the preliminaries are over. Time for the good stuff. I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. The man stepped towards us with a gaze that I can only describe as... Volatile. Perhaps in the moment he had no ill intent, but there were volcanoes behind his eyes.

Volcanoes that looked ready to erupt at any damn point. For that reason, I found myself slowly backing away. But not Sandu. For whatever reason, he stood his ground, facing the strange man without reservation. I suppose it also helped that he was six-four, with a considerably larger frame. The name's Adrian Nyquist, he said. His voice nearly shaking with some kind of obscure excitement. He held out his hand, but neither of us bothered with the niceties of the introduction.

He sighed. What? Is it me? He lifted his shirt collar and taking a whiff. He got a shower more, Adrian. And then he started laughing again. But can you blame me? I've been busy.

Who the fuck are you? Sandu insisted. And don't just tell us your name again. Okay. Adrian said, smirking. Big guy. Scary stuff, really. What'd you bench?

Three plates in a bit? Sandu opened his mouth again, but was interrupted. It's fine though. I'll go ahead and explain myself. I mean, the whole situation's kind of weird. Yeah, I responded. Just kind of. Adrian sat down on the floor and let out a big puff of air.

I don't really want to go too in-depth here. I don't enjoy talking about myself, so let me just drop the bomb on you first. I caused the breach. I nearly swallowed my tongue. What the fuck do you mean? I meant what I said. I let all the prisoners out. But what?

How? I stammered out. He tilted his head back and groaned before pretending to type on an invisible keyboard. Just a little hacking, man. It's nothing crazy. And they say you'll never use the stuff you learn in school in real life. Packing. I responded in disbelief.

But why? Well, that's where it does get a little crazy. Now, have you ever hopped dimensions? Have I ever fucking what? All right. I see you're uninitiated with the concept. Well, unlike hacking some corny lock system, the logistics there really do get complicated. I'll admit that I don't 100% understand it myself, but I understand just enough to have some fun.

I was at a complete loss. I'm a jumper. That's what they call us. He chuckled somewhat goofily. Still a novice, but at least I'm out there doing it, living life. You know? Anyway, the multiverse is massive, obviously. A lot of crazy worlds out there and just waiting to be explored.

but he paused. I made a mistake last month. You see, I was watching some brutal big stakes fighting tournament called the Evisceration Championship on a planet called Hellscape. It's a real fucked up place, but drugs and laws are mostly unenforced there, so, you know, it's all right, I guess. Anyway, I'm up in the stands, 12th row, just blitzed out of my fucking mind on Astro Coke.

It's like regular Coke, if regular Coke was actually good. He blew his nose into a disgusting handkerchief. But sometimes you make bad decisions when you're juiced. I guess school taught us something else, huh? This is a long story short. I made a deal with some fucking sketchy intergalactic gang leader named Bones the Fourth, that I'd provide him a fighter that would guarantee him a win for the next tournament. But obviously I was just talking shit.

Not sure why the guy believed me, an astro-cokhead of all people. He burst out laughing again. Well, I'll never understand the rich. Okay, I responded, barely comprehending what I had just been told. Assuming that what you just said is all true, that you're not completely fucking bonkers, why don't you just tell the guy you don't have a fighter? Well, Adrian made a whoopsie gesture with his hands. The guy paid up front, a metric fuck ton of intergalactic currency and about 22 kilograms,

50 pounds of Astro Coke. Well, then just go and give him back. All right, Mr. Self-control. Teach me your fucking secrets. Look, I've blown all the money. I still have a few kilos of Coke, though, for a rainy day. I'm not sharing, by the way. So what the hell?

This whole thing is some fucked up tournament to you? You're just going to drag the last void standing to fight in these evisceration matches? Well, it's less of a tournament and more of a haphazard free-for-all. I'm no logistics expert after all. I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to say to the guy. If you're behind the breach, then you're responsible for the deaths of hundreds of guards. Hundreds of good men. Sandu coughed.

Most of them, good men. Adrian rolled his eyes. Yeah, okay, real loss, huh? I'm just trying to live my life here, man. You're insane. Look, did that comment get us anywhere? You feel better now after stating the obvious? No reply from Sandu.

Adrian sighed. Look, can we just enjoy the show now? What's done is... He was interrupted by Sandu trying to tackle him to the ground. The man did know Jiu-Jitsu, but no luck. He couldn't even get Adrian to budge. I saw the veins in his forehead bulging as he apparently exerted all of his strength trying to subdue the strange, lanky man.

Shit, he said through gritted teeth. This guy's strong. Adrian simply pulled out a pack of cigarettes, looking completely unbothered. You know, I've taken a lot of strange drugs from a lot of different dimensions. One of them was bound to be a steroid. Also, he began grinning like a maniac. I'm no stranger to training. Wouldn't survive out there if I was weak like you guys.

He picked up Sandu by the collar and just. gently tossed him back. Given the circumstances, I'll forgive that you just tried to attack me. Now, why don't we just sit tight and watch? And I held up a hand. One last question, if you will. Adrian rolled his eyes and groan like a child. Come on, we're missing the good shit.

But fine, hurry up. The last void standing, they're bound to be pretty strong, right? Adrian nodded. Stronger than you? Well, no shit. I'm not trying to grab some chump. Okay, so how the hell are you going to convince them to come with you? These prisoners aren't exactly reasonable.

Adrian stared at me with just about the stupidest look on his face for about ten seconds. Well, you know what they say? He cracked his knuckles. You just got to live in the now. You're an idiot. Would an idiot get this far? The idiot had a good point. If you really was the mastermind behind the breach, then the guy had some wicked skills.

But at the same time, his common sense was close to non-existent. Whatever, I'll figure it out when the time comes, he said. In the meantime, he shot us both a rather menacing glare. Let's enjoy the damn show. I locked eyes briefly with Sandu. I understood why he was angry. I was too. However, the situation was really beyond helping.

We could only do as we were told. While we'd been talking, the Nazi had defeated the Soviet, although he did suffer gruesome injuries from the bout. A portion of his gas mask had been shattered, revealing a rotting jaw underneath. In fact, his entire body had been moved. pummeled to near pulp as he struggled to limp along the rails. Adrian grunted. Great. We missed the World War II rematch. I hope you guys are happy with yourselves. The guy really was like a child, a really capable, psychotic child. In other news, Satan

bought blew up morgue, along with the entire corridor, while the surgeon had made a surprise discovery after disemboweling the spider's abdomen. It was filled with about 200 smaller humanoid spiders that began swarming him. It was hard not to shudder at the sight. Bella and Luz looked like they were still trying to find a way out, while Kale and Hugo had encountered the Rowdy Clown, 7'8, 234 centimeters, 177 pounds, 80 kilograms. Rowdy really was something else.

His appearance didn't just make you fear clowns in the carnival. He made you fear life itself, an impossibly tall, skinny, pale, ghoul-like humanoid, dressed in a bloody, dirty 1960s clown costume, with twitching twig-like fingers and cracked red lips enveloping a mouth filled with sharp, sticky black teeth. Then there was the fact that he had no eyes and too thin bleeding slits for a nose. I really do wonder what kind of God could have created such an entity. But he wasn't terribly strong, only being a mid-sunami. Rowdy spat a mouthful of dark, gooey spit at Cale dissolving the right side of his face.

God me. Kail muttered trying to wipe the ungodly substance away, only to pull apart bits of his flesh and muscle in the process. Just nuke this fucking place. Rowdy began cackling like the hellish fiend he was, swinging a lead balloon attached to Barb wire right to the still injured Hugo's head. However, Kail managed to intercept it at the last moment, breaking his own hand in the process. Suddenly, a pair of giant bat-like wings sprouted from his back.

He flew towards Rowdy before drop-kicking his head clean off. That seems like something you should have used. earlier. Hugo remarked nonchalantly, You know, I would, but doing so makes me feel pretty gross. I decided to check back on the surgeon, but he was gone. Oh, fuck, I muttered as I began seeing black haze around me. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, followed by a high-pitched, slimy voice that oozed its way into my ears.

You got me out of a real sticky situation there. Hesitently, I looked up at the surgeon's cold, dark gaze as he grinned like a maniac down at me. And then his neck was twisted a full 360 degrees. As he dropped, Adrian let out a big breath of air, stretching out his knuckles. Yeah, a guy broke the rules. There's no running from a fight. And besides you, he was weak.

Wouldn't have stood a chance in the evisceration matches anyway. Uh, is he dead? I stammered out, looking down at the limp surgeon. Uh, yeah, I shook my head in disbelief. But we've put sniper bullets through his temple. How did you... Adrian Sharman, Sharman. me a smug grin.

Like I said, y'all are just weak. Now keep watching, things are getting interesting. A few moments later, the Nazi came across the remnants of the spider and its hatchlings, torching them to ashes without hesitation, allowing me to breathe easier. Immediately after taking out the spider, he crossed paths with the chattering man. He was 5'11, 180 centimeters, 145 pounds, 66 kilograms. It's mid-earthquake tier. As much as I hated sympathizing with Nazis, the guy couldn't seem to catch a break.

Resembling a horribly slouched humanoid, the chattering man was the kind of creature that parents told their kids about and attempt to scare them into being good. Each and every one of his limbs were jagged and contorted, covered by thin, borderline translucent skin that was still inexplicably bulletproof. His eyes were covered in a damp, bloody, dirty cloth while this long black matted hair swayed wildly as he twitched around. And then there were his teeth. They were giant, about twice the size of normal humans, and coinciding with his name, rapidly

and constantly chattering like hell. Yielding one of the most disturbing sounds imaginable. Adrian slammed his fist on the table in excitement. Oh, yes, this is the match I've been waiting for. The chattering man stared the Nazi down, his teeth rattling together like a frenzied demonic drum. The Nazi responded by abruptly engulfing him in a sea of flames. However, the chattering man simply walked through it completely unscathed.

I could see the Nazi clench his jaw in apparent frustration. He drew his knife and rushed in, attempting to engage him up close. The chatterer was surprisingly fast, dodging each slice before biting down on the Nazi's flamethrower tank. The subsequent explosion flung them both into the air, destroying a good portion of the Nazis back in the process. On the other hand, the chattering man only suffered a few cracked teeth. Holy hell, I muttered.

Truth be told, I'd never actually seen the chattering man in action up until that point. we'd been low-balling him on the threat scale. The Nazi let out a hoarse scream, before rushing back towards his disturbing opponent. He managed to sink his blade into the chattering man's shoulder before being blindsided by a swipe to the face, completely shattering what remained of his mask, revealing his full zombie-fied visage beneath. The chattering man surged his head forward, biting a large chunk of the Nazi's face off, causing spurts of dark green blood to explode everywhere.

He followed up by ripping an arm off before savagely beating the undead soldier with his own appendage, grabbing the knife that was still lodged inside the chattering man's shoulder, carving a large gash that extended down his rip cage. Nevertheless, his admittedly impressive run was finally over. Not seeming to acknowledge the wound at all, the chattering man plunged two bony fists into the Nazi's chest before ripping his torso in half. Quite the gruesome display for sure, but Adrian seemed to revel in it. He let out a ruckus cheer for the victor. What the fuck is wrong with this guy? I thought to myself. Tossing that aside, it became apparent that things. were beginning to come down to the wire. Kale and Hugo had found themselves within the vicinity

of the dancing guy, his 5'7, 170 centimeters, 155 pounds, 71 kilograms. He was an ordinary looking, albeit racially ambiguous man in his mid-20s with short, light brown hair and a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow dressed in a plain white t-shirt and track pants. He also wore a pair of unbranded earbuds connected to an MP3 player that never seemed to run out of battery. And of Of course, he never stopped dancing. He was a mid-astroid, and the third strongest being in the entire chasm. Hell, it's entirely possible that he was actually the strongest. We've never seen him fight against the top two, after all.

So just how the hell was such an ostensibly innocuous man so dangerous? Who the hell knew? Like most of the prisoners, he was truly beyond explanation. If I had to classify him, he'd 100% be chaotic neutral. He had no concept of good or evil. No sense of right or wrongs, no goals, no ideals. The guy just wanted to dance, and he sure as hell was a menace while doing so. Yet, he would never go out of his way to bother you.

You just had to stay out of his. He could disintegrate people just by touching them. He simply danced through your body, leaving nothing but shreds of flesh and blood behind. If you ever tried stopping him, oh boy. You see, his eyes were always closed when he was dancing to the music funneling into his ears, if that music ever stopped, then he'd be forced to open them up. And then all hell would break loose. He'd go on a rampage until he got those earbuds back.

And nothing could take him down in the process. Nothing! For that reason, it was better to leave him undisturbed, allowing him to dance to his heart's content. For that reason, his holding cell was the largest, giving him plenty of room to do so. Fun fact, he listens to many genres, but his favorite is EDM, especially melodic trance and hard style. But now he was out. Bad news for everyone, and Kale knew it. Shit.

He muttered. We're not dealing with that. Why? Hugo asked. Is he strong? Kail nodded. More than you know. Then that's all the more reason why we need to eliminate him.

But before he could make the biggest mistake of his life, Kale scooped him up and began running the other direction. Let's not do that. Oh, yeah, big boys are coming out. Adrian's abrupt shout nearly shattered my eardrums. I glanced over to see which monitor he was like. looking at and then I understood his excitement. Satan bought had come across his next opponent, but it wasn't one he was going to have such an easy time with. Standing opposite of him on a walkway on the very top floor was Long Wu, aka the mechanical menace, 6'9, 205 centimeters, 375 pounds,

170 kilograms. He was a mid-astroid, right in between the calamity and the dancing guy in terms of estimated strength. He was actually a special case. You see, See, he was originally held in the Chinese equivalent of a chasm, known as the well. However, as a political favor, a complicated exchange, mind you, the U.S. allowed the PRC to transfer Wu over. This was shortly after he'd killed 400 guards and nearly escaped entirely. They just really didn't want to deal with him anymore. He's also interesting in the sense that he wasn't born with any supernatural abilities or superhuman powers. His danger came from his brilliant but unhinged mind and his obsession with the concept of,

transhumanism and being the change that shifts humanity into a new technological age. His original progress-driven ideals could have been deemed noble at some point, but then he went off the deep end with power and decided to prove just how much better we could be once we'd fully integrated ourselves with technology. And how did he decide to do that? By trying to kill anybody and everybody he saw. His power came from his suit, which he'd apparently semi-fused with his own body. It was comprised of a dark, undefined.

landable metal that had so far proved to be unbreakable. With it, he had a vast arsenal of devastating overpowered weapons at his disposal. Machine guns, shotguns, explosives, knives, you name it. Both of the eyes on his helmet were also capable of firing rail gun blasts. But his most powerful weapon was something he called the Singularity Blade. That weapon was where the science ended and the fucked up shit began. Being about five feet and 152 centimeters long and glowing a deep emberable, The sword was an enigma.

I'm not sure how he made it or what he did to obtain it, but it sure as hell wasn't the result of any kind of engineering. Anytime he swung it, a sharp, ear-splitting roar could be heard from everywhere and nowhere at once, and then from the tip of the blade some kind of ghost-like serpent-esque entity would emerge, utterly annihilating anything in the area with its flames, fangs and claws. You could only see it for about a second, and most guards were under the impression that it didn't even exist. But it does, and it's haunting. They're going to destroy this place," Sandus said. Adrian pulled an old-looking pack of peanuts from his back pocket, stuffing a handful in his mouth.

Oh, you got that right. He shouted, spitting crumbs everywhere. Wu took the first offensive, unleashing a typhoon of bullets from a chain gun that jutted out from his chest. Satan bot managed to dodge every shot, closing the distance between them in the process. Both of their movements were incredibly hard to follow, of course. Once he got close, he attempted to strike Wu with his tail, only to have it blocked by a large shield that abruptly materialized from his forearm. Wu attempted to slice the tail off with a large axe, but Satanbot managed to evade the blow at the last second.

I suddenly understood why he was so dangerous. Unlike Satanbot, whose weapons were already fixed on its body, Wu's suit was capable of adapting to any situation, morphing its robotic appendages into whatever weapon was best suited to countering his opponent. Jesus Christ, I muttered at the realization. This guy's a fucking monster. Even though Satanbot had managed to dodge that strike, the next one would prove more difficult to evade. In a borderline flash-like movement, wooed through a Muay-kick at Satanbot's side, piercing it with a spike that protruded from the tip of his foot.

He finished the combo by transforming his fist into a tool comparable in appearance to a meat grinder, drilling into Satanbot's shoulder, tearing its arm off in the process. Adrian groaned. And here I thought the devil robot was going to put up more of a fight. But he spoke too soon. After taking the hit, Satan Bot was already on the counter, whipping his tail around to strike the side of Wu's head. Wu recoiled slightly, still managing to destroy one of Satan Bot's knees with a railgun blast

as he staggered. He was about to finish a job when a large cannon materialized from Satan Bot's torso, a hidden last-stand weapon, I suppose. From the barrel, it fired out an immense blast of purple energy that Wu barely had time to dodge as it scorched the side of his helmet. It blew a gigantic fucking hole in the fortified ceiling, causing sunlight to leak in. And keep in mind, we're about a hundred feet and thirty meters underground. But Wu didn't give Satan bought any more time to reveal any further tricks, blasting his body

to bits in a brutal spray from an automatic grenade launcher. It seemed as if Adrian was about to pass out from excitement. That's my boy! He shouted. Fuck, Bones! We're going to win this whole tournament ourselves! What I hadn't noticed was Bella and Luz watching the whole encounter from behind cover. Bella's eyes lit up upon seeing the hole, a rather convenient escape route.

She ran out from her hiding spot before leaping an extraordinary distance in the air right towards freedom. But then, out of nowhere, a massive armored hand grabbed her by the neck from the surface. A gigantic man dressed in a streamlined mech suit of a model that I wasn't familiar with dropped down, landing hard on the walkway. He continued to nonchalantly strangle Bell as he surveyed the scene. What a mess. His booming voice reverberated through the monitors.

It's time to enforce justice. If Adrian was giddy before, he was off the rails now. Oh, they're here, they're here, they're finally here. It's time for the semi-fucking finals. Who the hell is here? I asked, already somewhat knowing the answer. The Alpha boys and girls, the apex predators. He responded.

Task Force Nova Hammer. Task Force Void Nova Hammer. Most of the guards I knew were just dying to see them in action. I was the odd one out in that regard. Well, they were here now, and those guards were too dead to see them. I'm sorry, that was a really distasteful joke. I guess Adrian's presence has rubbed off on me just a tiny bit. Speaking of Adrian, he was feverishly fumbling around in his pockets while keeping his eyes glued on the monitor.

After a few moments, he tossed a bag of white powder onto the table. Astro Coke? I asked. He shook his head. Nah, just the regular stuff. The show's not at its climax yet. You got to pace yourself. He snorted the whole mound in about half a minute. Yo! He grunted, wiping his nose off. He fellows want to hear a secret? I don't think we had a choice.

The task force, I, void, novi, whatever. How do you think the members get recruited? I shrugged. I don't know, some kind of test, I guess. He guffod. Nah, they're voids as well. My mouth dropped. As he went on to explain,

TFVNH was a constantly rotating team comprised of voids, save for a few exceptions, who were a reasonable balance of both powerful and sane. In fact, different countries occasionally went their own voids to one another to use for their respective forces. In exchange for their service, the members would be allowed to live freely among society, although they were monitored heavily while doing so. You sure know a lot of confidential stuff, Sandus said to Adrian. Just who the hell are you? Adrian sat back in his seat.

Ah, nobody. Just a dabbler, a jack-of-all-trades, master of a good handful. He sure was insufferable. In any case, I put my sights back on the monitor, as Bella struggled against the seemingly insurmountable foe. She tried blasting him with a blade spray, but before she could even raise her hand, it was broke with a single firm grasp. She spat the life draining from her breath.

As Adrian would go on to tell us, this particular TFVNH member was Kente, the guillotine Sanders. 6.197 centimeters, 287 pounds, 130 kilograms. Supposedly, he was a real hard ass, an abnormally powerful man with an incredibly skewed and strict sense of justice. To him, the word nuance meant nothing. Rehabilitation was a joke, second chances were an alien concept. He was a man whose worldview was utterly black and white. To him, the laws that landed himself in prison didn't constitute legitimate justice. His ideals were the only ones that mattered.

Cross his sensibilities and you were a criminal in desperate need of execution. He's got a pretty notorious reputation in these parts." Adrian continued. He's captured at least seven of the voids in here himself, nearly killed all of them as well. Honestly, I'm not rooting for him to win. Gonna be too hard to wrangle in afterwards. Just as Bella looked about ready to pass out, Kente was blindsided by a sudden rush from Luz.

Well, I guess blindsided wasn't really the right to be. term, Kentay blocked his strike with relative ease. There's revenge customer Noemone. The big guy wiped out Luz's entire village before dragging him into this place. No wonder he's pissed. For the first time, Luz had a fierce expression on his face. He let out a rage-laden shriek before digging both of his hands into the only exposed part of Kente's body, his neck, lighting up the area and his face with sparks.

Oh boy, that ain't gonna work. Adrian muttered, grinning. Kente grunted, seemingly taking the full brunt of the excessive shock without going down, before grabbing both of Luz's arms and slamming him into the floor. He dropped Bella in the process, who immediately ran off with her life. Adrian clicked his tongue in disdain. She's not even helping him out. I guess that's linen for you, eh?

Sandu and I just kind of glanced at each other awkwardly following the comment. Unfortunately, Luz's rage just wasn't enough for him to fulfill his revenge while still on the ground. Kente stomped on his head, crushing it like a watermelon. and quite the gruesome sight to behold. Afterwards, he set his sight on Wu, who had been observing the whole exchange. Finally, Adrian said, the strong are going at it. For a moment, Wu and Kente both seemed to acknowledge each other's power, hesitating for just a moment. And then in a flash, they rushed at each other simultaneously.

Both of their opening moves were kicks, catching each other's respective legs mid-air, causing the walkway beneath them to crack underneath their combined pressure. On top of possessing overwhelming strength, they were being. both apparently skilled in martial arts as well. A terrifying combination, but Wu possessed another more devastating aspect on top of it all. Actual weapons. Wu dropped his leg, opting to blast Kente with a flurry of shotgun rounds instead. It was enough to send him flying backwards, breaking apart the torso section of his suit. And he didn't give him a second to breathe. Wu rushed forward immediately after, grabbing Kente's helmet and slamming it down on his knee,

shattering it completely. He attempted to decapitate him on the spot with a sob. But Kente caught the slash before it could land. He looked up at Wu. His dark eyes twisted with rage. He broke the saw in half before delivering a powerful-looking right cross to Wu's stomach that splintered a portion of a suit and sent him crashing into the rails. He managed to crack the damn thing. I thought, astonished at the fact.

That meant to add a minimum, Kente's punches packed more stopping power than an M-203 gamed. Oh, he's getting serious, Adrian smiled. You know what they call his striking technique? What? The pulverizing fist. He twists his knuckles at the last minute, grinding flesh to a pulp. With his strength, it's like drilling through wet toilet paper. That's only for regular people.

It doesn't work on big boys like Wu. The armor covering Kente's knuckles had shattered upon impact. He winced in pain as he cocked it back, preparing to deliver another strike. You are an impediment to justice, he said through gritted teeth. Prepare to be executed. But before the two could clash again, five more figures jumped down from the hole that Satan Bought had created, landing in succession around Kentay. Looks like the whole gang's arrived, Adrian said.

He began giving us a rundown of the other TFVNH members. First off, there was Ken, the fugitive Rio. 6-2-188 centimeters. 165 pounds, 85 kilograms. A Korean-American from Brooklyn. Not a super malicious guy. He kind of just did whatever the hell he wanted. The problem is a lot of those things happen to be illegal and unethical.

Let's be honest. He was nonchalantly chewing tobacco as he leaned on the rails. His ability was rather interesting. Even Adrian had a hard time explaining it. Physically speaking, Ken was more or less average. However, he had the ability to summon portals from which obscure-looking but terribly powerful entities would emerge and tear apart his opponents. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was escape.

He hated being monitored. there was Nassar, the bloody twister, El Rafi, 5'9, 174 centimeters, 168 pounds, 76 kilograms. He was alone from the Saudi Arabian government. He possessed the ability to transform into a world when comprised of glass-like material, moving at speeds of upwards of 120 miles, along with being able to blast out deadly streams of shards at multiple targets at once. It was quite the gruesome way to go. He was also a real weird guy.

While nearly every other void assigned to TFVNH had relatively clear ambitions, his were an absolute mystery, but he probably wasn't up to anything good. His eyes were darting wildly around while a gigantic, mischievous-looking grin was plastered across his face. Up next there was Callista, the beautiful demon, Taylor, 511, 181 centimeters, 125 kilograms. She was a former fashion model based in Australia. Her career ended at the ripe age of 23, when she ended up suddenly murdering four of her fellow models, along with the police force sent to detain her. Supposedly, her abilities had been latent from birth, gradually building up to a point where she was unable to keep it in any longer.

In her demon mode, her mouth would fall abnormally agape, dark rings would form around her pupils and her body would be engulfed in cold, gray flames. At that point, she'd become intangible like a ghost and drift into her victim's body bodies, causing them to bleed profusely from every orifice. But that only worked on humans. For most voids, she'd have to resort to physically brawling using her razor-like fingers. Her ambitions were fairly explicit. She just wanted to kill everybody, void or not.

It begged the question as to why they'd even assign her to the force to begin with, given the fact that she was so damn volatile. Whatever, I'll never understand these people. She was staring intently at Nasar, but without any real emotion behind her gaze. It kind of just looked like she wanted to kill him for the sake of it. Continuing on, there was Clint, the normal guy, Rockwell, 6.1, 185 centimeters, 180 pounds, 82 kilograms. Like Nassar, he was also a mystery. Supposedly, he'd never been a void at all.

No otherworldly powers, abilities. Just a regular, albeit incapable guy. Adrian didn't know much about him, only that he was a special case granted access to confidential information and a spot on TFVNH due to a recommendation from an unnamed higher-up. In order to compensate for his lack of physical abilities, he was granted an oversized power suit dubbed the behemoth, along with the god-slaying cannon, a heavy-duty automatic rifle that fired explosive rounds at about 600 RPM. He stood still with a rather determined expression on his face, as if he had his mindset on a regular concrete objective. Rounding out the bunch was the de facto leader of the

force, Jack, the All-American, Barnes, 6 feet, 183 centimeters, 200 pounds, 91 kilograms. Like Clint, he wasn't a void either. Born in Oklahoma and belonging to a prolific family, he was an inexhaustibly skilled soldier turned government agent that managed to work his way up to the top, with the help of some nepotism. Eventually, he was chosen as the integral subject of the project dubbed the Paragon Trials, in which government scientists would attempt to genetically engineer superhumans. Well, he actually wasn't the first, but that's what he was told, for a peace of mind. In any case, his trials ended up working out in the end.

I guess the eighth time really was the charm. As a result, he was basically Superman, safe for the flight. Genetic engineering hasn't advanced that far. Man, look at those blonde curls, Adrian commented. How the fuck does he get his hair like that? He had an arrogant grin on his face as he strolled to the front of the pact. It only took about five seconds of looking at him to reach the conclusion that he was probably a giant asshole. Hey, what's the rush, Kente? Let's not get too excited here.

Jack said. Remember who's giving the orders, yeah? Your arbitrary orders mean nothing to me. Kentay responded, still staring vehemently at Wu. The only thing that matters is justice. I could see a large vein bulge out on Jack's forehead from the opposition. Okay. He muttered before seemingly composing himself.

Let's finish the task at hand. He directed his gaits towards Wu. Come on, big guy. You lost your chance at a fair fight when you decided to become a robot psycho. While Wu may have been a match for Kente by himself, taking on the entirety of TFVNH at once was a rather tall order. I guess he knew this himself as he jumped over the rails, landing on the lower floor. I'm going after him. Jack said, stepping forward.

The rest of you take out the riff-ref. They want the voids alive, but I'm going to be sorely. disappointed if you don't bring me back some fucking minced meat. That was one thing him and Kente could agree on. And remember. He said, turning back, his expression was suddenly teeming with fury. You're all scum-fuck piece of ship voids as well. You try to escape, try to fuck with me.

You're going to be begging for me to end your pathetic fucking lives. He pointed at Ken. You stay here. Make sure nobody tries escaping through the roof. Instead of acknowledging the order, Ken just spat his tobacco into a plastic bottle. Hey, you listening to me, you fucking Jap? Remember when we beat you in the fucking war? Isn't he Korean?

Clint muttered. Ken just raised an eyebrow and remarked, Dude, I don't even know how to respond to that. Look, whatever. Just fucking listen to me, all right? Ken grinned sarcastically and made a defensive gesture. Okay, boss. Jack's forehead vein bulged out even more.

It was really starting to look pretty gross. All right, let's fucking go then. After finishing his motivational speech, he jumped down, presumably going after Wu. Save for Ken, the rest of TFVNH followed suit, scattering throughout the chasm in search of the remaining voids. The strong were finally about to converge on one bloody path. As dark and weird and gruesome as the whole situation was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit excited to see what was about to transpire. Task Force Void Noverhammer. Most of the guards I knew were just dying to see them in act.

dying to see them in action. I was the odd one out in that regard. Well, they were here now, and those guards were too dead to see them. I'm sorry, that was a really distasteful joke. I guess Adrian's presence has rubbed off on me just a tiny bit. Speaking of Adrian, he was feverishly fumbling around in his pockets while keeping his eyes glued on the monitor. After a few moments, he tossed a bag of white powder onto the table.

Astro-Colk? I asked. He shook his head. Nah, just the regular stuff. The show's not at its climax yet. You gotta pace yourself. He snorted the whole mound in about half a minute. Yo!

He grunted, wiping his nose off. You fellas want to hear a secret? I don't think we had a choice. The task force... Void Nova, whatever. How do you think the members get recruited? I shrugged. I don't know.

Some kind of test, I guess. He guffod. Nah, there voids as well. My mouth dropped. As he went on to explain, TFVNH was a constantly rotating team comprised of voids, save for a few exceptions, who were a reasonable balance of both powerful and sane. In fact, different countries occasionally went their own voids to one another to use for their respective forces. In exchange for their service, the members would be allowed to live freely among society,

although they were monitored heavily while doing so. You sure know a lot of confidential stuff, Sandus said to Adrian, Just who the hell are you? Adrian sat back in his seat. Ah, nobody. Just a dabbler, a jack-of-all-trades, master of a good handful. He sure was insufferable. In any case, I put my sights back on the monitor, as Bellis struggled against the seemingly insurmountable foe.

She tried blasting him with a blade spray, but before she could even raise her hand, it was broke with a single firm grasp. She spat the life draining from her breath. As Adrian would go on to tell us, this particular TFVNH member was Kentee, the guillotine, Sanders, 6-6, 197 centimeters, 287 pounds, 130 kilograms. Supposedly, he was a real hard ass, an abnormally powerful man with an incredibly skewed and strict sense of justice. To him, the word nuance meant nothing. Rehabilitation was a joke, second chances were an alien concept. He was a man whose worldview was utterly black and white. To him, the laws that landed himself in prison didn't constitute legitimate justice. His ideals were the only ones that mattered.

Cross his sensibilities and you were a criminal in desperate need of execution. He's got a pretty notorious reputation in these parts. Adrian continued. He's captured at least seven of the voids in here himself, nearly killed all of them as well. Honestly, I'm not rooting for him to win. Gonna be too hard to wrangle in afterwards. Just as Bella looked about ready to pass out, Kente was blindsided by a sudden rush from Luz.

Well, I guess blindsided wasn't really the right term. Kente blocked his strike with relative ease. There's revenge customer Numeruono. The big guy wiped out Luz's entire village before dragging him into this place. No wonder he's pissed. For the first time, Luz had a fierce expression on his face. He let out a rage-laden shriek before digging both of his hands into the only exposed part of Kente's body, his neck.

lighting up the area and his face with sparks. Oh, boy, that ain't going to work. Adrian muttered, grinning. Kente grunted, seemingly taking the full brunt of the excessive shock without going down before grabbing both of Luz's arms and slamming him into the floor. He dropped Bella in the process, who immediately ran off with her life. Adrian clicked his tongue in disdain. She's not even helping him out.

I guess that's linen for you, eh? Sandu and I just kind of glanced at each other awkwardly following the comment. Unfortunately, Luz's rage just wasn't enough for him to fulfill his revenge while still on the ground. Kente stomped on his head, crushing it like a watermelon, quite the gruesome sight to behold. Afterwards, he set his sight on Wu, who had been observing the whole exchange. Finally! Adrian said.

The strong are going at it. For a moment, Wu and Kente both seemed to acknowledge each other's power, hesitating for just a moment. And then in a flash they rushed at each other simultaneously. Both of their opening moves were kicks, catching each other's respective legs mid-air, causing the walkway beneath them to crack underneath their combined pressure. On top of possessing overwhelming strength, they were both apparently skilled in martial arts as well.

A terrifying combination, but Wu possessed another more devastating aspect on top of it all. Actual weapons. Wu dropped his leg, opting to blast Kentay with a flurry of shotgun rounds instead. It was enough to send him flying backwards, breaking apart the torso section of his suit. he didn't give him a second to breathe. Wu rushed forward immediately after, grabbing Kente's helmet and slamming it down on his knee, shattering it completely. He attempted to decapitate him on the spot with a saw, but Kente caught the slash before it could land.

He looked up at Wu. His dark eyes twisted with rage. He broke the saw in half before delivering a powerful-looking right cross to Wu's stomach that splintered a portion of his suit and sent him crashing into the rails. He managed to crack the damn thing. I thought, astonished at the fact. That meant it had a minimum. Kentay's punches packed more stopping power than an M203 gamade.

Oh, he's getting serious, Adrian smiled. You know what they call his striking technique? What? The pulverizing fisting fist. He twists his knuckles at the last minute, grinding flesh to a pulp. With his strength, it's like drilling through wet toilet paper. That's only for regular people. It doesn't work on big boys like Wu.

The armor covering Kentay's knuckles had shattered upon impact. He winced in pain as he cocked it back, preparing to deliver another strike. You are an impediment to justice, he said through gritted teeth. Prepare to be executed. But before the two could clash again, five more figures jumped down from the hole that Satan bought had created, landing in succession around Kentay. Looks like the whole gang's arrived, Adrian said. He began giving us a rundown of the other TFVNH members. First off, there was Ken, the fugitive Rio, 6-2-188 centimeters, 165 pounds, 85 kilograms.

A Korean American from Brooklyn, not a super malicious guy. He kind of just did whatever the hell he wanted. The problem is a lot of those things happen to be illegal and unethical, let's be honest. He was nonchalantly chewing tobacco as he leaned on the rails. His ability was rather interesting. Even Adrian had a hard time explaining it. Physically speaking, Ken was more or less average. However, he had the ability to summon portals from which obscure-looking but terribly powerful

entities would emerge and tear apart his opponents. But at the end of the day, all he really wanted to do was escape. He hated being monitored. Next, there was Nassar, the bloody twister, El Rafi, 574 centimeters, 168 pounds, 76 kilograms. He was alone from the Saudi Arabian government. He possessed the ability to transform into a world when comprised of glass-like material, moving at speeds of upwards of 120 miles, along with being able to blast out deadly streams of shards at multiple targets at once. It was quite the gruesome way to go. He was also a real weird guy, while nearly every other void assigned to TFVNH had relatively

clear ambitions. His were an absolute mystery. But he probably wasn't up to anything good. His eyes were darting wildly around, while a gigantic and mischievous-looking grin was plastered across his face. Up next there was Callista, the beautiful demon, Taylor, 511, 181 centimeters, 121 pounds, 55 kilograms. She was a former fashion model based in Australia. Her career ended at the ripe age of 23 when she ended up suddenly murdering four of her fellow models, along with the police force sent to detain her. Supposedly, her abilities had been latent from birth,

gradually building up to a point where she was unable to keep it in any longer. In her demon mode, her mouth would fall abnormally agape. Dark rings would form around her pupils, and her body would be engulfed in cold, gray flames. At that point, she'd become intangible like a ghost and drift into her victim's bodies, causing them to bleed profusely from every orifice. But that only worked on humans. For most voids, she'd have to resort to physically brawling using her razor-like fingers. Her ambitions were fairly explicit.

She just wanted to kill everybody, void or not. It begged the question as to why they'd even assign her to the force to begin with, given the fact that she was so damn volatile. Whatever, I'll never understand these people. She was staring intently at Nasar, but without any real emotion behind her gaze. It kind of just looked like she wanted to kill him for the sake of it. Continuing on, there was Clint, the normal guy, Rockwell, 6'1, 185 centimeters, 180 pounds,

82 kilograms. Like Nassar, he was also a mystery. Supposedly he'd never been a void at all, no otherworldly powers, abilities, just a regular, albeit incapable guy. Adrian didn't know much about him, only that he was a special case granted access to confidential information and a spot on TFVNH due to a recommendation from an unnamed higher up. In order to compensate for his lack of physical abilities, he was granted an oversized power suit dubbed the behemoth, along with the god-slaying cannon, a heavy-duty automatic rifle that fired

explosive rams at about 600 RPM. He stood still with a rather determined expression on his face, as if he had his mindset on a regular concrete objective. Rounding out the bunch was the de facto leader of the force, Jack, the All-American, Barnes, six feet, 183 centimeters, 200 pounds, 91 kilograms. Like Clint, he wasn't a void either. Born in Oklahoma and belonging to a prolific family, he was an inexhaustibly skilled soldier turned government agent that managed to work his way up to the top, with the help of some nepotism.

Eventually, he was chosen as the integral subject of the project dubbed the Paragon Trials, in which government scientists would attempt to genetically engineer superhumans. Well, he actually wasn't the first, but that's what he was told, for a peace of mind. In any case, his trials ended up working out in the end. I guess the eighth time really was the charm. As a result, he was basically Superman, safe for the flight. Genetic engineering hasn't advanced that far. Man, look at those blonde curls, Adrian commented.

How the fuck does he get his hair like that? He had an arrogant grin on his face as he strolled to the front of the pact. It only took about five seconds of looking at him to reach the conclusion that he was probably a giant asshole. Hey, what's the rush, Kente? Let's not get too excited here. Jack said. Remember who's giving the orders, yeah? Your arbitrary orders mean nothing to me.

Kente responded, still staring vehemently at Wu. The only thing that matters is justice. I could see a large vein bulge out on Jack's forehead from the opposition. Okay. He muttered before seemingly composing himself. Let's finish the task at hand. He directed his gaites towards Wu. Come on, big guy.

You lost your chance at a fair fight when you decided to become a robot psycho. While Wu may have been a match for Kente by himself, taking on the entirety of T-F-V-N-H at once was a rather tall order. I guess he knew this himself as he jumped over the rails, landing on the lower floor. I'm going after him. Jack said, stepping forward. The rest of you take out the riff-rath. They want the voids alive, but I'm going to be sorely disappointed if you don't bring me back some fucking minced meat. That was one thing him and Kente could agree on.

And remember, he said, turning back, his expression. was suddenly teeming with fury. You're all scum-fuck piece of ship voids as well. You try to escape, try to fuck with me. You're going to be begging for me to end your pathetic fucking lives. He pointed at Ken. You stay here. Make sure nobody tries to escape and through the roof.

Instead of acknowledging the order, Ken just spat his tobacco into a plastic bottle. Hey! You listening to me, you fucking Jap? Remember when we beat you in the fucking war? Isn't he Korean? Clint muttered. Ken just raised an eyebrow and her mum.

Dude, I don't even know how to respond to that. Look, whatever. Just fucking listen to me, all right? Ken grinned sarcastically and made a defensive gesture. Okay, boss. Jack's forehead vein bulged out even more. It was really starting to look pretty gross. All right, let's fucking go then.

After finishing his motivational speech, he jumped down, presumably going after Wu. Save for Ken, the rest of TFVNH followed suit, scattering throughout the chasm in search of the remaining voids. The strong were finally about to converge on one bloody path. As dark and weird and gruesome as the whole situation was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit excited to see what was about to transpire. I can't even keep my eyes still, Adrian said, beaming at the prospect of utter carnage ahead.

My eyes ended up drifting toward the dancing guy, who was jubilantly performing the shuffle along the second floor walkway. Soon enough, he crossed paths with Nasar, who was grinning like. a madman. Without much hesitation, he stepped forward, heading right towards the dancer. Well, I guess it's over for him, I said. I had yet to hear about anybody being able to inflict any kind of damage against the dancing guy. The only thing we could really do was contain him, and I severely doubted that things were going to be any different here.

I'm not so sure, Adrian responded. The guy's a wild card. I think he's just testing the waters here. Before I knew it, Nassar had gotten dangerously close. I held my breath in anticipation. There's no way, I thought. And I was right. Nassar tried to strike the dancer but was blitzed immediately. I could hardly comprehend what it even happened. One moment he was in the midst of throwing a right cross. The next, he was planted firmly within the concrete wall, missing an arm and with a gaping hole in his chest. Holy shit. He spurred it out. He looked towards the dancer, still inexplicably grinning. Damn, you're strong! What the hell's wrong with you?

with him. I wondered out loud. Nothing, nothing at all, Adrian answered, I think I've found a kindred spirit. Nassar pulled himself out of the crater he'd made, displaying zero indication that he was in any kind of pain at all. Suddenly, a flurry of glass engulfed his chest wound and missing arm, reverting them back to normal in a matter of seconds. He stretched himself out before nodding happily at the dancer and walking off. What the fuck? I thought. I looked over at Sandun, wanting to see his own reaction, but he was stone-like, staring at only one monitor in particular. I followed his eyes and realized that for whatever reason, he was focused on the kid, who was still sitting in his cell. Check it out! My thoughts were broken by Adrian's outburst. She's found her prey. I looked at the

monitor he was gesturing to, seeing Kale and Hugo being hacked away at by Kalista. Now who the hell is she? Kale shouted, taking a sequence of gnarly gashes to a chest. Evil incarnate. said, although still severely injured, he was able to move around on his own. Look at her eyes. She's being controlled by the devil. Kalister drilled her hand forward, impaling Kale through the solar plexus. He chopped at her arm before pushing her off.

Fucking hell. He sighed. This is back breaking work. Are you a match for her? Hugo asked. Kail shook his head, exhausted as hell. Doubt it. In that case.

Hugo said, standing up. It seems I'll have. to detach myself fully. What the hell are you talking about? My constraints were only lifted halfway last time. You almost died last time. Are you sure you're going to make it out this time? I'm not planning to.

Kail chuckled. Sorry, I'm not going to let you do that. Hugo's eyes began glowing a familiar crimson. I've been ordained a holy mission. I'll do whatever it takes. He stared at the rapidly approaching Callista. Anything to eliminate evil. His scars began glowing again.

brighter than ever this time, preparing to engulf the oncoming enemy. But before they could clash, Kail stepped in between and tanked another series of slashes before kicking her back. He grunted. Fuck at her! What are you doing? Hugo asked, perplexed. I told you, this is... Yeah, yeah, your god-given whatever the fuck.

I don't know, buddy. You're psycho. But for whatever reason, I don't really want you to die. Kail gave him a bloody grin. It feels like we've been through a lot. You know? For a moment, it seemed as if Hugo was at a loss for words. But then Callista stood back up.

I see. He said. But what are we going to do about her? Kail looked down inside. Eh, shit. Yeah, that's the real question, isn't it? Kail clenched his teeth as Kalista began charging at them once again. It looks like Lady Luck's on their side today.

Adrian said. I realized what he meant when one of Klis's hands were bitten straight off by the chattering man who'd strolled into the fray from an adjacent corridor. Well, shit. Kale said, watching the two suddenly preoccupied with each other. Looks like God is looking out for us. He grinned at Hugo, who simply nodded back as the two got the fuck out of Dodge. Clist and the chattering man began relentlessly butchering each other.

Using her remaining hand, she made two quick flashes in succession, tearing open his chest and forehead. In response, the chatterer bit a good portion of her shoulder off. This went on for a few minutes, until about half of Clist's body remained and about 90% of the chattering man's skin had been shredded off, staining the entire area a gory red. But even demonic superhumans had their limit. They both were beginning to slow down. Callista twisted her bloody knife-like fingers, pushing them into the chattering man's mouth and threw his throat. While it was still lodged inside,

she threw her arm upwards, splitting his head apart. But at the exact same time, the chattering man swiped at her head, twisting her neck clean off. They both fell simultaneously, as combatants who fought to the bloody end. It was by far the most brutal. about I'd seen thus far, although there was certainly some fierce competition for that title. I decided to check back on the voids that were still contained. The Titan was still in his cell. The calamity's light also remained green, and the kid hadn't stepped out either. But then there was the warden. Clint had stepped into a cell, dawning the beamed suit in all of its destructive glory, wearing it brought them roughly up to the same size. Still, he was just an ordinary guy,

going up against an unfairly powerful monster. Unless he had some tricks up his sleeve, this was about to get really messy, really quick. Hey! He said, grinning at the warden through his fortified visor, "'deep in chasing me all this time, thought I'd finally come to you instead.' Sounds like they have unfinished business,' Adrian said.

That much was probably true. Still staring down at the blood-stained floor, the warden simply let out a deep, lengthy sigh. When he finally looked up, there was nothing in his pit-like eyes but sheer rage. His voice was much deeper than the Marianus. Before Clint could even get his guard up, he was brutally blitzed by a sudden rush. The warden was moving so fast, he was effectively a blur. Clint was launched backwards, denting a metal wall.

The warden bolted at him again and slashing off pieces of his suit with nothing but his fingers. He launched his fist at Clint's protective visor, smashing it to bits and cutting up his face with bits of strength. grayed glass in the process. However, Clint managed to push him off before it could connect with his skull, which would have been beyond fatal. He spat, attempting to unsheath the oversized blade at his side. But he wasn't nearly quick enough. The warden grabbed it by the edge before Clint could even swing, shattering it to fine dust

with nothing but a firm grasp. Then he grabbed the suit by the arm, slamming Clint hard into the ground, causing him to spit out blood. Shit. Adrian muttered. This is even hard for me to watch. The ward had proceeded to uncompromprompted. amazingly wail away on top of him, while Clint barely managed to protect his face with the suit's

guards, but even those were being chipped away at rather quickly. Just as there was about an inch of the suit left covering his arms, he tilted his elbows towards the warden's neck, firing off a small grenade that caused the overpowered void to stagger just a little. The warden retreated, touching the small wound that the explosion had left under his chin. In turn, Clint struggled to pull himself up, with his suit looking like it had been run over by about a dozen freight trains. His face was covered in blood and cuts while a blood vessel had popped in his right eye.

Yet he shot the ward in a gory smirk. Okay, maybe I deserve that, but the comeback starts now. He opened a compartment on his suit's rib cage, taking out something that resembled a small white crystal. Remember these? He asked, before using it to cut himself on an exposed portion of his wrist. The warden's face twisted into an unfathomable expression of fury. He rushed forward again, tackling Clint into another wall, before ripping on. off a large chunk of the suit's torso, and then he drilled his fist into Clint's ribcage.

At that moment, I was 100% sure that he was done for, but to my downright surprise, he managed to tank the punch, grimacing only slightly. What do you think? He asked the warden, still grinning. We ran some experiments. These shards are new and improved. The warden let out an ear-splitting shriek that I was surprised didn't deafened Clint on the spot, before picking him up and tossing him back into the cell.

He followed him in, picking his head up and bashing his temple about ten times into the metal toilet seat before I ended up breaking from the force. As a result, one side of Clint's face was beginning to resemble a bloody mush. Still, I was surprised it hadn't been reduced to pulp. What the hell was that shard? I thought to myself. He also seemed to have picked up a bounce in his step, evading another strike from the warden and crawling behind him.

At that point, the behemoth had effectively been reduced to scrap metal. Clint dove towards the godslaying cannon, which had been knocked loose during their scuffle. He scooped it up and began straying at the warden's direction. However, he managed to evade just about every shot, leaving large clouds of smoke and dust behind him as the devastating bullets reduced the place to rubble. Fuck, you're a tough customer. Clint groaned as he flipped a switch on the weapon. And I take this then. The barrel of the weapon suddenly grew in size, causing it to resemble an actual cannon.

As he pulled the trigger, the monitor darkened for just a moment. went before a flash of deep red engulfed the area and a high-pitched cicado of wholly unfamiliar noises assaulted my senses. I kept watching as the recoil from the strange blast pushed Clint back into the wall as it completely annihilated the entire side of the room. The weapon itself was also destroyed in the process. I guess the godslaying cannon got an upgrade, because I sure as hell didn't know it could do that. After the smoke cleared, everything was silent for a few moments. Clint grinned, letting out a big sigh of relief. And then his face dropped a few seconds later.

As the rubble began stirring, the warden burst out, with about half of his entire body now charred to hell. He also had a wicked, psychotic grin on his face. It was the first time I'd ever seen him make any kind of overt expression at all. I could have lived without it, though. He said, walking ominously towards the nearly broken Clint. But I have to. Clint groaned, reaching into his pant leg pocket.

He pulled out two syringes filled with black hair. and blue liquids respectively. Come on, painkillers, don't let me down. He muttered before injecting the blue. Just as he was about to inject the black, the warden clutched his hand, crushing it along with the syringe. More tricks. He sneered, his eyes wild as all hell.

I guess that's what the weird. Clint simply laughed. You're not so smart when you're angry, huh? It's in my blood now. The warden released the grip, revealing Clint's bloody, cut up, and mangled hand. However, the black substance was already seeping into his blood. wound. What is that?

The warden asked. A gift from a good friend. Also, my last resort. I didn't want to use it now, but I guess I'm out of options. In a matter of seconds, nearly all of Clint's wounds had healed up. Along with that, his muscles had become visibly tensed. That's impossible. The warden gritted his teeth.

That's one thing I've learned. Clint responded, smiling wide as he stepped forward. Nothing's really impossible. He stepped forward, throwing a hard, strong. strike at the warden's chest, sending him crashing back into the rubble. Clint looked down at his fists and surprise. Nice. He grinned, but he had no time to appreciate his newfound power.

The warden rose back up like a wild animal in frenetic pursuit of its prey. You're weak. He boomed. I'll never lose to you. Nature won't allow it. Clint chuckled. You're right. I am weak.

Must suck for your ego, huh? The warden shrieked before charging back at Clint. Once there, they engaged in a moment. a fiery exchange of blows, rocking the place to its core. While Clint's physical attributes had been enhanced greatly by whatever serum he'd taken, there was still an evident gap and strength between them, with each of the warden's blows ostensibly packing more force than his own. However, he did have one advantage.

He was clearly trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat, while the warden was an amateur at best. He dodged a series of haymakers before countering with a flurry of jabs and kicks of his own. At that point, the warren's mannerisms had been done. evolved into that of a feral creatures, fueled solely by combative impulse. Yet I could see the same wicked grin creeping in throughout his wild rage. He was undoubtedly enjoying the adrenaline. The warden picked Clint up by the waist, slamming him into the wall and then onto the ground,

and then he mounted him, unleashing a series of hammer fist that Clint was forced to excruciatingly block with his forearms. Soon enough, his skin was beginning to tear off from the punishment. While on the ground, Clint managed to throw a kick that connected with the warden's hip. However, he hardly got any reaction out of him. He suddenly wasn't strong enough. Instead, the warden threw both his fists down onto Clint's ribs, and I could hear them crack through the monitor.

He grimaced in pain, but the warden didn't give him a moment to recuperate. He drilled a fist right into the side of his face. A spurt of blood and a few teeth flew out of his mouth as his head was cranked to the side. Oh, he's gotta be fucking done for, Adrian commented. I had to share the sentiment. Clint's efforts were more than admirable, but he sure as hell put up a better fight than I could have ever hoped to, but even with all his tools and tricks and skills, he was still no match. At least that's what I genuinely believed, but the guy was just full of surprises. After

taking another brutal strike to the shoulder, Clint managed to somehow escape out from underneath. I couldn't even fathom what kind of move he pulled in order to do so. And then, in a series of moves that would make most prolific jujitsu practitioners light up with glee, he engaged the ward in a vicious grappling match on the ground. From his face, I could tell that he was going far above and beyond his own limits. It was down there where the warden's weakness really became clear as day. He had no idea what to do. After an entire minute of relentless, excruciating struggle from both combatants,

Clint managed to get the warden into a beautiful dars choke. As the warden struggled feverishly to escape, Clint's face was wrought with sheer determination. The warden changed his tactics, opting to pound Clint's already broken ribs in an attempt to cause him to break his hold. That was the bad decision. it only allowed Clint to get his hold even tighter. Despite all of the egregious punishment he'd taken, Clint never relented. Soon enough, the Warren's movements began slowing, and then he stopped altogether.

Even then, Clint didn't release his grip. He held the Warren's neck in place using all of his strength for about four minutes before finally letting go, all while gasping in accumulated pain and exhaustion. The guy really looked as if he was going to die on the spot. But that didn't matter to him. The fight was finished and an unlikely Victor had emerged. With a tired grin on his face, he raised a shaky fist in victory before passing out himself. Well, I'm fucking touched. Adrian said. It's like watching Rocky all over again.

On another monitor, Bella made her way back to the top floor. Back to the gaping exit. Wow, what a pleasant surprise. Ken said, standing in her way. She seemed to share the surprise as they stared at each other. Is this a joke? She responded. Ken shrugged.

Where else was I going to see you? Are you going to let me go? Well, if I did that, then American boy would track me down and kick my ass. I gotta wait till he dies first. Then we can go off into the sun together. He smiled. In the meantime, you want to talk for a bit? She sighed.

What do you think is going on here? I don't know. Ken responded. That's up to you. You already know how I feel. I tried to assassinate you. You were contracted to assassinate me by a massive dickhead. I'm sure it wasn't.

nothing personal. Oh, my God. She sighed again. Besides, I'm still alive. Maybe you really didn't want to kill me. That's what I tell myself anyway. You're insane if you think anything's going to happen between us. You think I want to date anybody right now?

Well, I never wanted to either until I met you. A period of silence followed. Let's face it. Ken spoke up. We're bad people living bad lives. Don't you get tired of it? Speak for yourself. Bella responded.

You know what kind of people I kill? I'm not talking about that. You want to escape, don't you? I don't belong in here. A lot of people don't. What are you getting at? I'm pretty sure you know the kid. Yeah, what about him?

Ken exhaled. Look, forget about dating, but don't you ever feel like doing something good for once? Like, doing something for somebody besides yourself. Bella simply rolled her eyes in response. I'm sorry, that came out badly. She stepped forward, brushing past him. I'm leaving now. If you want to try and stop me, then go ahead.

I'll just kick your ass again. There was another pause before Ken shook his head. You know I'm not going to do that. Good. She began walking off. I'm not tired of anything, by the way. I'm in control of my own life, and I kind of enjoy that. She said without turning around.

She left Ken looking somewhat melancholic, but eventually he began smiling again. Of course you do. He took off, abandoning his post, but I'm sure he hardly cared about that. Geez, well, that was a downer. Adrian said. Let's get back to the exciting stuff. He grinned. The final chips are starting to fall into place.

Jack had finally found Wu. You a Chinese secret weapon or something? He asked, approaching the mechanical menace, who remained silent. It doesn't matter. He continued, clenching his fists. America's always on top. Look up there as well. I turned to the monitor that Adrian was gesturing towards,

watching as Kentay continued roaming the corridors, still clenching his teeth in Justin. driven rage. Well, actually, no, he wasn't roaming anymore. He was walking towards somebody. But at first, I couldn't recognize who it was. Come at me, you fucking asshole! But I did recognize the voice.

It was Sendu. His head was now resembling a glowing, floating skull shrouded in a dark haze. Didn't he die? I asked, confused. Adrian chuckled. Don't you know anything about the race style? One of its core proponents is the revival technique. Of course, my thought.

How could I not know that? You killed everyone at my fucking dojo! Senju screamed at the approaching Kente. You're dead! Kente bit down even harder, cracking his own teeth. I simply enacted justice, and I waited for too long to finish the job. Man, how lucky were we to find this place? Adrian said.

Crisp fucking front row seats. It took me a moment to process the implications of what he just said. What the hell are you talking about? I asked him. In turn, he looked at me like I was insane. What do you mean? Didn't you build this place? He shook his head.

Well, if you didn't, then who? My eyes wandered up to Sendu, whose attention was still firmly planted on the kid. He's the one that led me into this room to begin with. I do remember thinking it was rather strange, but with everything they've been going on, I forgot to question it further. But now I couldn't avoid it. What the hell is going to? What's going on?"

Okay, now I'm confused." Adrian said, turning to Sandu. What's going on here? Who the hell are you? Yeah, that's a good question, I added, also looking in his direction. Come on, man. I've known the guy for years, yet I couldn't begin to understand what he was planning here. Sandu took a while to respond, and even then it was less than satisfying.

It's complicated, he finally spoke up. By the way, aren't you guys missing the show? I wasn't going to force the guy to talk. Over the years, I've learned that doing so only leads to disingenuous answers. Besides, he was right. Jack was already rushing towards Wu. Come on, Wu. Show me your Kung Fu shit.

I'll beat you down with good old American boxing. He really thinks Americans invented boxing, huh? Adrian muttered. Instead, Wu opted to blast him back with his hand shotgun. Jack was sent flying into a support beam, demolishing it in the process. While he'd taken no ostensible damage, there were now holes littered across the American flag printed on his chestplate. That sure caught him pretty rattled.

Oh, you fucked up, buddy, he said, a deranged smirk drawn across his face. For the first time ever, Wu decided to speak. What did you think was going to happen? In an instant, they charged at each other. Given their respective power and speed, their combined movements were hardly comprehensible. But if I had to approximate the exchange, it went something like this. Jack lands across to Wu's helmet, cracking it slightly. Wu attempts to stab Jack with a large blade.

It breaks on his arm. Jack presses forward, throwing a flurry of jabs at Wu's head. Most of them are blocked. Wu counters with a kick to his ribs. It hurts Jack. Wu uses his railgun eyes, burning the side of Jack's cheek. And then the gauntlet is unleashed. Wu lands a brutal combination with steel-studded knuckles.

Wu shoves a grenade into Jack's face. Wu pounds away at Jack's ribs with a spiked bat. Wu stabs Jack through the shoulder with an elbow blade. Wu snaps one of Jack's fingers off. Wu head butts him. Wu picks him up and executes a hard takedown, destroying the walkway they're standing on and causing them to fall to a lower floor. And then Wu began strangling Jack.

He's got the advantage with his weapons, I said. There's no way Jack's turning it around. Adrian scoffed. The U.S. didn't funnel billions into this guy for nothing. He's got a few tricks up his sleeve. And oh boy, did he ever. Jack was frenetic as he struggled to break out of Wu's iron grip. Fuck you!

He screamed before his right fist began glowing red. He let go of Wu's wrist, ramming his knuckles right into his throat instead. The first significant strike. I could see Wu's armor splinter as he was launched backwards. Forced to release his grip, still exacerbated from the struggle, Jack pulled himself up, his fist smoldering like hell. At the same time, Wu was gasping for air himself. How's that?

He said, holding his fist up while grinning like a mad, utterly unhinged. Suddenly, his left fist also. begun glowing. The only difference being that it was blue. Oh, that's about to get fucking gnarly, Jack said. The stars and stripe style is immeasurable. What followed was an exchange of blurs. I could hear explosive bouts of clanking metal, white smoke and flickering sparks intercut with flashes of red and blue from Jack's fists, two individuals at the pinnacle of power striking each other with everything they had. After around an entire minute of hectic but incomprehensible fighting,

both men had sustained sufficient damage. Wu's suit was covered in. cracks and dents, with his right forearm and left thigh now exposed. There was also blood leaking through his fractured helmet. On the other hand, hardly an inch of Jack's body was unscathed. He was cut and swollen all over, with one of his eyes stabbed out and his right shoulder grated down to the bone. They stared each other down during their few seconds of fleeting recuperation, and then they were right back at each other's throats. Wu attempted to blast Jack in the face with his palm cannon, but the American managed to weave underneath the shot, throwing both fists into Wu's chest, causing his suit to shatter completely at that particular spot.

His vitals were now exposed. Jack knew what kind of opportunity he'd just created, indicative by the wicked grin on his face. In a matter of milliseconds, Jack pulled back one of his fists and struck Wu directly. Without his armor protecting him, that blow must have liquidized his insides. In any case, that's what I got from his reaction. In an instant, he collapsed in pain, before being tossed over the rails onto an even lower floor. As he clutched his sides in excruciation on the ground, Jack leapt down and stomped on his helmet, finally shattering that as well. He'd accomplished something that even the most sophisticated of weaponry would have had trouble doing.

In a desperation move, Wu pulled out his shotgun and began spraying it upwards, forcing Jack to retreat, feeling pain that must have been clipped the boundaries of unbearable. He pulled himself up, finally revealing his cut-to-hell visage through his broken helmet. You're just a regular person underneath that zoo, hey. Jack said, panting. How comical. You were two before the experiment. Wu responded.

Jack scoffed. Is that what you think, that I'm just like you, a regular fucking guy? Yes. We weren't poor special. Jack shook his head. Why does that matter? Look, I'll give you one thing. You're strong.

Hell, even gave me a bit of a hard time, but your attitude is fucking bullshit. Wu had trouble responding to that. Sure, we weren't born special. Jack continued. But we've changed ourselves, clawed our way up to the top. He paused for a moment. No, you're not just a regular guy underneath that suit after all. And I wasn't just another fuck in the crowd before the experiment.

They just don't choose any random asshole, you know. These are things we've accomplished ourselves, things that nobody else could. Why don't you fucking understand that? Another pause followed. The silence was broken when Wu reached over his shoulder, pulling out a terribly large red-orange sword. The singularity blade. Jack Bones.

He began. You seem unintelligent on the surface, but you've almost said something profound just now. Jack smirked at the pseudo-compliment. You're strong as well. Wu continued. I'll show you my respect by cutting you down with my ultimate weapon. I'm touched. Jack responded.

I guess I'll have to show you the same courtesy. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening back up, revealing nothing but white underneath his lids. The red and blue radiating off his fists began extending up his forearms before quickly enveloping each side of his body entirely. You should be honored. I'm about to crush you with the full force of my American spirit. Two tremendously strong men, both now at the pinnacle of their own power, stood across

from each other in full acknowledgment of each other's prowess. An earth-shaking clash was about to ensue. Wu went first, swinging the blade and releasing an obscure serpent entity from its tips. It rushed forward with poor at speed, latching its claws onto Jack's arm and attempting to bite his head off. Jack responded by drilling his fist down the creature's throat. It bit down, puncturing his arms but shattering its own teeth in the process. Jack and the creature fought prudely and relentlessly, with the latter seemingly growing in size as the battle endured. However, Wu himself was standing still.

What's he doing? Why isn't he going after him? I thought out loud. He can't, Adrian said. Look closely at him. It took me a second, but I understood. The punch that Wu had taken to the chest had essentially put him out of commission. In fact, at that moment, he was struggling to even stand up.

He was relying on the singularity creature to get the job done. After some minutes, the beast had grown to an ungodly size resembling some kind of colossal, ghoul-like dragon. It bit down on Jack's arm once again, taking it clean off this time. Jack shrieked an endurance-fueled pain, headbutting one of the dragon's eyes out in response. It roared in pain as it whirled backwards, utterly annihilating its surroundings. It even took out a few cameras. Jack took the opportunity to reel in the frenetic beast, jumping up on its head and bashing away. Despite having half of its face caved in, the dragon still managed to fling him into the wall,

ramming what remained of its head into his torso moments later. A wave of blood busted from Jack's mouth before his lips curled back. into a sadistic, unrelenting grin. He punched the creature's remaining eyes out before getting on top of it and rendering the rest of its head into a ghouly mush with nothing but his fists. Just like that, the battle was over. As the dragon died, the blade shattered with it. Jack leapt down, back in front of Wu.

He half chuckled and half groaned as he limped towards him. Lost an arm. Lost an eye. It really put me through the gauntlet, hey? Wu's expression was stone for a while. But it eventually turned into a grin. No malice behind it. He was simply acknowledging the interminable fighting spirit that Jack had put on display.

Well, looks like my fate's been sealed. He said. Jack reciprocated the grin, breathing heavily through his teeth. Gotta say, you weren't a pushover, but in the end, America always wins. He finished Wu off with a quick strike to the head. As the mechanical menace dropped, Jack's body stopped glowing, and he began staggering. away, his movement strained and delirious. In any case, he didn't make it too far.

He dropped about ten paces from Wu. But even in death, his grin didn't waver. Fucking hell, Adrian said. Did they both have to die? Well, let's see if one of these other weirdos can make it out alive. I'd been so invested that I nearly forgot about the other fight that was going on. I turned to my head, watching as Kentay, I feltlessly strangled Send-you. I killed your master with three strikes and you.

You're even weaker than him. Your effort is an insult. I'm going fucking killed. Kente struck the side of Senju's jaw and slammed his neck onto the ground, interrupting his sentence. I guess we'll never know what he was about to say. A real mystery there. But despite the overwhelming power gap, Senju kept rushing back at him, only to get abruptly beat down every single time. Fuck!

He shouted in frustration, after taking another punch to the chest. Stop evading justice. Kente said. Your time's done. But then an unexplained figure arrives on the scene. Hugo rushed into the frame, directing his own rush of blows at Kente. However, he reacted to them in the same way a regular man would react to a mosquito bite. Hugo was subsequently knocked back without much explicit effort on Kente's part.

His scars were glowing like hell as he pulled himself back up, his eyes pursed with piercing fury. Why is he so pissed off? I thought to myself. Kale arrived moment. later, yelling after Hugo. What the hell are you doing? Why, I know you're crazy, but what the fuck? He shouted.

He's the one that killed my mentor. Hugo said, his voice shaking. The last good man on this earth, destroyed by the same evils he attempted to help. But he was foolish. There can only be one response to the sin in this world. This fucking asshole killed my master as well. Sendhu said, turning to Hugo. Let's bury him.

Hugo sighed, clearly not excited at his prospective ally. Man. Kail said, staring up at Kente. This isn't fun anymore. All three of them tried attacking at once. No luck. Kente tanked each blow before striking each of them down in rapid succession. He grabbed Kail by the neck before tossing him at Sendju, sending them both crashing into the wall.

Shit! Kail yelled as he struggled to pull himself up. Yo, priest, what level of detachment are you at? Hugo exhaled. 99%. Damn. Kale muttered, looking up at the steadily but menacingly approaching Kente. So we're fucked?

Not necessarily. I'm about ten times stronger at 100% than I am at 99. I'm not sure the math checks out there. Kale said before taking another strike to the stomach. No matter. Hugo said. One of the biggest evil stands before us. Every measure must be taken.

You're going to fucking die. Kale uttered, being kept on his toes by repeated blows from Kente. We're going to die regardless. Kente turned away from Kale and turned toward Hugo. He squinted. Now I remember you. Hugo threw a cross so hard it seemed to split the air molecules in its path. Despite managing to block it, Kente was still blasted backwards, skitting to a stop.

He held his arms up, which had been badly mangled from the blow. He sneered at Hugo, his eyes growing crazier. every second the past. Evil must be eliminated. You're in no position to make that call. Hugo responded. They bolted at each other. The two traded blows with Hugo slowly but surely overwhelming Kente.

Kale could only watch in awe. Send you, on the other hand. Yeah, kick his fucking ass. But the more damage that Kente took, the more wild he seemed to get. Hugo landed a one-two to his jaw on temple, drawing blood from his head, before finishing the combination by drilling a knee into his liver, nearly causing Kente to buckle on the spot. Why did you kill him?

Hugo spat at Kente in between strikes. He was the last chance in salvation that this disgusting world had. Now bruised, bloodied, and battered. Kente dropped to one knee. Hugo stepped in for a finishing blow, or what I thought was going to be the finishing blow. Kente managed to catch the strike, surprising just about everybody watching.

His forehead veins bulged as he looked up at Hugo. His face twisted in an inconceivable expression. of demented wrath. I killed him because he stood in the way of justice. In a split second, Hugo was knocked backwards, having his chest completely caved in. What? He wheezed out as he bent over, trying to funnel air into his lungs. He's stronger.

Be careful. Kente picked him up and judo slammed him over the rail before he could get the sentence out. I never cringed as hard as I did while watching his spine get instantaneously bent into the worst possible shape. Hugo! Kale yelled, charging at Kente, a valiant but fruitless effort. He was picked up and brutally ragdolled into the wall and floors. Kente finished the ruthless display by slamming his back into the wall.

Kale crumpled like a pancake, with every bone in his body just about broken. Recovering from that was going to be a tall order. Fuck! He spurted out, unable to make another move. Suddenly, Senju was back on his own, heavily injured and looking far less confident than he was before. We can't let him win." Sandu said, his expression, a combination of frightened and resolute.

Oh, you're not watching the kid anymore? What a surprise. Adrian said. I shook my head. I mean, what the hell are we supposed to do? Instead of answering my question, he just brushed by me before abruptly sprinting out the door. What the hell, man? I called after him.

No use. He was already gone. I fumbled around in place for a moment. On one hand, I really didn't want to go out there. But on the other, he was my friend, and as much as I wanted answers, I also wanted to make sure he didn't do something he wasn't going to have the chance to regret. After a few minutes of frenetic contemplation, I found myself chasing after him. Where hell are you guys going?

I could hear Adrian calling out from behind me. At that point, he was the least of my concerns. Chills ran down my spine as I traversed across the blood-stained halls decorated by the mangled corpses of my former guards. It was a sight that I'd experienced in my nightmares before. I'm sure just about every guard had. Seeing it in real life was jarring, to say the least. It sure had been one hell of a day, but the inevitable dusk finally seemed to be closing in.

Sandu, what's going on? My shouts were in vain as he pressed ahead, traversing through the blood, guts and gore, left in the wake of the voids without a second glance. I chased him for what must have been in fifteen minutes before he had. halted to an abrupt stop. What? What are you? I gasped in between breaths, but then I saw who we were standing in front of.

The kid. He was still sitting tight in his cell, his eyes remaining glued to the floor. Sandu just stood there for a moment and stared at him. A.J., he finally muttered. The kid, whose name was apparently A.J., shook his head. I could see tears falling from his face as he did so. No. He choked out.

I can't. Sandu smiled, tears beginning to well up in his own eyes. I know I said you wouldn't have to, but he began. I'm sorry. I promised that I'd get you out before I had no idea how, but there's a chance here. We can't avoid it now. A.J. looked up, utter fear pervading his expression. I can't face him.

Sandus slowly approached him. It's okay, he said. AJ seemed to recoil at the seemingly innocuous statement. It's okay. Sandu repeated, kneeling in front of him. Your gift is your own. Your right to use. AJ continued shaking his head.

You remember what happened. That wasn't your fault. But it was. His face was beginning to quiver. Sandu grabbed AJ by the face, looking him dead in the eyes. You've been lied to by bad people. Those same people are here with us right now. The ones that killed the people you loved and trapped you in this place.

Anybody at your age with your ability would have made that mistake. It's not your fault. AJ wiped a tear from his face. If I let it out, everybody's going to die. Sandu shook his head. No, you've been practicing, and I've been watching. Better and better every day. Now it's time to be strong.

Your father would have wanted that, no? He would have wanted you to face it head on. AJ remained hesitant. I'm sorry, but we're out of options here. Sandu's tone had gone more serious. The man who killed your family wants to kill you as well. I can't stop him. Nobody can.

It's all up to you. What are you going to do? Despite still looking at the floor, AJ suddenly clenched a fist. I'm not sure if it was my imagination or what. but I could have sworn that there was a spike in the air pressure around us. Some kind of intense, overwhelming aura emanating from the kid's general vicinity. Or maybe I'd simply seen too much that day. Soon enough, A.J. was standing.

Sandu looked both proud and utterly terrified. He took a deep breath before turning to me. It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it later. But what's about to happen? He lowered his voice. It's going to be very dangerous. You don't have to come with us.

Just hang back. Then after all this is over, we can all leave together. It was a vague warning, one that didn't fill me with the highest degree of confidence. I could have told you myself that things were about to get dangerous. That much was obvious. I'd been watching that danger unfold over the course of an entire day, but now I had a decision to make. Did I really want to be in the thick of it?

Did it even matter? Truth be told, I'd been feeling the prospect of death looming over me ever since the first alarm sounded out. I didn't have too much time to think about it, though. Before I knew it, AJ had taken off sprinting, a furious beat in his step. Sandu hastily followed after, leaving me standing there with a million thoughts racing through my mind. I didn't want to be alone in that place, and I sure as hell didn't want to hang out with

Adrian anymore. So I followed them. The kid was kind of running blindly, so Sandhu had to direct him towards where Senju was about to make his last stand against Kentay. I was more or less certain that nothing but a gruesome scene would be waiting for us, and I was right. Once we got there, Kail was still a pile of flesh and bones against the wall, while Hugo could do nothing but lie still, his life undoubtedly hanging on by a thread.

Along with them, Senju was flattened against the floor. Well, I'm fairly certain it was him. It looked like somebody had been run over by a steamroller. Kale and Hugo looked both beyond sullen, and their faces wrought with bitter and painful defeat. You guys come to finish the job? Kail asked us before letting out a short chuckle. Well, nothing's stopping you. Uh, no.

I stammered out. Are you guys all right? Stupid question. Top-notch, pal. Never been better. Kail responded. Where'd he go? Sandu spoke up.

The big psycho guy? He took off. He stretched his neck out, gesturing towards the walkway on the other side of us. Guy didn't even look human when he turned Buddy over there into a pancake. Muttering something about finishing the job and executing justice. What a clown. Thanks. Sandu muttered before turning to head off.

AJ was also starting to look a bit antsy. Something had certainly changed in his demeanor. Something dark. Wait, hang on. Are you going after him? Aren't you guys like guards or something? How's that going to work out? And that kid, isn't he?

What's going on? Kale called after us. Well, it's a bit complicated, I responded. But I think it'll work out. I wasn't so confident in reality. Kale scoffed and chuckled. Right, of course. Well, it's not like I want you guys to lose.

He smirked. Go and kick his ass. I smirked back and nodded. But before you leave, do me one favor. Is the priest still alive? He hasn't said anything in a while, but I think I saw him twitching a bit. I looked over at Hugo. Despite his dead expression, he was still blinking every now and then.

Uh, yeah, I responded. Kail rested his head on the wall and nodded. Okay, good to know, was all that he said. After that short exchange, we were off, running to face the insurmountable wall known as Kente. While we were looking for him, he was sure looking for us as well. As we moved, I tried to gauge what Sandu was thinking. It wasn't terribly clear from his expression, but I could tell that his conviction in that

moment was less than strong. Given what I knew, I could have viewed the situation from a lot of possible angles, many of which would have led to Sandu acting as a less than moral party. But there was lost context here. I knew the guy, and unless he'd been acting all these years, there was only one conclusion I could have reached. For the sake of the kid, this was something we had to do. I never believed for a second that he was malicious in nature.

My thoughts were running too fast, before I knew it, we were standing right in front of Kente. His suit had been damaged pretty badly, and he had dried blood caked all over him. Although, I doubted that most of it was his own. But besides one of his forearms, he wasn't injured in the slightest, meaning that taking him out was going to be a tall order. But then again, I had no idea what the kid was capable of either. Kente sneered as he walked toward us, his bloodlust seemingly transferring into the physical

atmosphere around us, putting a dark sinking feeling in my gut. But all of his attention was on the kid. I found you. He snarled. Sandu looked at AJ and nodded. AJ, it's time. No response. In fact, the kid was frozen on the spot.

His eyes enlarged in sheer terror. I was afraid something like that was going to happen. Oh, shit. Sandu muttered before shaking AJ's shoulders. Come on, he's coming towards us. AJ, AJ! His voice was getting exponentially more desperate. In reality, this whole move was likely a big gamble.

Nevertheless, it was a gamble. He was definitely. Definitely aware of beforehand. With their backs against the wall, Sandus stood firm in his promise to protect the kid. He exhaled before shielding AJ and getting himself ready for a valiant but futile stand against Kente. You think I won't kill a guard if they stand in the way of justice? Kente boomed.

Sandu scoffed. No, I think you'll kill just about anybody, you psycho. An oversized vein bulged in Kente's neck as he tensed his arm, ready to deliver a head-shattering blow. At that moment, I was simply frozen. I knew there was nothing I could do. However, as Kente put one foot back in preparation for the strike, a dark, ghost-like hand wrapped itself around his calf before pulling him down and dragging him around. I looked over at the perpetrator, a nightmare-inducing entity resembling a distorted

gorilla with bulky, oversized arms. It dragged Kente around on the floor, slamming him through a gauntlet of rails and pillars in the process. The gorilla creature didn't have the upper hand for long, though. Kente let out an unworldly shriek before chopping off one of the creature's arms and ramming his fist through its head. As the entity fell limp, some kind of portal opened up underneath it, pulling it through. From the shadows of an adjacent corridor, Ken stepped in. You're not going to make this easy for me, are you, buddy?

He said, grinning. I always knew you were evil. Kente growled. I just have to eliminate everybody here. He was slowly, but surely devolved. into an overpowered, primal, rage-driven beast. Ken, why are you? Sandus spoke up, sounding reasonably confused.

Ken just shrugged. Eh, promise is a promise, remember? More lost context. Just what had Sandu been doing over the years? Look out! Sandus' warning had arrived at an opportune time. Kente had stepped forward, launching one of his colossal fists straight at Ken's head. Lucky for him, he managed to summon a creature to take the blow for him, just in time.

He dove out of the way of a follow-up strike seconds later. This is going to be annoying. Ken muttered. He looked up at AJ. Come on, kid. I know what you can do. He muttered, cowering down and visibly trembling with fear. I'm going to get killed.

We're going to die if you don't. I found myself shouting. Listen to Sandu, huh? There's no other options here. My outburst probably wasn't all too helpful, but it was my own instinctual fear speaking for me. During the split seconds where my attention wasn't trained on Kente, he'd gotten within inches of me. Before I knew it, I was feeling his iron grip around my right forearm. I could feel my bones being crushed in an instant before I was tossed hard into the wall.

My vision faded for just a moment before all of the pain hit me at once. If I was useless in the fight before, I was entirely out of commission now. I could hardly move as my body slid down the wall, flopping onto the floor. I spat out a wave of blood. I could only watch now. With the kids still being scared useless and there was really only one person capable of fighting. Ken opened up about ten portals in a circle around him. His forearm veins pulsating like crazy, while a stream of blood began flowing down from his hairline

and his nose. I hate doing this! All at once, a petrifying roster of esoteric, incomprehensible entities emerged from each one. From what I saw, there was a dark blue and human-sized eagle that seemed to be composed of ice. Some kind of colossal, demonic samurai with a flaming sword, a six-legged creature with large, jagged blades jutting out from each corner of its body, a zombie-fied gunslinger seemingly left over from the old west, carrying giant, giant, giant, giant, red revolvers, made out of writhing gray flesh, and a ghoulish humanoid with four horns, five eyes, six arms, and a giant glowing green eyeball in its torso, among many others. Ken sighed upon seeing the unsightly creatures he'd summoned. Why couldn't I have just been telekinetic or something? He'd assembled a horde that would have made even the strongest man's knees tremble.

But Kente was hardly human anymore. He didn't hesitate for a second. He darted forward in a flash, pulverizing every one of the creatures that stepped up to face him, taking only a few small cuts and insignificant strikes in the process. That was until he got to the horn guy with the eye in his torso. That one managed to catch Kentay's punch with one of his many hands. Evil creatures! He snarled before throwing across with his other hand.

It was caught again. While Kentay had run out of hands, the creature still had four. It landed a quad combo of devastating punches to Kentay's face and upper chest, causing his head to snap back, blood spurting from his eyes and nose. However, his head came back as quickly as it went, drilling into the eye creature's temple and destroying two of its eyes. They were both pissed now. They synchronized primal wars and were blasting each other with a series of catastrophic strikes.

Neither of them bothered with any defense or any kind of strategy for that matter. They were simply out to deal as much damage as possible, hitting each other with everything they had. During the exchange, I began noticing something strange about Kente's appearance. He was taking a metric ton of damage for sure, but the difference didn't only stem from his wounds. He was changing. His veins were beginning to score him underneath his sense. skin, almost like he trapped snakes trying to burst out. On top of that, he seemed to be getting bigger.

In fact, he'd been getting bigger ever since he fought Wu. I just hadn't quite grasped until that point. He towered over Sandu, whom he was only supposed to have two inches on. Now he was even dwarfing the eye creature, who'd been a comparable size to him mere minutes ago. What is this guy? I wondered out loud. Sandu had undoubtedly noticed it as well.

I could see his eyes widening in terror at the same. sight. The creature lowered its head before rushing at Kentay horned first. It rammed all four of them into his abdomen, managing to dig each one of them an inch deep into his flesh. Kente's roars had also changed. They'd lost any sense of humanity. He was truly in the process of transitioning into a legitimate, bona fide monster. He'd begun drifting away from conventional martial arts. He stuck his fingers out, thrusting two of them into the creature's eyes before gouging them out in a bloody, slimy mess. Without giving an inch, he followed up. by sinking his teeth into the creature's chest, tearing out chunks of pulsating green flesh.

He finished the deadly combination by drilling his knee into the creature's torso eye, taking it out while dissolving his own flesh and blood in the process. As he began to collapse, he grabbed the creature by the neck and took it down with him, putting it into a brutal, one-legged guillotine choke. He exerted so much pressure that its head popped off completely after a few seconds. Ken was starting to look very worried. With blood dripping from his nose, he summoned a non-lawful. Another portal in which a humanoid squid creature emerged.

No use. It was taken out by one swift swipe from Kentay, who blitzed it from a one-legged crawl-run hybrid. Oh. Was all that Ken managed to get out before being picked up and slammed savagely into the floor? That would have been the end for him as well, had he not summoned another portal underneath his back at the last moment, allowing himself to land on the soft body of some kind of slime creature as opposed to the hard metal. He rolled away, hardly managing to dodge a follow-up stomp that not only decimated the creature,

but the floor itself. Now wheezing and bloody all over, Ken looked at Sandu. His face twisted in fearful desperation. No, not at Sandu. He was looking at the kid. Come on! He muttered. I know you can do it!

The kid's expression didn't waver. No spark returning to his frightened eyes. It's hopeless. I thought. To myself, do your memories really flash before your eyes when you think you're about to die? Well, some of them do. The ones worth remembering, an attempt to justify the way that you lived, the decisions that you've made. You come to one daunting realization.

You were there, in the midst of the mystery known as life itself. And now, it was all about to fade. As another tear began rolling down the kid's cheeks, I could feel one roll. rolling down my own. Ken sighed. I know you're scared, but we don't have any time here. Please. Sandu put his hand up, stopping Ken mid-sentence.

He had a stone-like expression on his face. It's happening. Ken looked confused. What? I wasn't quite sure of the answer myself, but I got the gist of it. AJ's body was beginning to visibly vibrate, or something to that effect. started out slow enough, but seemed to intensify drastically with every passing second. Before long, his body had become a dark, formless, stationary blur.

From within that blur, two sharp, burning red eyes surfaced. And then I could feel the floor began to tremble around me. I couldn't utter out a single word upon encountering the incomprehensible pressure that had just filled the space around me. The kid wasn't himself anymore. I was starting to understand. It wasn't his power that he was having a hard time trying to control. It was something residing inside him.

As his metamorphosis continued, he'd become only about a head shorter than Kente. His form was also fluid while remaining solid at the same time, like a floating, gaseous form that vaguely resembled a human. Afterwards, his original dark gray color quickly began morphing into a blinding golden light. After about five seconds, his dynamic body finally settled on a concrete form. There was only one word I could really use to describe it. A warrior. Tall and lean, with thick, flowing hair that extended down to his shoulders.

He held a lance seemingly composed of sheer light, along with a complementary shield. He had armor on, albeit minimally, just chest and shoulder plating, along with a pair of knee-length shorts. The potential origin of such an entity was lost on me. The mere presence of it evoked a sense of awe, danger, and beauty all at once. Surprisingly, Kentay began smiling at the sight of AJ's transformed state. A bloody, ear-to-eer grin devoid of any humanity at all. Looks like the evils finally come out. He bellowed before bolting at him.

AJ's warrior form managed to counter all of Kentay's initial attacks before delivering a brutal sequence of his own. He slashed Kente across the stomach, creating a deep dash before impaling him through the torso and smashing him through a metal side beam. Still, I couldn't get too excited. The whole situation seemed oddly familiar. Kente encounters an enemy, initially more formidable than himself, and gets beat down at first, only to end up massacring them in the end, regenerating nearly instantly, while also getting bigger and stronger in the process. We were going up against rapid evolution, which was one of the worst powers you could possibly hope for in an opponent. In any case, it seemed as if AJ was intent on finishing the job early, which was really the only

option here. He took his lance and swung it with an inhuman speed, slashing Kente more times than I could possibly count. It was a gruesome sight as blood gushed from every inch of his body, staining the metal beneath him red. AJ went for another stab, but this time, Kente managed to deflect the blow and close the distance between them. Got you!

He screamed. He was wrong. AJ took his palm and rammed it into Kentay's neck, causing him to spit out what looked like a gallon more of blood. AJ then took the butt end of his lance and drilled it into the side of Kentay's cheek, puncturing it all the way through. I muttered at the gruesome sight. Of course, Sandu didn't seem too surprised.

He'd seen this before. But at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was getting rid of Kentay right then and there. AJ grabbed his lance and pulled it down, creating a massive gash down Kente's cheek down to his jaw, ripping through his gums and breaking his teeth in the process. But even that wasn't enough. Kente howled like a maniac and managed to grab AJ's neck, ripping a good chunk of his flesh out. A.J. reeled, but was still able to thrust the lance straight through Kente's torso once again.

Still not enough. Kente swiped at AJ's head and twisting it around completely. At that moment, I was sure he was dead, but Sandy. didn't seem all too worried yet. Another blinding flash of light burst from AJ's body before he seemingly morphed again, taking on a new form entirely. This time he resembled an archer atop an armored horse, still with the golden oar surrounding himself. I remembered something.

Each void had an official description assigned to it for database purposes. Most of them were a few paragraphs long, save for AJ's. His was short and vague, containing only one short phrase. The warrior's spirit. I never knew what to make of it before, but I was starting to understand now. AJ directed a flurry of arrows at Kentay, sticking him with about six of them. However, that form was also quickly obliterated as Kentay dragged him down from the horse and stomped on his head like a watermelon.

Another flash of light. This time I closed my eyes. Upon the death of one form, he began cycling through others, manifesting into various warriors from throughout history. A hulking, powerful Viking, a skilled, relentless Sulu warrior, a fast, unyielding samurai, etc. With each transformation, he dealt Kente more and more damage. But that was the problem.

Kente just kept getting stronger as a result, and A.J. couldn't seem to finish the job. After five cycles, Kente was bordering on the size of a house, with his veins resembling steel pipes. He picked up another of A.J.'s warrior forms by the neck and began taunting him. I know evil. I've seen it, and I'll never lose to it. Using a single arm, he lifted him up and slammed him into the ground. Years of destruction and rebirth, forced evolution, surviving the abyss that lies before death

over and over and over again, until enlightenment is forced onto you. To the uninitiated ear, that might have sounded like the ramblings of a madman, but to me, it yielded a daunting realization. Sandhu recognized it as well. I could see the horror in his eyes. Throughout history, humans have done too many cruel things to each other to possibly count, and for what reason? That list is unending.

But even among the dark sea of bloodshed, warfare, and torture, there's one brutal practice that stands out from the rest. The true origins of it are a mystery, both in date and location. Some believe it was developed by the Aztecs, some by the Spartans. Mongols, Ming Dynasty, Romans, Nazi Germany, some even claim that some modern military still made use of this practice. The only thing that we know for sure is that it existed, and it sounded horrific. I'm sure it goes by a lot of names, but the one given to it by the government is the

evolution ritual. In my opinion, that name doesn't do its sheer brutality justice. I'll try to paint a picture. Imagine an empty medium-sized concrete room devoid of any windows, illuminated only by a few dim light bulbs above. Fill that room with about 25 to 50 men, specifically selected due to their exceptional combat prowess, fighters, soldiers, mercenaries, etc. Now seal off all the exits and inform the subjects that only the last man standing will be afforded the right to leave. Leave them to fight to the death. Conduct hundreds or however many of these deathmatches at once. Next, divide the winners into smaller groups and repeat the process until only the last man among hundreds or possibly thousands or left.

Next, seal those men off into a dark, confined space for 50 days. No food, water, or any kind of stimulus. The ones that managed to survive all of this are the successes. The conjecture went as follows. If an individual's mind and body managed to endure such a torturous gauntlet, they would have eclipsed some kind of threshold, undergone some type of rapid evolution. These were the men with exceptional latent potential, the ones who possess something more than conventional strength and willpower.

Under such drastic circumstances, their minds will have tapped into a reservoir of power beyond human physical and mental limitations. I'm gleaming over some details, of course, but that's a matter of the world. That's the gist of it. Sounded like B.S. Science to me, but hey, what do I really know at this point? Sandu and I learned about the existence of this ritual following an internal breach of information that was even classified for us. We also learned that sometime after World War II, a unit of soldiers and intelligent officers

came across the aftermath of one of these rituals in a large, remote, and decrepit building, somewhere in the Thar Desert after the White House received some kind of obscure message contained. containing a pair of coordinates. Inside, there were upwards of eleven hundred human skeletons, all scattered throughout various rooms in the structure. The strange part? There was a set of small chambers at the center of the building, where six emaciated, horribly scarred men were shackled to the walls.

However, while certainly dead, they hadn't even begun decomposing yet. Well, except for one, that is, one man was still alive. This mysterious figure was dubbed the Unkillable Man. To this day, we have no idea what kind of organization conducted the ritual or who sent the coordinates. And the biggest question. Why? I'm getting off topic here, though.

We also couldn't figure out who this mysterious, uncillable man might be, and although it was by no means definitive, we now had a clue. Before AJ could get another word out, Kente killed him again. By this point, I'd regained some movement in my limbs, which allowed me to crawl over to Ken and Sandu, who was now certainly looking worried. Sandu, how many transformations can the kid go through? He just shook his head. It looked as if he knew the answer but didn't want to say it.

I looked over, watching as the kid, who now became some kind of centurion, tried desperately to put Kente down. Now I'm not sure if the kid was getting weaker or if Kente was just getting way too strong, The problem was obvious here. At that point, the kid was only delaying the inevitable. Something else needed to happen soon, or we were done for. I know what happens when he gets pushed to his limits. Sandu spoke up.

What he's really scared of. If that happens, then, he trailed off for a moment. I don't want it to happen. I thought this was going to be enough. I don't like the sound of that. Ken muttered. Kente killed the centurion by strangling it. This time, the kid transnational.

transformed into a hulking, Templar Knight. I could see Sandu visibly gulp. That's it, he said. This is the form he takes before everything goes to shit. Kente kills this one, then... God, I messed up. At that point, Kente had become so durable that the kids' attacks hardly phased him, yet he didn't even attempt to stand down.

I suppose that was the so-called warrior spirit, fighting even in the face of impossible odds. At the same time, all we could really do was watch. But before the two could engage in their penultimate clash, we could hear whistling from just behind them. Everybody turned around at once, seeing Nassar casually strolling toward us. Wow, when did you get so big? He said. His eyes wide in awe.

Have you become evil as well? Kente growled. Nassar put his hands up in a defensive gesture. I'm just here to have fun, big guy. What does that mean? Almost like an answer to his question, we could hear a set of booming footsteps approaching. From behind Kente, a colossal figure was barreling towards us. The Titan had arrived, and from the way that Nassar was grinning, I could only assume that he was the one that

released it. As primal logic would dictate, the Titan went after the biggest guy in the area. Kente, who was now around the same size as the Titan, crouched into a defensive position. I won't let evil. He was cut short by an abrupt headbutt. For such a big thing, the Titan was disturbingly fast. Their exchange was short, but utterly brutal. The Titan slashed at Kentay's chest, tearing a large gash through it. Kente strikes the Titan's jaw, dislocating it. The Titan rips off Kentay's left trapezius muscle.

Kente gouges all of the Titan's eyes out. The Titan crushes Kentay's right hand while swinging blindly. Kente drills his fist into the Titan's crotch area, demolishing its goods. In a fit of blind rage, the Titan grabs Kentay's head and slams it into the wall, planting it deep before dragging it along and tearing it. it through the metal like butter. Kente grabs the titan's head from behind and drags it down hard, causing the bones in its neck to snap, piercing through its flesh.

I could have sworn Kente had grown three feet from that exchange alone. As he tossed the Titan aside, he looked back at us, half of his face now torn to the skull. Nassar looked like he was about to pass out from excitement. Fuck yeah! He shouted, jumping up and down. That was fucking awesome! Kente silenced him with one punch, essentially vaporizing him. There wasn't much hope before, but there was even less now.

Sanders' warning had been vague, but I was doubtful it was any kind of exaggeration. The kid ready to sword, a vain effort considering the fact that he was about to go down. And then we were all screwed. Or so I thought. The time that the titan had bought us was about to prove more than valuable. As Kente prepared a blow that would likely finish the kid on the spot, a stream of projectiles hit his face, causing him to flinch just slightly. I turned to face who'd done it, and to my surprise, it was Bella. For one reason or another, the bloody painter was back.

You! Kente roared. Ken was happy to see her, of course. You came back. He began, before his face dropped. But now, you're going to die. Have some faith in me, won't you? I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a plan.

A plan? Kale suddenly appeared from behind her. Well, I guess you can call it a plan. Didn't have much time to put it together, though. In any case, we were hardly in a position to protest. Kente buriled past the kid, nearly foaming at the mouth as he rushed Bella with overwhelming killing intent on his face. I'd like to say that Bella looked on Feas herself, but that was far from the truth.

She narrowly dodged his tackle, hardly looking calm and collected in the process. Kale attacked Kente from behind, attempting to sink his teeth into his skin. His fangs broke immediately upon it. "'Ah, fuck this!' he said before being tossed into a wall. However, he managed to distract Kente long enough for Bella to make a move, running to an adjacent, intersecting hall and looking down it. "'Shit!' She said before looking back at us.

"'Destract him. Thirty seconds, that's all I need.' Thirty seconds might as well have been an hour. Before Kente could rush back towards Bella, Ken stepped forward, forming a couple of portals on the ground in which two crocodile-like creatures emerged from. They were destroyed in four seconds. The kid went after Kente next, which posed another problem.

No! Sandu shouted. Don't let AJ get near him! Kale groaned, pulling himself back up. Well, all right. He jumped in between Kente and the kid, pushing the ladder backwards before blocking a punch from the former with his arm. The arm was obliterated as he was launched back once again, but he managed to buy about three seconds while doing so. Ken opened up three more portals, blood now pouring like a fountain from his eyes, nose, and temple. God damn it!

He mumbled. shaking as he forced his ability to the limit. But then he smiled. I guess I trust you, though. Two of his creatures attacked Kente, while the other one kept the kid occupied. That move managed to waste another seven seconds. I looked back over at Bella. She was holding up ten fingers.

Nine, eight. But Kente was already on the move. He'd reached her in three seconds. To tell you the truth, I can't say I've done a lot of heroic things in my life. Sure, I stood up for a kid when he was being bullied back in the four. fourth grade, intimidated a guy out of breaking into a parked car once, broke up two bar fights before, but nothing that had actually put my life on the line. Truth be told, I was never really willing to do so.

I'm sure it's a sentiment shared by most, and it begs the question, if you knew that your inactivity would lead to death regardless, would it really count as heroic in the end? But knowing that I didn't have much time to think, these thoughts were racing through my head as my feet were already moving. Hey, asshole! I screamed. As I got within about a meter of him, Kente turned to face me. I nearly shipped my pants on the spot.

I had no plan, no set strategy. I wasn't even planning on throwing a strike. That would have been pointless anyway. There was also no way that I was going to block or dodge any of his attacks. I suppose that right there and then, I was fully prepared to die. Maybe I hadn't even realized it myself. But then... The luckiest thing that had ever happened to me happened right then and there.

I was prided myself on having good balance, rarely skidded an inch, never swayed on boats or trains, always pretty good at sports. However, in that moment I slipped on a patch of blood, and by some miracle it came at the exact moment Kentay's fist was about to connect with my face. Instead of my skull being pulverized, his knuckle only grazed the side of my cheek, ripping a large gash through it as he did so. It hurt like hell, and I wasn't going to be talking to any girls for a while, but I'd managed to buy enough time.

Bella shot another stream of blades at the back of Kentay's head, turning his attention away from me. The next few moments went rather slowly in my head. I watched as Kentay darted forward in a flash while Bella scrambled like hell out of the way. As she was doing so, a figure had stepped out of the adjacent hall behind her. I didn't need to wonder who it was. His move spoke for himself.

It was the dancing guy. shuffling cheerfully along. Kente himself even hesitated for a moment, but it was too late for him. As they collided, the dancing guy's MP3 flew out of his hand. For a moment, time seemed to stop. The dancer froze in place for what must have been ten seconds. During that time, even Kente couldn't bring himself to move. It was the calm before the storm.

For a split second, the dancer's expression contorted into something that I'll likely never be able to get out of my head. It was an indescribable look of sheer and otherworldly rage. I blinked once, and when my eyes opened back up, I was met with a wall of red mist and flying limbs. One of Kentay's oversized arms even flew at me, nearly dislocating my shoulder as it did so. The man we'd previously deemed an immovable and unsurmountable wall had been demolished in less than a second. Now dripping in blood, the dancer strolled over to his fallen music player and plugged it back in. All of us watched in stunned silence as he shuffled off and out of sight towards the opposite hall.

Kale was the first one to speak up afterwards. I'll be honest, I was 99% sure that wasn't going to work. Bella let out a laugh of half relief, half disbelief. I looked over to the kid who was still in his night's form. However, he looked confused, almost as if his reason for existing had suddenly vanished. Soon enough, he reverted back to his original human state. AJ fell to his knees, coughing up blood in between sobs. Sandu quickly rushed over in order to tend to him.

Is everything done? I thought to myself. Say for Clint, TFE and H was dead. So were all the voids, except for the dancer and the still contained calamity. I guess it's over then. That was Balsey, man. I looked over to see Kail grinning at me. Running at Kentay like that?

Fucking hell. I let out a slight chuckle, hardly able to believe it myself. I guess so. How's Hugo? Kale shrugged. I guess some things can't be helped. I gave him a good send-off, though. In the meantime, Bella was talking to Ken.

I'd help you out, but... She said, wiping some of the blood off of his face, which was entirely covered with it. I don't... I don't know what to do here. Yeah, yeah, it's more of an internal pain. It looks kind of badass, though, doesn't it? Looks kind of gross, actually. They both laughed.

That was great what she did there. Let's call it lucky. Thanks for trusting me there, though. Thanks for coming back. I really appreciate... Oh, shut up. You guilt-tripped me into it, you asshole. Before he could speak again, she pulled him in for a kiss.

Not wanting to make things awkward, I directed my attention back at AJ, who was beginning to settle down. He all right? I asked Sandu as I walked over. In place of response, he simply got up and hugged me. I owe you. A bit longer and he'd be, we'd all be. His voice began trembling.

It's all right, buddy, I said. Don't worry about it. At least it's over now. He let go of me and looked at everyone else. I owe all of you. About time I did something good for once. Ken responded, Bell aside before smiling. Yeah, same.

That dick had killed the first friend I'd made in a lot. long time," Kale added. He had it coming. A period of silence followed, as we all began coming to terms with the events that had transpired. Not the easiest task. Aw, how touching. A familiar but completely annoying voice reverberated from behind me. I knew I'd forgotten about something.

I turned around seeing Adrian standing right there, wearing his signature, stupid, smug smirk. Who the fuck is this? Kale blurted out. Adrian ignored his question, looking over at the kid instead. That's a cool ability you got there, he said. You know where it'd come in real handy? Oh, no, my thought. Please don't say it.

His grin grew even wider. The eviseration matches. It wasn't his power that he was having a hard time trying to control. It was something residing inside him. As his metamorphosis continued, he'd become only about a head shorter than Kente. His form was also fluid while remaining solid at the same time, like a floating, gaseous form that vaguely resembled a human. Afterwards, his original dark gray color quickly began morphing into a blinding golden light.

After about five seconds, his dynamic body finally settled on a concrete form. There was only one word I could really use to describe it. A warrior, tall and lean, with thick flowing hair that extended down to his shoulders. He held a lance seemingly composed of sheer light, along with a complimentary shield. He had armor on, albeit minimally, just chest and shoulder plating, along with a pair of knee-length shorts. The potential origin of such an entity was lost on me. The mere presence of it evoked a sense of awe, danger, and beauty all at once.

Surprisingly, Kentay began smiling at the sight of AJ's transformed state, a bloody ear-to-eer grin devoid of any humanity at all. Looks like the evils finally come out. He bellowed before bolting at him. AJ's warrior four managed to counter all of Kentay's initial attacks before delivering a brutal sequence of his own. He slashed Kentay across the stomach, creating a deep dash before impaling him through the torso and smashing him through a metal side beam.

Still, I couldn't get too excited. The whole situation seemed oddly familiar. Kente encounters an enemy, initially more formidable than, but he canter. himself and gets beat down at first, only to end up massacring them in the end, regenerating nearly instantly, while also getting bigger and stronger in the process. We were going up against rapid evolution, which was one of the worst powers you could possibly hope for in an opponent. In any case, it seemed as if AJ was intent on finishing the job early, which was really

the only option here. He took his lance and swung it with an inhuman speed, slashing Kentay more times than I could possibly count. It was a gruesome sight as blood gushed from every inch of his body, staining the metal beneath him red. AJ went for another stab, but this time, Kente managed to deflect the blow and close the distance between them. Got you! He screamed. He was wrong. AJ took his palm and rammed it into Kente's neck, causing him to spit out what looked like a gallon more of blood. AJ then took the butt end of his lance and drilled it into the side

of Kente's cheek, puncturing it all the way through. I muttered at the gruesome sight. Of course, Sandu didn't seem too surprised. He'd seen this before. But at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was getting rid of Kentay right then and there. AJ grabbed his lance and pulled it down, creating a massive gash down Kente's cheek, down to his jaw, ripping through his gums and breaking his teeth in the process. But even that wasn't enough.

Kente howled like a maniac and managed to grab AJ's neck, ripping a good chunk of his flesh out. A.J. reeled, but was still able to thrust the lance straight through Kentay's torso once again. Still, not enough. Kente swiped at AJ's head, twisting it around completely. At that moment, I was sure he was dead, but Sandu didn't seem all too worried yet. Another blinding flash of light burst from A.J.'s body before he seemingly morphed again, taking on a new form entirely. This time, he resembled an archer atop an armored horse, Still, with the golden oar surrounding himself, I remembered something. Each void had an official description assigned to it for database purposes.

Most of them were a few paragraphs long, save for AJ's. His was short and vague, containing only one short phrase, the warrior's spirit. I never knew what to make of it before, but I was starting to understand now. AJ directed a flurry of arrows at Kentay, sticking him with about six of them. However, that form was also quickly obliterated as Kente dragged him down from the horse and stomped on his head like a watermelon. Another flash of light. This time I closed my eyes.

Upon the death of one form, he began cycling through others, manifesting into various warriors from throughout history. A hulking powerful Viking, a skilled, relentless Sulu warrior, a fast, unyielding samurai, etc. With each transformation, he dealt Kente more and more damage. That was the problem. Kente just kept getting stronger as a result. And A.J. couldn't seem to finish the job. After five cycles, Kente was bordering on the size of a house, with his veins resembling steel pipes.

He picked up another of A.J.'s warrior forms by the neck and began taunting him. I know, evil. I've seen it. And I'll never lose to it. Using a single arm, he lifted him up and slammed him into the ground. Years of destruction and rebirth. Forced evolution. Surviving the abyss that lies before death over and over and over again until enlightenment

is forced on to you. To the un-initiated ear, that might have sounded like the ramblings of a madman, but to me, it yielded a daunting realization. Sandu recognized it as well. I could see the horror in his eyes. Throughout history, humans have done too many cruel things to each other to possibly count, and for what reason? That list is unending.

But even among the dark sea of bloodshed, warfare, and torture, there's one brutal practice that stands out from the rest. The true origins of it are a mystery, both in date and location. Some believe it was developed by the Aztecs, some by the Spartans. Mongols, Ming Dynasty, Romans, Nazi Germany, some even claim that some modern military still made use of this practice. The only thing that we know for sure is that it existed, and it sounded horrific. I'm sure it goes by a lot of names, but the one given to it by the government is the

evolution ritual. In my opinion, that name doesn't do its sheer brutality justice. I'll try to paint a picture. Imagine an empty medium-sized concrete room devoid of any windows, illuminated only by a few dim light bulbs above. That room with about 25 to 50 men specifically selected due to their exceptional combat powers, fighters, soldiers, mercenaries, etc. Now seal off all the exits and inform the subjects that only the last man standing will

be afforded the right to leave. Leave them to fight to the death. Conduct hundreds or however many of these death matches at once. Next divide the winners into smaller groups and repeat the process until only the last man among hundreds, or possibly thousands, or left. Next, seal those men off into a dark, confined space for 50 days. No food, water, or any kind of stimulus. The ones that managed to survive all of this are the successes.

The conjecture went as follows. If an individual's mind and body managed to endure such a torturous gauntlet, they would have eclipsed some kind of threshold, undergone some type of rapid evolution. These were the men with exceptional latent potential, the ones who possess something more than conventional strength and willpower. Under such drastic circumstances, their minds will have tapped into a reservoir of power beyond human physical and mental limitations.

I'm gleaming over some details, of course, but that's the gist of it. Sounded like BS science to me, but hey, what do I really know at this point? Sandu and I learned about the existence of this ritual, following an internal breach of information that was even classified for us. We also learned that some time after World War II, a unit of soldiers and intelligent officers came across the aftermath of one of these rituals in a large, remote, and decrepit building somewhere in the Thar Desert after the White House received some kind of obscure message containing a pair of coordinates.

Inside there were upwards of eleven hundred human skeletons, all scattered throughout various rooms in the structure. The strange part? There was a set of small chambers at the center of the building, where six emaciated, horribly scarred men were shackled to the walls. However, while certainly dead, they hadn't even begun decomposing yet. Well, except for one, that is. One man was still alive.

This mysterious figure was dubbed the Unkillable Man. To this day, we have no idea what kind of organization conducted the ritual or who sent the coordinates and the biggest question. Why? I'm getting off topic here, though. We also couldn't figure out who this mysterious, uncillable man might be, and although it was by no means definitive, we now had a clue. Before AJ could get another word out, Kentay killed him again.

By this point, I'd regained some movement in my limbs, which allowed me to crawl over to Ken and Sandu, who was now certainly looking worried. Sandu, how many transformations can the kid go through? He just shook his head. It looked as if he knew the answer but didn't want to say it. I looked over, watching as the kid, who now became some kind of centurion, tried desperately to put Kente down. Now, I'm not sure if the kid was getting weaker or if Kente was just getting way too strong,

but the problem was obvious here. At that point, the kid was only delaying the inevitable. Something else needed to happen soon or we were done for. I know what happens when he gets pushed to his limits. Sandu spoke up. What he's really scared of. If that happens, then, he trailed off for a moment. I don't want it to happen.

I thought this was going to be enough. I don't like the sound of that, Ken muttered. Kente killed the centurion by strangling it. This time, the kid transformed into a hulking, Templar knight. I could see Sandu visibly gulp. That's it, he said. This is the form he takes before everything goes to shit. Kante kills this one, then...

God. I messed up. At that point, Kente had become so durable that the kids' attacks hardly faced him, yet he didn't even attempt to stand down. I suppose that was the so-called warrior spirit, fighting even in the face of impossible odds. At the same time, all we could really do was watch. But before the two could engage in their penultimate clash, we could hear whistling from just behind them.

Everybody turned around at once, seeing Nassar casually strolling toward us. Wow, when did you get so big? He said. His eyes wide in awe. Have you become evil as well? Kente growled. Nassar put his hands up in a defensive gesture. I'm just here to have fun, big guy.

What does that mean? Almost like an answer to his question, we could hear a set of booming footsteps approaching. From behind Kente, a colossal figure was barreling towards us. The titan had arrived. And from the way that Nassar was grinning, I could only assume that he was the one of the that released it. As primal logic would dictate, the titan went after the biggest guy in the area. Kente, who was now around the same size as the Titan, crouched into a defensive position.

I won't let him. He was cut short by an abrupt headbut. For such a big thing, the Titan was disturbingly fast. Their exchange was short but utterly brutal. The Titan slashed at Kentay's chest, tearing a large gash through it. Kente strikes the titan's jaw, dislocating it. The Titan rips off Kenti. Kente's left trapezeous muscle.

Kente gouges all of the Titan's eyes out. The Titan crushes Kentai's right hand while swinging blindly. Kente drills his fist into the Titan's crotch area, demolishing its goods. In a fit of blind rage, the Titan grabs Kentay's head and slams it into the wall, planting it deep before dragging it along and tearing it through the metal like butter. Kente grabs the titan's head from behind and drags it down hard, causing the bones in its neck to snap, piercing through its flesh. I could have sworn Kentay had grown three feet from that exchange alone.

As he tossed the titan aside, he looked back at us. Half of his face now torn to the skull. Nassar looked like he was about to pass out from excitement. Fuck yeah! He shouted, jumping up and down. That was fucking awesome. Kente silenced him with one punch, essentially vaporizing him. There wasn't much hope before, but there was even less now.

Sandu's warning had been vague, but I was doubtful it was any kind of exaggeration. The kid ready to soared. A vain effort, considering the fact that he was about to go down. And then we were all screwed. Or so I thought. The time that the Titan had bought us was about to prove more than valuable. As Kenti prepared a blow that would likely finish the kid on the spot, a stream of projectiles hit his face, causing him to flinch just slightly. I turned to face who'd done it, and to my surprise, it was Bella.

For one reason or another, the bloody painter was back. You! Kente roared. Ken was happy to see her, of course. You came back. He began, before his face dropped, but now you're going to die. Have some faith in me, won't you? I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a plan.

A plan? Kail suddenly appeared from behind her. Well, I guess you can call it a plan. Didn't have much time to put it together, though. In any case, we were hardly in a position to protest. Kante buried past the kid, nearly foaming at the mouth as he rushed Bella with overwhelming killing intent on his face. I'd like to say that Bella looked on fazed herself, but that was far from the truth.

She narrowly dodged his tackle, hardly looking calm and collected in the process. Kale attacked Kente from behind, attempting to sink his teeth into his skin. His fangs broke immediately upon it. Ugh, fuck this! He said before being tossed into a wall. However, he managed to distract Kente long enough for Bella to make a move, running to an adjacent, intersecting hall and looking down it. Shit!

She said before looking back. back at us. Distract him. Thirty seconds, that's all I need. Thirty seconds might as well have been an hour. Before Kentay could rush back towards Bella, Ken stepped forward, forming a couple of portals on the ground in which two crocodile-like creatures emerged from. They were destroyed in four seconds.

The kid went after Kentay next, which posed another problem. No! Sandu shouted. Don't let AJ get near him! Kale groaned, pulling himself back up. Well, all right. He jumped in between Kentay and the kid, pushing the ladder backwards. before blocking a punch from the former with his arm.

The arm was obliterated as he was launched back once again, but he managed to buy about three seconds while doing so. Ken opened up three more portals, blood now pouring like a fountain from his eyes, nose, and temple. God damn it! He mumbled, shaking as he forced his ability to the limit, but then he smiled. I guess I trust you, though. Two of his creatures attacked Kente, while the other one kept the kid occupied.

That move managed to waste another seven seconds. I looked back over at Bella, she was holding up ten fingers. Nine, eight. But Kentay was already on the move. He'd reached her in three seconds. To tell you the truth, I can't say I've done a lot of heroic things in my life. Sure, I stood up for a kid when he was being bullied back in the fourth grade, intimidated a guy out of breaking into a parked car once, broke up two bar fights before,

but nothing that had actually put my life on the line. Truth be told, I was never really willing to do so. I'm sure it's a sentiment shared by most, and it begs the question. If you knew that your inactivity would lead to death regardless, would it really count as heroic in the end? But knowing that I didn't have much time to think, these thoughts were racing through my head as my feet were already moving. Hey, asshole!

I screamed. As I got within about a meter of him, Kente turned to face me. I nearly shook my pants on the spot. I had no plan, no set strategy. I wasn't even planning on throwing a strike. That would have been pointless anyway. There was also no way that I was going to block or dodge any of his attacks. I suppose that right there and then I was fully prepared to die.

Maybe I hadn't even realized it myself. But then, the luckiest thing that had ever happened to me happened right then and there. I was prided myself on having good balance, rarely skidded an inch, never swayed on boats or trains, always pretty good at sports. However, in that moment I slipped on a patch of blood, and by some miracle, it came at the exact moment Kentay's fist was about to connect with my face. Instead of my skull being pulverized, his knuckle only grazed the side of my cheek, ripping a large gash through it as he did so.

Sure, it hurt like hell, and I wasn't going to be talking to any girls for a while, but I'd managed to buy enough time. Bella shot another stream of blades at the back of Kentay's head, turning his attention away from me. The next few moments went rather slowly in my head. I watched as Kente darted forward in a flash while Bella scrambled like hell out of the way. As she was doing so, a figure had stepped out of the adjacent hall behind her.

I didn't need to wonder who it was. His move spoke for himself. It was the dancing guy, shuffling cheerfully along. Kente himself even hesitated for a moment, but it was too late for him. As they collided, the dancing guy's MP3 flew out of his hand. For a moment, time seemed to stop. The dancer froze in place for what must have been ten seconds. During that time, even Kentay couldn't bring himself to move.

It was the calm before the storm. For a split second, the dancer's expression contorted into something that I'll likely never be able to get out of my head. It was an indescribable look of sheer and otherworldly rage. I blinked once, and when my eyes opened back up, I was met with a wall of red mist in flying limbs. One of Kentay's oversized arms even flew at me, nearly dislocating my shoulder as it did so.

The man we'd previously deemed an immovable, unsurmountable wall had been demolished in less than a second. Now dripping in blood, the dancer strolled over to his fallen music player and plugged it back in. All of us watched in stunned silence as he shuffled off and out of sight towards the opposite hall. Kale was the first one to speak up afterwards. I'll be honest.

I was 99% sure that wasn't going to work. Bella let out a laugh of half relief, half disbelief. I looked over to the kid who was still in his night's form. However, he looked confused, almost as if his reason for existing had suddenly vanished. Soon enough, he reverted back to his original human state. AJ fell to his knees, coughing up blood in between sobs. Sandu quickly rushed over in order to tend to him. Is everything done?

I thought to myself. Safe for Clint, T.F.E. and H was dead. So were all the voids, except for the dancer and the still contained calamity. I guess it's over then. That was balzy, man. I looked over to see Kail grinning at me. Running at Kente like that? Fucking hell.

I let out a slight chuckle, hardly able to believe it myself. I guess so. How's Hugo? Kale shrugged. I guess some things can't be helped. I gave him a good send-off, though. In the meantime, Bella was talking to Ken. I'd help you out, but...

She said, wiping some of the blood off of his face, which was entirely covered with it. I don't... I don't know what to do here. Yeah, yeah, it's more of an internal pain. Looks kinda badass though, doesn't it? Looks kind of gross, actually. They both laughed. That was great what she did there.

Let's call it lucky. Thanks for trusting me there. Oh, thanks for coming back. I really appreciate— Oh, shut up. You guilt-tripped me into it, you asshole. Before he could speak again, she pulled him in for a kiss. Not wanting to make things awkward, I directed my attention back at AJ, who was beginning to settle down.

He all right? I asked Sandu as I walked over. In place of response, he simply got up and hugged me. I owe you. A bit longer, and he'd be—we'd all beat. His voice began trembling. It's all right, buddy, I said. Don't worry about it.

At least it's over now. He let go of me and looked at everyone else. I owe all of you. About time, I did something good for once. Ken responded. Bell aside before smiling. Yeah, same. That dick had killed the first friend I'd made in a long time, Kale added.

He had it coming. A period of silence followed, as we all began coming to terms with the events that had transpired. Not the easiest task. Aw, how touching. A familiar but completely annoying voice reverberated from behind me. I knew I'd forgotten about something. I turned around seeing Adrian standing right there, wearing his signature, stupid, smug smirk. Who the fuck is this?

Kail blurted out. Adrian ignored his question, looking over at the kid instead. That's a cool ability you got there, he said. You know where it'd come in real handy? Oh no, I thought. Please don't say it. His grin grew even wider. The eviseration matches.

How did we get here? At that moment, it was all I could think about. As fun as this all has been, and it certainly has. Jeez. Adrian laughed to himself. I almost forgot what I came here for. This Coke is deadly sometimes. There's no way.

Don't even say it. Sandu cut him off. Adrian raised a brow. Yeah. Yeah, is that so? Look, I get this whole guardian protector role you're trying to play here. It's commendable, really. And I'm sure the kid's been through a lot, but...

His lips curled into a malicious grin. I've been through a lot as well. You know what I've learned? This kid's gonna croak if he keeps hanging out with you. He's strong, sure, but he can get a lot stronger. You guys got lucky against Kente. It won't happen every time. You don't want that.

Do you? You literally want to send him off to death fights on some godforsaken planet. What are you talking about? I interjected. Adrian groaned. Oh, why don't you just shut up? Just shut the fuck up! As much as I hated to admit it, the sound of him raising his voice caused me to go quiet.

There was a powerful aura surrounding him, like a switch in his demeanor that would flip instantly and aggressively. In all honesty, my will simply wasn't strong enough to challenge him. him any further. Out of everybody there, I certainly was the weakest. Look, Ken said, stepping forward. I have no idea where you crawled out from, but we kind of went through a lot just now trying to protect the kid.

We're not going to let him go just like that. Majoring clicked his tongue. I don't like getting my hands dirty, but... He moved to a flash, rushing towards Sandu with startling velocity. However, his strike was intercepted by Kale at the last moment. Cail muttered, holding it. Adrian's fistback. How is this guy strong as well?

Adrian struggled for a moment before breaking Kail's wrists and slamming a palm into his jaw. He went back at Sandu, only to be stopped again by a stream of blades from Bella, shredding his right arm as he blocked it. Why are you people so hung up over this kid anyway? Are you an idiot? What kind of question is that? Ken said, stepping forward, with his caked in dry blood, he looked as if he was about to pass out at any moment. Still, he offered a challenge. I couldn't live with myself if I let a freak like you get near him.

He said, before opening up another portal. This guy's one of my favorites. I'm glad he's still around for you. A massive skeleton with bits of charred flesh dangling off its oversized bones emerged from the portal. It revved up an equally oversized chainsaw before charging at Adrian. What the fuck? He barely got the words out before he was forced to evade certain decapitation.

He bobbed and weaved away from the devastating blades before eventually taking a few nasty cuts. At the same time, Kale was back on his feet, giving Adrian further. trouble on top of it all. Bella soon joined in, forcing his back against the wall. He spat before leaping into the air and obliterating a good portion of the skeleton's skull with an elbow strike. It's not enough. The skeleton grabbed him by the neck and thrashed him onto the floor.

As he struggled to pull himself up, Kale swooped in and knocked him back down. About time to give up, don't you think? He grinned. Adrian spat out a good amount of blood. You really don't want that. He bolted up, drilling his head into Kail's chin, before launching himself. himself head first at the skeleton's torso. I figured it out.

He screamed. I just need to get rid of your fucking arms. He did just that, snapping both of the skeleton's elbows at the joints, causing it to drop the chainsaw. He was about to go for the killing blow when a stream of Bella's shards hit one of his eyes, blinding him.

Fussel bitch! He shouted. The skeleton capitalized on the momentary distraction, kicking him into a wall. Safe to say, things were not going Adrian's way. He looked up as Kale, Bella, and the skeleton began converging on him all at once. His expression still rife with frenetic, concentrated rage.

However, it didn't linger. Soon enough, he began smiling. Okay, all right. He said, holding up a hand. Can't say this was a fair fight, but you got me. Damn, I thought I was tougher than this. He stood up. The grin still plastered across his face.

I guess time for Plan B. What the hell does that mean? Ken asked. Well, I gave you a hint. You're not going to like this. From his pocket, he pulled out some kind of clunky switch wrapped in a mess of wires. I'm releasing the big boy, the calamity. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Caleb began stepping forward, but Adrian held his hand out. You're nowhere near fast enough to get to me in time. He suddenly looked over to Bella, who was visibly itching to spray him with some more blades. You two? Don't even fucking try it. Don't you know how stupid of an idea this is? Ken said. Okay, Prof.

Lecture me some more. I mean, you guys brought this on to yourselves. I had a simple request. He let out another insane laugh before abruptly going serious. Last chance. I mean it. Nobody moved. In fact, nobody said anything at all.

We were all at a loss for what to do. How could you have figured out how to release it? Ken finally spoke up. You're bluffing. Yeah? Well, you're pretty fucking annoying. He flipped the switch before dropping it on the ground. I'm a fucking genius, he said.

I can do anything. As Adrian continued to grin with malicious anticipation, the rest of us waited intense silence for what felt like five minutes, but nothing happened. Ken broke the silence. You know, when people bluff, they usually don't go this far. Adrian's face contorted into a confused rage. Can you a fucking break? He spat out. All this work for nothing?

He took a glance over his shoulder. Now, this is bullshit. I'm not an idiot. Like a bad out of hell, he took off down the opposing corridor. He's checking the panel, Ken said. That's right. I thought to myself. The panel was the only real way we could confirm whether or not he was really bluffing.

Truth be told, none of us had any idea what the calamity could have been. We all just assumed it was going to be some colossal monstrosity of a creature that was going to be bent on imminent destruction following its release. But we didn't know. Perhaps the danger it posed was more esoteric, something non-direct. We should go see for ourselves. I spoke up. At this point, whatever happens is going to happen. It didn't take too much convincing.

Ken created another portal, pulling the skeleton back through it, with a fog of demise looming in the air around us. The six of us began making our way. The only thing left to do was to confirm our fate. When we got to the panel, we were met with an unfavorable sight. The light was yellow. Escape in progress. Not only that, but a trap door had opened up in the floor to the side, with a set of stairs

leading down it. Adrian was right there, leering down into it. What I tell you? He said. I'm not an idiot. Well, what the hell are we going to do now? Ken asked. Go down there, then what?

Tame it or something? Tame it, die. Well, we'll see what happens. It's not like it matters anymore, unless you want to give me the kid. But Sandu didn't budge. Adrian scoffed. I'll be honest. I was planning on releasing this thing regardless.

You can't just keep something like this all locked up, you know? His remaining eye was wide with excitement as he said it. He looked back at the trap door. The great unknown, huh? He muttered before bolting down the stairs. Should we have stopped him? Kael asked, as Adrian disappeared into whatever abyss was waiting for him. I don't know.

Well, Ken responded. Would there have been a point? A long period of silence followed. It could have been an hour, maybe close to two, but regardless of the time, nothing happened. No giant creature bursting out from the floor, no portal sucking us into hell. Well, one thing did change. The light on the panel turned from yellow to red. The calamity had escaped.

But that happened a while ago. Adrian never even came up. Safe to say, we were at a loss for any kind of explanation. So what now? Do we leave, or... It feels weird leaving it like this, doesn't it? Kale said. I guess.

Ken added. Don't really know where else to go from here, though. Well, there is one option. I said. It was an instinctive outburst, something I was hardly thinking about myself. Yeah, and what is that? I gestured towards the open door. We could go down and say...

See what happened for ourselves. Ken blinked a few times in disbelief. Are you fucked in the head? Was I? It was a fleeting thought. Aren't you curious? I asked. About what they've been trying to contain this whole time?

Ken laughed. Well, I never wanted to be here in the first place, so it really doesn't matter to me. But if you want to go, then make it quick. I'm sure this place won't be quiet for much longer. I stopped myself for a second. Is this really what I want? I thought to myself. I didn't really know, yet there was some kind of strange impulse driving me forward.

Maybe there was never a calamity in the first place. Kail spoke up. What if it was just a scare tactic? That theory could have held some weight, but it didn't answer the question of what the hell happened to Adrian. Oh, it exists all right. A new voice came from behind us. We all turned around, already on edge from everything that had happened before. But it was Clint.

still bloody and beaten from his bout with the warden. Clint? Ken grinned at him. Jeez, you're still alive? Nassar and I made a bet about whether or not you were going to survive. I can't really collect now since he's dead, though. Yeah? Clint smiled back.

How much did you put on me? About 600? God, I'm offended. Don't you have any faith in me, buddy? I know you're a high roller, at least in Vegas. You know, that's great that you guys are friends of me. all. Kale interrupted.

But what the hell were you saying about the calamity? I'll tell you, but first you gotta tell me something. Who the hell opened up that door? This crazy fucking guy, I don't think you know him. I responded. And he's down there, right now? I nodded. Clint's expression turned dead serious.

God damn it. He muttered. He drew a handgun from his belt and began rapidly descending the stairs. stairs. The rest of us looked at each other in confusion before quickly following after him. It was a longer journey than I had anticipated. It really begged the question of why such a lengthy set of stairs was constructed in the first place. Once we got down there, we found ourselves in some kind of laboratory, with dusty monitors

and haphazard stacks of documents strewn everywhere. At the very end of the lab was a metal door that was wide open. We could see Adrian standing inside the room that it led into. I couldn't really tell what he was doing at first. It kind of just looked like he was standing still. And then I realized that's all he was doing. He paid no attention to us. He was simply staring ahead, although I couldn't quite see what he was staring at.

At first, that is. Whatever you do, do not look inside that damn room. Clint shouted us. He said it just a little bit too late. I don't know how I can describe what I was seeing. On the surface, it's simple. There was a monitor. Adrian was simply staring at a monitor.

But what was on that monitor was tougher to explain. It was an amalgamation of incomprehensible shapes and figures, shifting and moving in ways completely alien to human perception. And then there were the colors. Colors I'd never seen before in my life. Colors that I'm pretty sure didn't exist. In that moment, I could feel my mind. fading, my sense of self dissolving into the void.

I was utterly transfixed on whatever the hell was on that monitor. I could feel some kind of strange pleasure overwhelming my senses, but at the same time I was trying my absolute hardest to look away. My emotions were utterly conflicted, which only worsened the already perplexing situation. I was eventually snapped out of it after some unknown duration. I remember jumping at the sounds of multiple gunshots before feeling a debilitating migraine and experiencing fleeting moments of blindness. I bent over in pain before blinking a few times and looking back up to see Clint, carrying

Adrian's limp, bullet-ridden body with the door to the room now shut behind him. As soon as he was done with that, he pressed his back against the wall, eyes wide and breathing heavily like a child who'd just seen a ghost. What the hell was that all about? What the fuck is wrong with you? Ken asked him. I guess nobody else had gotten a glimpse of the monitor, because they wouldn't have been asking that. That's, that was the calamity, wasn't it? I said, still mentally reeling from the experience.

Clint looked at me and nodded. What? I could barely get the question out, but Clint answered regardless. Some things don't have answers. All that I know is that somewhere out there, in the vast expanse above us, there's something that we were never meant to see, something that we cannot cross paths with. But if it's up there, then, We shouldn't have to worry about it, right? What's with all this and why the hell are we monitoring it? I asked. Clint sighed.

Here's the thing. As soon as we found out about its existence, it found out about ours. In a way, we're linked to it. Every second that a human eye perceives that thing, it reciprocates that attention. If somebody looks at it for too long, then they're pretty much inviting it right over to us. I can hardly respond to this. I guess I should tell you all this part as well. He continued, it's already coming towards us.

Best ETA puts it at around 19,000 years away. But after today, it's probably a lot closer now. He looked down to Adrian. This asshole just shortened humanity's lifespan by a couple thousand years. And then he looked up at me. I saw you looking as well. He said, Lucky I snapped you out of it before you went insane.

You probably just cost us about fifty years as well." Okay, Kail spoke up. Not that I'm following any of this, but how are we stopping this thing from arriving?" Clint let out a dry laugh. That's what they keep trying to figure out, why they built this lab in the first place. It's funny though. All of their research probably just brought it closer. Huh, Ken said.

So that's the deal with the calamity? Wouldn't have been my first guess. Yeah, pretty whack shit. Clint said as he got up. Well, we'd better get the hell out of here. This place is about to be swarmed. Sure, but where the hell would we go? The moment we try getting off this island, we're getting shot at.

Maybe it's better to take our chances here and explain the situation, Kale said. No fucking way we're staying here. Sandu, Ken, and Bella responded in unison. We better figure something out soon. Getting out of here is going to be tough, though. It's going to be impossible. What? The island's already surrounded, and the cavalry is ready to pounce on any stragglers.

They know about everybody who are supposed to be in here, and they're going to hunt down the ones who don't get accounted for. He paused for a moment. In other words, you guys would be fucked. And then he grinned. If I wasn't here, he took out a bizarre-looking cell phone and dialed the number. Hey, I'm done. Hey, I'm done.

He spoke into it. Come and pick me up. Before we could ask any questions, a small blue portal opened up in the ground a few meters away from us. So you can do it too, huh? Ken said. Yes, sir. Clint responded. But there's no monsters coming out of this one.

Moments later, a well-built man with a heavy mass of a beard who looked to be in his late twenties popped out. What the hell, Clint? Where's your own fucking transporter? Warden broke it. The man laughed. Oh, right. How was that, by the way? What do you think, Pete? I almost died. I'm surprised you made it out at all.

The warden's a tough bastard, and you brought company, huh? He looked over at each of us before gesturing towards the portal. Well, don't be scared. Jump in. There were a few more objections, of course, mostly from Kale and I. Kale was still clinging on to his identity as some reprehensible criminal who belonged in this place, while I was shitting myself at the prospect of jumping into some blue hole in the ground. However, everybody else was raring to go. I suppose they all had their reasons.

The kid looked as if he was about to pass out, but he really didn't have a say in the matter. Sandu was just trying to get him the hell away from this place. I only ended up jumping in when I heard the sound of boots on metal above us. I'm not quite sure how to describe my journey through the portal. Disorienting, I guess. But at that point, my senses had become pretty dulled anyway. We were transported to the top of a metal tower overlooking some desert. desert-like expanse.

The surface was crawling with ghastly creatures that looked to be some kind of coyote-scorpion hybrid, and they sure as hell were aggressive, constantly attacking and ripping apart and cannibalizing each other. At the edge of the platform we were on, there was a sniper rifle mounted with a stool at the bottom. There were also empty boxes of snack cakes and beef jerky packets strewn across the floor. Why are you hanging out in this dump? Clint asked him, looking disgusted at the site below.

"'A target practice,' Pete responded. "'Remember the guy we were supposed to kill in Paradise X? Couldn't hit him for shit, and then I nearly got my dick chopped off?' "'Hold on. Are you just not going to explain where the fuck we are?' Kale interrupted, sounding somewhat exasperated. "'Well, I mean, I thought what just happened was pretty obvious.' Pete responded. "'We hopped to another dimension.

"'C Congrats. You're a jumper now.' "'A jumper?' "'Didn't Adrian say something about that?' So where you want to go next? Clint asked. What? What do you mean? Ken spoke up.

Like to another dimension? Clint nodded. Well, I mean, I thought we were... Geez, Ken, I thought you'd be a little more adventurous than that. Ken sighed. I don't know. I make my way around Earth pretty well, you know. I'm down, Bella said, causing Ken to whip his head around.

Are you serious? I'll follow you anywhere." Bella said mockingly. Ken chuckled somewhat nervously. I never said that. Maybe it was similar, but it wasn't that lame. Whatever. Bella continued, walking towards Clint and Pete.

Ken hesitated for a few more moments before ultimately relenting. Jeez, he said. This is fucked up. What about you, vampire? Clint looked at kale. I'm not sure, he responded. I think a vacation's more than I deserve. Hmm.

Clint continued. So you still think rotting away in a prison's going to do anybody any good? Well, I'll tell you something that might pique your interest. There's a planet named Gehenna out in an area called the Dark Zone. There's no rules there, no interdimensional government that has jurisdiction over it, and any task force they send gets obliterated. And trust me, there's some bad shit happening to innocent beings over there. Shit that makes your blood boil, just thinking about it.

It can't be helped, I guess. Nobody's coming to take out the bad guys and stop the suffering. He looked kale did in the eye. Look, you're not the strongest, but you're strong enough to make a difference. Not to mention, you can get even stronger. Don't waste your life. Go and help those people. There's a militia of vigilantes called the deliverance,

pushing back against the gangs and traffickers controlling that place. We can get you over there. and then you can go find them, join them, and tell them I sent you. It took a moment, but Kale ultimately relented to the proposition. Even though he was acting reluctant, I could tell that he was glad. He had a purpose once again. Now, Clint said, turning to face us, what do we do with you guys? AJ still looked terrified as he clung on to Sandu.

Jeez, Clint, Pete said as he fired another sniper bullet down into the mass of creatures. You're getting kids caught up? your messes as well?" Sandu sighed. Look, I appreciate you getting us out of there, but we need to go back. Clint and I both raised an eyebrow. What? They'll track you guys down for sure.

That's a terrible idea. Maybe so, but it's out of my hands. I have one more thing I need to figure out. He looked at AJ. One more thing I need to figure out. For his sake, trust me. Clint sighed. Fair enough.

Well, you want me to come along? I asked. Sandu smiled at me. Nah, this is something we need to do on our own. Well, I responded. It's been a ride, man. It felt weird staying by to him like this. Yeah, it sure has.

But if things work out, you'll definitely see me again. And just like that, everything had been settled. Sandu and AJ were headed back to Earth. Their exact destination, well... I'd rather not say on here. Kale was headed to Gahanna in order to join the deliverance. Pete stayed in the desert planet in order to continue his shooting. Once Clint had fixed his transporter, him, Ken, and Bella went off to God knows where.

Well, to be more accurate, I went with them as well, but things got complicated pretty quickly and we got separated. So where am I now? That's a long story for another time. But I think things will work out. in the end. At least, I hope they do.