It was overwhelming. The smell, the taste and the feeling of pain, all rushing back to Kenjirou at once. It was horrible. The stench of decay of this nightmarish world hit him so hard, he immediately lost control of his stomach contents, mixing it with the rancid taste of blood in his mouth. Every wound in his body throbbed violently. It was driving him insane. But most of all, there was an explosive surge of power running wild inside him, threatening to consume him entirely.
“Argh! Ma…yu…Aaahhh! AAAAHHH!” He screamed in agony as he desperately fought against the familiar influence of his corrupted body’s assault on his weakening mind. “No… not again! I will not allow it!”
He could hear the horrible screams of his two friends, as he turned to see them suffering just the same.
Takuya was going mad. He was rolling on the ground while covering his ears, shrieking.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! AAAHHH!” He clawed at his ears, trying to stop the head-splitting noises that was blasting into his once quiet world. It was as if someone had suddenly turned the volume up to max right after getting used to the silence. He could hear every little thing; every tremor, every footstep and every heartbeat. But out of all that, the one thing that was the loudest was something that truly drove him insane. It was the sound of laughter. Amusement of their suffering, mocking them from afar. The sound was so unbearable, like a drill piercing into his skull.
“SHUT UP!” He cried out in anger as veins burst from his body with a sickening splat. His headphones melted away and grafted into his skin as the veins attached themselves to his head.
“AAAAHHHH!” Takuya screamed in excruciating pain. He could feel something being injected into him. It hurt so badly yet there was also a strange sense of pleasure, as a sudden surge of energy began to flow within him. His vision turned red and anger drowned his mind as he turned his gaze to the surrounding monsters.
Digging his teeth into his arm, he tore out a large chunk of his own flesh. Blood gushed out and dripped down his hands, covering his weapon in a disgusting dark red liquid and thickened as the metal pipe slowly began to transform into the shape of a giant mallet. He slammed his weapon onto the ground, sending out a blast that shattered the environment around him. The veins from his body shot out and attached themselves to the handle, causing it to hum with ominous power.
Letting out a enrage scream, he charged toward his enemies with his new weapon in hand. In a single swing, he mercilessly brought it down on a monster and smashed it to the ground. The horrific sound of flesh and blood being splattered sent shockwaves throughout the air, throwing back all surrounding monsters.
WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM
“Die! Die! DIE!” He screamed as he continuously smashed the monster until there remained nothing but a disgusting paste. Then, laughing like a madman, he turned his sights to the next thing that moved.
“HIDEYOSHI!” Kenjirou called out as his underclassmen went insane.
“AAH! Help me!”
Quickly looking to the screams for help, he saw as veins shot out from the cellphone Juntaro was in and watched as they were reaching through the screen.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! NO! HELP!” Wrapping around him, he could only cry out in horror as they began to pull him out through the phone.
“MITSUHIDE!” Kenjirou tried to stand but his leg betrayed him and gave out, causing him to fall to the ground hard. His eyes widen as he saw the sudden corporeal body of his friend who was dragged out and thrown to the ground.
“You…you have a body?!”
“What!?”
Juntaro quickly moved his arm around and felt himself. It was true, he has an actual physical body.
“H-but how?!” He sat completely dazed at this new revelation as he heard the growls from behind him. Monsters surrounded him and were readying to attack.
“WAH! G-WHAT THE HELL!?” He shrieked as they quickly pounced on him. He threw his arms out to defend himself for the inevitable strike. But nothing came.
Peeking out from his fingers and he looked to see the monsters being held back by some mysterious electrical barrier, emulating from the cellphone floating in front of him. The monsters snarled and clawed at him but could not reach him.
“Ha…ha…HAHAHAHAHAHA!” He found himself suddenly laughing. He looked down at his hand and saw streams of data running through them, slightly glitching. He had a body, but he was still electronic data. Like a living 3D computer generated image. Moving his hands, the barrier responded to him and immediately blew back the monsters.
The Veins burst out of the phone again as it moved toward him, piercing his skin. Juntaro felt a ping of pain but he did not fight it. Slowly, the phone embedded itself onto his body as he watched it shatter and swirled around him. A sharp poke occurred on the back of his head as one of the veins connected to him and began injecting something into his brain. Feeling a sudden rush of energy running through his body, he let out a shout as a wave of electricity flew out and ran through the area.
Information flowed through his head. Everything the wave had ran across was scanned, analyzed and compiled, rushing back to him in a form of raw data. His brain felt as if it was going to explode from the overload, but;
“This… this. IS. AMAZING!” He felt so much power. It was as if he had become…a god!
He looked around and saw the insignificant grounds that laid before him. This entire land is now his playground, waiting to be bent to his will. He turned to the monsters, as they bared their teeth and snarled at him yet was cautiously kept away. He beamed with excitement, as the maddening desire to testing his new power overtook him.
Slowly floating off the ground, he stretched out his arms as the surrounding metal and debris flew towards him. They transformed into weapons that hovered over him like drones, coiling around his outstretched arms as they began gathering energy.
“MITSUHIDE STOP!” Kenjirou screamed out, desperately trying to stop him.
But Juntaro did not hear him. Intoxicated in power, from his weapons shot out a powerful beam of laser that flew towards a surrounding monster.
PEW
The laser shot forth at blinding speed and the moment it made contact, its target was immediately disintegrated, leaving nothing but a puddle of steaming goo.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAA!” He let out a maniacal laugh as he watched them cower before him. His vision turned red as he locked on to every monster within his sights and began indiscriminately raining down destruction.
Kenjirou slammed his fist on the ground as he watched helplessly the scene of his two friends losing themselves. They were running amok, killing everything in sight without any regards for themselves. At this rate;
“GOD DAMN IT!” He cursed, struggling to stand but his body would not obeying him. He furiously shook his head, trying to drown out the maddening temptations screeching in his slowly breaking mind.
“What the hell did she do to us?!”
He turned back to Ryuuko who was still unconscious, only to see that she had been surrounded again. The monsters had sneaked past the two rampaging boys and they were none the wiser.
“They’re going to kill her!”
Having no choice, he finally gave in. Veins immediately shot out from his back and attached themselves to his arms and began pumping energy into his body. Rage overtook him as his body burst into flames. The right side of his face melted away to reveal a skeletal mask, burning away the wounds he received from earlier, while the weapon in his hands melded together with his skin. His vision turned red as he launched himself at the monsters. Roaring in anger and despair, he viciously tore them apart with his bare hands, losing himself in madness.
–
“Huff… huff…”
Panting heavily, Kenjirou fell to his knees. His body was shaking uncontrollably. As the veins pulled themselves back, his sense of feelings once again faded away. He could not feel anything, yet he could not move. He was exhausted.
“No… no… no…” He mumbled as he stared into the dark red skies. Having finally regained control of himself, the pieces of his broken mind slowly piece itself back together.
“What have I done?”
He looked to seem that he was surrounded by the numerous corpses of the monsters he ripped apart. A feeling of utter despair swelled inside him, a terrible pain of guilt and remorse ate at him as he nearly broke down into tears. But quickly, he pulled himself together.
“It is not time for that. The girl…” He pulled himself to the body of the unconscious Ryuuko. She was still sleeping soundly, her face so peaceful.
“She is safe.” The thought brought him solace, washing away the feeling of self-hatred. At the very least, he had been able to protect her. He gave a weak sigh of relief, as he could feel his consciousness slipping away.
“Not yet!” Vigorously, he shook his head and forced himself awake. He can’t let go just yet; they still have a job to do. Barely clinging on, he struggle to pull himself up and turned to where his two friends were. The fighting had finally stopped, but he must do something.
Before it is too late, he must stop them.
–
Takuya and Juntaro was standing in a pool of blood, piles of corpses littered the ground around them.
“Ha… ha… The sound… finally…” Takuya struggled to breathe, yet his hands still firmly gripped his weapon. “I feel amazing…”
His body was in unimaginable pain and he was exhausted, but he was still wrapped in the thrill of battle. A sense of pleasure he never felt before hung over him. He wanted more. He must have more.
“Yes, all this power. I can’t believe it.” Juntaro laughed, staring at his trembling hands. “I’ve never felt anything like it. I still feel like I could keep going. I want to keep going.”
The two then slowly turned to each other.
“You know, Takuya, despite being your senior, you’ve never once shown me proper respect.” Juntaro said with a sly grin, the drones slowly coiling around his arms. “And that really pisses me off.”
“Really? Well, that’s because you’re an asshole and I’ve never liked you.” Takuya gave a devious smirk as he twirled his weapon in his hands. “So, what are you going to do about it, Mitsuhide-senpai?”
The two charged at each other, their weapons drawn. But in a flash, Kenjirou appeared between them just as they were about to clash, grabbing their heads, he slamming the two of them to the ground with extreme force.
“ENOUGH!”
WHAM
The surprise impact immediately knocked them out. The veins that were wrapped around them retreated as their bodies returned to normal, with Juntaro’s corporeal body fading away back into his cellphone.
Letting out a weary breath of relief, Kenjirou carefully picked and carried them away. He placed the phone in his pocket and threw Takuya over his shoulder along with Ryuuko.
Slow and weakly, he stumbled his way towards the door as he grabbed the handle and swung it open. Light enveloped him as he fell through and landed on the hard pavement of a sidewalk. The sound of cars and bustling people filled his ears as he finally lost consciousness.
