"Many see the world as a wonder with boundless quality, an unfathomable mystery that is sure to behold a detail deeper than another.
It is through this window of soul that you will find controversial figures birth forth into existence, giving insights into reality more meticulous than the last, more mad than their predecessors.
They indulge in their genius, take it for granted, and fall to the very pits of hell the moment this lightbulb above their heads are snuffed clean of electricity; the desire to perceive more and more into the spiral of knowledge and mind would drive anyone mad.
But what is a spiral, really?
Some might say it embodies the movement of mankind, starting from a center point and endlessly expanding outward into advancing progress.
Another might state that the spiral was something that progressed inward, spiraling from the outer ego into the inner mind.
Both of these statements are applicable to reality; maybe it does represent humanity to be expanding infinitely, maybe it does mean the outer world reaching into our very cosmic consciousness.
What statement would you choose to be the definition of a spiral, if not these two?
You are, without so much as a doubt, utterly insane if you've chosen none other than the definition it has been granted: a winding of continuous and gradual widening (or tightening) curve, either around a central point on a flat plane or about an axis so as to form a cone.
What I'm telling is that there's no point arguing the semantics of the word 'spiral,' nor is there any other point to try to dig deeper into the reality right in front of you---taking a special kind of delusion to try to probe the things that are as obvious as they are.
Take things for what they are; doubt and mistrust will get you no where in a world where constants reign almighty, regardless of how contradictory that very statement sounded.
Does doubting the language of math get you good grades in school? Does doubting the fact that there are four hundred and seventy two apples in that shopping cart get you a paycheck?
Madness is the derivation, not the purpose of that derivative.
You have been granted the world, so you should take the world for granted. In doing so, you have become sane, and in that sanity, you are true." - The Depthless Visitor
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An incessant beeping stabbed knives into Theo's ringing head, a flickering of bright light piercing his eyes with occasions of flashing red.
"My . . . gosh darn ice cream . . . not my ice creeEAAAMMMM!!!" Theo desperately yelled out as he reached out forward, putting him into his senses as he quickly noted his new surroundings.
The room he was in was a dimly lit cubical that stank of ill-hygiene, with the only exit being a metal door that emanated authority and imprisonment. Not only that, the computer screen that gave the room its only source of light beeped as though it impatiently expected an input, giving Theo the impression that this was some sort of black company which enslaved their workers.
However, the most important detail that Theo had noticed were the droplets of blood leaking from the side of his head onto the desk in front of him, touching it forced a shiver inside Theo's skin as he felt ripped wires with a metal rim to allow those very wires inside his skull.
All it took was a glance to his right for the answer to be shown, with crushed scrap and puddles of green liquid dirtying the ground beside him.
It seemed that whoever Theo had possessed for their body ripped out some sort of mechanism from the side of their head, killing them in a moment's notice as they hadn't given so much as a struggle.
"What kind of screwed up place did you send me, Alex?" Theo questioned the still air, giving nothing but a despising feeling to whoever allowed something so terrible to transpire.
Trying at the metal door behind him that unlocked with far too much ease than it should have been, Theo made his way out into a hallway that stretched for miles without end as he turned around to look at a sign hanged above his cubical.
[Tag number TX5G24: deceased. Please clean up within two days at most.] The sign heartlessly read, looping itself for as long as it needed before some sort of janitorial staff came across the cubical.
"This is one hell of a crappy dystopia; I think I would've preferred the hunger games than this."
Playing a game of eeny meeny miny moe to decide which direction to go, Theo turned to his right before he began his many-mile advancement down the corridor, its bleak grey walls serving as the only form of decoration for the liminal space.
Each step that Theo took reverberated down and back into his ears as though there was only silence occupying the hallway, being just enough to hear his flatlined heart beating to the rhythm of his steps.
'Wait, that doesn't make sense---' Theo took a moment to think over that statement, bringing his hand to quickly check his pulse before realizing that, despite his very senses that were interpreting reality for him, he was a dead person. '---wait, no, it does, I practically confirmed it moments ago. No one lives with a giant hole in their heads, usually. Oh man, that's weird. Dealing with your own death is really weird, cause you don't really believe it. Funky weird."
Yet, what really pressed Theo's button wasn't the contradicting dualities between life and death of his body, but the question on what he had confused for the beat of his own heart.
Then, as though coming all too familiar to him, Theo heard a ramping, piercing sound explode towards his location---they were alarms, and instead of an eldritch being chasing after him, an uncountable amount of pale-skinned, black-suited employees burst forth from their corresponding prison cells without so much as a moment's difference in their timing.
It was so sudden that all Theo could really afford was a small yelp for help before they all began to move in mechanical unison, pushing Theo around like a helpless infant at sea with strength that betrayed their ill complexion.
"Agh, woah---!" Theo helplessly said as the horde of robotic workers carried him along with their march, pushing him out beneath the dark sky and knocking him down to the synthetic material that imitated some old notion of the sidewalk.
Climbing up a number of robotic employees to help himself up, Theo's senses exploded in information as he was exposed to the city's futuristic advancements.
Digital clocks were measuring by a unit of time lesser than the nanoseconds, people in a variety of colored collars were walking at speeds so blurring that it was almost impossible to keep track of one for a moment's time, billboards and holograms so bright and hypnotic burned their advertisements into the retinas of whoever dared to look at them---it was as though this dystopian world was just one single, mechanical organism, and everything else was just a cell in its function.
And then, silence.
" . . . what?"
Just a moment ago, Theo was tumbling and tripping over all sorts of rocks and banana peels, but in the next, there was nothing but silence to permeate the dark sky of the city.
Not a soul, or more so a soulless collared worker, was around. Even weirder was that, the moment the digital clock had hit the very instance of time that was 9:47 P. M., every itty bitty usage of electricity had completely shut down; the light show of advertisements and holograms were gone without so much as a trace of their existence.
Nonetheless, Theo was grateful to break out of the city's flow, recollecting his thoughts as he tried to find what to do next.
'Probably . . . find Carmina?' Theo thought with a rub to his chin, as there was no better way to avoid responsibility than to rely on your senior in the field.
But when he tried to get a proper look at the city now that it didn't have a billion advertisements bright enough to blind the human eye in a matter of seconds, a different kind of light overtook his eyes; a manner of breathtaking beauty rather than forceful visuals.
" . . . stars." Theo briefly commented, gazing upon the blanket of the sparkles that gleamed into the city now that it had shut off almost all of its light.
Relying on the brief knowledge he had over constellations, taught to him many years go, there was not one clutter of stars Theo could identify in the cosmic sea. If the giant Isekai truck hadn't done it for him, it was now that he could see that he was a completely alternate world.
'Hahaha, penis.' Theo made a hollow chuckle, deluding himself over a phallic-shaped clump of stars among the dark sky before a shriek stopped him from trying to make out anything else.
"Agh, shit! Damn bastard! I had plans for the fucking weekend too! Pizza, soda, chips, Toradora, rainy night, nobody home, pillow fort, blanket, fan . . . I had it all---!" A black-suited woman muttered to herself as she kick one of the few light posts available, leaving a small dent on its metal.
With much her identity being rather self explanatory, as Theo would doubt any white-collar worker would have the vigor to curse so loudly, he approached Carmina and asked, "Yo, you got any idea what we're suppose to do here?"
Turning around to stare down Theo like a feral beast for a moment and a half, Carmina calmed down once she reasoned it was someone she knew, "No, not a fucking clue in sight. I mean, if you can decrypt on what the fuck we're suppose to do with this shit---"
Carmina showed Theo a small box labeled 'DO NOT OPEN! ONLY GIVE TO PERSON YOU ARE COOL WITH SAVING!'
"---then be my guest, cause I don't think I will ever have enough bullshit to be dealt from Alex for my adaptability to pick up what the hell he wants."
Theo pondered a single thought before his ears began to smoke, "No clue either, but he seems to be implying that we're probably gonna be knee-deep in trouble later on. Woah, is this gonna be my first Manifestor fight? Fist-to-fist with some villain?"
"The hell? A villain? This isn't some power fantasy, y'know. We'll have a fight here and there, but don't get so rosy with it. It's always just a conflict of interests, not a matter of light and dark. And just as a warning . . .
. . . don't ever talk to me about the morals of our missions, or you'll die the same way everybody else did on this job; we're not even close to being strong enough to afford it."
Theo replied with a tone of discomfort as a wave of unpleasant memories washed over Carmina, " . . . okay."
Having essentially met what felt was a week ago for the two, Theo and Carmina weren't on that good of terms. Perhaps their relationship was more closer to recently-acquainted coworkers rather than actual friends, just close enough to laugh at each others' jokes but not quite close enough to tell their own troubles to one another.
"Well then, with that out of the way, what's our next course of action? Dawdle around until something happens? Walk on over to that giant flashy building over at the center of this city? Or are we gonna interrogate that conspicuous brat in all white a few blocks over?"
"Eeeek!" A high-pitched sound squeaked from two buildings over, "I'm sorrrryyyyyy, please don't kill meeeeeEEE!!!"
Running out from behind her cover and onto the open street, a small girl in a laboratory coat kneeled down on the road with an earnest desperation to live, putting down a paper bag's worth of grocery food in front of her as though it were an offering.
"Woah, where did you get that idea? We're no one dangerous, really, so if you could---" Theo spoke as he tried to dispel the misunderstanding, but was quickly interrupted.
"Ack! That's what every single dangerous person would say, much so a rogue droid like you! So please, spare my liffeeeee!!!!"
Carmina took a blank for whatever the little girl was talking about before she decided to play along, "Yea midget, we're some real dangerous rogue droids! But lucky you, we're feeling rather benevolent today, so we'll be willing to let you off after you answer some questions for us."
"Plllleeeeeeaaaaasssseeeee!!!!! I don't know how to get revenge against big corporate entities!!!! I only know scciiieeennccceee!!!!!!"
"Yea, well, uh, lucky you again that we're not here for revenge against corporate overlords---" A bamboozled expression came from the little girl's face, "---well, not yet of course!"
"Bwwaaaahhhhh!!! I don't know anythinggggg, let me livveeeee!!!!"
A vein was bulging on Carmina's forehead, "It's alright, so shut up, we just need you to answer some questions about this city, yea? Does that sound like a good bargain for your life?"
"Wah?! Really?! Something so small to keep my life!? What do you want to know?"
"Yea, uh . . . " Theo nudged Carmina and pointed to the big flashy building, " . . . what's up with that light show of a cube? The one that looks real important being so centered inside the city."
"Oh, easiest thing of my life! I've already learned that a thousand times over! But you gotta come a bit closer, cause I don't think my throat can handle much more than a small yell after shrieking for my life back there; I'm real glad you guys are real friendly!"
Theo and Carmina shared a glance at each other before taking their steps to approach the girl who was patting off the dust on their extra small pants, because how could any wrong be done to them by such a cute little girl?
Except she wasn't a cute little girl . . .
. . . and she pulled out a gun out from her lab coat.
Bang!
A whirring shot reverberated throughout the empty city streets, a small hole was carved into Carmina's neck as tendrils of electricity stretched outward from the wound.
"Wow, this thing works like a charm! Y'know, I never woulda expected a couple rogue robots to be so non-murderous to the people around them---well, expect for this girlie---but to think you fellas got so much life in you! Normally, roaming scrap like you would be either dead or emotionless, which makes you two a rather peculiar subject to study!"
"W-What did you do! Holy shit! We were only going to ask for directions! We would've let you off! M-Much less do anything harmful!"
"Well, ain't you the smartest Sherlock amongst all his novels? Yea, dumbass, of course I know that, but I gotta do what a scientist has gotta do, and that's kidnapping responsive specimen off the street to participate in unlawful science experiments."
"Wha---!"
Another shot rang out to the silent wind of the city's empty streets, leaving another corpse of scrap metal to lay helpless on its cold, concrete-like road.
All that was left was the comical sight of a little girl carrying two grown adults all while balancing a bag of groceries on top of her head.
____________________________________________________________________________________
"Luna, I'm telling you, you need to stop going into the city streets."
"What? Well, I'll be telling you that I can take care of myself perfectly fine on the streets."
"It's not about that, Luna. Every time you go out into the human district to get your bags of groceries, you always bring some weird-ass stuff we have no use for! One day, you got scammed for a used confetti popper. Another day, you brought two drinking hats that's just laying around at our desks. But today, you brought the corpses of two dead androids you just shot up at your local office! Not only do we already have volunteers for our testing, but we also have food at the lab! And it costs money to repair those androids! And we don't have the time to!"
"In addition to your bland taste in eating those nutrition cubes, you sound like my mom.
"I sound like a reasonable person, but you on the other hand---" a pile of miscellaneous items toppled down from a janitorial closet nearby, "---are just wasting our lab funds! I swear to God, what lies have you been telling our accounting and finance staff?"
"My charm is simply too much for them."
"No, seriously, what have you been telling them?"
"Pfft, tell them? My charm is just too incredible for them to even realize their cards are gone."
"Oh. My. God."
As the two chatted each others' ears off, Theo began to wake from the noise, realizing he was strapped to a bed like he was in a mental asylum. As much as his neck was restrained by his bed straps, Theo saw through his peripheral view that Carmina was in a similar situation to him, albeit unconscious.
The little science girl, or 'Luna' as mentioned before, took notice to the awakening Theo and said, "Oh hey, look Vint! They're both awake! I can finally show you what kinda quirks these fellas have! I'm telling you, they'll be great specimen."
" . . . beep boop, need to return to work, beep boop."
"See? Look at that! This guy has a sense of humor! Does he think that he can fool us with that second-rate acting? At least that girl robot does better trying to look unconscious. PS, we can read your activity signals going on inside your head."
Theo died a little inside from embarrassment, while Carmina coughed despite the fact that she doesn't have lungs.
"Yea, sure, interesting, but our experiments don't deal in responsive behavior from test subjects."
"I know that, but imagine the data or replicative AI we might make from them! If we can find out the anomaly of consciousness between these two robots and implement them into the manufactured robots, we'll bless ourselves with beautiful qualitative data as well! And it doesn't violate the Bill of Rights because they're robots! What a deal, amiright or amiright?"
"You're right, very right, too right in fact. Before we engage in conversation with these two anomalies, would you mind going over some of the things you've observed of these two so far?"
Luna brought her mouth to his ear, having not the need to bend down or grab a stool as Vint was sitting on a chair, their whispers unnerving to Theo's and Carmina's ears.
"Hmm, yes, quite interesting, very intriguing. Hey you, male specimen, what's your name?"
"Huh? Me?"
"No, the ghost lurking in the corner of the room. Yes, you, what is your name?" Vint asked in a passive-aggressive tone, taking out a note pad and violently wrote with his pen.
"Uh, Theo?"
"Full name, if you could kindly."
"Theo Rukuos."
"What district are we currently in?"
"Uh, at least the second one."
"What is 246 times 20032?"
"I need pencil and paper."
"What time is it right now?"
"Let-me-go-O'-clock."
"Name three historical figures who have made great impacts to the State."
"Napoleon, DanTDM, and Howcuttle."
An eye twitched on Vint's face, but for some odd reason, Theo felt as though it wasn't out of annoyance.
"Alright then, bring out the taser, Luna. We'll be testing the conductivity of Theo's balls."
"Wait, what?!" Theo yelled, the complete 180-degree turn from simple questions to testicular torture was entirely unexpected. "Wait, stop! I won't give you bullshit anymore! That Luna girl was just being an asshole! Who shoots people to bring to their lab, yea!?"
But as the taser brought by Luna was cackling with electricity, Theo felt his soul leave his body.
"Fry them black, Luna."
"Wait, stop, wait! AARRRGGHhhh . . . . . ?" Theo winced at the pain that was about to come, only to realize that there was no pain.
"Very, very, very interesting. Specimen has been noted to be fearful of the balls conductivity test despite not having the anatomical structure built for reproductivity, but acting as though his phantom balls did exist. Not only has the specimen been deprived of basic information, as well as failing to function an android's inbuilt function, but displays knowledge that can either be false all together or knowledge not commonly known."
Vint licked his thumb and wrote his final conclusions on this small experiment as Luna finished his statement, "That in which, it brings us to a couple of questions: did you somehow download someone else's memories? But that would mean getting terminated by the data base's security system, so no. Did the fatal wound on the side of your head result in a corrupted behavioral pattern, thus resulting in your anomaly? No, it doesn't explain your phantom balls or determinate to use Theo as a name, which leaves us to our last question . . .
. . . are you from another world?"
" . . . . . . . . "
Silence.
Theo could only meet Luna with silence.
What felt like a secret that wouldn't be revealed until much later for some random but important plot point was unveiled in a matter of seconds.
Of course, there wasn't any point behind keeping it a secret, but the fact that both Theo and Carmina were from another world felt too important to be put out in the open just like that.
"Ah, you don't really need to answer that, since it's more like a rhetorical question. You see, we've had otherworldly visitors for many years now, which is one of the biggest reasons why this lab was founded."
"Quite sad, really, since we can't do anything with this information. And Luna, you're not going to divulge in any confidential information to a bunch of outsiders, are you? For all we know, they could be agents sent from some organization that wants to steal our research."
"Nah, no way, they don't look professional enough to be that mysterious. In fact, why are you even here? And why is your female companion still feigning to be asleep despite the fact that we've already called her out on it?"
Carmina threw up her hands, or at least tried to, in surrender, "All right, all right, I give. I just didn't want to deal with all the questions."
"And you let me deal with them instead?!" Theo spoke as he looked at Carmina with a face of betrayal.
Carmina, however, dodged the statement and answered Luna's question, "Purpose? Our purpose is to do whatever the fuck we need to do with this damn box---" Carmina made an awkward little struggle to reach into her pocket, " . . . well, if you could help me get it out my pocket."
Luna walked forward to reach into Carmina's pocket.
"Only give it to the person you're cool with saving? What is this? Who gave you this, and why?"
"Our supervisor, I guess? We have no clue why he gave us that box, but as cryptic as he is, he probably has a purpose with it."
A curious glint shined inside Luna's eyes before Vint put a hand on her shoulder, "Respect their stuff Luna, it's probably something personal. Is your supervisor going to pick you up?"
"Hell no, that guy has not ever dropped us, or at least me, into a mission only for him to fetch us back like we forgot a backpack at home."
"Mission? So you guys are from an organization?"
"Uh, no, we're a three-man team whose base of operations work as a musky old church. We do have a fourth entity living inside the church basement, but I don't consider it as apart of the team."
"Hm, well then, I don't quite know what to do with you two for the time being."
'What? I was sure we could make those two into test subjects!"
"Luna, although they are soul-possessed hunks of metal, they are still a person on the inside. Plus, they're kind of nice despite the fact you shot them up and kidnapped them into the laboratory. Either way, I have no intention in getting outsiders like them involved with our business. The most I can do for you two is give you refuge for the time being, and that's---"
A ding chimed out from Vint's pocket, interrupting his sentence as he reached to pull out his phone.
"What is it? More job applicants?"
A chuckle came from Vint's mouth as the coincidence proved to be far too convenient, "Would you look at that, I think I know what you've been sent here for . . .
. . . welcome to the team, or more specifically, the experimental department."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
"How the hell did Alex send job applications for us?! And how did he get the recommendation from, like, the fucking CEOs to hire us as janitors!? And why is that a part of the experiment department?!"
"I don't think we're going to be used as janitors in something named 'the experiment department.'"
"Yea, shit, you saw how batshit insane that Luna girl was about experimental subjects or whatever? Fuck it, can't be too bad, can it? I mean, Alex practically never sends us into something we can't handle, usually, hopefully, and oh God, do I pray."
"I am, quite literally, right behind, and don't you usually use a whispering voice when trying to diss someone? Especially because they're right behind you?"
Carmina retorted back, "Yea, well, fire us, then. I'm suppose to be at home, binging my shit, not mopping the damn floor!"
"Hehe, no can do! You've signed your souls away the moment you put your signature on those job applications!"
"They were forged!"
Despite her important position as being one of its leading scientists, Luna showed the two around the laboratory, like where they'd be sleeping or putting flavor patches on their tongues. Although, because of her short stature, it looked more so like a bring-your-child-to-work day rather than Luna actually giving Theo and Carmina a tour.
But, regardless of her height, it didn't stop the bypassing scientists and clerks from paying their respects to Luna.
"Good morning, Doctor Little. Have you finished your daily energy analytics yet? If so, would you like some strawberry cake later?"
"Doctor Little, congratulations on your report on reactive energy production, please accept this lollipop as a gift."
"Greetings Doctor Little, you made a fantastic speech about wave collision. I'll put in a good word for you if Vint asks about your behavior."
Well, it was more so pampering rather than giving deep respect; nevertheless, Luna looked happy with her hand outs. And it wasn't as though the employees were mocking Luna, as they'd probably be fired if they did, but more so an inside joke rather than anything else.
Knowing full well of this, Luna didn't care one bit so long as food was offered to her, and nothing would change that.
"What are the chances of having both the last name of 'Little' while being small yourself? I don't know about the people here, but that kind of coincidence would stick with me my entire life."
"Chances? There was no chance about it, Carmina, I just ate very little before I came to this lab."
"Is that why you're going out to buy groceries? To grow?"
"Of course, there is that, but I also have to worry about Vint. That guy is a workaholic, so you won't find him working on anything but his studies. He's the type to prefer efficient meals over good ones, so I gotta tell him the food I make for him is nutritionally balanced."
A hint of romance was smelt by Carmina's love radar, "How did you guys meet? Did he save you from street thugs? Sweep you off your legs?"
"Haha, it wasn't anything cliche like that. It was more so his particular interest in optimistic people despite their horrible upbringing . . .
. . . and the fact that I can't leave such a delusional runaway by himself."
But before Theo or Carmina could even begin to pry into the juicy and cryptic message left by Luna, a sharp 90 degree turn to the left had stopped the trio in their track, bringing them in front of a heavily secured metal door with the label, '047 - Level Two - The Star Spore' firmly attached at its center.
Carmina practiced a little sarcasm, "Wow, that's not scary at all. So, could you like, explain everything now?"
"Explain what?"
"Like, everything? Or at the very least, why we're doing this in the first place."
"Oh, everything, alright. Well, to start off, janitors, with their cleaning supplies, clean---" Luna practiced a bit of sarcasm herself before being cut off by Carmina.
"No! Not that! Geez, uh, start with those labels, will you?"
"As slaves, I mean, workers of this elite team of scientists, I expect sentences of good substance to come out your mouths before you talk, alrighty? It's how we work as scientists, after all. Anyways, going back to your question, the first three numbers represent their identity as well as their order coming into the lab in terms of efficient organization. The levels describe the danger level, and their actual name just gives an overall expectation of the monster."
"Oh wow, danger levels. Please tell, are these murderous monsters that we're dealing with?" Theo quickly questioned before they were sent into what seemed like certain death.
"Nahh, all the danger has essentially been dealt with before hand. Do read the manuals though, as we can't control everything to be safe, after all. But don't worry, since you're robots, we can *probably* fix you right up!" Luna enthusiastically spoke, quieting down on a particular word as Theo shot forward another question.
"What in God's name do you get out of housing these dangerous monsters?"
"Long answer made short, it's because we need energy, and that's about the most you can get with your authority around here. But don't worry, I'm bribable!"
"What, you want us give you a piece of candy?"
"I'm not that cheap."
"Two pieces of candy?"
"Damn straight! Art of the deal! Nah, I'm just joking, now get your asses inside the chamber and mop the damn floor!
Sliding an identification card hung around her neck into an electric lock and opening the reinforced door, Luna kicked the two of them into an antechamber reinforced with all sorts of durable materials and locked the door behind them.
Although Theo wasn't all that terrified of what could be kept behind such a strong lock, he still had to wonder whether or not it was stronger than that pig monster he had met in that particular warehouse if it needed this kind of security.
Still, neither one of them faltered against the task.
____________________________________________________________________________________
A haze of heat stung at Akayuki's face as she recovered from the shock, her eyes darting around for Theo and Colin the moment she regained her awareness. Alas, the truck had split the ice cream shop in two, blocking much of her sight.
' . . . the other side, then?' Akayuki concluded, praying for the two's safety as the sad, pulpy corpse of Carmina lie splattered across the hood of the truck, or at least what was left of it.
Fortunately for her, Akayuki came out practically unscathed from the truck crash, having been far closer to the wall rather than the center of the shop, just narrowly avoiding the truck by the skin of her teeth.
With relative ease, she gathered the strength to stand and, in a form of supernatural strength, jumped over the truck in a perfect arc. There, Akayuki breathed a sigh of relief as the unconscious, but unharmed Theo and the conscious, but misfortunate Colin lie in rest.
"Urghh . . . " Colin groaned in pain, grasping at his more-than-bruised legs, " . . . spare a poor man some vials, kindly?"
"And? Feeling evermore balls-to-the-wall with yer brave ways?"
"I'm sorry, I swear I'll bring my own vials next time."
"Just 'next time' ain't gonna cut, buddy."
"I'll listen to you for all of my life."
Akayuki humorously scoffed, pulling out two milky-white vials from beneath her sleeve, "You'd just find a way to be selectively deaf. Well, 'ere ya go."
"You're the best bestie in the world."
Drinking one vial in a gulp and dousing the other over his injuries, Colin felt the tension and the pain in his body pour out in a flood as his breathes became less and less labored. It was a miracle drug made by the finest Supers of their academy, after all.
As his mind began to ease from his legs, Colin afforded his attention to the situation around him and listed off the casualties.
"One cashier, one ice cream maker, one truck driver, and Carmina . . . is that all? I don't recall seeing anyone else at the scene."
"Mmm, that should just about be everyone . . . " Akayuki spoke before glancing down at the unconscious boy lying peacefully on the floor, " . . . how should we break it to Theo? It's the first friend he's made in a while."
Colin made a grim face, coming to terms with his reality, "I . . . don't know. At the very least, I don't know of a way to break it easy to him. Since this isn't doesn't seem to be an incident concerned with Supers, the academy isn't going to spend its resources for Theo. Well, at least I hope this isn't an incident caused by a Super; the less Theo's involved, the better."
"Yea, definitely. If he needs a shoulder to cry on, let's be there for him. He's our big ol' precious crybaby, y'know? Shedding the biggest tears out of the three of us in every movie we've watched."
Passing a few chuckles here and there relieved the two of the solemn atmosphere of death, the memories of their childhood reminding them of what they needed to protect in their world of supernatural abilities.
As time passed without a worry to the two Supers, Colin noticed the miracle drug coming into full effect, standing up on his injured legs with relative ease.
"Well, let's get Theo to a hospital, shall we? Before the authorities get here, anyways. Actually, where are they? I though they would have long interrupted---"
"Ah, ah! What a doozie! What an oopsy daisy! Apolo-cheese, apolo-cheese, but I'm afraid that the authorities will not be arriving here today. I would rather that there be less FBI agents stalking my property for swiss-picious drug deals, after all!" A joyous voice came from within the truck as a priestly man dug himself out from its wreckage, summersaulting down onto the floor, "Get it? Cause it's a pizza shop that I crashed into?"
" . . . it's an ice cream shop." Colin spoke with a drip of venom as he gestured for Akayuki to be wary; the man dressed far too abnormally to just be any truck driver.
It was a well-known rule for the two that any and every Super are never casually dressed to use their powers. Not many would want to sport their sweat pants and t-shirt while spewing the damning flames of the inferno, after all.
"Really? Apolo-ice-cream, then. Pfft, what am I saying? Nevertheless, you won't be seeing anyone arrive at the scene for the time being."
"Who are you? What's your business here? Did you deliberately crash the truck into us? And, most importantly . . . " Colin spoke as a red thunder sparked from his eyes, " . . . are you a Super?"
Alex gave a lighthearted chuckle, "Haha, well, not so friendly, are you? Regardless, it would be rude for me not to introduce myself. You see, my name is Alex, a priest down at that-one-place avenue, and I just love strawberries from the---"
"Business, man, what the hell do you want?" Colin spoke with ever-heightening tension, a feeling of danger was persisting in his gut.
"Oh my, so rushed to get to the point, are you? Life isn't as fun if you're always stuck on the little things! But, I fear that, if I were to indulge you on my 'business' here . . .
. . . you wouldn't be as passive as you are now."
Understanding what Alex was more or less implying, sparks of red lightning flared from Colin's eyes as he stared him down, positioning himself at an angle that would sandwich Alex between him, Akayuki, and the truck as he began approaching.
Alex, however, hadn't even felt the need to move, standing completely motionless if not for some adjustments to his collar, returning the gaze.
Before long, Colin approached Alex eye-to-eye, albeit at an upward angle. They were just out of range from each other, each one of them anticipating the first move to be made as it
" . . . . . "
" . . . . . "
" . . . . . "
" . . . you blinked, I wi---" Alex could briefly speak before Colin kicked forward his legs and threw a punch towards his gut, "---woah~!"
Blocking the first attack with the cross of his arms, Alex had underestimated the force of the impact and took a step back, giving way for a second punch, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and before long, Alex found himself trapped in a barrage of punches and feints that wouldn't easily allow for a counter hit.
Of course, Alex never faltered or failed in his defense, but he could feel his skin bruise underneath his priestly robes; his opponent seemed to possess an inhuman strength, similar to himself.
"Hm~?" Alex made a sound of confusion as he made contact with a flat surface, his back now pinned against the wall.
Having intentionally brought Alex to the wall, Colin made a brief but in-exploitable gap in his assault, sliding his dominant right foot back and drawing back his arm for a skull-crushing finisher.
With the seconds that followed after, Colin shot forward his lethal strike and, for the moment, Alex could well imagine the donut of his body lay dead amidst the rubble. But, as though a thousand years of experience had suddenly come to possess him, a clear shift in position was made to Alex's stance as he came to vanish before Colin's very eyes.
"Whuh!?" Colin loudly exclaimed, suddenly finding his perspective to be parallel with the floor as he barreled towards the hard ground.
With the split-seconds he was given to react, Colin was just barely able to twist his body into a more-or-less upright position and pushed his legs against the inertia of the throw before ultimately crumbling into a backwards roll.
"Urgh!"
"That's some impressive reaction speed! But don't think I can't afford you some tussling!" Alex spoke with a hearty voice, although it was pretty much ignored by Colin.
Colin glanced towards Akayuki, yet still observing every move that Alex made, "Did you send the report? How's it looking?"
"A six foot male with dark brown hair and priest-like clothing. He seems to be a common Super with enhanced physical strength as his ability, but doesn't seem to be registered in our database . . .
. . . in other words, a common crook we can't not handle."
"A common crook, eh? Haha . . . that's not the kind of spotlight I'd like to be under." Alex spoke with a deepening voice, having taken offense to how he was referred. "Round two, then. I suppose you children have yet to appreciate some theatrics in your fights. Nothing but doom and gloom with you two, I'm sure."
Akayuki settled her hand on the grip of her sword, hiding herself behind Colin's figure, "Does an uncommon crook with 8th grade syndrome work better for you?"
"Haha, real fun---" Alex barely responded before, once again, being cut short by Colin's explosive speed as he thought to apply a barrage of punches, like before.
Picking a counter play, Alex tried for a quick back step to whiff punish Colin's initial punch. Yet, in another calling of possession, Alex suddenly thought to backflip in a large arc backwards as the trajectory of Akayuki's blade narrowly missed his skin, making a shallow cut into his priestly attire.
But, without any loss to their momentum in the fight, Colin picked up a chair and threw it to make up for the pressure during this gap in the fight. Having only planted one foot on the ground, Alex received the chair with relative ease and spun on his one foot to throw it back to only then be forced to ditch the move altogether as Akayuki's blade plunged from the bottom, nicking his cheek as he bent his neck in an irregular fashion to avoid his brain from being skewered.
Alex tried for a grab against Akayuki and for a little bit, he felt cloth between his fingers, only for it to disappear as she teleported backward in retreat as Colin's straight punch towards his face was left in the wake of her afterimage.
"Hrk!" Alex gritted his teeth as Colin's knuckles slipped past his meager defenses, mitigating the damage as much as he could by snapping back his head along with the punch.
Then, as if to return the damage, Alex used the momentum of Colin's punch and contorted his body to whip his leg towards the side of his head at such an angle that it was near impossible for anyone to anticipate its arrival; however, Colin didn't work off of anticipation.
Merely moments before the impact of Alex's foot, tendrils of potent, red lighting stretched out from Colin's eyes to probe the incoming attack and shot the information straight to his brain. There, with beastly instinct and monstrous flexibility, Colin snapped his neck in two and ducked beneath the kick, as though it were water moving around a boat.
Back and forth, Colin and Akayuki unleashed a bombardment of well-coordinated attacks that neither allowed for counters or spacing.
Every instance that Alex tried to get away from Colin was only met with the slash of Akayuki's blade, forcing him back into the ring with Colin. If he ever tried to get close to Akayuki, he would only be left with empty air in his grip as she teleported back in retreat.
It couldn't be won as a battle of attrition either, as Alex was facing exhaustion far faster than the rates of his enemies, who could conserve their energy by taking their turns.
Between the flowing but damning punches of Colin and the swift but lethal swordsmanship of Akayuki, there wasn't a single way Alex, as he was now, was able to beat the both of them before he succumbed to his injuries.
His soul felt dead and it reflected into his eyes, his flesh bore wounds and it bled for no God; each attack he received and couldn't return diminished his spirit; made it smolder. Thus, without so much as a curve left on his lips, Alex dropped down to the floor in surrender to his mediocrity.
"Oh man, he felt a lot more intimidating than how he actually was, and I thought I've been getting pretty good at judging a book for its cover."
"Mmm, I thought he would've had some card up his sleeve. Maybe I've just gotten used to strong Supers being super edgy?" Akayuki spoke with her fingers against her chin, sliding out a phone from her right sleeve to check something. "A cleanup crew should be here in about four minutes, so either find something to tie him up with or stand guard until they come. I'll be scavenging for some ice cream in the meanwhile."
"Can you find me some anything vanilla flavored?"
"Booooring."
While Akayuki walked into the back of the ice cream shop, or at least what remained of it, Colin made a short but observant glance around to find anything to tie down Alex. As he had expected, there was nothing noteworthy in strength or flexibility that he could use, so all he could really do was to just stay on guard.
" . . . so, uh, what were you trying to do here? Now that we're up and over with the heat of the moment, I've come to realize that you kinda just never explained it. Sure, there's some implications, but y'know, don't wanna jump to conclusions, yea?"
Alex had no response to give with his static lips.
"Hello~? Earth to priest guy, you there? Alex, right?" Colin spoke as he waved his hand in front of Alex's eyes, even nudging him a little on the shoulder until he fell over, but he was stiller than a corpse. "Huh? What was that?"
Yet no words were ever spoken; whatever words he was hearing, it were merely a trick of the mind.
Akayuki walked out from the back with cups of vanilla and pistachio ice cream, "Yo, I got yer ice cream. Ya gotta eat with yer hands though, since all the plastic spoons were snapped into a billion piece."
"Hey, do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
" . . . never mind, then. Just a bug flying around.
Colin dismissed his thoughts, rubbing his ears as he tried to filter out whatever that he was hearing. They weren't words he could flesh out in his mind, certainly, but it was like listening to a foreigner speak their language through a wall.
It was muffled, incomprehensible, and generally something people could sum up as gibberish if they didn't know any better. Yet, the more Colin was exposed to this foreign noise, the more he could pick up some sort of pattern in this invisible message. Perhaps there was a vowel here, a consonant there, and a system of language everywhere.
Before he knew it, as he received his vanilla ice cream, miniature tendrils of red lightning crept from his ears to the invisible air before Alex's mouth as though it were a calling from another world.
[ . . . disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous, disingenuous---] A sudden chanting came to Colin's ear as Alex took a deep breath in, "IT'S DISINGENUOUS!"
Letting out a terrible cry, Alex spasmed back to life with eyes spinning into a spiral, crawling back onto his own two feet as Colin and Akayuki moved at blinding speeds to apprehend him.
But the moment they crossed gazes with each other, an incredible wave of weakness overcame them as the two collapsed to the floor, clutching their stomachs in fits of starvation.
" . . . it's disingenuous, still disingenuous, forever disingenuous. This isn't how the plot should go, how the spotlight should shine; my script has yet to be perfected. Apologies, Theo, but the prayer for send off won't be a clean one." Alex spoke in a mutter, dusting off his clothes as he stood back up.
Unimpeded by the obstacles that once stood in his way, Alex walked a short distance to Theo's unconscious body and crushed his skull beneath his foot. Then, as if it were common practice, Alex clapped his hands together and started praying, praying to his terrible God.
Watching this all unfold before his very eyes, Colin screamed out a dry breath, his throat so parched that it couldn't let out a squeeze of air. He tried desperately to stand, to crawl, to claw his way over to Alex, in desperation, anguish, despair---all the multitudes of whats and whys if it meant he could save Theo.
But if there was one prevailing emotion, a calling for action that rose above the rest, then there was only one thing that Colin could mentally squeeze from his brain before he passed out from the hunger---
'I'll kill you! Strangle you! Crush your skull . . . ! Stab you . . . kill . . . you . . . !' Colin resolved himself to vengeance before ultimately passing out, his hunger overcoming his strength to stay conscious.
"Not yet, dear friends, we have much to go through, together, on this stage. Until it's right, just right, shall I let you rest your weary heads into this vat of boiling blood . . . "
Alex dropped his hands from prayer, and began spinning the world upside down.