— Do you think I'm finally stronger than your sister now, Yu-chan-
Slade threw up liters of black blood, clearly injured. She used her swords to keep her body standing. She slowly turned her head up to see her loved one. Yuto looked at that gross scene and didn't know what to do.
I'm alone now, really?! Kataki is almost dying... should I end her? Unizard, are you still there? ... Dammit!
— Yu-chan... come here, pretty please? I swear I won't jump you...
Enduring the pain, she smiled at him innocently, just like her past self.
Is she tricking me? But she killed Tatsuya! What if she was not in control? Argh, I hate making decisions!
He approached her with his guard up. Slade smiled again, seeing him comply. She raised her red katana and threw it towards Yuto for him to catch. He grabbed it mid-air, confused.
— Yu-chan, let's duel... I want to see how you've improved in sword fighting.
— What? I haven't used a sword since that day.
— It doesn't matter... I'm injured now, so it's fair.
Slade used her black katana to hit Yuto. He quickly defended it, using a semi-professional pose. It obviously wasn't polished, but it wasn't something a beginner would attempt. Slade smiled, seeing his improvement.
— You didn't need to lie, Yu-chan. No one would try this if they hadn't touch a sword in ages.
— I was not lying. I just wanted to impress you, but you disappeared so suddenly...
— Oh my! You were searching ways to beat me all this time?
They started dueling, trading blows with each other.
— It's nothing that impressive. We were friends, Kataki. What happened to you? Why are you a monster now?
— I'm not a monster, Yu-chan, I'm the same Kataki you met as a level 7. I thought you died that day, that's why I never found you until now.
— Then why did you kill Tatsuya and his wife? They did nothing to you!
Slade's expression became serious. She began to put more strength into her attacks. Every time Yuto defended it, both swords vibrated intensely, sending shockwaves through their bodies and producing a screeching sound.
— They wanted to monopolize you, Yu-chan. They did the most unforgivable thing a human could do.
— You're monopolizing me now.
— I'm not a human, so it doesn't apply to me. I'm only half of it.
— So you're a monster after all!
— Half monster...
Slade cried a few tears, genuinely hurt by his insults. Angered, Yuto kicked her, causing her to trip over a rock and fall to the ground. He swung the red katana towards her, but from a distance. Nothing happened.
— I'm sorry, Yu-chan, but the slashes only respond to my command.
— Curse you, monster! Give me my friend back!
— B-But I am your friend, Yu-chan-
— Stop using that nickname! You're not Kataki and you'll never be!
It was her breaking point. Her love was yelling at her, accusing her of being an impostor. He didn't recognize her as his friend anymore. Slade started crying uncontrollably. She got up slowly, trying to reach him with her hand.
— I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Please forgive me, forgive me...
Yuto once again remembered of his sister begging for his forgiveness. Crushed by his guilt, he started moving away, trying to escape her grasp. Suddenly, he noticed something: a big black object flying towards him, behind her. Something ejected from it, so he thought it was a jet. He couldn't say anything clearly as his vision was blurred from overusing his power.
As it was approaching him in a supersonic speed, he deciced to arch his back to avoid it. It hit Slade from behind, piercing her body with the tip of the jet. It was still too close to him, so Yuto used his power to bury himself into the ground. The flying object landed hard a few hundred meters away.
As Yuto was grabbing the ledge to get up to the surface, a figure was in the way of the sun, casting a holy shadow on him. She extended her hand to help him. Black military suit and a futuristic helmet that opened, showing her beautiful face. He couldn't mistake those blue eyes and red hair.
— G... Genesis?
He took her hand and climbed up.
— I'm sorry for the sudden entrance, Yuto. I just had to take her off guard.
— It's okay, I'm not hurt, haha.
Yuto extended his hand in a arm wrestling position to welcome her back. She was surprised, thinking he would be angry at her for taking so long to come back. She giggled and took his hand.
— It's good having you back, Genesis.
— I'm so glad to be back! I'm sorry for being late to the party...
— Don't blame yourself, please. I'm sure you made your trip the fastest possible, while making sure it was safe. What I'm saying is that you being alive is more than enough for me.
Genesis blushed and looked down, embarassed.
— A-Anyways, Yuto... That girl targeting you is your childhood friend, right? I can help you bring her back.
— Wait, how did you know all that?
— A-Ah, let's just say that... I overheard your conversation!
— From that distance? Wait, did you plant a microphone on my body this time?
— M-Maybe...
Genesis touched her fingertips to herself, looking away and pouting. Yuto grabbed her shoulder reassuringly.
— It's okay, don't worry! What I'm saying is that I'm glad you care so much about me.
She blushed even more, having no words to say. Even though she was an android, her face was red of embarassment. Yuto asked:
— Did you hear all our conversation?
— N-No... I just checked a few times to know if you were okay... Otherwise, I would go crazy...
— Crazy? Why?
— A-Ah, it's nothing! I just couldn't hear everything you said, because it would hurt your privacy!
— I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... Tatsuya, he's...
Genesis froze at the thought of losing a close friend. She was quiet for a few seconds, searching for the right words to say.
— Do you know who killed him?
— Yeah... the same girl you just ran over.
— I thought she was your friend...
— She was. I don't know what happened to her after that experiment, but she's definitely not the same.
— Yuto, I can help you with that if you want. It's up to you to decide to kill her or bring her back. I'll support you no matter what.
— There's no way to bring her back... She would never hurt me, yet she almost killed multiple times, in the name of love.
— If that's your decision, I'm on your side. If you change your mind, take this.
Genesis created a discrete headset and gave it to him. He put it on his head and it camouflaged, disappearing but still holding tight to not fall off.
— Wow, did you learn to make this in Russia?
— The material, yes. I already knew to make headsets, but I improved it slightly. Also, do you want to become a cyborg?
— What do you mean?
— I can now make robotic members!
— Wow, that would help me a lot! Can you create a left leg, a right foot and two arms? The ones I have right now are made from a suspicious liquid.
— Of course! Did your friend make them?
Genesis started creating the members.
— Yeah, she cut them off and then healed them.
— When you said she tried to kill you, I didn't think she would go that far...
She handed them to him.
— Done! I tested them several times, so they must work on human bodies!
— You tested them? Did you use test subjects?
— I-I'm not that cruel, Yuto! They volunteered for it...
Yuto hit her head with the side of his hand in a teasing way.
— I know that, dummy. Now, I can't let any liquid left on my body.
He cut his members off with his hand, leaving a margin of error. Since the 7-Up would heal the extra injury eventually, it was non-fatal. Genesis gasped, surprised by the courage he had to do that so casually. He put the robotic ones on place and they adjusted to his anatomy. He swung his arms, showing it worked perfectly.
— You're a genius, Genesis! Pun not intended. Maybe yes.
— I-It's not that impressive, really! I have to make up for the time I was not here. Also, if we want to defeat her, you should take that sword with you.
Genesis pointed to the red katana lying on the ground.
— A-Ah, I forgot about it, thanks.
He dropped it when he dodged the jet. He crouched to take it again. Simultaneously, a horizontal black slash came destroying everything that lasted after the battle against Unizard. Since Genesis could see it, she prepared her thrusters on her hands and feet and started flying upwards.
— Looks like I annoyed her. I'll go ahead, Yuto!
— Uh?
The slash made a wind brush his hair slightly. It infected the forest and everything it touched with black liquid. Genesis reached another triangular supersonic jet mid-air, entering from below. She said through the headset:
— Yuto, she won't leave me alone until I'm dead, so let me give her a taste of my new firepower. You need to rest for now.
— What? No, I can still fight...
He tried to fly with his power, but it hurt his head. He could still do it, but he decided to follow her advice and lay down for a moment.
Several black slashes were thrown towards the jet, only missing it by centimeters. Genesis accelerated even more and surpassed the supposed maximum speed. Slade jumped to reach it, but another one hit her from the back. She got on top of it and sliced it in a million pieces, exploding it.
While she was falling, she saw a barrage of hundreds of similar jets were flying in the sky. Some were identical, others were entirely focused on firepower. They started firing at her piercing bullets and rockets nonstop. Even though she was still healing from all the damage she received, Slade smiled at having another formidable opponent.
She got hit by the bullets and rockets and increased her healing speed to throw a giant horizontal black slash towards the jets, destroying many of them instantly. It punctured some of them, causing the liquid to spread into other ships. Clones appeared on top of them and started scratching the carcass.
Some of them exploded or had their propellers knocked out by the damage and fell to the ground. Others were still functional, so the clones forced their way into them. As they entered, it exploded instantly, so they would never know how they worked from the inside.
A different jet was far above anyone else. It rained literal fire, incinerating the forest that was still remaining. It hit the original Slade, who was jumping from jet to jet to destroy all of them. She took enough damage to be paralyzed for some seconds.
I feel sorry for the wildlife, but we need to put an end to this as quickly as possible, otherwise she will end up killing billions. Besides, I can make something to repair all this someday.
Genesis was piloting the jet that rained fire. Right after that, she opened the gate below it, releasing an atomic bomb.
I'll regret this later, but this is a future me problem.
— Yuto, get out of here, now! This area will be full of radiation soon!
— What?! O-Okay, don't worry about me, I'll use my full speed!
— Also, go to the ocean, please! The damage will be much less there.
It was not a Tsar bomba, but it was still really powerful. It was almost as strong as a Little Boy. It hit Slade mid-air, pushing her body towards a river. Atomic bombs usually exploded far from the ground, but the intention was to cause as much damage as possible to that monster.
As she was drowning, Slade finished healing her body and instantly threw her black katana up with as much strength as she could. It landed on Genesis's jet, destroying some of its functions. The bomb exploded and destroyed everything for kilometers, spreading radiation everywhere. The ground shook with the impact, changing the landscape.
As the black liquid began to spread across the bottom of the jet, Genesis prepared to fight. Slade appeared where the liquid was and forced her way into it. A hole was made in the floor. She walked towards the android and swung her sword towards her. Genesis made a flashbang and put it in the katana's way. She arched her back to avoid the attack, but the grenade was cut in two, exploding instantly.
The entire room was as bright as the sun for a few seconds. Genesis closed her eyes before that, lessening the blindness. She knew that one of her opponent's weakness was light, since her power was Shadow. She kicked her away and created two assault rifles, showering her with bullets. When they were out of ammo, she tossed them away and made a shotgun. She aimed on the head and shot, exploding it.
Even headless, Slade grabbed Genesis's right arm and cut it off with her katana. The liquid started spreading across her body, like an infection. She ran towards the hole in the floor and jumped into it. While free falling, she made a chainsaw and used her left hand to swing it towards her neck. She decapitated herself, leaving the infected body behind.
The jet exploded, stunning Slade once again. Genesis created body parts while in the air and make them fly towards her head. Once she was healed, another jet catched her. A triangular one like the others, to blend in.
That was close... I can't revive myself, but if one part of my body is still alive, I can always heal it with substitute parts.
While Slade was falling, another jet hit her, slicing her body in two, because of its pointed and sharp shape. She healed herself and started spinning vertically, making a horizontal tornado. The remaining jets were pulled towards the center of it. Genesis's was also affected, so she took advantage of it and showered her with bullets, fire, rockets and now lasers. They were pulled towards her body like a magnet.
She stopped spinning to heal herself and throw a 360° horizontal slash, destroying some of the jets, while others avoided it. She then used a vertical one, exploding more and spreading liquid. She started attacking so fast that it looked like a sphere of slashes. However, they didn't have much range, so Genesis made her "troops" retreat.
When she was tired of throwing slashes everywhere, she finally fell on the ground. Genesis opened the gate once again and released another atomic bomb. However, it didn't have any radiation and was a cryogenic one. Slade panicked for a bit and aimed her sword downwards. She threw it like a spear with so much force that it got buried hundreds of meters into the ground.
The bomb exploded mid-air, freezing everything, including her body. She somehow managed to crawl out of the hole where the sword was almost intact. She jumped towards the closest jet. Genesis actually wanted her to do that, since she needed to lure her out of that wasteland to somewhere where the damage wouldn't be so impactful. She smiled, noticing another weakness:
She's protecting the sword like it's her life. Probably, it is.
— Yuto, I think the sword really is the key to kill her. You still have it, right?
— Of course! What do you mean?
— I think her body is a mere representation of her true self. You need to damage the sword if you want to hurt her.
— Really?! So that's why her head was taking more time to heal when I released her slash! I didn't notice it, but it probably damaged her sword enough!
— So that confirms my hypothesis... But it's not easy to damage it either. Yuto, I have a plan. Please promise me you will comply without any questions.
— Uh? Of course I have many questions!
— Actually, forget that for now. Let's make it a plan B if everything goes wrong.
— You didn't even tell me! What's it? I'm really curious now!
— For now, try to cause as much damage as possibe to the sword you have. Also, hide yourself where Slade would never find you.
— Hm, I guess I can do that. I don't understand your intentions, but don't try anything stupid!
Yuto tried to bend it, break it, smash it with his power etc. All of them caused little damage, but it healed a few seconds after. The supreme gravity was the only option that would cause a noticeable harm to it. Since he was still tired and flying everywhere to not lose sight of the battle, he couldn't do it too often. So the damage was just slightly faster than the healing rate.
The jet Slade climbed into was far away from the others, so it was a safe distance. That's what Genesis thought, but she jumped so hard that the flying triangle was sent towards the ground, causing a massive explosion. She reached the closest one easily and started destroying it with her katana. The others opened fire at her.
She threw thousands of slashes, destroying a whole horizon of jets. Genesis was impressed, even though she expected her opponent to be strong. There was a huge supply of new aircrafts flying to the scene, making it seemingly endless.
I'll use the same strategy I used to defeat that witch: destroy everything until she gets tired!
The liquid on top of the jets transformed into countless clones, destroying them manually again, since they didn't have swords. They were jumping from one to another, like in a parkour game. The original was doing most of the work, since she was also throwing slashes everywhere.
Fire rained towards them, killing most of the them instantly. Some aircrafts shot mustard gas in a large area, stunning them. The original quickly dispelled it with a much stronger slash, which destroyed all the clouds in its path and produced a powerful wind that threw many of the jets out of balance.
Several machine guns fired, showering the clones and the original with bullets. Rockets collided with the jets they were on top of, making the explosions much bigger. Suddenly, a car hit Slade, pushing her a few hundreds meters away.
She was confused for a moment, but she climbed on top of it and jumped again towards the jets. She got smashed down mid-air for some reason. Genesis smiled, seeing her plan worked.
— Good job, Yuto! Keep smashing her sword with your power!
— I'm trying, but I don't know how long I'll last. It's getting pretty difficult to see anything...
— Don't force yourself too much, please! Quit it when you feel the need to.
— Do you think I would leave you behind? I'm not a loser, unlike that black slime.
Slade got buried a few meters into the ground. When she got up, she noticed something strange: she was now in a beach, for some reason. She then realized that Genesis was luring her towards the ocean to minimize the damage and put her in a disadvantage, since she could not fly conventionally.
Tch, so be it. I can walk on water if I'm fast enough, which I am.
Suddenly, a building fell from the sky and smashed her. She destroyed it, confused again.
— What the fuck?! I'm not even in a city, dumbass! How are these things even here?
This must be something related to her power. If she's only doing that now, she must be stalling for time.
— Alright, alright, robot. I'll play your little game, but only if you can keep up!
Slade ran towards the ocean. She could walk on the water easily as long as she didn't stop. She threw millions of slashes towards the jets, destroying most of them. More reinforcements came, shooting at her. Meanwhile, Genesis was making buildings and dropping them from the sky. Some hit Slade, others sank into the ocean, creating immense waves. It disturbed her balance, since she had to fix her speed to not fall.
If she wanted to reach the jets, she would have to jump from land, since the water would lessen the impact. She noticed a small island from afar. It was not where the aircrafts were heading, but it was her only choice. She reached it and jumped immediately, destroying the island instantly. She planted her sword on the wing of a jet, making it lose balance. It started falling, but not only that. As a defense mechanism, it also started spinning uncontrollably.
Slade had to grab the border of the wing to not fall. She took advantage of all the movement and released it, launching herself towards the closest jet. She pierced it and landed on another, grabbing the wing of it and throwing them towards the others, exploding everything. A house fell towards her and she sliced it in two. A cryogenic bomb hit her from the side, where she was not looking. She quickly took it and threw towards the jets.
It exploded, freezing most of them. There were less reinforcements now. Another atomic bomb hit her. As she landed her hand on it to throw it back, a fire rain hit it.
Shit, I don't have time to throw this! Where is she? Think... there!
She launched her sword as quickly as possible towards the farthest jet, since it was probably where Genesis was. The bomb exploded, releasing a strong shockwave. Actually, it was much more powerful than the Little Boy, almost like a Fat Man. It created huge waves on the ocean, like an omnidirectional tsunami. The sword penetrated the jet and entered the cockpit. She materialized herself there and saw no one. It exploded from below, sending her into the sky.
Additionally, she was smashed down by Yuto's power. Another jet came from below, hitting her body with the tip of the triangle. Since they were going to opposite directions, it sliced her body in two. The black blood splashed into the jet, making it easy for her to materialize again. Genesis was piloting it, while talking to Yuto:
— Thank you for calling me yesterday, Yuto. That was the last time we four were together.
— We can still get Haji back! We just need to defeat Kataki before...
— I'll have to use plan B, Yuto. My supplies are running out, so it's my only choice.
— What are you talking about? This is not over yet, I can still fight!
— You can't even tell where we are, right? Your vision won't come back completely until you rest for at least a few hours.
— I don't need to see where she is, I can use my power to sense her!
— It's no use, Yuto, your power is too weak to damage her. She would just heal and kill you afterwards.
— She won't kill me, don't worry!
— Unfortunately, I can't say the same for me. She's already here.
— What?!
Genesis turned around and saw Slade, slowly regenerating inside the cockpit. She got up and stared at her, while still talking:
— Yuto, I was happy when you let me sleep at your house, cared for me after I came from that convenience store. I was really, really happy and still am.
— Why are you mentioning that now? Can you get out of there and come meet me? I'm at a nearby small island, you can probably see it from there. Then we can think of something together!
— I'm afraid it won't happen, Yuto. This is the best chance I have.
— What is even that plan B? It's better not be something ridiculous!
— So you can read my mind. Did you know what I thought about you all this time too, Yuto?
— Hey, don't tell me you will...
— Yeah, I can't wait to say this anymore. I love you, Yuto. I really, really love you.
Instantly after hearing that word, Slade pierced Genesis's heart with her sword. The black liquid started spreading slowly, to prolong her pain.
— What? No, I didn't mean that! Genesis, are you there? Genesis!
— It was fun while it lasted, Yuto. Goodbye.
— Wait, what are you even saying? Hey, answer me... Genesis... Genesis, are you there?!
The transmission ended. They were now so high in the sky that the curvature of the Earth was visible. Slade stared into her eyes, judging her soul.
— Hey, robot. Tell me where he is now, or I'll...
— Have you ever heard about a powerful old man fighting an even more powerful mutant ant? He was giving it his all, but-
Slade tore her body from the inside, moving her sword downwards to cause more pain. Genesis grunted in pain, but also created a flashbang on her hand. She took off the pin and closed her eyes. Startled, Slade also closed her eyes. It was a false alarm. Genesis opened them again and put it into Slade's mouth. It exploded, destroying the inside of her head temporarily, since light beat shadow.
Genesis supported herself on the jet's terminal with her hands and pushed Slade's body away with her legs. The sword came out and caused unbearable pain again. She threw a frag grenade towards her head, blowing it up from a safe distance. Slade's healing was impaired for some seconds, so she threw now a fire grenade, burning her body just enough to keep her stationary. Her head was almost intact once again.
— ... even with his supernatural powers, he couldn't damage the ant. He had to resort to the worst of humanity... Do you understand it now, Slade?
— Hey, stop with all the metaphors. Say what you want already.
— I am the old man. You are the mutant ant.
Genesis smiled demonically and opened her arms, looking down at Slade. The first time she felt true fear was when Yuto's sister beat her up. Now was the second time. She widened her eyes, trying to think of what to do. The injury on Genesis's body ignited.
Suddenly, the local temperature rose to twice that of the Sun's core. Everything in a radius of more than 12 kilometers instantly incinerated. The strongest part of the shock wave reached about 200 kilometers away from there. It was a Tsar bomba, but not a normal one. It was about two times stronger than the most powerful nuclear bomb humanity had tested yet. The mushroom could be seen from space easily, since they were close to it.
Even though the epicenter was so far away from the ocean, it was reached almost instantly, sending huge tsunamis everywhere. Of course, most of the water vaporized at the same time. The actual shock wave circled the Earth dozens of times before dissipating completely. The planet's rotation speed increased slightly. The orbit around the Sun also changed. Some of the Arctic ice caps have melted. The ocean level increased, but the vaporized water neutralized part of it.
However, the sky would be full of clouds after the temperature decreased. Lots of torrential rains would cover some cities. The global warming and average temperature increased. The entire world experienced a change of weather because of the humanity's worst.
Yuto was still standing in the small island he mentioned, horrified by all the destruction. He managed to protect himself before the shockwave hit him. Genesis purposefully moved away from there so as not to include him in the fireball.
He lost strength os his legs and fell on his knees. He was looking at that spetacular view. It was horrifying, but still mesmerizing. The vaporized water going up, the tsunami, the sound coming minutes after the explosion, the mushroom that reached the space, everything looked so otherworldly. It was something he never experienced before. He felt like he was in the middle of a ethereal wasteland. A place where gods fought and thus destroyed.
He dropped the sword from his hand, still trying to comprehend everything. It transformed into black liquid and materialized a few meters behind him. Slade was there again. He turned around slowly, with nothing to say. She was half black liquid with a red eye and mouth and half normal. She was panting, extremely scared. She laughed when she realized she was still alive.
— That robot... at least she's dead now. I don't have anything to worry about now, right, Yu-chan?
She smiled at him maniacally and started walking towards him, still exhausted. Genesis was right: the swords were the vital point of Slade. If they were destroyed, only a weakened version of her would remain. Since the black katana, the main source of black liquid and healing was disintegrated permanently, she lost her right half. But she was still much stronger than almost anything on Earth, so the job was not done.
Yuto remembered the weakness against extreme temperatures her body and sword had. There was still something so hot that almost any material in the planet would vaporize instantly just by being nearby: the Earth's core. He stood up quietly and stared into Slade's soul. The soul that was sealed inside the swords.
— Yu-chan, this must be fate! You protected my soul to keep me alive! You even tricked that useless robot! We can finally dominate the world together-
A much stronger version of supreme gravity. It smashed her body down so hard that the blade of the katana broke in two. Her head transformed into full black slime, since it damaged her soul. She was simultaneously healing while traveling downwards and dying. But not only temporarily. Her body and soul were shattering slowly. She tried to get out of the cylinder's area, but it was so strong that time passed differently. She felt like she was falling into a real black hole.
Her speed was increasing the closer she was to the core, due to the extreme gravity. She already lost conscious, because the heat melted her brain. When she finally reached it, all her remains were gone forever. Not even ashes remained. Only memories.
Yu-chan, thank you for freeing me...
Yuto made the blindness of his power damage only his left eye. It got permanently blinded.