Thanks to the battle of the ants in the sand arena, from which they could not escape, Taiko understood a lot. In particular, he had several ideas. One of them is that everyone is afraid of the strongest, so they act in a crowd out of desperation. A common strong enemy leads to the organization of efforts and cohesion of all individuals. The ants who saw the gladiator-champion of ants more often avoided the fight and ran away, and those who did not see, accordingly, died. This is a systematic survivor's error.
And the second principle.
Everyone will be destroyed one way or another by a higher power. This higher power was Taiko himself. For them, he is, in fact, God, an invisible force. But the ants are too inferior to realize the divine nature of the higher entity. They can't really see themselves as ants.
- "Perhaps the only thing that distinguishes them from humans." He looked at the other children with a disdainful look. While Taiko was in the hospital, he heard and saw how children were quite cruel to others, weaker ones. Even when they were silent, it was as if he could see their inner nature, and easily read them like an open book.
-"Well, they noticed me and are coming here." While Taiko was silently cursing fate for daring to break the precious silence, several guys were heading in his direction. He tried to stay away from their watchful eyes all the time, but they were always trying to establish contact with him and pestering him.
-Taiko-o! Hi! I brought new friends! Do you want to meet them? - the girl who smelled like bacon had been pestering him constantly since the first days at the hospital. Taiko had even forgotten her name, he wasn't particularly good at remembering unnecessary information.
Standing up from under the shade of the tree, Taiko peered through the guys, he was more interested in the cars, there was a parking lot right next to the hospital.
-Yushiro, Megumin and...
-I'm not interested. - Taiko said quietly, it seemed no one heard him.
-What are you, a nerd? - a shaggy, spiky-haired boy named Yushiro noticed the book in Taiko's hands.
- Why are you a nerd right away? - asked the girl smelling of bacon.
- Reading is boring, - another child argued.
- It's not boring, you can learn a lot of words.
- For example?
- Uh-uh... Dinosaurs!
Taiko turned around and immediately ran back into the forest, hoping that they would get lost there and he would not have to listen to their nasty argument anymore.
- Taiko, stop! Well, you see, you offended him!
- Ouch-oh-oh... - the girl grabbed Yushiro by the ear with a tenacious grip.
- You'll go apologize right now. Got it?
- Ouch! Y-yes! Let go already, it hurts.
After some time, already in the depths of the forest. At first, the children walked confidently, but with each step their confidence evaporated. It was this forest that would become the starting point in the creation of two of the most dangerous villains, it would serve as a catalyst for them.
- M-maybe we should go back?
- Taiko ran so far...
- Or maybe he deceived us, and he himself had long since disappeared. - everyone looked at each other, each did not have time to come to a conclusion, as a rustle was heard from the bushes.
- Waaaa! - Megumi was scared.
- Taiko, is that you?!
- Quiet, what if it's a wolf!
***
Having broken away from the children for some distance, Taiko did not notice how he found himself at the same tall tree, whose beehive hung at the very top. An annoying thought about unfulfilled revenge covered his mind. Surprisingly, he was not as out of breath from running as he expected. Remembering the moment the sting mercilessly penetrated his skin and the pain that followed, he dreamed of destroying the damn hive. Remembering the guys who ran after him, he came up with a villainous plan, which made him smile maliciously.
First, he needed to climb this tree. It seemed taller than the others and was very different, its bark was stronger and thicker, which is why Taiko could even assume that he could climb up. Several attempts were in vain, small hands unsuccessfully tried to grasp the tree trunk, but Taiko knew that human capabilities under certain conditions can often go beyond the ordinary.
Climbing the oak was a difficult task, beyond his strength. If it were any other tree, he would most likely have managed it. The branches that he could lean on to climb were too high. Time was running out and to complete his evil plan he needed to hurry and overcome obstacles that made his heart skip a beat, he planned to save that for his future self and focus on the current problem for now.
Taiko noticed a pattern, he wasn't using enough strength because he was afraid of falling and getting hurt. So realizing that he wasn't using all his muscles, he tensed up in his forearms, fingers, biceps and shoulders. Trying to grab the bark with a tighter grip, he used all his few muscles. It's a common fact that children have a very strong grip for their size, so they can easily hold their weight.
He braced his feet, creating tension and began to hold himself up. His body was stretched like a metal rope. Taiko felt the pain in his muscles coming on quickly and he couldn't hold on for long, so he began to slowly move his hands. Step by step, he found himself at the first strong branch, which he immediately grabbed. Throwing his leg over the branch, he quickly climbed onto it.
Exhaling, Taiko felt a blissful relaxation. His muscles ached and gave off heat. Looking down, he was surprised by the great height, for a second his body felt like cotton wool, and Taiko almost fell from a height of several meters. The boy looked up at the beehive, which was hanging right on the edge of the highest branch. The route began to form more clearly in his head, how to place his feet, how to get to the branch and feel more confident at the height.
This feeling is comparable to divine bliss - when it does not just seem possible to him, but when he is confident in his abilities having already gained experience. There are ten meters left to his goal, it no longer seems so impossible. The boy sighed and gathered himself.
Step by step. Taiko did not pay attention to the time, which seemed to drag on too long. Branch after branch. There is only a goal to get to the highest point, he cannot look down, otherwise it will mean complete failure and, as a result, death. With each branch it became more and more difficult, and his stamina was decreasing, even a rest on the penultimate branch did not help to calm the muscles, whose pain burned as if thorny vines had wrapped around his arms and legs.
On the penultimate branch, wasps were flying especially intensively, Taiko began to be afraid of them and move to the edge of a weak branch. The branch bent and began to creak unpleasantly. The boy felt that if he went further, the branch would not hold, and he would fall ten meters down. He seriously doubted that he would survive after this.
The wasps did not threaten him, but they were very frightening and knowing the pain of the sting, Taiko was not eager to feel this pain again. But time was running out, a group of children was already approaching the tree. There was a fear of failing the plan, not carrying out what was planned, when so much effort had been invested. Taiko didn't understand why, but this fear eclipsed even the fear of the wasps and the terrifying, unusually gigantic hive. Only now did he notice something big wriggling in the hive. Too big to be a wasp.
Support and bonus content: patreon.com/Verrix