Chap 2: Struggle
"What the hell is wrong with this forest!" Xander panted. He sprinted through forest he had sworn he had seen before, panting heavily. His golden eyes darted left and right, looking for threats. He had run into a raindow fruit tree ten minutse out of the gate, but he was assaulted by poisonous fumes upon reaching out for it.1 He tried to hold his breath and fight through it, but the fruit seemed to get farther and farther away. Breaking contact from that tree he ran on hoping to find another. Sure, enough he had found another in a couple minutes, only to see it devoured by insects in front of him. And now here he was, running in circles in this jungle, where the trees were so thick it was like night. The jungle spun around oppressive and looming.
Xander growled, someone was screwing with him and they were going to regret it. This whole situation was irritating him no end. Not stopping running, he closed his eyes and thought trying to figure out the source of the confusion. He kept running... patiently waiting for a moment when things became clear. He took a deep breath steeling himself like Toriko taught him. When the moment came to strike back against his tormentor.
As he ran, the forest grew wilder and wilder. Creatures jumped at him from every direction, only to to fall with a single strike. He tried to consume one of them to find the meat tasted oddly like plant. He periodically tasted some plants in his surroundings. They all were bland and flavorless. Then it clicked with him, something that was terribly wrong. The biotope was a breeding ground for new foods, and a propagating area for old foods. Why did he not notice anything?
His face remained impassive, but inside he was smiling. He was finally understanding the nature of what was happening. He closed his eyes, but kept running. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a silvery object. A set of headphones. He slipped them over his ears, turned on some music and used his sixth eye.
The gourmet cells had refined the Four Heavenly Kings to an inhumane point, Toriko's smell, Sani's touch, Zebra's hearing, and Coco's eyesight were all a result of physical alteration by the gourmet cells. Xander too, had a sense developed and honed past human limits. Every human has a second sight, that senses all around. That feeling of someone watching you is felt by everyone, but Xander didn't think anything at all. He knew. He could sense with great detail anyone around him, what they looked like, what color their clothes were, and most importantly how strong they might be. While surveying his surrounding, he realized everything was different than what he was seeing. So he started analyzing what senses he could trust.
Sight? Like hell, he thought. Everything around him visually appeared different, so no way. How about taste? Am I tasting everything correctly? No... Upon approaching the fruit tree he could taste it in the air, and smell it. So those were out. How about touch? No, I could feel those monsters, I'm pretty sure those didn't exist. How about hearing? No, same as before.
So, Xander concluded, I can only trust my sixth sense. What's causing this illusion? His awareness shrunk inward. Focus, he thought, finally he saw it in himself. A neurotoxin in his veins, not deadly in of itself, but enough to give him terrible hallucinations. Only if it was continuously injected. Xander ran his hand over the back of his neck, guiding it with his awareness. And he found it. A small bug, like a scorpion or a tick. He pulled it out and opened his eyes. Slowly, the world returned to a shining normality. Smiling, he extended his consciousness as far as he could. And he saw it. An angry beast chasing him, as he ran blindly. Spider-like in shape with four long legs and a disproportionately large snapping mouth on a sleek elegant head. His entire body was a bluish, green that shimmered in the light. He was twice Xander's height and broad as an elephant is tall. And most importantly he was strong. Xander's one reservation to pinging into action was the smell of the rainbow fruit, so close, but this guy had pissed him off.
"To hell with it!" he said, stopping and turning around, "You're on."
How was that one? Little boring but we got a big fight next chapter.