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Remembering how ill-prepared I had been the last time I fought against Mado, I decided to keep the training with Touka and Yomo from Anteiku in mind as I began my attack. Keeping myself grounded and using my kagune as a distance weapon seemed the smart way to approach him. He had me beat in size, but not in speed, so I used that to my advantage as well. The air had cleared more from where the broken elevator had kicked up dust and debris. Constantly moving, I would move in for a quick attack then jump out of the way before he could connect with his defenses. This method wasn't doing much damage and took a toll on my stamina. I needed a way to take him down quickly before he could make use of that kakuja.

"Are you just going to keep hopping around like a little rabbit? This is growing tiresome, Nagachika. Maybe I should have given the CCG a chance to get down here. At least then I'd feel like this was a challenge!"

As he lashed his kagune tendrils out, I narrowly missed the first two, but the third and fourth connected hard. The edges of his kagune were sharp and left several gashes along my left side. I quickly got back to my feet and out of the way of his next strike, moving further away. With this injury, it'll be more difficult to avoid his advances while trying to hit him with my own. I couldn't say when the rest of the teams would be able to get down here, so it was all on me to keep him here. Should I try to manifest a kakuja though? I wasn't even sure if I'd eaten enough Ghoul flesh for it to be possible.

Mado charged at me suddenly, taking advantage of my momentary distraction, and slammed me into the wall. Blood sprayed from my mouth as I felt all the air in my lungs leave me at once. I slid down to the floor, unable to catch my next breath right away. Mado stood over me, his kakuja mask exhibiting that creepy smile as he leaned in closer.

"Kanou wanted me to leave you alone so he could observe more of his research at work. But now that he's out of the way, there's no reason why you should be allowed to play in our world anymore. You may have made an impressive half-Ghoul, but you'll never beat the real thing!"

He brought his massive arm up and swung down, intent on crushing me into the ground. Timing it just right, I managed to jump out of the way, biting into and tearing away a large piece of his kakuja as I got clear of him. I needed to eat to regain my strength after that last hit. Chewing frantically, I swallowed the flesh and felt it burn like coal in the pit of my stomach. Licking the blood from my lips, the only thing that came to my mind now was that I needed more.

"Aha! You get yourself a good taste? I suppose after bringing up cannibalism you'd be curious to give it a try. But if you can bring yourself to take from me, why not just feed from humans like we were born to do? You may even find that you like it, Nagachika."

"I'm only doing what needs to be done to stop you," I said as I wiped his blood from my mouth and approached him again. The wounds he had inflicted had closed, and I felt I could move freely once again. So, with my speed, I'd get close, take bites from Mado's thick outer kakuja, and quickly evade him. As I fed off him, the burning in my stomach grew hotter, and my hunger increased as well.

"Hah! You're nothing more than a lowly biting fly! You think this is going to help you defeat me?!" Mado laughed as I continued my assault, hardly swatting at me as I continued to tear off bits of his flesh and consume them. I started to get sloppy as my desire to feed overwhelmed me. As I made another pass, Mado sliced through one of my kagune, throwing off my balance. Frantically devouring his flesh, I fought to replenish the energy I was burning up. I was barely taking in enough to maintain my current state. I'd have to take in more if I wanted to form a kakuja. My mind raced with thoughts of rushing forward unrestrained, but I knew that was only the effects of consuming Ghoul flesh. It was the insanity that threatened to take over if I gave it a chance.

"Are you seriously trying to develop a cannibal's kakuja like this? Sorry, young man, but taking little pieces of me won't get you very far with that. Good on you for taking the initiative, but even with a kakuja, you'll never be at my level."

"I'm not trying to be at your level; I'm shooting far higher than that!" I charged him, then dodged his frontal defense to get behind him. His kakuja had a lot of frontal attack power but was open to attack from anything directly behind him. I launched my three remaining kagune tendrils ahead of me and speared one into his lower back and wound the other two around his shoulders. Pulling myself towards them, I latched onto his back and quickly began consuming more of Mado's body.

Unable to reach where I was perched, he resorted to ramming his back into the closest wall. My kagune shielded me from any significant damage and allowed me to continue feeding. That hot feeling in my stomach grew, sickening and addicting all at once. Mado was growing more irritated and desperate to stop me. I was pulling not just the kakuja meat from him now, but his actual flesh as well.

"Enough of this fool's errand, there's no way you can develop a kakuja like this! Unless... This isn't the first time you've fed on a Ghoul, is it? Is that how you managed to blend in with Aogiri for so long? Does Kaneki know of the monster you've become? Or perhaps he's always known the darkness within you?"

He threw himself back into the wall repeatedly. My kagune couldn't withstand the added assault and broke away, dropping me from Mado's back. My face coated in Mado's blood and gore, I rolled out of the way of his oncoming kick and stood up to face him. This was my last chance. If I couldn't manifest anything now, then there was nothing else I could do.

I let the madness consume me. What I'd been holding back so long was starting to seep through every part of me. The pain that accompanied this was sharp, doubling me over in front of my enemy. I glanced at Mado as I struggled for breath, expecting him to use this opportunity to attack, but he only watched in awe.

I heard laughter next, distant at first but then growing in volume. My body hurt everywhere, but that laughter kept my mind occupied as my kagune changed. It surrounded my arms and legs tightly, augmenting my muscles with stronger material. This toughened shell armored my torso and back, clinging to me like a second skin. As my metamorphosis came to an end, half of my face was shielded by a dense kagune mask, my Ghoul eye remaining uncovered. It was only then that I realized that I was the one laughing. I could feel my sanity being eaten away by this new raw power.

"To develop such a kakuja with such limited resources... You are a special one, aren't you? It'd be a shame to have to kill you now!"

We rushed each other again, slashing and ripping one another. My kakuja was standing strong against his. I could feel the damage being done to him as he desperately struggled to push me away.

"What would your dear little Kaneki think if he saw you now, I wonder?" he said through winded breath.

Losing control of myself, I lashed out at him, "I'll rip your lips straight off your face for saying his name! I can't let you get away with what you've done to us! I'll become a monster. Yes, I will if it means killing you!" My mind started to go blank. Letting this madness take over would surely mean victory. All I had to do was give in to it!

"Just do what needs to be done and come back home to me."

Kaneki's words as we said our goodbyes flooded my mind, helping me hold onto the last remaining shred of my sanity. His words grounded and saved me from becoming what I feared most. As I came back to myself, I realized I had Mado pinned beneath me. The large gash in his neck told me all I needed to know about what happened as I lost control. The moment I hesitated gave him the opportunity to escape and gather his strength at the other end of the room.

"That's... That's a hell of a bite you have there, Nagachika. Damn near took out my entire throat... But I saw it in your eyes; your human side came back in time to prevent you from making the kill. This is where we draw the line, Nagachika. This next attack will be someone's last, and I've played this game a lot longer than you, kid."

Worn out, I knew he was right. I only had enough left in me for one more attack. I kept Kaneki in my head as I advanced on Mado one last time, forming my remaining kagune into one sharpened tendril. Mado created a more extended version of his own, and as we collided together, each of us was impaled by the other. Mado caught me just below my ribcage, while I stabbed him through the right side of his chest. With one last motion, I curved my kagune and sent it back through him again, puncturing the back of his neck and nearly severing his head from his body. I stared into his eyes as the burning hatred in them withered out.

"It... It's done. You're safe now, Kaneki. I'm just so-sorry," I mumbled to myself as I started to cry, "I wanted to go back home to you. I-I'm not sure I can now." My kagune had crumbled away from lack of energy. Mado's had disappeared from lack of life force to maintain it. I fell to the ground once it had, the wound far worse than anything I had sustained before. I didn't even have the energy to feed on his corpse to help myself to heal.

"Well now, I thought I said not to do anything rash in the meantime?"

I heard the voice but couldn't see from where it was coming. I knew who it was, though.

"Eto..."

Trivia:

-"It was only then that I realized that I was the one laughing." Reference to the Tokyo Ghoul manga while Jason was torturing Kaneki as his sanity started to fade.