"I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world
From turning into a monster and eating us alive
Don't you ever wonder how we survive?
Well now that your gone, the world is ours"
"Akane?" Alexis spoke, pulling her out from her concentration and her music. Akane slowly pulled the headphones from her face and sighed.
"What do you want, Alexis?" she asked in a low tone, still deep in the throes of her depression. "Another kaiju from me?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not," Alexis replied. "It's clear you no longer have any desire to make kaiju,"
"So, what are you going to do?" Akane asked.
"I may have to look into other options, as it were," Alexis replied.
"Other options?" Akane said, confused. "What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means that since you aren't willing to change your mind, I'm forced to take matters into my own hands," Alexis said ominously.
"What does..." Before Akane could finish her sentence, she felt a stabbing pain eating into the flesh on the back of her neck, she went wide-eyed with shock, the pain so massive and unbearable she could barely breathe. Akane's whole world seemed frozen in time, her entire body was utterly paralyzed, her eyes petrified.
"I'm sorry, Akane, but you've left me no other alternative. This way, should Gridman and his pitiful little 'alliance' succeed in stopping me, a small fragment of my soul will live on within you," Alexis explained as he retracted his claws from Akane's neck, blood dripping from them in all directions. Alexis then used his dark magic to mend the wound left behind on Akane's neck. At the end of this, Akane passes out on her desk.
"Sleep well, Akane," Kerib said softly, "For tomorrow, we shall end this long, drawn-out battle. This cramped little world you created has become a liability for us,"
"What..." Akane began in a fleeting moment of waking consciousness. "What did you do to me, Alexis?" she asked just before everything went dark.
FLASH
"Why so melancholic, Alexis Kerib?" Malcolm asked. Alexis ignored his question and silently crept away without a word.
"Well, excuse me for trying to have a conversation,"
"You needn't bother with idle chitchat, meat thing. Alexis Kerib's mind is something you couldn't possibly begin to comprehend," Kilokahn said as he walked up behind Malcolm.
Elsewhere, in another time and place. A dark, twisted version of Gridman entered a dark and foreboding room within the compound. The prone, limp figure of Akane Shinjo, or rather a version of Akane Shinjo stood against a cold, brick wall, her head drooping down. Her entire body from her torso down was obscured by wires. A monitor attached to an adjacent wall monitored Akane's vital signs.
"Who's there?" Akane spoke, a certain brokenness hung in the air as she spoke. This Akane had lost any and all hope a long time ago.
"It's been so long since anyone visited, I thought you had forgotten about me, Gridman."
"How could I ever forget you, Akane Shinjo? After all, you are the key to my ultimate conquest," Gridman spoke as he approached her.
"I don't follow you," she weakly replied.
"It's very simple," he began. "You have something I need," he said.
"You want me to make kaiju again," Akane said.
"Indeed," he began. "And not just a kaiju, not just one or two. No, for our purposes we'll need a great many kaiju. Thousands," he explained.
"I've told you, I can't make kaiju anymore," she said.
"Yes, you've said that before," Dark Gridman said. "However, this is not a request, Shinjo," he said. Dark Gridman put his hand to Akane's chin and slowly lifted her head up to face him.
"Such a fragile and sensitive creature," Dark Gridman said. "And totally unaware of what she is truly capable of,"
"Why won't you just kill me?" Akane asked a sort of desperation in her eyes. She wanted to die. No, she needed to die. It was the only way out at this point.
"Because you are far more valuable to me alive than dead," Dark Gridman replied. "As such, you will make kaiju again, otherwise let's just say you won't like the consequences,"
"There's nothing you can take away from me I haven't already lost, Gridman," Akane said defiantly.
"Take? My dear girl, who said anything about taking anything away from you?" Gridman said. "I'm just going to give you a little incentive to cooperate," Gridman said as he approached a console and began to slowly turn a dial. The room sprung to life with purple electricity as Dark Gridman momentarily stopped the dial.
"Please," Akane begged. "Don't do it, not again,"
"You're wasting your time, Akane Shinjo," Dark Gridman began "The only way I'll stop is if you agree to my terms,"
"There was a time when making kaiju made me feel happy inside," she explained "Not anymore, you've twisted it, corrupted it. Turned it into something ugly and awful,"
"You know all about being awful, don't you, Shinjo?" he asked.
"Yes," she agreed.
"Keep thinking that way," he told her "The more you suffer, the more you give into that despair inside of you, the more powerful my kaiju army will be,"
"Why are you doing this?" she asked "What happened to you?"
"My motives will be made clear in due time," Dark Gridman replied. "As for what happened to me? Things you can't possibly imagine in your wildest nightmares,"
"Zenon!" Dark Gridman called out, "Is everything ready?"
"Indeed it is, Lord Gridman. You may pull the switch, as it were," Zenon, Dark Gridman's right-hand and resident mad scientist said.
"Excellent," Dark Gridman said. "Last chance, Akane Shinjo; will you create the ideal kaiju army that I seek?" he asked.
"I can't make kaiju anymore," she said sternly. "Do what you have to do, Gridman, but I can't... Won't create a kaiju army for you,"
"Have it your way," Dark Gridman threw the switch on the console, purple electricity surged all around Akane, her blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the chamber. Dark Gridman then deactivated the machine.
"Well, have you decided to rethink your answer, Shinjo?" Dark Gridman.
"It won't work, Gridman," Akane replied, undeterred.
"Don't make me hurt you any more than I already have,"
"Are you feeling guilty, Gridman?" she asked.
"Feelings of guilt are for the weak, Shinjo," Gridman replied. "The fact is, you are the weak one here, Akane. I plucked you from another dimension because out of all the different versions of Akane Shinjo in the multiverse, you were by far the most damaged out of all of them, remember?" Gridman said, Akane visibly winced at hearing this.
"Your own parents," Gridman began.
"Don't, I can't relive that," Akane said, but it was futile.
"All they wanted to do was help you, understand you," Gridman continued.
"Please, stop," Akane begged.
"And how did you repay them? You stabbed them in cold blood,"
"Stop it!" Akane screamed as tears began to form in her eyes.
"You're a cold-blooded murderer, Akane Shinjo," Dark Gridman said. "Of course, that other version of you that I've had my eye on, she's a murderer too, but the only people she's murdered were fabrications. You, on the other hand..." he trailed off.
"Perhaps that other version of you would be more persuasive to our cause. Of course, she was strong enough to break away from Alexis Kerib's influence, unlike you."
"Leave her alone, Gridman, I'm the one you want," Akane said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Dark Gridman replied.
"If there's another Akane out there who is living a happy, normal life, I won't let you rip that away from her," Akane said.
"Let me?" Dark Gridman said. "How can you stop me?" Akane was silent.
"You couldn't even save yourself, what makes you think you can save her?" Dark Gridman asked. Akane was silent.
"Just what I thought, silence," Dark Gridman taunted. "That other version of Akane Shinjo won't be so silent. In fact, she'll be screaming for mercy, after I have systemically destroyed her, inside and out, won't that be fun?" he said sadistically.
"Maybe she can even keep you company," he continued.
"Stop it," Akane said. "I'll do what you ask, I'll make your kaiju army,"
"I knew you'd see things my way eventually, Akane," Dark Gridman said as he slowly approached her. Taking out Akane's carving tool, Dark Gridman placed the sharp blade against her cheek. Akane's body tensed up.
"Don't fret, Akane," he began, "This won't hurt for long,"
End of chapter 4