Hey guys, Andrew78591, is back with another chapter of Toxin-Ga-Kill. It has been a while since I've updated this one. My bad. Danganronpa: Carnage Rules really took up my time. That and I was surprised how little reaction I got from chapter 3, considering the end part of it. I guess a village massacre is nothing new. Besides that, I'm glad I'm updating this story so long. Hope this chapter will entertain you guys during the Coronavirus Quarantine mayhem that's happening. Let's get this chapter started.
Beta Reader: The Jade Fang Wolf
Aaaaaaaannnnnnnd begin:
Chapter 4: Welcome to the Capital
Random Forest
Walking on a path in the middle of a forest was Tatsumi, currently on his journey to the Capital. But strangely, he was by himself. His friends, Sayo and Ieyasu, were nowhere in sight.
Tatsumi himself held a gloomy expression as he thought to himself, 'How could I've let this happen?'
'Stop blaming yourself. It's starting to get annoying,' Toxin said.
"I'm sorry, I'm just worried," Tatsumi said. His gaze turned skyward as he remembered the event that led to their separation.
Large Cavern(Flashback)
We see Tatsumi, Ieyasu, and Sayo walking through a dark cavern, with Ieyasu walking a bit ahead of the other two while holding a lantern to light the way.
"Jeez, how much longer until we see the exit? This place gives me the creeps," Ieyasu commented.
"I can't blame you," Tatsumi responded. "This place is so dark, there could be like a hundred danger beasts tailing us. All waiting for the perfect chance to strike, and we wouldn't be able to tell."
"Dude, don't say that! Are you trying to freak me out?" Ieyasu yelled at his friend, making the latter laugh sheepishly.
"Just suck it up, Ieyasu. The exit should be just up ahead," Sayo explained. "After that, it's just a straight shot to the Capital."
"Good, the sooner the better. I would rather have Uncle rag on me for three days straight over having to spend more time here than we have to," Ieyasu complained. Thinking of all the insults Tokigawa would give him, his irritation and anxiety faded away as memories of his deceased uncle played in his head. "Just let him go on and on about how boneheaded I am like he used to." His hand gripped tightly to the sleeve of his other arm while he felt his throat tighten. "And for me to tell him just how much he means to me."
Tatsumi and Ieyasu stopped walking when they noticed Sayo wasn't walking besides them and both turned around to see her with her head down.
"Sayo?" Tatsumi called out.
It took her a moment before she said, "Yeah? Well I wish my sister was here with us. But we all know that's never going to happen." Her voice broke near the end of her statement.
Despite the limited visibility, Tatsumi and Ieyasu could see her shaking. Ieyasu felt incredibly guilty for opening the wound and began to apologize. "Sayo... I-I didn't-"
Sayo held up her finger towards Ieyasu to stop him. She took a sharp intake of air before facing her friends with teary eyes and a big, but hollow smile.
"No, it's fine. I know you didn't mean to. It's just hard to believe that everyone else is gone. But I'll get over it, promise!" she said with obviously forced cheerines.
More silence fell around them. Only a week had passed since the massacre of their village and they still haven't fully recovered. Sayo in particular had been suffering from nightmares. Nightmares of being chased through the ruins Sahne Eis by some kind of black figure. No matter what she did, she always got caught and killed in whatever gruesome way her subconscious could come up with. Many times, she would be shaken awake by either Tatsumi or Ieyasu after she started screaming in her sleep.
"It's okay, Sayo," Tatsumi spoke up. "We miss them too. But that's why we're doing this."
"He's right babe," Ieyasu joined, "Besides, we're still here. And we'll stick with each other through thick and thin, through all the highs and lows,"
Ieyasu gave his girlfriend a comforting hug. "In sickness and in health."
Sayo hugged back and buried her face in Ieyasu's chest, crying into it while Ieyasu rubbed her back to soothe her. After a while, the two separated and Sayo rubbed the tears out of her eyes.
"Thanks, guys. I really needed that," she said with a smile.
"No problem. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always available," Ieyasu replied with a smile.
Sayo smiled and gave Ieyasu a peck on the lips. "I know."
"Now that that's settled, let's keep moving. I'm starting to get a little anxious too," Tatsumi said, with the couple nodding in agreement. So the three continued their trek. Some time passed before something odd happened...
Sniff, sniff
Tatsumi pinched his nose and groaned in disgust while fanning the air with his free hand. "What is that?"
"Is something wrong, Tatsumi?" Sayo asked.
"Something wrong? Can't you smell it?" Tatsumi asked in an incredulous tone.
Sayo looked perplexed and said, "I don't smell anything."
"How could you not? It's like a rotting corpse covered in dirt."
'You're not imagining it, partner. It looks like only our sense of smell is able to pick it up,' Toxin told Tatsumi.
'But what's causing it?'
"Guys," Ieyasu called out. Tatsumi and Sayo turned their attention towards him and saw that he was pointing at something near his feet. What they saw was a big piece of skin. It was a dull orange, had wrinkles, and was kinda slimy.
"What the hell is that?" Tatsumi questioned while he and Sayo approached it for a better look, getting the feeling that this might be the cause of the stench.
Ieyasu knelt down to the investigate it, rubbing his chin curiously. "Hmm, it looks like molt. From what, I don't know. But judging by the size and condition, whatever left this was really big and probably very close."
"How close do you think?" Tatsumi asked.
As if on cue, they heard a spine-chilling hissing coming from behind them. They all immediately went on to take fighting stances as they faced the direction they heard the noise.
"That close," Said Ieyasu, getting on his feet and hooking the lantern to his belt while pulling out his axe.
The atmosphere got quiet as the three stayed still, waiting for whatever was there to attack. They all stood in anticipation for around half a minute without any more activity. It had either left and they haven't noticed, or it was waiting for them to let their guard down and strike. The latter explanation was the more plausible.
Ieyasu heard a stretching noise coming from behind him and he turned around to see Sayo aiming her bow in his direction. "Babe, what the hell?" He said, understandably shocked by what she was doing.
Sayo said nothing and fired her arrow. The projectile flew pass Ieyasu, who yelped because of how close it was to his head, and into the darkness of the cavern. Whatever she fired at must have been hit, indicated by the loud screeching it made. With that, Tatsumi went into action.
"Sayo, spread some light around us, now!" he yelled and charged towards the unknown creature.
"Ieyasu, the lantern," Sayo said as she reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow that, unlike her normal arrows, had cloth coiled around the shaft. Ieyasu opened the protective glass of the lantern, allowing Sayo to move the tips of her arrows over the fire and cause the fabric to quickly ignite. Before the flames spread too much though, she shot the arrow, embedding it in the wall. She repeated this process a few more times, all the while screeches, snapping, and skittering noises filled the cavern. It didn't take long for the place to be illuminated by all the fire spread around, revealing what their "new friend" was.
It was a giant, long insect with multiple small hook-like legs. Its body was brown and rough, like it was made out of rock. It had a pair of antennas, two thin and sharp tails, and massive pincers that were currently trying to snap Tatsumi in half. Fortunately, he was now covered by Toxin, giving him the strength to hold them back.
Seeing this, Sayo immediately shot a couple of arrows at the monster, but they bounced off on contact. "What the hell?" she exclaimed in shock.
Tatsumi wasn't having any better luck. He tried tossing the creature aside, but its legs had burrowed into the ground, keeping it from being lifted. "Ieyasu, analysis!" He shouted in a commanding tone.
Ieyasu observed the giant insect for a few seconds before giving his assessment. "Okay, I think I know what that is. It's an A-rank danger beast called the Giant Rock Centipede. It's able to burrow through the earth with ease, use their legs to move super fast and latch on to their prey, and its skin is super durable, so attacks won't do much damage. OH! Almost forgot! Be careful with its mouth. Not only are its pincers sharp, but it can spew out a nasty acid that can melt through even the strongest of metals."
"Spew WHAT from WHERE!?" Tatsumi shouted, hoping he misheard that last part. That's when he heard the danger beast hissing again. This sounded different, though. It started low, but quickly grew in volume. Like it was inhaling.
"Oh fuck!" Tatsumi cursed. Thinking fast, he jumped over the Rock Centipede's head just as it spat a greenish-yellow slime. He followed up by firing two web-lines at the ground to slingshot himself feet first against the danger beast's head, slamming it into the ground. Meanwhile, Sayo jumped back from where the spit landed and watched it bubble and hiss while eating away at the ground itself.
"Any weaknesses?" Sayo asked as Tatsumi flipped off the Rock Centipede and landed between his friends.
While the danger deast recovered, Ieysau said, "Yeah, aim for the legs and bottom of its body. It's much weaker than the rest of it. Also, it's basically blind, so it has to rely on vibrations and its sense of smell to navigate."
"Okay, I can work with that. You guys know what to do, so let's go!" Tatsumi commanded as he charged at the insect again.
"Right!" Ieyasu and Sayo said in unison, the former charging right behind Tatsumi while the latter prepared more arrows.
The Rock Centipede dove straight for Tatsumi again, since he was the closest one. However, the hunter rolled under the danger beast's attack and after morphing his fingers into claws, slashed at its soft underside. The creature screeched in pain from the deep cut, leaving it wide open for Ieyasu to cut off a couple of its legs and for Sayo to shoot some arrows at its exposed area.
The Rock Centipede screeched even more and began to swing its body around in self-defense, trying to use its large and heavy body to its advantage. While Tatsumi jumped away from it before he could get hit, Ieyasu was slammed towards the cave wall, hitting it pretty hard. Feeling the vibrations of Ieyasu's impact, the Rock Centipede made a beeline straight for him. However, Tatsumi fired a web-line and hit it on the side of its head. He then pulled it so hard that the insect veered away from its intended target and instead crashed into the wall. Sayo took the opportunity to rush towards her boyfriend and help him back to his feet before they both ran from the Rock Centipede. The insect pulled its head from the wall and tried to strike the couple, but Tatsumi leaped towards it and punched it hard in the back of the head, causing it to slam its face against the ground. When the beast recovered from the blow, it fired acid at Tatsumi, but the hunter cartwheeled out of the way and backflipped to avoid the Rock Centiped's pincers. The insect then gave a hiss before burrowing into the ground.
The three hunters quickly regrouped, with their backs facing towards each other. "Alright guys, keep your eyes peeled. This thing can come at us from any side," Tatsumi told his friends, who nodded in response.
The three all stood completely on-guard, anxiously awaiting for the beast to reappear. They could hear rumbling from the walls and the occasional hiss. Tatsumi's tried thinking of plan that could help, but was struggling to do so. The Rock Centipede was untouchable now and nearly untrackable. Meanwhile, it could attack them at any time and track them with no difficulty.
That's when it hit him.
Tatsumi turned to his friends and held up his index finger in front of his lips. He then held out his arms and extended his fingers into long tendrils that stretched a fair distance away from the group before repeatedly tapping the ground. The Rock Centipede burst from the ceiling and slammed where Tatsumi was tapping, the tendrils retracting before the insect reached them. The creature screeched in the group's direction before beginning to burrow again.
"Tatsumi, catch it, quick!" Ieyasu said.
Tatsumi dashed towards the danger beast and grabbed it by its tail just in time, stopping it in its tracks. He tried pulling it out, but the thing wouldn't budge, likely clinging to the ground like it did before.
'How cute. It thinks it can get away,' chuckled Toxin. 'Put your back into it and show it who's boss.'
"Don't you worry, 'cause that's exactly what I plan to do," Tatsumi said while tightening his grip.
'Atta, boy!' cheered the symbiote.
Tripling his efforts, Tatsumi slowly dragged the insect out of the ground until, with a roar of effort, tossed the danger beast over his head, making it crash on the ground. The danger beast writhed around before righting itself and hissing at Tatsumi, who crouched low to the ground in preparation for an attack. The Rock Centipede prepared its acid spit, but was interrupted by something flying into its open mouth, followed by its mouth bursting into flames.
"Nice shot, babe," Ieyasu congratulated Sayo.
"Looks the acid is really flammable," Tatsumi commented while the danger beast tried to put out the fire.
'Greeeat,' said Toxin sarcastically, feeling a bit nervous from the sight of fire.
As the Rock Centipede flailed around in agony, it slammed repeatedly against the walls and ceiling of the cavern. Every impact caused cracks to form and continue to spread around the area. Suddenly, the place began to shake vioently while pieces of rock fell from the ceiling.
Ieyasu's eyes widened in fear. "Shit, the cave's collapsing! We need to move now, or we'll get crushed!" He shouted and made a run for it, Sayo and Tatsumi doing the same.
While they were running, the Rock Centipede, now with its flames extinguished, charged towards Sayo. Unfortunately for the insect, Tatsumi was able to tackle the danger beast's side. The insect attempted to bite down on Tatsumi, but the hunter sidestepped the attack and countered with a punch to the face.
"Tatsumi! Come on! We got to get out of here!" Sayo called over the loud rumbling.
"Just get out of here! I have to deal with this thing first!" Tatsumi yelled back.
"What the-no! I'm not leaving without you!" she cried, running back to aid Tatsumi. However, Ieyasu grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Sayo, there's no time! We need to go!" Ieyasu stated.
"No, not without Tatsumi! We don't abandon our teammates!" Sayo argued.
"Sayo, I hate this too, but we have leave without him! Besides, I'm sure him and Toxin can handle this!" Ieyasu said as he dragged her away.
"No, let go! We need to save him!" Sayo yelled, struggling to break free. But Ieyasu held on to her tight, knowing what he had to do. But before they left, Ieyasu shouted to his friend. "Tatsumi! I expect you to come back to us as soon as you can, got that?!"
"Don't worry! If anything happens, I'll meet you at the Capital, promise!" Tatsumi shouted back. Toxin took control of his legs and made him jump over the danger beast's pincers.
'Eyes on the target, Tatsumi,' Toxin scolded as Tatsumi landed on its back and started running across it towards the head.
Despite Ieyasu taking off with their only lantern, and all the fire arrows placed before having been extinguished, Tatsumi could still see the creature quite well in this now lightless environment. One of the many perks Toxin had.
Tatsumi leaped up and gave the insect a hard uppercut and used web-lines to zip away. The Rock Centipede screeched and gave pursuit. But mid chase, a large chunk of the ceiling fell right onto its back. The Rock Centipede screeched again and struggled the best it could to escape, but the weight was too much for it.
'Now's your chance!' Said Toxin.
Tatsumi turned around and ran straight for the trapped danger beast. Noticing his approach, the insect stopped struggling and began spitting at him repeatedly, but each shot was easily evaded with sidesteps until he got close enough to grab the Rock Centipede by its pincers and force it to shoot acid upwards. He then turned his hand into a blade and stabbed it deep through the bottom of the Rock Centipede's head, killing it instantly.
With that done, Tatsumi rushed towards the exit, but part of the ceiling gave away, blocking his way out with rubble. He turned around and ran in the opposite direction, hoping that by some miracle he could get to the exit on the other side of the cave in time despite the distance. But he didn't get far before more debris fell in his way, trapping him in the collapsing cavern.
"Crap!" Tatsumi cursed out loud.
'Things are gonna get a lot worse,' Toxin said.
Tatsumi's face was turned upwards by the symbiote just in time to see the ceiling collapse.
"This is going to suck," Tatsumi groaned.
Hundreds of pounds of rock fell on top of Tatsumi and continued to pile on. The pain of it all was enough to knock him out cold.
Tatsumi finished his reminiscence and said, "We spent so much time digging our way out, we can't even track them. Who knows what could've happened to them while we were gone? They could've gotten murdered by bandits. Or eaten by rabid danger beasts. Or drowned in a river! Or caught in a forest fire! Or come down with some terrible disease, or fallen on their heads on rocks, or chocked on their lunch, or attacked by danger beast bandits, or-"
'You're being ridiculous! They'll be fine!' Toxin snapped at their host. 'Once we get to the city, we'll find them safe and sound, you'll hug and cry, then we'll all remember this as something to laugh at the dinner table. Now can you please just calm down?'
"..." There's a moment of silence as Tatsumi processed Toxin's words before he let out a small laugh and smiled, any sign of worry completely vanishing from his face. "You're right, Toxin. They're capable enough to handle themselves. I should just focus on getting to the capital and enjoy the scenery on the way."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Right after I check that out." Tatsumi bolted towards were the scream came from and soon found the source of the commotion.
A massive danger beast stood in the middle of the road, looming over a carriage that was pulled by the two currently panicking horses. It was a brown and scaly behemoth, with red antennas that hung from the side of its face, thick forearms that ended in sharp claws, and unsettling crimson eyes.
"A Terrian Crawfish!" one of the two men screamed as the beast prepared to bring down its claws on them. But before the attack could land, Tatsumi quickly dashed in and sliced off its arm with the Kayusaiki sword. The severed limb landed with a loud thud while the danger beast roared in pain, clutching the stump that was spraying blood everywhere.
'Finally, some action!' Toxin said in excitement as they started to spread over their host, but Tatsumi willed the symbiote back inside himself.
'Sorry Toxin, but it's best I handle this on my own,' Tatsumi said.
'What?! Why?'
"Because there are people here and the last thing I need is word getting out about the alien goo creature in my body," Tatsumi explained. "Unless you want us to be strapped to a table and experimented on for the rest of our lives."
Toxin groaned and said, 'Fine. Just make it quick.'
A large shadow blanketed the area around Tatsumi as the Terrain Crawfish approached him, shaking the ground with each step it took. "Sure, no problem."
Leaping away from the claw that smashed into the ground, Tatsumi jumped onto the tTrrain Crawfish's arm and ran up it. The danger beast whipped its antennas towards Tatsumi, but the hunter leaped over them and thrusted it into the beast's eye. He then kicked off the now screeching beast's face and immediately dashed back towards it. With a battle cry and a mighty swing, Tatsumi cleaved the large beast in half.
Tatsumi gave his sword a quick swing to get some of the blood off it before sheathing it back in his scabbard. 'That fast enough for you?' He asked his symbiote with noticeable pride.
'Eh, it was alright. I could've done better, but whatever,' Toxin mumbled. Tatsumi just rolled his eyes at Toxin's "compliment".
"Young man." Tatsumi turned his attention to the two men from carriage, who were now approaching him. "We can't thank you enough for what you did for us. We would've died today if not for you."
"It's no big deal. I saw that someone needed help, and I acted," Tatsumi replied with a big smile.
"No big deal? You managed to kill a class A danger beast with ease! It was incredible!" the other man said in awe.
Tatsumi put his hand under chin and chuckled, clearly enjoying the praise. "Well, when you've trained to be a hunter for as long as I have, things like these become just another good exercise."
"You're a hunter? What brings you all the way here?" One of the men asked.
"Simple, I'm making my way towards the imperial capital," Tatsumi replied.
"The capital?" one of the men said in shock. "You mean you're heading towards the city of Shikou?"
"Shikou? So that's what the city is called? The name of it was ruined on my map," Tatsumi casually replied.
The two men looked at each other with seriousness and concern before they turned back to Tatsumi. "Listen, kid. For your own safety, stay the hell away from that place."
"What?" Tatsumi uttered, caught off guard by the sudden warning.
"Yeah, despite all its bright lights and fancy buildings, it's infested with monsters. Worse than even this danger beast," the other man said as he gestured to the dead Terrain Crawfish.
Tatsumi tilted his head to the side in confusion and asked "Monsters? You mean there are danger beasts in the city?"
The men looked him dead in the eye with absolute seriousness as one of them said, "No, the monsters are people. Diabolical people with hearts of pure evil, committing crimes worse than you could ever imagine. So if you value your life, forget whatever reason you were heading there in the first place and just go home."
'How ominous,' Toxin commented.
'Yeah, no kidding,' Tatsumi replied back in his head. He looked at the merchants with unyielding determination. "I appreciate the warning. But I have to deal with important business there, and I can't leave until I finish it." He gave a wave goodbye and stared walking away from the merchants. "Take care, guys."
"Do you at least want a ride? It's not that far from here," One of the merchants asked.
Tatsumi immediately turned around and said, "Yeah, sure. My feet are killing me."
Shikou
Nearly half an hour later, Tatsumi had arrived at Shikou, the imperial capital. And to say it was big was a serious understatement. Miles upon miles of buildings as far as the eye can see, and streets packed with people going about their lives.
"Holy cow, they weren't kidding when they said this place was big," Tatsumi said in awe, eyes moving in every direction and trying to take everything in.
'This place makes Sahne Eis look like a playground,' Toxin commented.
'Yeah, no kidding. How are we gonna find Sayo and Ieyasu in a place like this?'
'Well, if there's one thing we learned about being in new environments, it's to familiarize ourselves.'
'Right, so let's see if there's a place that sells maps.'
Tatsumi walked through the crowded streets and asked around for a place that could help him. Some "Idunno's" and a few "get lost's" later, the latter of the responses reeeally ticking off Tatsumi and Toxin, someone eventually pointed him in the direction of a merchant's shop nearby.
Entering the establishment with the big sign that says "Goblin's Den", had all sorts of wares. He walked around the place and grabbed a map as well as some other goods. On his way to the cashier counter, Tatsumi stopped halfway, and not of his own volition.
'Toxin?' Tatsumi asked his symbiote, perplexed by the sudden shift in control. His answer came in the form of his head being turned towards a shelf lined with boxes of chocolate. 'Of course...'
"Well, now that we have a map, finding Sayo and Ieyasu is gonna be piece of cake!" Tatsumi joyfully said. When he opened his map, he was greeted with a grand multitude of districts, avenues, establishments, and many other notable locations. "... A piece, rock hard, cake."
'Where even are we on this thing?' Toxin asked.
"I think we're here," Tatsumi said as he placed a finger on a spot on the map. "Or was it here?" He moved his finger onto another spot. "Or maybe we're... gah, this is hopeless!" Tatsumi threw his arms into the air with a cry of frustration before gloomily slumping forward.
"Excuse me."
A finger tapped on Tatsumi's shoulder, and he turned to see a girl about his age clad in a black and white uniform with armor over her chest and shoulders. She had long auburn hair tied into a ponytail with a green hairpin, and had amber colored eyes.
The girl had a big smile plastered on her face as she saluted and said with an almost palpable enthusiasm, "Greetings, citizen! I sensed your distress, and have arrived to assist you!"
Tatsumi stared at the girl for a few seconds before responding, "Uh... I appreciate the offer, but no thanks," and turned to walk away.
Only for the girl to suddenly appear in front of him.
"Don't be shy, sir. As a member of the imperial guard, it is my duty help those in need, no matter what. So whatever problem you have, I, Seryu Ubiquitous, will provide you aid," she proudly proclaimed.
Tatsumi dismissively waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it, it's not worth troubling you over." He walked past the girl, but she reappeared in front of him again.
"Nonsense, a warrior of justice helps everyone, no matter the problem," she insisted.
For a few minutes, Tatsumi repeated that he didn't need the officer and tried to leave, and each time, Seryu would quickly appear in his path and reiterate that the job of a "warrior of justice" is to help whenever possible.
'Just punch her out. She's getting on my nerves, fast,' Toxin growled.
'No, Toxin. That'll get me in trouble,' Tatsumi told his symbiote. 'Even if she is annoying.'
Realizing that she wasn't gonna back off, Tatsumi gave in. "Alright, fine! I got separated from my friends and I'm looking for them, but I'm new to the Capital and I don't know my way around! Now if you can please be on your way-"
Seryu snatched the map from Tatsumi and said, "Don't be silly. I'm more than happy to help you get familiar with the great city of Shikou. I'll make sure you know this city like the back of your hand!" After her little proclamation, she opened up the map and began her explanation.
"As you can see, Shikou is quite expansive. So let's start simple," Seryu said and pointed to certain parts of the map. "There are five main sections of Shikou. The northern section is called Genbu, the eastern section Seiryu, southern is Suzako, and Byakko is the west. And in the middle is the Kirin section. Currently, we're in Suzako, so we'll start here." The young woman folded up the map and held out her hand for Tatsumi to grab and said, "We better hurry before nighttime arrives."
Tatsumi stared at Seryu's hand for a few seconds before saying, "Well, since you're not gonna leave me alone, and you know your way around here..." The young man then grabbed Seryu's hand. The second he did, he almost fell on his face when Seryu broke into a run.
"Great! I already have places in mind we can search!"
As Tatsumi was being dragged by the peppy girl and trying to avoid getting hurt, Toxin decided to speak up.
'Hey, Tatsumi, you sure about this?'
'Not really. But I don't think I have a say in the matter. And it's our best shot at finding Sayo and Ieyasu,' Tatsumi admitted through their mental link.
'Even still, haven't you noticed?'
'Noticed what?'
'The stench of blood on her.'
Tatsumi hesitated. How could he not notice? It was like she had just come out of a slaughterhouse. 'Of course I do.'
'So why haven't you bailed on her yet?'
'You heard what those guys said. The Capital's a bad place. It shouldn't be surprising that a police officer would get into bloody situations. And she doesn't seem like a bad person. Weird, sure, but not bad.'
Toxin let out a sigh and said, 'You're too trusting. Whatever, just watch your back.'
'I will.'
"Oh, I almost forgot," Seryu spoke up, getting Tatsumi's attention. "I never asked for your name. Do you mind telling me?"
"It's Tatsumi," the young man replied.
"Glad to meet you, Tatsumi." Said Seryu.
With that, Tatsumi and Seryu walked through the streets of Shikou in search of his friends. During this, Seryu made sure to explain everything she could about the place, such as were to find the blacksmiths, markets, and places of interest. She even showed him a shop that sold chocolate in abundance, much to Toxin's delight. However, their search came up fruitless. No matter where they looked or who they talked to, no one had seen Ieyasu or Sayo.
After a few hours, Tatsumi and Seryu decided to take a break and grab something to eat at a restaurant. The two sat on a table outside, Seryu happily enjoying her sandwich while Tatsumi barely ate his steak. The imperial guard noticed and decided to speak up. "Hey, are you okay? You're barely eating."
"Sorry...I'm not really hungry," Tatsumi replied, his head resting on his hand while poking his food.
While they have only just met, Seryu could easily tell what was going on. "I'm sorry we weren't able to find your friends."
"It's fine, Seryu," Tatsumi said. "You did your best. I just miss my friends. Got a little too optimistic and thought we could've found them by now."
"Hey, I know it seems hopeless, but I'm sure you'll find them real soon," Seryu assured him.
Tatsumi glanced up from his steak. "You sure?"
"Absolutely!" Seryu chirped.
Tatsumi made a small smile and said, "I appreciate that... Hmm?"
Tatsumi noticed that some feet behind Seryu, there were a couple of posters plastered on a wall. But they weren't normal posters. They were wanted posters. They displayed a woman wearing glasses, a man with wavy hair and armor, a woman with short hair and an eyepatch, and a woman with long hair and a tie. Tatsumi remembered seeing these posters all around the Capital during his search. If the number of these posters were any indication, the Empire reeeally wanted them gone. Their bounties pretty much confirmed it.
"Hey Seryu, who are those guys?" Tatsumi asked as he pointed to the posters.
"Hmm?" Seryu turned to look at what Tatsumi was pointing at, and the second she spotted the posters, the air suddenly became more heavy, and the hairs on Tatsumi's body stood on end from the killing intent that had started emanating from her.
"They're Night Raid," Seryu said. Her voice was very cold, lacking the bubbly cheer from before.
"Who's Night Raid?" Tatsumi hesitantly asked, anxiety beginning to take root in him. Even Toxin became uneasy and was getting ready to take action, just in case things got dangerous.
When Seryu turned back to Tatsumi, her face held a scowl so intense that it would make even the fiercest danger beasts shrink away. It was almost like she had become a completely different person. "They're a wicked group of vicious killers that terrorize Shikou." Her gaze turned downwards as she continued. "They arrive in the middle of the night and slaughter innocent people for nothing but profit. It doesn't matter if they're nobles or commoners. No one is safe from their rampage."
Seryu's mouth curled into a snarl. Every word she spoke carried more and more venom than the last. "They're the most vile of scum to ever walk the earth! They should be killed on sight in the most agonizing way possible! Cleanse this world of their abhorrent filth! They deserve to suffer like the wicked demons they are! Make sure they can never take another breath again!"
As Seryu continued to ramble, Tatsumi noticed that she was unknowingly attracting attention from the other patrons.
"Seryu, please calm down," Tatsumi pleaded. The killing intent started subsiding, and Seryu's body began to relax. Even the snarl dissapeared, now her expression was much more somber.
"People like them don't care about who they kill," Seryu stated plainly. "Or the families they take them from."
"Are you okay?" Tatsumi asked in concern.
"I'm fine," Seryu responded with a big, yet obviously forced smile. "I just recalled bad memories, is all."
"I'll say. You manhandled that poor sandwich," Tatsumi said. Seryu finally noticed that in her little moment, she had smooshed her sandwich with her iron grasp. She let out a sad "Oh," before dropping it on her plate on the table.
"I should be going. It's almost time for my patrol," she said while getting up to leave.
'"That's okay. I'm just gonna try and search a little while longer," Tatsumi said.
"Are you sure? It's getting late, and criminal activity becomes most frequent at night," Seryu warned. "We of the imperial guard do our best to keep the city safe, but there are always rats that get bold when under the cover of darkness."
"Don't worry. I still can't navigate this place to save my life, but I can at least fight to do it," Tatsumi assured her. "Thanks again for helping me out as least."
"No problem. It's a job a warrior of justice must do. Well, I must get going." Seryu then started heading off to wherever she had to go. But then she stopped in her tracks and turned back towards the teen. "I'll try and find you tomorrow and so we can continue our search. I'll even spread word to my fellow colleagues to keep an eye out for them. Is that alright with you?"
Tatsumi was generally surprised by this. He had only just met Seryu today and already, she was willing to do this much to help him out. This girl was something.
"Really? That'd be great!" Tatsumi said joyfully.
"Of course! See you tomorrow." And like that, Seryu disappeared past a building corner, leaving Tatsumi to himself... sort of.
'That was... an experience,' Toxin commented, remembering when Seryu talked about Night Raid.
'No kidding,' said Tatsumi.
'You sure you want to still hang around that girl?' The symbiote questioned.
'Yup,' Tatsumi answered without a hint of hesitation.
'Eh? But why?' Toxin questioned, taken aback by Tatsumi's bluntness.
'We're looking for two people in a huge city that we don't know how to navigate without any sort of idea on where to look. We need all the help we can get,' Tatsumi explained. He looks towards the wanted posters and his eyes narrowed. 'Especially with those guys around. The sooner we find them before Night Raid does, the better.'
'Or if we find Night Raid before they find them,' Toxin said with a sly tone.
'Toxin...' Tatsumi began, already guessing where this was going.
'I'm just saying we wouldn't have to worry about them if we be proactive,' the alien rationalized. 'We find them, we fight them, we throw them in jail, and then we can search without fear of deadly murderers.'
'Toxin, we don't even know where they are,' Tatsumi pointed out. 'We're better off looking for our friends and then deal with Night Raid. At least they're not hiding from the law.'
'Fiiine,' Toxin groaned. 'We should at least start to prepare for the chance we do bump into Night Raid. We can start by getting nice and full with that steak you've been woefully neglecting.'
Tatsumi rolled his eyes and started eating eating his steak.
Tatsumi plopped himself onto a bench. The sun had set, and the night had taken its place, signalling the time for rest to all the inhabitants of the city. Unfortunately for Tatsumi, every inn he'd tried to book was either full or closed. Meaning he'd have to sleep in the streets. He wasn't happy about it, that's for sure.
"I should've booked a room the second I got here," Tatsumi moaned wearily.
'Okay, so we couldn't find a single trace of those two. That's okay. We just have to search again tomorrow.'
Tatsumi placed his head on his hands and his elbows on his knees. "Until how long?"
'We both knew this wouldn't be easy. We just need to be patient. Besides, that police girl said she'd try to spread word to the other police, so that's something,' Toxin pointed out.
"I guess, but still..." Tatsumi replied. His eyes wandered to his bag, which was placed right besides him. "I better make sure we're not missing anything."
The second Tatsumi zipped open his bag, his nose caught a whiff of some funky smell coming from within the bag that made him visibly wince.
"Did I leave food in there or something?" Tatsumi asked himself. Rummaging through his bag, he eventually pulled out the source, an old sock.
"What the heck is this...!" As Tatsumi mumbled, an old memory surfaced. He then proceed to look to for something else in his bag in a much more hurried pace.
Some time back, Tatsumi and his friends had gotten concerned over the possibility of getting separated. So they decided that he would hold on to items that would help him track them down. Ieyasu gave him an old sock. And Sayo...
"I completely forgot about these!" Tatsumi exclaimed as he pulled out a sweat rag. He gave the two items a big sniff and immediately started coughing. "Still fresh," he said with mixture of both joy and disgust.
'Great, now that we have a lead, let's head on out!' Toxin said excitedly.
Tatsumi stuffed his friends' belongings into his pockets and slung his backpack over his shoulders before running down the streets of the Capital. Spotting an alleyway, he dashed in it and allowed the symbiote to spread over him. Tatsumi then jumped onto the wall adjecent to him and climbed up to the top. He ran across the roof and when he reached the edge, he leaped onto another rooftop and ran across that one. Though he'd usually swing to move from place to place, he figured the likelihood of being spotted by any passerby would be lower if he stuck to the rooftops.
Landing atop another building, Tatsumi said to himself, "I'll be there soon, guys. Just you wait."
Kirin, Unknown Mansion
'... Toxin?'
Tatsumi asked.
'Yeah?' Said Toxin.
'I'm not imagining this, am I?'
'No, I see it too.'
'Cool. Second question. What the hell?' He said, looking at the location his nose had led him. That being a large four-story mansion. Cleanly trimmed trees lined the sides of a stone road leading to it, and guards patrolled the grounds all over. It was a place that screamed "I'm rich and important".
Which raises the question of why Sayo and Ieyasu's scent stopped here.
Outside the mansion gates, Tatsumi clung to the side of a tree, hidden amongst the foliage.
'Did they win a lottery or something?' Tatsumi scratched his head curiously.
'Or they've been holding out on us.'
'Doubt it, but either way, I've got to see if Sayo and Ieyasu are okay. Problem is though, how do we get in?' Tatsumi glanced down at the gate. Two guards stood on lookout and were armed with rifles. 'I doubt they'll let a random stranger inside, especially at this hour.' The young man turned his attention to the mansion.' Rubbing his chin, he went on, 'That means we need to sneak in. But there's so many guards and too little cover. We'd be spotted if we took a single step inside.'
'We could use a disguise,' Toxin suggested. 'We could take the uniform of one of those guards and use it to get in without much fuss.'
Tatsumi hummed in thought. 'That could work, but we need to work fast so no one gets suspicious.'
'Way ahead of you.'
Tatsumi turned his attention to the gate guards and saw two tendrils unwrap from the throats of the now unconcious guards, dropping them to the ground.
'Well... at least that takes care of that problem.'
After he stashed the two within some bushes, Tatsumi leaped over the gates, now wearing the uniform of one of the guards he had stripped. Though it was too big for him, Toxin made up for it by filling up the space with their biomass. The guy was probably gonna be a bit chilly without anything over his body except his underwear, but it's a neccessary evil. At the very least, he would try and return as soon as he could. He reached the mansion doors without a hitch, and when he entered, he removed the guard apparel and webbed them to the ceiling. After that, he went about the mansion to look for any of his friends. Like on the outside, guards patrolled the halls, but Tatsumi could much more easily avoid them now by either hiding behind furniture or simply clinging to the ceiling. He searched all around the large mansion. From kitchens, to living rooms. Yet he couldn't find a single trace of them.
"Where are they?" Tatsumi sighed in frustration, sitting on the bed of one of the many, many bedrooms he had searched. His nose was telling him they were here, but the lack of results from his search proved otherwise.
'Maybe we should retrace our steps and see if we missed them,' Toxin suggested. 'Let's start at the kitchen again. They probably went to get a midnight-'
Tatsumi cut off his symbiote with a stern "No."
'Come ooon!' Toxin whined.
"Toxin, we ate literally a few hours ago-" Tatsumi stopped when his nose caught a familiar smell that filled him with anxiety.
The smell of blood. And lots of it
Without thinking, Tatsumi shot off the bed and bolted out the room. He ran down the hallway, following his sense of smell and found a grisly sight. Laying in a mess of blood laid the corpse of a woman, her arms and lower body sliced clean off.
Tatsumi was in complete shock. "W-what the hell...?"
'This was fresh. We're not the only one's paying a late-night visit,' Toxin deduced.
"But who could've done this?" Tatsumi asked. That's when the room darkened from the shadows of the outside. He approached the window and look outside to see the cause.
'I think they might have the answer.'
Up in the sky, a group of five people stood atop what appeared to be wires. One was a girl wearing a pink dress, black leggings, pink shoes, long pink hair tied into pigtails by pink ribbons, and had pink eyes. Another was a young man with an open green coat with fur around the collar, white shirt, red goggles that sat atop his green-haired head, and green eyes. One was a large man clad head-to-toe in white and silver armor with a big white cape, yellow lenses on his helmet, a white coat with red edges around the sleeves and collar, and a spear with a black pole and a dark red blade attached to his back. The last one was a young woman with red eyes and long black hair, wearing a black coat, a sleeveless black tank top with a white collar and red tie, black skirt, and black gloves with red gauntlets over them. Tatsumi recognized the one in black as the wanted assassin Akame. Which meant the rest of the group must be...
"Night Raid..." muttered Tatsumi. That explains the corpse. He noticed movement below him, and looked to see guards gathering around to defend the mansion.
'What do we do?' asked Toxin.
"I want to fight them, but if we expose ourselves, it could make things complicated," said Tatsumi. "Let's wait a bit and see how things go."
Watching the guards getting into position, the green assassin told his comrade, "Hey, Akame, those guards are also targets."
The woman only responded with "Eliminate", and leaned off the threads in the sky before landing on ground below with impressive grace. Behind her, the man in armor landed with a thunderous smash. The two sides squared off.
"Do not let her sword touch you," warned one of the guards. With a battle cry, he charged towards the assassins, followed by some of his fellow guardsmen. Akame unsheathed her weapon, a katana with a red hilt, and in a flash, sliced the throats of all the guards. And one by one, they all fell.
The last standing guard clutched his bleeding throat as strange red symbols spread over his face. "This is the fate... of someone... as corrupt as me..." he croaked out before the last of his life left his body.
The man in armor hurled his spear at one the guardsmen that had stayed back, skewering him with the weapon and killing him instantly.
Only one guard remained, and he was quivering like a leaf. "Th-they're complete monsters!" He stuttered out, and turned to flee. He didn't get far, because a hole was blown through his head.
Up on the threads, smoke emanated from the barrel of the rifle belonging to the pink girl. "Not much of a bodyguard if he's just gonna run away," she commented.
"Well, you can't really blame him," said the guy in green.
"Holy shit..." Tatsumi uttered in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at the bodies of the now dead guardsmen. "They were wiped in seconds!"
'They're dangerous. I can see why they had so many wanted posters,' said Toxin. 'Should we join in now?'
Tatsumi pondered on his next course of action before responding, "We're outnumbered, and we don't know how powerful they are. We should focus on finding Sayo and Ieyasu, or at least protect whoever they're targeting." With that said, Tatsumi headed down the hall.
"Hurry, my lady! This way!" shouted a guard as he ran through the forest behind the mansion, dragging a girl by the hand. The girl had shoulder-length blond hair with a fluffy light blue accessory, blue eyes, and wore a short-sleeved blue dress with a black bodice and a blue ribbon tied on the chest over a white-sleeveless shirt.
"What's going on!? What's happening!?" she cried frightfully cried.
"I'll explain everything later! For now, we need to head into the shed!" the guard responded.
The two soon reached clearing, wherein laid a large shed. They stopped in front of the large doors, closed and locked by chains. Just when the guard reached for his keys, another person entered the clearing. It was the assassin, Akame.
"Crap!" The guard cursed and readied his automatic rifle.
Akame dashed towards the guard and blonde girl. Seeing the fast approaching assassin, the guard quickly took action and sprayed bullets in her direction. But Akame moved with such speed, she evaded every bullet without a single one so much as grazing e guard almost didn't even notice she was in front of him. With one quick swing from Akame's sword, the guard's torso was cleaved from his waist.
The blond girl stared in horror as her protector fell and fearfully backed away from her, only to trip and fall on her rear. Before she could even attempt to get back up, Akame was already upon her. The moon behind Akame made a sinister backdrop for the assassin, who showed absolutely no emotion as she pulled back her sword in preperation for a fatal strike.
"Eliminate," said the assassin with a voice as cold as the metal of her blade, staring plainly into the girl's terrified eyes. But just before she could take her life...
"Stop right there!"
Akame leaped away from a sword swing, creating some distance between her and the new company.
"Are you alright?" Tatsumi asked the blonde girl, turning his head slightly in her direction and looking at her from the corner of his eye, but making sure not to let his guard down in front of the assassin.
The girl was still in shock from the sudden appearance, but managed to speak up. "Y-Yes... yes I am. But who are you?"
"I'll explain later. Right now, just know that I'm here to help," he responded in a reassuring tone. Tatsumi's attention was then drawn to the assassin. "I recognize you. You're Akame, a member of that group of assassins called Night Raid. That means you're here to kill this girl, right?"
"Yep," Akame responded with a nod of confirmation. The simple answer catching Tatsumi off-guard.
'She's honest, I'll give her that,' Toxin commented within Tatsumi's head.
Tatsumi quickly recovered and proclaimed, "Then I'm going to stop you!"
"You're not a target. You don't have to die," Akame said.
"Yeah, so what? I can't stand by and let you kill an innocent person," Tatsumi responded.
"So you have no intention of backing down? You're going to protect this girl?" Akame asked.
"Of course!" Tatsumi replied.
Akame raised her katana, the weapon giving off an eerie glint as she stated, "Then I will eliminate you."
Tatsumi visibly flinched at the flat tone of her threat, but soon steeled himself for combat. Both sword wielders readied themselves into combative stances, their eyes completely focused on their opponent. Tatsumi assessed his opponent, 'I can tell just by looking at her that she's good. Maybe out of my league on my own. But I can't back down. If I do, this poor girl will die.'
With that in mind, Tatsumi was the first to make a move, charging at his opponent. Akame did the same, and their swords clashed together. The two pushed their weapons against each other, trying to overpower the other. Tatsumi won out in the end, pushing the assassin away and following up with a horizontal swing. But the assassin evaded it by flipping over the teen and delivering a swift kick to his back.
Tatsumi spun around to face the assassin just in time to see Akame thrusting her sword towards his chest. Luckily, by pure instinct, Tatsumi blocked the attack with broad side of Kayusaiki just in the nick of time. But at this point, he was in a tight spot. Akame continued to thrust and slash at Tatsumi, giving him no other option but to defend. An opening soon presented itself, and the red eyed girl delivered a swift kick to Tatsumi's stomach, knocking him away and onto his back. Tatsumi clutched his stomach in pain as he coughed before he looked up to see the red eyed girl above him with her sword poised to strike.
"Eliminate," was all she said before bringing her sword down. All Tatsumi could do was watch as the lethal metal raced down to his chest for the final blow.
That's when orange tendrils sprang out from Tatsumi's chest and wrapped around the blade, halting the weapon just an inch away from his chest. Akame was very much surprised by the sudden occurence, distracting her enough for a tendril to shoot up and slam into Akame's stomach, knocking her away from her opponent. She landed on her back, but used the momentum to quickly roll herself back on her feet and ready to fight. But when her eyes landed on Tatsumi, her stoic expression was replaced by complete and utter shock as his body was becoming enveloped by his symbiote.
'Toxin, I wanted you to stay hidden,' Tatsumi told his symbiote.
'What's the point in keeping that secret if you die because of it?' Toxin countered. 'You can't beat her on your own. Let me take the reigns for a bit, 'kay?'
Tatsumi sighed and replied, 'Fine. Just be careful.'
When Toxin fully covered Tatsumi, they formed a fanged mouth and said, "Don't worry, I got this." They turned to the assassin, who was still in a state shock, but was brought out of it when the symbiote spoke, "Picking on little girls? My, how naughty of you, Akame. Ol' Toxin's gonna have to-"
Toxin didn't get to finish as the assassin suddenly dashed towards them and swung her sword for their neck, but Toxin quickly leaned their body out of the way.
"It's rude to interrupt, you know!" Toxin snarled and morphed their hands into axes. They slashed at Akame, but the assassin deflected it with her weapon and retaliated with her own swing. While Toxin blocked the attack, the force of the attack caused them to skid backwards. Akame immediately followed up by charging and unleashing a flurry of swings. Her weapon moved so fast, it appeared as if the symbiote was being attacked by silver streaks. Though the average person would've long since become bloody ribbons by now, Toxin was able to keep up with the assassin. But even then, the vicious assault forced Toxin on the defensive.
Toxin eventually spotted an opening and slashed at the assassin, but she suddenly dissapeared. "Huh!?" Exclaimed the symbiote. Akame quickly reappeared behind the symbiote and leaped forward to slash at them, but Toxin noticed and sprouted a tendril to swat her away. The blow knocked Akame on her back, but she used the momentum to roll back onto her feet before charging at her opponent. Toxin started firing balls of webbing to try and ensnare her, but Akame dodged them as she quickly closed the distance between them. Toxin sent more tendrils towards her to stop her advance, only for them to be shredded by Akame without slowing her down in the slightest. She brought her blade down to slice them in half, but Toxin brought up their axes to block. Once again, Akame was pushed back, away at the symbiote, with Toxin only able to defend.
"Damn..." Toxin cursed. In contrast with her battle with Tatsumi, her fighting style was far more aggresive. Yet despite this, she left no opening for them. And if they didn't hurry up, the other members of Night Raid would undoubtedly show up, which would turn things dire if they were even half as skilled as Akame. They needed to take her down quick. A plan formed in their head to do just that. It was a gamble, but it was their only shot.
Toxin stopped moving and allowed Akame to shove her sword through their chest and out the other side. Toxin grunted in pain from the injury, but then grinned and grabbed Akame's wrist.
"Gotcha."
Before Akame could react, Toxin used their free hand to fire a stream of webbing that stuck her to the side of the shed. With the exception of her upper head, her entire body had been completely covered by the symbiote's webbing. Akame tried to break free from her restraints, but the webbing held her firmly in place. Meanwhile, Toxin grabbed the hilt of Akame's sword and pulled it out of their chest before tossing it aside and covering the wounds.
"Hrk!?" Toxin suddenly hunched forward, clutching the spot they were stabbed as an intense, burning pain coursed through their chest. "D-damn it," They strained out, falling to their knees as they trembled like a shaved dog in a snowstorm. "Sh-should have known... poison... n-nasty too..." Their hand slammed against the ground and clawed the dirt. "Real nasty! But..."The symbiote straightened their body and puffed up their chest before vomiting out a black sludge, which hissed as it evaporated into purple smoke. Toxin panted profusely before wiping their mouth with the back of their hand and smirking. "Nothing I can't handle."Toxin stood up from the ground and turned to Akame, who still struggled against her bindings. They then turned their attention to Aria, who visibly flinched when the white patches faced her."You okay?" Toxin asked Aria. The hesitated to answer before nodding, "Uh-huh". The symbiote frowned at the fear she was displaying, but decided not to say anything. 'Tatsumi, you're up,' they told their host through their mental link and receeded back into Tatsumi.The teen fidgeted awkwardly in place, trying to think of what to say. "So..." he started off, scratching the back of their head. "Are you okay?"'I already asked that,' Toxin reminded.Tatsumi cringed in embarrassment. 'Oh, right.'"Who are you?... What are you?" Asked the girl.
"That's a long story," Tatsumi said as he walked towards her. "Let's start simple." He stopped in front of Aria and held out his hand to shake. "My name's Tatsumi."The girl suddenly hugged the teen, catching him by suprise and causing his face to turn a bright shade of red. "My hero!" She then pulled away from Tatsumi with a big smile on her face as she said, "My name's Aria, and I don't know how I could ever repay you."
Tatsumi bashfully scratched the back of his head and chuckled. But the little moment was interrupted by a voice.
"Aww, isn't this cute. It's too bad I have to ruin it."
Tatsumi took a defensive stance in front of Aria as he turned to the new arrival. A buxom woman stepped out of the forest. She had long blonde hair with two bangs on the sides of her face, and her attire consisted of a black tube-top that did very little to cover her large chest, cream detachable sleeves, matching pants with gaps around her inner thighs, a black belt with a silver buckle, black thong, brown boots, and a scarf around her neck. The strange thing about her, lack of modesty aside, was her animalistic features. Her hands were large, bestial, and covered in brown fur. A yellow tail stuck out from her lower back. And her yellow eyes had slit pupils akin to that of a predator.She stopped a fair distance away from Tatsumi and Aria, a big grin on her face. She placed a hand on her hip and looked over to the captured Akame, still struggling to break free. "Gotta hand it to you, though. Beating Akame is no small feat. You've got real skill."
"Who are you, another assassin?" Tatsumi demanded.
"Yup! Call me Leone," the woman said cheerfully.
Tatsumi's glare hardened and Toxin enveloped their host again, though this time he was the one in control. "Then I'll stop you like your friend!"
"You could. But I don't think you'd want to if you knew what you were actually doing," she replied.
Tatsumi raised a brow in confusion, while Aria stiffened up. "What do you mean?" asked the young man.
Leone's expression turned serious. "Don't be fooled. She may look sweet and innocent, but she has this coming after the things she's done," she said, causing Tatsumi to tilt his head in confusion.
"Tatsumi, don't listen to her!" Aria pleaded. "She's just trying to trick you!"
"Why should I believe you?" Tatsumi asked.
Leone pointed to the shed and said, "Just take a look in there and you'll find out."
Tatsumi briefly thought about it, and decided that it wouldn't hurt to verify the assassin's claims. He turned around and approached the doors while Toxin paid attention to Leone in case she tried anything. He morphed his hand into a sword and sliced the lock off before opening the door, where he was greeted with a sight that made his mouth hang agape and eyes widen with horror.Inside the shed were dead bodies. All mangulated and bloodied. Some hanged from the ceiling like meat in a storage locker, while others were still strapped onto torture devices. All left there to rot. Those that were still alive were kept behind metal bars like animals, but they barely clung to life. The stench of rot and deadly chemicals was assaulting the teen's nose. Tatsumi's stomach turned, and he had to resist the urge to vomit. It was just as bad as the Sahne Eis slaughter.
"W-What is this?" Tatsumi uttered in disbelief.
"These are the atrocities that this girl and her family have been committing," Leone began to explain, walking up besides him. "Everyone you see here is from the countryside. They came to the city for a chance at a better life. This family used their sweet words and illustrious promises to lure them to their house, like moths to a flame, so they could torture them for their sick amusement."
As Tatsumi looked on in horror, trying to simply comprehend the scene, Toxin spoke in his head in a sorrowful tone, 'Tatsumi... look,' while making one of Tatsumi's hands point at something. His gaze followed where the symbiote pointed and was left completely devastated.
It was Sayo.
Her body hung suspended in the air by chains. She was covered in bruises and dried blood, and there was a bloody stump where her leg used to be.
"S-Sayo..." Tatsumi uttered, taking shaky steps towards her and falling to his knees in front of her.
As this happened, Aria tried to quietly sneak away, but was quickly grabbed by the back of her head by Leone. "Where do you think you're going, rich girl? You don't seriously believe you can just waltz out of here?"
"Sh-she's lying!" Aria denied, fear and panic in her voice. "I didn't know anything about this! Are you just going to believe her?! A some crazy criminal paid to kill me?!"
At this point, Tatsumi's mind was in complete dissarray. One minute, he's defending a rich girl from a vicious assassin, the next, he's in some torture shed filled with corpses, his childhood friend among them, being told by a member of an infamous group of killers the girl he was trying to save was responsible. He didn't know what to believe. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he heard a horse voice call out to him.
"T-Ta...tsu...mi...To...xin..."
Turning to where the voice came from, Tatsumi and Toxin were greeted with the sight of Ieyasu, reaching out to him from behind metal bars. He was in horrible condition. He was covered in dried blood, and scars riddled his deathly pale skin. His face was contorted in pain, like it was a struggle to just stand.
"Ieyasu..." Tatsumi uttered.
"That girl... she invited me and Sayo into their home... to wait until you came and we got reunited... Her family promised they'd help us find you," Ieyasu explained as he pointed at Aria. "They fed us... then we blacked out. When we woke up here... they tortured us... that bitch... she tortured Sayo to death!" Ieyasu then broke down, falling to knees as he sobbed uncontrollably.
Tatsumi turned his head away from his friend, unable to bear the pain of seeing him like this. "Dammit..." He cursed under his breath, fighting back the tears that welled up in his eyes.
Those words echoed throughout Tatsumi's head. He dwelled on the decisions he made. To think that he was unknowingly saving a murderer responsible for all this. Even worse seeing that his friends got involved. While he was away, trying to get to Ieyasu and Sayo, they were put into this kind of hell. Tatsumi remained silent as he tried to process all of this.
Then, all of a sudden, Aria snapped. She slapped away Leone's and like a bomb, exploded in a fit of rage, finally showing her true colors. "And what's wrong with that?!" Aria shouted as her face distorted into a cruel snarl, oozing rage and insanity as she started ranting.
"THEY WERE JUST WORTHLESS HICKS FROM THE COUNTRY!! THE SAME AS CATTLE!! I SHOULD BE FREE TO TREAT THEM HOWEVER I WANT TO!! BESIDES, THAT GIRL WAS SO IMPERTINENT FOR HAVING SUCH STRAIGHT HAIR FOR A FARM ANIMAL WHILE I'M TROUBLED WITH MY UNRULY HAIR!! THAT'S WHY I TOOK MY TIME WITH HER THE MOST!! SHE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL THAT I TOOK SUCH GOOD CARE OF HER!!"
"A family of sadists. They truly are disgusting," Leone commented, showing clear disdain from the girl's insane ranting.
(Berserk OST - Ash Crow (2016/17 OST))
Tatsumi paid Aria no attention. His mind was purely on his friends. He was supposed to look out for them. He was supposed to protect them. And yet here they are, one dead and the other a wreck.
Then everything went black.
"That's enough out of you," said Leone as she grabbed Aria's hair again, halting her ramblings in favor of trying to escape the assassin. "It's time you went on your way hell."
"Don't," a deep, guttural voice interjected.
Leone turned to Tatsumi and asked in an incredulous tone, "Don't tell me you're still going..."
Leone trailed off when she saw Tatsumi's body began to change. His body grew in size. His lean muscles became bulky. His hands hands grew large claws. What stood was no longer a human, but a monster.
"Sayo is dead because of her," hissed the beast. "And she was tortured until her final breath." Toxin turned to the two blondes, baring their fangs as saliva dripped from their maw.
"I should return the favor."
With that, Toxin let out a massive, rage filled roar that drowned out any sound. The volume of it, coupled with her enhanced hearing, brought an intense pain to Leone's ears, causing her to instinctively try and block out the sound with her hands. Aria took advantage of the distraction and made a break for it.
"Crap!" Leone cursed and was about to give chase, but was shoved aside by the charging Toxin. They quickly caught up to the fleeing girl and pounced on her, pinning her to the ground with a single hand. Aria thrashed wildly, trying to get the symbiote off her, but Toxin proved far too strong for her. Toxin then turned her over and lifted her off the ground, keeping a tight grip on her by the shoulders
"Let me go, you hideous freak!" Aria screamed.
"What was that you said you said about your hair? That you hated it?" Toxin snarled. "Don't worry. I know exactly how to fix it. Just need to take a little off the top."
Toxin's mouth opened wide and started slowly bringing Aria's head close to it. Aria realized what was about to occur, and struggled with all her might in hopes of escaping her horrid fate. Saliva dripped onto her face as the mouth closed around Aria's head, fangs clamping tightly around it. Then they started applying pressure, earning more screams from the girl, eventually breaking skin and causing blood to trickle down her head.
Behind Toxin, Leone stood in shock at the execution. Though she couldn't see the killing, as the alien's back blocked her sight, her heightened hearing allowed her to pick up the sound of Aria's cracking skull, steadily growing in volume until...
CRUNCH!
Aria's screams and struggles came to a stop, and blood gushed out of what used to be her head. Toxin noisily chewed on the flesh, savoring every bit of it. For a long time, they wondered what human brains would taste like, but Tatsumi and the others prevented them from ever satiating their curiosity. Until now, that is. And it did not disappoint. But they were still hungry. They opened their mouth wide and chomped down on Aria's body, taking a large bite out of it. Toxin continued to devour the corpse, shoving as much as they could into their mouth for every bite. Soon, the last of the girl dissapeared into Toxin's maw.
(Music End)
Toxin licked the red, gooey delight that remained on their claws, before making a bloodstained smile. "I think I was wrong about her. Beneath all that vile was a sweetheart. And a sweet pancreas. And sweet lungs." They chuckled at their joke, but soon a feeling came over them. The feeling of something important gnawing at the back their subconscious. Toxin growled as they tried to bring the information out to the forefront of their mind. When they remembered, they were horrified.
"Ieyasu!" Cried Toxin, quickly turning around and running back to the shed. Leone made sure this time to get out of the way of the hulking beast as they hurried to Ieyasu's cell. The young man was slumped against the bars, face hanging downwards and body completely unmoving. Blood dripped out of his open mouth and into the crimson puddle beneath him. Toxin's fear intensified, and they grabbed the bars before bending them aside with ease. Ieyasu's body fell forward, but were quickly caught by the symbiote and laid gently on the ground. His chest stayed completely still, and his glassy eyes stared blankly at nothing.
"No..." Toxin whimpered, hugging Ieyasu's body. They felt like a complete idiot. They were so busy trying to avenge the death of one friend, they allowed another one to perish too. "I'm sorry..." they apologized. "I should've saved you, but I... I'm so sorry..."
Toxin picked up Ieyasu's body, holding him close to their chest, and approached Sayo's body. Tendrils sprouted from their back and sliced her bindings apart, where she then fell into another set that cradled her body. They made their way out the shed, but stopped at the entrance and turned to Leone, who had been simply watching them. The blonde woman tensed up, unsure if they were now gonna turn their wrath upon her as well. But Toxin simply turned away from her and walked off into the forest.
Leone let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Man, that was something." That's when she heard muffled cries coming from behind her. She turned to the source and saw Akame, still webbed against the shed wall and trying to free herself. "Oh, I almost forgot. Hang on, I'll get you out."
Unknown Location, Dawn
"Mmm..."
Tatsumi moaned as his eyes slowly opened to the sight of the swaying tree above him. He rubbed his eyes and raised himself to a sitting position. Yawning into his hand, he took in his surroundings. He was in a glade, a river flowing not too far from where he laid. The place was completely unfamiliar to him. He tried to recall why he was here, but his memory was foggy. Tatsumi got up from the ground and asked his symbiote, "Toxin, where are we?"
'Some forest I found outside Shikou,' Toxin explained. Their tone was off, however. It sounded lifeless and hollow, raising concern in Tatsumi.
(Piano Only - Loneliness)
"Toxin, is something wro-?" Tatsumi stopped mid-sentence when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. It was two large rocks with names carved into them. On one, Sayo, the other, Ieyasu. Placed atop the rocks was an item. A headband on one, and a flower hairclip on the other. The soil below the stones was noticeably disturbed.
Memories rushed back into Tatsumi's head. Of the mansion, of the battle with Akame, and of the shed.
As Tatsumi approached the graves, Toxin spoke in his head, 'I did the best I could for their graves. I hope you like it.'
Tatsumi didn't answer. He knelt down in front of the stones, placing his hand gingerly on Sayo's gravestone. The memory of finding his friend's corspe suspended in the air flashed in his mind. He looked over to Ieyasu's grave. He didn't remember him dying. Why was...?
'I let him die,' Toxin said. 'I could've saved him, but I got distracted by that girl. I killed her, and I know you don't want me to kill, but I didn't care. And I made her suffer as much as I could, and it felt good, but I took too long, and...' The symbiote briefly remained silent. Their next words were filled with nothing but guilt and sorrow. 'Ieyasu died because of me.'
"It's okay, Toxin," Tatsumi said. The response shocked the alien. "I know you cared about him too."
'I'm sorry...' Toxin apologized.
Memories played in Tatsumi's head of all the good times he had with his friends. The games they'd played, laughs they'd had, the hunts they'd go on, and the secrets they'd shared. All moments that he'd never get back.
"DAMMIT!!" Tatsumi screamed, pounding his fists against the ground. His body trembled as tears streamed down his face. "N-now what d-do I do?"
'We keep moving forward, no matter how painful,' Toxin said. 'We have to keep going so we can avenge our home. Our family.'
"H-How can I? I-I don't have a-anyone l-left..." Tatsumi choked out. "I'm all alone..." That's when he felt something around his hand. When he looked at it, saw his hand was covered by his symbiote.
'We are never alone.'
Tatsumi continued to cry, gripping onto the symbiote covered hand and holding it dearly close to his chest. Toxin simply allowed him to let out his pain.
(Music End)
Aaaaaaaannnnnnnd that's a wrap. Bet some of you were expecting Tatsumi to join Nightraid. But that's not the case here. He will join eventually but not right now. Also, sorry for killing off Ieyasu and Sayo. I still plan to developing them through flashbacks. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this one. Now let's look at the suggestions and questions:
JoJo Bizarre Adventure and My Hero AcademiaIzuku Midoriya has a Stand and is destined to fight the man known as DIO
Eh, not really interested
JoJo Bizarre Adventure and Akame ga killThe Pillar Men has been awakened
Not doing this one either. But I do plan on using one of the pillar men in my vs battles.
darker than black and akame ga kill crossover inspired by Kill the Darkness by Starlight's Poet and Ineptitude of Masses by piggypighog.
Not interested and never seen Darker Than Black.
overwatch and Akame Ga Kill crossover
Genji finds himself into world of murder corruption and assassins will he find a way home or show the wrath of the green dragon.
Also not interested, but I'm going to use Genji in a vs battle as well.
Say so who are you shipping tatsumi with?
I have someone in mind but I won't reveal who it is. It will be interesting how the romance aspect will be done here though.
Discord Server: Symbiote Lair
Discord Account: Dragon78591#7491
As always, feel free to either favorite, comment, tell me your thoughts on this, or ask me a question and I'll answer it in the next chapter. See ya.