Ow! Seijū opened his eyes with a jolt. He was laying on his back in the conference room. Yūjin stood over him with a determined expression. Yūjin's arm was extended. What the hell?! Yūjin's hand was inside Seijū's chest!
"What the—"
"Calm down, Sei! Give me a moment!" CALM DOWN?! YOUR HAND IS INSIDE MY CHEST! Yūjin's hand slowly disconnected from Seijū's chest, retracting back into a normal arm, leaving behind scarred tissue on his chest, surrounded by his bloodstained shirt and jacket.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" Seijū exclaimed loudly.
"I saved your life! You were stabbed, Sei! In your left lung!" Yūjin replied. That's right...That parasyte plunged its blade into...! Seijū shivered violently at the memory. I was dead...!
"What did you do...?" Seijū asked.
"I integrated some of my cells into your lung to help rebuild it and hold it together," Yūjin explained. "It saved your life."
"...Thanks," Seijū finally said. Stay calm, Seijū...At least you're alive at all... "So...about the blueprints..."
"So they are blueprints, then," Yūjin interrupted. "Yeah, I found them. On another floor. I came up here to let you know, but..."
"I was stabbed...Right," Seijū finished. "Can I see them? The blueprints."
Yūjin nodded, pulling a folded up packet of papers from his pocket and handing it to Seijū. Alright, let's see... Seijū unfolded the papers and spread them out on the table. Wow, these blueprints are extremely detailed! Seijū scanned the blueprints. There seemed to be a lot of strangely designed chambers with unusual devices in them. There was a 'control room' and a 'launch room'; the launch room seemed to contain some sort of device intended to launch the spores. What's this? The power room was strangely designed. It didn't generate its own power; it was more like it siphoned power from another source above it.
"...Clear power..." Yūjin murmured to himself, barely audible.
"What?" Seijū asked.
"I said 'Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant'. Look there," Yūjin repeated pointing at a corner of the paper. It read 'Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant'. Of course!
"This facility's underneath the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant!" Seijū exclaimed.
"Isn't that the large structure near the excavation site?" Yūjin inquired. Seijū nodded.
"It seems like Saisho's siphoning nuclear power from the plant to power his facility," Seijū revealed. "We need to head over there now; we can't risk his device fully charging."
"Without a plan?"
"Of course I have a plan! We'll infiltrate the control room and destroy the controls. Without those, they won't be able to launch the spores. From there, we can work our way through the place and destroy as much machinery as possible," Seijū summarized.
"And what if we encounter Saisho? What then?" Damn it, he's right. Hmm...
"...We have to fight Saisho at some point. Why wait for him to get stronger? We need to do this now," Seijū concluded. Yūjin thought for a few seconds before responding.
"...Okay. We'll head over now, then," Yūjin conceded.
"I hope you don't mind my stopping here; since the power plant's running a system test right now, we can't park too close, so I figured I'd stop by here," Seijū said as he stopped his car near the excavation site, by the large tree. The two of them got out of the car. ...Kussaku...Lend me your strength... Seijū's eyes drifted towards the lump of dirt that served as Kussaku's grave, lit up by the moonlight. It had slightly sunken in due to the mud, and the roses Seijū had previously placed on it had withered away and turned a colorless gray. ...Hey, what's that? A lily had sprouted from the dirt.
"Hey, Sei!" Yūjin called out. Seijū turned around towards Yūjin.
"Yeah...Yeah," Seijū answered absentmindedly. Yūjin pointed downhill.
"Look down there!" Seijū did as Yūjin instructed. A woman was walking into a more heavily forested area. Could that woman be a parasyte?
"We need to follow her! She might be heading toward the entrance!" Seijū exclaimed, leaping down and sliding down the slope.
"H-hey, wait!" Yūjin shouted, jumping down after Seijū. Come on, come on, c—ouch! Seijū stubbed his toe on a rock at the base of the slope. Where'd she—there! Seijū sprinted off towards the forest just as Yūjin reached the bottom of the slope. Seijū silently sprinted into the trees, slowing down as he neared the parasyte. I can't go too fast; I can't let her notice me. Seijū slowed to a crawl. He watched as the parasyte walked another ten meters or so. Suddenly, she stopped. Is this it? The entrance?
The parasyte bent over and opened a hatch that had previously been obscured from Seijū's vision by a large rock. This is definitely it! Seijū stood up in the open and pulled the flamethrower' trigger; it spewed flames that burned the parasyte.
"OOOOURGH!" it wailed. Seijū pulled out his knife and lunged in, stabbing the parasyte in the heart. It wailed some more before falling to the ground in a heap. That's one more do—SHIT! Seijū jumped back as a burning branch crashed in front of him. He looked up. Dammit, I shouldn't've used the flamethrower! The trees around him had lit up in flames. Suddenly, Yūjin sprinted out of the brush and stopped next to Seijū, panting.
"Damn, you're fast!" Yūjin remarked before stumbling back. "The flames...They're hot..." Shit! I need to do something, and fast! Seijū looked around frantically. There! He helped Yūjin over to the hatch and tossed him in, jumping in behind him and shutting the hatch. Yūjin's face had mutated, and hung open. The rest of his body had been affected in a similar manner.
"Are you alright?! Yūjin!" Seijū shouted.
"...Yeah, just...Cells are freaking out...I need water..." Yūjin mumbled. Water?! Where do I—! Oh, that's right! Seijū pulled out the liter of water from his bag and handed it to Yūjin, who instantly drank the entire thing. He dropped the empty liter bottle on the floor. His body slowly reformed itself into his human form.
"Er...How does that even work?" Seijū asked, astonished.
"Fire makes our cells freak out, but the nutrients in water help us regain control over our cells," Yūjin explained briefly. "At any rate, that doesn't matter."
"You're right," Seijū agreed. The two of them turned around and ran down the hallway.
"According to the blueprints, the control room is on the opposite end of the facility, above the power room," Yūjin recalled. "Turn right!" Seijū and Yūjin turned right...and encountered several parasytes.
"Ready?" Yūjin asked.
"I was about to ask the same thing." Yūjin lashed out at the parasytes as Seijū readied a bottle of alcohol. Wait a second...! Have they...slowed down? They're going so slow I can see their individual movements...! Yūjin sliced through the last of them.
"You weren't very helpful," Yūjin remarked.
"Yūjin, did they seem a little slow to you?" Seijū inquired. Yūjin gave him a perplexed look.
"Slow? No, they're not any slower," he replied. If you say so. "Either way, we should keep moving." Yūjin and Seijū continued down the hallway, stepping over the corpses. Suddenly, another one stepped into the hallway. He had an arrogant look to him. Yūjin and Seijū paused.
"Well, hello there," the newcomer greeted. "You there. The tall one. You're a parasyte?"
"That's right," Yūjin replied. "Who are you?"
"Call me Tesuto. So tell me, tall one. Why have you betrayed us?" the newcomer said.
"It's not a betrayal if I was never on your side to begin with," Yūjin stated fiercely. He lashed out at Tesuto with his arm blade. Tesuto's face twisted apart, and a blade countered the attack.
"Is that all you've got?" Tesuto taunted. What does he—What the hell?! Seijū gasped.
"How'd you—!" Yūjin stammered as he looked down at the blade that had pierced his side. N-No way! I-I've never seen a parasyte other than Yūjin or Saisho use their arm like that! Tesuto smirked arrogantly.
"This host body..." Tesuto began, retracting the blade from Yūjin's side back into an arm. "This host body doesn't contain just one parasyte. It contains two!" Two parasytes in one body...? Almost like Saisho...
"That doesn't matter!" Yūjin exclaimed before lashing out with both arms. Tesuto promptly countered; the two of them engaged in a fierce fight. Behind us! Seijū whirled around as three parasytes emerged from a hallway to the right. Their faces twisted almost immediately.
More of them! Seijū pulled out a bottle of alcohol and threw it at them. It shattered, dousing them in alcohol; they wailed wildly. At that moment, a fourth parasyte emerged from behind them. It readied its blades and lashed out at Seijū.
Shit! Seijū leapt out of the blade's path. Thank God these things are slow today! Seijū pulled out his flamethrower and pulled the trigger. The first three ignited in a massive blaze; however, before he could burn the fourth one, it slashed at Seijū. No! Seijū's face sank as his flamethrower clattered to the ground, having been sliced in half. The blade had cut through his jacket and the propane belt; the belt slid off his shoulder and landed on the ground.
Damn it! Seijū slid back, clenching his fists. The parasyte's blades lunged at Seijū once more. My knife! Seijū pulled out his knife and deflected the blades. Before the parasyte could react, Seijū lunged at it. He leapt to the side, evading the blades again. Now's my chance! Seijū slashed at the extended blade, cutting the limb clean off. It landed on the ground with a splat and shriveled up almost immediately.
"UUUUURGH!" the parasyte wailed, the pain evident in its voice. An opening! Seijū sprinted towards the parasyte, plunging his knife into its chest. He pushed it up, cutting through several vital organs. I did it! He pulled the knife out as the parasyte collapsed to the ground.
"AAAAUGH!" a voice suddenly screeched. Was that—?! Seijū whirled around. NOOOOOO!
Yūjin lay on the ground, his hand clutching his chest. Blood seeped through his fingers. Y-Yūjin...! Not you too...! Tesuto stood over Yūjin with a smirk.
"What did I tell you?! You couldn't possibly beat me!" Tesuto exclaimed victoriously. No...! Tesuto laughed arrogantly.
"NOOOOOO!" Seijū yelled out. Tesuto turned towards him.
"You're still ali—" Seijū leapt at him with his knife. Tesuto's arm and face both mutated, launching several blades at him. Seijū deflected most of them, although one slash cut right through the strap for his backpack and his bangs, exposing his left eye. His bag crashed to the ground, the bottles of alcohol all shattering.
"DIIIIIE!" Seijū roared as he slashed right through Tesuto's arm into his chest. DIE, DAMMIT, DIIIIIIE! He pulled out the knife and slashed numerous times. YOU KILLED YŪJIN! Tesuto's limp body crashed into the wall, staining it red with blood. Yūjin is...dead...! Seijū finally stopped slashing, tears welling up in his eyes. Suddenly, Tesuto twitched.
"A...A human...beat me...!" Tesuto sputtered. "Y-You think...You think this is over...? S-Saisho...I'm just a test...An experiment, but...Saisho's the final result...! He's got more...more than two parasytes...in his...body...He's...In...vin...ci..." Seijū plunged the knife into Tesuto's neck and slit it, ending his life. Seijū dropped the knife and sprinted over to Yūjin. Huh...? His eyes twitched.
"Hey, Sei...Looks like he got me..." Yūjin coughed out blood.
"Yūjin, stay with me...! I can save you!" Seijū wailed.
"No...I'll be dead in just a minute..." Yūjin admitted.
"W-What are you...talking about?!" Seijū stammered, sobbing. "You'll live...! I know you'll live...!" Yūjin smiled softly.
"Y-Yeah, I'll live...I won't be fully dead..." Yūjin began, struggling to get each word out. "What you just did...Killing Tesuto...Should be impossible..."
"Yūjin, don't waste your breath...! Don't talk...Just breathe...!" Seijū sobbed.
"When I saved you...I integrated my cells with yours. Those cells...They're me...! I'll...live on in you...! I'll make you stronger...Faster...!" Yūjin coughed.
"Don't talk like that...Don't talk like that!" Seijū exclaimed, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"It's okay, Sei...My time is up. Just...Know that you...You've shown me...what it really means...to be...h..." No...Nooo...! Yūjin's body went limp, his eyes hanging open. Nooo!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Seijū screamed. YŪJIIIIIN! Yūjin! Yū...Yūjin...! Seijū collapsed on the ground, staring into Yūjin's unmoving eyes. He took a deep breath, slowly closing Yūjin's eyelids.
"...Yūjin...Rest in peace..." Seijū whispered to him, laying him down softly. He stood up slowly, clenching his fists. First, they killed Kussaku. Now, they've killed Yūjin...These parasytes are heartless...! Seijū closed his eyes. I...I can't let anyone else go through this...I won't let anyone else go through this! Those parasytes...Saisho needs to be stopped! I'll put an end to those parasytes if it's the last thing I do! Seijū opened his eyes.
"YOU HEAR ME?! YOU HAVEN'T WON! I'LL BE THE ONE TO FINISH YOU!"