In Kyoshiro's room, the doctor was getting ready. He knew that his fight against Shiryu was going to be the most complicated he'd ever had, not only physically, but mentally. Kyoshiro knew that Shiryu would think of many eventualities, ready for anything Kyoshiro could do.
"He thinks he can beat me, but no, I'm going to beat him!" Kyoshiro began to laugh like a madman, but he didn't notice Yukina behind him, who began to rummage around. She found two large sniper rifles in a bag.
"What's that for?" Yukina's question surprised Kyoshiro, who threatened the mechanic by pointing the blade of his wrist at her forehead. "Calm down!"
Kyoshiro put the blade away. "Don't surprise me like that, I thought it was Shiryu or one of his assistants!"
"OK... but that doesn't answer my question." Yukina says.
"They're compressed electro-magnetic cannon or C.E.M.C. as he's engraved on the side." Kyoshiro pointed.
"Can I steal them?" Yukina asked.
"Have fun, but first I need you!" Kyoshiro pulled out a pair of clippers. "Cut my hair!"
Yukina was confused by Kyoshiro's request, it seemed far-fetched. " ... but why?"
"Shiryu's so smart he can even use anything to grab me by the hair to pierce my skull or something! So I mustn't let him have any advantage!" Kyoshiro was so on edge he was shaking with stress.
"Are you okay?" Yukina asked worriedly.
"I'M PERFECTLY FINE ! I just need to drink more coffee !" Kyoshiro tossed the clippers into Yukina's hands before drinking a whole pot of coffee by himself.
"Well, as long as I've got these electromagnetic cannons, I'm good." Yukina happily switched on the clippers.
After several minutes of trimming Kyoshiro's hair, the cyborg found himself with short black hair with red roots, his ears which were hidden behind his long hair were in fact covered with various piercings.
"Wow..." Yukina said in surprise.
"What?" Kyoshiro asked.
"I didn't know you dye your hair." Said Yukina.
"Well yeah, I had to. People don't like redheads." Kyoshiro replied.
"Huh?! You mean you're a redhead?! I thought you dyed your hair red, not that you were ginger!" Said a surprised Yukina.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am indeed ginger just like my father. We're the only two redheads in my family. Dan has the same color as my grandfather and my older sister Hana has the same color as my mother." Kyoshiro replied.
"You've got an older sister?!" Yukina asked in surprise.
"Yeah, she's ten years older than me." Answered Kyoshiro. "But you can take the C.E.M.C. and go."
"I have one last question?" Yukina asked.
"What's that?" Kyoshiro asked.
"Why do you keep hiding that you're a ginger? Are you afraid of ending up at the stake?" Kyoshiro glared at Yukina as the mechanic stuck her tongue out at her foolishness.
"Get out before I play jump rope with your entrails." At this threat Yukina was already at the door with the C.E.M.C.'s.
"Idiot!" Yukina said as she left.
As soon as Kyoshiro knew he was alone, tears began to roll down his cheeks. "Why do you keep talking like her?"
In his laboratory, Shiryu was watching dozens of videos of Kyoshiro's fights at a time. He watched them attentively, noticing every detail and making notes on them. While he was immersed in his research, Jack came in, slamming the doors, which didn't surprise the giant.
"How are you, Doc?" Jack asked.
"I'm busy, get out of my lab." Jack replied coldly.
"Oh, come on! It's not like I'm bothering you?" Jack put his arm on the doctor's neck, but the second he did, Jack was in the air, falling, his chin bloody. As soon as he hit the ground, Shiryu was already on top of him and punched him in the stomach, but surprisingly the impact of the blow was repeated three times. "You bastard!" Said Jack as blood spurted from his mouth.
"Shut up!" Shiryu ordered with an arctic coldness that surprised Jack. "You're nothing but a gnat, the only reason you haven't been on my operating table is because of your father." Shiryu returned to his desk and resumed his notes. "I order you to leave my laboratory this instant or I'll show you why even Kyoshiro is afraid of me."
Jack struggled to his feet and left the laboratory, feeling so weak after receiving such a defeat from Shiryu. He couldn't understand why the scientist stayed behind his screens instead of fighting on the front line, Shiryu could beat anyone and yet he preferred to stay back. This irritated him to no end, but it wasn't the only thing that was cluttering up his mind. What encumbered him even more was the importance of Yosuke. Even though he considered Yosuke a brother, he couldn't help feeling jealous of the man who had risen through the ranks in such a meteoric fashion.
"I should check on him, he's been out of surgery for a while now." Jack whispered.
After fetching a nurse to tend to his wounds, he went to the room where Yosuke was resting. Jack could see Yosuke's fever, the man's face completely red and sweating like crazy.
"I really hope the operation worked, I don't want to lose my only friend." As Jack worried about his friend's condition, a nurse entered with a cart full of antibiotics. "Is it that bad?" Jack asked.
"I've never seen a case like this, his fever's going up and down so fast it's like a rollercoaster." Said the nurse.
"Do you think he'll pull through?" Jack asked worriedly.
"I doubt it, he's been like this ever since the doctor finished with him. It would take a miracle for him to survive." replied the nurse.
Jack was usually a relaxed person who didn't worry about anything, but the nurse's words filled his heart with a level of concern he'd never had before, but he didn't even have time to acknowledge this, when an earthquake was felt. The tremor was so strong that the nurse who had lost her balance took refuge under Yosuke's bed, several bottles of medicine in the cupboards fell to the floor and shattered, some falling on top of Yosuke. During the earthquake, Jack found it hard to stand. The tremors continued to intensify to the point where the light bulbs exploded, creating sparks that ignited the alcohol on the floor.
Jack was amazed at how quickly the alcohol ignited, to the point where it had already ignited Yosuke and his hospital bed. Almost instinctively, Jack began to extinguish the flames as best he could with whatever was at hand, but to no avail. The man ran down the corridor to find a fire extinguisher and used it to put out the flames.
After emptying the extinguisher, Yosuke's body and bed were burnt, but surprisingly Jack. His friend began to heal little by little, to the point where some of his charred skin looked more like tanned skin. The nurse came out from under the bed and was surprised to see that both the bed and the patient were burnt. She rushed to the medicine cart before pressing an emergency button, which triggered an alarm that brought a horde of doctors and nurses to Yosuke's bed.
Jack was still in shock at what he'd just seen, and couldn't understand what had happened to Yosuke.
"Unbelievable! His fever's gone down and he's not sweating anymore! All his symptoms are disappearing!" These words made Jack break out in a cold sweat. Yosuke, who'd been sick and burned just a few seconds ago, would be in better health.
"What's going on?" Jack asked, surprised and confused.
After a long drive, Kyoshiro finally arrived at the airport, which was completely unmanned. He knew he was expected by Shiryu, but Kyoshiro didn't know what to prepare for.
"Well, if you stick to the plan you can manage to beat Shiryu! And if it doesn't work, I can always improvise!" Kyoshiro thought.
Kyoshiro entered one of the hangars to see Shiryu leaning against a motorcycle, waiting patiently. The cyborg noticed that Shiryu looked different, wearing a military uniform and looking ready for battle.
"Always late, you haven't changed." Shiryu said calmly.
"Fuck you mean, always late?!" Kyoshiro asked angrily.
"And angry too... I haven't missed that." Shiryu replied.
"Shut up and get over here!" Kyoshiro mentally prepared himself when...
*BANG!
Shiryu had pulled out a revolver and fired at Kyoshiro, who had fallen to the ground. "That was quick..." Shiryu approached Kyoshiro before being surprised that the Cyborg quickly got to his feet, his face filled with anger as the bullet was jammed between his teeth. "Intriguing..."
Kyoshiro spat the bullet onto the ground before asking. "Since when do you use a gun?!"
"Your reflexes are impressive... they haven't been affected by your age." Shiryu removed all the bullets from the revolver before throwing it away.
"I can say the same for you, old man". Kyoshiro said.
""Old man" ..." Shiryu laughed at this, which surprised his opponent. "It's ironic, isn't it? After all, we all belong to a bygone era."
"Bygone... surely, but forgotten no." In an instant, Kyoshiro was in front of Shiryu and delivered a right jab to the face. At first Shiryu didn't react to the attack before reactors shot out from Kyoshiro's elbow, increasing the speed of his blow and causing Shiryu to recoil. "What do you think of that, old man !"
"A piston would have done more damage, that simple reactor didn't serve to hurt me." Shiryu looked Kyoshiro straight in the eye, which sent shivers down the cyborg's spine. "It seems your intellect has been affected by all this time."
"What have you done?" Kyoshiro asked calmly.
"I'm not analyzing anything more, we're men of science after all." Shiryu replied with incredible coldness.
"I'm not talking about that, asshole." Kyoshiro retorted. "What have you done to yourself, you bastard!" Kyoshiro was filled with rage as Shiryu's face had been torn away by the blow, to reveal advanced cybernetics. "How dare you replace your entire body with metal and circuitry !"
"Ironic coming from the man who uses similar prosthetics." Shiryu retorted.
"I used it to live and fight after you guys stole my limbs, it's a need! You, you have no reason to have done this!" Said Kyoshiro.
"If you really want a reason then here it is... flesh and blood are weak compared to our inventions. So I did what I had to do to transcend this primal need." In a second, Shiryu's skin exploded, destroying the top of his uniform and revealing that his body was made entirely of metal. He now resembled a silver android without a mouth, his eyes were completely blue like tinted glass with two yellow lights as pupils, his hair became several spikes of gray metal put together to resemble a head of hair. "If I had to make an estimate, I'd say I've only got 7% flesh left, counting my brain of course."
"You're not even human anymore." Kyoshiro said.
"I wasn't human to begin with, crying, loving, empathy, sympathy, these are things that have never been part of me. I'd rather learn about the world than importune myself with such nonsense." Shiryu stretched a little before saying. "It's your turn, if I'm not mistaken."
"That's so kind of you..." The Reverse Driver appeared on him. "Henshin!" Kyoshiro turned the compass needle southwards and struck it hard!
Kyoshiro was dressed in a red jumpsuit with a green electric pattern, a pair of black boots and gloves, and on top of the jumpsuit he wore heavy grey armour with a red and green electric pattern. His helmet was red like the suit. He had two large green eyes, on the sides of the helmet were tips that resembled a small pair of wings, and the mouthpiece resembled a row of sharp teeth.
"So wild, so off-putting," said Shiryu. Shiryu said.
"Shut up..." Reverse ran towards Shiryu and landed a left jab, but the android caught his fist, but Reverse smiled, which surprised the scientist. A long pipe came out of Reverse's elbow before violently re-entering causing an impact and the hold on Reverse's fist disappeared and the cyborg took advantage of this and delivered a kick to the android's liver, but it didn't affect him.
"Have you forgotten?" Shiryu grabbed Reverse by the throat, strangling him. The cyborg tried to free himself by kicking at the android's stomach, but still no effect. "93% of my body is made of cybernetics, including my organs and nervous system, so no matter what you try to do, nothing will work. Shiryu began to run, using Reverse as a battering ram to race through several hangars. No matter what was in his way, be it employees, walls, small planes or vehicles, Shiryu destroyed them using Reverse's body. After several minutes, Shiryu threw Reverse to the ground like an old rag.
The cyborg caught his breath as his neck was bruised in the shape of a hand. "Do you see what you've done?" Shiryu pointed to the path he had made and Reverse saw only destruction and blood as most of the airport's hangars were destroyed or in ruins. "That must hurt, after all, you've got a moral compass yourself." Surprising Shiryu, Reverse leapt onto the android's shoulders, grabbed the ground with his hands and used his lower body to plant Shiryu straight into the ground.
"Moral compass? It's obvious you don't know me. I don't care who dies, I'll get your noggin back even if I have to start a new war." Reverse replied.
"Change..." Said Shiryu as his voice was muffled. "Change is something I appreciate most in the world, a simple change can allow incredible things." With one hand, Shiryu lifted himself off the ground. "And this change in your character is perfect for you. Your former kindness made you weak, but now you're finally on my level." The android launched a left jab, but fortunately Reverse also threw one as a reflex, the two fists colliding.
"You'll never beat me in a power fight!" The piston in Reverse's arm clicked into place, creating a shock but surprising Reverse, his fist exploded into pieces.
"Do you really think you're the only one to have put pistons in his arms... that's rather naive of you. Mine are internal, so it's easier to hide the activation." Shiryu was surprised to see a green light emerge from the rest of Reverse's arm before noticing the rest of the prosthesis fell apart to reveal a green electric skeletal arm. "So that was what happened, every time that light appeared on the recordings, they became corrupted."
Reverse's other prosthesis exploded, revealing a second green electric skeletal arm. "Cool so I've still got an ace up my sleeve!" Reverse delivered a right hook to Shiryu's liver, who this time reacted to the blow and dropped to one knee.
"Incredible... you've managed to create a nerve signal when I've got no nerve at all left for it." Shiryu raised his head only to be kicked in the face, causing him to fall backwards. He stood up again to see that Reverse's prosthetic legs had also exploded to reveal skeletal electric-green legs.
"Come on! It's basic, all nerve signals are just electrical signals sent to the brain." Reverse cracked his knuckles and smiled. "I can make your brain think you're really hurt, so get over here!" Reverse grabbed Shiryu by the skull and slammed him repeatedly into the ground. Each blow created waves of electricity.
Despite the blows he was receiving, Shiryu delivered a powerful jab to Reverse's stomach, sending him flying backwards and releasing his grip on the android. Shiryu got up quickly and kicked Reverse in the face, shattering his helmet.
"You bastard!" Reverse delivered a jab to Shiryu's face, but this time the android backed off just a little.
"It's really amazing that you can create limbs made out of energy!" Shiryu retorted the blow with another jab to the face and just like the android Reverse stayed put.
"Shut up and fight!" Said Reverse replied with another jab.
"You really are an organic piece of art! I really want to dissect you to understand why you can do all this!" Shiryu retorted with a jab.
"You talk too much!" Reverse landed a hook to his opponent's liver before landing two jabs to his face. "Now shut up and-" Despite Shiryu's impassive face, Reverse could sense surprise coming from the android. "What is it now?"
Reverse turned and his body shook at what he saw. At the entrance to the hangar they were in was a person dressed in a black miner's outfit with a long black latex gas mask, the lenses of the mask completely tinted hiding their eyes.
"Who's this midget?" Reverse asked, but in an instant he saw the ceiling. He was lying on the floor as his nose and mouth bled profusely. He was about to get up when one of the miner's feet crushed his face. He tried to electrocute the person, but they seemed impassive.
"What are you doing here, Slayer?" Shiryu asked.
The miner began to speak in sign language and signed. "I sensed a fight and came."
"Leave this fight to us and between me and him." Shiryu replied.
"What if I don't?" Slayer asked.
"Then you'll have to fight me." Said Shiryu.
The miner removed his foot before signing to Reverse. "Go, I'll take care of him."
"Should I take this as a resignation?" Shiryu asked.
"I've never worked for you, I'm just a simple mercenary and I do what I want." Signed Slayer.
Reverse sat up with great difficulty as his face bled profusely, puzzled by what had just happened. How could he not have noticed the blow?
"Who the fuck are you, ...?" Reverse asked.
" This is the Slayer, they're just as strong as your brother, even though they don't have cybernetics." Shiryu replied. "Just like you they're a biological wonder, but they never revealed their identity to us."
"Don't care if they're tough!" Reverse de-transformed and struggled to his feet. "But if they think I'm going to let them whack you, they're full of shit."
Slayer looked Kyoshiro straight in the eye before signing "Fine... I'll let you try to beat him, but at the first mistake I'll take care of him." The miner stepped back from the fighters and leaned against one of the walls.
" Great... " Kyoshiro ordered, before returning to his fighting stance. "Where were we?" Without waiting, Shiryu delivered a powerful jab. Kyoshiro wasted no time in retaliating with another jab.
The two scientists continued to throw jabs at each other and at their opponent's blows. Each blow created shocks and blinding light, the noise was deafening, but something surprised Shiryu. Electrical wires began to grow on Kyoshiro's skeletal limbs. As soon as they stopped growing, the wires formed muscles covering the bones.
No sooner had Shiryu noticed this than the cyborg's blows began to gain speed. Barely able to land a blow, Kyoshiro countered with two, then three, four, five. The android was completely stunned by the speed the cyborg had gained.
A powerful hook forced Shiryu's head to turn and he saw the Slayer gesturing to say. "You've lost." In one attack, Kyoshiro pierced Shiryu's torso. The android was surprised by this.
"This alloy is supposed to be able to withstand any type of shock or penetration..." Giving no answer, Kyoshiro lifted the giant and threw it out of the hangar, the android bouncing several times before coming to a halt. Shiryu found it hard to stand up, which surprised him. "Incredibly, he managed to paralyze some of the motors with his electricity."
*BANG*
Shiryu turned his head to see that Kyoshiro had leapt into the air, destroying the roof of the hangar. As soon as he reached the zenith of his leap, the cyborg's body produced an electric field that reduced in on itself before Kyoshiro descended on Shiryu in an instant. The shock of the attack created a crater as the electricity the cyborg had accumulated discharged over the entire airport, leaving it in ruins: not a single hangar, plane or vehicle was left standing. The only people who hadn't died on impact were, of course, the two fighters, but the most impressive thing was that the Slayer was standing without a scratch.
Shiryu's body was in bad shape, unable to move other than his neck. Kyoshiro stood over the android, looking completely different. He was shirtless and his skin had reddened, the veins in his face were swollen and his mouth was completely open like a rabid dog, drool was flowing profusely as his tongue stuck out and his eyes looked like those of a raving lunatic. He looked more like a demon than a human being now.
"You mustn't even understand me anymore... you're just like your brother calls you, a real wild animal." In an instant Kyoshiro placed his feet on Shiryu's shoulders before grabbing his head with both hands. "What are you going to do?" Kyoshiro began to pull with all his might, which surprised Shiryu. "You were talking literally... you really want my head... you don't want to kill me but you want to steal my head." The metallic fibers of the android's body began to tear one by one, showing the inside of Shiryu's throat. "I can't wait to see what you're going to do with my... "noggin" as you call it." Very little metal fiber held the android's head. "During your message, there was something you said that was true."
*RIPPPP*
Kyoshiro managed to tear Shiryu's head off with his bare hands, and the cyborg looked the android straight in the eye. "You and I are the same, because I would have done the same thing with your brain." All light from Shiryu disappeared. Kyoshiro was about to leave, but his body began to tremble as his electric limbs seemed to lose their shape...
"Fuck..." Kyoshiro lost his balance and fell to his knees. The Slayer arrived in front of Kyoshiro, "What do you want?" Surprising Kyoshiro, Slayer helped him to his feet.
"I made a promise to someone that I'd help you." Slayer said. " So rest up, I'm going to take you back to the resistance."
"But who are you?" Kyoshiro rested on the Slayer's shoulder.
"Sleep, I'll take care of the rest." The Slayer carried Kyoshiro on his back as they left what was left of the airport.
Kyoshiro fell asleep on Slayer's back, unable to help feeling calm and rested. Before he was completely dozed off, Kyoshiro sighed the name. "Sakura..."
Yosuke was in Dan's office, completely stunned by the fight he'd just seen. Kyoshiro had just beaten another high-ranking Phoenix officer, but what was most impressive was the new appearance of Kyoshiro's electric limbs, they were still improving while he continued to lag behind. He couldn't help feeling weak.
"As you've just seen, Kyoshiro stole Shiryu's brain which is a great loss for us." Dan said. "But that's not all, the Slayer has left us which is another loss."
"Do we have any scientists who can succeed Shiryu?" Yosuke asked.
"Only one, but he's not in Japan yet. He'll be arriving from Sweden in a few days. Dan replied.
"And for the Slayer? " Yosuke asked.
"You." Dan replied.
"Excuse me?" Yosuke by his leader's reply.
"You, you're going to be the replacement for the Slayer. I'm busy with other more urgent matters, Jack is still affected by Kyoshiro's gravity manipulation and so by elimination that leaves only you." Dan stood up and prepared two glasses of whisky. "You'll have free rein over any action you take to beat Kyoshiro and the resistance.".
"So it's a promotion?" Yosuke asked.
"In a way yes, bravo for you. I'll give you the rest of the day off. Go to the restaurant and tell your mother the good news." Dan handed Yosuke a glass. "And tell her I say hello. "
Yosuke finished the glass in one gulp before saying with a big smile. "Thank you very much, sir!"
Dan smiled at Yosuke's reaction. "You're welcome, have a nice day."
As soon as Yosuke left, Dan went toward a window his office and open his chemise to reveal stitches around his heart. "Ironic that the last operation you perform is on me, Shiryu, at least we'll see if you've managed to perfect the implantation of an Overburst." Dan finished his drink before closing his shirt and sitting back down at his desk, pulling out a children's book with a cover showing a little monkey and a girl. "Let's see what your new book is about, Sakura."