I'd say I'm getting tired of waking up after a near death experience but given that I'm pretty sure I was SHOT IN THE HEAD I don't think I have much of a right to complain. I slowly open my eyes despite the pain. This is the worst migraine I've ever had. I can hear a ringing in my ears. Everything is blurry but I can feel the air on my skin. I'm moving. Am I being carried? Did Louhi take me? Louhi… I have no idea what to think about her. The likely brain damage isn't helping. I absentmindedly reach my left hand up to my forehead, trying to feel where I know the bullet went. My left horn is gone. Or at least most of it is. Did I stop it? No that doesn't make any sense. It must have just been blown off. I start crying, I try not to but it happens. I didn't realise I was so attached to my horns, but now one of them is gone. Is this the price for me being alive? I just wanted to get on a fucking train!
"He's awake." It's only then that I realise that people have been talking around me. It was all muffled before, again probably because of whatever brain damage I have now. Though knowing me people probably won't notice a difference. I can't believe I didn't realise they all lied to me. How stupid am I?!
"Down you go." A muffled voice says. It sounds like it's from behind some kind of armour. I don't get a chance to ponder anything else before I'm violently slammed to the stone floor.
"Argh!" I scream.
"Easy there…" the voice gently tries to assure me. "It'll be ok soon Haruo." From there I feel a clawed hand press down on my back, something growing out from it. The oozing sludge of vines and tentacles wrap around my body slowly, with me being too weak to do anything about it. Even when I notice the wand in my right hand I don't have the energy to do anything with it. My arms are soon encased in the monster tree, only my head and chest revealed to the outside world.
"C-copycat." I whisper in a desperate attempt to keep some sort of control. I doubt it's working though. By now my vision has mostly recovered. My new kidnappers identities are a surprise. It's Shen, shirtless and with a massive scar on his chest. Alongside him are his four friends, two of whom have already attacked me and that I left in my cave. There's the big guy, the lava guy, the centaur guy and the sword lady. I know one of them is called Sam and one is Trevor but for the life of me I can't remember who's who. And standing to the side is an imposing man around Satoshis height. At least I assume they're a man. They are covered in head to toe in a thick red armour, no skin left exposed. There's the pattern of a snake slithering around the body before the head merges with the helmet. "From my dream." I saw this guy when Lilith came to my house. Didn't Louhi say she was going to stop a red knight from coming here? Another lie I guess. That's it, keep thinking. Don't go back to sleep. We might not wake up this time.
"You said we could get power from him? He looks even worse than usual." Which one said that? I think it's the biggest fuzzy blob. Then again they all look the same. Maybe just five more minutes.
"Hey. Don't go back to sleep." The knight grabs my chin and slaps me. The claws on their armour cause some bleeding but at this point I don't think much worse can happen to me. My blood feels spicy though. I mean hot. Very hot. "Please forgive him. He spent a lot of energy healing your friend even before the bullet. If it wasn't for his fairy I would be bringing back a corpse." Lilith saved me? That's nice. I think I'm gonna need a long talk with her though. Not sure how she fixed my brain but she's pretty amazing so who knows.
"He saved my life… is this really the only way?" Shen asks and touches the massive scar.
"Frankly if you don't want to do this then leave." The onight immediately says. "I made this offer to each of you. No one is forcing you to be here. But you all told me how tired you were of being behind indescribable queen and her sidekicks. And then he surpasses you. So don't complain now that you've gotten attached." The knight never turns to me but I get the sneaking suspicion they're saying this for my sake. That's the only thing I can catch from the inferno I briefly see on them. That's kinda concerning.
"It was just a question you dick." Shen crosses his arms but doesn't argue any further.
"P-please don't." I plead. I may not know them that well but they should be good people. They wouldn't do this. Is this why two of them attacked me?
"It's ok Haruo." The knight pats my head. "Your going to be fine. Well, as fine as anyone would be with a missing horn, some yellow brain matter and portions of his soul sucked out." I try and muster a reaction to that because holy shit. But it's just not happening. My arms are sore. "Ok that probably wasn't the best way to put it." Oh cool they're self aware. "Please forgive me, I'm actually quite nervous about this. I've been rehearsing this in my head for a few months since I started planning this." They take the helmet off to reveal a man with white hair. That's a bit underwhelming. Wait a second, isn't this that doctor who kept me from working there? "My name is Kaito. I'm your father.".
"No your not." That's stupid. What would the chances of that be?
"I know it's a little hard to believe but it's true. I'm going to save you." He continues to rub my head. Now i know I probably have brain damage, but distinctly remember this guy kicking me out of the hospital. Beyond the obvious question of why he would never visit, why would he then become a weird cosplayer destroying boats across the world. Oh gosh, is this a genetic thing?
"You didn't mention you were related." I think that was Shen.
"Does it matter? My motivations don't change what's going to happen." Seriously can this guy let go of my head?
"I think it does. Bringing us out here with a promise of power was already shady. Haruo being your son is another thing entirely." Do they actually believe this is my dad. I thought they were smarter than that.
"Well if you must know, I want to save my son. My masters have decided h That he should be like me. I want to spare him from that fate. But he's gotten too strong already." Some audibly clicks their tounge at that. Wait a second. If he says I'm like him, does he mean the heroes? I don't fully get it but Louhi hadn't mentioned them all before I interrupted her. In hindsight that was a really bad idea on my part. "That what you all are for. As you might be able to tell, I'm a bit old to be a kaiju child." He runs a finger down some wrinkles on his face. "But a very old friend gifted me with the red knight. I don't fully understand it but I used it to steal the potential from an actual hero. She never recovered. I think that's why nobody likes me." He says that in such a lighthearted way that I almost don't realise he's going to do that to me. "This tree I placed in my son will drain his energy and place it into fruits. Then you eat them and become mini heroes." He does some jazz hands.
"You keep saying heroes like that's something we should understand.".
"Oh, uh, it means you might get more Kaijuy." That's not a real word.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?".
"I don't know, maybe you grow a beak or something.".
"Why did you not mention that was a possibility?!".
"If you have a problem then leave!" It's only then that I notice the massive sword embedded in the ground. It looks like it's made of bones, the curve of the blade having a bunch of dents in it. I'm going to choose to blame the bullet for this one because I have no idea how I wouldn't have noticed that. Kaito picks up the sword and spins it around with ease.
"Are you threatening us old man?".
"I'm stating facts. I'm giving you the opportunity to surpass insect queen. That's all I've done, your the ones who decided to betray your loved ones." All the high ranks go quiet. "I'm not much better mind you, I'm going against my allies to save him, even knowing that hundreds will died later." My maybe dad says.
"What's that mean?" I ask. I try and pull my arms or legs out of the tree but it's just not happening.
"So that can be something we have in common." The others shuffle a bit at that. Are they incoming this?
"You don't have to do this." I try and keep my voice from quivering to hide the fear. Apparently if I do that wrong they'll rip my soul out.
"I don't know if I can do this." The girl of the group says. Ok I swear her name must be Sam.
"You can't back out now." Shen says.
"You can. You can leave. You don't need to do this to get stronger." Shen snaps his head my way.
"Don't say that. Don't pretend like you know what your saying." He walks over, going so far as to shove his patron out of the way. "You don't know what it's like to be stuck in place! To never measure up! We were born to be the people's weapons! What's the point if we don't get stronger?!" His eyes are red with tears now, i try to speak but my jaw clamps shut from nerves. "How could someone like you understand that kind of pressure?! No one's ever expected anything from you! So why did you get the hand out?! What makes you so special?! What gives someone like you the right to laugh at us like this?!" Laugh at him? What the hell is he talking about? I had no idea his issues went this deep. But by the time I'm about to try and convince him I get it, he turns around. "Do it." He spits out. Kaito nods and walks back over to me.
"Wait! Don't! Please don't do this!" I struggle and beg.
"It's going to be ok. But I need you to push through the pain. This is a good thing." Kaito places his hand on the tree. In an instant the red mass of vines and tentacles turns pink. Smoke starts to come of from my prison while I feel a horrible pain and sickness in my chest and stomach.
"Gah!" There was no build up to it. There isn't a gradual increase of the sensation for me to get used to. I haven't gotten a silver lining yet. Already I can feel something shift in me, the wand that's still in my hand violently shakes and my body feels cold. The base of the tree grows outwardly, its roots spreading like arms towards the high rankers. A pink light pulses through the roots, extending along with the vines and tentacles. Soon they rise into miniature trees in front of each of them. In an almost absurd speed a peach grows on each of the trees, it feels like my heart is ripped out with each one.
"You can do this." Kaito gives me his version of encouragement.
"Argh!" I'd like to think I'd give him a piece of my mind if I wasn't losing it from the pain.
"This is messed up." I somehow hear Shen say despite my screaming. But it sure doesn't stop him or his friends from taking the peaches and eating them. Immediately they all keel over and cough up smoke.
"Ok… so how do you feel?" Kaito cautiously asks.
"RAHHHHH!" I feel my arms bleed from me pulling on them, but I'm not just going to wait here. I can feel myself getting colder and colder, the emptiness threatening to put me back to sleep. The only thing keeping me up really is the heat coming from the others. Except it's not really hot, at least not in the way I could explain. I'm assuming that Kaito can sense the surge of power at least as well as I can. The first to shift is the giant guy. His skin turns rocky, his arms and legs growing massively out of proportion. Miniature wings pop out of his back and his head norths into that of a bulls. Centaur guy grows green fur all over his body. His size increases to at least 30 feet and he grows a crowns worth of antlers. Lava guy becomes a fizzard literally made of lava and sword girl basically becomes a a house sized armory with how many blades are coming out of her. Seriously she could pass as a ranger force mech. And finally is Shen. His wings and arms merge together, but aside from that he's the least changed physically. Well that and the cloak of turquoise flames that completely covered his body, making him look more like a falcon than a person.
"It worked… it actually worked!" Kaito jumps around, his creations not paying attention to him. Are they even aware of the surroundings? The gauntlets of the knight touch my cheeks. "Your doing so well! You've made them so strong!" The rage overtakes the emptiness and I continue to pull. More and more smoke flows out from the tree. I can soon feel what seem to be bubbles of some kind popping up around me. I continue to push more and more, and as I do the tree starts to come undone, almost melting.
"RAHHH!!!".
"Wait a second. Oh you should do that." He gently chides. "We need more, try and slow down." My right arm finally breaks out when I transform into Kaiju boy. The pink glow travels through my prison and it erupts into masses of overflowing flesh. I instinctively swipe my arm at the red knights face. Before either of us know it there's four red lines down his face. That includes both eyes. "ARRRGHHH!!!" He screams and falls to his knees. I take in in deep breath after deep breath, too exhausted to care about what just happened. I then feel the ground shake and look around. All five of the new kaiju have surrounded me.
"Please no.".