SCREEE-KRRRRK.
The Toymaster crushed a car in its grip. Metal folded like paper before it hurled the wreck behind itself. Kanasei lay on the ground, barely conscious. Blood covered him. His body twitched, struggling to respond. The Toymaster chuckled. It squatted and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him up like he weighed nothing. Its other arm—ripped off earlier—lay nearby. Threads slipped out. They stitched. Flesh pulled together. Seam by seam, the arm reattached itself to the shoulder. The hand didn't return to normal. Threads continued spilling from it, weaving, shaping something small.
A toy.
The Toymaster tilted its head.
"Come on…where'd all that strength go?"
It leaned closer.
"Weren't you supposed to save people?"
Kanasei didn't respond.
The Toymaster smirked as the threads finished their work. It raised the toy and held it in front of Kanasei's face, moving it side to side. Mocking him. Kanasei forced his eyes open. His vision blurred, then focused.
The toy…
…Nobu.
A perfect, twisted imitation.
Kanasei's pupils shrank. Color drained from his face. The Toymaster's grin widened.
"Is this your friend?"
It chuckled.
"Or should I say…was?"
Kanasei didn't move.
"You call yourself his best friend?"
The Toymaster's grip loosened for a moment before it yanked him closer again. Their faces were inches apart. The Toymaster's eyes—those empty, abyssal holes—shifted. For the first time, something appeared inside them.
Human eyes. Emotionless and hollow.
The Toymaster paused for a second, then it spoke.
"You are nothing."
It threw Kanasei to the ground. Its arm pulled back. Threads surged, tightening, reshaping its hand into a long, pointed blade. Then it swung.
.
.
.
It pierced nothing. The Toymaster froze. Kanasei's hand had stopped it mid-strike, gripping its forearm. He looked up directly into its eyes. The Toymaster snarled and swung its other arm—
BOOM!!
The explosion blasted it away.
An imperfect red and black beam erupted from Kanasei's body, tearing upward into the sky. The air warped around it.
Kanasei slowly pushed himself up. He stood. He looked down at his hands. At his body. It was changing. But he felt nothing. No pain. No fear. Just emptiness.
A thought surfaced.
Am I even human…?
The Toymaster skidded across the ground and forced itself to a stop. It looked up. Kanasei stood there, staring back.
"…That bastard…"
The Toymaster rose to its feet. It met Kanasei's gaze, and something unfamiliar crept in.
Fear.
It didn't understand it. Didn't know why its body wanted to move back.
BOOM.
The beam collapsed in on itself and vanished.
Dust swallowed the area. Silence followed. The Toymaster stepped back, staring into the haze. A figure moved. Kanasei walked out. Slow and steady. And different.
Blood covered him. A faint red glow pulsed from his body.
The stitches on his mouth were gone. A wide, unnatural smile stretched across his face.
His eyepatch was gone. A black sclera. A red slit pupil.
His arms...had become blades.
Massive, jagged blades extended from his elbows. More from his knuckles. The same structure pierced out from his lower shins.
He walked forward.
"You're right."
"I am nothing."
He stopped. Lowered his head slightly.
"I shouldn't even call myself his best friend."
He exhaled and looked up at the sky. His eyes closed.
"I wasn't there when he needed me."
The Toymaster growled and fired threads toward him. They reached him.
Kanasei didn't move. His arm shifted once. Twice. The threads fell apart mid-air, cut into pieces. They retreated.
Kanasei opened his eyes again.
"But I'll protect the ones who are still here."
"For him."
He leaned forward, then sprinted. The Toymaster stepped back instinctively. Kanasei appeared in front of it.
A punch.
Barely dodged.
The blade drove into the ground.
An uppercut.
Missed.
The follow-up came instantly.
A downward slash.
It tore across the Toymaster's torso.
It staggered back, letting out a distorted grunt. Then it smiled.
"You will never overcome me."
It raised its hand.
"I pray to God to protect me from something like you."
†
A cross flashed in Kanasei's vision.
The Toymaster's grin widened.
"God is on my side."
Black liquid gathered. It formed and stretched.
A massive cross took shape in front of The Toymaster, dripping.
For a moment, an image flickered across it.
A body on the cross.
A man, crowned in thorns and nailed to the wood.
The Toymaster trembled. Breathing heavily.
"Hah…hah…"
Its voice dropped.
"…die."
The cross moved fast. It was too large to avoid.
Kanasei gritted his teeth and dropped his stance, raising his arms into a block. The blades widened his guard. The cross crashed into him. It burned and dissolved over him, eating into his flesh.
Kanasei screamed. His body convulsed under the weight of it. The pain was unbearable. His vision blurred and faded.
.
.
.
The Toymaster dropped to its knees, shaking and exhausted.
It clasped its hands together weakly.
"Praise the Lord…"
The screaming stopped. Only the sound of burning remained. It closed its eyes.
...
"…That was your best?"
The Toymaster's eyes snapped open. Kanasei stood there. Alive.
His body was completely naked. His skin torn, burned, scarred beyond recognition. Smoke still rose from him. Nothing left to burn. And yet he stood.
The Toymaster's expression broke. Confusion. Fear.
How is he standing?
King moved. He dashed forward.
The Toymaster barely reacted. Threads fired instinctively—
SHHNK!!
The blade pierced through its chest. Kanasei lifted it with one arm and hurled it across the ground. It crashed and slid, trying to reattach itself—
SHHNK.
Another strike. Deeper. He tore it open and didn't stop. He kept going.
SKRAAASH!
K-SHKT!
V-RRRIP!
The Toymaster's body came apart under the assault. It still fought back.
Its arm lifted, and black liquid sprayed across Kanasei's face and neck.
It burned. His skin peeled. He didn't stop. He cut the arm off and kept going.
The strikes slowed, then stopped.
Kanasei stood over what remained. Stuffing-like flesh. Threads. Black liquid.
It would regenerate. He knew that. He raised his blade to its neck. The Toymaster's eyes widened.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Kanasei pulled his other arm back. Kokoro dropped in. He flipped over the strike and landed a few meters away. His eyes locked onto Kanasei.
…His awareness is sharper.
He wasn't like this before.
Kanasei didn't look at him. Not yet.
Kokoro tensed—
Too late.
Kanasei moved. One clean motion. The blade passed through the Toymaster's neck. Its head separated. A second strike drove through its face. Kanasei leaned in slightly.
"…Can you say that again?"
He stood up. Threw the head away. It crashed through a window. He grabbed the body and threw it in the opposite direction.
Kokoro's eyes followed both.
Too far apart.
He won't recover in time.
He moved.
A red blade stopped him instantly.
Kokoro stepped back.
Kanasei walked in front of him. Now he looked at him.
"You're the one behind this."
His voice was quiet.
"…the one I've been looking for."