Pain was still very applicable to Juntaro.

While he lacked a physical body and was trapped inside the electronics like a captive to a cage, he was still able to “feel”. Such a thing has always been a mystery to even him as to how it was possible, despite lacking any sort of physical nervous system and sensory organs. Though he was indeed a being of data, he still retained much of his human attributes.

All sounds, sights, feelings and even taste and scent, depending on the appliances he possessed, were still accessible to him but he also had full control over what could reach him from the outside world.

He was a captive, but he was also in charge of his confinement.

Ryuuko’s black tentacle that had somehow been able to reach him did not surprised him anymore. However it was not to say that such a thing still wasn’t a shock. This was definitely not the first time nor that baffling, with all the craziness that has happened so far, but the phenomenon was still mind-boggling.

The shock for him was how the black tentacle that had pierced through his screen, had also subsequently overtaken his entire system as it tore into his body. The moment it began to inject something of a foul substance inside him, he lost dominion of his entire electronic world; his system overloaded and ran wild, causing his him to completely fall apart as a result, turning him into fragments of data struggling to hold together his feeble human form.

“WHAT THE FU-?!“

The words he shouted he did not know if he had said it out loud or if it was in his head. Juntaro wanted to scream, his entire body spasmed with unbelievable pain from its collapse, but he had no mouth. And even if he could, he would not be able to hear for he also had no ears. But even so, invasive sounds flooded into his little world and was deafening him.

Thundering noise of heartbeats violently shook his electronic prison, shattering everything like a powerful earthquake and further breaking apart his already tattered being. The terrible pounding noise drowned out even that of his own thoughts, with the only thing left being the feelings of utmost torment that sent shockwaves through him with every little pulse of his own heartbeat.

It hurts so much. It felt as if his mind, the only thing he felt was still intact and that he still believed he had control over, was also on the verge of cracking. That he was mere moments away from dispersing back into the binaries that had long held hostage of him.

But, even amongst the explicit suffering, there was a strange feeling of peace. His body that was falling apart, withering away to nothingness; it brought solace to him that his cursed existence will vanish along as well.

He was tired. So very tired. He just want it all to go away. He despised his fate; to be trapped and confined. To be looked down on as something less than a human being, in his mind, but not even enough to be called a monster.

Why must it be him? He doesn’t want any of this. He never did. All he ever wanted was...;

“Kirika...”

The name darted across into his mind and flew from his non-existent mouth as a whisper, yet was clear as crystal even amongst the endless drumming. The thought of his sister. His beloved sister. He remember that she was also here. Also trapped in this false world that defied all logic and reality. Trapped along with him.

He was suddenly filled with guilt. Compared to him, she was the one person that he knew had done nothing wrong. Fragments of memories came to him of his sister, as he thought about how her, and especially her, did not belong here. She did not deserve to be in this so-called “paradise”. This fake reality that has trapped them all so cruelly in the guise of mercy.

But then, why was she here? Why was she also trapped along with him? It must be...it must be all his fault, yet again. It was always his fault. Like before...and before...

Anger filled his breaking mind and began to overpower the pathetic feelings of resignation and desire for the illusionary “peace”. He was furious. He was seriously pissed off.

His heart that was muffled by the invasive noise coming into his world began to pound rapidly, outpacing the rest of the erratic and countless heartbeats that tried to stifle him. Not yet. Not until he could properly make up to her, for everything he had done. For all the misery he has caused to her.

He refused to be subjugated. He refused to be erased. This was his prison but this was also his world and he will not allow it to be overtaken so easily.

The raging beat of his heart started to resound and drew in the rest of the drifting, deafening noises, capturing them as the numerous heartbeats that throbbed around him began to beat in sync with his own.

BABUMP BABUMP BABUMP

Juntaro was not the only one who felt this way. For the other two boys, their body still frozen tightly in place outside, they were also experiencing a similar torture.

The club president, despite his large body’s lack of pain receptions, was suffering greatly.

“Ugh!! Is...is this how it is for her?! IS THIS WHAT SHE’S FEELING AND HEARING RIGHT NOW?!” Roared Kenjirou’s inner thought as he gritted his teeth in pain, so hard that he bleed from his mouth. The deafening sounds of heartbeats was blasting heavily in his ears, ringing at such an infuriating tempo that was bringing madness with every beat.

He could hear them. Voices. Screams and cries of agony, so eerily familiar, that was mixed in with the thundering drums and their piercing shrieks were threatening to blow his brains out from his skull.

Despair. Hatred. Rage.

He hollered as he tried to throw his arms over to cover his ears but was helpless to move. He wanted to plug them. To silence them. To brutally tear out his own eardrums so that all of this would stop.

If it had been just physical pain, he might have been able to handle it. But all of this that came to him, there was no feeling of any of it at all yet was still so excruciating. The rupturing heartbeats was doing more than just attempting to deafen him, it was also dragging something out from deep inside his mind. It was bringing back horrible, horrible memories that he had tried so desperately to bury.

Those screams and shrieks, they were familiar because they were the same that were once directed at him. It was so long ago, yet flashes of bloodied red appeared before him and formed into hellish hallucinations before his very eyes to remind him that he could never escape from his torments.

“AARGHH!!!” He screamed as his mind began to collapse at the vivid sights of his horrid memories. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“I want to see her again...”

The moment this thought came into his mind, everything went quiet. His eyes that were rolling to the back of his head, the wave of unconsciousness that tried to take him, broke off as his gaze moved to a distinct female figure standing before him. But;

“That’s not her. Why? Why isn’t it her? Where is she...Why isn’t she here?!”

Anger began to cloud him, his heart pounding fiercely and began to loudly overpower the numerous other booming foreign beats that was pounding in his head.

He was enraged. The shrieks and cries that thundered inside of him started to become muffled and was absorbed to his own anger. All of this...who should he direct all this fury towards? Who were the bastards that took her away from him? Who must he tear apart to ease this insatiable appetite for vengeance?

Letting out a resounding roar, the beating of his furious heart overtook the invasive beats, forcing them to move in sync with his own.

BABUMP BABUMP

On the other end of the spectrum, Takuya who was held in a world of silence could hear none of the screams and cries that was blasting into his disabled ears. Instead, he was forced to feel them all.

From the tip of his fingers to the far end of his toes; from the edge of his skin to the deep of his bones, he felt the reverberation spreading mercilessly across his entire body. Pounding from inside as if his very cells have each gained a heart and was beating intensely, a sensation that brought him ever closer to madness with their every pulsing movements.

The pain was strangling him. He wanted to scream but he did not know if he was able to, or if he already was. He could not feel himself. He could not hear himself. All there was, was agony and his body being slowly taken away from him.

“Taken away...”

That thought stuck to him. An odd yet familiar sentiment that crept up on him, like a sharp dagger plunged into his back.

“That’s right. Nothing more than a piece of property. Abandoned, but then reclaimed once my worth was rediscovered. My existence...my reason of being...all of it was just...”

“GAAAAAAHHHH!!” The screams finally flew from his mouth. He could not hear it. He could not feel it, but he knew his voice came out along with the anger and hatred that he tried so desperately to hold down, all of it rushing out with his painful cries.

And then, he heard it. Even within the quiet that clung to him, that seized his entire being like the tight binding of a leash. “His” voice;

“Pathetic. Look at you, still struggling for such a pointless endeavor. Worthless child. When will it finally dawn to you? When will you learn and accept that you will never be one of them. You are nothing more than a...”

The voice, too similar to his own, was clear as clear can be in his silenced mind. The voice that he couldn’t rid of, no matter how hard he tried. The voice that even Artificial was unable to mercifully relief him of. The hated voice that brought out every type of scorn, loathing and envy he had for the world, for its people and to himself.

“I AM HUMAN!” Takuya cried out in in a desperate rebuttal yet he could not hear nor feel his own voice’s response to the anger and hatred that choked him. But even so, the screams brought out an overwhelming force that shifted the pain clinging to his body into a different sensation. What was before, if it was the feeling of his body being taken away from him, then this would be him seizing it back as he felt the powerful exploding of his own heart amidst the sporadic pounding and erratic throbbing that was the alien heartbeats inside of him.

Their percussion began to move together. Their beats that once had no coordinated rhythm, instead just wild collusion that attempted to drive him mad, was now moving in sync with his own.

BABUMP

=

Ryuuko watched with bated breath the distress of her clubmates. It was a horrible sight, seeing them in such anguish brought on by her. Because she was connected to them via the black tentacles from her arms, to a degree, she too was able to feel their internal turmoil and it was suffocating. From where she had stabbed them, black veins erupted from the wounds and wildly spreading throughout their frozen bodies in a gruesome manner as they could only loudly scream.

It was terrible but she could not turn back now. The process have already begun and if she was to rescind herself, they most definitely will die. The black tentacles that linked her to her friends, its injections rapidly pumping an untold amount of vile substance into their bodies, was forcing the virus into a state of grisly mutations.

She could only bite her lower lip and gave a look of grimace, all while helpless but to hear their deafening screams, watching as their eyes rolled to the back of their heads and the veins in their bodies madly throbbing and bursting out from underneath their skins.

“My, my, that certainly is painful. How awful, don’t you think Takatora Ryuuko? I wonder will they be able to hold out until the end?” Came a mocking voice amidst the screams as she looked over to the smirking face of Alma. “Their sins run quite deep, to the point that it is a part of them. You will not be able to free them from it and if it is to be pulled out, no matter what matter of miracle is to exist, it will not save them.”

“I am not removing their sins and you know that.” Ryuuko answered bitterly.

“Indeed, heh heh. You are influencing theirs with your own, a temporary measure and a very cruel one at that. I wonder, how did you learn of this method? Was it from the endless pool of chitter-chatter being whispered in your ears? Their voices, they’re are quite irritating, aren’t they?” Alma mused as they twirled their silvery braid in their broken hand.

Ryuuko gave a look of surprise as Alma only returned another look of condescendence.

“Don’t look at me with such shock, my dear Eve. Did I not say that you and I are connected? I too am experiencing the same binding of pain received from those boys you’re so desperately holding on to, as well as the shrieking of those bothersome remnants. Although their wails are more of a nuisances to me. Curses and raving expletives, unlike to you who otherwise seems to be well accepted by them. They are directing you to such actions but aren’t fully instructing you of its complete ramifications, instead just being an ambience of annoyance trying to cloud your judgements.”

Ryuuko kept quiet as Alma continue to laugh. There was much she wanted to say; questions that ate at her she wanted to ask and rebuttals to their scornful words yet she knew that it would be pointless, as she would just be ridiculed and be answered with more jeers from this person. Instead she further focused herself on her task at hand, further steeling her resolve and desire to support the boys despite the increasingly painful and angry cries of the voices within her.

Alma was indeed correct on their assessment of her actions. However, it wasn’t so much that she was being told what to do, due to the ambiguous prattles from the countless masses that was speaking to her yet whose voices were still nothing more than white noise, but instead more of a matter of instructive instinct from her own body. She was moving to the beat the ever-increasing fluctuation of her heart as it was struggling to find the same tempo of that of the boys, and theirs to the others. Her throbbing right arm was holding steadfast together with the black tentacles that clung to their bodies, pulsing strongly as she meticulously waited for the desired moment.

She was worried, for what she was doing was alien to her as well. That she too did not know the outcome of such a dangerous gamble and as she glanced over to the mocking jeer in Alma’s eye, the look on their broken face telling her they knew exactly what she was thinking, it only made her bite the lower of her lip harder. It was frustrating, but she did not have enough energy to muster up her anger towards them.

“My, I wonder will they survive? The injection of your sins to them, it is bringing out quite a furious display of ire. A shame that you do not know of it, but their torment is far, far greater than you would be able to comprehend.”

“What...what do you mean?”

“Hmmhmm, what do I mean? I think it would be best to speak to them of their...“distress” if you are to ever have the chance. You flaunt over your friendship with them yet you also know nothing of those boys’ inner turmoil. I’m sure it will prove quite entertaining.” Alma giggled. “But more than that, do you believe they will be able to overcome this? I certainly don’t. Such a crude method of punishment, how can any normal human beings be able to withstand such torture?”

“No. They’ll make it. I know they will!” Ryuuko firmly rebuked.

“Heh heh. Is that declaration from confidence in them? Or is it confidence in yourself, Takatora Ryuuko?” Alma mused. “Are your trust in them really that great?”

“It is more than that. I am trusting in the trust they have given to me. I know that what I am doing is something that I have no idea of outside of the dangers that it brings. And I’m sure they knew as well. But even so, they are willing to take the risk without hesitation because they believed in me and I will not allow that belief to be taken for granted. You don’t understand, Alma. We are clubmates and we are in this together no matter what.” Ryuuko replied. “Even if I do not know of their woes, we are all equal in our struggles. All in the same situation and none of our pain are any less than the others.”

“They will overcome this. And they will overcome your hold on them as well, like I have. I am certain of it.” She said with a bold smile.

“Heh...ha ha ha. How foolish. But, if you believe so then I have no matter in the say, Takatora Ryuuko. However, will you have the time?” Alma laughed before turning their head to the growls of the surround monsters that had been circled them. They have gotten closer and was readying to attack.

“Ugh...” Ryuuko gritted her teeth. It was not that the monsters had slipped her mind but instead what she was trying to do was more difficult than she had anticipated and she scolded herself mentally as she realized she was defenseless. She hesitantly glance back over to Alma in small a hope of their assistance but were only met with a dastardly smile before they turned away from her eyes.

“Don’t think I would be able to help you, Takatora Ryuuko. In my current state, I am just as helpless as you are. You really didn’t think the Anti-bodies would just stand there and wait for you now, did you? Your option is to pull out right now and let those boys you cared so much for be devoured, but we both know that is an impossibility.” They chuckled, the cracks on their face growing large from their abrupt movements. “I am excited in anticipating what you hope to do. A path that might be nothing more of a miracle, impossible as it might be. How thrilling, heh heh. Now, Takatora Ryuuko...what will you do?”

Their words angered Ryuuko yet at the same time it was something she had expected from them. She knew that they would refuse, especially in a such time of need. She was angry because she did not know whether to be irritated by their cryptic and worthless taunts or from that she actually had held hope of their assistances.

Letting out a sigh, Ryuuko instead close her eyes as the monsters that surrounded them pounced.

The moment her eyes closed, everything seemed to begin to move in slow motion. The world turned silent and everything was dark, with only the throbbing of her arm, the black tentacles that connected to the three boys. She was waiting. Waiting for that moment. For that singular desired moment.

THUMP

There! That was it!

A sudden change in rhythm from the billions, the three boys and herself; a single synchronized and resounding heartbeat.

“NOW!”

Ryuuko immediately pulled her tentacles out from their bodies and her right arm moved to grab her massive blade, taking hold of it and swinging it but not at the attack monsters but instead at the stilled bodies of the boys.

SNAP

Where the blade sliced came the cutting sound of a thin thread that echoed throughout the silence. Her eyes were still closed as she moved, following only the instructive instinct in her body and her trust she had in her clubmates. Everything that happen took place in less than a blink of an eye, even as the monsters leapt at her, their fangs and claws bared, as they moved to tear her apart.

But before their bladed limbs could reach her, a mighty arm, blackened in flesh steel, shot out and grabbed the attackers by their heads. The powerful grip from the hand immediately crushed the skulls of the airborne monster the moment it made contact as they pulled them away from Ryuuko and smashed them on the barren ground with tremendous force.

“DIE MONSTERS!” Said in a furious bellow of the club president, his entire body released an overwhelming pressure and his eyes furrowed to a look of extreme rage as he crushed the enemies under his feet, sending out explosive tremors with every stomp of his huge foot.

At the same time, what felt like a razors edge flew pass Ryuuko’s, brushing by her hair. The surrounding monsters were blown through by an eerie whistle of sharp metal and a faint gleam of black running across their grotesque pale bodies. They stood motionless for a moment before immediately bursting into pieces, their blood and guts erupting from their torn bodies that became fragments blowing away with the howls of piercing wind.

“I always knew it was because my weapons break upon contact that I have trouble with these bastards. COME ON!” Takuya yelled as he appeared from thin air. His arms were blackened also as it gripped tightly to a pair knives in his hands, their appearance almost as if fusing together with the skin and veins that protruded from his palms. Pulsing, with an appearance of more flesh than metal, the blades flashed a dark sheen as the blood effortlessly dripped off of it and displayed its dangerously sharp edges. From his body was also an intensely powerful aura of bloodlust, even as he stood before the other two.

“Finally able to move again.” Kenjirou grunted as he adjusted his glasses and clutched his fist. He turned his head over to Alma with a burning desire to bury his giant fists, that had been fused with the metal of his knuckles, into their grinning face. And as if able to read his thoughts, the grin on Alma’s face only got wider and they did a small beckoning jester to the president, provoking him to try.

“Bastard...”

“Prez, want me to do it? Right now, I really do want to kill them...” Takuya growled.

“We have more things to concern ourselves with, unfortunately.” The president grunted, his brows furrowing intensely as he looked away from the scornful figure back to the young girl standing before him. “Takatora...”

“President. Hideyoshi. I knew you guys would be able to handle it. I never doubted it for a second.” Ryuuko said with a warm smile.

“Yeah, well...it was really more than a “tickle”. I hope you won’t mind me holding it against you for that.” Takuya gave a chuckle as he spun the blades in his hands.

“Hmph...that’s an understatement.”

“As if you felt any of it, you big oaf...”

“But even so, I glad you are okay...at least from what I can see.” Ryuuko immediately jumped in and turned her redden eyes towards the two. The volatile energy that was inside their bodies, it was still there but as she had hoped been stabilized. But more than that, she carefully glanced around them, as if checking for something.

“You actually freed them from my grasp. Very nicely done, Takatora Ryuuko. Although...no, there is no point in saying it. You are beyond my control, that is what matters to you, isn’t it?” Alma laughed, their cackling catching all three of their attentions to them. “Heh heh, it would seem that I am in quite the amount of danger. Oh no, how awful.”

“You piece of shi-“

“HEY, JERKS! IT SURE MUST BE NICE THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO JUST STAND THERE AND TALK!!” Came a loud and angry scream from the skies.

“Senpai?!”

Floating high above them was a broken cellphone. Cords of black wires sprawled out from the back of its cover and sparks of electricity were flying out from its ends as it hovered mysteriously in the air, its current appearance closer to a small drone. From the cracked screen popped out a hologram of a purple hair man, a pissed off look on his face as he was furiously moving his fingers across a virtual keyboard.

“YEAH THAT’S RIGHT! FORGET ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST OVERWORKED MEMBER IN THIS WHOLE GOD DAMN CLUB! WELL, I’LL SHOW YOU!” He yelled. “SYSTEMS LOCKED! READY AND...FIRE!!”

The multiple wires of the cellphone meticulously coiled itself as from its tips energy was being condense into a giant ball of electricity that was fired into the skies above.

PEW

“What the hell is he doing?!”

“Mitsuhide!!”

“ALRIGHT, YOU BUNCH OF DECAYING MONSTEROUS [email protected]%&#! YOU CAN ALL GO. TO. HELL!! HA HA HA HA!!” Juntaro laughed maniacally as the ball of electricity dispersed itself and from where it disappeared sharp gleams of electricity quickly fell to the grounds.

PEW PEW PEW PEW

The lights that came down immediately destroyed any monsters it made contact with, like a deadly rainstorm of lasers that devastated everything below except for the area where the rest of the club stood. It was a blinding sight that forced everyone else to immediately shield their eyes from the lights and only the whimpering sounds of the dying creatures along with the mad laughter of the senior member of the club could be heard along with the exploding rain.

However, despite its destructive power, standing in the back of the dying army was the Savior of Mercy, unfazed. The assault that rained down, the moment it touched its armor it dissipated. Completely unharmed, it stood there and almost laughed at the feeble attempt of an attack.

“You annoying piece of crap! YOU THINK THAT’S ALL I GOT?! LET SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS!” Enraged, Juntaro immediately started running through his system again. The wires once again coiled itself and gathered energy but this time it was aim towards Armadat. “TAKE THIS! RAILGUN!”

PEW

Juntaro fired from his phone a burst of electricity to where Armadat was. It quickly shot through the air, sparking and tearing asunder all that stood in its way towards the colossal creature. However, Armadat still did not flinch. Instead, it waited and just as the blast was about to hit its mark, the great shield on its arm flew out and effortlessly deflected it.

“Oh...SHHIII-!” Juntaro screamed as the attack was sent hurtling back to him, its speed too much for him respond or dodge.

“SENPAI!”

SLASH

Ryuuko’s blade rushed over and it split apart the charging bolt of electricity, causing it to explode and disperse away from the two of them, and in the nick of time, saving Juntaro.

“R-R-Ryuuko!”

“Senpai! Please, don’t rush in on your own.”

“O-okay! You got it!”

Grabbing ahold of his phone, the thrusters on her weapon roared as it brought the two of them back to the ground.

“Mitsuhide, what the heck were you trying to do?”

“Yeah, idiot. Good job almost dying! You want to try that again, maybe this time do it proper?”

“Shut the hell up! You two assholes completely forgot about me and went on to have your own fun conversation! How many times do I have to tell you that I DON’T LIKE TO BE EXCLUDED!”

“EVERYONE! STOP FIGHTING!” Ryuuko screamed, breaking up the bickering boys. “Everybody, we need to work together if we are to get through this! I can’t do this alone and I need your help.”

The three of them immediately nodded their heads and steadied themselves.

“We’ve got your backs, Takatora.” The president declared as he adjusted his glasses.

“Let’s take care of the annoying small fries first. Then we’ll go for the big bastard. ” Takuya said as he took a stance, the blades in his hands flashing as he twirled it. “Round three. I’ve been waiting for this!”

“Aw yeah! Now that we got actual powers, we’ll going to beat that thing silly!” Juntaro boosted as he jumped back into the air, his cellphone sparking and charging itself.

“Mitsuhide...please do watch yourself.” Kenjirou sighed as he cracked his knuckles.

“Yeah, yeah! Ryuuko, whenever you’re ready!”

“Yes!” Gripping tightly on to her giant weapon, its edge hummed intensely as the back of her blade’s cover clicked open and released a heavy exhaust from its thrusters. Ryuuko took a deep breath as she prepared herself for battle once again, but this time with a thrill of anticipation from the knowledge that her clubmates were behind her.

“Everyone, LET’S GO!”