This isn’t happening. No... No.
Adam continued to watch as the wound in Bjorn’s neck bubbled and writhed, flesh boiling as it tried to knit itself back together. His figure grew even more grotesque, the transformation spreading outward from the severed area.
His head... his head was being pushed to the side now, and Adam could hear his dense bones adjust to it.
No. No.
Adam’s eyes widened. He rembered the flesh that had clung to his knuckles earlier, how it had squird before dying. He’d thought it was strange at the ti.
Now he understood. Bjorn’s flesh was confused, caught between life and death, unable to choose either state.
Adam closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the disgusting transformation.
Adam! Your fault. This is your fault. Look. Look at it, Adam. They—no. This is the Hospital’s fault. They used you. They used what they took from you to turn Bjorn into a regenerating monster. The director of the IBAA was right... They’d done sothing using what they learned from you, Adam.
He could hear it, the noise Bjorn’s body was making as it tried its best to resist death.
No, this is your fault for existing. How many? How many do you think they’ve done this to? Bjorn is a Hero. His body could take abnormal amounts of abuse and damage... and he turned into sothing like this. A moving lump of flesh—what about normal humans? What about the animals they’ve tested whatever this drug is on? How many? How many do you think died? How many—
Adam covered his face with his free hand. And then, very slowly, a chuckle escaped his lips.
The laughter wasn’t forced, no... but it quickly turned maniacal. Strange thing was, Adam wasn’t smiling at all. His face remained completely expressionless even as the sound poured out of him.
And now recovered, Bjorn rushed forward again, moving on all fours once more like a rabid animal.
Adam abruptly stopped laughing as he raised the Shion.
A whistle cut through the air. Then a whoosh... and Bjorn’s body separated cleanly in half.
Adam didn’t look back. He stood perfectly still, listening as the two halves hit the ground with wet thuds.
He waited. Counted to ten.
And behind him, sothing squird.
Adam closed his eyes and sighed. He turned around. Half of Bjorn’s body was already regenerating, but the new flesh looked even less human than before. Tumorous growths sprouted from the wound site.
And most importantly, extra limbs began forming at random angles. An extra foot, an extra ear with the foot. A hand with an eye.
This... this was no longer Bjorn at all—and perhaps, it never was. At least, that was what Adam had hoped.
"I’m sorry this happened to you because of ," Adam said quietly, and then gently stabbed the Shion next to his feet.
"I want you to bear with for a mont. But I promise you." He stepped forward. "I will give you the gift the Hospital never gave ...
...Death."
***
Back in the office of the Director of LCRU, Gordon quietly sat behind his mahogany desk, steam rising from his coffee mug as he watched the live feeds from the 244th Ga. The familiar chaos of the Dos played across multiple screens—Heroes clashing, creeps falling, the usual carnage that had beco humanity’s twisted entertainnt.
Gordon didn’t seem to enjoy it, however, as he shook his head almost every other second. Still, he forced himself to watch.
But then, his secretary burst through the door without knocking, almost causing him to spill his coffee.
"Sir!" the secretary shouted, face flushed and breathing hard. "Line five—you need to take this call imdiately!"
Gordon’s coffee mug paused halfway to his lips. He fixed her with a single, withering glare that could have frozen molten steel. Without a word, he set down his mug and picked up the phone.
"This is Gordon. Speak."
The voice was rough, strained.
"Speak."
Chip tried to laugh, but it ca out as a wet cough.
"What?" Gordon frowned. "Why would he want to go to a Do? That’s not your departnt."
"Where is Adam now?"
Gordon’s fingers tightened on the receiver. "What attacked you? Was it a monster from a Leak?"
Chip’s voice trailed off.
Gordon imdiately pulled up his terminal, fingers flying across the keyboard. No new Leaks recorded. There never were during the Gas—just another silent rule the Administrators placed.
He checked again, then a third ti. Nothing.
"You said Adam was nearby?" Gordon furrowed. "I need to speak with him."
"What?!" Panic crept into Gordon’s voice. "Do you need reinforcent? I can have the closest team there to reroute and—"
"Huh? What do you an?"
And then, that was when Gordon finally realized sothing—he’d been hearing a sound since earlier coming from the background. A thunderous boom echoed through the phone, followed by another. Then another.
"What the hell is that sound?"
Another boom rattled through the connection.
Gordon stared at his phone. "I don’t understand."
"Hmm..." Gordon slightly lowered the phone. There was no question that Adam was strong—his Strength was rated as B during the examination.
But... was a Hero with a B-tier Strength capable of making those noises with their punch? Was it an ability...?
Or... was Adam continuously growing?
"S-shit..."
And that latter thought just caused Gordon to literally quake on his chair.
***
Back in the vast and beautiful adows of Montana, the flowery field had beco a slaughterhouse.
Chunks of flesh scattered across the trampled petals like grotesque confetti. Severed limbs jutted from the soft earth at impossible angles. Blood soaked into the soil, turning the wildflowers red.
Adam stood in the center of it all, staring down at what remained of Bjorn’s face. The features were barely recognizable—swollen, twisted, but... finally still.
Finally.
He watched for several more seconds, waiting.
And when the flesh truly and finally stopped twitching, Adam sighed and shook his head.
Not even a minute. It didn’t even take a minute at all.
Bjorn’s regeneration had lasted less than sixty seconds before giving out completely.
"Ha..." Adam stepped back, his boots squelching in the blood-soaked earth. He looked around, and saw a large boulder sitting beside a small stream about thirty ters away. He weakly walked over there, falling on it heavily as he focused his attention back to the mound of flesh.
He needed to be sure.
One minute passed. Then two. Then fifteen.
Bjorn’s remains didn’t move.
"Ha..." He sighed once again in relief and finally stood and walked to the stream, kneeling to wash the blood from... well, everywhere. It was to the point that the stream’s clear water turned to wine.
"Is it... okay to co out now?"
Adam looked up to see Chip erging from behind a cluster of trees, his uniform torn and dirty.
"Good. You’re alive."
Chip approached cautiously, his eyes scanning the carnage. "What... kind of monster were you fighting?"
"Soone from the Hospital."
"The Hospital?!" Chip’s face went pale, now focusing his eyes on the mound. "Jesus Christ. We need to contact the IBAA imdiately."
"We should..." Adam stood, water dripping from his clean hands. "But I’ve wasted enough ti already. You can stay here and wait for them. I need to reach the Do before the battle ends. Which direction was it?"
"Stay... here?" Chip looked back at the scattered remains, the pools of blood, the chunks of flesh decorating the wildflowers.
"Nope. Not happening, Hoss." He hurried after Adam. "I’m coming with you."
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