"I…am…"
"…death for you."
The words hung in the air like a curse.
Kanasei stared at The Toymaster, unable to move. Fear churned inside him, tangled with disgust, confusion, some things he couldn't quite name. His thoughts collided and scattered, too chaotic to follow.
Can this thing even be killed? he thought.
His eyes dropped briefly to the cracked pavement beneath his feet. His mind searched desperately for something, anything, that made sense in this nightmare.
He blinked. Then he looked up again.
The Toymaster was already in front of him. Its enormous plush body lunged forward with terrifying speed, crooked black smile stretching across its face as its arm swung down toward him.
Kanasei's eyes widened.
There wasn't time.
No time to think. No time to react.
All he managed was a single step backward. His foot never touched the ground. Instead, it passed straight through.
Kanasei's stomach dropped as the pavement beneath him vanished. He fell backward into darkness. For a split second, the last thing he saw above him was a Shoji door embedded in the ground. It slid shut.
Then gravity flipped. Another Shoji door burst open beneath him. Kanasei tumbled through it, suddenly falling upward into the open sky before gravity seized him again and dragged him back down. The world spun violently around him. Wind roared past his ears.
Then—
THUD.
Kanasei crashed onto solid pavement, sliding across the ground before finally stopping. He groaned and pushed himself up slightly.
Mugen stood nearby, Biwa resting calmly in his hands. He had saved him...again.
Mugen's fingers brushed the strings.
Plink.
A Shoji door appeared in midair beside The Toymaster. The door slid open. An arm burst through it.
It was massive—thick with muscle, veins visible beneath the skin. Around the wrist were black leather wristbands, and the shoulder was partially covered by a sleeveless black leather jacket with torn sleeves.
In its grip was a weapon. Twin crescent-shaped blades. Similar to Deer Horn Knives.
The arm moved instantly.
SHNK.
The blades slashed across The Toymaster's torso, slicing straight through the plush flesh. Black ink sprayed into the air as the cut opened across its body.
But the attack didn't stop there.
The arm yanked sideways as it pulled itself through the door. The Toymaster's ribcage tore open violently, its stitched body splitting apart as fabric and stuffing ripped loose.
Another arm emerged through the doorway.
The same leather bands. The same deadly blades.
Then the rest of the figure stepped out. He jumped down from the floating doorway and landed heavily on the street. The impact cracked the pavement beneath his boots.
He stood tall, extremely tall.
A black leather jacket hung from his shoulders, the sleeves torn completely away. Beneath it was a plain white T-shirt, its sleeves also ripped off. Black cargo pants and black combat shoes completed the outfit. His long pompadour hairstyle cast a shadow across his face as he lowered his stance.
The moment he landed—
He moved. His right arm flashed forward.
SHNK.
The blades carved across The Toymaster's thigh, ripping a deep slash through the grotesque plush. Black ink splattered across the pavement.
Then he kicked off the ground and slid backward several meters, creating distance between himself and the monster. His feet settled firmly against the asphalt. He raised his arms. Both blades angled forward.
His stance was sharp—hands held in front of his chest, elbows wide, body upright but constantly shifting. Every subtle movement prepared him to dodge, strike, or counter in an instant.
From the ground several meters away, Kanasei sat frozen as he stared at the new arrival. His heart was still pounding from the near-death fall. But now something else filled his chest. A strange mix of awe and relief. Because he recognized him.
Brawler, had just entered the fight.
Brawler grinned.
The Toymaster stood several meters away, its shredded body slowly sewing itself back together. Black thread crawled across torn fabric, pulling the monster's ribcage closed as thick ink dripped onto the street.
Brawler rolled his shoulders once. Then he lowered his hands beside his hips and cracked his neck. His grin widened.
"Alright, stitch-face," he said loudly.
He leaned forward slightly, eyes blazing with excitement.
"LET'S INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME REAL CHAOS!!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, he moved.
Brawler lunged forward like a bullet fired from a cannon. As he closed the distance, his arms rose to shoulder level, elbows bent and hands facing forward. His stance shifted fluidly into motion the instant he reached the monster.
Then he spun fast. His body twisted left in a violent rotation.
SHNK.
The blades in his right hand sliced across The Toymaster's torso, tearing open its chest as black ink burst outward.
The spin continued. Brawler's left arm stretched outward.
WHACK.
The back of his left hand slammed into the creature's side, the metal blades carving deep into its plush body.
He kept spinning.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every rotation carved another slash into the monster's body.
SHNK.
WHACK.
SHNK.
WHACK.
Black ink sprayed across the pavement as torn stuffing flew into the air. By the time Brawler planted his right foot firmly against the ground to stop his momentum, The Toymaster had been ripped into pieces.
Chunks of fabric hung loose. Threads dangled. Ink poured from dozens of wounds.
And yet...the monster didn't fall.
It didn't even move.
It simply stared at Brawler. Menacingly.
Its stitched grin stretched wider as the torn fabric began pulling itself back together. Thread slithered across the wounds again.
"I gave you ingrates so many chances to defeat me…"
Its voice twisted unnaturally as it spoke.
"…yet with such great numbers, none of you could bring me down."
The Toymaster's body finished stitching itself together.
"I see now…"
It tilted its head slightly.
"…you simpletons are far too incompetent."
The final threads tightened across its chest.
"I shall give you no more chances."
The Toymaster slowly raised its right hand toward Brawler.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Dozens of threads shot from its fingers. They exploded outward like harpoons made of black string. Brawler reacted instantly. He swung his blades and cut several of them apart. But there were too many. Some slipped past his guard.
The threads wrapped around his arms. Then his torso. Then his legs. They moved with terrifying speed.
Within seconds, Brawler was completely wrapped in black and brown thread like a human cocoon.
"Mugen—!" Kanasei started.
But Mugen had already moved. His fingers struck the Biwa.
Plink.
A Shoji door appeared beneath The Toymaster. The door slid open.
But…
The Toymaster didn't fall. It remained exactly where it stood.
Mugen's eyes widened. He looked down.
Hundreds of threads had spread across the pavement beneath the monster. They had burrowed into the cracks of the asphalt like roots. The threads held the creature firmly in place.
"Crap…" Mugen muttered, his teeth grinding together.
"…this is bad."
Across the battlefield, the other heroes began turning their attention toward the same enemy. The plush toys were easy to defeat.
But The Toymaster?
That was something else entirely. Even with all of them here…It felt impossible.
Far away from the battlefield, inside an unfinished building made of bare brick walls, a figure stood by an empty window frame. There was no glass. Just a rectangular opening overlooking the street battle below.
The figure wore a brown assassin-like robe, the hood pulled low over their head. A white mask covered their face. On the mask, where the left eye would be, a single black heart was painted.
They watched the fight silently for a moment. Then they sighed.
"Hah…"
"…he's gonna need backup."
Behind them, deeper inside the shadows of the unfinished building, two other figures waited.
One stood casually with his hands on his hips. The other crouched near a farther window opening.
The crouching figure looked…wrong.
His messy black hair hung over a face that was completely white.
Where eyes should have been, there were only black circles.
Where a mouth should have been, another black circle.
The rest of his facial features were missing entirely. He wore a plain black T-shirt, black pants, and black shoes.
Humanoid. Yet deeply inhuman.
As if something not human had tried to imitate a human.
But the strangest thing about him was the mask rack on his back. Dozens of masks hung there. Each one different. Each one distinct.
The standing figure beside him had short black spiky hair and a blindfold tied around his head, the cloth tails swaying slightly in the wind. His jacket was zipped high enough to cover his mouth completely. Black harem pants. Black martial arts shoes. His hands were wrapped in black fighting wraps.
He cracked his knuckles excitedly.
"Funtime~" he said with a grin.
The crouching figure didn't move. His deep voice echoed softly through the unfinished building.
"Patience, Magnus."
"Refrain from precipitous action."
But despite his deep voice…his body looked no older than a teenager's.