CHAPTER 35: REAPING THE WHIRLWIND
Tap, tap, tap...
Q-Taro sprinted down the hallway toward the stairwell, his breath hitching in his throat as he fled for his life.
In the office, Yagyo let out a long, contemplative sigh. "The tables have truly turned, haven't they?"
But the Referee was surprised by the behavior of the "Might" of the opposing team. Ren Shiroki wasn't giving chase. Instead, he had found a clear space in the center of the office and was performing deep squats, occasionally throwing out wide, grappling-style arm sweeps.
He was warming up. But for what?
Yagyo's brow furrowed in confusion. Baku, meanwhile, had claimed Q-Taro's high-backed leather chair and was idly playing with the abandoned comms console.
Ren exhaled sharply, his muscles rippling under his skin. "The 'Karma' Q-Taro left behind is far more dangerous than the man himself."
"Are you referring to Rodem?" Yagyo asked. "Do you believe he's still alive?"
Ren didn't answer with words; he simply dropped into a deeper stance.
Stomp, stomp, stomp...
Q-Taro reached the 5th-floor landing. He glanced back and saw that Ren hadn't followed him. A wave of relief washed over him.
He didn't hesitate. He didn't head for the exit on the ground floor. Instead, he turned and scrambled up the stairs toward the 6th floor.
"Hahaha! What a collection of idiots! I knew they'd want to savor my fear, to play with their food... but they've missed their chance!"
Q-Taro had a contingency. Downstairs was a death trap of his own making, but "Up" led to survival. On the 6th floor, there was a hidden utility closet filled with emergency gear that only he knew about.
"Baku and the others couldn't have prepared for this! Once I have the rappelling gear, I'm over the side and into the night!"
He burst onto the 6th floor and sprinted to the north corner. He kicked aside a wooden crate and pried open a loose floorboard, pulling out a heavy metal briefcase.
Inside was exactly what he needed. But as he reached for the rope, his eye caught a small, flickering red light on a secondary tracking monitor built into the case.
The monitor tracked the specialized "Coins" he had used. One of those trackers was built into Rodem's harness.
Q-Taro's heart nearly stopped. The red dot for Rodem wasn't on the 6th floor where he'd been "killed." It was on the 5th floor.
Rodem is alive?! And he's downstairs with them?!
Q-Taro's fear vanished, replaced by a surge of manic triumph. Baku and Akagi must have thought they'd finished the beast, only for it to wake up in their midst.
He flipped his comms unit back on with trembling fingers. "Ro... Rodem?"
{ Guh... HISS! }
The familiar, guttural roar echoed in his ear.
Q-Taro nearly wept with joy. "Oh! Rodem! You're alive! Can you still move?"
{ Can't see... hurts... but I can... move... }
Q-Taro slammed his fist against his chest, tears of excitement streaming down his face. "Perfect! The advantage is mine!"
He didn't care about the money or the building anymore. He wanted them dead. All of them. Even if Rodem was blinded by acid, in a confined space like the office, a blind monster was just as lethal.
"Rodem, listen to me! I don't care if you can't see! Kill everyone on that floor! If they breathe, if they make a sound, slaughter them!"
{ WHOOSH—! }
The sound of heavy, rapid footsteps filled the channel.
"Hahahaha!" Q-Taro laughed, but his voice hitched. His ears twitched.
Was he hearing things?
Why did the sound of the footsteps in his ear perfectly match the rhythmic thud-thud-thud coming from the hallway right outside his utility closet?
He turned his head slowly. His blood turned to ice.
At the end of the 6th-floor corridor, a massive, masked silhouette was sprinting toward him. Rodem wasn't on the 5th floor. He was right here.
"What... RODEM! STOP!"
Q-Taro screamed in disbelief. The tracker clearly showed him on the 5th!
Had someone taken the tracker? Had Baku switched the coins to make Q-Taro think he was safe while leading the monster right to him?!
"RO—"
Rodem didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.
In a blur of motion, Rodem swung a massive fist. It grazed Q-Taro's nose and slammed into the concrete wall beside him.
BOOM!
The structural wall caved in. A massive, jagged crater formed where Q-Taro's head had been a microsecond ago. The power was inhuman—the equivalent of being hit by a speeding motorcycle.
Q-Taro scrambled away, losing the few tufts of hair he had left. He rolled across the floor, narrowly avoiding a follow-up stomp that cracked the floorboards.
"RUN!"
Q-Taro didn't think. He bolted into the darkness.
But the noise of his panic only fueled Rodem's hunger. The monster was a shadow, sticking to his heels.
Q-Taro rounded a corner and saw a pile of industrial shelving. He heaved it over, trying to create an obstacle. "Hah... huff! Rodem... it's me! STOP—"
BANG! BANG!
Two sniper rounds shattered the silence, coming from the window.
They didn't hit Rodem's vitals. Instead, they grazed both sides of his head, taking his ears with them.
The shockwave and the noise at point-blank range shattered Rodem's eardrums. He was now blind and deaf. His world was a void of agony. He could no longer hear his "Father's" voice. He only knew that someone was in front of him, and he had to destroy them to make the pain stop.
"EEEEEIIII—?!"
Q-Taro let out a high-pitched shriek of pure terror.
Outside, on the neighboring roof, Fusui Kure lowered her rifle. She had heard Q-Taro's confession over the bug about the human experiments. She had plenty of "Karma" stored up for him. She had intentionally deafened Rodem to ensure the old man couldn't control his pet.
"Go to hell, you piece of trash," she whispered.
5th Floor. Office.
"It's over," Yagyo said quietly, listening to the thunderous crashes from above. "Master Kujo is a dead man. He will be slaughtered by the very 'Might' he created."
"Not necessarily," Ren Shiroki said, finishing his final set of squats. His body was steaming, his muscles primed.
"In front of the Lie Eater, you can't get away with a lie," Ren gestured toward Baku. "We told Rodem 'Goodbye' and 'Farewell.' If Q-Taro had realized the weight of those words, he might have found a way to survive. But he didn't."
"Hmm?" Yagyo blinked.
He remembered Ren and Akagi saying those things before Rodem "died." But Rodem was still moving. So, why wasn't it a lie?
Suddenly, a terrifying, soul-piercing roar erupted from the ceiling.
"WAAAAAGH—!!"
It was Rodem, but the sound was... different. It wasn't the roar of a predator. It was the scream of a broken, grieving soul.
"..."
Yagyo listened intently. There was a profound sense of confusion in that voice. It sounded... small.
For a second, the Referee felt like the monster was about to cry.
Rodem? The Demon of the Tower... crying? Don't be absurd.
...Wait.
Yagyo looked up. He realized he had forgotten about the "other" personality. The true owner of that body.
That wasn't Rodem screaming. That was Marco.
6th Floor.
The corridor was a ruin. Marco had stopped his pursuit. He stood in the center of the debris, his hands reaching up to touch his ruined ears.
"Ah... ah..."
The effects of the acid were fading, his vision slowly returning to a blurry, tear-streaked haze. He rasped out a question: "Father... who... who am I?"
"Am I your... son? Or am I... Rodem... the killer?"
Marco's mind was a static-filled storm.
Earlier, while he was "suppressed," Baku had clipped a wireless receiver to his harness. He had heard Q-Taro's voice. He had heard the truth: that his "Father" had kidnapped him, slaughtered his real parents, and turned him into a lab rat.
The image of Q-Taro's twisted, smiling face from years ago flashed in his mind.
"Come along, Marco. From today, I am your father."
"NO! WRONG!"
Marco began to howl. Tears flooded his eyes, washing away the last of the irritants.
"I'm not Marco... I'm not Rodem..."
"LIAR! WHO AM I?! TELL ME!!"
SHING! SHING!
Marco's fists hammered the walls. He wasn't aiming. He was just hitting. Structural concrete cracked like eggshells under his fists. Shards of brick fell like rain.
Q-Taro, seeing his "Masterpiece" turn into a sobbing, rampaging child, lost the last of his sanity. Paralyzed by the raw, chaotic power radiating from the boy, the old man backed away, his eyes vacant. He hit the shattered window frame, lost his balance, and plummeted silently into the night.
THUD.
Q-Taro was gone.
"AAAAAAGGGGH!"
Marco bit his own lip until it bled, his scream echoing through the entire building.
In his extreme grief and trauma, his brain had retreated into a defensive loop. He was a child with the power of a god, and he was throwing a tantrum that threatened to bring the building down.
Baku listened to the carnage from below and sighed.
"Q-Taro didn't have to die by Marco's hand. He died because he didn't believe his own son could ever be human again. He died of his own Karma."
"Quite," Yagyo nodded. "However, Q-Taro is dead. The gamble is now between you, Baku-dono, and Akagi-dono."
Yagyo gave a small, sharp smile. "And honestly? I am far more interested in seeing how you two finish this than I ever was in that old man."
"Haha, you have a dark heart, Yagyo-san," Baku chuckled. He looked up at the ceiling. "But we can't exactly leave while the 'Shattered God' is rampaging upstairs, can we?"
"We've done all we can," Akagi said, lighting a fresh cigarette. He looked at Ren Shiroki, who was walking toward the door. "The rest is up to you, Ren-kun. Show me that 'Fight' one more time."
"You got it," Ren said, raising a thumb. He disappeared into the stairwell.
Yagyo watched him go. He finally understood Akagi's play.
Unlike Baku, who wanted Marco as a piece for his future games, Akagi was here for the "Process." He wanted to see a pure clash of spirits.
The question was: between a youth seeking the ultimate truth of strength and a biological monster fueled by pure trauma... who was Mightier?
6th Floor.
Ren Shiroki stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight-drenched corridor.
Marco stood there, his fists bloody, his eyes a terrifying, leaking red. "Who... am I?"
Ren pulled off his torn shirt, revealing a torso of rippling, functional muscle. He gave his head a small, empathetic shake.
"I can't tell you who you are, kid. I don't know myself."
He spread his arms wide, settling into a massive, grounded grappling stance. His movements were now perfectly fluid, synchronized with the spirit of the Red Cyclone.
Ren exhaled a cloud of hot steam.
"But maybe we can figure out how to live... after this."