The alarms howled louder, echoing through the facility like a warning bell too late to matter. Sparks of heat and light flickered across the corridor as the pressure pressed down on Zack.
Torita clicked his tongue, dagger lowering slightly. The air felt wrong now heavier, hotter, as if the corridor itself were tightening around them.
"So she really felt this place," he muttered. "Lucky us."
The mysterious man didn't respond. His golden eyes stayed locked on the far end of the corridor, where shadows stretched unnaturally long.
Zack felt it too. The low humming inside him intensified. His chest tightened. Then the temperature spiked.
Heat flooded the corridor.
Blazing red light bled across the walls, warping the air. The mysterious man moved instantly, hands flashing as an illusion spread outward, wrapping around himself and Zack
and shattered.
"Do you really think something like that would work on me?"
The voice echoed through the corridor, calm, confident, close yet unseen.
Torita's eyes widened. "Tch!"
He moved.
In a flash, Torita shot toward Zack, hand reaching out. Just as his fingers were about to close
A kunai sliced through the air, striking Torita's hand.
"Damn...where'd that....."
Before he could finish, the mysterious man appeared in front of him. In one swift motion, he grabbed Torita mid-step and slammed him into the ground, cracking the floor beneath them.
"Reveal yourself," the mysterious man demanded, irritation breaking through his calm. "Where are you?"
"Right here," whispered a voice.
A blur of motion followed. A fist slammed into the man's side, sending him flying across the corridor.
Torita pushed himself up, rolling his shoulder, then laughed in relief. "Inukami this really isn't necessary. I had it under con...."
"Shut up," the woman said sharply, an angry smile cutting across her face. "For me, will you?"
The heat intensified. Zack's heart pounded, something strange humming violently beneath his skin. Whoever she was everything had just changed.
"So the stories are true," said Inukami, stepping forward, measured and heavy with presence. "I did some digging before I sent Torita here."
The mysterious man's golden eyes scanned her, unreadable, calm, yet ready.
"You're known as the Golden Kenshi, correct?" she asked.
The words hung in the air. Torita blinked; his smile faded.
Inukami continued, lifting him slightly, examining him without fear.
"The records say he's an unknown threat. He was a test subject here… but twenty years ago, he escaped with the help of a boy just about his age."
Zack's stomach twisted. That boy… could it be him? Could he have been part of this facility long ago?
The corridor seemed to shrink around them, alarms and heat fading slightly as tension filled every inch.
The golden-eyed man said nothing. He only watched, calm, his aura radiating a silent warning underestimate him, and you would regret it.
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