Time broke apart into fragments. I sank into an abyss of unconsciousness.
Then I woke.
I remember a white room. Maia lay on a gurney beside me, restrained with nanometals. I was in the same situation. Excruciating pain throbbed through my body. Shocks from the nanometal.
"Decided to wake up?" Even weak, her voice sounded defiant.
I let out a muffled laugh. "Ah, chica…" My voice sounded strange. A gag pressed against my jaw. "What kinda mierda is this?" I looked at her. Her face was uncovered. "Why am I the only one wearing one of these?"
Maia smirked. "All you did was swear at them. Only thing that stopped your mouth. Until now."
"These cabróns think this shit's gonna silence el monstruo? They've got another thing coming."
"I know."
I paused, a little surprised. Smiled at my own naïveté.
Of course. I watched her. She watched me too. Even as we tried to smother our souls, deep within us, her gaze seemed to pierce our defenses.
"How long?"
"Two days."
Two Days Later
Everything went dark except for a faint emergency light blinking in the corridor. The guards' screams began echoing from the sixteenth basement level, known as "The Abyss."
TCHK TCHK I heard a few clicks. The nanometals came loose.
Her doing. How? No fucking idea.
Maia led the way.
Our battered, bloodstained white clothes were nothing compared to the black corridor we walked through. The smell was a putrid miasma of shit. Blood. Something profane. Clinging to the skin and churning the stomach.
What I saw there, chica? A taste of hell. Ever visited Vermina, the Matriarch's side? Yeah. That place… managed to match it.
Prisoners lay on gurneys in transparent rooms, grotesque organs exposed and connected to nanoprosthetics.
One guy looked like he'd crawled out of a horror movie. His brain swollen, as though trying to escape his own head. Organic tentacles stretched out, stitched to the machine with wires. His bulging eyes followed us. Pleading. Unspoken words.
But I understood. I, Denden, el monstruo, felt a chill run down my spine. Worst part? They were alive, chica. This was more than a prison. An altar to eternal suffering. One of the worst desecrations I've ever witnessed.
We took the elevator to the upper floors.
"We have ten minutes," Maia warned.
There was a room on the ground floor full of weapons. And there she was, gleaming, as though calling to me. The bazooka. My trump card. And, of course, Rompe-culos, burning with hunger.
"These cabróns are gonna regret fucking with Denden, el increible."
Maia smiled and grabbed a rifle.
The guards stood ready at the entrance.
The blood show began.
Nobody's a match for me. Nobody escapes my madness. I tear through any defense, chica. They had the pleasure of seeing that up close.
And we had company. In my frenzy, a mierda came up behind me. When I turned, he hit the floor with a hole in his forehead. Kiara was watching over us.
My laughter drowned out the gunfire. "You fuckers! You're nothing to nosotros, montón de mierda."
We reached the outer zone. More guards were coming.
"We gotta go. Kiara's waiting." Maia pointed toward a platform. Kiara's car was landing.
The outer gates were almost closed. We ran through.
Of course, there was a price to pay. Especially after what they'd done to us. Especially after what I'd seen.
The gate was closing.
Seconds.
I aimed. Breathed. My finger squeezed the trigger.
FWOOSH The projectile streaked through the air like a comet.
Half a second.
Silence.
BOOOOOM!
The world shook with the fury of an ancient dragon. Flames rose like columns of war. Night became day. And hell descended on Fuchū. The unbreakable fortress burned in the hell it had created. A blaze of chaos.
My eyes gleamed with the orange flashes.
"Let's go." Maia got in the car. I followed right behind.
We made history there! The whole world found out, though I carried the glory and burden of fame alone. Maia and Kiara erased every trace of their involvement. But our name stayed etched into the fabric of that impossible prison. Fuchū's first great mistake. It would change forever.
Kiara was waiting for us. Yasu too.
The world… well, the world had better brace itself. Because we were coming. At that moment, with blood and soot clinging to our skin, all we felt was one absolute truth:
WE HAD SURVIVED.
We met Kiara four kilometers later. She joined us. We returned to Yasu's house and got out of the car.
The toll of pressure and adrenaline was steep. Our bodies gave in. Pain. Exhaustion. Everything hit like an inevitable avalanche.
Maia first. Coughed and vomited blood. Then me, my hand still gripping Rompe-culos. As though we'd been given permission to fall apart.
Kiara and Yasu treated our injuries.
The old lady used healing techniques both ancient and modern. Helped us recover faster. Wrapped us from head to toe in nanobandages. The nanites rebuilt our damaged tissues.
"When I helped rebuild Fuchū, I ignored the dark intentions behind such sinister purposes," Yasu murmured. She brought a tray of rice porridge. According to her, a light meal recommended for anyone whose organs had been severely injured.
During the Seluna
We were almost healed. Ready to get in the car and get outta there.
Yasu stopped us. Bowed deeply. "Otsukaresama deshita." She thanked us sincerely.
We bowed back.
"Before you go, someone wants to see you."
That bastard Kotaro appeared and walked toward us. Arrogance on his face. But his tail? Tucked firmly between his legs.
He bowed. "Arigatō." Before he could straighten up…
SMACK! Yasu slapped him on the head.
He clenched his fists. "Forgive my actions. My sincerest apologies." He glared at us.
I grinned. Wide. Savored the moment.
Yasu approached Maia. Placed a device in her hands. "Here's what I told you about." She winked, smirking.
Probably the recipes.
Maia smiled with her eyes and slipped it into her pocket. Kiara glanced at her. Holding back a smile.
We got in the car and headed back to São Paulo.