It was a rainy day, and the trees thrashed violently in the wind. The streets lay desolate, every person gone from the place. Something had arrived...
Boss 20 walked through the area, not to admire it, but only to fulfill the purpose he had been given.
Slowly he raised his eyes and snapped his fingers. A great shockwave rippled out around him, scattering much of the storm but letting the rain keep falling...
From a park, the protagonists felt the energy. Kiro was the first to go, wasting no time and running at full speed, followed by Sone and then Eduin. Worh and the hybrid stayed behind: Worh because he was injured, and the hybrid because she simply didn't want to butt in and wouldn't leave Worh alone.
Kiro arrived first, his clothes soaked by the rain. Boss 20 didn't turn around. He would let Kiro attack first.
Kiro lunged at him, but the Boss simply tilted his head to one side, and the punch whistled past his ear.
"You always go for the face, don't you?" Boss 20 said coldly. "That's where your punches are most effective, but I know you can't beat me alone."
Kiro threw another punch without hesitation. The Boss leapt, dodging the blow aimed at his back, and landed behind Kiro.
"I know your little friend is going to start reading my patterns now, but I'm not that man with the weapon," the Boss said, barely giving it any weight.
Kiro stared at him and caught sight of a shadow behind the man. Boss 20 sprang sideways to the left, dodging a sword slash aimed at his neck.
"Predictable," the Boss said without hesitation.
Clenching a fist, he threw a punch at Eduin's face and swept low at the same time. Eduin dodged the punch, but the sweep knocked him off balance. He would drive his sword into the ground to recover, or so anyone would expect.
Boss 20 conjured a small ball of energy and detonated it, blasting Eduin back several meters. Eduin shielded himself with his swords, but his arms were left with clear red scratches...
"You won't get a chance to use those strategies on me," the Boss said gravely, his intense gaze making it clear he meant to defeat them.
He charged up two blasts, each two meters across, and sent them hurtling at the heroes. Eduin was driven back at tremendous speed, his swords scorching as he tried to brake.
Kiro dodged the other blast, but just when he thought it would sail past, the energy exploded at his side and hurled him violently into the buildings, which blew apart on impact.
A great wave of rubble and grime filled the area. Kiro rose slowly. His arms were deep red with scratches, and his back burned like lava, sending a searing pain through him.
"Shit, shit, shit... ah," Kiro muttered, his voice cracking.
Carefully he pushed aside some debris, then leapt out of the ruined buildings. His vision swam a little, the pain so intense that he couldn't breathe properly.
Suddenly a huge explosion went off in the distance, and Eduin was blasted backward. He slammed into buildings too, just as Kiro had. The shockwave flattened the whole area, leaving Eduin in plain view where he lay, his arms bloody and his hands trembling uncontrollably.
"Ah... ah... ah..." Eduin drew a deep breath, the pain dragging low gasps out of him.
He got to his feet, gripping his sword as he did, though the grip only made the pain more violent.
Boss 20 surveyed the scene, Kiro and Eduin both hurt by his attack.
*I didn't even use 40% of my energy on that attack. Wow, wow,* he thought.
He let out a long sigh and began walking toward Kiro, who watched him come.
Boss 20 reached him and seized him by the throat. Kiro offered no resistance, knowing full well he could do nothing against him, least of all in his pain-wracked state.
Meanwhile, in the distance, Worh and the hybrid were walking toward the source of the noise. Suddenly a black van pulled up in front of them, and a man of about sixty stepped out, dressed in a casual scientist's outfit.
"I'll heal you so you can go fight," the scientist said, reaching a hand toward Worh's back.
Warily, Worh lifted his shirt. The scientist pulled out a vial of greenish liquid and, without wasting a moment, poured it over the wound. Worh felt a warmth spread through him.
*What is this I'm feeling?* he wondered.
The wound closed completely. His body felt lighter, his strength renewed.
The scientist climbed back into his van, but a voice called out behind him.
"Hey, could you give me more of that liquid? And what's your name?" Worh asked.
"My name is Max, and I'll give you three of my potions," the scientist replied.
He pulled out three bottles and tossed them to the protagonist, who caught them and handed them to the hybrid to carry.
The scientist sighed, started the engine, and vanished down the highway at top speed.
Worh broke into a run and arrived just as the Boss was tightening his grip on Kiro's throat. Without a second thought, he rammed into him with his whole body. The Boss let go and was shoved aside.
"Well, well, look who regenerated to help his little friends," the Boss said mockingly.
Worh didn't answer. He signaled the hybrid to go to Kiro, then charged again without hesitation. He readied a fist, energy flowing into his arm, his fire power gathered.
He threw the punch, but the Boss dodged it easily, barely sparing him a glance before clenching his fist and setting off an explosion.
Worh was blasted backward, but he threw a punch forward and stopped himself dead.
"Damn it," he growled.
The Boss prepared another attack, but Sone was above him in ball form. Sone dropped without hesitation and struck him right on the head, and then Worh landed a punch on his torso that moved him only a few centimeters. It was a strong blow, yes, but the Boss's durability counted for more than Worh's strength.
"Seriously? Teamwork, huh? Wow, wow," the Boss remarked, his voice calm and half mocking.
The Boss took a step back and raised a hand to his own head. At that instant Eduin, who had returned, swung a strike at his neck, but the enemy's hand deflected it.
"I already told you those strategies don't work on me, boy," the Boss declared, his voice graver.
Eduin backed away, but in the distance he saw a bottle flying toward him. He reached for it, but before he could do anything, the Boss turned and landed a punch on his jaw.
Worh reacted quickly and caught the bottle in time, then leapt aside as Eduin slammed into a vehicle.
"Sone, take the bottle to Eduin. I'll handle the Boss," Worh said, his voice commanding.
Sone rushed toward Eduin with the bottle.
Worh closed in on the Boss with a leap and threw a punch, stomping at the same time. The Boss dodged the punch, but his feet slipped slightly. That was all Worh needed.
"Strike Plus!" he shouted.
Multiple bolts of lightning struck the Boss, throwing him off at the exact moment Sone gave Eduin the liquid to drink. The swordsman recovered instantly.
"We'll have to fight together without letting up. If he knocks us away, we come right back, and we force our way in if we have to," Eduin said, already forming a plan.
On the other side of the area, Kiro had recovered.
*I think I'll replicate the attack I used with Worh against that ninja called the "Hunter,"* Kiro thought.
"Hey, I need you to distract the Boss for a bit so I can do the Reverse Strike, the one I call the 'Group Reverse Strike,'" he told the hybrid.
"Okay," the hybrid replied.
Kiro reached the Boss, and at that moment Eduin appeared beside Sone.
"Now..."
Eduin was cut off. The Boss drove a punch into his abdomen that knocked the wind out of him and sent him staggering back.
The Boss swiftly dodged two more blows, from Kiro and Worh.
Sone watched the exchange... thinking.
A yellow aura began to wrap around him. The Boss noticed and halted a few meters back.
*Isn't that power a golden hedgehog's? Why does he have it?* he wondered, noticing that Sone's speed was climbing.
He raised a hand and conjured a purple attack.
"Oh, shit, not again. That damn attack," Worh said, remembering the last time he had seen a similar power.
Sone stopped, noticing the look on Worh's face.
*So that's the same energy that almost killed him when he fought Leslie?*
With that in mind, he did a backflip, curled into a ball, and vanished in a yellow flash.
Eduin and Kiro lunged and struck the Boss at the same time, but as expected, they barely moved him. The Boss stared at them before hurling the attack down on them.
A huge cloud of smoke swallowed them instantly. The power was so immense that the whole country should have been reduced to ash, or so one would have expected.
At the last moment, Sone, with his yellow aura, made the energy form an artificial space, the energy concentrating inside it.
Sone dropped to the ground and rose slowly. Kiro and Eduin fell beside him, while Worh and the hybrid landed together.
Boss 20 had a few reddish scratches, nothing serious. He looked around and noticed the violet space they were in.
"I collided our energies and channeled them at just the right moment to create this space," Sone said gravely.
Boss 20 nodded, seeing that the hero had some intelligence.
Sone lunged without hesitation and struck him. The Boss didn't even budge, but in an instant he felt several spines lodge in his scratches, piercing his skin and sinking into his veins.
Worh appeared behind him, Kiro in front.
The Reverse Strike works by using one's own energy to steal the enemy's power. It lasts barely a millisecond, but that is enough for someone fast.
Kiro and Worh unleashed the Group Reverse Strike, creating a massive shockwave that shoved them back.
Boss 20 was truly hurt now, his shoulders bare and wounded, blood running down his forehead, though he stood firm.
He channeled a greenish energy and healed himself.
Eduin appeared behind him and slashed his shoulder, but the wound had already closed. The Boss stepped back, met Eduin's gaze, and landed a full-force punch.
Eduin was blasted away, braking with his swords. His breathing turned ragged.
Suddenly the wall behind Sone glitched. A warping of space. Inside it, they saw the back of the Universe 06 Kiro, who turned around and looked at them. The rift stayed open.
The Boss froze. He hadn't known other universes existed. He knew only his purpose and his abilities, and he had never seen anything like this.
Sone looked back at him, recognizing that Kiro. He had seen him once before, when Eduin struck his sword against the crack where Worh and Boss 18 were fighting, and it had distorted to reveal that same individual. But the figure had vanished, and they had entered the space without giving it much thought.
Now what stood before them was a Kiro... one they didn't know.
Kiro Yukimiya stepped forward and touched the opening.
Kiro and Worh took the opportunity and used the Group Reverse Strike again.
The Boss blinked hard, but it was too late. The strike hit him again, dealing the same damage and leaving him bewildered...
He quickly set off an explosion that only widened the rift.
The original Kiro (Yukimiya) stepped through the rift.
Meanwhile, the Boss hurled himself at the protagonists. He hit Kiro in the face and drove a knee into him in a white flash, followed by a thunderous boom. He dodged a punch from Worh and did the same to him, sending him flying next to the other hero.
Sone pulled away and approached Kiro Yukimiya. The hybrid, who had not yet intervened, drew near as well, studying him with curiosity.
Boss 20 turned on Eduin, dodging every slash with his agility. Eduin grew desperate. He jumped, he used his intellect, but the Boss always found a way to hurt him.
He took a deep breath, but that was his mistake. A heavy blow to the torso made him spit up a mouthful of blood and sent him crashing into Kiro.
Slowly the Boss used his healing power and turned around. There stood Kiro Yukimiya, watching him with a cold, serious expression.
"Let's see how strong you really are," Kiro Yukimiya said, his voice unsettling.
Boss 20 clenched his fists, gathering all his power.
The real battle had just begun, and this time it would be against a Kiro unlike the protagonist: more calculating, faster, stronger...