"Okay…" Kentarō turned back slowly. "I don't think it's, uh… normal for it to be doing that?"
The creature's spine twisted like wet rope as it morphed. Skin bubbled, bones cracked, and its body reshaped into a distorted version of Isocrates, missing an arm, missing an eye, with the rest of its body mutating into some warped, twitching mass.
Katsu's eyes widened. "Yeah, no crap it's not normal. Focus on running, PLEASE."
The creature lifted its half-formed head.
"Not… th–thi… this t-time… minion of Bellerophon…"It struggled to speak, voice choking, glitching, twisting between its real voice and Isocrates's last words.
Ryosen exhaled sharply. "It mimicked him. It's a mimic-type Heartless."
"Mimic?" Kentarō shook his head. "Sounds too basic. What about… Aethermimic?"
Shichiro nodded once. "Whatever. Cool name. Let's GO, before it finishes turning into Isocrates and kills every one of us."
But the creature slammed its fist into the ground, exactly like Isocrates did. A shockwave rippled outward, forcing the group to stumble.
"You… you've… c-caused… enough… d-destruction…"
Shichiro's eyes sharpened. He brought out his whips, flames sparking to life."That's it. I'm NOT letting it copy everything Isocrates was. If this thing fully stabilizes, it'll be unstoppable. We end it here, before it wreaks havoc on the whole region."
Katsu raised a hand. "Brother… we are exhausted."
"Yeah, we're literally out of mana," Rokuro added. "I'm running on fumes and bad decisions."
Kentarō pointed at them. "JINX! You two said the same thing, both of you can't talk now."
Rokuro blinked at him. "That's not how jinx works, man."
Before Kentarō could answer, the creature snapped its neck toward them.A spine-chilling sound like glass grinding against bone.
"…F̷̢͚̦͇͙͚͋͛͌̒ͅe̵̢̫̗̩͓̱͌̒ͅe̶̛͖̭̼̓̍͋d̴̛̦̩̻̳͔͊̏̄…"
The word didn't sound spoken, it sounded hungry.
Shichiro immediately lashed out, his whips spiraling around the creature. Flames surged, trapping Aethermimic in a fiery bind.
"Now, Kentarō! Poison it while I've got it pinned!"
"Aye aye!" Kentarō sprinted in, daggers glowing with venom.
Katsu rushed beside him.
Kentarō. Looked at Katsu. "WHAT ARE YOU-"
Time stopped.
Katsu activated his ability. the world froze as he hammered punch after punch into Aethermimic's body.Each hit cracked the creature's Isocrates-like armor, but the creature barely flinched.
"Your. Just. A. Pale. Imitation. Of. ISOCRATES."
One more punch shattered the last piece of armor.
And then.The creature turned its head.
In frozen time.
"N… no…" it whispered.
Katsu stumbled backward, face pale."WHAT!?"
Time resumed.
Aethermimic lunged.