XCEL

Meguru Yoha. One of the most dangerous out of all the Glass Eyes. Rin wasn’t sure what terrified him more: that, or the fact that he knew so little about his specialty that at this point, he’d be better off guessing!

“This place is fuckin’ wild!” Meguru spun on the ball of his foot, arms stretched wide as though embracing the sound of music. “This is some disco dome you’ve set up over here, ya freak!”

Wearing a smirk almost as broad as his shoulders, the man stared up into the purple, storming sky with jubilation. Unlike the menacing attire of the other JPRO agents, he looked like he’d fallen asleep with his suit on. His shirt, though clean, had never been ironed, nor had the rest of it. His hair was shorter than Rin’s though just as thick, tousled through lack of care. A large hoop dangled from one ear, and a vertical scar was carved into the skin underneath his right eye. The man revelled in the boundless depths of this broken space. All the while, the reject stood stock still, puzzled. It no longer had the mental facilities to process anything, unfortunately, let alone think critically; but bless it, it was trying.

Rin lay splayed on his front, lacking the strength to so much as lift himself from the floor. His chest heaved, sending spasms through his injured diaphragm. His flow had stopped all of a sudden, just from that one errant thought. He cursed his own weakness, the fragility of his concentration. Ruri would be fine; they were far stronger than Rin could delude himself of being. The woman’s other children had likely met their grizzly end already. Rin hadn’t dared to look at the patches of red spattered across the ground like paint lest he be sick. At least the one they’d managed to reach in time—the one with the potential—would be safe. Rin thought he had accepted the inevitability of stumbling and falling by now. He was never prepared for how much it stung when it happened. He felt like such a colossal idiot. Not only that, he only had so long to recover, before Meguru Yoha’s terrifying focus returned to him.

“Why don’t we get this started, huh?!” He clapped his hands. A sonic boom echoed.

Rin’s teeth rattled in his mouth, his ears ringing. That was some incredible power. What he couldn’t piece together, however, was where it was even coming from; Meguru Yoha didn’t have a third eye! There was no way any of this could be a coincidence. Why would a normal person reach such a high rank in JPRO, let alone be able to survive the effects of a distortion without control over psychic energy? It didn’t make sense!

Meguru swung his arm out to point and beckon at his victim. “Let’s party!”

The reject started quivering in place, before the banks of reservation broke. It let out a scream, the ground cracking underneath its feet as it sprung into a wild sprint. Meguru didn’t look remotely fazed. The reject’s approach took too long, so he lost interest and pulled out his phone. “Damn,” he murmured, attempting to scroll through social media. “No service in this bitch? That’s crazy.”

The reject lunged once it was within five metres of him, a predator’s pounce on an unsuspecting meal. Meguru then, without looking away from his phone, weaved out of the way just in time to send the reject flying past. It hit the dirt some five metres away, the momentum driving its mutilated face into the ground.

Rin's jaw dropped. How did he see that coming?

At the commotion, Meguru put his phone away, then looked up, confused. “What the hell are you doing over there?” He feigned a poor attempt at surprise. “Sleeping on the job? Yeah. Been there, buddy.”

Not for long. The reject tore itself from the ground. Its skin and muscle bled horribly, torn up by jagged rocks. A furious roar, and it charged once more. Meguru grinned and sidestepped with scripted precision. The momentum carried the reject forward. It tripped over Meguru’s outstretched foot and crashed into the ground. The impact, magnified, shook the ground and made Rin bite his tongue. The dust settled, revealing a small crater.

Peering into it, Meguru laughed. “Come on, come on. You gotta try a bit harder than that. You fell for the oldest trick in the book!”

Seizing the creature under the armpits, Meguru dragged it out of the ground and set it back on its feet. The reject swayed for a moment, dazed, before lashing out. Meguru weaved past the vicious blows, boredom etched into his unshaven face. “Man, you’re slow.” Meguru leant back to avoid another haymaker sent to cave in his forehead. “Are you even trying?” He accentuated this with a yawn, and prodded the creature lightly in the chest. A crunch, as a disproportionate burst of force shattered the creature’s ribcage, blasting it metres away.

The cycle then continued again, and again.

Meguru Yoha was toying with it.

The reject attacked relentlessly. Each blow, it launched with deadly speed and force. Meguru effortlessly deflected each one, making it stumble and crash with each certain miss. The relentless assault left the reject more battered with every attempt. What made it even sadder, was that the reject had no concept of stopping.

The reject threw one final punch, but Meguru grabbed its fist. The man grinned, and gave a small tug. The ear splitting crack of bone made Rin wince. Flesh tore like tissue paper; Meguru ripped the reject’s arm clean from its body. The monster screeched and sunk to its knees. It clutched the empty socket, thick, dark blood spurting from the gaps in its fingers.

Meguru looked at the arm, head tilted to one side. “Is that all?” He asked, emotionless. “Lame.”

“Cut it out!”

Meguru turned, and discarded the arm.

Rin had risen, though only just. One hand hugged his chest, the other supported himself, holding his knee. His face was contorted in a mixture of disgust and rage. “Just destroy it already!”

A waterfall of bloodied tears streamed from both sides of the reject’s singular, bulging eye. It continued to scream, a wounded animal.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? It’s already dead!” Rin yelled. “Are you really that sadistic?”

“Playing the hero, Harigane?” Meguru grinned. “Didn’t realise you cared for these sorry freaks.”

“That’s not it.” Rin grimaced and took a few shaky steps forward. “There’s just no need. Just what do you have to gain from tormenting it? Making it hurt itself like that—”

“I ‘unno. It’s already dead, ain’t it?” Meguru asked. “You said as much just now.”

“I know what I said.”

“Then, what’s wrong with having a little fun?”

“You’re sick.”

“Maybe.” The man shrugged. “Or maybe you just need to take the stick out your ass. I don’t think about that kinda thing, too much of a hassle. That’s for nerds like you to waste time worryin’ about. No real consequences for me either way, right? Not like there are any gods who’re gonna smite me down, or something stupid like that. While we’re on the subject—” His expression soured— “I don’t remember you being the almighty moral arbiter, kid.”

“I’m not.” Rin grit his teeth and made an effort to stand upright. The pain in his stomach worsened. He inhaled sharply. “I’m not a good person,” he said. “I’ve lived my life a petty, conceited, self-absorbed little shit. I’ve hurt people. Not because I’ve meant to, but that’s no excuse. I’ve lost count of how many Rejected I’ve killed up until now. They were all people, once. You think that’s been an easy pill to swallow? Even so—” A rage flooded his veins, one that made it possible to ignore the pain. Rin felt blood pound in his ears, but lifted his head up high. “I draw the line at actual fucking cruelty. Got that?”

“Loud and clear.” Meguru grinned. “You think you’ve already won, don’t you? Looking down on me like that. God, you’re naive. Really pisses me off.” The man gave a deep, throaty chuckle. “You think that’s cruelty, huh? You ain’t seen nothing. The world’s a cruel place; no changing that fact. Newsflash, kid; in the real world, nobody gives a shit!”

Rin’s eyes widened. The reject had found its feet. It now towered behind Meguru, remaining hand raised high. With a hellish scream, it unleashed a devastating chop at the man’s exposed head.

Meguru anticipated this. His backwards glance was laced with seething vitriol. “You really ain’t fun at all. Waste of my time.”

He clicked his fingers. That simple action, magnified, unleashed a concussive burst of sound. The force sent the reject reeling. Meguru approached, hands in his pockets. “You want it over with, Harigane?” He called over his shoulder. “Fine. Have it your way.”

The reject, the raging bull on its final legs, tilted its head back and let out one final roar. Meguru faced it off without a care in the world. The reject charged, and delivered a shattering punch into the man’s chest.

The only thing that shattered was the reject. Meguru wasn’t moved an inch. The moment the reject’s fist made contact, the most awful crunch followed. Splintering like rotten wood, the shattered bones tore great gashes through the muscle and skin. Meguru paid no attention to it. His stare was focused pointedly on Rin. The reject sank to its knees, truly armless. Meguru shook his head, then clapped both hands over its ears. The reject’s head exploded, splashing the man’s front in a wave of crimson. Its body flopped forwards, then disintegrated.

“Well?” Meguru turned back to Rin, scouring the blood from his shirt. “Clean enough kill for you, kid?”

Overly gratuitous; entirely unnecessary. Rin felt sick to his stomach. When he fought, he made an effort to dispatch the Rejected quickly. His Severance Planar did an efficient job of cleaving them in two, or cutting off their heads. Meguru had forced the reject to kill itself, slowly—a deliberate exploitation of its lack of inhibition—before a brutal execution. Rin didn’t indulge him with an answer, only a glare.

“Hakana said you’d show me a good time.” Meguru returned the look, licking his lips. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Fuck around, and you’ll find out.” Rin growled, settling into a stance.

“You got the Ascension Blade for me?”

“What do you think?”

Meguru laughed. “I like your style. Seems we’re just more and more alike.”

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Rin shifted on the balls of his feet. Even having seen him dispatch that reject, as horrific as it was, he still had no idea what Meguru’s powers were. Godlike reaction speed, incredible physical strength; he could tell that much. Even his slightest movements had deadly consequences. A normal person’s psychic energy was uneven and erratic, spiking in times of thought. Meguru’s, by contrast, flowed smoothly, evenly distributed. It reminded Rin of Detective Ibuse. Meguru’s presence, however, was chilling; a special kind of fear. One wrong step could mean his death.

“Be wary of this one, boy.” The Architect made himself known.

“Where have you been?” Rin hissed. “Sleeping late? That’s my job!”

The Architect ignored him. “You’ve noticed, haven’t you? This man is not like the others.”

Rin nodded. “He isn’t a psyche user?”

“It isn’t so simple.” The spirit’s eyes narrowed. “Alas, he has ascended beyond anything you could comprehend. The flow of his psychic energy far outstrips your own. Worse still, his signature better resembles them.”

“Them? You mean the—”

“Finished yammering to yourself yet?” Meguru taunted. Unlike Rin and his fighting stance, the man stood loose, thumbs tucked into his pockets. The large man rolled one shoulder, wincing as it popped slightly. “If you’re not gonna put up a fight, at least give me a trophy to take back to the boss.”

“He’s goading you, boy,” the Architect warned.

“Yeah.” Rin felt his skin prickling all over. “It’s working.”

“This man is relying on you to be the aggressor, to make the first move.”

“I noticed. He’s banking on me falling for his trap. I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“What are your priorities here?”

That question sobered him up a bit. Rin remembered who was waiting for him outside the distortion. “I gotta get out of here. I can’t risk losing the blade.” He patted his pocket. The frame containing the fragment was still intact, thank goodness.

“Then flee, boy,” said the Architect. “A tactical retreat is never an act of cowardice. A battle fought without assurance of victory is already lost.”

Rin was half-considering it, when Meguru’s grin widened. He must’ve seen something. “Gonna run, are we? No chance. You think I’m just gonna let you leave? I ain’t come all this way for nothing, kid.”

He raised both hands, and gestured. His palms faced towards himself, index and fifth fingers extended. One hand he held far. The other, he held in front of his face. “Hakana taught me this one; never took it seriously, though.” Meguru grinned. “Worth a try, don’t you think?”

The word that followed sent a shiver down Rin’s spine; the one thing he had hoped never to hear again.

Mindscape

虚廟 Koyashiro