The morning sun shone once more on Trump City as its rays finally broke through the monotony of its red neon glow. The devastation caused by Kadyn's rampage might have cost KD-554 more than she had expected. From the bodies blocking entire streets to the devastating amount of infrastructure damage, the city was not about to forget that night any time soon. On top of the sheer devastation, Kadyn's actions also attracted some unwanted attention from some people KD-554 was not keen to meet.
Inside KD-554's office, one of the main city officials sat before her desk with a pad in his hands. While the man nervously responded to his boss' inquiries, KD-554 didn't seem to be bothered at all by the reports.
[administrator] - "So Block 72 all the way to Block 158 were annihilated by the Storm-class Titan's blasts as collateral damage. I was wondering, was this an acceptable loss in your eyes, dear governor? "
The administrator paused nervously, fearing KD-554's wrath in reaction to the catastrophic news. However, KD-554 was barely paying attention as she distractedly savoured some of her wine.
[KD-554] - "Walking on eggshells won't do you any good, administrator. If anything, your hesitation is what irritates me. "
Said KD-554 before suddenly throwing her empty wine bottle against the man's face.
Surprisingly, the man didn't even flinch as the bottle shards stabbed through his skin. Instead of feeling pain, the man smiled with relief before tearing the shards out of his synthetic skin.
[Administrator] - "Forgive me for doubting your cruelty, governor. I seemed to have forgotten the difference between disposable assets and the true heart and soul of our ways. "
Said the administrator with an unnatural, cruel smile across his face.
Just like KD-554, the man's eyes began to burn in a crimson colour as he confidently raised his head to stare at his master without fear.
[Administrator] - "The total tally, governor, 78k dead by direct causes, 128k injured by indirect causes, the loss of over 204 billion dollars in military and civilian assets, the death of seven elites of the city, including Martin and his entire company. Despite all this, armed civilians and petty criminals make up 80% of the number; thus is counted as an unconsiderable loss. As for the city, the rebuilding process won't take longer than three months with the use of slave labour. Our only considerable loss is the death of the seven elites and the whole of the White Trident PMC group. That's all the relevant information to your ears, my mighty governor. "
Said the administrator without pause or hesitation.
[KD-554] - "It's like poetry to my ears, administrator. You delivered once again, a flawless report worthy of my time. "
Said KD-554 with a slight grin on her face.
[Administrator] - "I thank you, governor. After all, you chose me as your administrator for a reason! "
Said the administrator with a proud smirk.
Suddenly, a loud beeping from the screen on KD-554's desk interrupted the two. Without a second thought, the administrator stood up and declined the call by hitting a button on the desk. As KD-554 and the administrator shared an amused glance, the phone suddenly rang again. This time, KD-554 was fed up as she abruptly stood up and accepted.
[KD-554] - "You're dead! You hear me, Neil? You have disturbed me for the last fucking time, you bloated maggot infested piece of shit! "
Yelled KD-554 with a rage that even made the administrator recoil in fear.
[Neil] - "Your highness, it's... It's the Emperor. He's here to see you. "
Said Neil in a panic on the other side.
In a fit of rage, KD-554 punched through the com system with the blade formed from her hand. Then, after taking a deep breath, KD-554 pressed on a different set of controls on her desk and leaned in with her mouth toward the speaker.
[KD-554] - "Honey, it's time to come home. "
Meanwhile, in front of the government tower, a row of Allied Blue Guards lined up to form a protective cordon in front of a limousine. Then, just as KD-554 smugly stepped out of the main gate, Dunkel and Jack also exited the limousine accordingly. With a raised chin, KD-554 scanned for any sign of Jagger, but noticed that Dunkel and Jack were the only ones inside the limousine. Standing several dozen stairs above the delegation, KD-554 stared down at the two with a look of superiority in her eyes.
[KD-554] - "A delegation? I was expecting more of a- "
Before KD-554 could finish her sentence, Jagger suddenly landed in front of her from the sky, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as the impact shattered the ground. Though Jagger expected KD-554 to show him some respect, the mayor simply focused on shrugging off the dust on her body.
[Jagger] - "Bow before your emperor! "
[KD-554] - "The prosperity of your empire is ensured by the mutual respect of your most important allies. "
In a fit of anger, Jagger flicked his finger and caused KD-554 to forcefully kneel on the ground. Though she resisted, her physical strength is meaningless in the face of Jagger's power. Just then, a figure descended from the sky with immense power, causing a burst of dust to accompany his landing. Emerging from the dust, Astroboy stood between Jagger and KD-554 with a calm look in his eyes.
[Astroboy] - "Hands off her, lord emperor. We don't want things to get messy at the first meeting between us. "
Said Astroboy in a cold voice.
With a single touch, Astroboy granted KD-554 a burst of energy, which allowed her to stand up effortlessly once more. Seeing the tense situation, the Blue Guards all around Jagger began to activate their crystals in preparation for combat. However, with a palm raised in the air, Jagger immediately ordered his men to stand down.
[Jagger] - "You two do realize what I'm capable of. Despite your power, Grand Cardinal Astroboy, you know you stand no chance against me, right? "
Said Jagger as he intentionally toyed with a piece of Athena's armour hung on his uniform.
[KD-554] - "Of course we don't, my emperor. However, my rule ensures the stability of your empire. You can choose to drag us through the dirt or kill us, but are you truly willing to rule over a barren wasteland? You control the military of the Allied Empire, but we control the society under your rule. You can purge the branches of this tree all you want, but to pull it out by the root is to destroy it entirely. "
Explained KD-554 calmly without an ounce of fear in front of Jagger.
Though Jagger felt irritated beyond belief by KD-554's defiant attitude, he was no fool either. KD-554 had infiltrated every corner of society way before Jagger began to build his empire, so her words and arrogance aren't simply the result of a bluff.
[Jagger] - "I agree we might be allies, but beware of your boundaries. I'm willing to burn this world down just as much as you are if you overstep your authority. A sick tree that can't produce fruit is as good as a dead tree. "
Said Jagger in a menacing tone.
[KD-554] - "Agreed! I even have a feeling we'd get along just fine. "
Said KD-554 as she stared at the piece of Athena's armour hanging on Jagger's coat.
Later, as the two parties settled in the government tower's guest hall, tensions seemed to have finally eased a little bit. After being served some fine wine by KD-554's staff, Jagger began to voice his demands.
[Jagger] - "My armies have been expanding these recent times. I demand triple the weapon production from your factory cities, quadruple food production from your farmers, and mandatory conscription even from the undocumented criminals hiding inside your cities. "
Said Jagger as he crossed his fingers while staring at KD-554.
[KD-554] - "These demands are not impossible, my emperor. However, I know you are not here for these mundane demands. You are here for something else. "
Said KD-554 while leaning closer toward the table.
[Jagger] - "Indeed. The news travels fast, especially for the kind of catastrophe that befell your city last night. I believe you have a property of mine in your possession. "
Said Jagger as he analyzed KD-554's expression.
However, KD-554's expression remained undecipherable as she maintained a neutral look in her eyes.
[KD-554] - "Heh! Your fucking property has tried to MURK ME! That incarnation of the anti-Christ slaughtered her way through my city and dared to attack me in my own office. I had to even be CAST! Inside this- This abomination of a body because of the wounds I suffered at her shit-stained hands. I believe you understand my agony, my emperor. "
Said KD-554 with clenched teeth as her eyes fixated on Jagger's own synthetic body.
[Jagger] - "So she had escaped after almost taking your life? "
KD-554 abruptly stood up and banged her fist against the table in fury.
[KD-554] - "I'm insulted that you would even THINK! That I have that acid-spewing beast in my possession. Believe me, after this debacle, I want to catch that sin of nature as much as you do. I had my people already search every corner of the places my jurisdiction extends to for that accursed beast of a creature! "
Yelled KD-554 as her rage coated every single one of her words.
Due to the realistic hatred in KD-554's voice and Jagger's ignorance of Kadyn's relationship with her, her act and lies proved to be enough to persuade Jagger. After all, KD-554's narrative presented no flaws for Jagger to feel any doubt toward.
[Jagger] - "If you were to find her, I want her brought to me alive and preferably unharmed. In exchange, I will grant you the respect you sought from me. "
[KD-554] - "You have my word, my emperor. She'll pay! She'll pay for her fucking crimes even if it means that I have to chase her to the end of this rotting world! "
Said KD-554 with an unhinged expression in her eyes.
By this point, even Jagger felt disturbed by KD-554's unstable psyche. Without much more to discuss, Jagger left with his delegation. However, to make sure that KD-554 wasn't lying, Jagger instructed a few of his spies to remain in the city to keep an eye on her. As the last of Jagger's men left his sight, Astroboy finally left the balcony to find KD-554 in her office.
[Astroboy] - "Your words were quite convincing. "
Said Astroboy in a monotone voice.
[KD-554] - "Sigh... It's because I was not acting. These emotions... hehe... they are truly how I feel about her. "
Said KD-554 while smiling psychotically.
KD-554 tapped her fingers on the desk anxiously before suddenly banging her fists against her legs to calm herself down. Hidden beneath her hair, which covered her face, her glowing red eyes burned with a feral rage.
[KD-554] - "This son of a bitch thinks he can barge into my home and spit in my face. I'll show him! I'll rot his Empire so much he'd be ruling over a graveyard. I'll rip his face off with my own teeth! I'll fucking drink his melted corpse after I dump it in a bath of acid! "
Screamed KD-554 while barely containing her rage.
[Astroboy] - "There will be no need for input on our part. You do not need to set fire to your garden to burn down a single weed. Once he expands his Empire, he will be but a cruel joke in the face of the other cyberknight warmongers. Jagger is weak, and his delusion about his power will be his downfall. "
Said Astroboy, emotionless as a machine.
[KD-554] - "Yeah, but watching him getting torn apart is not as satisfying as tearing him down myself! "
Muttered KD-554 while grinning with excitement and rage.
[Astroboy] - "If you truly want to expose this world for its hypocrisy, then start by keeping those petty urges in check. You have defeated your worst enemy, but this is not where your philosophy ends. The exposure of humanity's true nature is our ultimate goal after all. "
Said Astroboy in a cold and commanding tone.
[KD-554] - "*Breaths* You're right, my dear Astroboy. My anger could be directed elsewhere, but our mission doesn't end here. Not until I've drowned all human delusion in the blood of their defiled nature. "
Said KD-554 as she gripped her fist tightly.
Later, in the dark underground dungeons of the government tower, Kadyn finally woke up to find herself tied on all four limbs by chains. As her vision returned, all she saw was the sight of a laboratory filled to the brim with horrifying experiments in incubation tubes. The place was beyond inhumane, as if hell itself spilled into reality with all of its ugliness.
From deformed human test subjects being mutilated beyond recognition to sleeping abominations, which unfortunately kept enough features to let one know they are not beasts, but were once men, the place was metaphorically the culmination of all hatred and depravity in existence compressed in a cage. Even with her iron stomach, which withstood gore and rot like a mundane occurrence, Kadyn felt nauseous looking at the scene before her.
Surprisingly, scientists and workers handled the place as if they were desensitized to such horrors. After all, those allowed in KD-554's laboratory were the most devoted followers of her philosophy. To the workers, this unholy kingdom is an art museum, displaying all the true forms of the monsters within the heart of men and women alike. To the scientists, messing with genetics and augments is but a required process to engineer the perfect human being; Capable of crude violence and wrath without the facade of empathy and compassion.
As one of the scientists pulled a child out of its incubation pod, Kadyn closed her eyes and desperately distracted her mind with other thoughts. However, the ghoulish screams of the mutated infant soon pierced Kadyn's ears like red iron pressed on her skin. Suddenly, a slap on Kadyn's face broke her out of her mental sanctuary.
[KD-554] - "Wake up, sunshine! "
As Kadyn peeked through her eyelid, she was hit with the intense red glow of KD-554's irises. Just as Kadyn tried to turn away, KD-554 forcefully snapped her sister's face back in front of her.
[KD-554] - "Don't be shy now, little sister! This is my home and also... now yours. "
Said KD-554 with a look of unhinged excitement on her face.
[Kadyn] - "Kill me already. If you hate me this much, just fucking get on with it already. "
[KD-554] - "Hmm, that would be an option. However, killing you would be too easy... "
Just as Kadyn tried to open her mouth to interrupt KD-554, she abruptly stabbed Kadyn in the tongue using her sharp, bladed finger. Then, after licking the blood off her finger, KD-554 placed her finger before her mouth to shush Kadyn.
[KD-554] - "I'm talking here, you little cunt. See, you have humiliated me, betrayed me, left me to rot by myself while you pretended to be a sweet little princess... "
Said KD-554 calmly before suddenly bashing her metallic skull against Kadyn's face.
[KD-554] - "YOU DIDN'T DESERVE ANY OF IT! You... You pathetic, shameless, pretentious little snake born from genes found in a septic tank! Where is all of it now? Huh? Where is your Mike? "
Yelled KD-554 with hate oozing from her voice.
Without a warning, KD-554 rammed her head into Kadyn's face once again, causing blood to drip out of Kadyn's nose.
[KD-554] - "WHERE IS YOUR SMILE? IN WHICH GRAVE IS BURIED YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS? WHERE IS YOUR HAPPINESS, PRINCESS? "
Yelled KD-554 before smashing her head into Kadyn's forehead another three times.
With dilated pupils, KD-554 stared at Kadyn's bloodied face with unhinged excitement.
[KD-554] - "That's right! You lost it all! Because you are me! You were never meant to have any of that delusion... You are a beast, a monster even Miho Tsujinaka, our mother, couldn't love. Mike died because he was trying to protect a tainted monster, not a woman. Our sisters died because this monster never possessed the empathy of a true human to go save them. I became like this because this beast left me to rot! "
Whispered KD-554 before smashing her head against Kadyn one last time.
[KD-554] - "You are the worst! See that screaming abomination of a child there? That would've been yours, haha. After testing our sisters' DNA, I found that the genes of all KD-series assassins are unstable. This is what you tried to curse Mike with when you asked him to give you a kid. What kind of monster are you? "
Said KD-554 as she tried to pry Kadyn's sight toward the mutated infant.
Though Kadyn wanted to protest as KD-554 cut her right where it hurt most, she was unable to say anything. The pained mumbles soon turned to pitiful attempts to scream as the image of the deformed infant desecrated her most cherries dreams and memories. With the wound in her mouth, Kadyn couldn't even scream properly as she began to cry.
[KD-554] - "Why are you crying? HUH? Hehehe! I should've been the one crying! But I can't... I fucking can't do it. You cry because you got exposed for the monster you are, not because you are feeling remorseful. You knew you were deserving of this fate, so what gives you the right to cry? "
Yelled KD-554 before spitting Kadyn's blood out of her mouth.
[KD-554] - "Enjoy your stay, you devious beast. Even your fucking blood tastes awful. Don't hate me for putting you here; blame yourself for deserving a spot amongst my worst collection of monsters. "
Said KD-554 as she delighted in Kadyn's sorrow and pain.
As Kadyn cried like a wounded puppy, KD-554 simply watched with a big smile on her face. However, just as she was about to continue her tirade, one of her servants approached her and whispered a few words in her ear. With an annoyed grunt, KD-554 savagely pushed away her servant before storming out of the laboratory. At the entrance of the laboratory, KD-554 met with Astroboy before she angrily ranted her way to the elevator with him silently by her side.
Meanwhile, despite the lack of humanity inside the people working around Kadyn, her heartbreaking sobs surprisingly managed to turn a few curious heads in her direction. Sadly, these passing stares never materialized into any compassion, with many soon returning to their task with indifference.
On the other hand, Kadyn's exhaustion soon dimmed her cries into quiet sobs. Though a normal person would've questioned KD-554's venomous words and twisted logic, someone broken like Kadyn was like a defenceless cinder in the middle of a storm. She believed in KD-554's venom and drank it openly like water. After all, when you're drowning, you can only hold so long before water rushes into your mouth. In her mind, Kadyn was convinced that she was truly an evil monster who poisoned all those she touched.
At that moment, a partial stain of darkness began to taint her crystal, creating enough exfoliation for Mike's soul to manifest in a limited capacity. Even Mike was shocked by the strange nature of what had just occurred, considering the circumstances. Maybe it was because the breakdown bled some of Kadyn's true self into her crystal, but Mike knew a crystal exfoliation under her current conditions means she's edging on losing her sanity.
Though too weak to even manifest to her on a mental level, Mike's soul tried its best to comfort her by hugging her against his chest. With time, Mike felt himself becoming more and more lucid as the exfoliation continued. However, he knew by the time the soul bleeding would complete, Kadyn's mind would've been permanently lost. After all, bleeding yourself into your crystal to exfoliate it is why so few are capable of achieving it; Most went insane or became brain-dead.
Using all the power he could muster beyond the grave, Mike comforted Kadyn by holding on to her and telling her words of reassurance. Gradually, Kadyn's sobs died down as she fell into a deep, peaceful slumber. Meanwhile, the stain of darkness on Kadyn's crystal withdrew until it only occupied a small portion of it. Seeing this, Mike's effigy breathed a sigh of relief. With one last pained look at his poor wife, Mike's ghost once again faded from the material world back into his prison inside the crystal.
To be continued...