------------------------------------------------------
"Shit! I gotta escape!" Yuri exclaimed as he struggled to run due to the bags being a distraction. "I can't just leave these things here, these things are expensive as hell!"
Countless people ran past him, bumped into him to escape the building. It was pure chaos inside, and Yuri was getting worried.
He looked to his right, and saw people collapse the moment they entered the blue-green mist without any protection. Yuri immediately thought that it was some kind of sleeper gas that makes people fall into a deep slumber.
'Fuck, where should I go?!'
He looked all around him, and saw that he was cornered from all sides. Suddenly, people began collapsing out of nowhere near him even though they didn't inhale the substance yet. In just a few moments, Yuri began to cough like he had a lung disease.
"I- *** is it from the ga--*** gas?!"
"*** What the fu--*** fuck is *** *** happening?! ***"
Yuri dropped his bags in a corner and grabbed his cloth placed in the pocket of his shirt. He then looked around and saw a glass bottle filled with water. He took it, opened the cap, and poured water all over the cloth, then placed it on his face. His lungs slowly calmed down, and he was able to breathe normally again.
'I'm fucking cornered, the gas is about to envelop me, so I need to brace myself for the worst.'
He tightened his grip on the cloth and huddled next to his shopping bags, hoping to stay conscious during the event.
----------------
The market fell silent as the gas continued to spread through the air. From the outside, the building looked like it radiated death from every angle due to the smoke seeping out of the establishment. Law enforcement arrived within minutes, but without the necessary tools and equipment to deal with the threat, they had to wait for the bigger guns to arrive.
Inside, three people dressed in black robes walked through the silent market with grey masks on their faces, skipping over the sleeping bodies of the customers who had fallen unconscious. They slowly made their way to the center of the market, where they found a girl dressed in a white robe, similar to those worn by female saints. One of them pulled out what appeared to be a pair of handcuffs and approached her, studying her face before making a gesture to the others behind him.
"Good," the other man replied. "Cuff her up."
The man grabbed her arms and placed the handcuffs tightly around her wrists. He then put her limp body over his shoulder and nodded to the others.
"Illyha?" the man looked at the female member of the team. "Deal with the guards."
The girl was a beastkin cat, holstering a small pistol at her right waist and a pouch to her left. She walked towards one of the sleeping bodies of what seemed to be the bodyguards of the girl. She pulled out a kunai from the pouch and threw it onto the neck of the person, instantly killing him. She then proceeded to repeat the same action to a few more people, before returning to her team.
"All done," she reported. "They won't be waking up anymore."
"Obviously," he remarked while pulling out what looked like a transceiver from his vest inside the robe. He turned it on and talked to the other side.
["What's your status?"] the man asked.
["Everything's fine over here,"] a female voice talked on the other side. ["No disturbances yet, other than the sirens from outside."]
["Understood."]
The man putted the transceiver back into his vest and turned to his team. "Alright, we're wasting time here, let's go back--"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a man wearing a wet cloth on his face stood still at the sight of the three mysterious individuals who were standing right in front of him. He looked around the area, then turned back to face them.
"W-Who the hell are you guys--"
A kunai suddenly appeared right in front of the man's face as Illyha threw the weapon without hesitation. The man looked like he had no time to react, and so he was struck in the head by the weapon. To their surprise, the kunai didn't pierce the man's head and the weapon just fell to the ground.
The man looked down and grabbed the kunai. He then turned to the girl who threw the weapon at him.
"Did you just throw a weapon at me--"
The third member of the team suddenly appeared right in front of the man and kicked him in the face. The man got flown into a stall filled with fruits for sale, destroying it.
"That was weird," he remarked. "Illyha, why didn't your throw affect him?"
"I-I don't know, maybe the knife got dull?" she replied.
"Alright, we should go now--"
...
Steps echoed through the market as the man who was knocked away came back unscathed. The team looked at him with a feeling of unease.
"Who the hell are you?" the man asked.
"You first!" he exclaimed at him. "You're the one who kicked me out of nowhere!"
"It seems that you're not quite skilled in combat, but you're very resilient," he remarked. "The name's Grand, and I'm going to be your opponent."
"Wait wait wait-- opponent?!" he exclaimed out of confusion. "Why now?! Are you the ones who attacked this place?!"
...
"Doesn't matter, anyways..." Grand appeared right in front of the man with his broadsword, planning to kill him in a single blow. The sword hit the man, knocking him away a couple of meters into a concrete pillar, which was destroyed in the impact.
Grand looked disappointed. "He's weak, I'm sure he's dead now."
Rumble
As they were about to depart, suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake violently. Following their instincts, they instantly jumped up high in the air.
Large spikes erupted from the ground, almost impaling them. The spikes reached the ceiling, destroying what's above and damaging the buildings at the surface.
"What in the--?!" Illyha exclaimed as she fell back down to the ground, shocked and confused. "What is that?!"
"Did that guy do that?" Grand looked at where the man was thrown by his broadsword attack. At the distance, he saw the man with his hand buried beneath the ground. He removed his hand from the floor, revealing a large claw replacing his hand.
"I guess he's more than just a guy with a strong body," muttered Grand as he dropped down to the ground, holding the broadsword on his right hand. "Hey Devan, you got any healing scrolls?"
"I have a few of them in my vest," he replied as he slipped his hand inside his coat and grabbed a scroll. "You're gonna fight him?"
"Let me have some fun for a moment," said Grand as he prepared to dash at the man. "Go ahead and secure the package, I'll be back."
"Alright," Devan said as he prepared to leave him behind. "Illyha, let's go."
The duo both ran towards the exit of the market to meet up with the rest of the group, leaving Grand alone.
"Alright, now that they're gone..." Grand paused for a few seconds.
"Should we play for a moment?"
"First, what's your name, young man?"
There was a brief pause of silence in the place until the man spoke.
"Yuri," he answered. "The name's Yuri, and this might be the last name you'll hear in your life."
"Oooh-- you got the guts," Grand said as he prepared to dash at him. "Let's see if you really are worthy of saying that to me."
Boom.
A shock wave rippled through the market as Grand headed straight toward Yuri, with his broadsword aimed at him. The gas around him was blown away, making the surroundings clear again. Yuri swerved to the side, causing Grand to destroy a mannequin behind him.
"Predictable."
Grand suddenly appeared behind Yuri and hit him with the sword, causing him to be knocked into the ground. Grand then kicked his body when it bounced back into the air, knocking him away for a couple of meters into a stall, destroying it.
Yuri emerged from the rubble unscathed, and turned his arms into Hammerfists. He punched them deep into the floor, then muttered-- "Groundspike."
A row of spikes emerged from the ground, heading towards Grand. He instantly dodges it by jumping into the air, escaping the attack.
Yuri then turned his right arm into the Whipfist, then muttered-- "Throw," causing the weapon to extend towards Grand. The man blocked the Whipfist using the broadsword then knocked it away from him. He then aimed the sword at the line of the Whipfist, then slashed it in one strike.
"AH-- FUCK!" Yuri cried out in pain.
He retracted his Whipfist back into his arm, at which it began to heal back. In just a few seconds, the weapon returned back to its original state.
'Hm, regenerative capabilities?' Grand thought when he saw it happen. 'What abilities does he have?'
Yuri then turned both of his hands into claws, then buried them into the ground.
"Groundspike."
The ground began to rumble heavily. Grand immediately jumped away from the area and took cover. In just a few moments, an incredibly large spike erupted from the ground, piercing the ceiling and emerging at the surface, destroying a part of the building above the market and shocking the bystanders. The spike immediately retracted back into the ground, disappearing from sight.
'How is he doing that?!'
Immediately after Yuri takes his claws off the ground, he dashed towards Grand and turned his arms into Tendrils. He muttered-- "Throw," causing his arms to extend. Grand tried to block the attack with his sword, but Yuri snatched it away from him using the tendrils and throwing it far behind his back.
'You're done now!' Yuri exclaimed in his thoughts, but just as he was about to hit him in the face with the tendrils, Grand suddenly disappeared from his face and appeared behind his back.
'Eh?'
"Heavy Thrust."
Yuri felt an incredibly powerful blow from behind, and was thrown across the air, landing on a pile of rubble from the ceiling. Grand landed back on the ground and looked around for his broadsword. There, near the center of the market, he spots it lying on the ground. He took a moment to look behind him where Yuri was before rushing to the center.
Back at Yuri who was currently laying on rubble and debris, he slowly stood up, taking a deep breath. He suddenly felt a sharp pain behind him. He inspected it, but it looked like there wasn't any wound, just an ache that would fade over time. He dusted off the dust that was on his clothes and began to think.
'He's fucking strong. I got literally destroyed by him,' he thought. 'Well, it was bound to happen, since I don't have experience in literal martial arts combat or something.'
'I gotta adapt, what powers of mine are the most effective against him? The tendrils can take his sword, the shield can block his attacks...'
'Alright, I think I have a solution.'
"Armor."
Yuri's body now shifted into the Armored Form from Prototype 1, providing him an extra line of protection against Grand's attacks. He inspected himself, becoming engrossed at the sight of his armored body.
"Shit," Yuri muttered in an amazed tone. "Let's see how he handles this."
----------------
Grand walked towards his sword, which was covered in dust and rubble. He grabbed the handle and picked it up one handed. He then looked around and saw debris covering piles of blood in the area where they fought.
'I should probably finish this soon,' Grand thought to himself. 'I don't want to get punished by the chief after all.'
Suddenly hearing cracks of stone and metal from behind, he turned around and saw a man wearing some kind of tough armor. It looked extremely durable and thick, making him a bit jealous.
"What's this?" Grand exclaimed. "A new trick of yours? Impressive!"
The man was revealed to be Yuri, who then muttered the words "Blade," causing his right arm to transform and become like what the name says, a blade.
"I guess you could control your own physical body," said Grand. "Why didn't I realize that before?"
"Well, it doesn't matter. Try not to disappoint me this time, alright?"
Boom.
Grand dashed towards Yuri, charging up his attack. When he was close enough, he struck him from the side, hitting his abdomen. As expected, the attack didn't affect him much, and he was able to counter-attack by slashing his blade towards him.
Grand jumped back and tried to perform another strike, but this too was futile, since Yuri absorbed the damage like a sponge.
"It's strong," Grand then swerved around him and tried to strike his back, but Yuri countered it. "Shield," he muttered, transforming his left arm into a shield from Prototype 2. When Grand threw his sword at his back, spikes suddenly emerged from the shield, preventing Yuri from taking damage and knocking Grand a few meters away.
"Gh-- That was new," Grand immediately stood up and made a stance. Yuri rushed over to him and performed a spinning attack on him. Grand jumped away at the last second and landed behind Yuri, who then turned his back and tried to slash him, but Grand's reaction time was faster, so he was able to escape the attack.
"It looks like I can't defeat you now due to your form," Grand then pulled out a blue orb from the sidepockets of his pants. "I've been here for too long, so let's wrap it all up, shall we?"
Grand threw the orb at the ground and stood there.
'What's he doing?' Yuri thought. 'Is he powering himself up?'
...
A few moments later, Yuri heard the sound of loud footsteps in the distance. He looked to his left and asked Grand.
"What did you do?"
"Oh, I just called my friends over here," Grand replied.
"Those guys earlier?" Yuri made a pointing gesture towards his left.
"Yeah, but I've brought more than just two."
"Brought more--"
Boom. An explosion occurred in front of him, causing him to get knocked away from the area and into a concrete pillar, further damaging the structure of the market.
A dozen of individuals suddenly appeared beside and behind Grand, with Devan and Illyha among them. A female member rushed over to Grand and consulted him.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Just a few bruises here and there, but no critical damage so far."
"Hey, your cheek's bleeding," Devan pointed at the wound.
"Woah, really?" Grand touched the wound, staining the tip of his index finger red. He cleaned it up by wiping it on his coat and looked to his left.
Yuri stood up from the rubble and slowly revealed himself over the dust and smoke around him. He stood there silent, looking over at the group in front of him.
...
'Holy shit, what the fuck is this?!'
'Are they the goddamn Akatsuki of this world or something?!'
'Every single one of them looks powerful enough to give me a hard time!'
'I bet some of them are literal crazy dudes like Deidar-'
'Wait, why am I comparing them right now to other characters from that show?!'
'I'm currently in a life-or-death situation right now!'
'I need to get out of here, since I'm too lazy now to continue fighting literal people with overpowered abilities.'
Yuri took in his surroundings and saw that the entire market looked like it was on the verge of collapse, and only a slight push would bring it down.
'Haha! I have an idea!'
...
"Devastator."
Yuri suddenly felt like he was burning up on the inside and fell on all fours, grunting in pain. His body emitted a red aura around him and he looked like he was about to explode.
The group in front of him looked confused, but they all felt like something bad's about to happen.
"Grand, I think we should back away for a moment--"
"We're leaving."
"What--"
A large tendril shot up from Yuri's back, hitting the ceiling.
"Take cover!" yelled Grand as they backed away from Yuri, taking cover behind objects.
Tendrils now erupted from Yuri's body in every direction, impaling everything within a large distance. The devastator further damaged the structural integrity of the market, finally causing it to break. Everything began to rumble as the ceiling above Yuri collapsed, causing a chain reaction.
...
"H-How reckless!" one of the members remarked at Yuri. "He didn't even care about the civilians that were unconscious!"
"Let's talk about that after we get out of here, since the ceiling's about to collapse on us as well," Devan reminded him.
----------------
As the dust settled, Yuri emerged from the rubble, transforming back to his original form. He then looked around the place, hearing sirens in the distance. The underground market was now a pit of rubble and debris. The buildings above it had fallen into the space below, crushing everything underneath them. He stood up from the rubble and slowly made his way towards the street beside the market.
Everything was deserted, like it was from an apocalyptic movie. Cars bunched up on the road blocking the path, smoke and dust covering the area like fog, etc.
"Ah, shit--" Yuri exclaimed. "I completely destroyed everything."
He now walked on the side of the road, looking at the buildings which were damaged during the collapse.
Suddenly, he felt something under his foot. He looked down and saw a Teddy Bear covered in dust. He grabbed the toy and inspected it.
Then, it reminded him.
'Teddy Bear... Store... Market... Packaging---'
...
"OH SHIT-- I FORGOT ABOUT MY BAGS AT THE MARKET!"
"NOOOOO!!! I PAID FOR THOSE!!!"
...
"Oh wait, I also forgot about the civilians..."
...
"Oh nooooo----"