"So you don't deny it? That Chase is the only one that can protect him. That you are doing nothing more than pulling Bo and Jade down by clinging so futilely to life?" My double whispered in my ear.
"Wouldn't he be better off?" I muttered to myself. Thinking back to each moment my double mentioned, the feelings of uselessness and helplessness clinging to my bones like weights at the faint memories. "What do I bring to Bo's life? What importance do I have?"
The world around me started to get darker, like lights were being dimmed. I ignored it, feeling the sharp pain in my chest dull to a slight ache. Each breath I took getting harder and harder with each passing second.
"That's it… give in. Just let…everything….go…" My double said, his voice sounding melodic and sweet. I started to close my eyes when I heard something.
"…."
I blinked and looked around, the dim light casting long shadows that were making everything seem so far away.
"…."
The sound was a faint voice, barely above a whisper. However it sounded so familiar. I shook my head and tried to fight past the sleepy feeling that washed over me.
"Hello?" I called out, much to my double's dismay.
"Ignore that! It's not important! Your son is what's important! Just give up! Give up for Bo!"
Hearing my Son's name again sparked something. A memory, fleeting and old. Bo, only seven years old and so full of life. Rushing into the shop with a small furry little bundle clutched in his arms. The pride and happiness beaming from his smile. He'd just spliced Gadget using catalysts he'd taken from the shop. I should have been angry, scolded him for stealing but he was just too proud and precious. I congratulated him on his success, told him how talented he was. That was probably the moment that made him the way he is now.
"…dad…" The voice called out. It was louder now, clearer. "…dad..! Dad!"
"Father!" A second voice called out from the murk. Each individual voice shining a light on the dim hut around me. "…Father! Don't leave us! Big brother needs you!"
I recognized the second voice now. It was Gadget's, his true transcended form's voice. Meaning the first had been Bo's. He was out there, fighting to protect me, his useless father.
"GADGET! GET SOMETHING TO HEAL HIM! DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! PLEASE HEAL MY DAD! I'M USELESS WITHOUT HIM!" I heard Bo scream at the top of his voice.
'Bo…useless?' I thought. I felt a ember of parental rage start to burn in my chest, right next to the gun shot wound. 'I'm the useless one! Not him! He's perfect!'
I forced myself to stand. The darkness of the hut quickly receded as I stood. My double looked panicked he rushed over to me, trying to whisper vile sludge into my ears again but his legs cracked like glass and shattered, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Father! Please! Wake up! Big brother needs you! We all need you!" I heard Gadget plead. I felt something circular press into my palm but when I looked down at my hand there was nothing there.
"Don't listen to them! They don't know what's best for them! For you!" My double exclaimed desperately. I laughed at that, a bitter and forced sound.
"I don't know what's best for them either! I do know that giving up and letting my son watch me die is not what a good father does! I'm not traumatizing Bo like that!" I snapped at my double and then kicked him in the face. Cracks appeared all over his head and chest. "I've done everything I could for my family. That rainy night Jade might have given them shined trinkets but only after I had knocked two of those thugs out! When they raided the store I chased the bastards off with a fucking mace! And when Bo found me getting my ass kicked my the red dragons Gadget did help chase them away by going for the nuts while I knocked them out with a rusty pipe! I've defended my family as best I could! Yes I'm weak, yes I'm pathetic but I'm not a fucking quitter!"
I stomped my foot down on my double' head, a bright light shining through the cracks before he shattered completely. Instead of a screaming and fading to nothingness like I thought he would, I heard a faint voice whisper.
"Good…now show him…"
***
My eyes slowly opened and I saw Gadget's furry true transcended body in front of me. He was crouched in front of my hand trying to push a small round object into my palm. Tears were streaming down his fuzzy cheeks. It took all my effort to force my palm to close around the object, feeling a warm heat emanate from it.
Seeing my movement Gadget perked up and looked me in the eye, relief spreading across his features. Three words whispered into my mind as I gripped the object, a small round crystal.
A bright flash beyond Gadget caught my attention. It was Bo, his body wreathed in lightning as he jumped around the dilapidated hut while punching and kicking Cross at every jump. Backing up Indy who was furiously slashing at Cross with a dagger, only to get blocked by Cross' own dagger.
'My son is fighting…I can't give up!' I thought as I gripped the crystal in my hands tightly.
"B-b-b…" I stuttered out with a ragged breath. Feeling like my lungs were swimming in fluid. I gritted my teeth and forced my hand to raise up. "BIO GENESIS ACTIVATE!"
I slammed my hand down on the hut's floor shattering the crystal. A wave of mana rushed from the crystal and struck Gadget, lifting him into the air and resonating with the farm crystal fragment that was his core and sending a second resonance wave shot back, hitting me and lifting me into the air as well. A purple light shined over Gadet and I, making my heart visible as well as Gadget's farm crystal core. Gadget suddenly flew at me, like he was being pulled by a magnet.
The moment he slammed into my chest I felt my body go numb as light from my heart and his crystal started to mix and enveloped us both.
"NATHAN!" I bellowed.
"GADGET!" He exclaimed after me.
"BIO MERGE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" We bellowed in unison.
Our combined lights shined so brightly they were blinding. Our combined form rose higher, bursting through the roof and blinding everyone nearby. Everything went numb as our bodies combined, becoming leaner, more muscular, and animalistic with each passing moment. My hands turned into monkey paws, black fur erupting all over my body. A long whip-like tail emerged just above my tail bone. My face became more monkey-like, my canines growing and descending past my lips and coming to rest just below my chin.
I finally felt Gadget's and mine's minds merge. Each breath making it harder and harder to distinguish between the two. Becoming one singular being with a singular goal in mind. Gadget and Nathan, Becoming…
Tori Wukong
My body coiled into a fetal position before bursting free from the crystal cocoon that had encased it. The glistening shards glowing in the moonlight.
"TORI WUKONG! WE ARE UNITED!" I bellowed.
Most of the crystal shards then swirled around me and condensed into the shape of simple Japanese samurai armor. I started to fall down towards the hut, the remainder of the crystal shards from my cocoon condensed into the shape of a long staff with a scythe on each end. As I fell the scythe whirled around me, flying into my outstretched hand. As I gripped the weapon my eyes locked on the target of my fight.
"Get away from our family!" I barked as I brought the blade of the scythe down towards Cross head.
Unfortunately he'd been watching my every move when Nathan and Gadget initiated the bio genesis. He managed to dodge the slash with a quick back step as my scythe embedded into the soft mats that covered the floor. Bo and Indy quickly jumped behind me as I pulled my scythe out of the floor. I gave it a artful flourish as I got into a battle stance.
"I thought only splicers could do that!" Cross snarled as he pointed the tip of his dagger at me. I laughed haughtily and pointed a long finger at Cross.
"You think that because your world is small, dark, and void." I replied my eyes burning with the anger Nathan felt from the knowledge he had about Cross. "How could you understand the power of a bond between father and child when you butchered yours! It transcends the limits of what small-minded fools need to survive!"
"THOSE MONSTERS WERE NOT MY CHILDREN!" Cross screamed and charged me. I closed the distance in an instance and slammed the butt of my weapon into his stomach. I felt mana flow from my hands and into my weapon, the shaft extending and pushing Cross into the wall of the hut and then through it. Cross went tumbling back several yards, my weapon returning to its normal size once Cross exited the hut.
"The only monster is you…." I said then turned to look at the boys. "Stay inside! On the names of my bases I will not allow them to hurt you!"
I dashed through the hole of the hut. My eyes darting around rapidly and taking on the whole scene. There were more American soliders now, at least double of what had been there before. Cross was kneeled low on the ground, doubled over and clutching his stomach. I held my weapon up and twirled it over my head, channeling mana into it to change its size and swung it. Cleaving everything in front of me for at least ten yards, everything except Cross who was crouched low enough for my scythe blade to pass over him. But not for long.
I jumped onto the air, my scythe returning to its normal size and raised it up to chop Cross head off.
"Tori Wukong! Behind you!" Indy screamed. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing the soldiers running from the other sides of the house to try and coral me. Some had already raised their guns to point at me.
I spun around in mid-air then twirled my scythe in front of me just as the first of the soldiers started firing their guns. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the crystalline shaft and blades of my weapon. Suddenly I felt fire erupt through my back and tear a jagged tunnel through me. A bullet piercing through me from behind. I gritted my teeth as I glanced behind me, seeing Cross now crouching with the gun of a dead soldier in his hands, the barrel still smoking.
The rest of my body suddenly erupted into fire as the barrage of bullets that had been deflected by my twirling weapon; which had been stopped from the sudden pain; pierced my body over and over again.
I fell to the ground, in pain but my body already healing. But it was not fast enough to deal with the ongoing barrage of bullets that pelted me.
"CRYSTAL GENESIS ACTIVATE!"