"What exactly will that serum do to me?" asked Gorgo six years ago, his tone somewhere between curious and nervous.
"Hopefully nothing..." replied Do'cientos, almost without emotion. "Remember, it's the first functional prototype. We started with mice, then monkeys... it seems to be working. You will be the first human to receive this dose."
"True... but I was talking about the powers," clarified Gorgo.
"You shouldn't worry about that now. First you have to survive," added Do'cientos, patting him on the back. "I'm feeling lucky today... maybe I'll share some of my luck with you."
"Thank you very much..." Gorgo smiled, although his expression was trembling.
"Sir... are you sure about this? The success rate could be 22%..." the scientist warned with concern.
"We'll be lucky today, I assure you," Do'cientos affirmed, this time patting the scientist on the shoulder.
Gorgo looked through the window. On the other side, Richarzon watched him intently, anxiously. He made no gestures, but his presence conveyed encouragement. For the first time in a long time, a warm feeling filled the big man's chest.
The injection was administered. A burning sensation ran through his entire body... but it only lasted two seconds.
Gorgo looked at his arms, his chest, his legs... he felt no change. But something... something had begun to awaken inside him.
"Of course you won't feel anything. That's the idea behind the serum: to provide physical benefits, not mutations," the scientist explained, while jotting down notes in a notebook.
At that moment, Do'cientos broke a broomstick over the back of Gorgo's neck.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Gorgo exclaimed, touching the back of his neck. But when he realized he felt nothing, he fell silent. "Why doesn't it hurt?"
"Physical benefit," the scientist interrupted. The serum completely nullifies your perception of pain. Don't be confused: you can still suffer injuries, but pain will no longer be a barrier."
"Then... why do I feel this burning sensation?"
"It's the adaptation process. The serum converts the pain you should feel into a stimulus for growth." It's a form of accelerated training."
"So... I'm a punching bag now?" asked Gorgo, somewhat disappointed.
"A very efficient punching bag," added Do'cientos sarcastically. "Right now you're practically useless... but in the long run, you'll be able to shatter steel with your fists. Maybe more." We still don't know the serum's evolutionary limit. We only know that it adapts to the damage you take.
"Maybe in a few years you'll be invincible... and those who mocked you will eat their words," commented Do'cientos, putting on his characteristic dark glasses.
In that opaque reflection, Gorgo saw something. Not his current face, but what it could become....
A series of explosions shook the entire block. Max ran down the street, throwing Ki projectiles at the cars near Gorgo, trying to keep him at bay.
"Where did he get that resistance from?! Four minutes ago, he was coughing up blood!" Max exclaimed in desperation.
At that moment, Gorgo lifted a huge chunk of asphalt with one hand and threw it like a giant Frisbee.
Max landed a powerful blow on the block of rubble, shattering it into smaller fragments. But from among the flying pieces emerged Gorgo's fist, aimed straight at the young man's stomach.
The impact lifted him several meters off the ground.
In midair, Max reacted instinctively: he fired an energy projectile to one side, letting the force of the momentum push him even further away from the big man.
He fell hard on the pavement. He got up as best he could, panting, and ducked into an alley. He ran at full speed, trying to lose Gorgo, gain space, reorganize his thoughts, and find a way to fight back.
"What the hell happened to him?" he thought, frowning. "This guy has completely changed..."
He checked his chest: there didn't seem to be any fractures. He lifted his shirt... and saw how the center of his torso was beginning to turn purple.
It hit me... and it hurt.
"Damn it... if he gets away, it ruins my plan..." Gorgo complains. "Nordor! Find him!"
"Right away!" shouts the young sprinter, appearing in a flash with hints of black lightning behind him.
He began to run at high speed, searching every corner for Max. The situation turned into a race against time.
His heavy breathing was the only sound in the dark alley, his head against the wall and his eyes clouded... How?
"He took the energy blast... coughed up blood... and out of nowhere became more aggressive..." thought Max, his hand clutching his abdomen. "Wait a minute... every time I hit him, he seemed to get stronger... Could it be that his body evolves with physical damage?"
The thought left a bitter taste in his throat. It was illogical, but it fit. And if it was true, he had to end the fight with a single blow.
"It sounds stupid at this point..." he muttered, looking at the ground in frustration. "I hit him so hard that now he's stronger than me... but I'm not going to give up. I'm a soldier. I'm a Senkayne." I'm not going to let myself be defeated by a freak.
But then, an electric crackle snapped him out of his thoughts. The air crackled with dark lightning... and a mocking voice emerged from the darkness:
"Hello, little mouse..."
Max barely had time to look up when a lightning fist sent him flying out of the alley.
He fell heavily, his body numb from the shock. With effort, he half-opened his eyes... and saw his new opponent, standing still as a statue, sparks running down his arms.
"Who the hell are you...?" he muttered, his jaw tense.
He noticed his white hair bristling with static. He wore old, worn-out clothes, with skate pads on his elbows and knees, as if his body were prepared for a dangerous dance.
As he descended, Max saw the soles of his shoes: melted by friction or the energy that propelled him. When he looked up, he found himself staring at a broad smile peeking out from under a dark mask, which highlighted his crimson eyes like burning embers.
"That crazy look... is it natural or do you put it on just to scare people?" Max said sarcastically before lunging at him with a straight punch.
But Nordor was no longer there. In that same second, Max felt a barrage of blows rain down on him from all directions. Seventy-two hits, one after another, as if the air itself were hitting him.
"I only do it to scare people," Nordor replied with a crooked smile, before landing one last punch charged with electrical energy.
The impact sent Max flying through the air, slamming him violently into a traffic light pole that bent as if it were made of cardboard.
Max burst out laughing. Tears streamed from his eyes, but they were not tears of joy... nor of pain. They were the bitter veil of laughter born of the harshest frustration.
"I don't know who you are... but you're fast." That's clear," he spat, getting up slowly. "You're here to cover Gorgo's weak spot, right? ... But even if you hit me a thousand times a second... with that force, you're just a damn flea next to me!"
<< It was a stupid move. A cry filled with pride... that revealed his location. >>
<< In the physiology of a Senkayn, when frustration reaches its limit and thinking becomes a luxury, the body enters a state of lucidity: an instinctive response. There is no room for logic. Only for an unshakeable desire: to destroy what represents a threat, or to fulfill the last goal that the mind managed to formulate before disconnecting from the rational world. >>
"A lot of talk..." commented Nordor, throwing a black lightning bolt from his hands.
Max dodged it with a precise jump, while accumulating energy in his left hand.
Nordor noticed it immediately. He knew the boy would try to shoot an energy projectile at him, so he intensified his lightning bolts, launching chained discharges that sought to keep Max at bay.
But Max took a high jump, ready to fall on him.
In an attempt to avoid the impact, Nordor released an expansive explosion of electricity...
However, Max extended his left hand forward and generated a ki barrier, resisting the electric wave without retreating.
That instant was enough. Max swooped down, connected with a punch to the side of Nordor's jaw, grabbed him by the ankle before he went flying, kneed him in the stomach in mid-air... and slammed him viciously into a nearby wall.
Instinctively, Max instinctively dodged a punch that landed like a meteor, bursting the ground beside him: Gorgo had arrived.
Without missing a beat, Max met it with a kick to the jaw. As he hit the ground, he chained two quick punches to the torso and then leapt up, connecting with a brutal knee to the centre of the giant's nose.
But before he could continue, he was rammed by Nordor like a bolt of lightning.
Max dug his feet into the ground, stopping the speedster's advance with a restrained scream. Holding him tightly, he twisted his torso and hurled him to the pavement.
Nordor's back impacted violently, and an instant later, a kick sent him rolling into the pavement.
-I liked you better when you were scared," Nordor commented, rising from the ground with an electric glint in his eye.
-That brat is too persistent," Gorgo snarled, rushing at Max at full speed. We must eliminate him now if the plan is to work.
At that moment, they both entered the third stage of the plan:
<< ❸: When Gorgo reaches the physical advantage, or if Max completely dominates the fight, Nordor must step in to tip the balance for good... and both of them must kill Max. >>
Gorgo managed to ram Max, dragging him several feet until he crashed into a concrete wall.
But as soon as he pulled away, a massive blast of energy sent him flying through the air, smashing him into the other side of the street. Leaving behind a great curtain of dust and dirt.
-Those powers are really annoying..." Nordor mentions, gathering electrical energy in his arms.
-They're similar to the old man in the dojo... Tao... could it be...? -Gorgo thought as he stood up, raising his fists firmly and adopting his old boxing stances.
When the dust cleared, he revealed Max covered in dirt, panting. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead, sliding down to his cheek.
-My whole body hurts already," Max muttered, his voice barely audible, as his legs shook with the effort.
…
-Max... you talk a lot about your military training and the strength you have for certain things," Baldur commented to Max, four years ago. But tell me... have you ever been in a fight to the death?
-Uh..." asked the boy, thoughtfully. Of course I have... when Terra was attacked, I had to fight to defend my planet...
He paused. He looked down.
-Well... actually, no," he corrected himself, with some embarrassment. My father forbade me to fight. He forced me onto the ship, while my mother took Oliver and my aunt took Gouten....
-I've never been in a fight to the death...
-I see..." Baldur murmured, with an honest look. To tell you the truth, I hope you never get to live through one. But if it ever happens... I hope it's because you're defending something.
-I don't understand," Max replied, confused.
...
-I didn't understand..." Max thought, staring at the ground, "I didn't understand what it meant to fight to defend something... It's ironic, the very phrase has its answer. Maybe I've always been an airhead....
He felt the warm blood trickle down his forehead, dripping over his eyebrows. Ahead, Gorgo and Nordor advanced mercilessly.
Nordor slipped between flashes of lightning: his blows were too fast to follow. Every contact was a hammer blow. Max could barely lift his arms to defend himself.
He turned his face, and the last thing he saw was Gorgo's fist, crashing into him like a battering ram. He went flying, crossing entire blocks before hitting the ground.
-Being in this fight... it's just an act of my selfishness," he wondered, feeling the world spin around him. What am I defending here...?
He watched as Nordor reached up and threw a right in his face. Max staggered to the side and tried to hit back, but Nordor easily dodged it. He responded with a kick to the chest that knocked him down again.
With what little energy he had left, Max rolled to the side, dodging another downward kick by inches. He braced his right arm on the ground, propelled himself upward, and readied a punch with all his remaining strength.
But something strange happened. No one moved.
Max and Nordor stood frozen, fists raised, staring at each other.
Max was ready to take the hit. To take it.
But Nordor's perception, too quick, betrayed him: he knew that if he hit him with all his energy, he would kill him.
The plan... never said he was to kill him. He was only supposed to help kill him.
His fist shook.
-You hesitated," Max whispered.
And then it was he who struck, right under the jaw. Just enough to knock him off his feet.
-Why do I hold a grudge against Gorgo... What the fuck did he do to me? -Max asks himself, seizing a moment of relief. Ever since I saw him fight Kawaki, something in me was screaming: kill him. Why...?
<< Lucidity had ended. Max Songoku's mind was back to its usual state >>
-He killed many young men... but I don't care about that. They were weak. They didn't stand a chance against him..." Max thought, noticing Gorgo approaching at a trot.
-I am no hero... or an avenger of other people's causes," he added quietly, as he leaned back to stretch his back.
-His target is the dojos... but for what reason? -It was obvious that we would eventually cross paths... but what is pulling the strings in this situation?
-Gorgo, right...? That's your name," he muttered, just long enough for the big man to stop, puzzled.
Why are you showing up in town with a bunch of guys with guns... and a super-hyperactive madman? -Max continued, not missing his gaze. That's a lot of preparation just to kill people from the dojo...
Gorgo looked away, unsure if he should speak or not.
-You've been a big problem these past few years..." he finally confessed. "If you hadn't meddled in other people's situations... if you'd allowed business to go on... none of this would be happening.
-Business? -Max repeated, confused, only to open his eyes in surprise. Suddenly, it all made sense.
-I see..." he said aloud, anger etched in his tone.
-I still don't understand why the dojos got dragged into this trouble... but honestly, I don't even care. All I know... is that you work for those idiots in suits," Max blurted out, a vein throbbing in his forehead, "All this for a fucking piece of land? You guys are disgusting.
.
<< a senkayne, after finishing a moment of lucidity... >>
-now I understand everything...I understand myself... -
<< ... the body receives some kind of revelation, in the culture of the planet terra, it is called Zenkay >>
-I know now that my motives are clearer... to kill you to defend those who will be affected in the future... my brother, my cousin, Baldur and his friends...
<< a Zenkay can act in different ways on the Senkayne organism, physical strength, power, the development of some technique... >>
Gorgo, simply took a step back, after Max's change in attitude, he went from a pitiful state to a pure and energetic state.
<< In Max's case, the Zenkay influenced him in a better way, in controlling his own ki >>.
The big guy could only watch as Max clasped both hands together and launched a storm of energy spheres that began to shatter everything fragile, like a jet of high-pressure water.
-Shit! -Gorgo shouted, hiding behind a wall. But even there, he felt Max's energy projectiles tearing at him bit by bit, like acid rain on stone.
As he looked up, a descending fist met him without warning.
BOOM!
The impact embedded him in the ground with teeth-jarring violence. Gorgo clenched his jaw tightly, resisting the pain.
-And this power...? I was supposed to have adapted to the full force of it! -he shrieked in disbelief, just before he was thrown by another crushing punch that sent him flying through the air.
Before Nordor could jump again, he surrounded Max with swift illusory clones created by accelerations and braking so fast that his figure was duplicated in multiple vibrating silhouettes.
-Which one's the real one, you clown! -Nordor shouted, attacking from blind spots with flurries of punches that Max barely managed to dodge.
Max closed his eyes in silence. A faint buzzing sound enveloped the atmosphere.
- Radar..." he whispered to himself, feeling the flow of life energy echoing in his mind.
As the true fist approached from the right, Max leaned slightly to the side, watching the arm pass over his shoulder. Then he caught it.
In a single motion, he lifted the speedster up, spun him over his head, and slammed him viciously to the ground.
-I've got you now," he muttered, finishing him off with a powerful stomp that shook the concrete.
Nordor only coughed spittle. His body lay motionless, sprawled against the floor. He had lost consciousness without uttering a single groan.
Max slowly looked up.
His eyes were two blades dulled by judgement: there was no rage, only the cold determination of a soldier who, after assessing the threat... decides to eliminate it.
Gorgo gulped. I just raise my fists, the burning of the serum working to keep going.