Junko stumbled into the clearing, her breath tired from chasing Ryu, eyes widening as she saw the darkness curling around Jin's body. "Ryu…?" she whispered, but her voice trembled more at the sight of him, his stance, his glare fixed on the monster invading his friend's body. Ryu didn't turn, his sparks already humming across his arms.
"Junko—get out of here. Leave the island. There's no reason for you to be here anymore." - Ryu
"But… you—" - Junko stuttering
Ryu gives her a crude, antipathic stare
"Forget this place. Forget me. You don't deserve this. If I don't make it out of this alive, just know that, I had fun." - Ryu as he switches to a smile
Junko's lips parted, her knees shaking, but she saw the look in his eyes, the weight of his choice, the desperation behind his voice, Jin meant more to him than she knows.
She stuttered, biting back tears, then slowly turned. Her footsteps faltered as she disappeared into the trees, the sound of her retreat fading.
"I'm confused? You had a chance to run away, well I still would've caught you, and even though you know I will kill you, you still stay, and you hold the weight of fighting you're friend. Why is that?" - Enra
Ryu chuckles
"I still have something I wanna tell him, we're kinda in an argument." - Ryu
"Hmph, affection for another. The only feeling I've ever felt...was pleasure from seeing others in pain." - Enra
Darkness rippled outward from Enra, swallowing the clearing in a suffocating shroud. Ryu's electricity hissed and cracked like in rage, his body flaring with sparks, but he's shaking, he knows, this is the worst possible matchup for him.
"Yo Zero, if you in anyway can even the odds for me now's a good time." - Ryu to himself
No response
"Huh, you bastard" - Ryu
He lunged first—lightning splitting the air as he swung a charged fist at Enra's face. But the blow passed through smoke, a hand, born of shadow, materialized at his back and slammed him into the dirt.
BOOM! The impact tore a crater beneath him, coughing dust into the air.
Ryu roared, discharging a burst of current that shredded through the shadows clinging to him. He bolted upward, lightning tracing his body, and unleashed a storm of strikes—blinding bursts of fists and kicks, each crackling with electricity.
But Enra did not block. He absorbed. Each hit sank into his shadowy form, swallowed whole, until Ryu's barrage slowed. Then, a single dark limb stretched from Enra's chest and punched through, the force launching Ryu into a stone wall.
CRASH!
Blood ran from his lip. His arms shook. But he rose.
Enra stepped forward, his hadow expanding like a river. Ryu's electricity flared desperately, but the darkness swallowed every flicker, every spark. Ryu sinks his knees in his pool of darkness.
"Now you see, hehe…" - Enra laughing at Ryu bleeding, enjoying his suffering
He gets down to his level
"Come one now, we only just began. Get up Ryu" - Enra with a demonic smile
Ryu punches him in the face, and just looks at him
"Oh...hehehehe" - Enra
Enra pulls him out of the his pool and launches him in the field.
"You have more, I know it" - Enra
Enra breaks his (Jin's) arm in half and laughs at Ryu
"Stop that!" - Ryu in distress
"Well come on then, or I break the other one—" - Enra
Ryu thundersteps right in front of him, sparks sputtering weakly across his arms. His chest heaved, blood dripping from his mouth—but his eyes burned, the vision to free Jin clouded his mind.
He clenched his fists, lightning surging harder than before, crawling over his skin in jagged arcs.
"Give me my friend!!" - Ryu
Without a sound, he launched forward, every strike laced with desperation. His punches cracked with thunder, his kicks split the air with light, each blow forcing the darkness to recoil for just a moment. He drove harder, faster, pouring his will into every attack.
Enra didn't block. Didn't dodge.
He laughed.
"Attaboy!" Enra taunted, his smile cruel on Jin's face. "Show me how far you'll break yourself for a corpse!"
A shadow limb grabbed Ryu's leg mid-strike and slammed him into the ground. Another lashed across his chest, cracking his ribs, before tossing him skyward. He barely had time to recover before a swarm of darkness smashed into him midair and sent him spiraling through shattered stone.
Still—Ryu dragged himself up, lightning dancing violently now, his whole body a beacon of resistance. His cry tore the island for his brother, both rage and anguish, as he hurled a storm of lightning down upon Enra.
The clearing glowed white, deafening thunder exploding outward. And when the light faded, Enra still stood. Untouched. Laughing, louder than before, his voice coming to a conclusion.
Ryu just watched, breath shallow. All his efforts, all his heart, nothing could reach the monster in front of him.
"I am deeply unsatisfied, to think a human had the potential to make me feel ecstasy, you failed Ryu." - Enra
"It would be disrespectful of me if I don't give my all, take heed." - Enra
"Shadow essence: Shin'en"
A void of darkness envelops the whole vicinity where they stand. Enra leaps on top of a tree and watches, as Ryu slowly plunges into the abyss of nothingness, struggling to get out, the the void dragging him inside.
"To be honest, it wasn't nice knowing you, but I'm greatful for the vessel." - Enra
"How bout I go kill every human on this island, starting with that, Junko." - Enra
Ryu finally sinks into the abyss, the pool finally closes him inside, and evaporates.
"Jin. We have a lot of work to do now together, and I can sense it, you're not trying to fight it. Ahhhhhh. Now let's go...on a carnage, hehe" - Enra as he caresses his chest
He turns his back to leave
BLORP
"Hmm?" - Enra as he turns his head
BLORP—GLOP...FWOOOOOSH!
Enra's abyss opens up again and starts whirling. Enra stares in confusion and disarray, it wasn't him doing this.
"Once shin'en seals shut, it can never reopen, how is this possible?" - Enra in worry
WHOOOSH!
Something blitz out of the pool in an instant and floats in the air, then immediately slams down onto the ground, it was Ryu. Enra being intrigued, he steps down onto the ground.
Long silence
"How did you—" - Enra
"Fuck it" - Ryu
"Huh?" - Enra
"Fuuuuck me, fuck you, and fuck Jin!" - Ryu as he points at Enra
"I tried to play good cop and beat you without killing him, but look where that got me." - Ryu
"Fuck that shit" - Ryu
"Something's wrong with him. He acting strange, like he's, off the rails. Is he high?" - Enra in his thoughts
"Oh, you're probably wondering why I'm alive, good question!" - Ryu
"So I can like manipulate electricity right, and I release it in amps so I can measure how much I need so I don't burn myself, I think about 10 amps can kill me at this state. It may sound small but it can actually kill a fully grown elephant." - Ryu
"So I was sinking like crazy fast in that pool and I got desperate, then it hit me, just fry that bitch up." - Ryu
"So you know what I did Enra...5 amperes of electricity coursed through my body and into that shithole, and I guess it freed me!" - Ryu
"That's right! I electrocuted half of my fucking brain! And I feel so...damn....goooooood!" - Ryu as veins appear in his eyes and starts laughing
"He deliberately risked his own life, just to save his friend, this, truly is—" - Enra talking in his head
"Hey....wanna see how unhinged I get yo" - Ryu smiling deviously