JUNYU VS MORGAN — THE RETURN
The ocean stretched endlessly beneath the dark sky.
Waves crashed against the ruined battlefield as lightning flickered far beyond the horizon.
Morgan stood motionless.
Junyu was breathing heavily across from him.
Morgan looked at him and shook his head.
Morgan:
"Shouting at yourself... how stupid can you be?"
Junyu slowly lifted his eyes.
He stared at Morgan.
But something felt wrong.
Something deep inside his body.
His breathing suddenly became heavier.
His fingers trembled.
Junyu's thoughts:
What is this sensation?
My body...
It feels like something bad is going to happen.
Morgan suddenly disappeared.
WHOOSH!
He appeared beside Junyu and swung his leg toward him.
Junyu leaned backward just in time.
Morgan's kick cut through the air.
Junyu immediately stepped forward and drove his fist into Morgan's chest, sending him sliding backward across the ground.
Morgan:
"Lacod Junyu!"
Junyu stood there for a moment.
Then his legs gave way.
He fell into the shallow ocean.
The cold water surrounded him.
Junyu pushed himself back up.
But the cold wasn't coming from the ocean.
His entire body felt freezing.
A chill traveled down his spine.
His heartbeat became irregular.
Something was moving inside him.
Something he couldn't understand.
Junyu clenched his teeth.
Junyu:
"What... is happening to me?"
Morgan slowly walked toward him.
Morgan:
"You really think you can defeat me?"
He stopped.
"Defeat all of us?"
Junyu looked up.
Despite everything happening inside him, his eyes remained determined.
Junyu:
"I don't think anything."
He stood.
"I just believe in me..."
His fists tightened.
"...and my friends."
Junyu looked toward the distant battlefield where the others were still fighting.
Junyu:
"My world is my friends."
His voice grew stronger.
"They can never lose to all of you!"
Morgan's expression darkened.
Morgan:
"Then your world is going to break."
He raised his hand.
"Including you."
BOOM!
A massive energy blast tore toward Junyu.
Junyu raised his arm.
The blast was deflected into the ocean, sending a wall of water into the air.
But Morgan had already moved.
He appeared behind Junyu.
His arm wrapped around Junyu's upper body, locking him in a powerful grappling hold.
Junyu struggled.
Morgan tightened his grip.
Morgan:
"Tell me..."
He lifted Junyu off the ground.
"...how will you escape this?"
Junyu's feet left the ground.
Above them, lightning began crawling through the clouds.
Morgan's energy gathered around his free hand.
The energy compressed.
Then formed into a concentrated beam.
Junyu's eyes widened.
He understood immediately.
He's going to fire it through me.
Junyu tried to move.
Nothing.
His muscles wouldn't respond.
His body froze.
Inside his mind, everything became silent.
Then—
A voice.
U.S.:
"LACOD JUNYU!"
Junyu's eyes widened.
U.S.:
"YOU LOSER!"
Junyu's consciousness shook.
U.S.:
"GET OUT!"
Junyu struggled against Morgan's grip.
His body still wouldn't move.
Junyu's thoughts:
Oh fuck...
I'm done.
My body isn't even working.
It isn't even mine.
And that beam is going to hit me.
I can't lose.
If I lose... my body takes control completely.
The voice returned.
U.S.:
"LET ME COME OUTSIDE!"
Junyu's eyes widened.
Junyu:
"Who are you?"
The answer came instantly.
U.S.:
"I am you."
Junyu shook his head.
Junyu:
"You're not me!"
His eyes sharpened.
"I am the only one in this world!"
The energy beam reached its peak.
Lightning exploded across the sky.
Morgan released it.
THE BEAM DESCENDED.
Junyu looked toward it.
His mind raced.
Junyu's thoughts:
Whatever happens...
If I win internally, I lose externally.
But if I lose internally...
I lose myself.
His eyes suddenly widened.
Then Junyu twisted his body.
He used the force of Morgan's own grip against him, rotating his weight through the hold.
Morgan's grip slipped.
Junyu flipped through the air.
BOOM!
He landed hard on the ground.
The beam came down.
Junyu raised his hand.
The energy around him suddenly erupted.
CRACK!
The beam shattered apart before reaching him.
The entire battlefield went silent.
Then—
The atmosphere began to shake.
The ocean beneath Junyu's feet started rippling outward.
His hair slowly began changing.
Black strands turned crimson.
Two horns began pushing upward from his head.
His aura exploded around him.
Morgan's eyes widened.
Junyu lifted his head.
His eyes were no longer completely human.
Junyu:
"I won't hold back either."
KING OF DEMON.
The transformation was complete.
Morgan charged first.
Junyu didn't move.
Morgan threw a punch.
Junyu caught his wrist.
He rotated his body and redirected Morgan's momentum, turning the attack against him.
Aikido.
Morgan's balance disappeared.
Junyu twisted his arm, stepped through, and used Morgan's own force to throw him into the ground.
Morgan rolled across the battlefield.
Junyu stood above him.
Morgan slowly pushed himself back up.
He looked at Junyu.
Morgan:
"How are you going to save everyone?"
Junyu stared at him.
Then his expression changed.
Junyu:
"Everyone?"
He paused.
"What is everyone?"
Morgan's eyes narrowed.
Junyu smiled strangely.
Junyu:
"I only save myself."
Morgan froze.
That answer wasn't Junyu.
Not the Junyu he knew.
Inside his mind, Junyu realized something was wrong.
What did I just say?
It felt like I had no control over my own words.
Morgan stared at him.
He could feel it too.
Something had changed.
Morgan:
"You don't even know who to fight, Junyu!"
Junyu's smile disappeared.
His eyes became colder.
"It hurts me fighting you."
He stepped forward.
"But all our research led to this."
His aura intensified.
"And it's correct."
He raised his hand.
"You need to die."
Morgan took his stance.
Junyu:
"Try."
Junyu disappeared.
WHOOSH!
He reappeared directly in front of Morgan.
His clawed hand struck Morgan's defense and sent him backward.
Junyu followed immediately.
One punch.
Then another.
Then another.
Morgan barely had time to recover before Junyu continued the assault.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
The barrage continued.
Morgan was forced backward across the battlefield.
Then Morgan suddenly countered.
He drove his leg into Junyu and broke the momentum.
Junyu was sent crashing onto a large rock.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Junyu began laughing.
Junyu:
"Haha..."
His voice sounded different.
Deeper.
Colder.
"It feels like..."
His smile widened.
"...my return."
Morgan's eyes widened.
He finally understood.
Morgan:
"...What?"
Junyu's body suddenly jerked.
His hands grabbed his own head.
His expression changed from amusement to panic.
Junyu:
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF ME!"
His body shook violently.
Then the other voice answered.
U.S.:
"STAY IN, KID."
Junyu slammed his fists against himself, desperately trying to regain control.
Junyu:
"GET OUT!"
U.S.:
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME."
Junyu's breathing became faster.
His heartbeat pounded inside his chest.
His King of Demon aura flickered violently.
Morgan didn't move.
He simply watched.
Junyu's knees buckled.
Junyu:
"What did I do wrong...?"
His voice became smaller.
"God..."
He struggled to remain standing.
"Why is this happening to me?"
His eyes filled with fear and confusion.
"Why am I always the scapegoat?"
The crimson aura around him collapsed.
Junyu's strength finally disappeared.
He fell to the ground.
The ocean waves slowly rolled toward him.
The horns remained.
The red hair remained.
But the boy beneath the transformation was barely conscious.
Morgan stood in silence.
For the first time...
he wasn't looking at Junyu as his enemy.
He was looking at something inside Junyu.
And whatever it was...
it had finally started to come out.