Rat still remembered when he was younger.
Back then he was weak. The other kids bullied him because of his mother's profession.
Back then, he felt small, weak and useless.
However, Ronald and his group appeared.
He gave him a chance, a chance to change his situation.
At first Rat wasn't sure, joining Ronald's group meant becoming a bully.
He didn't want to do to others what had tormented him so much.
But what choice did he have?
Wasn't that his only option?
Rat decided to join Ronald.
At first it was hard to adapt, but in the end he grew to like it.
He was no longer the weak kid who got beat up, but the strong boy who intimidated others.
It was the law of the strongest.
The law that governs the world.
Rat always admired Ronald for his strength, for having created that group.
They were just rowdy kids, but at the same time, they felt like they owned the world.
When Aizel proposed that they work for him, they got excited.
It was like evolving, like ascending.
They would no longer be considered just a bunch of bullies, they could become something more.
Though apparently, they weren't prepared for it.
While they were strong, after all they had experience in street fights, they were defeated very easily by that girl.
Who was that brat?
Why was she so strong?
They had barely managed to hold her off.
It was very different from fighting kids their own age, she was on a different level entirely.
And then he appeared. Riding a monstrous serpent and finishing them off with ease.
They had lost completely.
Weren't they strong enough for this world?
Were they destined for mediocrity?
Rat didn't want to accept it.
But Ronald already had.
"Are you really going to run?" Rat said with difficulty, he was still on the ground, badly wounded.
Ronald looked at Rat seriously, clutching the wound on his chest while his other arm hung lifelessly.
"Of course I am, idiot. My plan from the start was to buy time until Aizel showed up, but maybe he won't come back," the boy clarified. "Besides, they beat the shit out of us, and I'm not about to turn into a monster just to keep fighting."
Rat let out a strained sigh.
He was too tired to respond.
However, those words caught his attention.
Was it worth giving up your humanity to become stronger?
Rat put his hand in his pocket, gripping that pill they had told him to use only in critical moments.
If he took it, he would become a monster capable of causing havoc.
The idea was slightly terrifying, but at the same time, familiar.
Hadn't he already given up his humanity to survive?
That would be like repeating the feat.
"Hey, you're not thinking about... tch, whatever, not my problem," Ronald said as he moved away with difficulty.
Rat held up the pill, rolling it between his fingers as if it were some kind of game.
"Bon appétit," he said to himself, before finally swallowing the pill.
The change wasn't immediate, but it came soon.
An unpleasant force began twisting inside his body, before spreading through his blood.
Unlike his companion, Rat had large reserves of ka, and still had plenty of it left.
Consequently, unlike him, Rat didn't undergo a complete mutation, but rather an equilibrium between keter and azoth was achieved.
Rat felt his body transforming, a mark began appearing on the hand opposite to the one that held the Devastra.
The boy felt his mind beginning to evolve, his brain thought differently, it was more instinctive.
With a wave of his hand, the boy made the air swirl into a powerful tornado that began moving toward Nora and Alioth's location.
His Devastra had the ability to create directional vectors and force objects to follow a specific direction.
With that effect enhanced, he could create an air shredder like that.
The air spun at an immense speed, tearing through the ground as it passed.
To Rat's eyes it was beautiful.
"Kuahahahaha!" the boy laughed, falling into ecstasy.
That feeling of power was the best thing in the world.
However, a red blaze appeared, cutting through that tornado.
"You guys really never learn!" Nora said as she moved toward Rat, running at high speed.
The boy couldn't help but get angry that they had destroyed that display of his power, however, he didn't have to wait long to get his revenge.
"Take this!" Nora exclaimed as she brought her sword down against Rat.
However, it didn't leave a scratch on him.
Rat felt it, his Asurastra glowed ominously in his hand.
If his Devastra allowed him to create vectors, it was natural that his Asurastra would allow him to nullify them.
In that moment Nora felt her body go completely still, she couldn't move.
"Sorry, I don't do it easy," Rat said, as he delivered a powerful punch to her gut.
Nora was sent flying backward, at a monstrous speed from the blow.
Rat smiled maliciously at that moment.
Now he felt invincible.