21:47 JST Shinjuku City — Tokyo
Rain glossed the sidewalks in soft amber reflection. Street signs flickered. A pachinko parlor buzzed through shuttered windows. Buses passed. Nothing felt wrong...
That was the problem.
A car weaved through evening traffic like it was chasing something. Inside the vehicle were two young operatives, wearing white-lined coats that gave them the prestige to break traffic laws.
The passenger, a fair-skinned girl with short hair, tapped the scanner built into the vehicle's center console.
"Still nothing," she murmured. The driver kept one hand on the wheel, "you'd think with all the tech in this car, we'd be able to spot a disturbance before it even happens…" He tried to keep it light, but his voice was too flat to be casual. The passenger gave an annoyed look, "You want a refund for this thing?" The driver shot an exasperated look back.
"No, I want a different job."
-CLICK-
-crackle-
"Command to Theta-4."
"This is Tooru Mitsuki from Theta-4, how copy Command?"
"We have gotten reports of a trespasser in the business district. Telemetry data states that they had gone to Building 12-G, Upper Nishiyama Commercial Block. Please proceed with extreme caution. Do not engage alone or even you two as a group."
"Copy," the girl said before the driver could.
The driver exhaled, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. "Ichi, why did you even enroll in this line of work? You're the daughter of the Nishiyama Conglomerate, your life is set."
Her expression didn't change, but her tone did. "Maybe I'd rather be useful than inherited, Miki."
He glanced sideways. Her eyes stayed forward. Mitsuki started to open his mouth, then shut it. A bus rumbled by in the opposite lane, the light reflecting the Crucible insignia on the cruiser's door.
21:49 — Inside 12-G
The building wasn't abandoned. That's what made the call worse. The first and second floor lights were still on. A faint jazz tune echoed from the second floor from a café still open.
Third floor?
Silence.
On the third floor, office lights flickered. In the hallway were bodies, put into positions that made no human sense.
A figure stood above the bodies. Its hands slick with crimson, while its body twitching with joy. "I love this city," it rasped. "So much fear. So much flavor." It picked up a body. Pressed its face to the neck like it was listening. Then it bit in, slowly, giggling.
21:51 — Outside the Block
"Command to Theta-4, update: The building's Spira readings are climbing. Evacuation has been issued and widened. You two, please do not enter the building without support."
Mitsuki looked up from the dashboard, staring at the building across the lot.
He muttered under his breath. "…God, why did I even sign up for this job?"
"Then leave," she said quietly. "No one's forcing you to be here."
Mitsuki hesitated. Then tried to shake it off with a dissuading topic. "You hear what they said about Site 6 last week? A Spiral tore straight through a team. It burned one of 'em from the inside. Left the Drive intact but melted our colleague like jelly. They named the Spiral 'Judal the Slayer'. Scary right?"
That made her pause. Not because she was scared. Just because she'd already heard it too.
"The med team couldn't even identify the Spiral's Rasenzou pattern, no detectable Spira Cells were found on the body. Maybe it's a new type Spiral..." he added.
Nishiyama didn't respond. Instead, she opened the cruiser door with a click, stepped into the rain, and shut it behind her like the conversation never happened.
Mitsuki blinked.
"Wait, you're not serious. Right, Ichi? Nishiyama? Hey, Command said wait for backup—!"
She was already crossing the street, boots splashing through shallow puddles. The phoenix on her back glinted under a streetlight in the rain.
Mitsuki sank back into his seat as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "She's going to get herself killed..."
Mitsuki popped his head up, "...Or promoted."
21:52 — Third Floor
A single footstep echoed through the open space. The Spiral turned toward the noise, sluggish at first. Someone stood across from it, their silhouette framed by the shadows of the moonlight. They flexed one hand
—CRACK—
They had cracked their middle finger. "Cute. Guess the rumors weren't bullshit after all. A monster that looks human and still has the ego to kill indiscriminately. You must be Judal," a feminine voice called out.
Her eyes skimmed across the room and saw the pile of bodies. "Hmm," she continued. "Didn't think I'd see you nesting on an active work floor in the city."
Judal twitched, its head tilting unnaturally. Blood glistened down its body while it paused from munching down on a jawbone. "You're the one they warned me about. You smell... foul. Wrong. Like the food, but you reek like us." It stood fully now,
Upon observation, the limbs on Judal were too long and numerous. Its carapace was detailed with spiraling ridges across it. Its eyes adjusted, black sclera, red irises spinning like drills.
"A Spiral you must be," Judal hissed. "A hypocrite with a flesh skin being one with the food? Is that what you think you are?? You think wearing a flesh suit can keep you from being killed?"
She didn't answer.
"The Hive warned me. The Spiral who hides in flesh… We were ordered to take the flesh suit Spiral in alive." Its mouth stretched wider like it was smiling, "But I hope you don't mind if I break you a little first. If you really taste like human, fear should make your marrow sweeter."
A body twitched behind it reflexively. She shrugged and exhaled softly. "Do you mind being my meal instead?"
Judal froze.
Then, it laughed.
"You're funny," it said. "Like a fly thinking it can kill its predator. Do you think wearing that makes you stronger?"
Judal took one slow step toward her. "Go ahead. Bare your fangs." Pieces of tissue burst out of one of Judal's arms with a wet shriek of liquid muscle. "Let's see who devours who."
21:53 — Combat Snap
Judal surged forward as the pieces of tissue wrapped around all its left arms, forming a centralized claw on them. It slammed its claw toward her, shattering the tile on the floor.
Silence.
A low, satisfied exhale. "Too easy…"
-CRACKKK-
Two crimson red tails pierced the window and pulled back, shattering the glass window.
Judal staggered back slightly, blinking into the clearing haze. "…Oh?" A grin split its jaw again. "Still alive? Good. That makes the flavor deeper."
It took one step forward, then froze.
Judal looked down at its left side and saw only shredded muscle remained. Spiral tissue dangled while its left side was half-severed. Its pupils dilated.
"…Huh?"
Its head dropped seconds later. Landing face-first into the ground.
Rafters – Third Floor
The woman stood overhead in the rafters, crouched on a steel beam. Ink-like tails unfurled behind her as they pulsed faintly. Her eyes glinted once. She looked down at the Spiral's beheaded body, then wiped her mouth with the back of her glove. "You taste like rotting fish, horrible aftertaste."
Her boots barely made a sound as she dropped down. Judal's body twitched once more as she crouched beside the ruined torso.
The Rasenzou of Judal was still visible. A pulsing, wet sac of spiral tissue embedded in muscle. One of her tails curled downward and hovered above the Rasenzou.
-SHHK-
The tail ripped the organ free as Judal final spasm twitched its fingers once. She reached out and dropped the chunk into her open palm.
-Crunch-
She chewed once, and swallowed the whole organ. A twist of red spun through the spiral rings in her irises.
SCREECH
The sound of tires cutting wet pavement echoed from the streets below. Above, a low mechanical roar grew louder as a silhouette of a VTOL cut across the storm-glossed skyline.
She looked at the shadow, "…late as always," she murmured before vanishing into the dark.
21:55 — First Floor, Building 12-G
Footsteps thundered up the stairwell. Mitsuki nearly tripped rounding the landing. He was out of breath. "N-Nishiyama slow down—! Command said we're supposed to wait for backup!"
"Says the agent who rewired the mess hall console this morning just to avoid drills."
Mitsuki grimaced. "Hey, that was because I was still tired this morning and you know training with 75 pounds of gear on you is ridiculous."
"You seem to forget that we are fighting monsters that see us for food and entertainment, Miki. Try thinking for once, something you stopped doing lately."
The shine in Mitsuki's eyes disappeared, "I don't want to talk about that…"
-BZZT-
-BZZT-
Nishiyama pulled the device out of her pocket.
Spiral Detected
Spiralization Factor: 8200
Her eyes widened, "...No way," she whispered. She broke into a sprint.
"Drive Form: Initiate."
As she ran up the stairs, white-blue lines of magic gathered onto a gem-gloved right hand. With a crack of light, a curved mono-edge blade was grabbed out of the air. "Come on, Miki, don't make me do this solo."
Mitsuki watched as she flew up the stairs. He sighed, "Of course you'd rush in, the stubborn Ichi strikes again!"
He stuck out his left arm, "Drive Form: Initiate."
His arm flared with faint orange light as a dragon shaped gauntlet formed over his left arm.
"Maybe I should tell her why I'm like this now… Give her a reason to leave the Crucible," he mumbled as he flexed his gauntlet hand.
"BOOST! Level 1 reached," the glove relayed. As he reached the third-floor landing, he caught a glimpse of her ahead.
21:56 — Third Floor, Building 12-G
The scent hit them first. Mitsuki gagged, pulling his collar over his nose. "What the hell—? Did someone microwave a cadaver in here?"
Nishiyama said nothing.
She moved ahead with her blade at the ready. The hallway was half-lit, flickering lights overhead.
Blood trailed in smears against the wall and floor. They turned the corner, and saw the pile of corpses laid out on the ground.
Some were barely intact while some were… eerily rearranged. Mitsuki stopped cold, "Is this… was this all one Spiral?"
Nishiyama pulled out her scanner and scanned the area. "No," she whispered. She rescanned the area. "The scanner isn't picking up any Spira Cells or any Spiral residue… that's odd."
She tripped on something in the center of the room. Nishiyama looked down to see a Spiral.
"Miki! We've got contact!" she yelled. Mitsuki ran from where he was, only to see his partner repeatedly slashing at a non-moving Spiral.
He looked to his left and saw the severed head. Mitsuki put his hand on his face and shook his head, "Hey, Ichi…" he called out.
She stopped swinging her blade, and gave him a hard look.
"What now Miki?"
He pointed at the severed head, "It's already dead, no need to over react now."
She stared at the head, then the body, and then at Mitsuki. Her blade trembled for half a second before her Drive phased out in a shimmer of light.
She hated that Mitsuki could probably see her embarrassment. "I WAS MAKING SURE IT WAS DEAD CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!"
She started lightly hitting him with her fists, not that he flinched. After a few seconds, her hands slowed.
Why am I doing this? Am I scared of the Spiral?
Nishiyama's eyes looked over to the Spiral's severed head, then to the pile of bodies.
Or am I scared of this…
She then looked back at Mitsuki.
What if the roles were reversed and the Spiral was still alive? What if I stayed back and let Miki take care of it, only to come too late?
Mitsuki looked at her confused.
Nishiyama then shook her head, "Don't look at me like that," she snapped, turning away.
Mitsuki ignored her and knelt down to the body, "This Spiral didn't just die… it got harvested. But by who? We are the first ones here…"
They both stayed silent.
Nishiyama gaze caught a faint glow of energy from the Spiral's left side.
She pulled out her scanner again. The readout blinked erratically.
FLUX DETECTEDWARNING: FLUX IS TAINTED WITH SPIRA ENERGYDATABASE SIGNATURE MATCH: NONE
She nudged Mitsuki before showing him the readings.
He looked at the display, "What the…"
A sound was heard in the distance. It was faint, like a partially open faucet dripping water.
"Drive Form: Initiate."
Nishiyama's Drive reappeared in her hand as she shifted her stance
Something's still here
Shouts echoed from the stairwell they came from.
"Delta-1, we've reached Theta-4's last known location!"
"I have eyes on the third floor."
"Breach and Clear! Go, go, go!"
Multiple smoke grenades were thrown in the room. Seconds later, a window shattered as armed scouts fast-roped down.
"Friendly! We're friendly, damn it!"
The lead scout jogged forward, "Theta-4, report. What the hell happened here?" Nishiyama's gaze looked toward the bloodbath.
"We're not sure yet sir. But it looks like someone beat us to the Spiral."
21:58 — Third Floor, Building 12-G
The rest of the backup flooded the floor.
"Secure perimeter."
"Watch the rafters. Other Spirals might still be here."
One agent knelt beside the Spiral's body, scanning the shredded mass of the tissue.
Nishiyama lowered her blade, before dismissing it. Mitsuki had long dismissed his Drive, he was talking to the backup team leader.
Nishiyama knelt down to the agent that was examining the Spiral's body, "Hey, uhh…"
"Forensics Agent Mado, ma'am." The agent warmly replied. "If you're asking what I've examined, results indicate that this Spiral is 'Judal the Slayer'. The one that had flatlined team 6 last week," he explained.
"Still doesn't explain the lack of Spira Cells…" Mado mumbled, continuing his rant under his breath.
Nishiyama let Mado continue ranting while she thought about how Site 6 was flatlined.
A group of B ranked agents being taken out by a C rank Spiral. That C rank Spiral was then elevated to an A rank and given a name by Crucible, just for it to die to unknown causes.
A sharp voice cut through the static. "Clear a path." A figure in a Long black coat stepped forward.
Their eyes moved once across the room, scanning Judal's body to the pile of bodies, then to Theta-4. She spoke low, almost tired, "Report."