"mmm..."
"Am..... I... Dead?" Ashiro drowsily muttered as he slowly lifted up the lid of his eyes, And just then, the first thing he noticed was a pod surrounding him-it's walls pulsed like living tissue, a dull, organic throb echoing through the small, cramped space. Dim, eerie light seeped through the pod's translucent walls, casting a sickly glow over everything.
He turned his head slowly, and his gaze caught the small window at his side. Outside, in a vast corridor lined with walls of dark, alien metal, hung rows of pods like his. Inside them were children, some who looks like his age mates, while some who looks younger, their bodies suspended in ghastly positions. They were lifeless, hanging from strange organic tendrils that pierced their limbs and held them against the wall like broken dolls. Many were missing arms or legs, the severed stumps oozing fresh blood that dripped slowly down the cold metal walls, pooling on the floor below.
"Mmm!!"
Ashiro's stomach twisted violently at the sight. His throat closed as the metallic tang of blood filled his senses, thick and choking. A wave of nausea surged through, and he doubled over, retching helplessly, his small body wracked by shudders as he emptied his stomach onto the floor of the pod. The taste of bile stung his mouth, but he couldn't stop, each heave a desperate attempt to expel the horror of what he was witnessing.
Gasping, he forced himself to look away, pressing his eyes shut, trying to blot out the grotesque scene. But the images remained burned into his mind–tge mutilated bodies, the lifeless eyes, the blood staining the alien walls, a horrifying reminder of the fate that awaited him here.
"Uncle Fernando..... please come back" Not long after, he suddenly had an image of a very cheerful Fernando as he suddenly muttered before he quickly broke down in tears, the loss of his only family finally settling in.
Swish!!
Five minutes into break downs and the silent wails, the pod Ashiro was in suddenly slide open which prompted him to keep shut as he looked with utmost vigilance. What entered his line of sight were three of the same kind of Kaijus which knocked him unconscious back at Okutama forest as they rounded up the pod.
Grr....
Grr... Grr.... Grrr...
Grrr.... Grrr
These Kaijus began making growling sounds to each other as if they were communicating. Although Ashiro was confused by this scene, it didn't let him to lower his vigilance for even a bit.
"Ahh!!"
"Let go of me!!"
But suddenly, with cruel efficiency, they reached in, their clawed hands gripping his arms and legs. Ashiro struggled, kicking and thrashing with all his strength, but his small frame was no match for their relentless grip. His wrists burned where they held him, his nails scraping at the pod floor as he was dragged out, his resistance crushed under their raw power.
Once outside the pod, he was hauled down the ship's dimly lit hallway, the twisted hum of the alien vessel pulsating around him. His heart raced as he tried to make sense of his surroundings, his mind still reeling from the grotesque scene he'd just witnessed through the pod's window. But the horrors that awaited him along the corridor were far worse.
In one room, he glimpsed several Kaijus hunched over lifeless bodies, children his own age, tearing into them with savage hunger. The walls were spattered with fresh blood, pooling around the twisted remains, and the sound of flesh being ripped echoed into the hallway. Ashiro's stomach churned, and he fought with every fibre in him to look away. Bile rising in his throat. His captors gave him no reprieve, dragging him mercilessly onward.
"Arrgh!!"
"Please someone, help me!! Sobs... Sobs..."
"Sobs... I don't want to die... Sobs..."
A few steps later, he glanced into another chamber, where a new horror awaited. Inside, writhing tentacles extended from the ship's very walls, winding around the bodies of restrained women. Their anguished cries filled the air, their faces twisted in despair as the monstrous tendrils ensnared them, their forms bound and contorted by the pulsing, inhumane limbs. The woman's desperate pleas and screams reverberated through the hall, a haunting symphony of agony that shook Ashiro to his core.
'Is.... This hell?'
Ashiro's vision suddenly blurred as his mind teetered on the brink of breaking. Every step down the corridor seemed to plunge him further into a nightmare that clawed at his sanity. He felt the world slipping away, darkness closing in around him. But just as he began to lose conciousness, the Kaijus gripping him shook him roughly, keeping him cruelly awake, forcing him to witness every moment of the horrors that line his path.
After what felt like an eternity passing through several degrees of horrors and dreads, Ashiro and the Kaijus finally arrived at the end of the hall way where an imposing metal made door stood right in front of them. And without any shred of hesitation, the Kaijus dragged Ashiro closer to the door as they opened it.
"What.... Is this?" Ashiro muttered in sheer horror after witnessing what lies behind the metal doors. What he finds himself in is a vast chamber that felt like the grotesque, beating heart of the ship itself. The walls pulsed with a sickly, organic glow, veins of some unknown, dark substance running through them like rivers of corrupted life. The entire room had an unsettling, living quality—its pulsations syncing with the deep, rhythmic hum that resonated through the floor and walls. The air was thick and cloying, carrying the scent of decayed flesh and something sharp, metallic, like blood.
Suspended from the ceiling were large, translucent sacs filled with a viscous, amber liquid, inside of which floated malformed creatures in various stages of life. Some had barely developed limbs or half-formed faces; others were fully grown, staring blankly from within their organic prisons. The walls were lined with control panels composed of alien, fleshy material that seemed to be both machine and living tissue. Strange, writhing tendrils extended from the walls, reaching toward the floor as if they were aware of his presence, pulsing and twitching like predatory appendages ready to ensnare him at any moment.
Ashiro's heart raced, and a feeling of pure horror gripped him as he took in the grotesque surroundings, each detail sinking into his mind with a dreadful finality. It was as if he were inside a living nightmare, a place that defied any sense of normalcy or reason. His breaths came in shallow gasps, each one growing more difficult as the oppressive, malevolent energy of the room threatened to suffocate him.
Then, his attention was drawn to movement from across the chamber. Approaching him was a figure that stood out from all the others—a Kaiju unlike any he had seen before. It moved with a calculated grace, its body sleek and almost regal, covered in dark, obsidian armor that shimmered faintly under the chamber's sickly glow. Its face was sharp and intelligent, eyes glinting with a cold, predatory awareness. Elegant tendrils flowed from its head like a twisted mockery of hair, giving it an air of sophistication and authority.
The creature's posture was confident, almost arrogant, as it strode forward, each step sending a chill through Ashiro. This wasn't a mindless beast; it was something far worse—a creature of cunning and intelligence, radiating an aura of control and command. The sight of it laced Ashiro with an even deeper terror, his instincts screaming that he was now face-to-face with a being of higher purpose, something that regarded him not with hunger but with dark intent.
"Oh, you have finally awaken" Suddenly, and in a strange tone, the sophisticated looking Kaiju shockingly spoke in plain english as he placed his eeriely shaped eyes on Ashiro.
'It can speak!?' Ashiro was completely dumbfounded when he heard the Kaiju speak as more dread crept in his body. But the Kaiju didn't seem to care at that point as he shifted his gaze towards the Kaijus that is holding Ashiro captive.
Grrr... Grrr....
And just then, that same sophisticated Kaiju suddenly made the same growling sounds that the Kaijus holding Ashiro made while they were about to pull Ashiro out of his pod. In the next moment, those Kaijus quickly performed a slight bow before they suddenly let Ashiro go before leaving that area.
"I know you must be scared right?" While Ashiro began to wonder what is going on, the sophisticated Kaiju suddenly asked in the same strange tone which brought Ashiro's attention back to the Kaiju.
"Who.... And what.... Are you people?" Although Ashiro was scared and anxious by this Kaiju in front of him, he still muster up the little courage he has left to ask. When the Kaiju heard him, he made a strange expression on his face as he gazed upwards while he muttered.
"Who.... We are?"
And right at the next minute, a very twisted grin appeared on his face as he exclaimed with utmost confidence and pride. "We are Thryss'Kaals!! Or based on you meager life forms language, the Space Tyrants!! Hahahaha". But this spontaneous behavior from the Kaiju startled and frightened Ashiro even more. Obviously, the Kaiju noticed it which made him to quiet down before he muttered in a eerie tone this time.
"It seems like it's no longer possible to do this the easy way. Well then, hard way it is"
And in the next moment, Ashiro's heart pounded as the sophisticated Kaiju suddenly lifted a hand, and, without warning, an invisible force gripped him, pulling him off his feet. He felt himself rise, his body hovering helplessly above the cold, organic floor. Panic set in as he twisted and flailed, desperately trying to break free, but his limbs wouldn't obey—he was trapped, suspended mid-air, completely at the mercy of the Kaiju's power.
"Let go of me!!!"
The creature's eyes gleamed with a cold amusement as it guided him effortlessly through the chamber, past writhing tendrils and pulsing sacs, to a large, incubator-like device nestled at the very core of the ship. It looked like a twisted version of human machinery—dark and organic, its interior lined with strange, spongy material that pulsated faintly, as if alive.
With a casual flick of its wrist, the Kaiju sent Ashiro tumbling into the incubator. He crashed into it, the slick, warm material clinging to his skin as he struggled to sit up, his palms pressing against the thick, semi-translucent glass that sealed him inside. He pounded against it, desperation flashing in his tear-filled eyes. "Please… let me go!" he cried, his voice muffled and distorted within the containment.
But the Kaiju only grinned, a terrifying, sharp-toothed smile that seemed to stretch unnaturally across its face. It leaned close, its eyes gleaming with an almost mocking curiosity, as if savoring Ashiro's terror. Through the glass, in a voice that chilled him to his core, it murmured, "Let's see if you are the one."
Ashiro's breath hitched as he watched the Kaiju step back, his heart sinking as he realized that his cries, his desperate pounding, meant nothing to this creature. He was trapped, a mere specimen in a monstrous experiment, with no way out.
And then, With a swift, fluid motion, the Kaiju moved over to the control panel beside the incubator, its long, clawed fingers dancing over the strange, organic interface with practiced precision. As it activated the machine, the incubator seemed to stir to life, shuddering slightly, as if woken from a deep slumber. A low hum filled the chamber, and the fleshy walls of the incubator began to glow faintly, casting an eerie, pulsating light over Ashiro's terrified face.
Inside, Ashiro felt the chamber close tighter around him, the once dormant tendrils slithering to life and reaching out toward him. He tried to push them away, to back as far into the incubator's walls as he could, but there was nowhere to go. The tendrils coiled around his arms, his legs, even wrapping across his chest, pinning him in place as they tightened their grip. Cold and wet, they felt alive, their movements unsettlingly precise, like they knew exactly where to hold him so he couldn't resist.
Ashiro's breaths grew rapid, his heart thudding painfully as he realized he was utterly trapped. He strained against the tendrils, but each attempt only seemed to excite them, making them tighten their hold as they began attaching themselves along his temples, his neck, his spine—connecting to him in places he couldn't shake off, no matter how much he struggled.
"Stop… please, stop…" His voice was a desperate whisper, almost drowned out by the hum of the machine and the rhythmic pulsations of the chamber. Panic began to give way to despair as he felt the tendrils probe deeper, like icy fingers slipping into his very core. The sensation was invasive, like they were digging through his mind, peeling away every bit of resistance, every ounce of fight he had left.
Outside the glass, the Kaiju watched with an eager anticipation, its monstrous grin widening as it studied Ashiro's fading struggle. Ashiro felt his strength slipping, a deep, dark exhaustion settling in, as though the machine itself was draining him. The last of his hope ebbed away, leaving him numb and hollow, trapped in the relentless grip of the alien device, as despair took root in his heart.
"Please... Let.... Me... Go...."
As Ashiro's vision began to blur, the world around him fading into a hazy, distant fog, he felt something strange stir deep within him. A faint, dark mist began to seep from his skin, swirling around him like wisps of shadow, tendrils of it slipping between the bonds that held him in the incubator. The dark vapor seemed to pulse with a strange, ominous energy, wrapping him in an aura that felt both foreign and eerily familiar.
Outside, the Kaiju's eyes widened as it caught sight of the mist. Its monstrous grin stretched even wider, a gleeful, almost manic light filling its gaze. It leaned closer to the incubator, exclaiming in a voice trembling with excitement, "Yes! I've found it at last! The one!" A dark satisfaction laced its words, an eagerness that left no doubt it was already envisioning its own glory, its promotion among its kind assured by this discovery.
But before Ashiro could even comprehend what was happening, the mist around him began to thicken, swirling faster and faster. The walls of the incubator trembled, cracks spider-webbing through the strange organic glass. Ashiro, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, barely registered the change, a small part of him aware that something was building—something powerful, uncontrollable, and furious.
Boom!!!
"Ahhh!!"
In the next heartbeat, a deafening explosion erupted from the incubator. Glass and metal shards burst outward, the walls of the device shattering in a violent release of energy. Ashiro's body went limp as he was flung from the wreckage, his consciousness slipping away, the sounds of the Kaiju's shocked cry fading into silence.
Darkness enveloped him, pulling him under, and in that endless void, he felt a strange calm settle over him—a momentary peace within the boundless black. He floated there, weightless, his mind drifting as the memories of the last horrific moments faded, leaving him alone in the embrace of shadow as he thought. 'Am.... I dead?'
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GOT IT