220 Chapter 187 - Science vs. Power, Part 2.

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[Adam C. POV.]

The cold sterile air in Mayuri's laboratory, already thick with anticipation, seemed to grow denser as our face-off began. Mayuri was one of those characters I never would've liked to fight, from his bizarre appearance to his eccentric makeup, he was a monster playing to be a man. 

Yet, despite how much his very existence perturbed me, I couldn't help but feel a wave of confidence rushing through me. His crazed confidence, his title, his status, none of it phased me. 

Why?

Simple.

I was stronger than him. 

Mayuri was the first to strike. With a flourish of his zanpakuto, he unleashed a wave of dark energy towards me. It was a straightforward attack, too straightforward for the guy, making me suspect a trap. Still, I casually sidestepped the wave, letting it crash and burn against the wall behind me.

"You'll have to try harder than that," I taunted, my voice dripping with a hint of amusement.

He responded with a glare. "It seems your time with that man damaged your ability to assess your situation properly."

Suddenly, from the ground sprouted tendrils, attempting to wrap around me. Closing my eyes, I moved behind him with a single step, dodging his surprise attack. "For a genius you're quite predictable," I said, meeting his gaze with a smug grin.

But Mayuri, being the mad bastard he was, only chuckled as moments later, my senses grew hazy, and my limbs felt heavier with each passing second.

I had been poisoned? 

But how, I dodged all of his attacks.

Mayuri's laughter echoed eerily. "Feeling a little under the weather, are we? That poison is my own concoction. There's no antidote."

I could feel the venom pulsating through my veins, trying to take hold of my body. "When?"

"Ah, the curiosity of the afflicted," Mayuri crooned, the sharp edges of his painted lips curving upwards. "You're under the impression that my attacks are limited to just the blades and tendrils. How quaint."

I took a step back, trying to assess the situation while still battling the increasing weight of the poison. "What did you do?"

"Did you really think the environment within my lab was simply for show?" Mayuri taunted, circling me like a vulture awaiting its meal. "From the moment you stepped into my domain, you were breathing in my creation. My lab's ventilation system constantly emits a minuscule amount of the venom. Every breath you took made you more vulnerable, saturating your lungs, then your bloodstream. Your earlier exertions? They just accelerated the process."

So that's how he did it.

I could almost chuckle, I should've expected something like that from the likes of him. Then again, I wasn't expecting to fight him when I came here.

"That's good and all, but do you think a little venom will stop me?" I growled, flaring my reiatsu. Sure, I was in pain, but this was nothing, I knew true pain, my body had endured far worse than this.

Mayuri's smile widened, the joy of the chase evident on his face. "No, I expect it to slow you down, make you desperate, make you predictable."

I let out a challenging roar, sending a blast of energy towards him, which he deftly dodged. Even though my movements felt sluggish, I still had the upperhand. I wasn't done yet.

"You might've caught me off guard, ugly fuck," I admitted, my vision blurring intermittently. "But never mistake surprise for defeat."

Mayuri paused, then cackled. "Bold words for someone on borrowed time."

Shaking off the dizziness with some healing Kido, I locked my eyes on Mayuri, and with a burst of speed, I appeared right before him, my blade inches from his throat. "My turn."

Mayuri tried to hide it, but I could see the surprise in his eyes. His attempts to incapacitate me had failed, and now the tables had turned. 

Blocking the cut by sacrificing his arm, Mayuri took a few steps back, his gaze glaring into me. "Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo!"

On cue, a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape, with a grotesque golden baby's head and arms, and a silver halo hovering around its head appeared. 

I grinned, coughing some blood before bringing my sword down, cutting the baby in two. "Oops."

"Insolent fool," Mayuri hissed, his eyes wide in rage as he lunged forward, probably mistaking my earlier cough as a signal his poison was working as intended. 

However, as he lunged, I danced around his attacks, countering and parrying with precision. Each strike I made was calculated, not to kill, but to toy with him, to make him feel the weight of his arrogance, to make his feel how his experiments felt. 

Mayuri's reiatsu flared with every hit he took, his frustration evident.

"You think you're so superior," I mused, dodging another swipe from his transformed arm. "But all I see is a desperate man, playing with powers he doesn't understand."

Mayuri, spitting blood, managed to hiss back, "You know nothing."

I could've ended it right there. I had countless opportunities to deliver the final blow. But there was something exhilarating about having the upper hand, about seeing the mad scientist grow more and more desperate. 

So, I played the cat to his mouse, letting the chase go on.

"Have you had enough yet?" I taunted, evading another of his frenzied strikes. "Or should I keep embarrassing you?"

Mayuri's face contorted into a snarl, his eyes burning with a crazed fire that was both fascinating and repulsive. "I will not be humiliated by the likes of you!"

Just as Mayuri was about to unleash another one of his 'surprises', I abruptly ended our little dance, cutting his arms and legs, before slamming my palm against his chest, pushing him backward and crashing him against a wall of his lab. The impact left a sizable indentation, cracking the otherwise impervious walls.

As the dust settled, I walked over him. "Still alive, huh?"

Mayuri coughed, his body bloodied and battered, unable to rise from the ground, one of his eyes was swollen shut, with his iconic makeup smeared across his face, a distorted version of its prior self. "You will… regret this," he wheezed.

I knelt beside him, my blade resting casually on my shoulder. "They always say that, and here I am, regretting nothing," I whispered coldly into his ear. "I wanted you to feel a fraction of the pain and fear that those you've tortured felt."

I blinked.

So that's the reason I had done this, whatever he had done to my soul, had left a bad taste in my mouth, enough to warrant a side of me I hadn't seen since the Tower of Heaven.

His remaining eye widened slightly, a mixture of anger and realization flashing through. "You think this... will change anything?" he spat, blood dribbling from the side of his mouth. 

"Change you, God no, that would be a biblical miracle," I replied, chuckling. "I just wanted to beat you up, I'm a rascal, what can I say?"

Mayuri chuckled weakly, coughing up more blood. "I'll... remember this, and be certain, that our next encounter won't end the same way."

"Whatever helps you sleep," I said, getting up and stepping back, allowing him the space to breathe. "Though, a word of advice, next time, I won't be so merciful."

As much as I wanted to kill him, he was a necessary evil, to deal with some upcoming threats, so for now, I would be merciful. 

Turning my back to the defeated captain, I began to make my way out of the hellish laboratory, only to feel a massive reiatsu approaching. 

This… wasn't good.