4 CHAPTER 4: FAMILY FOREST PART 3
Rinka, Maya, and Minaro split off and sprint forward, the family does the same. Rinka takes on the mother, Minaro, the father, and Maya, her brother.
…
Maya's mom holds her palm out and strings fly out from her fingertips, like whips.
"Die!"
Rinka swiftly whips out his katana and slices them in half. Mom dashes and attempts to sweep his legs and trip him. But he blocks her attack with his arm, and moves the one holding the katana, cutting a bit of her shoulder.
Strings rapidly tie Rinka's arm and her leg together. She spins, raises the leg up with Rinka alongside it, and slams it, and him, into the floor. She laughs.
Rinka quickly slices the strings, detaching himself from her leg and drawing blood from it as well. He immediately jumps away from her and holds his blade up.
…
Minaro dodges a big string hammer, swung by the dad. He dashes, arriving behind the dad, and goes for a puncture punch.
Dad immediately turns, his hammer comes for Minaro, who hops back to avoid it. Then he produces a large ice wave and sends it off to the dad, who quickly shatters it all with a powerful strike from the hammer.
A bunch of ice flies into the sky, and the father leaps into the air and comes down, ready to slam his hammer into Minaro.
"I'm going to make you regret opposing us!"
Minaro dodges it, and the father lands, so he sprints and tries to impale the father's head. But with a burst of speed, father rises and swings his hammer, managing to hit Minaro, slingling him back.
…
Maya releases red strings from her fingertips and flicks them toward her brother, who quickly creates two small string shurikens, launches them and slices those incoming strings in half.
The shurikens keep going and cut a little of Maya's arm and face skin. Afterwards, her brother dashes and kicks her in the stomach, blasting her elsewhere, into a tree.
He laughs.
"Maya, you're not going to beat me!"
She stands.
Maya: I- I will! And I'll make you pay for all the times you've hurt me!
Her strings grow and morph into a thick spear which she points at her brother, confidently.
…
Mom lets out a boatload of strings from all over her and they fly toward Rinka.
"Die! DIE!"
He cuts them frequently, but they never stop. Some start to move in odd directions, completely avoiding Rinka's slices and instead, slicing him. They cut up his arms and forehead.
Rinka steps back and swings his katana more loosely. The mom appears beside him and attempts to strike his hip, but Rinka frees a hand and catches hers. Then elbows her face.
She hits the floor and quickly leaps away from Rinka as he turns and tries to slice a bit of her back.
…
Minaro evades the father's hammer multiple times, each instance getting narrower, and right after the latest swing, he dashes and attempts to pierce the dad's leg.
Dad moves right away and Minaro misses. Right after, Dad kicks him, sending him far and tumbling.
"You're no match for me, boy."
…
Maya's brother cackles and creates a large shuriken attached to a long string, wrapped around his hand.
"You're all bark and no bite, sis!"
Maya: Shut the heck up!
Maya dashes and rapidly jabs her spear at her brother, who avoids it all effortlessly. He moves his arm and uses his shuriken to slice Maya's kneecaps slightly open, causing her to collapse and cry out in pain.
Afterwards, he kicks her in the face, and she's sent flying.
"You're so pitiful, Maya!"
Maya hits the ground but stands right after.
Maya: Shut up!
Brother throws the shuriken at her and she blocks it with her spear. He pulls it back and just observes her.
Maya takes a deep breath, gets into a very good throwing position, and tosses her spear dynamically, which shocks her brother.
The spear zooms through the air, and she's holding onto it by a thread, behind it.
While flying, she makes another spear. The zooming one reaches its destination and plows into her brother's hip, knocking him down and the wind out.
"What the fuck!?"
Maya slides and stops right next to him, she tries to stab his neck. But a large cone made of tough strings pops out of it, and pokes Maya, she takes a couple steps back.
Brother then speedily stands and attacks with his shuriken, Maya hops away, avoiding it.
…
Mom looks exasperated. Numerous, never-ending, and increasing strings head for Rinka.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!"
He just swings his katana faster, chopping them all up continuously. Suddenly, some tough strings interrupt the blade and speedily constrict it, Rinka observes as he tugs.
"Aw shit."
The strings also quickly try to wrap around his wrist but he immediately lets go of his blade and dashes forward, catching the mom off guard.
He punches her in the face, and she promptly counterattacks and strikes his neck, which causes him to stumble.
…
Minaro is running around, constantly avoiding father, who is aggressively jumping around and crashing himself and his hammer into everything.
"Stop running, boy!"
Minaro scarcely dodges one last hammer attack and lunges for the dad's leg, prepared to stab it.
Dad swiftly and nonchalantly raises his leg, leading to Minaro slithering under it. Dad then instantaneously brings it back down, stomping, destroying Minaro's icicle, and hurting his hand. Right after, he boots Minaro away and chuckles.
"Stay down, kid."
Minaro rises, he's breathing heavily.
"Damn, I'm getting tired, and this fucker is really strong."
Dad twirls his string hammer playfully and creates another one, now dual wielding.
After that, he rushes ahead and swings the hammers maniacally.
Minaro dodges one, and it rapidly unravels. The flowing strings wrap around his limbs and pull him to the ground.
…
Quick strings fly out of the angry brother and head for Maya, she sprints from it all.
"I'm pissed off now, Maya! So I'm going to torture you, brutally, before I kill you!"
Maya: I - I won't let you!
She launches her spear again, this time not holding on to it, and this time brother evades it.
He throws his shuriken, and Maya promptly makes a spear to block it. He dashes and punches her in the stomach.
…
Rinka rises, belligerent, the mom is grinning, mockingly dangling his wrapped katana in the air.
"It's futile to keep fighting now!"
Rinka analyzes her for a few seconds, but the focus slowly falters due to him noticing something in his peripheral vision.
What he sees immediately makes his heart drop, his face instantly petrified, whole soul tremble, and entire body paralyzed. A feeling of blended uncertainty and dumbstruck takes him over.
Minaro is lying in a pool of his blood, lifeless, brutally battered and currently being deformed further by the father's hands.
Maya is also on the floor, horrified, mouth smothered by strings, and being held down completely by them as well. Her screams and struggles are muted by the threads.
Brother stands next to her, kneels lightly, and starts to cut up Maya. She's inflicted tiny but painful nicks all over her body. Skin is slit and even entirely sliced off, redolent of "Lingchi."
Rinka continues to stare, he's hyperventilating, and collapses. Feeling a myriad of horrid emotions, toppling his consciousness.
"Oh my fucking god. What the fuck?"
His sweat and tears fall and stain the grass, and he clutches his aching stomach.
A vivid, dreadful memory dominates his mind. The atrocious recollection of the anguished corpses of his family. Mother, father, and a younger sister, savagely disfigured, and he, completely fogged, their blood on his hands.
The remembrance ends, and it's followed by an evocative vision.
...
Sprightly trees surrounding all, under a melancholy sky. Abruptly, the observer descends into a sea full of stars.
Nonetheless, sinking deeper, their blissful brightness fades away.
Sinking deeper, swimming crickets and doves croon an existent tune. But eventually, the sounds, and the animals, drown.
Sinking deeper, paintings of jejune hearts can be seen. By and by, the art develops realism, and now an intricate heart is on display, different splattered colors encircling it. By and by, the canvas crumbles, abated by the fresh sea of tears.
Sinking deeper, the mellowness declines and the frigid actuality takes over. Gelid, realistically, leaves the being benumbled.
Sinking deeper, the intimate abode's sentimentental scents of solace fill the nares. After, the crisp aroma of biodiversity does likewise. Yet shortly, the fragrances are expunged, saturated by the sea of nix, and smell is absent.
Sinking deeper, dear, ambivalent, and ubiquitous photographs of the olden, sink accompanying. However, with time, they plummet to a point of evanescence.
Sinking deeper, the foot is finally hit, and it is a true void. At last, it is slumbertime. Repose on a singular, glassy bed made of timber, nap and the never-ending moon shall guide the upcoming, and seal the eyes shut. Become nonexistence.
…
Black blood drips from the hilt of a blade. Rinka is on the floor, deceased, his katana lodged in his throat.
Mother dances cheerfully.
"Black Blood! Black Blood!"
Father and brother walk up to her, joyous, and laughing.
"We destroyed those dumb fools."
"... Wow, I can't wait to drink some black blood! We're gonna get so strong!"
"Yes! We'll be so strong! No one will dare to get in our way!"
The three laugh and frolic with each other for a moment. But quickly simmer down and kneel before Rinka, looking in awe.
The father puts his palms together and slowly scoops up some blood.
"It's amazing."
He brings it very close to his mouth and gets ready to take a tiny, precious sip. But abruptly, the black blood flies off of his palms, cleanly and advancing to Rinka.
Where it seeps back into his neck laceration. The rest of the blood nearby does the same, and dad is left stunned.
Mother and Brother instinctively turn around, and to their horror, observe the blood near Minaro move and disappear into his skin.
"What is happening!?"
Soon after, Minaro's body twitches and everything broken about it is rapidly mended, and every wound is gone.
He immediately rises, eyes wide, that are now dark purple, and his pupils are stars. He's also expressionless.
The family all stand, they're mostly outraged, slightly tense, and stare at Minaro, who is easing closer.
"He's alive!"
"What the hell! How is that possible!?"
Suddenly, their backs are deeply slashed and blood soars. They immediately leap elsewhere, appalled, breathing heavily, and turn around.
Rinka is up, expressionless as well, gripping his stained katana which is now enveloped in an opaque pitch black gas that resembles an intense fire.
"He's alive too!"
"This is bullshit!"
Dad looks at his wife and son.
"Both of you, settle. We'll just kill them again."
He looks back at Minaro.
"Ultimate Skill, Spider King."
A large and endless hole with spider fangs surrounded by spider eyes emerges on the right side of the father's face.
Strings appear and move, and turn themselves into a big mace. Father then dashes forward, ready to annihilate Minaro.
"I'll destroy you again, imbecile! You'll regret the witchcraft you just did!"
Minaro remains unfazed, and promptly, a moderate portion of the background next to his head starts to crack, white zigzags to outline.
Father's eyes widen, a space rift has been created next to Minaro, and within it, a vast and beautiful universe can be seen.
Father halts, and focuses, mesmerized by the countless stars. Then his attention goes to a fluorescent blue and dark pink light mixed with other various colors that seems to be growing.
Straight away, a thin, relatively average gamma ray burst, flies out of the space rift. It immediately increases in size and completely shrouds the father.
Seconds later, It passes, revealing a bewildered and mostly scorched father on the verge of death, and collapsing. Rinka dashes by and slices his head clean off.
Mother shrieks, frightened, but right after, burst a blood vessel.
"HOW DARE YOU!?.. Ultimate Skill, Spider Queen."
Brother cries out, alarmed, then his wrath is let loose.
"NOOO!.. Ultimate Skill, Spider Knight."
The Ultimate Skill traits appear on Mother's neck, and on Brother's knees. But before the process can conclude, Minaro emerges and punches Mother's face while holding a small section of dying star, flamboyant and shining, pulled from his rift that explodes colorfully on contact and completely destroys her head. Blood and her remains drop onto the floor.
Rinka emerges as well, and quickly cuts Brother in half. His body plops onto the ground and blood leaks.
After all of that, everything settles, Rinka and Minaro stand still and a few moments of idling go by. Until they topple over, and return to normal.
They're both muddled, Rinka is anxious, and looking at the floor.
Rinka: W- what the hell just happened?.. We died. But somehow came back to life. The fuck?
Minaro: … I'm confused too, that was strange… But cool as fuck!
Rinka looks up and around, flinching at the sight of the bodies. But retains focus and then notices Maya, and scurries, panickingly, over to her. Minaro follows.
Maya is heavily injured and unconscious. Rinka breathes slowly, picks her up, and places her on his back.
Rinka: We've gotta find Dac fast!
Minaro nods, and they both start sprinting. But a young woman's serious call stops them.
"Hey! You two! Stop!"
They turn, slightly perplexed, and eye a girl. She's got pink eyes and the rest of her head is hidden by a columbia blue hoodie. She's also wearing charcoal gray pants and is aiming a pistol at them.
"I just wanna ask a couple questions."
TO BE CONTINUED…
