You are already dead

Daichi walked around the chairs they had brought out and walked up the stairs while gazing at Botan. He followed Daichi upstairs to the bedroom.

When he entered, Daichi was leaned against the back wall next to the bed.

Botan was a bit surprised by Daichi's body language.

"You kinda look the same as you did before," Daichi said in an informal and familiar tone with Botan.

"Is it you? Is it really you?" Botan asked with hope.

"It's kinda hard to believe our luck."

However, Daichi didn't believe that. It was Lazarus who probably put the two together not necessarily out of kindness but for amusement, maybe even courtesy for the benefit of a doubt.

In this new world, compared to their swamp dead tree forest, this concrete jungle was uncomfortable. It made them feel homesick and jet-lagged. Even though they're the predators here. However, being together soothed them as they had a long warm conversation. As long as they were together, it didn't matter where they went.

"What's wrong? You got bored?" Daichi said in a teasing way.

"No, it's just... Maybe it's our new bodies. It feels different. Like something's missing." Botan said with a look of confusion.

Daichi walked over and wrapped his arms around Botan's and linked their hands. Botan was surprised but reciprocated. The way they held hands was a bit unusual as if their arms were wrapped like worms.

Indeed, the way their arms linked was reminiscent of when they had wrapped around each other into a double helix as slithers.

"Like this?" Daichi said giving him a teasing smile.

"Yes... Yes," Botan smiled back.

***

There was a hole in Botan's chest where buckets of blood spilled out after Hikaru impaled it. Botan blocked the hole in his chest with one of his giant hands but most of the blood had poured out.

As the spike whip of Hikaru's retracted back into his hand, he clutched the heart then turned it around as he examined it.

The heart was made of the same enhanced flesh as Botan's arms. Hikaru realised that he didn't apply it to his internal organs and only in his muscles.

There were too many applications and ideas for biological manipulation ability. Perhaps the only weakness of this ability is needing a massive list of ideas and finding the best optimisation for different situations. It was complex.

He threw it on the ground a metre away from Botan's feet. It made a splat sound and then rolled to a stop.

Botan looked at his heart on the grey concrete and then looked up at Hikaru with an angry face.

The bleeding slowed down from gushing to dribbling red lines, not because of Botan's efforts but because there wasn't a heart to pump the blood around the body.

"Omae wa mou shindeiru."

"(You are already dead)," Hikaru announced.

...

..

.

"DEAD? DO I LOOK LIKE I'M DEAD TO YOU!" Botan bellowed.

He squeezed the hole in his chest with his hand. The skin and flesh on his chest were twisted shut and stopped the bleeding. This was similar to the cauterisation of a wound.

Botan jumped to where Hikaru was standing on the roof and brought his hammer fists down.

"I'll never die!" He roared.

*Boom*

After smashing the whole house, he looked around and spotted Hikaru standing on another roof, smiling down on him.

Botan moved very fast and completely smashed this other house in one swing but Hikaru was seen standing on another roof in the same pose as if he didn't move at all. The same process repeated again and again.

"I was curious about how strong you were at your peak. Did I give you too much confidence?

Botan was enraged. He moved faster and hit even harder at that comment.

The people in the houses were obliterated when he swung his fists. It was like a tornado sweeping past the house and turning it into bricks.

Some ran away from peeking at the windows but Botan was too fast.

Usually, the occupants screamed as doom approached but their voice was immediately banished into the wind.

Botan could feel his life draining away like a candle that was about to go out. So, he had to hurry and take Hikaru to the grave with him to protect Daichi.

"Your speed couldn't catch me before. What makes you think you could do a damn thing to me after bringing those out?"

Ever since Botan had manifested those black fists of his, his speed drastically dropped. He had sacrificed his speed for strength.

All Hikaru had to do was evade the much slower tank until his life dwindled out. The victor of the battle has already been decided.

Botan paused and coughed up blood. When his eyes met with Hikaru, he burst into a fury, throwing cars and trees at Hikaru.

He even pulled out some electric poles to smash him but Hikaru easily dodged that.

Botan tried to catch Hikaru in mid-air by throwing one car to get him to jump, and then another one at the flying Hikaru. However, Hikaru used his whip to swing away on the electric poles like a monkey.

Hikaru didn't get electrocuted. He had to be touching the wires and be connected to the ground either through his feet or holding onto the pole to close the loop for an electric current to flow through.

So, he avoided touching the wires and the pole at the same time. He knew simple circuits.

*Thud*

Botan finally fell.

He laid there face down on the ground. Hikaru jumped down from the roof and walked to him.

"I should thank you for testing out my capabilities. It was most enlightening."

Hikaru stretched out a tentacle to take him in.

*Snap*

The two giant hands reached out to grab Hikaru. Spikes poked out from Hikaru all over his body to impale the hands and stop its movement, but the hard black shell coating Botan's hands snapped the spikes and rib cage armour as if they were toothpicks. They didn't impede the closing of his hands at all.

Hikaru was grasped from the neck down and the pressure was increasing.

Botan was standing before him.

"I'll take you with me!" He shouted while vomiting out blood.