"Nomi?!"
Wooden doors burst open in this seemingly voluminous, empty, and decaying auditorium as rows of chairs on his left and right are seen neatly in line while a set of stairs leads downwards in front of him, revealing a burnt stage in his very own eyes while the floor, including the stage, is coated with fresh, thick liquid of black goo with monstrous corpses on top of them, indicating a long struggle for survival.
Realizing the body was his girlfriend, he wasted no time in putting his blaster away before running down to her as he got up to the stage, kneeling next to her just to check if she was still alive, only to see her burnt form. However, despite the condition she is in, she is still breathing through her skin, even when she is rather faint.
"Sato-kun...?" Her voice was soft and weak, struggling to even talk or even move an inch in the position she was in; her tentacle limbs and tentacles were broken. "Is that you...?" She tried her best to move, wanting to be close to him after hearing his voice.
"Yes, it's me..." Sato leaned in closer, making sure he could hear her better as he felt relieved to see that she is somehow still alive. Although she is in critical condition, he couldn't be happier that he gets the chance to hold her hand and reassure her that everything will be alright: "And no matter what, I'll make sure you live."
"Don't... don't... don't lie to me." She painfully coughed in response to his reassuring words, blood coming out of her mouths as her condition worsened while she had difficulty breathing through the pain. "Please, just end me. It's too painful. It hurts everywhere." she begged him to kill her because of how much pain she was in.
"No, Nomi! Don't say that!" He clutched her hand tightly, wanting no more to see her like this. "Just hold on and try not to die! I swear, I will do whatever it takes to fix you and make you feel better! Please, Nomi! Just wait a bit longer! For both of us to get out of this place!" Firmly insisting as his determination to make her better grew ever stronger, more than his own life.
"Please, Sato-kun..." She requested gently, wanting to make him realize how serious this matter is. "I am already dying; it won't be long until I pass on. Perhaps it's my fault that I brought this to ourselves, believing that this world was indeed a hell for me." She quietly replied, a saddening tone in her voice, "But, I met you—someone who saw me for who I truly am, not because of what I am, but because you accepted me for not being monster, but a person."
"You taught me love, Sato. The joy of living in this world And for that, I have grown to love you and care about you deeply." Smiling a bit as she turns to him, the pain has somewhat dulled, and it's almost tolerable now that he is near her. "Though I'm sad that my journey has ended here and we are not able to spend our lives together, I feel blessed that I was able to meet someone like you in this short life of mine."
Tears streamed down Sato's face, unable to comprehend or even fathom the idea of her dying in front of him, not having the strength to continue living on or the willpower to heal himself after having lost the very world that holds him in place.
A small laugh escaped his lips. "You know I can't do that? You mean everything to me; my whole world revolves around you. It hurts, because I don't know what to do anymore; I failed in protecting you; I let this happen to you," his voice cracked as he could only see the grim reality of his actions, blaming himself for failing to protect her. "I'm sorry for letting this happen, Nomi; I truly am. I should have found other ways of making you happy other than the way I have right now."
"Hahahaha... I'm sorry for all this trouble; I can't help but wish I wasn't born in the first place." She smiled while expressing her emotions: "My species are meant to consume organic flesh, particularly sentient life like humans yourself," stating how their biology works, "which is why we are considered monsters to others, a vile abomination to the living, an eldritch existence that seeks to destroy humanity itself," truthfully answering him that she was being honest about the matter.
"We were both monsters, Nomi," he gazed at her with lovingly and sad eyes, "we tortured, cannibalize and killed innocents, all because you need to be entertained and bring some form of food to maintain your survival, while I..." he paused, looking away as his expression changed into a regretful expression as he continued onward with his speech, "were not fit to be in this world," he lamented, "I hate what I have done in the past," bowing his head, ashamed of himself for the past he had committed.
"Indeed, we are both monsters to them; however, to me, Sato-kun, you are my hope and my savior, someone who saved me from this place. That is all that matters to me," she interlocked her hand with his own, "besides, even though we have done terrible things, does it not justify our own actions? No, what's important is the future, and what you do is take care of it," she said, trying to remain positive about his life.
He doesn't understand why she would still believe in him; the world sees him as a madman, a dangerous individual that can kill them on whim, a serial killer who has taken countless lives in the past. "What are you trying to say?" Sato asked, having a hard time comprehending what she meant by it.
"Sato-kun, in the past, we have wronged the world and ruined the lives of many," her eyes staring deeply at him as she conveys her feelings, "it is because of me, and I want you to know that my only final wish is to start a new life without me," answering back with a light heart, "when you leave this place, please find someone and treat them right, raise a family for me, or find a hobby that brings you happiness. You will find love one day, and hopefully, we will meet again in another life, or perhaps the next life," she says, softly squeezing his hand as she says this with a bright smile. "Do promise me, okay? Don't give up just because of me, please."
There was silence, and in that moment, the entire room fell silent, but that's not what made it feel like a minute of solitude; it was the sound of Nomi's fading breath, like a light snuffing out, her hand slowly falling and slipping through his grip, leaving him helpless in the process. He couldn't do anything; he watched as her breathing stopped and she lay peacefully, eyes closed as if she was falling asleep.
Her final words were still lingering in his mind as he cradled her in his arms, silently crying over her corpse. In the back of his mind, he swore to have revenge on that wretched human who caused all of this and would find a way to restore Nomi's life no matter what it took, even if he had to offer his own soul to bring her back to life.
But at the same time, she wanted him to let go of everything and start anew, something that is impossible when he sees everything as a grotesque landscape because of his condition, sees people as monsters, and constantly views the world as hell when, in his eyes, only Nomi is the only normal person to see in his eyes.
Sadness turned to anger; he held onto her tighter than usual and started to cry. Not because of his guilt, nor because of how much she means to him; it's because he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that all of this has happened, and he hates how it happened.
He wants to also die so he can meet her in their next life, but she wouldn't want that. Nomi wants to see her loved one living his life to the fullest rather than continuing this path of destruction. And that is one thing he is conflicted about; he doesn't know what to do and wants to fulfill his own desires or just go with the flow of life and let himself live like he is supposed to.
"What should I do, Nomi?"
Sato quietly asked in the embrace of his love, having his arms wrapped around her arthropodic mass along with his face buried on it, tears still flowing down his face, "Say something; I need to hear your voice; I beg of you; speak to me; just say something to me," pleading and desperately wanting to hear her voice one last time.
No answer, no response from the lifeless body he is holding in his arms; it seems like she would never return to this world ever again, and with that, his emotions spiraled out of control, the sadness, the anger, the frustration, and the regret all swirling within him as he began to violently weep uncontrollably.
His body is trembling with so many emotions that he doesn't know how to deal with them. Unable to think clearly or choose the best course of action, the only thing on his mind is to kill those responsible for this. Right now, he just wants to vent all of the negativity he has deep inside him.
And the good way to remove all that negative energy is to find Yumi and then kill her with his bare hands if he has to. Whether Nomi wants it or not, he wants his revenge and will stop at nothing until that bitch pays for what she has done to him and her.
Standing up with a heavy heart, Sato pulled out his blaster from his black jacket, gripping it firmly while glaring at the door he entered through this auditorium, more than ready to fight. This time, he has something to fight for—a reason to carry on when all his hopes have faded in just a few moments of seeing the only light in this world vanish before his eyes.
Gritting his teeth, he said quietly to himself, with a sense of confidence that he was going to accomplish his goal, "and if I die in the process," turning to glance at the corpse of his beloved one, smiling sadly as he faces forward while walking with firm steps towards the exit, "then I'll be seeing you in the afterlife, sweetie," having a look of resolve in his face.
Upon entering the empty hallway, he calmly walked with so many emotions boiling inside of him; from sadness to anger and rage, he has plenty of those. At that point, he didn't care if he died trying to kill that maid; as long as he gave it his all, he would gladly accept his death rather than live the life he has right now.
His hard steps echoed in the hallways, his footsteps loud enough for anyone to hear. He doesn't, however, care about being noticed by someone; his target is the girl who ruined his hopes and dreams of being happy, and she will pay for taking it all away from him.
He just wished things went differently and that there was a way to prevent it. Fate is cruel, and all he has is nothing more than an illusion of what could have been—a future of the two together, a dream of the two living in peaceful country, building a small cottage somewhere, having a dog or a cat, raising a kid, or just living life in the tranquility of each other's presence.
Sadly, all those dreams of happiness ended quickly, and they were replaced with nothing but pure hatred. Hatred for having those hopes and dreams taken away from him. This is no life; it is simply a way to get rid of all his pain and suffering, to end this torment, and to give his life meaning.
As he marched through the hallways, his mind raced with numerous thoughts; one of them was how he was going to kill her, shoot her with his blaster, or find some means to prolong her suffering. None of it mattered to him; he only cared about having that pinkette's eyes flash before his.
The only thing that remained was a singular goal to seek vengeance, which is the only thing he can rely on right now. All the other distractions are meaningless, and even the sight of blood or gore doesn't affect him as much anymore.
Seeing an elevator open its doors from a distance, Sato immediately sprinted as fast as he could, eager to get inside before it closed, which it did, giving him a perfect opportunity to catch his breath and think of a plan for when he encounters the maid once more.
There is no plan as he pressed the button that leads to the first floor: "Plans are useless; I'm just going to kill her in the old-fashioned way by shooting with this blaster," he said, glancing at his weapon while speaking to himself. "It is better this way; besides, it's not like it matters in the end," he added without second thought, "everything is pointless, including my life and existence altogether," sighing heavily as he placed his fingers on the trigger of his gun.
While riding up, his mind wandered back to the time he spent with his deceased love outside of their disturbing hobby of committing murder, torture, and cannibalism. Nomi has proven to be rather affectionate and caring, sometimes teasing and joking around with him when no one is around, even getting bashful whenever he kissed her.
If only that could continue, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have lost everything in one day to becoming a vengeful being, driven by hate instead of love. There is no reason for him to keep on living when he has no reason to do so.
Seeing the metal doors in front of him open, he took a step out with a sigh of exhaustion, glancing left and right to see the many slain bodies of his colleagues lying on the floors. Everything was painted red, with the flashing lights and the numerous dead corpses of his coworkers surrounding him, along with the smell of fresh blood and dismembered body parts scattered all over the place.
He wondered how they died; he is curious to see what led to their demise, although it doesn't matter since he is not the least bit sad or emotional about these people. None of them hold the same connection that he did with the girl he had just lost, and seeing them like this is proof of that.
Traversing throughout the hallways with one goal in mind, his empathy slowly decreased, and with every casualty he passed, it continued to decrease. With every fallen body, it started to get harder and harder to feel anything other than numbness, a desire for retribution, and sorrow.
Eventually, he found what appeared to be an open entrance outside of this factory, where a bridge is placed over a large pool of water around the building that leads back into the swamp. As he moved forward, Sato stopped before putting his foot on the bridge.
Its her.
Despite the crowd of police units conversing among themselves, one of them was holding a struggling corrupt politician he recognized: James Gill, the bastard that left them to die, the same man that left Nomi to die at her hands.
His eyes landed in the three, where a sitting Yumi was mourning over the broken body of sleeping Carter with his head resting on her lap while Sebastian was comforting her, telling her that they would get him fixed in no time, unaware of an approaching, sinister figure.
This is it!
A smile crept up in his face; he has her where he wants her, and he could finally kill the bitch that killed his Nomi and end this all. His grin became wider, showing his pearly white teeth before he sprinting to the bridge in the fastest his legs could carry him.
Running in a mad craze, it didn't take long for them to take notice as they shouted at him to stop while the three were too busy with their own problems to care what the police said to him or even bother to defend themselves.
She is mine, and no one can stop me from having my revenge!
Raising his blaster at them, he felt for a brief moment that he could see Sebastian's worrying expression turn to a smirk if he had been expecting this to happen in the first place, confusing Sato with this strange moment before brushing it off as nothing.
Pressing the trigger, a wave of blast immediately shot at them so fast that no one had the time to react, let alone stop it, as the attack hit them point blank, resulting in an explosion of smoke, the sound of booming, and a powerful gust of wind that engulfed the trio completely.
Vanishing out of sight as he witnessed the fire rising and the smoke covering the whole area, blocking his view, he smirked victoriously at getting rid of them after what just transpired; all he had to do now was kill himself and join her in death, a promise that he would never forget.
Placing the blaster over his chin, he whispered, "I'll be with you soon, my love," whispering to himself while pressing the trigger, ready to pull it for a suicide that would ensure his escape from this prison he calls reality.
In that moment, he felt the sudden hands of many SAT units grabbing his arms in attempt to apprehend him. He struggled, cursing them while refusing to be captured by any means, and even refused to stay there any longer, thrashing like an animal caught in a trap until one of them managed to rip the blaster out of his grasp before tossing it away from him.
Standing beside the shell-shocked Misa was Koyoshi, sharing the same horrified expression at the sight of seeing them die like this, unable to say anything else but to be frozen in this sudden turn of events as the two watched from a safe distance the huddled group of cops apprehending him.
