Chapter 35 Phantom Pain

Dr. Ichiban remained perfectly still, her expression calm, her voice steady—almost robotic.

“Ah yes, the young Dr. Kaiju. It has been a while indeed. I am flattered that you even remember me. After all, you...” her words trailed off.

She tilted her head slightly, as if analyzing a mildly interesting specimen under a microscope. She took a single step forward, completely unfazed by his threats, by the destruction around them, by the mercenaries standing at the ready.

“After all what happened, after all the death around us. I have no doubt that you want me eliminated. A predictable outcome, given the circumstances. But I’m afraid I cannot allow that, Kaiju.” 

She blinked, slowly. 

“There is still work to be done. I need to save this world. This planet is sick, rotting beneath the weight of its own filth, and I must cure it.”

Her eyes flickered over him, scanning him as if she were reading a chart, dissecting every detail of his appearance. Then, a ghost of a pleasant smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Her eyes showed some life for the first time since she left Helios-9.

“Oh, what's this? Corruption… you seem different.”

A beat passed, her voice barely shifting in tone, but carrying an almost surgical sharpness. 

“How is your arm doing?”

She didn’t gesture, didn’t point, didn’t need to. She already knew what was hiding behind Kaiju's bandages. The subtle way he carried himself, the stiffness in his posture, the tension in his fingers—it told her everything.

“I imagine it still hurts. Like a splinter buried too deep to dig out.”

She blinked again, slow, deliberate. 

“Phantom pains can be rather difficult to endure. Especially when human body rejects what it was never meant to have in the first place.”

A pause. The ghost of her breath hung in the air between them.

"Tell me," She asked, tilting her head the other way, "does it whisper to you at night? When the world is quiet, and you’re left alone with nothing but your own frail human shell? Does it remind you what you are?"

"You try to hide it, of course. Clench your jaw. Breathe through the pain. Pretend it doesn't throb when the air turns damp." 

She took a single step closer, the click of her heel echoing like a scalpel dropped on tile.

  "But your body doesn't lie. Not to me."

There was no malice in her tone, no gloating, no emotion at all—just cold, clinical observation. The way a scientist might comment on a failed experiment.

Her gloved hand lifted—not to touch him, but to trace the air from afar where his corrupted arm hung stiff at his side, mirroring its jagged, unnatural contours.

"The human flesh is rejecting it, isn't it? Little by little. Your skin peels back like old paper. Your veins darken with every minute. Such a pity—all that suffering, and for what?"

A hollow chuckle escaped her, the sound like ice cracking over black water.

"You could tear it off right now. Rip it free at the shoulder. Would it even bleed, I wonder? Or would you find only shimmering rot beneath, crawling up toward your heart?"

Her head tilted, her glassy eyes reflecting his face back at him—distorted.

"Do you dream of it yet? The moment you wake to find your fingers won't bend? The morning your reflection stares back with too many teeth?"

She leaned in, her breath a winter kiss against his ear—too quiet for others to hear.

"Tick-tock, little experiment."

Dr. Kaiju's calm facade cracked, his jaw tightening, his voice rising with a sharp edge of fury.

"Yeah. It hurts." A bitter laugh tore from his throat. 

"Every damn second. Like a thousand needles sewing my nerves back together just to rip them apart again."

His teeth clenched as his breathing grew heavier. 

"But pain is a good thing. It reminds me of what happened that day. It reminds me of my failure. One of those creatures got me that day. Just a scratch at first. But Conor, he saved me before I was consumed by the crystallization. He grabbed his knife and cut my arm off. He thought he was saving me. Thought he was stopping the infection. But that only slowed it down."

His breath hitched, his eyes darting downward for a brief second, as if even looking at what came next disgusted him.

"That was a mistake."

With a sharp, deliberate motion, he unwrapped the bandages around his arm and let them fall to the floor. His arm—if it could even be called that anymore—glimmered with red light. Blood-red crystal hand was where flesh and bone should have been.

"It was a mistake to leave my crystalized arm behind. I should have destroyed it! The rain came, it reacted with rainwater and all hell broke loose. But I don't need to tell you that. You know all of it all too well. And now?" He raised his twisted limb, the crystalline fingers curling into a fist, their edges sharp enough to cut through steel.

"Now, I have this abomination to remind me of that failure every single day. Only thing keeping this filth from spreading further is compound 86 that I and Ichiban made."

He turned his gaze back to Ichiban, his expression twisted in frustration and bitterness.

  "And yet, despite it all, despite everything I lost, I'm still standing. Still here to clean up my mess."

Shujinko stepped forward, his eyes burning with naive determination. He had that look again—the one that screamed I’m about to say some self-righteous nonsense, that only shounen anime protagonist could pull off, and get myself in trouble.

“Listen to me, Kaiju! I know you think this world isn't worth saving. I know you've seen the worst of humanity - the fear, the cruelty, the people who turned their backs when others needed help most. But that's not all we are! There are still people out there risking everything to protect complete strangers! People who keep getting back up no matter how many times they're knocked down! The doctors working without sleep to find cures, the ordinary folks sharing their last can of food, the ones who become heroes not because they have powers, but because it's the right thing to do!"

His voice cracks with emotion but grew stronger.

"That's why I won't let you destroy everything! Not when there's still so much good worth fighting for! Maybe you've forgotten what hope looks like... so let me remind you! As long as one person still believes in a better tomorrow - as long as one heart still fights for what's right - then this world deserves to keep turning! And I... I WILL PROVE THAT TO YOU! That arm of yours doesn’t make you a monster—it just means you survived! But instead of trying to fix things, you’re working for Eel Schmuck, helping the people who caused this mess in the first place!"

Shujinko clenched his fists, his voice rising with that infuriating, main character heroic conviction. 

“Dr. Ichiban is trying to save this world, while you’re just making it worse! But it’s not too late, Kaiju! You can still—”

"Enough!" Kaiju shouted, rubbing his temples as if Shujinko’s words physically pained him. Then, without hesitation, he snapped his fingers.

“Who the fuck is this clown?! Do you think you are some shonen anime main character!? Do you think some talk-no-jutsu nonsense will save the day?! You think this is the fucking climax where your big, heartfelt speech magically fixes everything? That talk-no-jutsu bullshit might work in your delusional little fantasy, but out here?"

He looked at Shujinko with almost pity, his lip curling in disgust.

"Let me spell it out for you, kid. This isn’t a story. There’s no power of friendship moment waiting for you. No last-minute miracle. Just pain, blood, and the cold, hard truth—you’re nothing. And when you’re lying in the dirt, choking on your own ideals, I promise you—no one’s coming to save you."

"You think I'm naive? That I don't understand how cruel this world is? I've seen the cruelty! I've watched people suffer, watched them lose hope—but that's exactly why I won't back down! You call me a clown? A fool? Fine! But I'd rather be a fool who believes in people than a coward who's given up on them!"

He slammed a fist against his chest.

"You talk about reality like it's some unchangeable truth, but reality is shaped by those who refuse to quit! By people who keep fighting even when the world tells them it's hopeless! You want to mock 'talk-no-jutsu'? Go ahead! But words matter! Belief matters! And if standing here and screaming my heart out is what it takes to prove that people can still be saved—then I'll scream until my voice gives out!"

Kaiju stared at Shujinko for a long, silent moment—before shouting.

"Someone! Shut! Him! Up! Who the fuck even is this idiot?! Conor! Deal with these damn civilians, but for the love of God! If you shoot them, use regular bullet, don't waste the new product. Save them for these crystal freaks and that crystal bitch!”