Chapter 155: Joe vs Gido

Chapter 155: Joe vs Gido

In Gido’s lab.

Gido stands inside his laboratory, looking over multiple people lying on tables as they undergo the Enigmus process.

He makes a call using the large monitor hanging on the wall as part of his supercomputer. Once someone answers, Goro appears on the screen.

“What is it?” Goro asks.

“Things are turning badly!” Gido says with concern. “I want you to guard me while I get these people through the Enigmus process faster!”

“Master Kogen wanted me to guard Subject 1’s body,” Goro replies.

“Why?” Gido asks. “The enemy isn’t coming after Subject 1 in particular.”

Goro glances toward Subject 1’s unconscious body, suspended inside a tube filled with liquid. Subject 1 is male, but the darkness inside the tube makes it impossible to see any defining features.

“Because it might be time to release him,” Goro says.

“Look!” Gido snaps. “If something happens to me, then Master Kogen can kiss his Enigmus program goodbye! Come over and guard me!”

Goro takes a deep breath. “Fine. I guess I will put Subject 1 on a timed release. I will be over there soon.”

“Good,” Gido replies. “I don’t want to have to use the syringe if I don’t have to.”

The monitor shuts off.

A moment later, Gido hears a door open. He turns around and sees Joe standing inside the room at its entrance.

“You—!” Gido shouts.

Joe interrupts him before he can say anything else.

“You gave us power, but you also brainwashed us!” Joe yells. “For that, you must die!”

Joe releases fog, and the room becomes completely shrouded.

“Damn you!” Gido shouts. “I can’t see!”

Gido is caught unprepared as Joe suddenly appears in front of him through the fog and punches him into a wall.

Gido releases a wave of energy that clears away the fog. As the room becomes visible again, Joe is already falling from above. He kicks Gido, knocking him hard to the floor.

“Subject 6823,” Gido growls, “I don’t know how you broke free of our control, but I can assure you that this act of betrayal will not be tolerated!”

“I am not Subject 6823!!” Joe shouts before screaming, “I am Joe Lesimore!!! I am not your slave!!!!!!”

Joe releases a magic bubble that begins rapidly expanding throughout the room as he continues to scream in anger. “Bubble of Influence!!!”

Lightning bursts from Joe’s hands, amplified by the bubble to strike with more power and more often, and begins destroying large portions of the lab’s equipment.

“No!!!!” Gido screams. “You can’t destroy my precious lab!!!!!”

“This lab is an abomination to the world!!!!” Joe yells back.

“I won’t let you do any more damage!!” Gido shouts.

Joe ends his Bubble of Influence.

Gido scrambles to his feet and charges at Joe. He leaps and wraps his legs around Joe’s neck, but Joe grabs Gido’s neck and gut-punches him, dealing massive damage. A mix of saliva and blood splash out from his mouth.

Joe charges wind into his fist and punches Gido again, sending him flying backward.

“Turning me into an Enigmus was the worst thing you could have done,” Joe says. “You were able to easily defeat me before you did, but now you stand no chance!”

“Enough!” Gido shouts as he charges his entire body with magic energy.

Joe slams his fist into the floor, releasing a wind punch. The wind spreads across the ground, seeking out Gido.

Gido tries to dodge, but the wind lifts him off his feet. Storm clouds rapidly form along the ceiling of the room.

Lightning strikes Gido repeatedly, leaving electric burns all over his body. Joe follows up with a Derecho blast that smashes Gido into a wall.

Joe begins charging a massive amount of magic energy.

Gido, badly damaged, pushes himself off the wall and charges forward. He unleashes a flurry of punches and kicks at Joe, but Joe blocks every attack.

“You’re just worthless garbage!” Joe yells.

“Call me whatever you want, but I will build an army that can stand up against the Dark Goddess!!!” Gido shouts back. “What could you and your handful of friends do!!!?”

Gido leaps backward and fires a barrage of small, high-speed magic blasts. Joe is unable to dodge them, and they strike him, dealing minor damage.

Despite the damage, Joe releases his counterattack, a small tornado. Objects around the lab are ripped from the floor as the tornado slams Gido violently into a wall.

“Your tornado will kill these poor innocent people!” Gido shouts. “Do you want that on your conscience!?”

“They will be fine,” Joe replies coldly. “You, on the other hand, it’s a different story. I’m about to inflict the worst pain you have ever experienced…”

Joe’s anger explodes once again. “I’m going to send you to Hell!!!!!!”

Electricity coats Joe’s entire body. In moments, his whole body is white with electricity.

“End of the line!!!” Joe shouts. “I hope you like this new ability I got thanks to you turning me into an Enigmus!!!!”

“This is bad,” Gido mutters. “I have to use the syringe! Feel the wrath of my Blood Magic!!”

“Blitzkrieg!!” Joe roars as Gido pulls out the syringe filled with a red liquid.

In less than a second, Joe moves with immense speed and lands a devastating punch on Gido. A massive surge of magic and electricity erupts from the impact. The force of the punch causes Gido’s body to burst in half and knocks the syringe out of his hand before he uses it.

The tornado dissipates as Joe powers down his magic. He looks at his hand, smoke rising from it. “So much power and electric energy that my hand is smoking,” Joe says. “Blitzkrieg may be my most powerful attack.”

“You damn fool…” Gido mutters.

Joe glances down at the top half of Gido’s body. Despite being blown in half, he is still alive.

“Stopping the Enigmus Project is the worst thing you could ever do…” Gido says as some blood drips from his mouth.

“You’re so full of crap,” Joe replies.

“You really don’t get it,” Gido states. “Master Kogen can save us from the Dark Goddess!”

Joe raises an eyebrow as Gido continues.

“Master Kogen has a plan. Meanwhile, you and your friends are just fools trying to play hero.”

Gido tries crawling toward the syringe on the floor. Joe notices and grabs it. He examines it as he says, “You mentioned Blood Magic earlier when talking about this thing. Does it activate it?”

Gido grins creepily, even in his near-death state. “That’s right. You should know that you and your friends can’t beat Kogen in a fight, even if you all fought him at the same time. That is, unless you used that syringe. Then maybe, just maybe, you would have a chance.”

Looking at the syringe, Joe has a sudden flashback of Daykona injecting herself with multiple syringes. His eyes widen. “Is this like Daykona?”

Gido continues grinning. “Ah, so you have seen the prototypes.”

Joe’s eyes widen more.

“You see, Blood Magic isn’t just some random power-state that a person can obtain! It’s the beginning of a metamorphosis!!”

Joe trembles as he listens to Gido.

“What do you mean?” Joe asks.

“We gave magic to mice and then bred them to create mice born with magic. We tested the syringes on them. Not only did they enter Blood Magic, they began to transform into gradually more monstrous forms! By the end of it, they became as large as bears!! And that’s just mice! Imagine what a human would become!!”

Joe flinches and his fear increases.

“I admit, I lost!” Gido shouts with more blood flowing out from his mouth. “So you can go ahead and use that syringe! Without it, you would be slaughtered by Master Kogen!!”

“Why the hell should I believe that we can’t beat Kogen!?” Joe demands.

“Master Kogen may officially be a B-Rank, but his power goes far beyond that!! Even Goma doesn’t compare to him!! So use the syringe!! Let me see from the afterlife just what kind of monster you will be!!!”

Gido coughs up blood as he laughs with glee.

Joe grits his teeth. “I’m sick of you!”

He electrifies his right arm, which becomes completely white with the sparking electricity, just as his whole body did earlier.. He slams his fist down into Gido’s body, completely obliterating it. With Gido’s death, the only sounds left in the lab are the soft hums of the equipment that are still functioning.

“That will put an end to your Enigmus experimentations.”

Joe turns and surveys the room, taking in the unconscious people scattered across the lab. “I apologize to all of you that may have been hurt by the tornado. At least you won’t be brainwashed puppets.”

He stays in place, and just gazes at the syringe in his hand.

To use the syringe? Or not to use the syringe?

Chapter 155 END

To be Continued in Chapter 156: Fear of the Syringe