Kai exhaled, releasing the mental block he'd been placing on himself. The moment he did, his mutant ability surged, thrumming in sync with his heartbeat.
The blood dripping from his wounds lifted into the air, twisting into shimmering tendrils that pulsed with raw, untapped power.
Nyx's eyes gleamed. "Oh, fascinating!" He clapped his hands, giddy. "A blood manipulator! I knew you were special. Come now, Kai - show me what a Bloodweaver can do!"
Kai barely heard him. His focus locked onto the creature in front of him. He had no idea how he knew what to do - he just did. Like something inside him had been waiting for this moment.
"Let's see how immortal this thing really is."
The monster roared, lunging toward him.
Kai's mind flicked back to the ice-wielding mutant - how she conjured and shaped frost into lethal weapons.
He mimicked it.
Instinct guided him, and his blood obeyed. The floating tendrils solidified, forming two jagged blades that gleamed under the harsh lab lights. They felt weightless in his hands - an extension of himself.
The creature hesitated, its vacant eyes flickering with something close to surprise.
That split second was all Kai needed.
He blurred forward, his body moving faster than it ever had - beyond human limits.
A clean, precise slash across its chest. He felt the blade carve through, the sickening grey flesh splitting apart.
But there was no blood.
Only that unnatural flesh knitting itself back together, almost instantly.
No blood to manipulate. No true life to snuff out.
"Of course, it doesn't have blood." He cursed his luck, but the realisation barely settled before the creature retaliated, its claws swiping in a blur.
Kai ducked, pivoted, and drove his second blade into its side.
It let out a hoarse screech, but again, the wound vanished as if nothing had happened.
Kai sprang back, breath sharp, blood racing. Heat surged through his veins, his heartbeat pounding in his skull.
It was exhilarating. The sheer power coursing through him.
And deep within, something ominous continued whispering to him, urging him to embrace it...
-
Nyx's voice slithered through the chaos, thick with twisted delight. "Do you feel it, Subject 357? The power coursing through your veins?"
Being referred to as 'Subject 357' grated on Kai's nerves. He was one to remain level-headed, but his emotions weirdly felt unrestrained as his grip tightened around the blood-forged blades. His glare was sharp, his voice low. "Shut up."
The creature lunged, claws aimed at his neck. Kai remained still and didn't even flinch. Blood trailed in his wake, twisting mid-air before hardening into a barrier. The monster's claws slammed into it, sparking on impact.
Kai smirked, kicking the creature away before flinging a blood javelin he conjured. It lodged itself directly in the centre of its chest and it screeched as it struggled to pull it out.
"Magnificent!" Nyx's voice rang through the lab, brimming with awe. "You're a natural, Kai! Did you ever imagine you'd be capable of such things?"
'Controlling blood? Can't say I did...' he responded internally, as the monster threw aside the blood javelin and burst towards him again.
Nyx watched with unfiltered enjoyment, but Kai's unexpected appearance and skill were becoming… inconvenient. 'I might need to adjust my plans slightly,' he mused. Despite that, he remained calm and continued chiming in.
Kai didn't care. Didn't respond. His focus was razor-sharp.
He surged forward, slashing with precision while raising his free hand. Blood droplets lifted from the ground, condensing into small, compact spheres. With a flick of his wrist, they shot forward like bullets, striking the creature from all directions.
It staggered - but didn't fall. Its sickly grey hide absorbed most of the damage.
Kai's brow furrowed, trying to understand his newfound abilities. 'The further away the blood is, the harder it is to control.'
He didn't have time to dwell on it. The monster lunged again - faster, its movements becoming more desperate, as Nyx pressed for it to try harder. Kai barely managed to block, the impact rattling through his bones as claws met hardened blood.
Sparks flew.
He twisted, ducking under a follow-up strike, then drove a second blood blade toward its neck.
Another roar. Another dodge.
Kai moved with deadly precision, slashing in calculated arcs. He kept the beast off balance, shifting between close combat and long-range strikes - blood bullets flying from behind while his blades carved through the front. But the effort was immense. His mind ached with the strain of shaping, hardening, and wielding the blood simultaneously.
And he was losing blood at an alarming rate.
A faint dizziness crept in. His head pounded. His body screamed at him to stop.
'Too much.' He clenched his jaw, steadying himself. But he couldn't deny that it was exhilarating. Like discovering a new limb you didn't know you had.
The blood around him pulsed in response, as if alive. The pools on the floor, the droplets clinging to the walls - he felt them like they were a part of him. The sensation was intoxicating.
"Don't stop now!" Nyx's voice cut through his thoughts, thick with glee. "You've barely scratched the surface! Imagine what you could do with more blood. More practice! Don't hold back - be the masterpiece I created you to be!"
Kai gritted his teeth and pushed forward, kicking off the floor with a burst of speed. His blades clashed against the creature's claws in a rapid flurry, each strike deliberate.
He twisted mid-air, using the momentum to hurl another volley of blood bullets at its exposed back.
This time, it faltered.
Wounds piled up, its movements and recovery slowing.
However, its resilience was maddening. Even as gashes tore through its body, it refused to fall. It just kept coming.
Kai, on the other hand, was reaching his limits, desperately gasping for air. His vision blurred at the edges. The strain of wielding blood was immense, let alone the fact that it was his own.
Despite that, he couldn't stop.
There was only one thing on his mind: no matter what it took, no matter how much blood he had to spill…
Nyx was going to die!