Liveman, The Stake that Broke the Bull!

Liveman Black Bison fights harder than ever, refusing to fall like the others. His body is strong. His will is unbreakable. Or so he believes. But the nightmare does not stop. The stronger he fights, the more the enemy savors his resistance. The horror that has been lurking in the shadows now reveals itself in full—a force beyond life, beyond death, beyond anything he can comprehend. But they don’t just want his body. They want everything he is. And they will take it, one excruciating piece at a time.

When even the strongest breaks, who will be left to stand?

Special thanks to my loyal and royal patron friends:

Aimi

Nikos

Oddone

Nate Piburn

Nicholas Athallah

Jakob Feurhuber

泽凯 张

vladimirpootis

Tribe

A

Bethany

kasa41

Violet Fentenstine

Tuck Lee

Matthew Thom

fumitsu

kasa41

俊介 星野

にとり 河城

Russell shuey

Bayu Pramana

clanna

park jong

Dominic Kohtz

George Hellerman

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darkrai1986

시우 성

Nathaniel Grayson

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John Barten

Eddie Hauck

Ken K

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Robert Terwillger

snb

Daniel K

Mike020578

Impale their courage!

The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse. The Livemen, once a force of unity and power, were being ripped apart, one by one, by their own fallen comrades. Their sanctuary had turned into a grave, the steel floors soaked in fresh, warm blood. The air, thick with the scent of death, carried the Baron’s chilling laughter, Megumi’s manic giggling, and Junichi’s unhinged screams—all twisted into a cacophony of madness.

Jou, still resisting, still fighting with every last fiber of his body, struggled against the warped steel that held him prisoner. His LionPunch Gauntlet was useless, his strength failing, his entire body wracked with pain. The Baron’s talons had torn through his armor, his shoulder burned where Megumi’s arrow had struck, and yet—he still fought.

"You—you sick bastards!" His howl was ragged, raw from the screaming, but still defiant. "You’re still one of us! You—you were our friends! How the hell can you say this is what you want?! That this is what you are now?!"

Megumi tilted her head, the movement sharp, twitching, unnatural. The lights flickered against the golden reflection of her visor, her laughter breathy, shuddering, ecstatic. "Oh, Jou~ Why are you still struggling?" Her fingers flexed against his pinned arms, her grip tightening. "You’re just meat now. That’s all you ever were."

Junichi stood beside her, his gloved hands twitching at his sides, his Sai Cutters spinning in his grip, his breathing heavy, feverish. His helmeted head jerked toward Jou, his shoulders trembling, his tone thick with something between madness and hunger. "You don’t get it, do you, Jou?" His words warped, broken, filled with sickening glee. "You think you’re a hero? You think you’re still alive? Look at you!" His tone cracked into laughter, high and hysterical. "You’re already dead! We all are! Corpses! Carcasses! Just waiting—waiting to be sucked dry!" His hands clawed at his own chest, his fingers twitching in delight. "The Baron is going to feast, and I—I can’t wait!"

"You’re lying!" Yuusuke’s delivery thundered through the room, his struggles shaking Megumi’s hold, his rage so raw it made his entire frame tremble. "You were NEVER just meat! You’re Junichi! You’re our teammate! We bled together! We fought together!" His breath hitched, his helmeted face snapping toward Jun. "We laughed together, DAMN IT!"

Still barely holding his ground, Tetsuya stepped forward, his tone full of desperation. "Jun, you remember, don’t you?! The first time we all trained together?! You used to outrun all of us in the drills! You laughed every time I tripped over my own feet trying to keep up!"

"And Megumi!" Jou roared through the pain, his howl desperate, furious, refusing to let them fall without a fight. "You were the one who dragged us out for food after every mission! You used to argue about who made the best ramen in the city! You never shut up about it!" His delivery cracked as he fought the gloom, fighting against the pain. "You told us we were family, Megumi! You said we were in this together!"

For a split second, neither of them moved.

Then Megumi laughed. It started slow, then grew, warping into a wild, uncontrollable giggle, shaking her whole body. She pressed her forehead against Jou’s helmet, sighing like she was savoring the moment. "Oh, Jou~" Her words dripped with amusement, pity, sick delight. "You really think that matters?" Her hands tightened against his arms, her breath shuddering. "You’re so adorable when you beg."

Junichi twitched, his entire body shuddering as he lifted his head toward Tetsuya. "Memories?" His tone was fragile for a second—then it broke. "MEMORIES MEAN SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" His head jerked back, his delivery hitting a frenzied pitch. "YOU THINK THAT STUPID SHIT MATTERS?!" He launched forward, his Sai Cutters slashing through the air as he struck at Tetsuya with merciless force.

Tetsuya barely dodged the first two strikes, but the third slashed across his side, sparks erupting from his suit, the pain lancing through his ribs. He clenched his fists, his heart pounding, his mind racing, still trying to get through to him. "JUN! You said we’d see the world together! That we’d make it through this war, no matter what! You said—!"

Junichi’s helmet twitched, his fingers clawing at his own face as if trying to peel something off. "I said a lot of things." His howl was breathy, his words unhinged. "But now? Now I know the truth." His grip tightened around his Sai Cutters. "The world doesn’t need heroes. It needs meat."

And then Jou screamed.

The Baron struck with his fangs buried deep into Jou’s exposed throat, piercing through flesh, through muscle, through veins, as if he were tearing into simply a helpless animal. Jou’s entire body arched violently against the steel restraints, his fingers clawing at the air, his helmeted head thrashing.

The sound that ripped from him was unlike anything they had ever heard. It was raw. Broken. Helpless.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

The Baron drank deep, the sickening sound of his feast filling the room, the wet, horrifying slurp of blood being drained echoing between Jou’s strangled gasps. The floor beneath them was already soaked in crimson, but now it was worse. Jou’s bright yellow suit darkened, stained with the very life being stolen from him. His breathing turned erratic, his limbs jerking involuntarily, his once-powerful form trembling.

"JOUUUUUUUUUU!" Yuusuke’s scream tore from his throat, pure, unfiltered rage and devastation bursting from his lungs as he struggled against Megumi’s hold, his entire body shaking. "YOU DAMN MONSTER! LET HIM GO!"

Tetsuya snapped. His hands clenched into fists so tight his gloves creaked, his entire frame vibrating as his mind drowned in fury. "I’LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO GOD, I’LL KILL YOU!"

But it was too late.

Jou’s thrashing slowed.

His defiant roars turned to weak gasps.

His helmeted head slumped forward, his breath coming in shallow, ragged shudders.

The Baron finally pulled back, his lips red, his tongue sliding over his fangs with a sigh of satisfaction. Jou’s body hung limply against the twisted steel, his suit drenched in blood. The floor was soaked.

The Liveman base, their last bastion, was now a ruined cathedral of horror, its walls slick with blood, its steel beams twisted into grotesque shapes under the Baron’s control. The once-bright command consoles flickered erratically, their cracked screens displaying nothing but static and failure, reflecting the desperate, broken figures of the last two Livemen.

Tetsuya and Yuusuke stood in the center of it all, breathless, beaten, bloodied. Their suits were torn, the fabric of their once-proud armor now stained, shredded, useless. But the worst wound of all had already been inflicted—their weapons were gone, stolen, wrenched from their failing grips.

And now, those weapons belonged to the Baron.

The monstrous vampire lord sat casually atop the ruined control throne, his bony fingers curled possessively around Black Bison’s Rod and Red Falcon’s Saber, turning them over as though admiring the craftsmanship of a fine jewel. His serpentine tongue flicked out, dragging a slow, indulgent lick across the bloodied metal of the staff, then the blade, his golden eyes gleaming with pure, wicked satisfaction.

"Ahhh, what waste these weapons would have been in your hands,” he sighed, his tone like silk stretched over razors. “But in mine?" His grin widened, impossibly sharp, a crescent moon of predatory delight. "They are prizes."

He chuckled, low and indulgent, his fingers tapping along the length of Tetsuya’s stolen rod. Then, he threw his head back and laughed—a deep, booming, hellish sound that filled the ruined base, vibrating in the very bones of the walls.

Tetsuya staggered, his entire body trembling, not just from exhaustion but from the weight of it all—the betrayal, the sheer, crushing finality of their doom. His hands clenched into fists, his nails biting into his palms, but there was no weapon left to wield, no strength left to swing it.

And in front of them, their fallen teammates—Junichi, Jou, and Megumi—stood, their postures loose, relaxed, utterly at peace in their monstrous hunger.

No helmets now. No visors. Just bare, pale faces stretched into horrible, inhuman grins, their fangs stained with the remnants of their feast, their golden eyes shining with endless thirst.

Junichi twitched violently, his Sai Cutters spinning between his fingers as if possessed, his breath sharp, erratic, almost gasping between words. “You’re—You’re still standing, Tet-chan? Still thinking? STILL TRYING? HAHHHHAAAH! What’s wrong? Does it hurt? Does it ache, ache, ache, ACHE inside?” His body jerked, convulsing in pleasure, his delivery rising to a shriek. "Let it break! Let it break! LET IT ALL BREA—"

Megumi’s laughter overlapped his, high and breathy, nearly giddy as she clasped her hands together, twisting her fingers like a child unraveling a ribbon. “Oooooh, ooooh, look at him! Look at him shake! He’s just like a—like a little baby animal caught in a trap." She gasped, her hands flying up, mocking shock. "Oh no, oh nooo, what if he still believes he can run? What if he still thinks there’s a way out? Ohhhh, wouldn’t that be—PRECIOUS?”

Jou, leaning lazily against a shattered console, merely hissed out a hollow chuckle, his tone rattling in his chest, his eyes dull, empty. "Mmmmm, poor Tet-chan, poor Yuu-chan... Don't you see? There's no up, no down, no escape, no end. Just this. Just drinking, drinking, drinking, until everything is gone. You might as well stop breathing now." His lips curled, revealing fangs still wet with Tetsuya’s blood. “Make it easier for us.”

Tetsuya couldn’t move. His breath came in ragged bursts, his chest rising and falling, rising and falling, but it wasn’t just exhaustion that made his limbs tremble. It was the slow, terrible realization.

He was afraid. Truly afraid.

His legs locked into place, his mind scrambling for a thought, a plan, an answer, anything—anything—but nothing was left. He was unarmed. Outnumbered. Surrounded. Abandoned. The people he had called his teammates, his friends, were now monsters circling for the final kill.

And beside him, Yuusuke still stood. Still defiant. Still glaring, still breathing, still clutching his fists like he would strike them down with his bare hands if he had to. His voice, though hoarse, though cracked with exhaustion, still had that flicker of fire.

“No.” His head snapped toward Tetsuya, eyes burning beneath his visor. “No, damn it! We’re not done! Don’t let them break you! We’re still here, we’re still Livemen!” His tone rose, raw with desperation. “We can still fight—”

Junichi was suddenly there. One second, he had been pacing, twitching, giggling—the next, he was in front of Yuusuke, his fingers clawed, his breath hot with the scent of blood. His eyes widened in manic pleasure.

"Fight? FIGHT? FIGHT?!" His howl exploded into shrieking hysteria. "OH, OH, LET'S FIGHT, RED! LET'S FIGHT, LET'S RIP, LET'S TEAR! RIP OUT YOUR ORGANS AND PAINT THE WALLS WITH YOUR INSIDES!" He cackled, his whole body vibrating with bloodlust.

Megumi clapped her hands, twirling on her toes. "OH YES! LET’S UNWRAP HIM! LET’S FIND OUT WHAT HIS BONES LOOK LIKE!"

Jou just exhaled slowly, his head lolling to the side, lazy, indifferent. “Mmmm... or just drink him dry. We’ve waited long enough, haven’t we?”

The Baron’s tone cut through them all.

"Indeed, my dear children," he murmured, finally rising from his throne, his long, spindly fingers still clutching the stolen Liveman weapons like ceremonial relics. His golden eyes burned with ancient hunger.

His steps were slow, deliberate, cruel. "There is no more struggle, Red Falcon. No more hope, Black Bison. You have no weapons. No power. No escape." He licked his lips, revealing his endless, abyssal fangs. "Only me."

Tetsuya’s breath hitched. Yuusuke’s fists clenched. Megumi, Junichi, and Jou descended on them in a blur of fangs and laughter.

The Liveman base, now a grotesque slaughterhouse, trembled beneath the echoes of violence. The once-bright sanctuary of heroes had become a nightmare of blood and steel, the floor soaked in crimson streaks, the air thick with the scent of copper and death.

Tetsuya and Yuusuke were no longer warriors.

They were prey.

Their chests heaved, their bodies broken, their suits torn open in jagged slashes, the bright fabric darkened by fresh wounds. Their hands were empty, their weapons stolen, wielded now by the very monsters who had once stood beside them.

And those monsters were reveling in their destruction.

Megumi twirled Tetsuya’s Bison Rod in her hands, her golden eyes gleaming with manic delight, her pale lips curling into a smile too wide, too eager. "Ohhhh, this is—this is something special, isn’t it?" She let out a breathy giggle, dragging the weapon against the floor, the metal scraping, screeching against the blood-soaked ground. “Tet-chan, does it hurt?"

She didn’t wait for an answer. The Rod swung, hard, brutal, crashing against Tetsuya’s ribs with the force of a battering ram.

Tetsuya’s body convulsed, a hoarse, raw scream tearing from his throat as he was flung backward, his back hitting the ruined control panels with a sickening crack. His vision blurred, his limbs barely responding—his body no longer his own.

Junichi was on Yuusuke before he could move, brandishing the stolen Falcon Saber, the blade still wet with old blood. He leaned down, his fingers grasping Yuusuke’s jaw, forcing him to look up. His breath was heavy, erratic, shaking with pure, unchecked glee.

"Ahhhh, Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan, Yuu-chan!" His voice rose and fell in delirious, sing-song hysteria. "You used to love this sword, right? Always swinging, always cutting, always thinking you were some noble little bird flying through the air?" His gloved fingers traced the edge of the blade, his delivery dropping into a whisper. "But birds? Birds are weak. Birds get their wings broken."

The Saber came down.

Yuusuke barely had time to react before the edge of his own blade slashed across his chest, carving into the fabric of his suit, slicing through skin. Blood burst from the wound, thick and glistening, staining the golden lightning bolt emblazoned across his torso.

His breath hitched, but Junichi wasn’t done.

Again, and again, and again.

The Falcon Saber cut through him, slicing deep, tearing through armor, through flesh, through muscle. Yuusuke’s body twisted, jerking with each brutal strike, pain swallowing every nerve, but still—he clenched his jaw, refusing to scream. His visor, cracked and smeared with blood, still glared up at his attacker.

And it was that defiance—that flickering ember of resistance—that made them want to break him even more. "STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Junichi shrieked, his helmet twitching violently, his grip tightening on the Falcon Saber as he slashed again, again, again.

Tetsuya, barely able to move, his vision a blurred mess of red and black, forced himself to lift his head. What he saw was hell. Yuusuke, hunched over, blood seeping from his chest, his shoulders heaving, his fingers twitching as he tried—desperately—to lift his arm, to do anything. And behind him—Megumi, raising the Bison Rod again.

Tetsuya’s breath caught, his body lurching forward, his own delivery a shattered gasp. “YUU—”

CRACK.

The Bison Rod came down across Yuusuke’s back, sending him crashing to the floor, his body jerking violently upon impact. His scream tore from his throat, echoing through the ruined base, a sound of pure, raw agony.

Jou leaned against a nearby steel beam, his arms crossed, his deadened golden eyes watching the display with a detached, nihilistic grin. His breath rattled, his lips curling as he let out a slow, hollow hiss. “Mmmmm, look at them… writhing. It’s like… music, isn’t it?" His fingers twitched, as if playing an invisible instrument. "Pain has such a beautiful rhythm, doesn't it?”

Megumi giggled, twirling the bloodied Rod over her shoulder, sighing. "Mmmm, but we’re not done yet, are we?" She nudged Yuusuke’s barely-moving body with the toe of her boot, tilting her head. "Ohhh, I want the whole thing. The whole, entire thing."

Junichi licked his bloodied lips, his body trembling, intoxicated with the thrill. "Yessss, drain them, drink them, crush them until there’s NOTHING left." His howl rose into a shriek, his head jerking violently as he twitched in ecstasy.

The Baron had heard enough. He moved forward, slow, deliberate, each step echoing against the blood-slicked floor. His presence swallowed the room, devouring the air, filling every inch of space with his overwhelming, suffocating hunger.

Then, he stepped onto Tetsuya’s helmet. The sudden weight pressed down, forcing his head backward, his body arching, his spine screaming in protest. Tetsuya’s mouth opened in a silent, choked gasp, his arms twitching at his sides, unable to lift himself.

Yuusuke, his own body barely functioning, turned his head, blood suffocating from his visor, his breath catching in ragged gasps. And then—the Baron stepped on him too. His boot pressed against Yuusuke’s helmet, forcing his head to tilt, to expose his battered, bleeding throat, to lock his body in a perfect, helpless arch of agony.

Tetsuya’s body convulsed violently, his nerves screaming, his tone shattering into a raw, broken groan of pain. Yuusuke, still trying, still breathing, let out a strangled growl, his fingers twitching in final, useless defiance.

The Baron moaned lewdly in satisfaction. “Such wonderful little toys you turned out to be.”

The world shifted. Darkness swallowed them whole, the air collapsing around them in a violent rush, the ruined Liveman base vanishing beneath their broken bodies. The shadows curled, twisted, dragging them into the abyss, into the Baron’s kingdom, into their final nightmare.

Their screams echoed into the void, raw, agonized, hopeless—until, abruptly, they were cut short.

***

The world no longer existed. No sky, no ground, no escape. Only this place, this Hell, this endless abyss of suffering.

Tetsuya and Yuusuke had been dragged here, into the Baron’s castle, his throne room, his altar of damnation. The walls pulsed like living things, blood dripped in slow, endless rivers from the twisted black spires that loomed overhead, and the air itself thrummed with the echoes of past agony. The stone beneath them was slick, wet—it wasn’t just blood, but something older, something deeper. The very foundation of this place was built on suffering.

And they would be its latest offering.

The Baron sat upon his throne of fused bone and gold, an abomination sculpted from the remains of those who had come before. His gaunt fingers curled around his newest trophies—Tetsuya’s Bison Rod and Yuusuke’s Falcon Saber, their edges still wet with their owners’ blood.

Slowly, his serpentine tongue slid out, tracing the length of the Falcon Saber, leaving a slick sheen of saliva along its gleaming blade. He sighed in pleasure, chuckling darkly. "Ahhh… the taste of fallen warriors. So much sweeter than their strength."

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent Tetsuya hurtling forward. The Black Bison slammed into the cold stone floor, his body sprawling, his muscles twitching with the last remnants of resistance. He tried to push himself up—his arms shook, his breath shuddered—but before he could move, they were on him.

Junichi. Jou. Megumi.

They had discarded their helmets, revealing pale, ghastly faces twisted into monstrous hunger, golden eyes gleaming like hungry predators. Their fangs had grown longer, sharper, their lips darkened by the blood they had already stolen from him before.

Now, they would take the rest. "FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY—!" Megumi screamed, her tone bubbling with manic glee, her hands clawing at her own arms as if she were about to burst with excitement. "NO MORE HERO GAMES! NO MORE PRETENDING! NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE!"

Junichi dropped into a crouch beside Tetsuya, his head jerking sharply, his grin stretching unnaturally wide. "YOU ALWAYS ACTED SO TOUGH, TETSUYA! BIG, STRONG, UNBREAKABLE BLACK BISON!" His fingers twitched, his breath coming in erratic gasps, shaking with anticipation. "BUT EVEN A BULL CAN BLEED! EVEN A BULL CAN FALL!"

Jou exhaled a slow, rattling hiss of laughter, his deadened golden eyes dull and distant, his lips curling into a sneer. "MMM, LOOK AT HIM, LOOK AT HIM… HE CAN BARELY MOVE, HE CAN BARELY BREATHE. BUT HE’S STILL TRYING." He tilted his head, rolling it slightly like a marionette hanging from broken strings. "MMM, WON’T IT BE SWEETER WHEN HE STOPS?"

Tetsuya gasped, his body seizing as Megumi’s heel crashed down onto his outstretched hand, grinding his fingers into the blood-soaked floor. His spine arched, his breath hitching, a strangled groan ripping from his throat.

Junichi’s boot followed, slamming onto his other hand, twisting down. His fingers cracked under the pressure. "AAAAAGGGHHHHH!" Tetsuya howled, his body thrashing, muscles jerking, but he was pinned, helpless, trapped beneath their weight.

"NO! NO! DAMN IT, GET OFF HIM!" Yuusuke roared, his delivery raw, filled with a desperate, useless rage. He lunged forward, but the moment he moved, the Baron’s hand pressed against his chest—and he froze.

His body locked, his breath caught in his throat, his vision blurred. The Baron’s touch wasn’t just physical—it was control, pure and absolute.

They sank their fangs into Tetsuya. The first bite sent a shockwave of agony through his body. His lungs seized, his throat tearing open in a scream so raw it scraped against the air, bouncing off the cathedral walls. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Junichi bit deep into his right side, Megumi into his left, Jou’s fangs tearing into the back of his shoulder. Their jaws locked onto him, their fingers clawing at his flesh, holding him still, keeping him pinned as they drained him.

"AAAAAAGGGHHH—HHRRKKKK—NNNGHHAAAAA!" His body convulsed, his back arching violently, his legs kicking, his muscles spasming under the unbearable pain. Every nerve in his body was on fire, his blood rushing out of him in thick, glistening streams, flowing past their lips.

They moaned as they drank. Megumi shuddered, pressing closer, her delivery a choked, ecstatic gasp. "MMMMMMMMH—SO SWEET! SO STRONG! HE’S PERFECT, HE’S PERFECT, HE’S PERFECT!"

Junichi’s grip tightened, his body trembling as he drank deeper, his nails digging into Tetsuya’s flesh. "MORE, MORE, MORE, I WANT MORE!"

Jou exhaled a slow, satisfied sigh, his lips curling into a lazy smile against Tetsuya’s skin. "MMMM… SO QUIET NOW."

Tetsuya twitched, his vision fading in and out, his fingers barely responding, his tone breaking into ragged, gasping sobs.

His screams had turned to whispers, and Yuusuke could do nothing.

The Baron’s clawed fingers slid along Yuusuke’s helmet, the long, forked tongue slithering out—and then, he licked. The saliva smeared against the side of Yuusuke’s visor, sizzling slightly as it seeped through the cracks. The moment it touched him, a violent, shuddering wave of mind-shattering influence tore through his skull.

Yuusuke screamed. "GGGAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! N-NO—NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! STOP—STOP IT! I WON’T—NNNGHHAAAAA! TETSUYA! TETSUYA!"

But Tetsuya wasn’t responding. His body was limp now, his breath slow, shallow. His once-mighty frame, the foundation of the Livemen, the strongest of them all—was gone.

And Yuusuke was next.

The Baron’s lips curled, his breath brushing against the blood-streaked visor. "NOW, RED FALCON. IT IS YOUR TURN."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Yuusuke howled, his body thrashing against an invisible force, but it was useless. His mind was breaking, shattering like glass, his last defenses crumbling into dust.

The void was merciless. It did not grant reprieve, did not grant death, did not grant peace. It only stretched time into an eternity of agony, an endless nightmare with no waking.

Yuusuke wanted to shut his eyes. He wanted to look away, to turn his head, to claw at his own face to stop seeing. But the Baron’s talons gripped his helmet, twisting his neck, forcing him to watch, forcing him to witness.

Tetsuya was not dying.

He was not being allowed to.

His body twisted upon the iron pike, his back arched in a perfect, grotesque curve of torment. His arms trembled, fingers twitching, clenching and unclenching, his blood-slicked gloves shaking with the spasms of his tortured nerves. His breath came in ragged bursts, sucking in air only to sob it back out in shuddering, agonized gasps.

But the worst of all—he was still screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

His lungs should have failed by now, his throat should have torn from the sheer force of his cries, but the Baron’s power kept him alive, sustained him, refused to let him break free. His body jerked, convulsing violently as pain wracked through him, his breath catching in hysterical sobs before bursting back into full, tortured shrieks. "GGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! HHHRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHHH! PLEASE! PLEASE STOP IT! IT HURTS! IT HUUUURTS! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Yuusuke’s mind fractured at the sound.

"TETSUYA!" His tone was raw, wrecked, drowning in his own sobs. "TETSUYA, I’M RIGHT HERE! I’M HERE! HOLD ON!"

But there was no holding on.

Tetsuya’s spine bent further, his body spasming as the pain surged anew, wracking his every nerve with fresh torment. His gloved fingers clawed weakly at the empty air, shaking, desperate, as if trying to find something—anything—to hold onto.

The Baron chuckled, his lips curling against Yuusuke’s visor. "HE WILL NEVER DIE, RED FALCON."

His claws dragged down Yuusuke’s helmet, forcing him to see the full extent of the horror.

Tetsuya’s muscles twitched and locked, his head snapping back as another fresh wave of torment coursed through him. His mouth opened wide in a raw, animalistic wail, his entire body jerking against the pike as if it had just impaled him all over again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHH—HHHRRRKKKK—NNNGHHAAAAA!"

His legs kicked weakly, his boots scraping against nothing, unable to do anything but tremble. His chest convulsed with every brutal gasp of air he took in, only to scream it back out seconds later.

He wasn’t fading. He was being made to feel every second.

Every breath. Every nerve set aflame, over and over and over again. Yuusuke was sobbing.

His whole body shook, his vision was blurred with tears, his breath was coming in sharp, broken gasps. His gloves split open at the seams as his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms, blood pooling in his hands.

The Baron’s howl was a whisper of absolute control. "YOU THINK YOU KNOW SUFFERING, BOY?" His breath was ice, sliding against Yuusuke’s ear. "YOU HAVE NOT EVEN BEGUN."

With a slow, deliberate gesture, the Baron raised his free hand. A window into Tetsuya’s torment opened before them, a shimmering wall of endless reflections, each one showing the same horror—Tetsuya writhing, jerking, convulsing, his face contorted in agony, his mouth open in never-ending screams. "YOU WILL SEE HIM LIKE THIS FOREVER."

Yuusuke let out a sound that wasn’t human. A choked, guttural, broken wail, his body trembling as his mind was forced to absorb every image, every moment, every second of Tetsuya’s unending torture.

The Falcon snapped.

"TETSUYA! TETSUYA, PLEASE! PLEASE, STOP IT! PLEASE STOP IT! STOP HURTING HIM! I’LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING! JUST LET HIM GO!"

The Baron only laughed. "OH, BUT THIS IS WHAT HE WAS ALWAYS MEANT FOR."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yuusuke thrashed, convulsed, tried to break free, but the Baron held him in place. His mind was crumbling, collapsing under the weight of his own helplessness.

Megumi moaned, her whole body trembling in rapture. "OOOOOOOOHHHHH, HE’S SO BROKEN, SO BEAUTIFUL, SO PERFECT!"

Junichi’s breathing was erratic, his body twitching, his golden eyes gleaming with absolute glee. "KEEP HIM THERE! KEEP HIM THERE FOREVER! MAKE HIM FEEL IT AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!"

Jou’s lips curled into a lazy, nihilistic grin. "MMM… LOOK AT HIM. HE CAN’T EVEN BEG RIGHT ANYMORE."

The Baron’s claws tightened around Yuusuke’s helmet, his grip like an iron vice. "AND NOW… IT IS YOUR TURN."

Yuusuke screamed. His lungs burned, his tone shattered into hysterical, breathless cries. "NO—NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"