Man with a short statue sat in the chair as he looked through the research papers laid out in front of a desk. Originally, he had to wait for the specific date to conduct a ritual to absorb the final kekkei genkai and stabilize his soul, but the situation changed around a month ago. His soul underwent some changes that significantly altered the scale of his plans. The changes that presented him with a future with endless possibility. He just had to grasp it. Literally, all he had to do was to touch and swallow the person to obtain all the abilities that they had. Even if that meant he was technically no longer human, it didn't matter. He would absorb everyone that posed a threat to him, be the hero who would prevent the end of the world, and make it paint it into his image.
A knock came from the door and Hiruko signaled them to come in. A middle-aged man came into the room with a bunch of papers in hand and placed it on the table.
“Anything new?” Hiruko asked.
“I compiled the information into the report. I tried to monitor Akatsuki’s whereabouts but there’s nothing much I could do.”
“I’m pretty sure that he was supposed to die. Somethings off, but I’m not sure of the cause.” Hiruko muttered as he read through the report. He didn’t remember much apart from snippets here and there. It was frustrating, but there was nothing else he could do then to approach it in an old fashioned way.
“No, I know I’m asking you too much. You are doing fine. Just keep me notified if any change happens.” Hiruko addressed the man. “And what about the trio?”
“They have already departed. We pinpointed the boy’s location. There shouldn’t be a problem.” The man answered.
“Good to hear. That’s enough for now. You’re dismissed.” Hiruko waved his hand.
The man bowed his head an walked out of the room, leaving the scientist alone with his thoughts. He had lot of things to do, but for some reason, he couldn’t get rid of this feeling of anxiousness.
He looked around the room to distract himself and noticed something in the corner of the room.
He extended his hand towards the spot where a shelf with various vials was placed. His hand wobbled as he reached out, then it deformed, turning into a bluish tentacle that extended several meters forward. It snatched one of the vials and retracted, forming into a hand again, holding the vial that housed a living, and very interesting creature.
Inside a vial sat a peculiar scorpion – one of the few survivors of his experiments where he infused his cells with various critters. There were only a few that survived among countless of the specimens he conducted an experiment on. For some reason, bugs proved to be more compatible with his DNA. Something that might seem to have limited his reach, but it didn't really matter. There were plenty of interesting anthropoids that could prove to be useful soldiers. Not that this was anything but just for satisfaction for his curiosity. The chimera soldiers might prove to be useful, but he had no plans to blindly depend on anything but his own strength. Well, that didn't mean he couldn't make use of extra power.
“At last. This one seems to have finally completed undergoing early adaptation stage. It's about time. Let's see how strong the specimen with the most potential can turn out.” He muttered.
Unbeknownst to him though, a single ant similarly placed into another vial stared at him with a peculiar gaze. It was true, it was not as strong as the scorpion, but it had something that posed a threat far greater than he could ever imagine. Something that, unfortunately for the man, he would never become aware of.
He stood up and moved to a larger area of the facility. The place contained various animals that he procured for sake of creating a superior organism. He walked among the cages, waiting for a cue to stop. It took a few minutes for a little guy to pick a vessel. When the still scorpion finally began to move, he smiled. Something finally caught its interest.
He looked at the cage where a rather vigorous gorilla was contained. It stood tall, far larger than a regular one and held a defiant glint in its eyes. The closer he got to the cage, the more the scorpion began to twitch. Perfect.
He opened the vial and the scorpion hurriedly jumped out of it. It immediately rushed at the gorilla and tried to reach its head.
The gorilla staggered backwards. Although it far outmatched the bug in size, its instincts screamed for it to get away. It was a peculiar sight. Like an elephant scared of mouse, gorilla tried to run away from the scorpion. But unlike an elephant, the gorilla had a valid reason for its fear.
When the confines of stage cut off the gorilla's retreat, it desperately tried to squish the bug, but the critter was unreasonably fast. Then, it jumped, and before the gorilla could react, stabbed its face for the leverage, and crawled inside the gorilla's nose.
The gorilla began to screech and jump in fear, but then it suddenly lost all control of its body and fell. Next hour, its body squirmed and deformed while Hiruko watched the scene with fascination. The DNA of the scorpion began to overwrite and fuse with the host’s own.
The gorilla's legs transformed into six flexible appendages and the scorpion's tail grew out at its end. A dark exoskeleton encased its body while another set of longer arms grew out in its midsection, resembling scorpion's claws at the end. Its mouth also deformed, two chelicerae formed from the sides until it retracted back into it mouth.
Hiruko smiled. It definitely was no weakling. And when he noticed the way, the chimera looked at him, he knew it needed to be taught its place. However, with the Kekkei Genkais he had acquired, it would hardly be a challenge. At least for now, the creature still needed some time to properly stabilize.
Hiruko grabbed the bars of the cage and ripped it out while staring the creature in the eyes with fascination. It was time for a light exercise. And for some diligent beating.
