KUROGANE ENMA:CRIMSON SYNC

80%

The desert was cold.

Enma was running on one good leg and pure rage.

Jin was in his arms. 40 kilos. Felt like 400.

Behind them: drones. Dots in the sky. Getting bigger.

Ahead: a light. The camp.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 62%*

_“Put him down,”_ the King whispered. _“He’s slowing you. Fly. You can fly at 80%.”_

“Shut up,” Enma said.

Jin stirred. “Brother?”

“Stay awake,” Enma said. “Almost there.”

Jin looked at his own arms. Red lines were under his skin. Moving. Like veins made of light.

“It hurts,” Jin whispered. “Inside.”

“I know,” Enma said. “Don’t listen to it.”

The first laser hit 5 meters to their left. Sand exploded.

Enma jumped. Landed. Kept running. 65%.

Aoi’s voice crackled in his head. His comm was still working.

“Enma! We see you! Medical team to the gate!”

“We’re coming,” Enma said.

The camp gates opened. Hana was there. Varn. The other kids. All armed.

“Get inside!” Hana yelled.

Enma made it 10 more meters.

Another laser hit his shoulder. Not a direct shot. Grazed him.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 70%*

Pain flared. But it was clear pain. Not the King’s.

He burst through the gate. People grabbed him. Took Jin.

“Inside! Inside!” Aoi was shouting.

The gates slammed shut. Metal plates came down over them.

The drones fired. The walls shook.

Enma collapsed.

---

*MED BAY. 10 MINUTES LATER.*

It was a repurposed classroom. Beds made of tables.

Jin was on one. Unconscious. Machines beeping.

Red lines were under his skin, from his wrist to his neck. Pulsing.

A woman with glasses was working on him. “Who are you?” she asked Enma.

“Doctor,” Aoi said. “She’s with us.”

The doctor looked at Jin’s readings. “His Sync is at 38%. And rising. He got dosed.”

Enma was on the next table. Aoi was setting his broken arm. No anesthesia.

“38%,” Enma said. “Can you stop it?”

“No,” the doctor said. “Not without killing him. The black blood is bonded. It’s rewriting him.”

Enma closed his eyes. 72%.

_“Let me take him,”_ the King said. _“I can control him. I can make him strong.”_

“NO,” Enma said out loud.

Everyone looked at him.

Enma sat up. His arm was in a cast. His leg was wrapped.

“How long?”

The doctor checked. “At this rate? 48 hours until he hits 60%. After that... I don’t know. No one’s survived past 70% with artificial Sync.”

Aoi handed Enma water. “What happened on Floor 90?”

“He tried to make Jin a King,” Enma said. “I broke the syringe. But some got in.”

Aoi nodded. “Okay. New plan. We teach him control. Like you.”

Enma looked at Jin. Jin’s face was sweating. He was dreaming. Or fighting.

“How?” Enma asked.

“The stone,” Aoi said. “You said it helped you.”

“I lost it,” Enma said. “In the fight.”

Aoi was quiet. Then: “Then we use you.”

---

*3 HOURS LATER.*

Jin was awake.

He was tied to the bed. Not because they didn’t trust him. Because he was shaking.

“Brother,” Jin said. His voice was wrong. Echoed.

Enma sat next to him. “I’m here.”

“It’s loud,” Jin said. “In my head. It keeps saying kill.”

“I know,” Enma said. “It said that to me too.”

Jin looked at his hands. The red lines were glowing.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 41%*

“Am I going to become a monster?” Jin asked.

Enma took his hand. “No. Because I’m not going to let you.”

Aoi stepped forward. “We’re going to train. Right now. You and Enma. Together.”

“Train how?”

“Pain,” Enma said. “We use pain to stay under. To remember who we are.”

Jin nodded. Scared. “Okay.”

---

*TRAINING ROOM.*

Empty. Concrete. One light.

Enma and Jin sat cross-legged across from each other.

Aoi stood by the door. Doctor behind her.

“Rule 1,” Enma said. “Breathe.”

Jin breathed. Shaky.

“Rule 2,” Enma said. “Think of something. Something real. Not the Wall. Not Kuroda.”

Jin thought. “Mom,” he said. “Making rice.”

“Good,” Enma said. “Hold that.”

*CRIMSON SYNC: Jin 43%. Enma 58%*

“Rule 3,” Enma said. “When it gets loud, you hurt yourself. Small. To remember you’re real.”

He took a knife and made a small cut on his palm. Blood welled.

Jin copied him. Winced.

The red dimmed. A little.

“Again,” Enma said.

For an hour, they did that. Cut. Breathe. Remember.

Jin peaked at 49%. Came back down to 44%.

“Good,” Aoi said. “That’s good.”

Then Jin’s eyes went wide.

The King was talking to him.

_“You’re weak,”_ it said in Jin’s voice. _“He’s using you. He’ll leave you like everyone else.”_

Jin grabbed his head. “Shut up!”

*CRIMSON SYNC: 55%*

“Jin!” Enma grabbed his shoulders. “Look at me!”

Jin looked. His eyes were red. “It’s... it’s me. It sounds like me.”

“I know,” Enma said. “It did that to me too. It’s lying.”

_“Am I?”_ the King said through Jin’s mouth. _“Ask him about F-Block. Ask him how many he couldn’t save.”_

Enma flinched.

Jin saw it. “What?”

“Nothing,” Enma said.

“Liar,” Jin said. 57%.

Enma slapped him. Not hard. Enough.

The shock brought Jin back. 55% to 52%.

“Don’t listen to it,” Enma said. “It wants us to fight each other.”

Jin was crying. “It feels like me, brother. Like it’s really me.”

Enma hugged him. Careful of the IV.

“Then we fight it together,” Enma said.

*CRIMSON SYNC: Jin 50%. Enma 60%*

The door opened.

Varn ran in. “They’re here! Drones on the perimeter!”

Aoi cursed. “How soon?”

“5 minutes,” Varn said.

Enma stood. “Okay. Training’s over.”

Jin stood too. Shaky. “I can fight.”

“No,” Enma said. “You stay here. With the doctor.”

Jin grabbed his arm. “I’m not a kid anymore. Let me help.”

Enma looked at him. Really looked.

Jin was 14. But his eyes were older now.

“Fine,” Enma said. “But you stay behind me. And at 60%, you run.”

Jin nodded.

---

*OUTSIDE. THE WALLS.*

20 drones. On the ground now. Walking.

And behind them: *KURODA.*

He wasn’t in armor. Just a coat. Hands in pockets.

He stopped 50 meters from the gate.

“Kurogane Enma!” he called. “Bring me my property!”

Enma stepped out. Alone. Aoi behind him. Hana. Varn. The kids.

Jin was behind Enma. Hidden.

*CRIMSON SYNC: Enma 63%. Jin 52%*

Kuroda smiled. “You look terrible. 90% will do that.”

“How did you find us?” Aoi asked.

“Tracker,” Kuroda said. “In the gas. I knew you’d run.”

He looked past Enma. “Hello, Jin. How’s the new blood?”

Jin didn’t answer.

Kuroda sighed. “Pity. I had plans for you. Both of you.”

He snapped his fingers.

The drones raised their guns.

“Last chance,” Kuroda said. “Give me the boy, and I let the rest live.”

Enma stepped forward. 68%.

“No.”

Kuroda shrugged. “Then we do this the hard way.”

The drones fired.

---

*THE FIGHT.*

It was chaos.

Aoi was in the air, cutting drones down.

Hana had a rifle. Varn had a pipe.

The kids were throwing rocks and molotovs.

Enma was in the middle.

He wasn’t trying to kill the drones. He was breaking them.

One punch. One kick. 70%.

A drone grabbed Jin.

Enma moved. He tore the drone’s arm off and threw it.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 75%*

_“More,”_ the King said. _“They’re not enough.”_

Enma looked at Kuroda. Kuroda was just watching.

“Is this all you brought?” Enma yelled.

Kuroda smiled. “No.”

He raised his hand.

The ground shook.

From behind the dunes: *TANKS.*

3 of them. Wall tech. Plasma cannons.

“Oh,” Aoi said. “That’s new.”

The first cannon fired.

Enma grabbed Jin and dove. The blast hit where they were standing and melted the sand to glass.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 80%*

The world went quiet.

Enma stood. Slowly.

The red was everywhere now. Up his neck. In his eyes. On his skin.

Jin was behind him. “Brother?”

Enma didn’t answer.

He looked at the tank.

And he ran.

The tank fired again. He dodged.

He was on it in 3 seconds.

He hit it. Once.

The armor caved in.

Second hit. The cannon ripped off.

Third hit. The tank flipped.

The other two tanks turned on him.

Enma jumped. 82%.

He landed on the second tank and crushed it with his weight.

The third tank was retreating.

Kuroda was still standing there. Watching.

“Beautiful,” Kuroda said. “80%. And you’re still talking. Still thinking.”

Enma dropped from the tank. Landed in front of Kuroda.

Blood was running from his nose. His eyes.

“Give up,” Enma said. His voice was layered.

Kuroda laughed. “No.”

He pulled out a gun. Not a normal gun. This one hummed.

“This is a Sync nullifier,” Kuroda said. “One shot, and you’re human for an hour.”

He aimed at Enma’s chest.

Enma didn’t move. 83%.

“Do it,” Enma said.

Kuroda pulled the trigger.

*BANG.*

The shot hit.

And Enma caught it.

His hand was bleeding. The bullet was in his palm.

He closed his fist. Crushed it.

Kuroda’s smile finally dropped.

“How—”

“Because I’m not just the Sync,” Enma said. “I’m me.”

He moved.

One punch.

Kuroda flew back 20 meters and hit a dune.

The drones stopped. No orders.

Silence.

Enma stood there. Breathing hard. 84%.

Aoi ran to him. “Enma. Enma, come down.”

Enma looked at her. “I... I’m okay.”

He looked at his hands. The red was receding. 84% to 80% to 75%.

Jin ran to him and hugged him. “You did it. You did it.”

Enma hugged him back. “Yeah. I did.”

Then his legs gave out.

---

*NIGHT. CAMP.*

Kuroda was gone. Captured? No. He’d crawled away when no one was looking.

The drones were scrap.

Enma was on a bed. Bandaged. 50%.

Jin was next to him. Also bandaged. 45%.

The doctor: “You both stabilized. The black blood in Jin is dormant. For now.”

Aoi sat on the floor. “You hit 84% and came back. That’s never been done.”

Enma looked at the ceiling. “I had a reason.”

Jin took his hand. “Thank you.”

Enma squeezed it. “Don’t thank me yet. Kuroda’s not done.”

As if on cue, an alarm.

A scout ran in. “Movement! East! Big!”

Everyone stood.

Aoi looked at Enma. “Can you fight?”

Enma stood. 55% and climbing.

“Yeah,” he said. “I can.”

He walked to the door.

Outside, on the horizon: lights.

Hundreds of them.

The Wall’s army.

And in the front: *KURODA.* In a mech. 10 meters tall.

Kuroda’s voice boomed over speakers:

“KUROGANE ENMA! YOU TOOK WHAT’S MINE! NOW I’M TAKING EVERYTHING!”

Enma stepped forward.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 60%*

He looked at Jin. At Hana. At the 20 kids behind him.

Then he looked at the army.

“Let them come,” Enma said.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 65%*

_“Finally,”_ the King whispered. _“A real fight.”_

Enma smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.

“Yeah,” he said. “A real fight.”

*TO BE CONTINUED*