KUROGANE ENMA:CRIMSON SYNC

THE INJECTION 💉

---

The Wall was breathing.

Enma could feel it. 90 floors of metal and blood and screams. And at the top, Floor 11, a single light.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 23%*

He stood at the service entrance. The waste tunnel Aoi had used before.

No guards. That was worse. It meant they were waiting inside.

His wrist buzzed.

*Aoi: "I'm in. Cover blown. Kuroda knows I’m here. Playing along. Jin is on Floor 11. Live. Hurry."*

Enma closed his eyes.

Rule 1: Don’t die.

Rule 2: Don’t break.

Rule 3: Don’t forget.

He stepped in.

The tunnel smelled like rust and old blood. Every 10 meters a camera. Red lights watching.

He didn’t hide. Let Kuroda see him come.

Floor 89. Empty.

Floor 88. The echo of his own footsteps.

Floor 87. A single drone passed overhead and didn’t fire.

_“He wants you scared,”_ the King whispered. _“Good. Use it.”_

Floor 50. The labs. Glass doors. Inside: empty tables. Straps. Tubes.

The place where Varn almost died.

Floor 44. Jin’s old cell. The bed was still unmade.

Floor 40. The bullet holes were still in the walls. Chalk outlines where guards fell.

Floor 30.

Floor 20.

Floor 11.

The elevator doors opened.

*FLOOR 11: THE INJECTION.*

White room. Bigger than the others. Surgical.

In the center: a table.

On it: *JIN.*

Strapped down. IVs in both arms. Eyes open. But not seeing. Drugged.

Standing next to him: *KURODA.*

And in his hand: *THE SYRINGE.* Black liquid swirling inside like smoke.

Two S-Class guards at the doors. No weapons drawn. They didn’t need to.

“Kurogane Enma,” Kuroda said. Smiling. “Right on time.”

Enma didn’t move from the elevator. “Let him go.”

“Come in first,” Kuroda said. “We have so much to discuss.”

Enma stepped out. The doors closed behind him.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 30%*

_“Kill him,”_ the King said. _“Now. Before he uses it.”_

Enma ignored it. “What’s in the syringe?”

“The blood of the First King,” Kuroda said. Reverent. “Diluted. Perfected. We’ve been trying to replicate Crimson Sync for 40 years. But it only works with family.”

He held the needle over Jin’s arm. A vein was already prepped.

“One injection,” Kuroda said. “And your brother becomes what you are. What you could be. A King.”

Jin’s lips moved. No sound.

Enma took a step forward. 35%.

The two guards shifted.

Kuroda noticed. “Ah ah. No. If you move, I push.”

His thumb rested on the plunger. “Let’s talk first. You’ve been very interesting, Null.”

“What do you want?”

“Answers,” Kuroda said. “How did you hit 75% and come back? No one does that. The Sync takes over. It erases you.”

Enma didn’t answer.

Kuroda sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.”

He pressed the plunger down 1mm.

Black liquid entered the tube.

Jin convulsed. A sound came out of him. Not a scream. Something worse.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 45%*

“STOP!” Enma roared.

“I will,” Kuroda said. “When you tell me.”

Enma’s hands were shaking. The red was crawling up his neck.

“Stone,” he said through gritted teeth. “A stone. It anchors me.”

Kuroda’s eyes lit up. “The gray one. From F-Block. I wondered.”

He pressed another 1mm.

Jin’s eyes rolled back. Red lines started under his skin. Faint. Like Enma’s, but wrong. Spreading too fast.

“Please,” Jin whispered. His first word. “Brother...”

Enma snapped.

He moved.

The two guards were on him instantly. S-Class. Fast.

Enma hit 50% in 2 seconds.

First guard: elbow to throat. Down.

Second guard: caught his punch, tried to break his arm. Enma broke his wrist instead.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 55%*

Kuroda wasn’t even watching the fight. He was watching Jin.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. “The rejection. The pain. It’s bonding.”

He pushed the plunger again. 1/4 of the syringe was gone now.

Jin’s back arched off the table. The straps smoked.

“Enma,” Jin choked. “It hurts...”

Enma grabbed Kuroda by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 60%*

The red covered his face. His eyes were all red.

“Give. Me. The. Syringe.”

Kuroda laughed, blood on his teeth. “Or what? You’ll hit 100%? Please do. I want to see.”

He twisted. The syringe was still in his hand.

Enma’s fist came down. Kuroda caught it. S-Class strength.

“Let’s see who breaks first,” Kuroda said. “You, or your brother.”

He drove his knee into Enma’s stomach.

Enma headbutted him.

They traded blows. No technique. Just rage.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 65%*

The room was shaking. Lights flickering.

Aoi’s voice in his ear: “Enma! The syringe! If all of it goes in, Jin’s gone!”

Enma looked. Kuroda had the syringe raised. Half empty.

With his free hand, Kuroda grabbed a scalpel from the table.

“New rule,” Kuroda said. “You hit me, I cut him.”

He pressed the blade to Jin’s cheek.

Enma froze. 67%.

“Good boy,” Kuroda said. “Now drop to your knees.”

Enma did. Slowly.

Kuroda smiled. “See? This is control. This is what the King wants.”

He brought the syringe down to Jin’s arm again.

Enma’s vision went red.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 70%*

The floor cracked under his knees.

_“YES,”_ the King roared. _“FINISH IT.”_

Enma looked at Jin. Jin was looking back. Tears. Blood from his nose.

And he was shaking his head. _No._

Don’t become a monster for me.

Enma exhaled.

70% to 68%.

He looked up at Kuroda. “You’re right. This is control.”

And he moved.

Not at Kuroda. At the table.

His hand came down on the edge and flipped it.

Jin, the table, the IVs, everything went crashing to the floor.

The syringe flew from Kuroda’s hand.

Time slowed.

Enma dove.

Kuroda dove.

Both of them reached for it.

Enma got there first. His fingers closed around cold plastic.

Kuroda’s hand closed over his.

They both had it.

“Let go,” Kuroda hissed.

Enma looked at him. 68%.

“No.”

He squeezed.

The syringe cracked.

Black liquid sprayed everywhere. On Kuroda’s face. On Enma’s hands. On the floor.

It sizzled where it touched.

Kuroda screamed. “NO! 10 YEARS OF WORK!”

Enma was already moving. He grabbed Jin and rolled them away from the broken glass.

Jin was convulsing. The 1/4 dose was already in him.

Red lines under his skin. Pulsing.

“Jin! Jin, look at me!” Enma said.

Jin’s eyes opened. They were red. But they were _Jin’s_.

“Brother?” Jin whispered. His voice was layered. Like Enma’s was at 70%.

“I’m here,” Enma said. “Breathe with me. In. Out.”

*CRIMSON SYNC: 72%*

Kuroda was on his knees, wiping black liquid off his face. It was burning his skin.

“You ruined it,” he whispered. “You ruined everything.”

He stood. Shaking. “Guards! KILL THEM!”

The two guards got up. Bruised, but alive.

Enma stood too. Holding Jin behind him.

72% to 75%.

“I’m not letting you touch him again,” Enma said.

The fight was short.

At 75%, Enma wasn’t human. He was a storm.

He didn’t kill the guards. He broke them. Disarmed them. Threw them through the wall.

When it was over, only Kuroda was standing.

And he was smiling.

“75%,” Kuroda said. “And you still have him. Impressive.”

He pulled out a remote. “But you forgot something, Null. This whole floor is a lab.”

He pressed a button.

Gas hissed from the vents. Purple.

Enma coughed once. Jin coughed.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 70%*

It was dropping. The gas was suppressing it.

Kuroda walked to them. “That’s a Sync inhibitor. New formula. 30 seconds and you’ll be human again.”

He knelt in front of Jin. “Hello, little King.”

Jin tried to swing at him. Weak.

Kuroda caught his wrist. “The dose was enough. In a week, you’ll wake up at 40%. And you’ll be mine.”

Enma tried to move. His limbs were heavy. 60%. 50%.

“No,” he said.

Kuroda stood. “Take them to Floor 90,” he told the guards. “Time to see what the black blood does to a Null.”

The guards grabbed Enma and Jin.

Enma looked at Jin. Jin looked back. Both of them fading.

As the doors closed, Kuroda waved.

“See you on Floor 90, Enma. Let’s see which King wins.”

The elevator descended.

---

*FLOOR 90*

It wasn’t a lab.

It was a church.

White. Circular. A pit in the center 20 meters down.

And in the pit: *CHAINS.* Hundreds of them. Hanging.

And at the bottom: *A THRONE MADE OF BONES.*

Kuroda was waiting.

“So,” Kuroda said. “This is where we make Kings.”

He gestured. The guards threw Enma and Jin into the pit.

They landed hard. 40%.

The gas was wearing off. But slowly.

Kuroda walked to the edge and looked down. “The First King was made here. 200 years ago. We chained him. Fed him blood. Broke him. Until the Sync was all that was left.”

He looked at Enma. “You’re the first to resist it. I need to know why.”

Enma stood. Pulled Jin up. 45%.

“Because I had something to lose,” Enma said.

Kuroda nodded. “Let’s test that theory.”

He clapped.

The chains moved.

They wrapped around Jin’s wrists and ankles and lifted him into the air. 2 meters off the ground.

Jin screamed.

“Stop,” Enma said. 50%.

“Make me,” Kuroda said. “Hit 100%. Show me what a King does.”

The chains tightened.

Jin’s skin split. Blood ran down.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 60%... 65%...*

_“DO IT,”_ the King screamed. _“KILL HIM. KILL THEM ALL.”_

Enma was shaking. 70%. 75%.

Jin looked at him. Blood in his eyes.

“Don’t,” Jin mouthed.

Enma closed his eyes.

He thought of the stone. Gone. Lost in the fight.

He thought of F-Block.

He thought of Rule 3.

He opened his eyes.

80%.

The red was fire now. Burning off his skin.

Kuroda smiled. “There it is.”

Enma looked at the chains. Then at Kuroda.

Then he did the last thing anyone expected.

He turned. And ran. Up the wall.

The guards fired. He dodged.

He hit the edge of the pit and kept running.

Kuroda’s smile dropped. “What are you—”

Enma jumped.

Not at Kuroda.

At the ceiling.

His fist hit it. Once. Twice.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 85%*

The metal bent.

Third punch. The ceiling cracked.

Fourth punch. Light broke through.

He was making an exit.

Kuroda realized. “NO!”

He raised a gun.

*BANG.*

The bullet hit Enma in the shoulder.

He didn’t stop. 87%.

Fifth punch. A hole.

Enma grabbed Jin’s chains and _pulled_.

The chains snapped.

He caught Jin as they fell.

And then they were both falling. Up. Through the hole. Into the sky.

Kuroda was screaming below. “SHOOT HIM DOWN!”

Lasers fired.

Enma twisted. Took a hit in the leg. 90%.

They burst out of the Wall.

Cold air. Night sky. Stars.

And 300 meters to the ground.

Jin was unconscious. Bleeding. Red lines all over him.

Enma was at 90%.

The King was screaming. _“LET GO. LET HIM DIE. FLY.”_

Enma looked down. At the Wastes. At the camp far away.

And he chose.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 91%*

He wrapped his arms around Jin and angled them.

They hit the sand.

The impact made a crater.

---

*SILENCE.*

Dust.

Enma moved first. Groaning.

His arm was broken. His leg was broken. Ribs cracked.

But he was alive.

Jin was in his arms. Breathing. Barely.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 88%*

Enma forced it down. 80%. 70%. 60%.

“Jin,” he whispered. “Stay with me.”

Jin’s eyes opened. Red. But clear.

“...did we... escape?”

Enma laughed. It hurt. “Yeah. We escaped.”

In the distance: sirens. Drones.

Kuroda was coming.

Enma stood. Holding Jin.

One arm broken. One leg broken. 60%.

He looked at the Wall. At Floor 90. At Kuroda’s silhouette in the hole he made.

“Come get us,” Enma said.

And he started walking.

Toward the camp.

Toward his people.

Toward war.