Survival is Crucial

Invasion A.D

"When he... I guess it's the only negative to his ability but... it's still unbelievable and overpowered nonetheless." Balrog rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Whenever he does that to his main body... Marshall Bishop. He's put into a new body, same face, same name, et cetera... an adult too. He can... take over people's bodies. There are limits to this ability but I don't know what these limits are, so don't ask me." Balrog sighed, "I probably want him dead more than anyone else in this room."

"Do you think that people will want you dead?" Tyche asked, looking him in the eyes.

"Of course... you're one of them, right?"

A voice appeared in Tyche's head, "An uncanny fear permeates across your body. This isn't normal, you don't even know him and you know that this is unusual, inane, something that shouldn't exist. A man like Balrog showing any semblance of emotion. Those around you are probably even more surprised than you are, don't you agree? This man was professional to a tee, even you could understand that much, and you've just met him... well, this isn't your first time meeting him, but this is the first time you've seen how he actually is."

"Do you have any idea on how we can actually take down Marshall?" Tyche asked, still looking as deep as he could into Balrog's eyes.

"Not a clue, unless you want to kill a bunch of innocent people in the process and..." He paused, scanning the room, "Some of you wouldn't be willing to do it... go to war with innocent people, I mean." He pointed to Nixon, Yua, Hagne, Costanzo, and the Manager, his finger lingering, especially on the Manager. "You're the most peculiar out of the bunch. You have killed innocents, yet you are not willing to kill any others."

The Manager shook his head, "I'm done with this shit."

"Actually," Tyche turned to the Manager, "How were you involved with my family's demise?"

"All I did was pass down orders. I wanted to get a rise out of you, I..." The Manager sighed, "I don't feel like having fun anymore... this isn't what I wanted." He paused, "Ash... he smelt like ash..." He repeated a set of words that stuck in his head.

"It was a mixture... the smell of melted wax and concrete, the lingering miasma of ash sitting around him. That's what he smelt like."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm like Kobe... at least, now I am."

"What is going on?" Yua questioned, her voice wavering.

"Yeah, what is going on?" Justin shook his head, "No, it's best I don't get involved further." He paused, pressing his lips together, "But... I want to know more."

Nixon's head shifted some, his eyes looking over to Maxim with a passing glance, "Why are you here? Why have you been helping me?"

"Well..." Maxim started, "It's been quite an unsuccessful attempt so far. I've gotten distracted, none of the situations I conjured up ever turned out the way I wanted it to. You were supposed to become stronger through the experiences during this... journey, but, it's just been causing your psyche to wither away, am I wrong?"

The dark circles under Nixon's eyes have never been so apparent until now, Yua looking up at him with a concerned expression on her face, stifling vomit in her throat as she remembered the bodies that littered the room. She ran out into the hallway, vomiting near the doorway. Nixon immediately walked over to her, patting her back while pulling back her hair. Tyche glanced at them before bounding straight into the restroom, shutting the door behind him as the sound of running water could be heard right outside the doorway. Cutting hair, water hitting skin, all of it was audible right outside the restroom.

After a few minutes of a random assortment of noises, Tyche walked out looking almost the exact same way as he did before all of this happened, half his hair sitting over his left eye, shorter than it was before, his faded mustache is now gone. Justin watched in astonishment as he left the bathroom, mumbling under his breath and saying, "He looks like a f*****g girl now."

"A pretty girl, I hope," Tyche smirked, clicking his tongue shortly after, rolling his eyes.

"Umm... well yeah, you'd be a pretty girl." Justin took Tyche's comment seriously.

Tyche's brow furrowed, "Okay..." He sighed, "I miss Carla..." He shook his head, sitting down on a chair nearby. "Lucky bastard over there still has a living girlfriend," he pointed to Nixon before clicking his tongue once again.

Nixon looked over, "This really isn't the time for that."

"It's best we keep our minds off of the complicated stuff Nicky boy!" Tyche kept a straight expression as he accentuated the last two words in his sentence. "Can I call you Nicky from now on?"

Nixon stifled a laugh, "Sure, whatever you want, Teach."

Tyche snapped his fingers, and impressed expression on his face, "That's a good nickname for me!"

"You guys talk too much!" Yua screamed, exasperated, spitting out the remnants of vomit still left in her mouth.

"People do this in war as well. When someone is unsettled, can't process the situation, or freeze up in combat... more experienced soldiers will bring up a completely unrelated topic during the battle to calm down the soldier. I don't know if that's a true statement but I'd like to believe it is since it makes sense to me. Like, for example, my favorite snack is pão com chouriço, and I'd just bring this up without any context, y'know?"

"Okay..." A raspy yelp came from Yua's throat before vomiting out a wad of spit, coming out like a string as it pattered onto the floor. "Shit..."

"Everyone's first experience with this s**t is like this," Nixon said, rubbing her back as her eyes grew red. "My first experience with death was caused by that asshole over there." He pointed to Maxim.

Maxim looked away as if a child who was caught doing something bad, letting out an ignorant whistle, hands on his hips.