Grey: Monsters

"What the fuck happened? Where am I? I haven't slept like this in a long time."

Ryuma muttered as he woke up.

He stretched his back and moved his head, taking in the wrecked surroundings. Subtle memories began to surface, filling in some of the gaps in his mind.

He remembered he was at Hokkaido Base; they had come here on a mission. But beyond that, his memory was foggy.

Scattered piles of flesh and blood littered the area. As he looked ahead, he saw Nagato on his knees, two metal rods impaled in his body, with Wolot standing before him.

Ryuma's eyes widened as all the memories returned, like an electric shock.

"What the fuck is this?"

He scrambled to his feet, slowly making his way toward them.

"What the fuck happened here?" he whispered, still in shock.

Wolot stepped away from Nagato's kneeling figure.

"You're finally awake. It's about time we leave."

Ryuma ignored Wolot and approached Nagato, who was already out cold, his blood soaking his suit.

After looking at Nagato Ryuma stood up and turned to Wolot, his face stoic, devoid of emotion.

"In my past life, I had no friends. I hadn't experienced the loss of anyone close to me since I became conscious…except my mother. I didn't blame anyone for her death, not even you Nephilim. But now, things have changed. Now I have friends to rely on, people to laugh and have fun with, and you dare to take my friend's life. I hope you're prepared to die."

In an instant, Ryuma transformed. Like Wolot, he didn't grow in size. Two tentacles shot from him, wrapping around Wolot's arms and pulling him closer before he landed a punch on Wolot's face.

Wolot flew miles, crashing through several buildings. Ryuma appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the face. Wolot grabbed Ryuma's hand, pushing against it, but couldn't break free.

"You foolish human!"

Wolot roared, landing a heavy blow to Ryuma's face, snapping his neck, but Ryuma didn't budge.

Ryuma hurled Wolot into the air, snapping his neck back into place before launching himself in pursuit.

From his fingertips, Ryuma formed thin, nearly invisible threads, sharp and strong. He shot them at Wolot, slicing him into tiny bits.

"Aarrgghh!" Wolot screamed, scrambling to protect his core from Ryuma's deadly threads.

The threads tore through buildings and the ground as they connected, like unstoppable blades.

Wolot smirked. "You fool. You don't know what you're doing."

He tried to clone himself from the severed body parts, but his smirk faded as he realized he was outmatched. Ryuma's threads were too fast, slicing every fragment before the clone could form.

Wolot crashed to the ground, barely intact, his chest, head, and arms shielding his core.

Ryuma landed on Wolot's chest, making him cough up blood. Ryuma's hand morphed into a blade, and he stabbed Wolot's chest repeatedly, intentionally missing his core.

"Arrgh!"

Wolot writhed in agony, blood pouring from his chest and mouth. He struggled to regenerate quickly.

In his mind, Wolot's thoughts raced, all aimed at Ryuma.

'I knew Xeno was strong, even stronger than me, but…this human—'

Ryuma reached into Wolot's chest and ripped out his core, a bright red orb. He studied it for a moment, then opened his mouth to swallow it when a clone appeared from behind, grabbing his neck.

Wolot snatched the core from Ryuma's hand, inserted it back into his chest, regenerated, and kicked Ryuma away.

"You underestimate me, human. Remember what I told you: I'm modeled after thousands of Xcri warriors. There's no way you can beat me."

Wolot vanished from sight, darting around the space, kicking off walls to disorient Ryuma and catch him off guard.

Ryuma swept his hand, and his threads latched onto Wolot's limbs. He pulled Wolot closer, burying his hand in Wolot's chest and gripping his core, saying, "The moment you touched my friend, you were already a corpse."

Ryuma tore out the core and punched Wolot away. He opened his mouth and swallowed the core in one gulp. He staggered briefly before regaining his balance, then approached Wolot, who lay sprawled atop broken concrete and metal.

"I will kill every one of you, even if it's the last thing I do."

Ryuma's voice was deep, his face impassive.

"Bwahaha!" Wolot let out a dry, rasping laugh, even as he lay dying.

"You think it's over? I still stand by my word. No human is leaving here alive."

"You're already dead. There's nothing more you can do," Ryuma said.

"You have it all wrong. There's nothing I'm going to do…because it's already been done."

Ryuma's expression showed a flicker of concern.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"Nothing. Just a few tweaks here and there. Any moment now, this place will go boom. Over ten thousand pounds of minix gas will be released, burning every human in the area. So, Mister Friendship, even if you survive, what about your friends? I'm sure you know they can't regenerate like you."

Ryuma's concern deepened. He didn't want to believe Wolot, but even B had warned him to be cautious around Wolot.

Just then, a familiar voice cut through their exchange.

"Ryuma!"

He turned to see Saiya running toward him.

"Oho, we have our first victim," Wolot chuckled.

"No, Saiya, stay back—"

Ryuma tried to warn her, but then a mild earthquake shook the area.

"There it is, human. Let's see you save your friends now."

From every nook and cranny of the base, red gas erupted violently, filling the air in an instant.

"Saiya!"

Ryuma transformed, growing in size, grabbing Saiya, and heading for the wall.

As he ran, his skin tore and healed over and over, but he didn't care. All that mattered was getting Saiya out of there.

Saiya screamed in pain as the gas burned her flesh, leaving pores in her skin. Her cries spurred Ryuma on, pushing him faster.

Reaching the wall, he leaped over to the other side, only to find himself staring down the barrels of guns, that of

Team Seven Ranger's guns, held by his friends.