"Huff left…huff right…huff left…"
Rin breathed heavily as he sprinted through the dark hallways with his white hood up while dashing below dozens of cameras, cutting the first corner he came across while mumbling a mental map.
The surroundings only seemed to grow more complicated, his vision doing little to survey his surroundings the further he went.
Nonetheless, it was clear that his speed was slowing, his breath growing heavier. Because of this, it wasn't long until familiar silhouettes of crooked marionettes from within the shadows.
He could hear the clicks and clacks of their wooden frame as their frame danced under the ethereal strings controlling them.
With every second, they neared.
With every second, the control Rin had of his body lessened, exhaustion prevailing as evidenced by his weak knees and him helplessly flailing his arms in a desperate attempt to grasp onto something to keep him from dropping face first.
And in the next second, the manifestation of the boy's helplessness manifested in the form of a dead end, a foreboding dark wall overlooking his frail frame.
The three Marionettes quickly closed the distance right before he could even reach it, and once they were close enough, they each stretched out their hands…
-SLAM
A heavy SLAM of Rin's foot into the ground echoed through the hallway, as he suddenly dashed forward, disappearing from the three dolls' range.
Rin raised his head, his muscles suddenly tensing and his body becoming more controlled, contrary to before.
"HUP!"
His eyes sharp, he took a deep breath as he raised his leg, the bottom of his foot making contact with the wall. With this, he leaned forward and…
-ZIP
The boy launched himself into the air, over the dolls, as he twisted his body midair to prevent hitting the ground back-first.
With a heavy THUD, he clumsily hit the ground, rolling twice before quickly controlling himself.
'I'm faster…I can get to Isagi and hopefully find the right path before they reach me again…'
Rin's thoughts froze as he paused, witnessing the little light over him suddenly disappear as he was cast into a shadow.
Slowly looking up, he witnessed a familiar doll standing over him, its hand inches away from his face.
'What…'
It took him a moment to figure it out. Especially since he was positive the three he'd been running from were right behind him.
But it was obvious after a second.
'They weren't just three…there were more…'
-CLASP
This was his last thought before the marionette before him shot its palm into his face, grabbing his skull.
With this came a surge of…something as the boy's eyes widened, his heart thumping louder than ever.
This something became more and more prominent by the second as Rin felt himself becoming overwhelmed by it.
This something…Despair.
Finally, his vision faded to black.
***
Despair. Anger. Sadness. Guilt. Regret.
That and almost every other negative emotion one could name currently surged within Rin.
Or at least, that was how he felt.
On the outside, floating within an endless sea of darkness, his eyes remained half open, with his expression flat.
Despite the previous statement, he remained in this lull state.
Nevertheless, they were there. These strong emotions. Dialled to one hundred. So much so that he couldn't possibly process them all, leaving him in this vegetative state.
'Wow…this sucks…these feelings…I've almost forgotten what it was like to feel this way…'
He thought, a bloodcurdling rage overwhelming him before it was interrupted by a gut-wrenching feeling of guilt.
Before today, these feelings of fear, sadness and whatnot were uncommon to him.
'No…that isn't true. It's quite the opposite…right?'
He asked, staring at the sky of this void-like world that had formed into a scene he'd almost forgotten.
Or in other words, a distant memory.
The scene depicted a young child, his face darkened, crying outside a large mansion as a boy similar to his age carrying a suitcase was escorted away, waving back at the crying boy, he too teary-eyed.
Then another scene, similar to this, only the one being escorted away was a female and the previous crying, blank faced boy before the mansion seemed a little older.
The scene changed to the blank-faced boy sitting in the middle of a dozen or so kids around his age, all on familiar brown benches as they laughed.
But with every second, a child vanished from the memory, the boy's smile slowly fading with them until he was finally left alone, a blank expression plastered on his face.
'I remember…'
He remembered how he felt during those times. He was feeling it now.
'The mansion is my home. I've lived there for as long as I can remember. But the bad memories I have of it are just as much as the good, if not more. '
And far more scarring.
However, his sadness back then slowly began to fade…No, all his negative emotions.
He thought it was because he was simply maturing, growing more used to this and realising it was simply how the world worked.
He started to accept everything with an obedient nod, never questioning things and simply letting it be.
And now that he thought about it, it wasn't just him.
He watched the boy depicted in the sky remain seated, only the perspective of things changing as he witnessed some of the kids around him previously still there, only sitting on different benches, the same unassuming expression on their faces.
'Everyone. All of us. The Nulled.'
The blank expressions, monotone voices and unassuming demeanour.
'Over time, we'd all become docile and tame without even realising it. Almost like cattle.'
Cattle didn't ask questions.
Cattle didn't "want".
Cattle were satisfied with their grass, baths and comfortable lives.
They did not wish for more and never peeked behind the curtain.
And knowing what he knew now, being the single cattle to have accidentally caught a glimpse of what was on the other side of the curtain, he could only ask himself if it was him "Maturing" like he thought, or if he never even had a say in who he was and had become.
If it was as though a part of his mind was chained.
'Either way…maybe it's what I need right now.'
The reason this thought occurred to him was due to the sky of this void suddenly lighting up in a dark blue light.
The scenery disappeared, replaced with a burning blue flame with black highlights that raged in the sky like an unencumbered star.
'This…my Quirk, right? Maybe it can help me get out of this situation…' His words sounded sarcastic due to his flat tone and slight slur in his voice.
But it was easier said than done. The flame felt different.
This same flame that was once burning inside him now roared far more violently.
'Is it reacting to my negative emotions? It's like it's feeding off of it, the same way fire bursts when in contact with gas.'
Any thought of this making his Quirk, whatever it was, stronger or more powerful, was immediately abandoned as he could feel all connection to this flame seemingly severed.
Where he could once reach out to it and feel as though he could call upon it, it now felt like an entity that even he couldn't control.
'Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.'
For a moment, Rin focused on this…gap.
This gap in his mind that separated him from that crying child standing before the mansion.
This gap that made him the cattle he was.
As he did, the blue flame in the sky began to quell, its size becoming more manageable and its movements becoming more like a dance.
Finally, as Rin's vision began fading to black, he caught a glimpse of something lying in the middle of the blue flame in the sky.
There it was…an eight-handed wheel.
***
Rin, on his knees with his skull clutched by one of the marionettes, remained unconscious, his eyes rolled to the back of his skull as the last three marionettes stood behind him.
Having been only a second or two since Rin was grabbed, the doll hand only seemed to tighten around him as it showed no sign of letting up…
-FUA
-CRACK!!!
The single marionette was flung a dozen feet away as the porcelain wood around its face shattered, its wooden eyeball falling out to reveal a hollow eye socket.
'The ability to torture someone in despair and negative emotions for as long as you have your hand on them…truly a nightmarish Quirk, but possesses a clear weakness if you know how it works and possess a strong mind.'
Standing on his feet, Rin…no, an emerald-eyed boy with messy jet black hair stood, staring at the combustion of blue and black flame around his fist.
His expression was flat and neutral, and he spoke in his mind with a monotone voice, little to no emotion behind it.
Only now did the marionette recover its balance, straightening itself having just recovered from the boy's fist CRACKING against its face.
'This energy is far easier to control now. It seems to have a strong connection to my negative emotions…no, it's like it had a direct link to it, almost like negativity is what makes it. Like a curse or something.'
'Such power I hold in my hand. It's like nothing I've ever felt before…'
Taking his other hand, the boy ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back and revealing his straight face despite the position he was in.
No words were spoken by either side, both groups blurring the line between human and object as they remained frozen.
It wasn't until the four marionettes dashed from their position, forming a circle around the boy.
'They're smart enough to know it would be unwise to simply dash at me again. So they probably also know their ability won't work on me. Either way…'
"You guys are the divine soldiers of fear and negativity itself..." He started, raising his burning blue hand between them and staring as he continued.
"So shouldn't you bow before that which you serve?"
Breaking the silence with these words, Rin bent his legs, his mind doing little to dictate his next moves as he simply let instinct take over.
'The wheel…I feel it, embedded within the flame in my gut…'
His hands clasped together as they formed a shape, and as the flickering light above him cast a faint shadow on the wall, it was clear what the shape was depicting.
A Wolf.
"Divine Dogs."
-SHUAA
Rin's shadow grew considerably darker as it rose off the ground, liquified as it began to take shape while menacing red eyes pierced from said darkness.
In the next second, swiping its paw to reveal itself, two pups formed beside him, one white while the other was black, fashioning vibrant fur with three dots on each of their forehead formed in a triangle.
With the black growling at the marionettes with its amber eyes, the white let out a faint howl while facing straight up.
'Not bad. I can figure out what this all means later. For now…'
Rin looked up, scanning his surroundings.
Four marionettes, each currently charging toward them from north, west, south and east, respectively.
And Rin didn't even need to give a verbal command to his dogs. No, they had a deeper connection than that.
And so, they simply moved.
-ZIP
Both divine dogs leapt into the air with speed expected of a predator, pressing their feet on the walls opposite each other.
Rin didn't stand still either.
He dashed forward, his hand still burning with the blue flame as he approached the marionette due west, all while his pups leapt off the wall, prepared to wiz by each other as they shot toward the dolls, the white heading for the same one he was while the black went for the opposite one, east.
As a response to this, the dolls coming from said directions halted, prepared for the incoming attack.
But the North and South marionettes continued to pursue, seemingly possessing an opening now.
That was until the two pups spun backwards, their paws connecting mid-air as they carried their previous momentum, changing direction to now face north and south.
'My punch did nothing…'
All time seemed to have slowed upon everything that was to ensue in the next second.
'I can only assume my physical attacks won't be very effective. So…'
-WIZ
Upon the two pups launching off each other, heading toward the dolls that still weren't able to react to this, Rin suddenly leapt off the ground, jumping straight up.
'We go for that!'
He yelled inwardly, all three of them now face to face with the ethereal strings holding up the marionettes.
And with one consecutive swipe, the strings were severed, leaving the dolls to hit the ground.
"White, deal with the last one."
Rin, landing on the ground, turned his head slightly as he spoke to his white dog, having given the latter a name off the top of his head.
With a small bark of acknowledgement, Rin wasted no time as he and his black pup dashed into the darkness, where he once came from.
"Take me to him." He mumbled, his voice monotone and expression blank, while Black sniffed at the air.
***
"I see."
In a dimly lit hallway, Rin, his expression stoic and tone flat, hair slicked back, bent over a boy of similar age with a buzz cut and a slit across his throat.
Slouched on the wall, his hand weakly lay beside him as the small dirt he had cascaded through his fingers.
His eyes lay open, the amber in his pupils seemingly fainter than usual as the white and black divine pups licked at him, whimpering slightly.
For a moment, just a slight moment, upon lowering his head, the corner of Rin's lips contorted.
But it was gone just as fast as he lowered himself.
Taking a deep breath, he rose to his feet, turning away.
"One more thing…just one more before we go…"
Rin raised his head, revealing his previous stoic expression, only this time betrayed by the lifeless tears flowing down his face.
"One more thing to do before we leave."