The clone's fingers tightened around Hinako's dagger with a crunch of breaking steel. Its too-wide smile split further, lips tearing at the corners as Kuroto's voice spilled out:
*"Did you miss me?"*
Nakato moved faster than thought. His black fire lashed out in a whip of condensed annihilation, severing the clone's arm at the elbow. The limb hit the ground still twitching, oozing black sludge instead of blood.
Hinako rolled clear, snatching a backup blade from her boot. "They're puppets! Kuroto's remote-controlling them!"
Subject Nine screamed again, her tiny body convulsing as the key-shaped mark on her wrist pulsed crimson. The second clone lunged for Daisuke, its movements jerky but terrifyingly fast—
—until Shiro's golden energy bolt caught it midair, slamming it into the wall hard enough to crack concrete. "The marks! Destroy the marks!"
Nakato pivoted, flames roaring toward Subject Nine's wrist. The girl's eyes locked onto his, wide with terror but strangely trusting. His fire licked at the key symbol, and the reaction was instantaneous.
The safehouse lights exploded in a shower of sparks as the mark resisted, a shrill feedback whine piercing the air. Nakato gritted his teeth, pouring more heat into the purge—
**CRACK.**
The mark shattered like glass. Subject Nine went limp, her breathing easing as the black veins receded. Across the room, the other clones collapsed mid-movement, their own marks darkening to scars.
Silence. Then—
Daisuke's scanner beeped urgently. "The Titans! They're—"
The ground heaved violently, throwing them all off balance. Plaster rained from the ceiling as a deep, resonant hum vibrated through the walls—the sound of something ancient waking beneath the city.
Ryujin was already moving for the stairs. "We're out of time."
---
Tokyo's skyline burned.
From their vantage point on the abandoned subway overpass, Nakato watched entire city blocks crumble as the first Titan emerged near Shinjuku Station. Its form was more refined than the previous abominations—sleek obsidian plating, six jointed legs, and a single massive eye that pulsed with the same crimson light as the clones' marks.
Hinako adjusted her comm earpiece, her voice tight. "Ryujin's team just engaged the western Titan. Shiro's hitting the east in five."
Daisuke's holographic display flickered between them, showing the three assault teams' positions. "The main Titan under Tokyo Tower is your target. Thermal scans show it's... feeding on something."
The image zoomed in. Nakato's stomach turned. The Titan wasn't just standing at the ley line nexus—it was *fused* with it, tendrils of black energy pumping into its body from a crack in reality itself. And clustered around its base like grotesque offerings were dozens of glass tubes, each containing a motionless child-sized figure.
Clones.
Subject Nine whimpered, pressing against Nakato's leg. "H-hurts. The singing hurts."
Daisuke adjusted his scanner. "She's picking up the dimensional frequency. That Titan isn't just a Beast—it's a conduit."
Hinako checked her remaining daggers. "So we cut the connection."
Nakato's regulator chose that moment to beep. **[02:59:59 REMAINING]**
Three hours to live.
---
The tunnels beneath Tokyo Tower stank of rust and ozone. Emergency lights long since dead left the passages pitch black, forcing Nakato to guide them with his flames' eerie glow. The deeper they went, the heavier the air became—thick with a pressure that made his ears pop and his fire sputter.
Hinako's boot squelched in something wet. "God, what is—"
The flashlight beam revealed the floor was coated in a translucent slime, strands of it stretching ceiling-high like grotesque cobwebs. Nestled within the strands were skeletal remains, some still clad in tattered Kage Corps uniforms.
Daisuke gagged. "The cleanup crews Kuroto sent down here..."
Subject Nine suddenly stiffened. "He knows."
The Titan's roar shook the tunnels hard enough to crack walls. Nakato barely kept his footing as the soundwave hit—carrying with it a psychic backlash that flooded his mind with visions:
*—a void without end*
*—something vast stirring in the dark*
*—a crown of broken stars floating toward him—*
"Nakato!" Hinako's slap brought him back. Blood trickled from his nose.
Daisuke's scanner screeched. "We've got movement! Multiple signals—not Beast signatures—"
The first clone emerged from the shadows.
Then ten more.
Then fifty.
All identical variations of Nakato himself—some younger, some older, all with the same key-shaped marks glowing on their wrists. Their eyes were empty of everything but pain.
The lead clone spoke in Kuroto's voice: *"Welcome home, Prime."*
Hinako's daggers flashed. "We can't fight all of them!"
Nakato stepped forward, his flames roaring to life. "I'm not here to fight them." He raised his burning hands, palms open. "I'm here to free them."
The clones charged.
---
Nakato's fire didn't burn—it *remembered*.
As the first clone reached him, he grabbed its wrist and let his flames flow into the mark. The reaction was instantaneous. The key symbol shattered, and for one blessed second, the clone's eyes cleared—
—then it *screamed* as black corruption poured from its mouth, the Hollow King's influence fighting to maintain control.
Hinako moved like lightning, her daggers intercepting clones that tried to flank them. "Daisuke, get Nine out of here!"
Daisuke scooped up the trembling girl, but Subject Nine fought against him. "No! He needs me!"
Nakato gritted his teeth as he purged clone after clone. Each purification took a toll—his regulator's timer ticked faster with every mark destroyed. **[02:12:33 REMAINING]**
The lead clone lunged, its fingers elongating into claws. Nakato sidestepped, his flames severing its arm—
—only for the limb to regrow instantly, black ooze solidifying into new flesh.
*"Futile,"* Kuroto's voice laughed through the clone. *"The Hollow King has already tasted their souls. You're just burning their bodies."*
A new tremor shook the tunnels. From the depths came an unearthly *shriek*—the Titan had sensed their presence.
Hinako grabbed Nakato's shoulder. "We need to move!"
Subject Nine suddenly wriggled free from Daisuke's grip, darting past the clones toward the deeper darkness. "This way! The song is loudest here!"
Against all instinct, Nakato followed. The tunnel opened into a nightmarish cathedral—the heart of the ley line nexus. The Titan stood fused to a massive rift in reality, its tendrils pumping black energy into dozens of clone-filled tubes arranged in a ritual circle.
And floating at the center, suspended in a sphere of crackling energy, was Kuroto himself—his silver hair whipping in an unfelt wind, his golden eyes burning with fanatic light.
*"Right on time."* His voice echoed through the chamber. *"The Hollow King requires kindling for his arrival. Who better than the false Prime?"*
Nakato's flames roared in response. He had two hours left to live, an army of clones between him and his target, and a Titan waking the apocalypse.
He cracked his neck.
"Let's dance."