Kyoruken has awoken in a new world. Unlike the world she is accustomed too, this world is one of steel and noise, not of wood, stone, and peace. Buildings rise into the sky, and great beasts that roar softly fly even higher. Strange boxes carry people around from place to place; used to fitting in among dull brown and black clothes, Kyoruken finds herself among clothes of bright, vibrant colors, jewelry hanging from every possible part, as if they do not fear thieves. Already, she has seen countless people talking into their hands, as if someone is talking back.

This world is different, even more different than she was.

Wandering around, Kyoruken accepts the strange glances she receives from people, by far used to them after being the Destroyer for eons. So she continued walking, until she found herself in between two of the immensely high buildings. Filth coated nearly every syrface, and it was very dark. The latter problem was pointless to her, as her strange powers, that even after all these eons, some were still a mystery to her, made her vision very acute, even in the blackest of nights.

And with her vision, she saw a man standing above another man, the second laying on the ground convulsing. The standing man held a small dagger in one hand, some bundle in the other. He suddenly glanced towards Kyoruken, then ran away.

This was folly. As Kyoruken had, many times, been described as an animal, running only made her want to chase her prey more. First, though, she knelt by the second man. But now, his convulsions had ceased, and he stared blankly at Kyoruken. After easing his eyes shut and offering a prayer to whatever gods were worshipped in this world, Kyoruken began the chase.

The man was far ahead of her, and he knew the terrain well, but Kyoruken, who was not truly human, could sense the man’s Life. And this made tracking him easy. However, climbing up the strange metallic ladder on the side of a building took much longer than she wanted; as a sort of deity, Kyoruken could only exist in the body of an already living being. She did not always get the same body as before, and on occasion, the body was weak: this was one such occasion. After a long and difficult climb, Kyoruken found herself panting. Outraged, she relinquished control of the body to the entity that truly was the Destroyer. Her fatigue vanishing, Kyoruken raced across the top of the building, spotting her prey reach the edge of the roof and jump onto another. Grinning madly, Kyoruken reached the edge only a moment later, and leapt. In midair, she grabbed onto the man’s back, causing him to descend faster. They both crashed onto the other roof and tumbled for a moment; then they fell into empty space.


Kyoruken opened her eyes. A high ceiling, interlaced with great steel beams greeted her, and a slight pain in her back. Rising up, she found that the man she had been chasing lay underneath her, mouth agape, staring at nothing. Looking to the ceiling again, Kyoruken realized he was dead, and she would have been too, had her body not been under the Destroyer’s control, making it nearly invincible.

She stood up, and surveyed her surroundings: the room she was in was large and almost empty, save for a large version of the moving-boxes. Seeing a door, Kyoruken walked towards it and stepped into a clean, dull grey hallway. A few people turned to look at her, and one shouted, “Who the hell are you?!”

Sensing danger, Kyoruken prepared herself to fight. “I am Kyoruken, called the Destroyer. You would do best to leave me be.”

One reached into his white coat and pulled out what looked like a tiny, broken crossbow. Since she thought he would have to fix it before he could fire it, Kyoruken started to step forward.

An incredibly loud bang erupted from the crossbow, and Kyoruken felt an intense pain in her left shoulder. Roaring, she fell to the floor, clutching at air, expecting to find an arrow sticking out. She could not find one.

Now enaged, Kyoruken rose and glared at the man, feeling the Destroyer take control once more. Moving quicker than any of those present could see, Kyoruken bolted forward and leapt at the man, tackling him. Once the man was under her, she roared, bit down onto his throat, and tore her head back with inhuman force. She spat out the bloody mass and rose again. The other people were already running, screaming as loud as they could. Kyoruken turned and got ready to chase after them.

‘Wait.’

More than used to voices in her head, Kyoruken was not surprised by a new one speaking. So, she waited, and, in her mind, asked, ‘What?’

There was no reply, but she felt a strong urge to find the source of the voice. Sensing it was close, Kyoruken turned to the wall in front of her, and punched it with all her might. As she had hoped, most of her superhuman strength remained even in this strange world, and the wall crumbled. Stepping into the new room, she saw only a tube rising from floor to ceiling, a strange looking gauntlet floating in an unknown liquid. She felt a presence in her mind, but she ignored it, instead wishing to claim this gauntlet as her own.

She approached the tube, and again, punched the glass, shattering it and sending the liquid spilling to the floor. Oddly, the gauntlet remained floating, this time in air. Grinning madly, Kyoruken reached for it.

It leapt towards her arm, and though she stepped back, the gauntlet reached its target. It clung to her arm, and she felt a million needles pierce her skin, and knew that the gauntlet was attaching itself to her. The part of her mind that still managed to maintain sanity screamed at her body to tear it off, but the Destroyer, the very essence of madness itself, grinned wildly as the Witchblade and the Destroyer became one.