Forgotten World: The Promise We Made That Day

Volume 3 Chapter 17

Streaks of crimson fly through the darkness as Tarou Kitazawa swings his massive two handed broadsword with only one hand. As he cuts through the heavy swarms of Uncontrolled hives, he remembers the words spoken to him by both his twin brother Taku and Shinku. They constantly echoed within his head. So much that he hardly got any rest. His desire to become stronger kept him going. Once the entire area had bee cleared of Uncontrolled, Tarou decided to take a break and sit upon a nearby bench. He stabs his sword into the ground before letting out a long sigh. "No matter how many of them I kill... I don't feel like I'm getting any stronger. What is it? What do those two have that I don't?" Tarou begins to think back to his younger days in hope of finding an answer.

Memories of a hot summer day begin playing within his head. The two brothers were enjoying a family vacation to Okinawa where they'd be staying with their grandparents at their beach house. During their stay, they were given the freedom to explore around town and find fun things to do while their parents get some rest. "Come on, Taku. Let's go get some ice cream!" Tarou pulls Taku along, holding onto his wrist. While they wait in line to order their ice cream, Taku notices a little girl crying for some reason. He then sees that she'd dropped her ice cream. "Oh.. She dropped her cone." Taku wanted to help her, but Tarou placed his hand on her shoulder. "We don't even know her, bro! Let's just get our ice cream and head to the beach." With a disappointed face, he gives him a nod. Tarou takes his eyes off of him for a moment, which gives him enough time to run off and catch up with the little girl.

"What's wrong? Did you drop your ice cream?" He asks while sitting next to her. The little girl rubs her eyes and turns her head to look at him. "N-No... A really mean boy bumped into me and made me drop it. H-He just laughed and walked off." She sniffles. Taku would then stand up, a determined look on his face. "Where is he?" She points in the direction of where he went and Taku takes off running. Now that the line had moved, it was finally time for Tarou to order ice cream for the both of them. "Finally! Now, it's our turn! Taku, what kind do you... want...?" He notices that Taku had disappeared. Recalling the girl from earlier, he clenches his fist and starts to run. It didn't take him long to locate the girl from earlier. He goes over to her and crosses his arms. "Where is he?" She slowly looks up at him and then suddenly gets scared as Tarou's angry disposition puts her at unease. "Ah! Y-You're scary!"

He sighs. "Just tell me where my little brother went! The one with the white hair and blue eyes!" She was shaking, but proceeds to answer him. "H-He went towards the park. H-He's.. going to confront the bully that made me drop my ice cream..." Gritting his teeth, he heads for the park as fast as he can. "Damn it, Taku.. Why?!" At the park, Taku was standing face to face with the bully. "You owe that girl an ice cream cone." Taku demands while standing his ground. "What's that, shrimp? I can't hear you from up here." The bully says, standing at a foot or so taller than Taku. "I said... you owe her ab ice cream!" He attempts to punch him, but is easily taken down by a lariat. The boy proceeds to beat up Taku, who does his best to protect his face. It wouldn't be long before Tarou shows up. "Alright, you punk! Step away from my little brother!" He laughs. "Oh, so you're gonna take me on? You're like.. the same size as him! You're not gonna do anything to me!"

This is where that boy was wrong. He underestimated what Tarou could do. Tarou was pretty fast and quite strong. Not to mention, he was quite a tenacious person. He was easily able to land a powerful punch to the boy's stomach. He falls to his knees while holding his stomach. "N-Not fair..." He helps Taku up and the two start to walk away. "Y-You.. punk..." He falls flat on his face. "Why did you do that, you idiot?! He beat you up!" Tarou asks angrily, pretty much just complaining. Taku looks up at him with a bruised face. "I... couldn't stand seeing that girl cry... I.. wanted her to smile.." Tarou sighs. "Next time, just... mind your own business. If you'd just done that, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. Now, let's grab our ice cream." Once back at the stand, they both get ice cream. However, Taku starts looking for the girl. As soon as he locates her, he gives her his ice cream. "Here you go. This should make up for the one you lost." She smiles brightly at him. "Thank you so much! You're so awesome!" She enjoys the ice cream while he smiles at her and watches.

Seeing this, Tarou was in shock. He didn't stop the bully and even got beat up. After all that happened, why not enjoy the ice cream? Was he really satisfied just by helping her? These questions spun around in Tarou's head. "Even after all that... he comes out as the hero? It's always Taku.. He always gets the glory. What does he have that I don't?" Filled with jealousy, he crushes the ice cream cone in his hand. As soon as that happens, Tarou comes back to his senses. "That's right... Taku was always the one who changed lives and made others smile. He did things I couldn't, despite me being the older twin. I... I must become stronger than him. I need to prove to him.. that even I can make a change."

Tarou gets up and grabs his weapon, leaving the bench and heading into an open spot. He then uses the spatial warping ability, covering himself in thick smog. He then transports himself to the United States, taking refuge somewhere in Virginia. He takes this time to train himself, fighting through hordes of Uncontrolled. Though his skills get better, he can't seem to find any answers as to how humanity could be saved. It isn't until 3 weeks pass and he finishes off his 1,000th Uncontrolled that he seems to come to a conclusion. Beaten and bruised, Tarou stares up at the night sky. "Years ago, the three of us were turned into hybrids. We can live among the smog and even produce it. We can heal all types of wounds and even regenerate body parts. We don't need to eat or sleep as much as regular humans and we are also given the power to take them on."

His eyes widen before he suddenly breaks into a fit of laughter. "Hahaha.... Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!! That's it! That was the answer all along! We won't have to fear the Uncontrolled... if we all become like them! If the world all become hybrids like us, then we wouldn't even need the AUA!" With a smirk on his face, he stands to his feet. "Now... I just have to figure out how to put this plan into motion. Perhaps.... I need hybrid DNA to do so. That's the ticket! I'll spread our DNA all across the world, starting with the United States of America... Hehehe... That way, I'll become a true hero!"

An Uncontrolled screams out, spotting Tarou nearby. In seconds, an entire group surrounds him. He couldn't help, but smile wickedly. "Oh, you bastards want a piece of me?! Well, then... come and get it!" They all charge in at once, only for a giant crimson cyclone to shoot up into the air. It slices all of them into pieces and rains blood down everywhere. With his mind now seemingly lost, he starts to laugh frantically. "Yes, that's it! This is true power! Hehe... I guess I'll go test out my powers at the United Forces AUA base. I believe they're in DC. Won't take me long to get there!" He transports himself to Washington DC. Once there, he starts to head towards the base. "Well, there.. Hello, Americans. Let's have a fun time together, shall we?" His crimson eyes glow as he prepares his final plan.

At the base, an alert appears that warns the soldiers of any Uncontrolled making their way towards the city borders. Nathan Daniels calls upon Brynhild and Charlotte to take care of the threat. They head out and to the area, only to realize it was Tarou Kitazawa who had arrived. "So... it was Hybrid-02 after all? You look more menacing than I thought." Charlotte says while holding her lance. Brynhild glares, taking a stance. "We meet again, Hybrid-02. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here in the United States." Tarou smirks. "Well... Let's just say I have business with everyone here." Brynhild raises a brow. "Oh? And what might that be?" He shakes his head. "I can't spoil the surprise." He then holds his sword towards them. "Now.. Move outta my way."

"Sorry, monster. No can do. Your little fun ends here. We're taking you out right here and now." She starts to gather energy and Brynhild follows suit by preparing a slew of new grenades. "I'll have you known my explosives are even better than before. You're not gonna get the drop on me this time." With all three fighters at the ready, they all charge at each other as their battle begins!