"Assimilate and Reach Perfection" (WIP)

Nobuyuki has spent most of his life in the city of Phantasm. His family moved there years before he was born looking for employment opportunities. The constantly expanding city seemed to promise endless possibilities to any would be worker. And yet these ideas never seemed to come true in the lives of the Saito family. Both parents struggled to maintain good jobs and as such they had to be smart with their money. This made for very limited get aways from the city for vacations. As a result it's really all Nobuyuki has ever known and he naturally feels at home in the urban setting. He has long loved reading but as funds were scarce this meant many an hour was spent in city libraries.

Something that always fascinated the young man's mind was a story he read across many different accounts. That of one perfect machine. It spoke of integrating many different types of technology together and it was rumored should it ever come to be that it would be the strongest weapon mankind had ever known. This led to a natural desire to tinker with machines to the point where now Nobukuki is very skilled with dismantling and assembling electronic circuits and such. The idea that he might one day be able to make this perfect machine was a lofty and unreachable dream that he held in the back of his mind.

Another area of interest for the boy was historical accounts of various weapons, swords in particular. Through the many locales across Phantasm he was able to see antiques and modern takes on many of these weapons and gain an appreciation for the craft. He frequented one store enough that the owner offered him lessons on how to wield a blade which the young boy excitedly accepted. He gained basic technical skills for many different types of swords by the age of fourteen.

There was one final passion Nobuyuki had which was the game of duel monsters. His deck of choice was Magnet Warriors which focused on combining into one very powerful warrior. He always liked to imagine the mythical perfect machine looked something like Valkyrion. He played with whoever he could when he had the time or the chance and always enjoyed himself.

Around the age of fourteen his life took an unexpected turn. While in a customary visit to one of Phantasm's libraries, Nobuyuki felt to turn some older texts about the Perfect Machine again. It took a bit of looking through the shelves but eventually he came to the volume he was looking for. As he reached out to grab the book another hand did the same. This particular book detailed several components of the machine including the heart, the blade and the core. It was strange another would even care. Nobuyuki retracted his hand and allowed the older man to take hold of the book. The two exchanged words both curious what the other was wanting to read it for. The two talked for a bit but the boy didn't make much of it.

As it happened they would occasionally meet at various libraries across town. But still nothing much came of it. Life was getting more and more difficult in the Saito home. It was another rough patch for the employment of Nobuyuki's parents and money was rather tight. The boy had heard word on the streets of ways of making money fast. It seemed like something he should do. Though the more he looked into things the more dangerous they sounded. Underground fighting rings. Anything was allowed, death was not unheard of and in some cases the expectation for the losers. The young boy continued diving deeper into this dangerous territory until eventually he found himself joining a group. But before he could get himself lined up for a fight who should he encounter but the man from the library.

This was not nearly so happy a meeting. It was clear the man didn't approve of a young boy like him getting caught up in this business despite apparently being part of it himself. The two finally exchanged names here though. The man's name was Victor Vanderbilt, and was clearly an experienced fighter. The man suggested that instead of fighting Nobuyuki should go exploring the older parts of town with him to look for old artifacts that various records detailed. He seemed rather insistent they do that together than participate in the various fights. The idea was enticing but the boy doubted it would help alleviate his family's financial situation as that was the original intention of coming to the fight clubs. But regardless he agreed for the moment.

The two would get together every so often, usually at weekly or biweekly intervals, and go exploring the older parts of Phantasm. Underground catacombs and other long forgotten structures abounded and while the experience was fun they weren't exactly coming up with anything. Nobuyuki hated to go behind his new friend's back but he did eventually start participating in fights. It wasn't an easy experience and the wins were few and far between. But it was better than nothing. Two years came and went like this. The boy would fight when he could and explored and poured through other ancient records with Victor every so often. The basic sword skills the boy had picked up sharpened and his information available on the perfect machine of legend seemed to be expanding slowly as they came across more books.

There were at least three key components to it the records indicated. There was to be a heart, a blade and a core. The heart was described as being blood red and an excellent source of power. The blade was described as being able to cut the sky itself. As best Nobuyuki could make this was referring to a sky blue blade of incredible sharpness that seemed to be able to have to integrate itself into the machine. And then finally the core. The information on the core was vague. It was described as a "prime specimen of its kind" but what exactly that meant was unclear. Many writings attempted to put together what a prime specimen of a machine or an engine would be. But others suggested something darker. That the core was a living being that would be integrated into the machine itself. It would provide the perfect machine with intelligence unlike any programming could ever accomplish. But if that meant human or not was also unclear. There seemed to be ideas stating the heart and blade would resonate in each others' presence and show the way to the core. Most importantly it seemed that the heart and blade were actual objects that had been created long ago in an attempt at building the machine. Finding them became Nobuyuki's new mission in his explorations of the town.

Over the course of the next six months the ventures of the duo brought them to the blade. It lay deep within what appeared to be an old dungeon of sorts. At its center was what appeared to be a lab where weapons had been developed and tested. No doubt the prisoners had served as subjects. A green blue shine caught Nobuyuki's eye as they searched about. A sword was stuck in a pile of rubble with only the hilt and a small portion of the blade visible. Upon removing it the boy noticed the blade was still in perfect condition. It was a beauty to behold as the blade shifted colors as he moved it about. After a second of holding it the blade vibrated and the wave traveled through the entirety of the boy's body, seeming to shake his soul itself. He dropped the blade in alarm only for Victor to pick it up for him saying there was nothing wrong. As he took hold of it again it suddenly felt right in his hand. It felt like less of a weapon than merely another part of his body. Nobuyuki's fights, which his friend had become of aware of, went much better with this weapon in hand. The boy felt a drive to fight as he held it. It was exhilarating and he won more than he ever had with the new weapon. But this only carried him so far. He received many an injury through the process of fighting. The money he earned helped but eventually he had to tell his parents what he was doing. The two demanded he stop which he promised he would. But the drive for fights ran deep in him now. He couldn't just stop.

Tracking down the heart of the perfect machine proved a much longer process. It took a year of searching in fact. Nobuyuki was seventeen, nearing eighteen even. By this time the exploring duo had become something of good friends. The boy viewed him as an older brother of sorts even though there was a fifteen year age gap. Despite the frequent meetings the boy never pressed Victor much about his past and as the man had seemed content to help him search for the perfect machine components he hadn't gotten much of an idea what the man was looking for himself. But their runs seemed helpful to him as he would take various things along the way without much word. Eventually they made a breakthrough. They had a lead as to where the heart was. It apparently resembled a jewel necklace and had changed hands countless times throughout the years. But as best the records told it had come to a final resting place in a museum. A museum that no longer stood. The structure had collapsed long ago and no one ever rebuilt it. It had many floors of basements however so if they could find their way to the underground portions there was a chance they could find it.

After a lot of moving rubble aside they found an entrance to the basement systems of the old museum. The place was dark naturally as the fallen structure had no electricity to speak of. By the light of flashlights and lanterns the two progressed. Largely only dust met them but there were traces of past exhibits. All had mostly been ruined by water damage it seemed. It took a few hours of searching but eventually Nobuyuki found a small chest. He brought it over to Victor believing he'd found it. And sure enough he had. Upon opening it a deep red jewel about a silver chain came into view. And there were what seemed to be duel monsters cards? The records hadn't said anything about that. But that hardly mattered to the excited boy. The deep red gem glowed briefly and an ominous presence seemed to come with it. But with the excitement distracting him Nobuyuki hardly noticed it. Victor attempted to warn him as he reached in and took the necklace out. In a moment he put the jewel about his neck.

An audible ringing began to slowly build in volume from the blade Nobuyuki carried with him everywhere. The red gem about his neck emitted a surge of red light that illuminated the entirety of the room. The sound grew louder and suddenly the boy cried out in pain. Something was happening but the sound and the light were too overwhelming to make sense of what. Eventually the glass in the flashlights and lanterns broke and as the gem too darkened there remained all but no light left in the room. Amidst the light the cards flew out of the box and out of sight. Nobuyuki at this point was unconscious but Victor was able to gather his blade and carry him out. Even without light the man was able to find the way back. Without a clear view it was hard to tell what had happened but from just touch alone there were some very concerning issues. All that could be felt over the boys body was what felt like hair? A lot of it too. The necklace was still about his neck but, it felt like he had things attached to his back now. There also didn't seem to be any traces of clothing left.

Upon reaching the surface, light brought the transformed Nobuyuki into his friends' view. Nobuyuki himself stirred as light shine on his closed eyes. He had been set down and as he awoke he immediately took note of the change in his body. Covered in white and sky blue fur and was that a tail? And wings? And horns on his head even? He was still able to talk and was very much himself though he felt different. He didn't remotely care about the lack of clothing which was odd for one thing. But in general he felt much more passionate. After a moment he began panicking however realizing the implications this transformation meant. His family would lose it. So would most any human he met most likely. Even Victor seemed afraid of him like this. He began panicking and almost breaking down and crying over everything. Victor suggested they just get him home for now and figure it out later which the distraught boy agreed to. As they went about their way they had to keep Nobuyuki out of sight to not alarm others. After nearly making it back the transformation suddenly undid itself. All at once there was Nobuyuki standing there as a human again, fully clothed and everything. The necklace was still on him, the blade was still nearby. After a moment of rejoicing the two agreed perhaps a brief break from their adventures was in order.

Upon returning home Nobuyuki felt different. There was a remarkable fatigue yes but it seemed to weigh on his mind and heart in the days after. He removed the necklace and left the blade at home and spent his days reading through unrelated books at the library. But as he did so he felt something. A desire to fight. And yet at the same time a certain weariness of it and everything else. The objects in his room seemed to call out to him as if finishing the machine was all that mattered. He had also noticed strange new cards in his deck he couldn't recall putting there. Crystron monsters. Robots with gem cores. Could they have been the cards in the box with the jewel? Eventually the call of the items became irresistible and one night Nobyuki found himself placing the necklace about his neck and holding the blade in hand once more in his room.

And yet nothing happened. No sign of the weird fur covered dragon-like whatever sort of form he'd taken before. That was until he touched the blade to the stone about his neck. With a surge of light from both objects he looked in the mirror and saw once again his altered appearance again no clothing in sight. He marveled at the changes to his body wondering what it could be. He inspected every inch of himself running his hands along the parts of his body trying to take in and understand what they were. Strange sensations were sent through his body as he did so. He did indeed have wings. He could even move them after trying hard enough. His hands and feet seemed different now and each digit had a small sharp claw at the end of it. His knees bent an odd way now and there were horns on his head. And then there was the large tail extending from where the aptly named human tailbone ought to have been. It seemed to mostly move and sway on its own yet even this appendage could be moved at will. But despite this everything else seemed to be in order if not slightly altered. His eyes had changed color but he still had two of them. His other senses seemed normal. The rest of his biology seemed in order as well if not slightly different in shape and functionality. Poking, stroking and touching himself proved entertaining for a time as Nobuyuki attempted to cement the fact that what his eyes showed him in the mirror and when he looked at himself was actually him. But then came the important issue. How did he turn back now? He had no clue how to make it happen. And even after taking the crystal off his neck and putting it and the blade away his form remained. Alone in his room at night this wasn't a huge issue except that his family would be seeing him in the morning if he couldn't change back. Worried as he was he felt tired and sleep soon came to him. Upon awakening he had changed back to his relief.

Over the next month he experimented with transforming and soon found ways to return to normal on his own. It was incredibly exciting to be able to change into some sort of magical looking creature whenever he wanted. The form had amazing strength to it as well which proved convenient in future runs of exploration. Victor became accustomed to seeing his friend's transformed state as he used it which slowly got Nobuyuki comfortable with the idea of being around people while transformed. As a result he wasn't nearly so cautious about not being sighted and scared several people from time to time. It was incredibly tempting to use the form in the fights he participated in but he refrained and eventually pulled out of the business altogether. His parents were finding more stable employment again and he for one wanted to focus on finding the remaining components of the machine. He had this idea starting to worm its way into his head. The idea he needed to be perfect. What that meant he wasn't sure. But he figured he had a drive to better himself every way he could.

Until now the experimenting with the form has proven eventful. The more he's used it the more comfortable he's become with it and fighting and doing other things with it. But at times transforming back becomes incredibly taxing and painful. There were days where he was stuck transformed because he couldn't summon the energy to turn back and they often led to elaborate ways of calling his parents to let them know he'd be out and finding a place to sleep. At this point he can transform pretty freely and painlessly. But turning back has to wait at least a few hours and is tiring. As troubling as it might seem it hasn't made him any more hesitant about using it for various tasks and even just messing around. It's a fun experience and he greatly enjoys it however weird and concerning it ought to be.

Most recently something strange has happened to Phantasm. No one can leave the city. Everyone inside has been dubbed Husks. Rumors float around of battles involving the loser's soul being taken. Still more rumors circulate there might be a way to put an end to it all. Nobuyuki has since shown his transformed state to his family and uses it to protect them and others he cares about. He and Victor have begun looking for a way to get people out of the town. The Perfect Machine comes to mind. The ultimate weapon could do something about this. If he can just find the core he can begin to assemble it. Until then he'll fight and try to get his family out at the least.