Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Lumina High.

Once a prosperous high school where teens could study and learn, this place was now nothing more than an abandoned, ruined building. Granted, it was more intact than most other places in this city, but it was far from undamaged. The cracks and fractures along its walls and surrounding ground were proof of that.

Still, at least, with the building being intact, there were less angles the mutants could attack Cyanide from inside. At least, that was how it was supposed to be, theoretically—he couldn't be sure yet until he actually went in and engaged in combat.

Cautiously, Cyanide stepped closer to the closed doors, aged with dust. They appeared to be made of metal. Of course, regardless of the material, before reaching out to touch it, Cyanide made sure to test it first.

[Detect Poison.]

Chanting the skill's name in his mind, a gentle scan shot out of his hand, tracing over the door, handle and frame and all. After several seconds, a message appeared not in the form a hologram, but inside his head.

[No Poisons Detected]

'Good,' he thought, then reached out and pulled on the handl-

Crrrrreak.

"…!"

Immediately, Cyanide jumped back, preparing for danger, and activated his Radar. No pings. And yet… just now, right as he was about to touch the door, the metal door had creaked open, ever so slightly.

Just the wind? Impossible. There was barely a breeze to be felt, and these doors were made of solid metal, not to mention how it was clicked in place. Someone had opened this door from the inside—but also managed to evade Cyanide's Radar skill.

"… Luna," Cyanide began, about to ask something. But-

"Yes, Cyanide, there is a central command room in this school, and these doors can be operated from there," Luna replied before Cyanide even asked anything. "However, those controls should open a door up to full, not just a creak like this. Unless there has been some sort of fault or damage in the wiring over the years, but…"

Yes, that certainly was possible, but Cyanide believed it wasn't as simple as that. And even if it was, that would mean there was someone—or rather, something—in this school capable of operating the central command system. It would have to be either a Stage Three or Stage Four Mutant, as Stage Fives only had immense power but were lacking in intelligence compared the other two.

Hesitantly, Cyanide kicked open the door of the school, revealing a darkness inside. The lights were off, but there were windows whose blinds were raised, letting the daylight seep in. Dust speckles in the air were revealed by the beaming sun's rays, and the place had the feel of ancient ruins to it despite it clearly being just a normal school. An abandoned one, yes, but a normal school nonetheless.

"… Go."

Whispering this under his breath, he used the Soul Art [Skulls of Hell]. Instantly, three floating skulls materialized around his head, and then each took off in a different direction of the school under Cyanide's command. They each left behind a trail of ominous black gas as they flew, camouflaged in the darkness of the hallways.

Meanwhile, in Cyanide's mind, he was getting an accurate idea of the school's layout. His map wouldn't work here, since it only revealed basic layouts and didn't show any floors that he had not reached yet. With these Skulls of Hell, however, not only could he see everything the Skulls were seeing through the empty eye sockets (albeit a little bit blurry), but he could also do so without any risk of danger, and potentially even eliminate some mutants without going near them by bashing their heads open with the Skulls.

But to Cyanide's surprise… he didn't find a single mutant. This school consisted of two floors, and should at least have a dozen or so mutants inside at the very least. And yet… there were none.

'… How peculiar,' he thought.

Then, his three skulls converged around one door in particular, on the second floor.

'Hm…? What's this…?'

Before the three floating skulls, a sealed locked door lay. It seemed to be made of pure metal, and was different from any other of the doors in the school in the sense that it did not have a vertical transom window on it. There was some kind of text written on the metal plaque on the door's surface, but Cyanide couldn't see what the tiny letters read through the Skulls. As such, he attempted to command the skulls to go closer, but-

"—!" Cyanide's eyes snapped back open as his connection to the Skulls was suddenly cut off. All three at once, gone. They had been destroyed simultaneously, ruthlessly. The cut was swift, clean, and utterly merciless.

Cyanide had fought his share of sword masters before, back on Earth. In fact, he himself was well-versed in the art of swords from experience alone, and he could tell that cut just now that severed his three Skulls of Hell was nothing short of extraordinary. Such precision, such power, such intent… all in one strike. He was up against a master of the sword here, but… now the question remains: was it a mutant or another survivor?

No, no… it can't be a survivor. There's no reason a survivor would reveal itself by creaking open the door like that earlier, if their goal was to stealthily take down Cyanide by surprise.

Then it had to be a mutant… but what was a sword master mutant doing in a preschool?

Or perhaps… was there both? A Survivor and a Mutant, working together? Did the Survivor imprint on the Mutant, or are they enemies still, and Cyanide had simply joined in to make it a three-way fight?

Either way, he had one destination. That metal door earlier, on the second floor. Now that his Skulls of Hell had flown through and explored the entire school, his map has been updated as well. He learned that that metal door was, in fact, the entrance to the custodian's room, where the central controls of this place was. Without a doubt, something lay inside.

The only question was what.