by Devin Cain
"Devil? Do you feel anyone in there beside him? Like an Arma user?"
"No, but there is a faint sign of parasite spores. He just started turning most likely due to some residue in the vats."
"Whatever. I’ll find out soon enough," I replied and forced my arms to change.
"Green dots approaching. They’re a minute out," Devil said. I hurried up and tore at the metal slab, separating us and threw it out of the way.
"No! What are you doing? Wait! I’ll kill you! I’m royalty! Don’t you dare even look at me the wrong way!" Edwald cried, holding his hands out. I inched closer on the bastard ever so slowly, drawing out the moment much longer than needed. The strangest thing happened then. I could see the numbers all over his body as clear as my own.
Edwald: Head: 150
Chest: 250
Arms: 150
Legs: 180
"What do those numbers mean?" I asked Devil.
"I have no idea. Remember, you mutated, so you’re different. I know that Gremory sees something similar, but not the way you do."
"What are you standing there for? Go die, slave!" Edwald screeched as he tried to get out of this mess. No way it would work.
"Oh, you’ve got something coming for you, my tormentor," I whispered. Before he knew what hit him, I’d grabbed him by his neck and squeezed.
"No!" he screamed. "You know who my father is! He’ll have you killed!" he croaked, trying to pry my fingers loose.
"I’m counting on--"
Before I could crush his windpipe, the bastard started growling and in mere seconds turned into a monster. It all happened so fast that I had no idea how he’d managed to change while dangling in my hand.
A gut-punch sent me stumbling backward, forcing me to release him, but I followed up with a punch of my own against his jaw. He slammed face-first into the wall, denting it in multiple spots.
"Take-- over," I wheezed, trying to catch my breath. Devil didn’t have any problems with things like breathing, or a missing limb, but I did. Five seconds passed, and he still hadn’t taken over.
"You don’t appreciate me enough, Human. I won’t let you die, but take it like a grown-up. If I see that you’re about to die, I’ll step up, don’t worry."
I groaned and picked myself up. A full body takeover was unfamiliar to me, so I had no idea how to go about it. I had mad luck being able to transform my arms at will without any help, but it was what it was, and I would make do with what I had.
"Come on, you midget! Come and get me you sadistic bastard!" I provoked, standing there with my arms raised.
The five feet tall, black and brown monstrosity charged me, screaming bloody murder. I was sure his control over the mutation was even worse than mine and mostly pure instinct, so he shouldn’t be too dangerous.
Edwald rushed me with flailing arms, which had gone down by a few percents after hitting me, along with his chest. So, it was some kind of health state? The more damage he sustained, the lower the numbers would show, just like with my hunger indicator, more or less.
With more luck than skill, his right fist connected with my shoulder, bringing me down to my left knee. I brought my right claw up into his face, ripping off a part of his nose and mouth.
"W-what the hell is this?" a voice from behind called out. "Two monsters fighting in--"
The voice was very familiar. It was the guard that had enjoyed kicking me when I was down during torture. I grinned and turned toward the poor soul. With a flick of my wrist, I launched a spear projectile from my left claw and struck him right through his skull, ending him before he could finish the sentence.
"No! Not my friend!" Edwald fumed as he spat at me. Something sadistic crossed my mind as he spoke, so I decided to gift him his friend. With a violent tug, I pulled the soldier in and rammed the butt end of the spear into Eldwald’s chest, which dropped to 127 percent.
The creature he’d become shrieked, thrashing violently as his still Human eyes teared up. He sure wasn’t used to feeling pain himself it seemed.
The sound of more boots echoed from the hallway, and sure enough, they appeared in the doorway with their rifles trained on us. Now, in the heat of battle, the first impression was critical. The way we were positioned in the room, and how the growth stuck from Edwald’schest, it could look like Edwald killed the soldier.
"Shoot the monster!" I growled. "I’m part of this crew, an Armament user!"
Being the good little boys and girls, the four soldiers opened fire on Edwald. What the hell did they know, anyway? They just followed orders.
Their bullets tore into his soft, undeveloped skin and left him riddled with holes. He hadn’t fed enough for the process to get even close to where I’d been, so each bullet did as much damage as to a Human. The percentages dropped quickly all over his body and neared zero dangerously close.
I backed off and stood to the side as they kept the fire up. To my bad luck, he went berserk instead of keeling over and dying. His outer layer and limbs started morphing into something even more grotesque and hardened. I could feel a power emanating from him that was easily on par with mine, maybe even stronger at that instant.
He ripped the spear growth from his chest and swiped along the line of soldiers, sending them flying against the wall with tremendous force as their guns clattered to the ground harmlessly. His health recovered to where it had been almost instantly before he’d even pulled back his hand. This was as far as I’d let it go. Any more and I’d risk getting killed.
"Hey, bastard!" I shouted, spreading my arms. "Come get me!"
With a deafening shriek, he charged me like a bull. I used my right, blunter fist and slammed it into his head. Caught off balance, I struck him a second time and toppled him over on his back. He tried to get up, but I shot a javelin into his left arm and tried to do so again into his right, but it wasn’t working. I lifted my other hand and luckily, that one did fire a javelin, embedding Edwald’s second arm into the steel panels below our feet.
"Feed me," Devil growled accompanied by a gut-wrenching hunger. "Feed me!"
I dropped to my knees beside Eldwald, breathing heavily.
"Fuck… you!" I screamed and struck his head with my left claw. A gaping hole appeared beside the left eye. I hit again, and again as he struggled. Two of the soldiers got up in the meanwhile and trained their rifles on us.
"Record this! Record our victory over a monster invader!" I growled.
"It’s been up since we entered the room!" the taller soldier replied. "Kill it already!"
I turned from them and grinned, got up and pressed my knee against his spine, applying enough pressure, and tearing off his head.
"So you want me to feed you, huh? Where were you when I asked you to take over?" I asked. Devil chuckled.
"I allowed you to use my arms, didn’t I?"
The bastard was right. I had to admit that I wasn’t the one who was fully in charge of my body, and especially the parasites. At least not yet. Deciding to play to his whim, I tore off the top of Edwald’s skull and pried out what little brain matter there was, put it in my mouth and chewed slowly. The soldiers looked away, disgusted. In the end, it didn’t do much to satiate the hunger.
"Why wasn’t I able to use the javelin two times with my left hand?" I asked Devil.
"Because you need to build up enough energy. If you could go around and shoot those projectiles, it would go against the laws of nature, no?" Devil replied. "Everything needs to have a counter-balance. Sure, they’re efficient and very reliable, but unless you’ve amassed enough energy, you can barely shoot one. But then again, if you accumulate enough energy in between, especially during a battle, you can stack them up and shoot multiple javelin’s one after the other. Just look at the energy bar that belongs to your normal attacks.
Surely, there was a bar that depicted my normal attacks, and one that depicted the javelin attack. The bar next to it was at thirty-nine, forty, forty-one— it kept rising the more time passed.
"Hey,
is that monster turning back?" the only female soldier in the group asked, bringing me back from my conversation with Devil. I turned toward the body and grinned. The head was already partially back to the way it had been mere hours ago.
"Shit! Isn’t that the captain’s son? He’s going to freak out so bad, no matter that an awakened did it," a third soldier said. They were all rookies but for the one that had spoken out when they first arrived. I had to give it to them; they knew when to make an entrance.
"Hey, transfer the video to my tapper," I growled, turning toward the regular. The regular’s hand moved over the tapper, pressing a combination of buttons before he looked back up at me.
"There. It’s all done," he said. "Sir!".
"Thank you," I replied as my arms turned back. I sure didn’t mind being transformed, especially with all the power that came with it, but being able to go back human, more or less, was a blessing. "Now, let’s see where Cafka’s at."
Chapter Thirteen
A wall of rookies and regulars stood guard as I ran up to the command bunker. By now, the word had gone out, as well as the video, that I killed Edwald and had awakened. Most of them looked my way in awe or admiration, but a few glances here and there told another story. None of them dared approach or stop me as I strode toward the massive reinforced doors as if I owned the place.
Loud explosions reverberated from my right, shaking the hall slightly.
"The training bay is over there, sir," one of the regulars said, pointing down the hall. "Lady Death is fighting against two awakened Gebradim inside. She told us not to interfere, no matter what."
"I see. Thanks," I replied, turning back to the command bunker. For some strange reason, it had been put right next to the training bay. Maybe because of the great view over the troops during skirmishes? I had no idea, and I didn’t care. What I did care about was finding Cafka.
Two older looking guards stopped me at the bunker’s control panel. They were scared shitless, so I didn’t make a fuss out of it.
"Tell the commander that Cain dropped something off for him," I said holding out Eldwald’s cracked head to the guard on the right. He stepped back, unsure of how to react. "Or you can open the door and let me do it personally."
"Yes, sir!" the guard stuttered, as he entered a code on the locking mechanism. The door shuddered open as bolts withdrew, and locks disengaged.
Bright light spilled onto the corridor washing over us. I could say that I was surprised, but I hadn’t been in the least. At least a dozen rifles pointed right at me along with big spotlights. I could hear the safeties go off and powering up.
"What’s that in his hand? Is it a bomb? He’s here to kill me!" Cafka yelled. I was disgusted by him and his behavior, over and over again. How could anyone here follow orders from such a weak, pathetic creature? Calling him Human was already an insult to Humanity. A commander should have dignity, a dominant personality that demanded respect, and not some caricature that ordered anyone who opposed him killed.
"It’s Eldwald’s head, Commander. You must have seen the video already, no? I’m so sorry about what happened, but when I got there, a monster attacked me. I couldn’t have known it was him at that time," I said as the head dangled in my hand.
"You traitor! You killed my son!" he stuttered, screaming bloody murder. "Kill him! I order you!" But no one moved, and no one fired. Cafka stormed over to his desk and opened a drawer. I knew what would follow, but I decided to let it play out anyway.
The older man stormed me with a gun pointed right at my face. Three bullets tore into my left claw that shot up to protect me. He stood there, baffled, and looked at his gun, then at me.
"Sir, if I may, please see the video for yourself. Between the time of your son’s death and his arrival here, there is no way that anyone could have tampered with the video. Your son turned into a monster from what we could see," one of the officers said.
"True. I had no idea it was him and did my best to protect you and the ship from that creature," I said as with as much compassion as I could muster.
"My son! Not that monster! And you knew it was him, I’m sure of it!"
"Then have me executed, sir," I snapped. "If you can," I added just loud enough for him to hear.
"Where’s the rest of my son’s body?" he asked after a few tense moments.
"The soldiers stayed behind to gather his remains. They should be arriving here any moment now, Commander. Now, I need to help Gremory out in the training bay if we want to live another day. May I?"
"Soldier? Be sure to come by my office later on when you’ve taken care of those invaders," Cafka growled.
A high-pitched screeching and screaming echoed from behind the commander. I looked back to find the second, taller son standing there and wailing like a banshee. Good, I thought. You have something to look forward to.
"Brother! Who did this to you? Oh, my sweet, little brother!"
With a grin plastered to my face, I turned my back on the two and could feel the commander glaring at my back. I reveled in the glory as I exit the command center.
A sense of urgency crawled up my skin as an explosion rocked the training bay. Soldiers, both rookie and regulars, scurried around and tried to look lively, but I knew it was mostly to get out of my way.
"It sure feels great to be feared, huh?" Devil asked as he let out deep, throaty laughter.
"Both yes and no," I whispered in turn. "I want to command respect because I did well by the ordinary man and woman, not by doing things to them like that wretched Cafka."
"Sometimes, you’ll have to do what is needed. Your father knew as much and didn’t cry about it."
I stopped walking and stood there in the middle of the corridor, looking like a statue.
"So he indiscriminately killed people?"
"Yes, and no. He didn’t have any qualms destroying anyone who opposed him, though he did get drunk on power more than once. It wasn’t something he knew how to control."
"Whatever," I said, waving him off. "He’s gone now. What does it matter?"
"Nothing. He was the captain for a couple of months, and no one here remembers about him because it was before their time, but he did some bad things back then. Anyway, hurry up, your friend is barely holding on."
I cursed mentally and got my ass in gear. Gremory was the most critical piece in this game of war, so I had to save her no matter what.
A minute later, I stood before a score of soldiers who barricaded themselves up and with their backs turned to me. It was an instinct to fight for your life, even if you stood no chance to win. If those two beat Gremory, everyone would die.
"Sir, do you plan to go inside?" a regular asked when I approached. He didn’t seem too intent on stopping me, especially after seeing my transformations up close. If anything, he was relieved to have someone lay down their life to save his. I did have to give him my respect for holding the line, even though the result was already carved in stone if the two Gebradim managed to break through.
"Don’t worry about me. Is there anyone else in there besides the enemy and Gremory?"
He shook his head.
"No, sir. Everyone but the three of them are dead."
I sighed and nodded.
"Once I’m inside, boobytrap the door. If we die, blow the Gebradim up once they come through."
The man scurried and quickly tapped the controls as the group of soldiers parted for me.
"Sir? Godspeed."
I nodded.
"Thanks. Take care of things out here." It didn’t cost me anything to encourage the guards, so why not. At least they’d think a little bit better of me.
The door opened just enough for me to pass through and hissed close once I was inside. The creaking bolts and cogs sent shivers down my spine as everything was put back in place. For some reason, I’d become much more sensitive to high pitched sounds than I used to.
An identical image met me, just like in the engine room. The training bay was littered with corpses, b
oth Gebradim, and Human. Everything inside screamed for me to run, to surrender to this, but I couldn’t. Gremory was mine, and I wanted to enjoy her company for a while longer.
The clash of steel and a storm of curses brought me back from my thoughts. Overhead, a couple of strobe lights were all that illuminated the room. I double cursed at the change from bright light to a dark red.
The flash of a gun made me jump for the crate on my right, but I wasn’t fast enough. A fat slug struck my leg, just above the knee and almost blasted it to kingdom come. I cursed at the pain and felt a low growl leave my lips.
"Let me take over again. You stand no chance," Devil whispered.
"Why don’t you teach me how to transform fully?" I groaned, trying to rip the piece of metal which was firmly stuck in my leg.
"Because you’re not ready yet. If I let you transform, you could end up like Cafka’s son. Do you want to risk it, lowly Human?"
"We’re not lowly!" I snapped. "But, we’re not great either. Humanity is corrupt; I’ll give you that. But that’s the whole reason why I’m fighting!"
Devil snickered, waving me off mentally.
"You don’t trust me, huh?"
Another boom echoed in the large bay. A second projectile struck home, right in my left shoulder. I screamed as the piece of metal burrowed deep into my flesh and came out the other side.
"Fine! Take over already!"
"I knew you’d be smart, so let me show you how to fight a divinity!" Devil roared, jumping on the crate I was hiding behind. Darkness switched to light almost in an instant.
"There," Devil said as he narrowed his eyes on top of a shuttle carrier. A thin and long, four-armed Gebradim stood there with a rifle trained right at me. It was easily six-foot-long and was as thick as my arm. The Gebradim’s large, glowing eyes stared right back at me as it ripped chunks of railing and hull plating with two of its arms, and proceeded to knead it into long objects.
"What is it doing?" I asked curiously.
