by H D Forth
"Come on!" I cried, my own voice slightly distorted by the damage to my body. I could barely see him and would've been entirely unable to judge distances without the help of my UI.
“Come on Van! You can do this!” Kani cried.
Then Leric slammed into me full force.
For a minute, the world seemed to halfway stop. The shoulder tackle that caught me in the stomach stunned most of my sensors and other such delicate objects for a moment. Sound, touch, even sight was disturbed slightly, everything missing their fine lines. The only good thing about that was that I didn't feel him crushing my body.
I tapped as much power from the Power Core as I could, flooding it all to my arm, completely overloading all the joints and engines, it hardly mattered so long as it could move afterward. With all my sudden strength I bashed the wrench into his temple.
Once.
The wrench had bent to a ninety-degree angle, so as I drew it back, my own arm distorted by the forces I had applied. I spun the wrench in my hand, hoping to crack his skull and maybe knock him out with a direct hit from the tip of the wrench.
The wrench slammed into his face, careening off his skull and tearing a huge strip of flesh off his temple. I watched it peel away in fascinating slow motion. I could see the cracks on his head for a few moments before it became obscured by blood.
Time seemed to resume, and we crashed onto the ground, most of my sensor's still nonfunctional. As Leric started falling his eyes glazing over, like they had done when he'd been hit with Fuck You, I grabbed the thick slabs of muscle around his neck and hauled trying to get out from under him.
Unfortunately, my bad hand slipped, and I only managed to pull myself mostly out of the way.
I could see the sparks from my legs grinding into the concrete as Leric’s bulk drove them into the floor. This only made me haul harder, until I finally slipped free, moments before he came to a full stop.
“Come on!” Kani cried in my ear, as I escaped from underneath Leric.
I dropped the deformed and clearly useless wrench. I couldn't have used for anything at this point, let alone beating on Leric. With my other hand, I opened my back pocket. The handle of the screwdriver wasn't immediately apparent, but while I was still in the early stages of panicking, I dug deeper into the pocket.
There! It was all the way down at the bottom of the pocket.
I grabbed the handle and tucked. I didn't initially move, so I tugged harder, until it finally released from my pocket, with a wrenching sensation. I wrapped my still burning arm around Leric's throat, it would barely be able to hold on, but it would be better than nothing.
I placed the screwdriver at his throat. I might not be a surgeon or highly trained assassin, but I could drive the tool through his throat just as easy as I could break the wrench on his skull, if not easier.
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One
I had to kill him. There was no other way, it was flee and let him go or kill him outright…
I tried to swallow, either something was very wrong with my body, my frame, or it was just simulating how very nervous I was, because I couldn't even swallow.
I took in a few deep breaths as I watched Leric’s movements as he rose to his feet. It was inexorable, like the loose rock that tumbled free at the top of the mountain, only to knock loose another slightly bigger rock, until the boulder the size of your house is headed for you.
My ‘lightly’ used hand twitched as I readied myself for his charge. My foot was cooked so I was unable to take the initiative, I would have to let him come for me, instead of coming for him. Sparks flew from my hands as it twitched again, and liquids dribbled down my fingers, until flames suddenly sparked onto it.
Dammit, I thought, trying to bash my arm against myself and stop the flames. It wasn’t working. Why couldn't I just have picked some chemicals that were bad for the eyes, why did I have to pick something flammable. I don’t even have anything to light it on fire with!
While my mind was sidetracked Leric had gotten to his feet. He looked grotesque and misshapen, before he had been a bulbous cloud-like man, with too many muscles or at least they had been too big. Now his body wasn't even proportionate.
His left leg was significantly longer than his right leg, the fingers of one hand had extended extremely far and seemed to have grown claws, while the others seemed to have thickened but grown similar claws, though they looked much more appropriate in size on that hand, than the other.
Leric let out something between a feral snarl and an angry growl as his eyes latched onto me. One bloodshot with slight green highlights, the other’s sclera was completely red and his eye was just dead gray.
He seemed to move faster than ever before as he lunged towards me. There was maybe ten meters between us, but his first lunge cleared half that in a matter of seconds. He still was significantly slower than me, than I’d been. I would be unable to dodge, I realized as I hefted my half broken wrench.
“Come on!” I cried, my own voice slightly distorted by the damage to my body. I could barely see him, and would’ve been completely unable to judge distances without the help of my UI.
“Come on Van! You can do this!” Kani cried.
Then Leric slammed into me full force.
For a minute, the world seemed to halfway stop. The shoulder tackle that caught me in the stomach, stunned most of my sensors and other such delicate objects for a moment. Sound, touch, even sight was disturbed slightly, everything missing their fine lines. The only good thing about that was that I didn't feel him crushing my body.
I tapped as much power from the Power Core as I could, flooding it all to my arm, completely overloading all the joints and engines, it hardly mattered so long as it could move afterwards. With all my sudden strength I bashed the wrench into his temple.
Once.
The wrench bend to a ninety degree angle, so as I drew it back, my own arm distorted by the forces I had applied. I spun the wrench in my hand, hoping to crack his skull and maybe knock him out with a direct hit from the tip of the wrench.
The wrench slammed into his face, careening off his skull and tearing huge strip of flesh off his temple. I watched it peel away in fascinating slow motion. I could see the cracks on his skull for a few moments, before it became obscured by blood.
Time seemed to resume and we crashed onto the ground, most of my sensor’s still nonfunctional. As Leric started falling his eyes glazing over, like they had done when he’d been hit with Fuck You, I grabbed the thick slabs of muscle around his neck and hauled trying to get out from under him. Unfortunately, my bad hand slipped and I only managed to pull myself mostly out of the way.
I could see the sparks from my legs grinding into the concrete as Leric’s bulk drove them into the floor. This only made me haul harder, until I finally slipped free, moments before he came to a full stop.
“Come on!” Kani cried in my ear, as I escaped from underneath Leric.
I dropped the deformed and clearly useless wrench. I couldn't have used for anything at this point, let alone beating on Leric. With my other hand, I opened my back pocket. The handle of the screwdriver wasn’t immediately obvious, before panicking I decided to fully check the pocket.
There! It was all the way down at the bottom of the pocket.
I grabbed the handle and tucked. I didn't initially move, so I tugged harder, until it finally released from my pocket, with a wrenching sensation. I wrapped my still burning arm around his throat, it would barely be able to hold on, but it would be better than nothing.
I placed the screwdriver at his throat. I might not be a surgeon or highly trained assassin, but I could drive the tool through his throat just as easy as I could break the wrench on his skull, if not easier.
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Two
Leric was still confusedly moving about like he did just before gaining any actual rhythm to his movements. This was the moment he could strike. This was my only shot.
My hand started shaking where I was
holding the screwdriver. I pushed it harder against Leric's neck, but I still wasn't breaking the skin. He was a villain a monster, he was barely humanoid anymore.
The difference between his limbs had actually grown less significant. His right leg had grown out to match his left, and the fingers had started to match, thickening and lengthening respectively.
"Uuugh." The deep bass of Leric's voice shook my very body as I lay upon his back. I pushed harder for a moment, and the action stopped all his movements.
Then he calmly lifted himself from all fours to his knees. He was so big now that I was standing behind him, comfortably holding his throat, on his knees, he was as tall as I.
“So…” He rumbled, his voice was deeper, coarser and rougher than before. I could hear the lashing of the green metal’s vines against his skin. “Are you about done? Or do you need another second or two?”
“I have you now.” I cried, more to convince myself than him, and pushed the tool a little harder into his neck. I could feel the muscles of his neck shift and move as he talked and looked around.
“Sure you do kid. Sure you do.” He sounded almost amused. “The my lady managed to bring some semblance of reason over me, I realize that you wouldn't be able to follow through. In. Any. Scenario.” As he said the last words, he reached up with one arm gripping, not my weapon hand, but the burning one that held his throat.
His movement brought something else to my attention, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something a few green vines flicker and slap at his skin. I could still see some of the skin that used to cover the metal, though it was hanging loosely from his forearm, rather than covering the metal.
Most of the vines seemed to have found a place in his forearms again, empowering him to both strength and intelligence.
“I can still stop you quite easily!” I exclaimed, diving for the arm. Instead of slamming the screwdriver home into his throat, I jammed into the flesh around the metal piece as deep as I could get it. I grabbed at the metal with my other hand prying at it, as I levered the screwdriver to free the metal and depower him.
With a tearing pop, the shrapnel broke free as I dove over his body. I clutched it to my chest as I rolled, trying to pop onto my feet, except both my legs were severely damaged. Instead, I slammed into the ground facefirst and just started rolling side-over-side away.
I rolled three or five times around before I stopped, during the movement I could literally hear things inside me rolling around and crashing into each other, sending shivers down my back.
It took a moment for me to realize that I hadn't rolled over completely, I was lying on the ground, looking at the floor. Except I couldn't tell that I was lying on my stomach. The Nerve Module told me that pressure was applying to my front, but I couldn't tell if that was into a wall, the floor or the ceiling that it was lying against.
Warning: Balance Gyroscope has been severely damaged.
I put my hands on the floor, looking… away from the ground to examine my surroundings. All the people were gone, except for Leric, who was lying on the floor twitching.
I did it! I stopped Leric. I took away the gem! I took away his power! For a frozen moment of victory, I lay on the ground, glorying in feeling. He reared his head back, mouth wide and bellowed a terrible scream of anguish.
I leaned back against the… wall, it must be. I turned to look in Leric's direction, though I moved my head too fast and almost fell back on the floor. Balance felt more like guesswork, as I steadied myself with my arms.
Finally, decently centered I watched horror slowly dawning over me as Leric’s skin pulsed, like his heartbeat was so strong it could be seen throughout his entire body.
He is reverting.
The idea came to me unbidden as I watched him. I watched in horror as Leric didn't shiver, quiver, and return to the size of an ordinary human or even the two meter version of himself. Instead, he turned into a full blown monster.
The one red sclera spread to the other. Two red ringed gray eyes flicked wildly around the room as the body changed with them.
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three
Leric was still confusedly moving about, like he did before gaining any actual structure to his movements. This was the moment he could strike. This was my only shot.
My hand started shaking where I was holding the screwdriver. I pushed it harder against his neck, but I still wasn't breaking skin. He was a villain a monster, he was barely humanoid anymore. The difference between his limbs had actually grown less significant. His right leg had grown out to match his left, and the fingers had started to match, thickening and lengthening respectively.
“Uuugh.” The deep bass of Leric’s voice shook my very body as I lay upon his back. I pushed harder for a moment and the action stopped all his movements.
Then he calmly lifted himself from all fours to his knees. He was so big now that I was standing behind him, comfortably holding his throat, on his knees he was as tall as I.
“So…” He rumbled, his voice was deeper, coarser and rougher than before. I could hear the lashing of the green metal’s vines against his skin. “Are you about done? Or do you need another second or two?”
“I have you now.” I cried, more to convince myself than him, and pushed the tool a little harder into his neck. I could feel the muscles of his neck shift and move as he talked and looked around.
“Sure you do kid. Sure you do.” He sounded almost amused. “The my lady managed to bring some semblance of reason over me, I realize that you wouldn't be able to follow through. In. Any. Scenario.” As he said the last words, he reached up with one arm gripping, not my weapon hand, but the burning one that held his throat.
His movement brought something else to my attention, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something a few green vines flicker and slap at his skin. I could still see some of the skin that used to cover the metal, though it was hanging loosely from his forearm, rather than covering the metal.
Most of the vines seemed to have found a place in his forearms again, empowering him to both strength and intelligence.
“I can still stop you quite easily!” I exclaimed, diving for the arm. Instead of slamming the screwdriver home into his throat, I jammed into the flesh around the metal piece as deep as I could get it. I grabbed at the metal with my other hand prying at it, as I levered the screwdriver to free the metal and depower him.
With a tearing pop, the shrapnel broke free as I dove over his body. I clutched it to my chest as I rolled, trying to pop onto my feet, except both my legs were pretty badly damaged. Instead I slammed into the ground and just started rolling away.
I rolled three or five times around before I stopped, during the movement I could literally hear things inside me rolling around and crashing into each other, sending shivers down my back.
It took a moment for me to realize that I hadn’t rolled over completely, I was lying on the ground, looking at the floor. Except I couldn’t tell that I was lying on my stomach. The Nerve Module told me that pressure was applying to my front, but I couldn’t tell if that was into a wall, the floor or the ceiling that if was lying against.
Warning: Balance Gyroscope has been severely damaged.
I put my hands on the floor, looking… away from the ground to examine my surroundings. All the people were gone, except for Leric, who was lying on the floor twitching.
I did it. I stopped Leric. I took away the gem! I took away his power! For a frozen moment of victory I lay on the ground, glorying in feeling. He reared his head back, mouth wide and bellowed a terrible scream of anguish.
I leaned back against the… wall, it must be. I turned to look in Leric’s direction, though I moved my head too fast and almost fell back on the floor. Balance felt more like guess work, as I steadied myself with my arms.
Finally, decently centered I watched horror slowly dawning over me as Leric’s skin pulsed, like his heartbeat was so strong it could be seen throughout his entire body.
He is reverting.
The idea came to me unbidden as I watched him. I watched in horror as Leric didn't shiver, quiver, and return to the size of an ordinary human or even the 7 foot version of himself. Instead he turned into a full blown monster.
The one red sclera spread to the other. Two red ringed gray eyes flicked wildly around the room as the body changed with them.
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Four
A red tongue peaked out from completely black teeth as Leric let out a deep-chested cry.
Thick white saliva drooled from his mouth as his skin changed to the same gray as his eyes. Red started running tracks down his face from his eyes.