-Bad day...
A rumbling noise shook the underground lab, dropping pieces of steel, wires, and lamps to the floor, bringing more chaos and confusion.
A huge humanoid-like dinosaur, a perfect fit for the medieval Warhammer setting, smashed through the rubble, bursting into the corridor. Its multi-tonne carcass easily flew into the wall, leaving a dent and destruction as if it had been shot by a tank shell.
The floor was dotted with new claw marks, several tens of centimetres deep, and the walls and ceiling acquired an interesting relief.
Just one jump, and this thing had caused so much destruction.
The gloomy corridors of a ruined illegal laboratory. Traces of blood, the remains of corpses and ruins lit by small pockets of flame. A perfect scene for the final battle of an action film or the intro to a horror film.
My hands were trembling slightly, and I couldn't tell if it was impatience or fear.
The menacing growl of my opponent brought me out of my musings. The four-foot mutant tried to stretch to his full height, looming over me, grinning menacingly, drooling bloody drool from his mouth.
My keen eye noted the pieces of the Goblin suit on its fangs, the size of my palm.
The manipulators rose belligerently behind its back, snapping warningly, hinting to this creature that the battle would not be easy....
But apparently there was as much self-confidence in this carcass as there was brains.
Emotions left me, leaving only cold calculation. I knew from the mutant's eyes that there was no avoiding the battle, and that the creature would leap towards me any minute now.
The mask unpleasantly scratched the skin of my face. The scarf pressed against my neck, and my clothes felt too tight and uncomfortable.
A viscous lump of saliva rolled down my throat with difficulty, and a hot stream of air, almost vapour, escaped through my nostrils.
Qi flowed through my veins, rushing my blood and injecting a killer dose of adrenaline. My muscles grew stronger, gaining definition and density before my eyes. I clenched my teeth tightly, watching the lizard's every move as he did mine.
Its tail twitched unhappily from side to side. Its dense scales throbbed with spikes, and its paws clenched every now and then, showing off its impressive claws.
Rising into the air on tentacles, I waited for the attack.
Just a moment, a brief glance....
"Here it comes!".
The jerk was swift. Tearing up the remnants of the floor, the monster dashed towards me, already prepared to clutch at the upper manipulators with its paws.
"Beast...".
Transferring the centre of gravity to one arm, I hit the monster's chin with the other, throwing the mutant towards the ceiling, crushing its head into the soft steel plates.
Rumble.
Two more claws claw at its body, pulling it apart, giving me room to manoeuvre.
The metal of the manipulators creaks with the strain, trying to dig into the scales and moulded muscle. The claws scrape uselessly over his body, only scraping away the top thin layer.
There's no time to ponder, even at first glance it's obvious that the monster's strength is enough to overcome the resistance of my extra limbs.
-R-R-R-R-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!
It's roaring! Screaming and thrashing, fighting for its life. There's nothing in his eyes but rage and bloodlust. My blood and the blood of all who would risk getting in his way.
Two Qi-fuelled fists smash into his chest. A sneaky karate move meant to bypass the enemy's defences by striking the body and head, barely covering the huge green sternum.
The flash of Qi is blinding for a moment, and it seems that even the monster's endless roar has ended...
"Tail."
A good thought comes belatedly.
The impact of the tail was more like a collision with a bus. The light body armour under my coat crumpled into rubble, embedding shrapnel into my chest and tearing off my skin.
Flying back into the hall where the Goblin had recently become lunch, I rolled on the ground, managing to stop my long flight with my tentacles and get ready to fight again.
"About time."Standing firmly on two legs, assisted by one manipulator, I managed to intercept the creature at the last moment, now hovering over me and actively snapping its jaw a couple of metres from my face.
"Taser's definitely not going to help here. Gas? A couple of peppers in the mouth for sure."
Words didn't disagree with actions, and my hands easily found what I was looking for under my coat. Regretfully, I ran my fingers over the many destroyed items, broken after the collision with the tail.
There was a painful shooting in my chest.
"A rib is broken. I hope Danny's around by now."
I needed to act faster. At this rate, I'll use up all my Qi reserves before they arrive.
My palm folded into a boat while the other held a bundle of pepper spray.
The tentacles relented, allowing the lizard to flop forward, eyes glittering happily as it prepared to chew up my mortal body.
"Not today."
The manipulators help manoeuvre me perfectly, taking me sideways, but even all my abilities are barely enough to compete with this beast in speed.
It was counting in milliseconds, and it managed to start dodging as it fell, trying to catch me with at least the edge of its huge, grotesque head.
The lizard's paw reaches for me, but I slip under it, getting close to its soft tissues in the armpit.
In the manner of a spear, my right hand crashes into the green flesh, wrenching a painful half moan half howl from the beast's throat. Its mouth opens to its fullest, where all my surviving canisters go at once.
A sharp slam of closed jaws and distinctive streams of yellow gas and liquids spread out from the freak's head.
I was wrong. The lizard had been quiet up to that point, but now it howled for real. Its extended moan made the walls shudder, and my mask near my ears promised to turn red if it weren't for the Qi.
"We can't let him recover."
The tentacles, like a pack of hound dogs rushing at a wounded bear, grabbed at his vulnerable spots, which the pain-crazed beast set up to strike.
"Immobilise."
My right arm shudders in pain. The new blow to my knee doesn't go unnoticed. My fingers crunch and most of them twist out at an unnatural angle. Too dense muscles, too strong scales, too heavy bones. A true chimera and monster that shouldn't move normally at all. My Qi-infused punch is only enough to bring it to its knees.
"Restrict your senses."
A new blow to my eyes almost becomes fatal for me. Maddened by the pain and rubbery eyes, the mutant twisted around, scattering the remains of the lab with its tail.
Clacking its jaws mindlessly, it spun around, hoping for some way to escape the unrelenting torment.
The clanking of metal was the symphony of his success. He had to give up one of his manipulators to stay in place next to the creature's much softer belly.
Qi flowed to the leading arm, healing the broken fingers, but leaving a bad taste from the pain in the ligaments and muscles.
"Finish it."
A punch. Another one. Another, another, and another...
One claw finally managed to grab hold of the tail, pulling the monster backwards while the other pinned its head to the ground. Crushed by my hail of blows, the lizard was already whimpering and drooling. Clamping his eyes shut, tears streaming out of them, he was getting calmer and calmer until he finally stopped resisting.
-Living...
My hoarse voice attracted the mutant's attention and he, overcoming the pain, opened one eye, looking at my hazy silhouette. His whites were reddened because of burst vessels, and his pupil was so wide that he could barely see his natural eye colour.
A lump appeared in my chest, breathing became a little harder, but it was an acceptable price for defeating something like this...
The sharp tug came as a surprise. Tearing the tentacle with its claws, the lizard broke free of its grip, dragging me along the ground behind it. The second claw kept its tail flailing to the last, and I was dragged across the lab, knocking over the broken furniture.
Two of the four manipulators were disabled, but my enemy.... It was worse than I expected.
The wounds on his body were healed, rapidly becoming covered with fresh skin and scars that left only small scars behind. The redness was gone from his eyes, and his breathing had returned to normal, allowing the monster to breathe.
His paws spread out to the sides, and he huffed and panted, his roar full of power and fighting spirit.
The smouldering edge of the mask slowly burned my cheek, but I ignored it, watching the miracle with both eyes. My hat was long gone, and my coat was torn in many places, revealing a view of broken armour and shards of my equipment.
Two crumpled pieces of metal dragged behind my back and....
Bringing my hand to my face, I pulled off my glove and touched the mask with my fingertips, feeling the blood soaking them. It was only now that the heavy scent of iron hit my nose.
At my actions, the lizard snapped back in a toothy grin, showing the rudiments of reason and that was terrible news.
"Pretending? Pretty much. We need to tell the others."
My hand fumbled for my mobile phone. It was worth alerting friends rushing in to see what our new enemy was capable of. Fidgeting with my fingers, I braced myself for battle, hoping to wear down or at least find out more about the enemy before....
Dylin.
"What's that? Mine's on silent...".
The text message notification tore the lizard and I away from looking at each other, focusing all of our attention on the entrance to the lab, where three silhouettes froze. It brought a smile to my face, and a wave of calm swept through my body.
David Bowie played in my head against my will as my friends entered the battlefield in the light of the footlights, or rather chemical sticks and torches.
There was a renewed confidence in my voice and thoughts.
-That's round two, bitch.
-R-R-R-R-R-A-A-A-A!
-You can't even talk," I lifted the edge of my mask and spat blood into the fire. Then I turned to my friends, "He's fast and agile, don't look at his weight and size. Osborn has done something unimaginable in creating this thing. Its regeneration is fantastic.
-How do you propose we kill this thing? -How do you propose we kill it?
-Kill it?
Peter interrupted our conversation and that's when the lizard chose to attack. Showing for the second time that it had brains, despite my prejudice.
With two hands he launched debris at the trio of heroes, then snapped at the weakest looking one. Whether it was intuition or some unknown sensory organ, the monster targeted Murdoch, frantically and mercilessly cornering the blind devil.
It did not respond to our attacks, determined to get rid of one of us. Its claws flashed like a fan, and its tail flew around its axis, crushing everything around it and dispersing the flies gathered around it.
A shot of webbing brakes the lizard's leg, allowing Rand to perform one of his mythical-Asian moves, putting more Qi into the blow than I'll be able to use at all.
Flash.
A new batch of growls and roars, but we continue the fight. Hopping around, constantly shifting our attention from one to the other.
The lizard's entire body was already covered in webs, slowing it down, but it was breaking its bonds with enviable regularity, forcing Parker to concentrate on the process and devote all his time to it.
A blow to the jaw with the staff. A couple of feints from Rand. My double lunge to the side, toppling the titan to the ground.
I don't know how long we fought, but it seemed to never end. The damage wore off for a moment, healing and replenishing the strength of our not-so-weak foe.
But every battle has a twist, and just one lucky lunge was enough for the monster to lash out at Matt.
Our friendly shrieks were interrupted by the thunderous crash of the huge carcass that swept Daredevil under him. Tumbling and struggling, though, it was more like a flea trying to hang on to a dog.
As they slammed into the wall, they both darted in different directions, and while Matt limped and tried to drop out of the fight, the mutant clung to his mouth in a pathetic attempt to pull the staff out of his mouth.
The steel stick stood flat across his throat, blocking his jaws, pressing into the soft tissue near his tongue and causing unbearable pain.
-Do it. Spider and I take him to the ground, Fist, on you-
-Are we really gonna kill him? It's just some poor bastard who's a victim of experimentation, isn't it? Maybe we should try to save him.
-It's not a human being, it's a monster. -It's a monster.
-It's still wrong. We're supposed to be saving people, aren't we?
-He bit Goblin's head off and killed everyone in the complex, -I felt my irritation growing and I went back into the fray first, -Mad dogs get killed, old chap.
-Shawn...
Whispering after me, Peter tried to shout to the last of the team. But he got a lecture while I tried to subdue the creature and stop it from ripping Murdoch's staff from its mouth.
-We can't hold it while you re-invent the formula for creating this thing and a vaccine for it. This is no time for sentimentality, Spider," Rand said with a hand on Pete's shoulder, his tone soft but clear. The monster's fate was sealed - it was better to do it before he came into his power and fully mastered his abilities. Who knows how many deaths it would bring if it broke free.
While Iron Fist was having heroic conversations, I had to take the initiative, toppling the creature to the ground, repeating a recent scenario.
In the background, Pete was arguing with Danny, proving his point and assuring him that he was sure he could cure the unfortunate, just give it time.
I was quietly losing my temper. All right Murdoch, one look at him was enough to realise that Mat wasn't a player yet. He was covered in his own blood, and his broken bones had probably turned to dust.
-Fist! Danny, for fuck's sake! I need your help!
The freak had almost broken the stick, so I decided to take action myself, not waiting for my two mates to work things out.I jumped on his head and pressed it to the floor with my feet, holding the last of my paws with my tentacles, feeling how difficult it was for them to do so.
Pulling up my trouser leg, I pull out a pretty good knife for special forces police squads, powering up my fist with Qi and trying to spread the energy to the knife. Golden light surrounds my hand, drop by drop, slowing time, it flows over to the blade of the blade...
Strike.
Without waiting for the process to end, I drive the knife into the eye, trying not to think about the fact that it used to be a person.
With a pop, releasing Qi, light floods the ruins of the lab, throwing me off the monster's head.
-He's getting away! Don't let him escape!
Through the nasty squeak in my ears I could hear my comrades going after the lizard, and there was no doubt that the beast had escaped, because of the distinctive rumble and roar that accompanied the shouts of Spider and Rand.
-Shawn! Get up, Shawn. We got to go.
-Yeah, yeah," I shrugged off Murdock's insistent voice and rolled over onto my stomach, feeling like a squeezed lemon. Not a drop of Qi left in this wretched body," I felt like shit. What's up with the lizard?
-Run away, broke free as soon as you fell, but it looks like," Matt sat down next to me, waiting patiently for me to get up, "he can't regenerate your last blow.
-That means Danny's lunges won't either... His internal organs are probably turned to mush by now.
-If they're even as organised and arranged as ours.
-Touche.
Grunting and cursing to myself, I lifted my arse up with Murdoch's help, keeping us balanced by the tentacles.
-Hold on to me, old chap. My babies will carry us out of here.
-I've got broken ribs, collarbones and a broken leg, why don't you take me in your arms?
-Don't you want a bouquet of flowers and a kiss? -I don't think so. That part's already taken. At least you can compete for it, there's a lot of applicants. Are you out of your depth? Or are you just going through some kind of withdrawal?
-I don't know. Oh," Matt grimaced, catching his rib, "I was just trying to make a joke.
-On our team, you're the douchebag and the voice of reason, so let's cut the jokes. That's what everyone else is for.
-I'm good at jokes...
-Talk to me some more, lawyer boy.
***
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