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110. Tension! Times Three!
🕑 Added 2025-01-25 20:52:17 +0000 UTCPlease don't let me down.
This was the thought which rang clear in my mind as the beast I had become descended upon Azad.
He nimbly dodged more of my swipes, backtracking with seemingly gravity defying leaps as if knowing exactly how to avoid the numerous slippery obstacles layering the ground.
I had truly lost control. There wasn't a single bit of me that was going to go easy on him. What hope I had that I might be able to restrain myself was quickly lost; my hulking-were-fox-frog-self bounded forwards, closing the distance between Azad and I in a mere moment.
I could see the shock on Azad's face. He hadn't expected a creature of my size having such speed either; much of the corridor was dark save for what little remaining strobe-like light blinked from the fallen Pied Piper Task Force officer's rifle torches. My keen eyes however made easy work seeing what was what in the dark space; so much so I was able to see the enormity of my shadow looming over Azad like a spaceship.
Azad put his hands together and a great burst of steam erupted from his palms. I felt the heat of it burn at my eyes; I turned away, feeling the steam cooking my left ear instead. A swipe of my left arm stopped the torrent of steam buffeting me.
Kwop! Tssk! Cha!
Azad must have flipped back and created even more distance between us. When I looked up I saw him standing at the far end of the corridor back where he had been when he first arrived.
The beast in me wasn't intending to play fair in the fight.
New rage, intoxicating in its purity, flooded my mind and body, renewing the stamina and strength as if my body hadn't taken a single wound or made any physical effort the whole day.
I bounded upwards, flipping over and digging my claws, both hands and feet, into the ceiling. It held my weight long enough for my powerful body to run on all fours upside down, charging along the corridor towards Azad.
Once I was closer to the end of the corridor I dove down to the right-side corridor wall and bounded off again, diving for Azad.
He cartwheeled out of the way. I landed, and bounded off within the same moment, giving him no time at all to respond to my pursuit.
My jaws opened wide, wider even than I would have thought possible, the power creating new size and length to my jaws and teeth to make the most out of the next devouring bite.
More steam filled my vision, giving Azad a mere inch difference from my jaws clamping down on his hands.
Run you idiot! I thought, desperately, You can't beat me like this!
We entered down the next corridor.
Azad kicked off the wall to his left and then to his right, ping-ponging further down, creating more distance.
A roar escaped me. It was getting harder to think. The beast in me knew how close it was to claiming Azad's life, and the bloodlust was mindnumbing. I could feel my jaws salivating over the expected meal to come.
Azad landed and gave a terrible cry.
More steam erupted from him, so much so the entirety of the corridor was filled with it, making him impossible to see.
I dove at the spot I had last seen him but didn't hit my target. The steam cleared quickly. On all fours, grimacing, lips snarling and drooling large helpings of saliva, I turned about.
Azad was at the far end of the corridor again.
He wasn't running away. He was standing stock still, facing me, his pink skin giving off yet more steam.
Why won't he run away? Why does he think he can win?
"Forgive me!" Azad yelled, "I'm going to have to go all out. I don't see any other way!"
He let out yet another great cry, and yet more muscle bulked out across his frame. He grew several more inches in height, coming to around six feet tall.
"TENSION!" He yelled, his voice cracking from the strain of the sheer effort such a use of the power was tolling on his body and mind, "TIMES THREE!"
As he screamed I noticed then the corridor became cold. The steam gushing from his body ceased and in its place a layer of frost seemed to coat Azad's bulging muscles. He had the body of a professional wrestler; the type one would accuse the owner of having abused steroids. But there was also a clear perfection to the sculpted physique Azad had undertaken; his body was tensed to the nth degree, and trembling.
Steam escaped Azad's mouth with every breath, but only from his mouth.
He's cooling his body internally to counter-act the heat brought about by pushing his body to its physical limit.
It seemed obvious. I had guessed as much earlier.
But would it do him much use now?
The beast in me had given Azad a reprieve of a few seconds, if only to be wary of what he might do next. And then I sprang forwards, charging down the corridor on all fours, carving up the cobbled corridor floor with each bound, closing the distance between Azad and I in a mere two and a half bounds at a frightening speed.
"ICE-" Azad yelled out, every vein bulging across his muscled body, "-COLD-" he yelled even more; I was so close to him, at his size, with his feet planted in a wide stance; any chance of him getting out of my biting and clawing range had long-since passed.
This was the end.
"-PUNCH!"
The beast in me had seen the right hook coming a mile away, yet didn't have the sense to fear it. Perhaps even a part of me wanted to take the blow to put an end to this madness. The beast threw up its claws, as is if to catch the brunt of the punch in its palms, to grab hold of Azad and to finally lay claim to him; the weight of my bestial form alone would trap him beneath me in the next instant.
But the fist connecting with my huge furred clawed hands was unlike anything I, or the beast in me, could have anticipated.
The punch was cold and, worse, it was so cold my bestial hands immediately froze upon impact.
And, within the same impact, my bestial hands shattered into nothing-pieces, leaving me handless and the wound instantly frozen over at the wrists.
For a microsecond I felt the cold touch my palms, but then it was gone. My hands were gone.
He did it! I thought, in utter awe, He's going to win!
My elation however gave way to fear, because Azad followed up the strike on my hands with another at my waist. It froze, just like my hands; much of the bone there took the brunt of the cold and power of the punch, but some flesh beneath, though burning with bulbing heat, froze, as if instantly snuffed out; the fur and flesh there ice-burned away; raw, pained flesh remained.
Stop! I thought, the beast part of me letting out a pained shriek, all the fight leaving it, the intention to flee instead of fight the new motivation.
But Azad didn't stop. He kept punching. Another punch followed after the last, the speed of the punches picking up until he was all but hammering my bestial form into the ground.
Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!
I shrieked like a dragon given a fatal wound at its heart.
Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!
Azad you've won! I thought, in a frenzy, fearing for my life, Stop! Stop! I'll die!
Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!
What would be left of me? The cold was all over me. In the corridor too. The frost had brought about a Yule-tide theme to the corridor, as if Azad were finally defeating the monster I was amid the dying moments of a fierce blizzard.
Doom! Doom! Doom!
The force of the punches slowed. But maybe it was too late. I couldn't move. My body felt utterly broken. He hadn't just beaten me. He'd crushed me.
He raised his fist again. Whether it landed upon me or not I couldn't tell. My vision frosted over and darkness took me.
Comments
حسين عباس عبد المهدي
That is some beat down I gotta say
Mrs Cotton
Very cool chapter, thanks!
