The air in the fiery clearing was thick with tension, a taut wire stretched between three impossible beings. They stood in a triangle of mutual, wary assessment, the burning jungle a crucible waiting to test their mettle.
Mihai Cantacuzino, a regal silhouette in his crimson blood armor and fire-retardant mask, was the first to break the silence. His analytical gaze swept over the scene, his mind processing the impossible data points with lightning speed. The hulking, demonic form of Javier Morales was a known variable, a monster he had come to hunt. But the other figure… that was the anomaly. A young man, shirtless and barefoot, his body literally made of gleaming, solid iron. What is he? Mihai thought, his vast intellect struggling to categorize this new, baffling power.
Charlie, his iron form still radiating a faint, residual heat, appraised the newcomer. The crimson armor pulsed with a life of its own, and the eyes behind the mask burned with an intensity that was neither human nor demonic. He didn't know who this was—he'd been too deep in his own personal hell to watch the global news of a vampire's coming out party—but his Battle Instinct screamed a warning. This was a predator.
It was Javier who recognized him. His demonic laughter, a harsh, grating sound, echoed through the clearing. "Well, well, well," he sneered, his voice a guttural rasp. "If it isn't the pretty boy vampire. Mihai of the Cantacuzino. Why are you here? Come to join the party?"
A vampire? Charlie's eyes narrowed, his stance shifting subtly. Cantacuzino? What's that? The name meant nothing to him, but the word 'vampire' was a blaring alarm bell.
"I came to stop you, you bastard," Mihai's voice was a low, venomous growl, muffled slightly by the mask, but the rage behind it was palpable. He was remembering the images VARIA had shown him—the desecrated villages in Argentina, the missing families in Mexico, the vanished plane. "You didn't leave anyone alive. The plane, the villages… you slaughtered them all."
"I DID THE RIGHT THING!" Javier roared, his demonic voice so powerful it made Mihai's non-beating heart flutter with a phantom echo of fear. Charlie, shielded by his Fearless perk, remained completely unfazed.
"YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU FUCKING ARE?!" Javier's voice rose to a fanatical shriek. "I AM THE CHOSEN ONE! I AM THE ONE WHO WILL FREE THIS WORLD FROM THE SICKNESS OF LIFE! AND WHEN EVERYTHING DIES, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING PURE, WILL BE BORN! DON'T GET IN MY FUCKING WAY!"
System, why is he so crazy? Charlie asked in the quiet space of his own mind.
The System's reply was cold and absolute. Because he can feel what his demons feel, Charlie. Those who can summon are granted a psychic link, a 'Connection' ability. He feels their pleasure, their ecstasy in the acts of slaughter and desecration. He has become corrupted by it. There is no salvation for him. Purge him.
Charlie's iron face remained impassive, but his voice, when he spoke, was a chilling, quiet question. "Can you feel what they feel?"
The question hung in the air, a scalpel slicing through Javier's fanatical rage. Mihai froze, his mind reeling. What is he talking about?
Javier stared at Charlie, his demonic eyes widening in shock, before he threw his head back and laughed, a sound that was now tinged with a terrible, ecstatic madness. "HOW DID YOU KNOW, IRON KID? HUH?! BUAHAHAHAHA! I CAN FEEL EVERYTHING! THIS PLEASURE! THIS ECSTASY! AT FIRST, I DIDN'T KNOW! I WANTED TO STOP, BUT I COULDN'T! I… I NEED TO FULFILL MY DUTY!"
The pieces clicked into place in Mihai's hyper-intelligent mind, and the realization was a physical blow. Pleasure? No… feel what they feel… the pleasure of demons when they kill, when they defile… The blood drained from his face, leaving him paler than even a vampire should be. No. No, no, no.
He looked at Javier, at this monster reveling in secondhand depravity, and he saw a horrifying mirror of himself. The same thing would happen to him if he ever drank human blood. The same madness, the same loss of self, the same damnation. In that moment, he didn't just see an enemy. He saw a kindred spirit on a path he had, by a thread, managed to avoid.
"I understand," Mihai whispered, his voice trembling with a profound, soul-shattering empathy. He tensed, his crimson armor glowing brighter, his jaw clenched so tight it should have shattered bone. "I WILL KILL YOU!" he screamed, his own control fraying, "AND THEN, I WILL KILL MYSELF!"
But before the vampire king could lose himself to his own despair, Charlie moved.
He deactivated his Iron Form in an instant. Without the immense weight, his body, now supercharged by his evolution, was a blur. He was faster, far faster than before. He crossed the distance between himself and Javier in a single, explosive leap. Just as he reached the demon, he reactivated the Iron Form, his body becoming a 400-pound missile of solid, hyper-dense iron.
He didn't punch. He tackled. He drove his shoulder into Javier's midsection, his legs scissoring behind the demon's, a perfect, brutal form-tackle. The impact was immense, driving Javier to the ground with a force that made the earth gasp. But Javier, fueled by his own raw strength, was not so easily subdued. He let out a roar of fury, his demonic muscles bulging as he pushed up, getting to his feet even with the immense weight of the iron man on top of him. He clenched his teeth, a guttural snarl ripping from his throat, and unfurled his leathery wings. With a powerful, desperate beat, he launched himself into the sky, Charlie still clinging to him, a living, iron anchor.
High above the burning jungle, the battle became a desperate, mid-air struggle. Charlie, a living iron anchor, clung to Javier's back, his hands locked in a chokehold around the demon's thick, corded neck. He roared, a guttural, inhuman sound of pure, unadulterated effort, pouring every ounce of his evolved strength into the vice-like grip. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Javier gagged, the pressure crushing his windpipe, his demonic eyes bulging. He couldn't breathe. His flight path became erratic, a drunken, uncontrolled spiral as he clawed at the iron arms around his throat. This… fucker! he thought, his lungs burning. With a surge of soul-fueled strength, he managed to pry a small gap between Charlie's grip and his neck, allowing a desperate, ragged gasp of air. But the iron man was relentless, his grip tightening again, a slow, inexorable crush.
Down below, Mihai watched them ascend, a rising meteor of fury and iron. He felt a surge of helpless rage. Faster, faster, I need to help him! Fuck, why am I so weak?! Then, an idea, born of desperation and his vampiric mastery, sparked in his mind. He focused, his crimson blood armor shifting and flowing, thinning over his torso and legs, the excess blood coalescing on his back, forming a pair of vast, magnificent, bat-like wings. His protection was diminished, but he could fly.
He shot into the air, a crimson comet in pursuit. He siphoned more blood from the armor on his left forearm, shaping it into a short, sharp, hardened spear. His arm was less protected, but it was a weapon.
He reached them just as Javier, in a final, desperate gambit, let out a demonic shriek. Mihai thrust the blood spear forward. Javier twisted, dodging the main thrust, but the spearhead raked across his right wing, tearing through the leathery membrane. The demon roared in pain and fury, his flight becoming a chaotic, tumbling descent. He deliberately angled his fall, crashing through the canopy, using Charlie's body as a shield against the massive branches. Charlie grunted as his back slammed into tree after tree, the impacts jarring but manageable, his Unbreakable Body absorbing the punishment. +20 hits. +25 hits. +18 hits.
They hit the ground with a cataclysmic impact, carving a new crater in the jungle floor. Charlie, his senses sharpened by his Battle Instinct, recovered a fraction of a second faster. He pushed off the dazed demon, channeling the kinetic energy from the brutal descent into a single, devastating knee strike. His iron knee crashed into Javier's chest, the sound a sickening crunch of iron against obsidian hide.
Javier was thrown back, spitting a mouthful of saliva and black blood. This fucker… He scrambled to his feet, a fresh surge of power flooding him from the killing his imp swarm made, he just spent some points on agility and strength. He was faster now. Stronger. He sprinted at Charlie, a blur of demonic rage.
Charlie saw him coming, but the speed was new, unexpected. Javier's punch slammed into him, driving him deep into the trunk of a colossal ironwood tree, the wood groaning and splintering around him. Why is he getting stronger? Charlie thought, the pain a dull, thudding echo in his iron-cased skull.
Before Javier could press his advantage, Mihai descended. The blood spear dissolved, reforming into a halo of small, crimson orbs that floated around his head. With a flick of his wrist, he sent them flying. As they shot through the air, they elongated, solidifying into a volley of tiny, needle-sharp blood spears. Guided by the pinpoint precision of his crimson eyes, they rained down on Javier.
"FUCKERRRR!" Javier roared as the blood spears peppered his demonic form, each one a stinging, annoying distraction. He was about to charge the vampire, but a silent, iron fist slammed into his back, sending him staggering forward. Charlie, using his Stealth Steps and Aura Concealment, had become a ghost in the chaos.
FUCK! Javier's mind reeled. This iron shit… he hits harder every time! Does he get stronger the more he fights?! He felt the some of his imps die, and also got, some influx of soul points flooding his being, from the ones still alive. He had enough. He could win this, but he could also lose this. Then his rage was now tempered with a new, unfamiliar emotion: caution. He needed to be patient. He poured a great amount of his soul points into his Agility, his body becoming a flicker of pure speed, and shot into the sky, retreating into the smoke-filled heavens.
"I WILL GET YOU, YOU COWARD!" Mihai screamed, his wings faltering as his stamina gave out, the blood armor dissolving back into his skin. He clenched his jaw, the veins in his forehead bulging.Why now!!! No!!! Mihai punched the ground making it crack.
Calm down, Mihai. I am me, I am me...
Charlie got straighter, his iron form receding, leaving him breathing heavily, exhausted but whole, he could still fight for a while.Then he looked at the screaming vampire I am glad the demon is gone, this vampire looks tired... Charlie thought.
Then he looked at the sky where the demon had vanished. He checked his mission panel. The reward to purge Javier Morales had increased, another tantalizing prize now listed beside the cash. So, the stronger he gets, the bigger the reward… he mused. The System is using the reward as a tracker, a way to gauge his power level. It was an absurd, terrifying thought.
He sighed, the weight of the last hour crashing down on him. I hope Bobby's okay. I hope he's alive.