Dressed in just his work shoes and trouser, his chest exposed, Rio ascended the stairs of the basement and walked through the corridors of his house.
Just a few steps away from the garage door, the place where the thumps were originating, he stopped and opened a case on the wall taking out the fireman axe within, wielding it as he continued his journey.
Grrrr! Grrrr! Bang!
Getting closer, Rio could more clearly hear the sounds that were coming from within the garage and though his forehead creased as he realized that it might not just be robbers he would be facing he marched on.
Dog, robber, lion, it didn't matter to Rio, whoever he saw on the other side was going to offer up his blood in place of Raymond's.
Passing through the laundry room, with heavy kick to the door at its end, Rio let himself into the garage and though it wasn't his intention, his momentum came to a halt as he stared at the scene within.
On the floor of the garage with their face torn off and guts pulled out was a human body, Rio didn't know whose body it was, but he more than sure it was a human and beside this mutilated body was it's architect, a creature Rio didn't know what to call.
The creature closely resembled a hyena, but it's huge body which put it on par with an adult lion, the thick fur on its back and its protruding fangs told him it was not part of that species.
With his loud entrance, the second Rio laid his eyes on the creature so did it, and after some seconds of staring they both ran toward each other.
Rio had come up here looking for blood and the fact that creature before him was a certified man-eating animal told him that he had no choice in the matter. Whether he killed it or not blood was going to be spilt today.
"With such a size, a drawn-out battle with it is pure suicide, the winner of this fight will be decided in our first clash.
I have to make my first move count.
It would be extremely fast so I can't trust my eyes, I have to attack earlier than they tell me to."
Taking just two steps forward, though the approaching creature was still steps away Rio tightly gripped his axe and swung it forward, and just like he had predicted, with two blurred leaps the deadly creature was before him, soaring through the air and looking to claw out his face.
"Bam"
Without incident Rio collided with the beast, his axe made contact with it's neck, slicing in but unfortunately not deep enough to kill or incapacitate it.
With the heavy weight of the beast falling on him, he was forced to let go of the weapon.
Both his hands grabbed onto the beast's head, pushing it away as he was thrown to the ground and mounted.
"Ahh fuck, I didn't account for such strength" With all his might Rio pushed against the head of the savage creature, keeping it from biting down and taking off his head.
His heart pounded as he moved his head left and right, dodging the deadly swipes from the beast's claws.
From the cut he had made on the creature's neck, blood fell, pouring on his face and eyes, making his horrible experience worse.
"Is this how I am going to die," Rio wondered.
Despite the adrenaline pumping through him, after several seconds of struggle with the beast, that in addition to the fatigue he had accumulated from the earlier workout, he could feel himself beginning to weaken.
The ginormous weight of the beast was becoming unberable, crushing into his ribcage and making breathing a problem for him.
They say when one is close to death, they began thinking of their loved ones and having regrets about not spending time with them, but for Rio it was different because all he felt at the moment was anger.
His mind couldn't help but wonder if he would be in such a position had he been given his promotion.
He would still be at the office by now being introduced to his duties while animal control or whichever department of the military that handled such things was called to deal with the beast.
"I hate Raymond, I hate this world" Rio growled within and as his body gave way to the pressure above him, his head snapped forward and he bit into the cut he had made on the beast's neck.
Graaaaaaaa!
The beast howled in a surprising cry of pain, Its movement turning frenzy as it stood to it's feet and then dropped it's body to the ground.
It powerfully shook left and right, looking to throw Rio off but found itself unable to as he had wrapped his arms and legs around it.
Maddened, the beast swiped at Rio's back digging it's claws into his flesh and making deadly cuts across it.
Blood oozed out of Rio, pain flooding his senses but he did not let go of the beast because he knew this was his only chance to end it.
Rio had first bit into the cut as a last ditch effort but then he discovered the beast's flesh to be quite soft and with that realization figured that since he couldn't cut his way to its throat why not eat his way to it.
Other than the disgust that came from eating raw bloody flesh, a burning sensation like he was drinking 100% alcohol filled Rio as he ate.
Biting and swallowing, not having the time to chew, Rio urged himself to eat faster.
Unfortunately with all the damage he had suffered it didn't take long for his consciousness to begin swimming.
"Common Rio you can do this, eat, eat, eat"
This was the only thought going through Rio's head, his furious mind unaware that he had eaten past the beast's throat some seconds ago and that it was weakly clawing at him out of muscle memory.