Machine
Idris stopped abruptly, slamming the back end of his staff into the ground. He looked pale now. I could sense his heartbeat as it slammed irregularly within his chest. But he showed no signs of discomfort.
"Why… did we stop?" Steven asked, his clammy fingers wrapped loosely around his gun. He stared back into the hallway, eyes wide and lips trembling.
"This is where the song ends," Idris vowed in a hushed tone. "I will hear it to its conclusion, then jam my fingers up the singer's throat, make him gag, and spit us out."
"I'd make 'em gag with something else," Shen muttered under his breath. I couldn't help but grind my teeth whenever he spoke. Perhaps it was the scent of alcohol that I couldn't escape given my predicament.
Roland glanced over at Idris and nodded curtly. He briefly glanced at Steven, his eyes cutting across him like a switchblade before he cocked his revolver and stared out into the hallway. "Kiara, Steven, cover Idris."
Roland had sensed it; I had sensed it too. The presence that seemed to fill the room like mustard gas. That deathly weight that a great foe carries and exhumes like an aura. I wonder if my foes felt it too, when I stood before them.
Kiara shifted uncomfortably, her tired eyes looking up at Steven for support. "King be with me," she whispered.
Steven swallowed his fears like cheap whiskey. Then the boy stepped toward her. He gave her a harsh nod, then pushed her gun flat against her chest. She took a deep breath, then gripped the weapon tighter. Her eyes seemed to fill up with the same steely focus she showed us before.
I had seen scenes like this one countless times. Humans were adaptable; some were impressively gifted, intelligent, or skilled. Yet they always repeated motions like these ones. They did not act without a drive, a goal past a directive. Give them hope and they will fight till the last sliver of life fades from their chests.
It was pathetic how dependent they were on such things. Never for them was the stark certainty of my kind.
We felt it like a shockwave, heard it like a thunderbolt, saw it like the falling blade of a guillotine.
He was a blur of dark fur and predatory force, a massive smear of shadows that sprung forward and through the hall. He bounced across walls and ceiling, leaving craters with each leap. The white glint of his eyes, the bronze sheen of his claws. It filled me with a tension so inexorable it made me sick.
Steven's brows lifted. His pupils dilated in an adrenal surge as he pulled the trigger. His gun howled; bullets flew in a stream of orange tracers.
The figure seemed to move through them like smoke, his body compressing and twisting out of the way before he suddenly shot forward and straight toward us.
Roland screamed, no longer hiding behind the façade of authority. He pulled back his cutlass and swung—
He hadn't even completed his swing. The figure, who had been just before us, had stopped several meters past us. Roland froze in place, blade halted in midair and body frozen like a diorama.
A wave of wind washed over us; hair whipped back, cloth rustled, and helmets fell. The whole group turned around almost in unison.
William had his back to us. His massive bat-frame seemed to fill up the hallway. During the banquet he held no bloodlust. But now, the power was rolling off him in waves. I could almost taste it.
"I cannot let you leave. Not anymore." He spoke softly, as if each word pained him. "I reasoned you only attacked me out of fear. That if I lifted your veil of ignorance, then we could share a meal."
He started turning. "I had overreacted before, I was going to let you go. I informed Shen that we could have a meal in private and then he and his comrades would be allowed to leave."
Roland's eyes snapped toward Shen briefly. I could see the man smirk ever so slightly as he held me. Roland failed to catch the change in expression. Instead, his focus had fully returned to William.
…That's—no… that's not…
A tear ran down the beast's cheek, a single stream of crystalline liquid. Then… he… he choked back a sob. This… Why? Is this some sort of ploy or…
His next words cut right past my musings. "You butchered my comrades." He clenched his fist, a burst of wind ramming us as he did so. "Slew them with no remorse, for no reason." His features twisted into a snarl, all his brutal teeth revealed in grotesque rows as his gums pulled back.
"Apologize. Beg for forgiveness and I will make it quick."
Roland gulped, staring down at his own revolver. He was the first to shake away his shock. "Fight him," he ordered, voice low, dangerous, and barely containing his terror.
Steven and Kiara turned around, faces full of confusion and primal unease. "Wh… what?" Kiara managed to mumble.
Quick as a flash, Roland raised his revolver and leveled it with her forehead. His face turned an ugly shade of red as she froze like a deer in the headlights. "I said fight, you heretic. Charge and slay the enemy. This is an order."
William's brow furrowed, the malice that radiated from him easing modestly. Steven nodded before pulling Kiara back and spinning her so she was facing William. Roland gave a nod before stepping back and behind Idris.
As for Idris, he seemed completely uninterested. His eyes glued to the wall as he mouthed words in silence. The disk of spikes around his helmet vibrated but did not rev up like before.
William took a step toward the pair. They raised their guns, but it was half-hearted, hopeless. "Kill him," Roland shouted from behind Idris.
Kiara trembled, then snapped her gun upward, business end aimed at William. The beast wrapped his palm around the barrel faster than she had any hope of pulling the trigger and snatched the weapon upward. Kiara dangled for a moment before William picked her up with his other hand and tossed her aside gently.
Steven had been pulling the trigger this whole time. But he had already emptied his magazine moments before.
The fear within him seemed to evaporate the moment Kiara was flung. He spun his weapon, jaw clenched shut. Then he swung it like a baseball bat. The stock struck home, smashing into William's chin with a dull thud.
He did not budge a single inch. He raised his index finger, then flicked it across Steven's cheek. The boy's head snapped to the side as a sound like a gunshot rang out through the hall.
He stumbled back two paces before curling up onto his side and vomiting. Kiara was just beside him, shaken but unharmed.
The beast had spared them. He tilted his head slightly and shot Roland a stare packed with more venom than a bio-terrorist's tool shed.
The faux calm in Roland's eyes fizzled away as William directed the full force of his malice straight at him.
"You should be ashamed." William began to walk forward, each footfall like a funeral bell. "I won't let rage blind me. I am certain that the deaths of my comrades sully only your hands."
Roland's hands began to shake, his revolver falling from his grip. Then he bent over, face level with the ground and ass in the air. "I am sorry. I am sorry… Please, I beg you. Let me go."
William let out a rueful laugh. When he spoke, the humanity faded from his voice. It was harsh now, baritone and terrible, as if filtered through sandpaper. "An apology never brought back the dead."
"Pikachu, I choose you," Shen declared boyishly. Then I was flying, my vision spun as my head was launched. Did… did the fucker just throw me?
Is this really how I die? That's… I can't accept that…
William yowled in surprise; I tasted blood. My teeth sunk into his forearm and drilled their way down to the bone. The beast thrashed, flailing his arm up and down. "What in the fuck?" he roared as my jaw snapped closed and cleaved cleanly through his ulna.
My head hit the floor and the beast jumped back. William eyed me warily but decided I was no longer a threat in my beheaded state. His eyes flickered back to Roland as he nursed his wounds.
But… I had fed…
The flesh of this creature was no ordinary muscle. It brimmed with the energy I needed in a way that nothing else ever had. Each gram was worth the weight of a hundred men. Each drop of blood was enough to restore me tenfold. It is a shame my batteries aren't endless in their capacity, else this bite would mean I would never have to eat again.
"Now, I have opened a gate. The hungering one gags." A tunnel of darkness erupted behind Idris. The wood around it twisted like rubber and sank inward toward it. The whole building seemed to thrum with a novel unease. Chandeliers fell, carpets began to writhe. The hallways made that screeching, half-dead whine that signaled movement.
In the meantime, I had risen. Spindle fibers extended from the stump of my neck and crawled out in the shape of a nervous system. Engines and tubes formed along great racks that manifested like scaffolding at a build site. Skeletal hydraulics punched through them and clicked into place.
A deafening roar filled the air as I opened my mouth. Red and blue veins streaked up my reforming frame, and membranous white flesh began to fill every gap like growing vines.
William didn't bother to look at me. He saw the humans run toward the exit. Kiara supported Steven as they stumbled forward. Shen casually approached the churning portal as if strolling to work. Roland clawed at the floor before picking himself up and sprinting.
Fury filled every muscle of his body at the sight. He unleashed his own roar, a high-pitched screech that made the men halt their progress and cover their ears.
Roland stood up, schooling himself into something resembling a leader. "Forward!"
His men, whether responding to the command or simply chasing the only escape route, began to move again. Even Shen seemed to take it seriously now. His stroll was replaced by a crisp jog.
It was in vain. William vanished from his spot. Splinters of wood and scraps of cloth filled the air as he arched around them and stood before the gate.
Idris grumbled, then thrust his staff like a spear. William leaned out of reach and raised a claw.
However, a sharp beam of light lanced out of the staff. William leaned to the side, the searing energy cutting him across the cheek and splitting his flesh.
He snarled, then swiped his arm sideways in a backfisted blow.
Idris's helmet activated, ripping into his skull as the man spoke a silent syllable. William's claw stopped in its tracks, an invisible force holding it in place.
The others were stuck, unable to get past William and too afraid to try. However, Roland was not one to let any chance pass by him. He pivoted around Idris, a detached look in his eyes as he shut out everything but survival. His blade passed straight through William's side and painted a streak of blood against the twisting wood.
William snarled in frustration before biting down on Idris's outstretched staff and thrashing his head sideways. The frail man fell to the floor as his weapon was crushed between the monster's jaws.
Roland bellowed and prepared to strike again. William cracked the back of his palm toward the man's skull. But Roland raised his blade in the nick of time.
The metal exploded. The shrapnel sliced into Roland's face and riddled it with shallow cuts.
My armor began to form, enclosing my flesh in alloy. My wings pulled out and extended through a slimy membranous cyst that contained them. The liquid boiled away as fuel flowed into my shell and filled me with life.
William would rip this scum to pieces, and then I would slip by him and escape. This is the most logical solution.
Roland flew back but managed to land on both feet. He fired his revolver, but it was futile; William slapped the bullet aside like a particularly annoying fly. Steven stared at the pair, face unreadable. Kiara looked away, muttering that same prayer she was babbling before.
Shen was nowhere to be seen. Did the bastard somehow sneak his way around William?
William ducked under Roland's next shot and lunged toward him. The man was lifted by the throat, feet kicking like a toddler in a kiddie pool. William grinned triumphantly as he began to squeeze.
The man's face turned a deep purple as he sputtered. His gun fell as he clawed uselessly at William's fingers. "This is what you get for repaying my kindness with rage and ignorance."
Roland's eyes became bloodshot, blood leaking down his lips. He croaked out, "Heretic," before William tightened his grip and cut off any hint of oxygen.
"This sinner seems to be above the pious. Don't you think?" William lifted Roland further, then slammed him into the wood. The man slumped over as he was dropped, taking in grateful but agonized breaths.
William raised a foot, then pressed it against Roland's temple. "Go on, beg for your life. Make sure you say please."
Roland only whimpered in response, moaning in agony as the beast pressed down. "Mhhm, a very—dare I say—eloquent reply."
Steven watched, unable to tear his eyes away. Idris groaned as he struggled back to his feet. Kiara only prayed harder in response.
As for me—It was time to make my escape. All I would need to do is leap straight toward the portal.
Coward. You were afraid when that thing stood before you and you are still afraid now. You are a warrior, prime in every way. Yet you don't give this fleshbag his due punishment for what he did to you.
It felt horrible, these voices. This pride that could now be wounded. Yet my mantra was clear.
I do not want to die.
So I won't rise up to the challenge. I will leave and—
Why are you looking at me like that?
Kiara's gaze met my own. There was something heavy in her eyes, something within me that responded with… I felt this back in the desert. I felt this when I offered comfort to my… friend who lent me part of himself.
I should ignore it, I should leave, I will leave.
CRUNCH.
My fist embedded itself into William's snout. The iron points of my knuckles dripped with crimson as the beast covered his face and staggered.
It felt wonderful.
William shook his head side to side and opened his massive eyes. He screeched again, frustration spilling out his lips like a tidal wave.
His fist shot out in a shockingly clean straight right. However, my programming did not care if a beast or a man threw a punch. It responded optimally either way.
I parried the blow inward, the fist grating past the armor on the side of my head and scraping the paint off.
One blow would crush me.
So I must end it now.
My right knee lifted, then I slashed my shin across William's jaw in a devastating roundhouse kick. His massive body recoiled, his jaw shattering into dozens of shards.
Kiara had grabbed onto Roland's leg and began to pull him toward the portal. Steven, still dazed though now able to move, supported Idris, and the two collectively hobbled forward.
William forced his eyes back onto me. His jaw hung loosely; his face was a mess of impacted teeth. The lower mandible was snapped in two down the middle. His tongue lolled out of the shattered hollow of his mouth.
He bled what must have been gallons, but he showed not a hint of pain.
My lenses adjusted; I saw his flesh begin to steam. The wound in his forearm was gone, the one in his side was closing up. His face had begun to shift back into place. All the while he attempted to make his curses and threatening declarations as if the wounds meant nothing.
When he realized he would be unable to cuss me out with a pulverized face, he thrust his foot into the floor and threw himself at me.
I produced a flashbang and stepped aside, dropping it as William's claws brushed past my chest plate.
The burst of light and sound was enough to stun him. He covered his eyes and curled up, hands shielding his ears.
The others had vanished through the portal. I could finish this at my leisure.
I approached William slowly, oscillating scythe emerging from my arm. "Unlike you, I won't ask you to beg, nor will I ask you for anything. I simply have the desire to kill you."
I stilled for a moment, adjusted my angle so the strike would be perfect. My hydraulics clicked as I raised my blade to the apex of its ascent.
I would relish this moment—
Something—no, someone… wrapped his arms around my waist. It was Shen; he had appeared from… somewhere…
What?
Is he… tackling me?
I slipped on a tooth as he pushed, the man charging forward like a bull as he suplexed me. "Sorry, buddy, I can't let you have this one all to yourself."
Before I could resist, Shen dove with me in tow. He launched us both into the portal and away from William's wounded form.
Then… we were falling.