Suddenly the bouncer Rudraya had followed jerked up into the air in front of tall guy. He was looking right at him, the dry blood still caked over is nose and mouth. He had a mix of mistrust and anger as he fixed Rudraya in his sights, this was definitely not going like he had planned in his head, but then....he didn’t really plan anything after he had started running, so maybe things were going to plan. Suddenly Rudraya’s dazed head was moving on its own as tall guy flexed his outstretched hand, the feeling was sickening, a total loss of control, he felt a spike of fear as he realised tall guy had him like a wolfs jaws clamped over a calf’s neck.
“What do you want?”, said tall guy, his voice was as imperious as Larsa’s at that moment. All this combined made Rudrayas blood boil, he hated being weak and defenceless against people who thought they could take and control everything. Little did tall guy know, but he had recovered from his stupor and was feigning so as not to scare tall guy off. He could draw in energy and break the hold on himself like a twig and snap tall guy in half in the blink of an eye but he didn’t want to show his powers just yet so he kept calm, on the surface.
“Wondered…how you…could do…the Harmonic…fist thing…”, he said carefully slurring and choking out the sentence. “How did you find me?” What should he say? But tall guy didn’t know he had any powers, he might just think he was slightly deranged follower, so he casually pointed up, “Roof.” Tall guy looked up sceptically at the building with the large gash Rudraya had made in the wall, good he probably didn’t believe him anyway.
With a sense of finality fixed Rudraya with a piercing stare, “Don’t come after me again”, as he raised Rudraya off his feet. He felt the sickening control all over his body like tiny worms working their way through his muscles. Rudraya started to draw in power to break the hold as the conversation was coming to its logical end. He felt the familiar thrum of power as he body started shifting towards the wall then a piercing scream rent the air. It assaulted his ears and he immediately felt the fear rise up his into his chest.
The scream died down and a sniffing sound grew louder and louder. Unbeknownst to Argi the air around them was getting colder and colder as Rudraya was sucking it in. Their new assailant has chosen the terrain well, they were like rats in a trap. The others were similarly rooted to the spot as a bloody hand tightly gripped the corner of a building with such force that the bricks cracked and shattered. Rudraya felt his energy rise up his spine and over his back as he readied himself about to drop into the meditative state. With one last effort, the hand hauled its owner around the corner and revealed itself to the three.
Rudraya's calm was broken as he took in the sight in front of him, his eyes grasping for meaning as the abomination of a being stood in front of them. It took a lot to disturb him but this ....this thing had managed to. One arm was a thick muscular mass hanging like a a club in front of it, the other was a ‘normal size’, two gnarled hairy legs and a long thin appendage sticking out the back like a tail. Then there was the ...maw. There was a bloody hole in the middle of the thing, where the chest should have been, it was constantly taking sharp inhalations, almost tasting the air. Finally the misshapen head with a single bloodshot eyes flitting between the three as it swayed in a seemingly drunken stupor. It fixed its gaze on tall guy an swayed back. Rudraya had a childish thought that it would just turn around and go away but he was mistaken. It gathered its power and rushed at them with terrifying speed.
Rudraya let out a terrified scream as tall guy hold abruptly stopped, he then turned and ran with the others. If he could avoid a fight he would, he knew nothing of the creatures strength or weaknesses, discretion is the better part of valour. His master would have probably said something meaningful.... but he was he was shit scared. Rudraya hated fear, it may make men do great things but if you kept running it would only follow you, in this case literally. Rudraya saw the suit stumble as the heavy arm of the creature caught him and dragged him backwards. He let out a scream that only a man facing his death would utter, which was shortly cut off by a bubbling wail as the creature no doubt ripped him apart. He felt a spatter of blood on his hand still warm and he ran faster. The creature let out another wail as it followed them.
As much as he didn’t want to, Rudraya figured that tall guy knew the alleys better than he did, so he followed slightly behind him. The bricks rush past them as their feet stirred the long dead dust in the alleys. Rudraya’s heart was pounding with fear as he ran. Tall guy was a good runner and he was vaulting over rubbish bins and turning corners swiftly, all their previous anomisity was lost as they were joined in one common goal, to survive. Rudraya focused his mind, how could this thing take his life now, he wouldn’t let it, it had no right and if it wanted it, it could try and take it but he would not lay down and die. He would make this monster pay a terrible price it touched him.
They turned right and tall guy looked surprised as there was a metal fence blocking their path. Neither slowed, tall guy found a box and grabbed the fence and vaulted it. At the same time ‘the thing’ let out another piercing scream as it charged round the corner using its massive arm as a counterbalance to turn extremely quickly, and it was definitely gaining on them. Without a second through Rudraya sent speed to his limbs and ran at the wall at an angle. He pressed the side of his foot into the wall and powered up the side as the world tipped sideways. He felt as light as a feather and as heavy as the earth at the same time, for a moment everything was forgotten as he defied gravity and ran clean over the fence and down the other side of the wall, tall guy was too busy running and with a final thought he gouged out a piece of the brick work and held it in his hand. Anything was a weapon it was just an extension of him.
Tall guy turned left and Rudraya followed using the wall to kick off after him. The thing had vaulted over the fence in one clean jump and was only 30 meters away, and in front of them was a brick wall. Tall guy was genuinely panicked, maybe he didn’t know the streets so well after all. The thing stood in the entrance of the passage savouring the kill, or so it thought so, tall guy turned to face the creature with a look of desperate horror he caught Rudraya's eye.....then everything happened in an instant.
The things swayed back drunkenly and charged at tall guy, its single eyes clouded with blood lust and its maw slavering and spewing blood and meat. It was a creature of the basest of natures, made to hunt and to kill, it may have looked like it was put together by a deranged Frankenstein with its seemingly mismatched parts but they all functioned with one deadly intent. Rudraya had pulled in as much energy as he could and bounded with super human speed towards the wall, many people forget that force equals mass times acceleration so greater speed means greater force, and this is what he counted on. He planted his foot onto the wall at the end of the alley and jumped and spun into the air. Tall guy threw out his hand and stood his ground, a brave man is one who can look at death and not flinch and he was not lacking, the thing stumbled after it took two steps...but it was still struggling to break free of tall guys grasp, straining at the invisible bonds it let out another piercing wail as tall guy went down on one knee, his face covered in sweat. Like a bubble suddenly popping the hold in the thing was lost, it was only 10 feet away from tall guy as Rudraya jumped into the side of the walls defying gravity, there was no rage in his face, only a deathly calm, his eyes looking at everything and nothing as he threw the rock he had been carrying straight at the things disfigured head. It struck it in its putrid eyeball like a arrow from a bow as it reeled back in pain, if a thing like that even felt pain. Rudraya closely followed as he powered off the wall at the side of the alley, all but flying as chopped into the things heavy forearm as he ducked its wild swing. Blind as it was now it was still immensely strong. He sent the energy to his to his muscles as he ducked under and behind the elbow of the things arm and before it could complete a back swing placed one palm on the back of its elbow and the other on the inside of the forearm and ripped the joint apart. Even though it was the size of a small tree the joint was destroyed, the bones pierced through the skin and blood gushed out of the wound. Rudraya prepared to jump onto its back as he kicked out one leg, then a hidden appendage came streaking towards his unprotected back, a slick bone spike of a tooth at least a foot long. Tall guy saw it coming and flung up his hand as it sliced through Rudraya's jacket jacket and into his back, he held it fast stopping it from reaching deeper into Rudraya’s body.
