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43.72% Steel Waste / Chapter 310: Monsturrrr!

Chapter 310: Monsturrrr!

"Seriously... I'm scared of plants?..." Afton mutters, not believing the situation at all.

"Increased heart-rate, perspiration, oxygen intake, and adrenaline. Cause: fear. Recommended treatment: therapy, removing source of fear." Nyx states.

"No... I was just working out earlier... Shut up." he retorts, dropping the LAER for a moment and retrieving his Anti-Material rifle from his back. He easily kills any visible Spore Plants, but grimaces at his shaking hands afterwards.

Afton ignores it though, deciding that whatever was occurring would stop eventually. If he was scared, killing a bunch of plant creatures would help him through it, right?

He packs up everything and heads towards the fungus infested land, there didn't seem to be any airborne spores, which was a boon. Afton was supposedly immune to them now anyway, so it didn't really matter.

The only way to progress was over the large root snaking over the canyon paths. It's an incredibly unsafe route, but Afton didn't have a choice in the matter. He used the LAER to blow apart some more Spoe Plants that sprung out of the ground, the tri-laser beams easily disintegrating the enemy before they can get off an attack of their own.

Eventually he came up to the top of a plateau that looked over the rest of the canyon. Once he entered the vibrant green clearing, the sound of many creatures exploding from the ground around him could be heard.

Many, many Spore Plants sprouted out of the ground, their venus flytrap-like heads getting ready to spit acid at him. Narrowly avoiding the projectiles, he retreats backwards while firing over his shoulder. Once he'd a good enough distance away, he resumes his previous strategy by sniping at them from a distance.

Once all visible enemies are cleared, he walks back into the clearing and looks around, examining an old ruined fountain in the middle of the area. Inside he finds another [Valence radii-accentuator] being gripped tightly by a skeleton.

Shaking his head, he pries it out of the corpse's hands and attempts to wear it with the one he already possessed... Unfortunately, they seem to repulse each other like magnets. He attempted to force them together, but that only launched it a couple meters, almost causing it to fall into the deep canyon path below.

After making sure this place was clear of enemies, he heads across another root-bridge which dips into the canyon. He kills a few more Spore Plants as he traverses the dark rocky pathway, It's unfortunate Nyx's sensors don't work against the Fungus or the creatures under it... Apparently their composition is so similar to regular plantlife that its impossible to tell them apart.

Eventually, Afton came across some sort of centre point of the fungus infested region. A Building that'd been torn apart by plants and time stood relatively intact above the canyon passage. Afton followed the steps leading to it, but once inside he was greeted by many Spore Plants and... A hulking humanoid tree-thing...

It looked similar to what a Spore Carrier did in Vault 22, except it was much, much larger, and its grey bark-like skin looked heavily reinforced. Afton activated VATS before it could notice him, the Spore Plants already launching acid in his direction would've certainly tipped it off.

It stood 10ft and had long dangerous-looking claws attached to each arm... Not to mention the branch-like tentacles protruding from its back which seemed to move on their own. Afton couldn't see its face as its back was turned to him, but he imagined an equally horrific visage to be present there.

He examines it via his [Living Anatomy], hopefully it would still count enough for him to actually examine it.

[Patient Zero]

Health : 99%

Stamina : --%

DT : 30

Strength : 22

Perception : 4

Endurance : 20

Charisma : 1

Intelligence : 1

Agility : 5

Luck : 1

Ailments :

[Superior Beauveria mordicana] : Fungus that infects its victims via spores and rapidly mutates their body to suit its needs. Reduces Intelligence, Charisma and Luck to 1, reduces Perception by 4 and blinds the afflicted. Grant +15 Strength, Endurance, reduces Agility by 3. Afflicted will seek to produce and spread spores to other organic creatures.

[Anti-Fungel Serum] : Serum created by the Think Tank in an attempt to stop the rapid expansion of the spores. Disables the Fungus's ability to produce spores and assimilate other creatures into it collective.

[Monster] : Immunity to critical attacks. Immunity being crippled. Immunity to poison and disease. Immunity to intimidation and fear affects.

Afton stares blankly at the status and audibly gulps. He was beginning to regret stumbling into this place. Why did he want to come here in the first place? Ah, that's right... Mobius...

Well... No one says that he has to kill this thing, right? He can just activate his Stealthboy and sneak away without fighting that monstrous creature. Yeah, that's exactly what he'd do...

Exiting VATS, he avoids the globules of acid shot at him and pulls out his Stealthboy, immediately slamming his fist onto it to activate it. His form ripples and flickers out of existence, once he was invisible he turns and begins heading for the exit... Only to be stopped by something blocking his path.

Afton's eyes follow the branch-like tentacles which are extended from the back of the monster, fear locking his body in place as it turns and looks directly at him, despite his invisibility.

It had no eyes, just a horrific fang-filled mouth. Its teeth were dirty and yellow, with bits and pieces of flesh and bone still visibly stuck between them. The creature let out a breath that sent chills down Afton's back as its rear-tentacles raise in the air and point in his direction.

Ah... Yeah, how did he forget... Invisibility wouldn't work on blind creatures in the first place... Fuck! He throws himself to the side as tentacles pierce the metal walkway hew as standing on. They wrap around it and grip it tightly before tearing the entire walkway from its placements, lifting it and preparing to drop it on Afton...


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

Chapter 311: Strategy.

As the walkway falls towards Afton he barely dodges it by hopping backwards. This doesn't achieve much however as Patient Zero simply swipes the walkway with its tentacles, managing to clip Afton and smashing him through one of the building's deteriorating walls. Almost falling down the cliff before luckily catching himself.

[Grit is in effect]

He shakes his head to rid the disorientation and gets to his feet, he coughs slightly from having the air forced from his lungs but regains his breath quickly.

*Thunk, Thunk, Thunk*

Every step Patient Zero makes sounds like a tree being felled and hitting the floor, its sheer weight making even blind creatures aware of when it's moving. Afton glances up and sees the monster slowly approaching, it's tentacles prepared to stab and grab at him.

He unconsciously shuffles back slightly but reaches the very end of the cliff, glancing backwards at the large drop that doesn't seem survivable in the least. Not having much other choice, he draws the LAER and starts firing a spray of tri-beam lasers at it.

Most lasers actually hit the target, but only seem to burn some of the bark instead of actually piercing deeper or doing any true damage. Patient Zero grunts slightly with each impact but doesn't seem injured at all.

Using VATS, he freezes time and looks around for anything he may be able to use against the monster. There isn't much up there in all honesty, aside from the building which is inhabited by Patient Zero and a number of Spore Plants. The only exit, the walkway, had been destroyed moments ago, making leaving rather difficult.

If Afton had a larger area to fight the monster, he was sure he'd be able to kill it fairly easily, but unfortunately, he was at risk of being torn limb from limb the longer he stayed within tentacle length of it.

After looking around for a while he finally spots some outcroppings where the walkway had been... Perhaps he could hop down and escape this place?

Resuming time, he dodges sideways to avoid some tentacles while drawing his Inversal axe, slicing cleanly through them and causing Patient Zero to growl in annoyance or maybe pain? He sprints towards the drop where the outcroppings were and attempts to jump... Only to find a tentacle wrapping around his ankle, pulling him into the air and slamming him against everything solid.

"FUUUUUCK!" Afton shouts as he's bashed against the canyon walls, the metal of the building, many of the roots around the place, and even the ground. He tries to escape the tentacles grip with strength alone, the damage he was taking boosting his [Grit], and in combination with [Solar Powered] he had around 16 Strength now.

Still, it wasn't enough to pry himself from its grasp, he attempted to cut away the tentacle with his Inversal axe but after cutting it, found another grabbing the same spot. After a few moments of being slammed around, Afton grabs a root and resists the tentacles pull, his muscles straining in the contest of strength.

He manages to wrap his legs around the root to keep hold while aiming his LAER at one of the Spore Plants around Patient Zero... He was quite a distance away, but he was willing to waste all of his ammunition on this task.

It's awkward to fire the rifle with one hand, but he's forced to regardless, he fires many, many shots towards them. Eventually clipping the stem of a Spore Plant.

*BOOM!*

Plasma explodes from the creature as [Meltdown] activates, incinerating it, and a few nearby Spore Plants, causing a chain reaction which envelopes Patient Zero entirely. The tentacle holding Afton's leg drop off lifelessly, and he quickly climbs down from where he was holding on for dear life.

He doesn't even take a second glance at the dust cloud caused by the explosion as he jumps down to the outcropping to reach the canyon passage below, hopefully never having to see Patient Zero again.

Once Afton reaches the canyon passage below, he falls into some deep foliage that'd somehow been growing down here, despite the lack of sunlight.

He unconsciously releases a deep growl at being caught in yet more plants. Activating his Inversal axe and slashing it all around him, destroying many saplings, bushes, and even some hidden enemies that'd been hiding.

After his short reign of destruction had ended, he huffed and sucked in air, glancing around at the small area cleared of plants. "I really, fucking hate plants..." he mutters.

*SMASH!*

Afton looks up to see what the sound is and noticed many stones falling from the cliff wall towards him. He avoids them and tries to see what'd caused it, grimacing when he spots tentacles thrashing around up where he'd left Patient Zero... Apparently, it wasn't as dead as he'd thought.

He bites the inside of his cheek and decides on a 'strategic retreat', when really meant, running away and coming back later with the biggest flamethrower he could find.

Despite his dislike of plants, his fear of Patient Zero allowed him to quickly make his way through the jungle-like canyon passage. He was forced to kill many creatures on the way, Spore Plants, Spore Carriers (presumably from unfortunately Lobotomites), and other mutated strains that'd infected plants. He even saw a mutated potato plant that shot rock-hard potatoes... Yeah, the Irish would love that thing, but not Afton.

Eventually, after much trouble, he made his way out of the fungus infested zone, inwardly celebrating at escaping in one piece, despite the injuries he'd sustained by Patient Zero... His ankle, back, neck, and arms were incredibly sore, though now that he was back in the sunlight they'd be slowly repairing themselves.

Just to make sure though, "Nyx, could you give me a stim to help my injures?"

"I'll begin treatment." Nyx says, speaking for the first time since he found himself in the fungus infested region. Perhaps she was upset at not being useful at all in the battle?


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

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