Chapitre 3: The End?
(This and all of this volume are a part of the old version of Howler. Look out for the remastered version in the next volume releasing late 2023)
Thirteen years ago:
The dawn was fierce. Thunder rolled, and lightning threatened the heavens. Yet, there were no clouds in its favour. The sky was at its clearest. A lone building stood, brave and mighty. Its presence was daunting, though even more daunting was the scene unfolding between its walls.
A child with only seven years to his name was unleashing a ghastly terror. He stood there, towering over dozens of soldiers. They had all fallen to his hand. Sparks of electricity spiralled around his body. His psychotic laughter echoed throughout the bloodstained halls.
"André!"
A familiar voice called out to the boy; it was furious, "You've gone too far, boy! These are all trained soldiers and assassins, my assassins, your superiors!" The man with the blurred face rushes towards the child, grabbing him by his torn shirt. The boy was covered in bruises, blood and sweat. He looked the man dead into his eyes, then spat next to his foot. "Ha, superior? Those weaklings? You're delusional, old man. Oh and, you better let go, geezer," the child glared at the man, clouded by his overwhelming thirst for destruction, "Or else I'll have no choice but to kill you!"
Instantly, lightning engulfed his right arm. He swung his bolting arm towards the man's head. Then...
Everything became black.
Present-day:
"Sorry darling, but this is where we part. I had lots of fun; you really know how to show a girl a good time! I would love to play more, but you know how it is. My body would be such a waste as a corpse. I'm sure you understand."
And just like that, she raised her sharpened hand and went straight for his throat.
However, a bolt of electricity sends Orochi skyrocketing across the room. All eyes were on André as his body arose, lifelessly. His eyes were glowing a pale, icy blue. Random sparks of electricity surrounded his body. With every step he took, the floor shook.
'I- I- I can't control my body. Leoandré? Where is he?'
Soon his body had taken him to where Orochi had landed. There lay a grotesque pile of rubble, flesh and blood. Behind her was a crater. Her bloodshot eyes tore open as she stood, frantically resuming her vicious barrage of rapid physical attacks. This time, however, something was different. None of her attacks made contact with him. Instead, somehow, she was sustaining damage.
The only part of the body André could control was his eyes. He rolled his sight around the room frantically, searching for the child Abadina gave him only hours before. No luck. It was out of his sight range. He cursed at himself internally. 'Why? Why is this happening to me? And why do these visions keep flooding my mind? Why can't I move?' He shifts his gaze downwards to his arm. To his surprise, his muscles were growing. His speed was also increasing, and bit by bit he regained control over his senses.
'I- I can hear her heartbeat and her attack pattern! The only way to make it out of this alive is to fight. I can feel my power and speed increase. If I keep trusting my body to evade and counter strike, I should be able to at least...'
And just like that André saw an opening and his body obeyed, assaulting Orochi with a swift uppercut, completely shattering her jaw.
'...Knock her down!'
"Aghck! Gahck!"
Blood gushed from her mouth and her petite body collided with the ceiling, destroying the cedar wood leading to the upstairs rooms. There she was, dangling from the ceiling. Blood streamed from her neck down her body, dripping at her fingertips and cloak.
"Wheeeeeeeew," he whistled.
André's ear twitched at the clapping. He turned towards the sound. Through icy vision, he saw the culprit. "What a spectacular performance, André was it?" Snorochi was walking towards him dragging Leoandré with him and grinning from ear to ear.
"Bas-" André stuttered, "-stard."
His finger twitched towards his child but his body never followed his orders. His muscles were thirsty for only destruction and death. "You've done well. You should be proud. You were able to surprise me, I thought humans didn't have supernatural abilities," Snorochi sharpened his claws. His human-like head morphed into one of a snake.
"Now that I think about it," he lifted Leoandré up by his throat. "For about twenty years something was blocking our Earth drones from notifying us on Howler related activity. It seems this planet has become infested with Howlers. I must purge Earth!"
"N-no! Do-don't touch h-im b-b-bas-t-tard..." André didn't move. He couldn't move.
"Foolish twerp. You can never trust a snake!"
Snorochi glared toward the unexpected voice when a sudden beam of pure white light shot down from the room above as if it was a message from heaven itself. By a hair, the snake man evaded a direct hit from the blasts gigantic range. Two-meters. His head shot up vengefully.
Through the dust and light, he could see two figures. One was six-foot tall and extraordinarily muscular, whereas the other was five foot eight and appeared scrawny and slim.
"Tsk!"
Inside the light was a glimmer of darkness. The darkness shone brightly, singing a silent melody concealed by the light.
In a desperate attempt to escape, Snorochi launched Leoandré into the eye of the beam, watching him as his quickly disintegrates into nothing.
"LEOANDRÉ!"
André's screams were like rolling thunder. Every piece of technology in the room went haywire, lighting shot in a blinding rage, randomly destroying everything it touches.
"You dirty bastard! I swear I will kill you! What have you done with my SON!"
Blinded by anger, André dashes towards Snorochi. Lightning surrounded his feet, boosting his speed tremendously. He grabs Snorochi's throat, still sprinting, and bombards him into the stone wall. Snorochi gasped for a moment. At first, he seemed shocked, but his spiteful expression quickly returned.
He wrapped his snake-like tail around André's neck, wringing it out mercilessly. André's grip loosened as he fell to his knees gasping frantically for oxygen. Soon afterwards all the technological devices in the room returned to normal. Every bold of lighting disappeared as if by magic. His eyes went from an icy-blue glow to their regular golden brown shade.
Snorochi's maniacal laughter bounced off the broken walls. He looked up and saw the light. The two figures were gone. He laughed even louder. He grabbed a handful of André's Locks and looked him in his eye.
"So, my second Howler of the day, I just want you to know that I am clearly doing you and your feeble planet a favour. Hahaha! You see soon you may join your son, oh and his mother," Snorochi laughs, "And the Earth will be purged."
Snorochi raises his free hand with its sharpened claws. And just like that, he impales André. A direct hit. Straight through the heart.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone