Chương 29: The Pig
Holden found himself at the end of the dirt trail, looking up at a massive structure. Behind him were Jackson and Natasha, as well as a mass of corpses left in his wake. Any pig spawn that tried to slow him down received a brutal end. Some were decapitated while others were simply mauled beyond the point of return. Now all that remained for Holden was to enter the building before him. It appeared to be about thirty feet in height, the coloration applied to the metal sheeting of the exterior faded away under the intense rays of the sun. A murder of crows aligned the roof's ridges, glaring down upon all who stood below them with complete apathy. This, however, was not the most noticeable thing about the place. It was the smell. The unmistakable mark of death soaked into the noses of anything in the building's radius. Without regard for anything else the putrid odor hacked away at the senses. Though Holden and Natasha paid it no mind, Jackson found himself covering his nostrils and fighting to retain his balance as best he could while his nose adjusted to the stench.
Holden approached the wood doors and feverishly bashed his arms against them, having absorbed the sturdiness and power of the board he'd grabbed prior. After only a few swings the material crumbled and he stepped inside, silent as ever. Trailing shortly behind him, Natasha and Jackson made their way through the opening and saw what Holden was drawn to.
As they'd correctly predicted the room was filled to the brim with pig spawn. Plastic tables were set up around the room, heaps of meat on top of them. Like a highway, the tables were pushed up against each other and all led towards the same location. A stage, one meant to house dozens of people comfortably. All that space was appropriated for a different purpose.
On it sat the pig, and it was more round and fat than Jackson and Natasha anticipated. Its weight could be measured in the tons as it sat wallowing in its own grime. Its once pinkish skin dirtied into a series of splotches; dark red and browns mixing together. The skin itself, however, was saggy and flabby. It drooped over the pig's eyes and ears, and a massive sack of flesh hung below the creature's throat like an extension of its chin. If the skin were wrapping, it was apparent that it was on the precipice of bursting. It had stretched to its limits already, and slight tears formed in its epidermis like a slowly unraveling rope.
Wet smacks and gurgles produced from its lips echoed throughout the room while it ate. Two of its minions stood on either side, constantly shoveling ground-up meat into its mouth. Trails of blood plummeted down its chin while it gorged itself, coughing with discomfort as it slurped down flesh and bone almost faster than it could handle. In the breaks between its feeding, it heaved and gasped for air, swallowing up stuttered breaths through its oversized nose.
"Is it... stress eating," Natasha asked.
"Looks like it. I guess we freaked it out. Can't imagine Holden's doing it any favors right now. I also can't imagine he'll bother sticking to our plan. Still, with the commotion he'll cause..."
Unfiltered rage personified walked ahead, nearing the pig spawn. The beasts screeched and flung themselves at Holden. With his increased power and speed, they didn't stand a chance. Using the sharpness of the nails attached to the board he absorbed he ripped and tore through his enemies without remorse. He stabbed his hand up the jaw of one creature and out the top of its head, allowing his palm to be coated in blobs of brain matter, twisting and bending his fingers around before forcefully removing his appendages. Much like the rugged nature of the nails he imitated, his skin got caught on the tissue and muscle of his victim as he took his arm back, tearing out small chunks with it.
Having captured the essence of electricity contained in the brain's signals he shocked any cryptids who stood in his way. It took a mere touch for him to cook them from the inside out. Many ignited into flame as their bodies charred and crumbled.
"He's taken the potency of what properties he merged with and ramped them up beyond their natural capacity, presumably through a ritual. But that shouldn't be possible," Jackson said. He and Natasha kept to the back of the building, staying clear of the action.
"You two discussed it before, right? I thought he was supposed to exchange his ability to take in a bunch of stuff earlier. So how is he doing it now," Natasha asked.
"I don't know. His mobility keeps on improving like he's reintroduced the lightness of the surrounding atmosphere. And his body..."
Jackson's eyes widened as Holden took a point-blank strike to the forehead from one of the beasts carrying scrap metal. The impact did little to slow Holden who possessed the durability of iron as he stood soaked in blood. In turn, he grabbed the thing by the snout and embedded his fingernails deep underneath its skin, ripping its face off with unmatched strength.
"It would be one thing if he simply lost control and fought like an animal. But this level of precision, these rituals he's making on the fly, and his ability to ignore the condition of the ritual he enacted earlier... I knew it was the right call to observe him like this. I've never seen anything like it. It defies common sense," Jackson stated while he used his blade to quickly dispatch a few stragglers who found their way towards him and Natasha.
"And he's not looking that tired to me," Natasha added. "Before I could tell he was worn down after mild applications of his power. Now, though, I mean look at him. His efficiency is through the roof by comparison even while he's juggling more of what he's taken from his environment than before."
The closer Holden got to the pig the more it fed. Slick sweat welled up across the bloated pool-float-esque body of the obese swine while it forced every last morsel down its esophagus. When it'd finally had its fill the thing stretched its maw open to the absolute limit to regurgitate a stream of acidic bile directed at the boy, a grotesque attempt at self defense.
"Like Hell you are!" Taking the opportunity to act Jackson raced toward the cryptid and forced his blade into the top of its jaw and through the bottom. Though the pig could not move its body it threw its head back and forth as muffled squeals bounced off its forcibly closed mouth. Jackson signaled to Natasha for assistance and she obliged. She produced large, flexible mushrooms under her feet and bent the fungi back to build energy, releasing them to propel herself to Jackson's side. Without a moment to lose Natasha created thick, thorny vines from her wrists to wrap around the disgusting swine's face.
The pig hopelessly thrashed about as the pent-up bile had nowhere to go. The interrupted attack's pressure mounted inside of it, yellowish fluids beginning to overflow from its nose and eventually the corners of its eyes. Further, the duo kept their imposed seal as strong as ever, not releasing for even a moment. More fluid broke through, gushing forth like spilled cartons of rotten milk as it streamed down from the exposed orifices of the trapped beast.
As Holden cleared out the last of the pig spawn the behemoth itself finally perished, its head hanging low while it suffocated on its own gluttony. Just to be sure, Jackson destroyed its brain by impaling its head, ensuring it wouldn't come back. Slowly Natasha and Jackson released their grip and backed away. The now slain cryptid's mouth finally hung open and for at least half a minute a flow of digested, wet slop flooded onto the floor.
"Not exactly how we planned things but... it does count. Now the animals here won't have to worry about that horrible monster doing such awful things to their children," Natasha commented as she rubbed her brow with relief.
"Don't get comfortable yet," Jackson responded, "We've still got something to deal with."
The two allowed their vision to linger on Holden. Though they held no ill will towards him, their slightest desire to subdue him gave Holden enough incentive to activate the gears in his mind. With nothing else left to challenge him, he steadily advanced towards what were meant to be his allies.
"Jesus, another property... he distributed his vision again. I can't activate my ability without sacrificing something in return," Jackson said. "Even still, his movements are a little more sluggish, that much is apparent. All that fighting and usage of his ability did take a toll after all."
"Melony was right about one thing, Jackson. I prefer him when he's himself. When he's like this, it's so... creepy."
Holden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he'd launched off the ground and blitzed towards Jackson.
"He's targeting me, he knows my condition is compromised right now."
"I'll cover you!" Natasha quickly strung together a large web of flexible grass and threw the netting into the air, right in the path of Holden's trajectory. Realizing this, the boy swung his arms in a series of circular motions, shredding the greenery with his nail-produced sharpening enhancements. However, this attack did cause him to lose some of his airborne momentum, making him land just short of the pair of hybrids.
Manipulating the plasma contained within the blood that coated Holden's body he applied its ability to regulate body temperature to his fists. Unleashing a barrage of hooks and elbows at Natasha the girl was forced to expand a chunk of wood on her arm, using it as a makeshift shield. She winced as Holden's attacks engraved burn marks into her wood's surface, each blow sizzling with greatly amplified body heat.
Throwing his fist forward for a final hit, Holden finally broke through the defensive barrier. On the other side, Jackson waited behind Natasha and took the offensive, pushing his fist forward into Holden's nose over her shoulder. Taken off guard by this Holden faltered slightly before recuperating and hardening his leg with iron. He aimed a devastating kick at Natasha's face, his foot coming ever closer to her with ruthless hostility.
Except, his attack never landed.
Sacrificing the quality of one of his senses (Taste, a favorable outcome), Jackson forcibly opened a blind spot behind Holden. Using the unbridled alacrity granted by his technique he grabbed Natasha and took her with him, the two appearing out of harms way.
"Whatever Holden is using to strengthen his attacks, it's clearly something heavy. Despite how tired he is he can still keep up with us. That's only assuming he's fighting normally. When he bolsters the power of his strikes with that heavy substance, it's telegraphed with a slower-than-normal start-up time. That should also mean the follow-through and recovery time of that kick will be delayed," Jackson thought.
He positioned Natasha perfectly in the opened blind spot while deliberately moving to Holden's peripheral vision. This meant Holden caught wind of Jackson's location before Natasha's, creating yet another time buffer for Natasha to act as insurance. Having already clued in on what Jackson noticed, the girl sprang into action and whipped a series of plant-based coils around Holden's ankles and arms, restricting his movement. As Holden shifted his focus from trying to attack Jackson to now cutting through his restraints, Natasha was given enough time to cover his face from behind with her hands, pumping out a stream of prepared pheromones at point-blank range.
The calming agent began to weaken and slow Holden's body and power. Although he tried to retaliate against Natasha, Jackson took advantage of his weakened state and landed a powerful uppercut to his chin. After a little struggle, Holden's body went limp as he was rendered fully unconscious. Natasha gently lowered him to the floor and glanced up towards Jackson, a few beads of sweat occupying both their faces.
"What a terrifying power. It's no wonder Melony brought him back with us. That was amazing."
"That was stupid," Jackson snapped. "I told him to hold off from attacking. Had he listened to me, all this trouble wouldn't have been necessary."
"That's true. Still, he's doing better than before. I'd call it progress," Natasha optimistically replied.
"Better isn't good enough. He was clearly more dangerous now than the previous incarnation Melony experienced. Even after tiring himself out, he gave us that kind of trouble. If something like that were to happen in more dire circumstances... like the circus for instance. He'd have jeopardized our lives. Your life."
Natasha briefly crouched down by Holden, checking his heart rate to ensure it was stable. When she was satisfied, she gave the okay to Jackson who proceeded to sling Holden over his shoulder.
"I'm not saying he didn't mess up. Just that he doesn't seem like the type to do wrong on purpose. Or even more importantly, he doesn't seem like the type to not learn from his mistakes. That's important too, isn't it?"
"Nice platitudes I suppose. Not sure how much it'll mean in a life and death scenario," Jackson said as the two began to walk back to their base of operations.
"You act like we've never screwed up in messy circumstances. Look, just do me a favor. Don't be too hard on him when he's awake. You've been beating him up ever since Melony brought him to us. I'm sure he already knows how he messed up and doesn't intend to repeat it."
"Tsk. Fine. Depending on how he responds when he comes back to us, I won't be too harsh. If I so much as suspect he's insincere, he's not coming with us any longer. I swear you go out of your way to give cover for people's stupidity," Jackson said with a deep sigh.
"I mean... It's not a horrible thing to be headstrong even in the face of danger. You can certainly be that way, thinking you have to shoulder the responsibility for my safety. Sure you've gotten better at it. But doesn't that mean you owe it to Holden to give him that chance as well? And from what you told me, it's not just you and Holden. He was like that as well. Wasn't he?"
Jackson paused in his tracks, turning his head towards Natasha for a moment to let what she mentioned sink in. Without replying he began moving once more, the two nearing the barnyard they departed from a while ago.
—
"Wow, wow, wow! They just keep coming, don't they? They're like a horde of zombies, were they spying on us the whole time?" Cinder expertly beat back the mob of mannequins who engaged him from every angle. "Any time now, my portion will be all dealt with." The man occasionally glanced down at the time on his watch. "About fifteen seconds left in fact!"
"You're just havin the fucking time of your life aren't you?" Diego held a book in his hand, dozens of colored tabs sticking out from between the pages. He directed his attention towards the swarm of cryptids that pounced at him, ducking and dodging every swipe and tackle thrown his way. His footwork displayed perfect competency, not allowing the low-level creatures to get a hit on him.
Feverishly flipping through the tabs Diego found the section he was looking for. He opened the book and positioned the paper toward the mob, a single word written across the entirety of the page.
"Betrayal."
Upon perceiving the writing, the collective of cryptids fought with each other, scratching and clawing their brothers and sisters apart with ultimate aggression until one remained standing above all else, clinging to life in a state of irreversible disrepair.
"That one's always interesting to watch unfold," Diego commented as he approached his last remaining foe. Flipping to a second page in his book, he showed the writing to the mannequin. As soon as it witnessed what Diego showed it, it wandered to the nearest wall and began swinging its face into the surface until its head fractured and it fell motionless.
"Annnnnnd that's time," Cinder exclaimed. He turned his back to the plethora of mannequins that lashed out at him. Like a pack of wild dogs they extended their limbs towards him, centimeters away from having him in their clutches. Before they could move further, a light fixture from the roof fell and crashed down upon them, dispersing their body parts in many directions.
"Sometimes all it takes is a minute for luck to be on your side. How fortunate I could last that long," the hybrid commented after avoiding the clutches of death by seconds.
"You really ought to take more initiative. Relying on that timer of yours is going to bite you in the ass someday."
"Hm, that's a very, very compelling point. Either I can live on the edge and have an exciting life, or I can be boring and pedestrian like you. How about I think on it?" Cinder dusted himself off and stepped around the bodies sprawled across the floor as he and his partner exited the store.
"Don't be a smartass. Disregarding that, we searched as best we could. Looks like our target isn't here. We'll regroup and find it eventually, it won't be able to conceal itself for much longer with its protectors dropping like flies."
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