Kiri fell onto the hard floor as the monster's arm was blasted into pieces. The knife clanged violently against the wall after being flung away. At the same time, the man was roaring in pain as it tried to regenerate its arm that was blown to bits.
‘Focus.’ Khale held his arm forward, changing it from a rifle into a shotgun. The man, with his newly recovered arm, dug its fingers into the ground, creating force and momentum, then– he leapt forward with incredible speed towards Khale.
Khale blocked the man's strike with his shotgun arm.
He slid one foot backwards to absorb the impact before driving the butt of his shotgun arm straight to the man's jaw.
Khale did not stop. He relentlessly shot the man with his guns, aiming to hurt, but not kill him.
The man caught a few bullets, and deflected some. But most dug straight through his skin.
Instinctively, the man broke through the wall he was slammed to, trying desperately to escape and get the upper hand again.
Khale prepared to chase after him, he changed his arms back to normal. But as he was about to run after the man.
“Wait.” Kiri called out. “It’s bait. He's stronger in the dark. You can't possibly fight him there.”
Khale only turned his head to the side, “I'm not letting the threat escape.”
“Of course. But it's deliberately luring you.” Kiri clung onto Khale's shoe.
‘Who does this kid think he is?’ Khale thought to himself, clenching his fist.
Just some rich kid, obviously underestimating Khale, just like everyone else.
He shook his head, “You won't understand. This could be my only chance.”
Kiri's face was visibly perplexed. “Chance? For what?”
Khale tugged his foot away from Kiri's grip. “I’m not like you. No one understands me. No one believes me.”
A soft breeze grazed both of their faces.
“I've got something to prove.” Khale immediately went back to chasing the man.
Khale followed the blood trail the man left, leading a straight path. But somehow, the trail was cut off midway.
He lost track of the man, he searched, and searched, from rooftops, to the insides of cars, but to no avail. His patience only kept growing thin until–
‘Screw this.’ He started tearing everything open. Garbage bins, doors, windows, but still, he found nothing.
The sounds of his hopeless tantrum echoed throughout the alleyway.
But it was futile. Staying here being angry solves nothing.
Khale trudged back, taking out a map of the alleyway from his backpocket. As he was analyzing the map–
He tripped over something. Something heavy. He hit his head hard on the floor.
‘Ow! What the f…’ He sat upright, holding the back of his head with his hand. The thing he tripped on… was a slightly opened manhole. He hadn't even noticed it before. Khale yanked the cover aside, and poked his head through. The sewer was cold, and the air stank worse than the alley itself.
‘I feel bad for anyone who has to maintain this…’ Then again, it's better than the current loop of distrust and discrimination that his current job gives.
Khale continued his search through the sewer.
It was dark, not pitch-black dark, but not enough to see full details of certain things.
Khale roamed as he tried to recall the image of the possessed man.
‘The curse… He’s tied to the curse alright.’
Just then, something tiny lurked through the shadows, as if it were running from Khale.
Khale turned his finger into the barrel of a derringer, and shot it dead with pinpoint precision. The thing– or creature didn't even make a noise. The only thing that wasn't hidden in the shadows was the blood spewing out of it.
Khale walked up closer to what he had just shot.
‘Just a rat…’ It seemed as if Khale was acting out of impulse, or fear.
Suddenly, the sound of claws scratching against damp concrete echoed through the sewer. Khale turned.
Rats. A mischief of rats huddled around the corner of the sewer. Some were flipped on their back.
In the middle of the swarm was black goo.
The goo seemed to glow, and the puddle seemed to grow.
The rats were drinking it up.
He stared down at it, realizing danger was nearby.
Then, he felt something liquidish drip down onto his neck.
He immediately wiped his neck with his hand, and…
The liquid wasn't water. It was a dark-red color, and it smelt like metal.
Then another drop, on the top of his head.
Khale looked up.
The man was hanging upside down like a bat, eyes flaming red. His wounds from earlier closed with a rough-looking pitch-black skin.
-----------------------------------------------
Kiri sat in the empty alleyway, watching as the man ran off. Just then, something from his pocket dropped. An ID card.
Kiri picked it up.
AZURE
Special Officer Identification
ID No: AZ-16-04871Name: Khale NevadaDivision: Special OperationsRank: Field OfficerDate of Birth: 01/26/1989Sex: MaleBlood Type: O+
Clearance Level: 2Status: Active
Property of Azure. Unauthorized possession is prohibited.
‘Huh. So this is his name. Only two years older than I am-' A sharp pain stung his leg. The bleeding was worsening.
He breathed heavily and covered his stomach with his arm. Kiri was too injured to do anything, but Khale was in trouble.
He had to do something… No matter how painful it was going to be.
--
The empty sewers echoed with the sound of battle.
It was hard to see in the dark, but the possessed man kept moving at peak conditions. In contrast, Khale struggled to keep up. He resorted to using his fists as he did not have the concentration to turn his arms into weapons.
In fact, he couldn't even see properly.
The man’s flaming eyes seemed to glow brighter but did not emit light. It was an unusual phenomenon, but it meant that he was stronger in the sewers.
It truly was a trap. The kid was right…
Khale lifted his guard. No, he couldn’t take the offensive, at least not while he was stronger.
The man pulled his leg backwards, charging up for a critical strike. The sound of his foot dragging in the sewer water alerted Khale, which he responded by dashing backwards, dodging the kick entirely.
From now on, eyes won't be of much use.
--
Kiri found his duffel bag in the alleyway that he didn't have time to bring from earlier. Luckily, it wasn’t too far. He searched through the bag to find bandages.
Kiri quickly wrapped the bandages around his leg and went searching in his bag.
If there’s anything that would help him find Khale, it would be one thing. Eventually, he found it. The jar that contained the black goo. It glowed brightly, they were nearby.
Kiri staggered to his feet, carrying the duffel bag on his arm. His head still pounded but the bandage assisted as well as it could.
Kiri took a few steps, the goo glowed dimmer.
Cold.
--
The thick stench of sewage water filled the place.
‘Even my punches aren't hitting.’ Khale tried to locate where the man was. ‘I'm tired. Let's just spray and pray.’
Khale turned his arm into an Uzi.
He shot continuously, twirling his body and floundering his arms around. The man eventually got hit. It made a loud groan. Khale focused his aim towards that direction, but in a swift motion, the man jumped up towards the ceiling.
Khale accidentally shot at a pipe that was behind the man just now.
The sound of flowing water distracted him just enough that the possessed man could land a few hits on him.
BAM!
Khale was struck right at his ribs. Thank god he's been doing conditioning training. Khale staggered backwards, trying to regain balance. He held his head up again, the man gone into the shadows.
This wasn’t good. As long as he’s in the darkness, Khale will always be in the disadvantageous position.
He had to get out.
--
The black goo started to react. He was getting warmer.
Kiri ran around the block, trying to find where the goo glowed the brightest.
But it seemed impossible, at certain points the goo glowed brighter, but at certain points the goo glowed dimmer, there was no middle point. It felt impossible to pinpoint.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
How could he find the spot of two moving targets?
An idea struck the back of Kiri’s mind.
By trilaterating the source from three different points, he could get an estimate as to where they are. The targets were moving, so it wouldn't be exact, but it was far better than searching blindly.
Kiri clicked his tongue, ‘Such a rudimentary principle. How did I not think of that earlier?’
Kiri’s head pounded again, as if to answer his question.
--
Khale aimed his Uzi arm upwards. Then he formed it into a musket.
The possessed man dodged with ease. Yet some stray bullets managed to land on his body, only to be healed again.
It was no use, this was a one-sided battle. Khale needed to find an exit.
Easier said than done. The man was attacking, leaving no opening for him to look around. His best bet was another manhole.
—
Kiri found himself in the four way intersection.
Colder.
He tried another location, near the place Khale ran off.
Warmer.
Then he tried another area, not too far off.
Warmer than the first attempt, colder than the second.
He was getting close, ‘Point A is out of the question. It has to be between point B and C.’
He calculated the distance between the two points, roughly twenty meters.
Between the two points was a manhole.
‘Just as I predicted, they are fighting underground.’
—
A ray of light entered the sewer. The possessed man staggered back, it was coming from an opened manhole.
“Officer!” Kiri shouted from the top.
The possessed man jumped back to his feet, Khale wasted no time going through the manhole.
—------------------
He was back at the surface.
The man followed after him, his eyes no longer glowing.
It walked around blindly as the light pierced through the alleyway.
“I warned you, did I not?” Kiri whispered in a low tone.
Khale tried to retaliate but– “Sh.”
“Be silent. It's blind in light.”
Khale's eyes drifted off to the possessed man, seeing that his movements had become sluggish compared to before.
“We need to find a place. Somewhere we can safely devise a plan.”
Kiri walked slowly, making sure his footsteps were gentle.
Khale followed his movements, and tiptoed behind him.
They came to a stop at the rooftop of a low building, watching the possessed man from below as he searched for them.
“First things first, your ability to create guns from your body parts… Is that the doing of a Core?” Kiri queried.
“...That’s confidential information I’m afraid.”
“Do you want to live or not?” Kiri put his hand over Khale's shoulder.
Silence stood between the two of them.
“... Besides, I happened to find your dropped Azure ID” added Kiri.
Khale’s eyes widened, he searched his pockets. Only to find them empty. “Relax, I’ll return it as soon as we’re done here. For now, let’s decide on a plan.”
“So now, answer me. How does your power work?”
Khale hesitated once again, “If I answer that, I might get in trouble.”
“Trouble? What kind of trouble is worse than death itself? Letting that creature roam free?”
“It’s just the rules.” Khale shrugged.
Kiri held Khale's shirt by the collar, “I'm unable to come up with a plan if you're not willing to cooperate.”
“Then damnit, DON'T!” Khale pushed him away.
The possessed man below looked around, the commotion reached his ears.
“Are you trying to get us killed?!” Kiri snapped back.
The man faced his head upwards, to the building Kiri and Khale were on.
“Killed? I can fight him off myself.” Khale turned.
Then slowly, but surely, the man walked closer to the building.
“That arrogance will be your demise.” Kiri pointed his finger towards Khale.
The possessed man gripped the brick tiles, and made his way up the building.
“Arrogance? Please, all you rich folks know IS arrogance!”
Khale flared up.
Suddenly, something gripped Khale’s leg. A hand grabbed onto him from the railing.
Khale's eyes darted downwards, then he looked back at Kiri.
“Well, I'll be damned.” The man, with his other hand, broke the rusty metal railing and pulled Khale off the building.
For a split second, both Khale and the man were suspended in mid-air. Then, gravity took hold.
The possessed man struck the ground first, his grip forcing Khale to crash down on him.
Both were trying to recover, but the possessed man took action first.
Still holding Khale by his ankle, he rolled onto his feet and slammed him overhead. You could hear his ribs crack on impact.
Khale was on the last thread of consciousness. He tried dragging himself backwards.
The possessed man slowly rose to his feet. His shoulders were loose, and he was moving slowly, sluggishly again.
But this time, it wasn't because he couldn't see the target. Oh no, no, he knew where his prey was.
It was because he knew the target couldn't escape, so he took his time. As if time wasn't a matter to be dealt with.
He stomped on Khale’s chest. And Khale couldn't do anything but yell in pain. Then he pressed against the ground and twisted his foot around the wound.
‘Don't die here… Don't die lookin' like a damn fool…’
He leaned over Khale's battered body, and slowly raised his fist…
Khale opened his own jaw wide. His tongue shot forward.
It hardened, turning metallic as it lengthened into the barrel of a firearm. Underneath it, the frenulum twisted and thickened, forming a trigger. A Glock.
BANG!
The bullet tore straight through the man's neck. Black blood splattered onto the wall like graffiti.
BANG!
And then another blasted through his jaw.
BANG!
Then one barely grazed the skin of his forehead, as the man struggled to stand upright.
BANG!
The bullet missed.
BANG!
It missed again.
BANG!
The man was shot right at his side.
Click.
Click.
The glock was out of bullets. Khale's mouth was filled with smoke. Each bullet he shot had the recoil of a direct punch. Then, the gun melted back into the color and shape of his tongue.
The man staggered to his knees, fatigued. Khale did the same.
The only difference between the man and Khale? The man could regenerate. Slowly, his wounds began to heal. Through his weakened vision, Khale saw the man arise.
‘This… No. I haven't proved anything…. I’m not leaving this dump until I prove them wrong…’
Putting all his strength onto his back, Khale unleashed a punch on the man's cranium, knocking him to the floor.
Yet that would only delay him for a few seconds.
It was completely and utterly hopeless for him.
Then, something began to drag him from behind. Khale was then picked up in a fireman's carry by a shaky force.
It was Kiri. He panted heavily as he ran slowly.
“Answer me.” He said running out of breath. “Is your power a core?”
Khale hesitated even now, but he didn't have a choice. He then gave an answer, “It’s the Core of weaponry.”
“You can turn your body parts into any weapon?”
“Only the ones which I've memorized.”
“Can you create a flaregun?”
Khale clicked his tongue, half in pain, half in disapproval, “Even if I make one, no one’s coming for help.”
“That's not the point.” Kiri placed him down, hiding beside a wheel bin. “I have a theory on the thing's weakness.”
Khale listened.
“It's afraid of light.” Kiri peeked around the wall to see where the man was. He was still on the floor, recovering the wounds.
“Its eyes are constantly closed but only in the sunlight.”
Khale thought about it. He called back to when he fought the man in the dark sewers. “Come to think of it, I saw its eyes open when I fought him in the sewer.” Khale couldn't describe it properly. “It was like a… a ball of flame. But it wasn't bright.”
“Not to mention, the thing is connected to the Core of Darkness itself. Go figure.”
“So what's your plan?”
“A flare gun emits light. You can fill in the blanks yourself.”
Khale’s eyes widened slightly, he realised what Kiri was talking about, but still, he had a doubt. “You sure it’s going down with that? It seems to be able to withstand sunlight on his skin, let alone normal light.”
“I think… The man’s body is working like an outer shell for whatever is possessing him.” He continued, “And his eyes may be the weak spot.”
“I'll pry his eyes open, then you'll shoot.”
“You're willing to put your life at stake? Getting close to him like that is risky.” Khale's duty as an officer was to care for the people.
Kiri let out a reluctant sigh, “Our lives were already at stake.”
Kiri set down his bag next to Khale, “Wait for my signal.”
He faced where the man was following them. On the surface, whatever was inside the man could not see well, hence, he could not run and only walked after them.
Kiri took out a phone from his pocket. He played a loud, obnoxious ringing noise, and threw it behind the man.
The man snapped around in an instant, drawn by the noise.
Kiri took the chance and jumped up to the man's neck, strangling him with his legs.
Khale breathed heavily against the wall, he was badly injured. His eyes felt heavy but he had to keep going.
He lifted his arm aiming for the possessed man in case Kiri gave his signal.
The man lost balance from the weight on his back, and fell down on Kiri. But Kiri didn't let go.
The man dug his fingers on Kiri's legs. The pain was burning, but Kiri didn't let go.
The man tried to resist, but Kiri had him locked up.
Kiri forced one of the man's eyes open.
“NOW!”
Khale closed his eyes. Trying to concentrate. He’s made flare guns before, but it wasn’t easy. He had to envision the exact amount of gunpowder stored into the flare. The exact size of the barrel…
Kiri struggled as the man fought back, but he kept his eyes open. The man’s eyes glowed, flaming red.
The exact size of the caliber. The color of the barrel, to the exact shade.
Slowly, his arm started to transform. His hand turned into the gun’s barrel. He walked to the middle of the narrow alley, ascended his arm to the sky, and…
BANG!
He shot.
--
A flare flew into the sky, lighting it up with bright red colors.
The officers around the area lights up in alarm, “Boss! What do we do? Looks like the field officer is in trouble!” asked one of the rookies.
The boss, the head officer who Khale talked to, lit up a cigarette. “Leave it be.” He took a drag.
“But boss!”
“It’s alright. We don’t need to waste our time with him.”
He looked back and began to walk away. Waving his hand, he added, “Just write a report and give it to that foodie sheriff. That’s all we gotta do for our part.”
--
The place quieted down after that.
The man laid unresponsive.
Kiri pushed the man off of him.
Khale slowly got up. “It's… over…”
Both of them stood over the man's body on the floor.
The man was still breathing. “He's alive.” Kiri said.
“Good.”
Kiri walked past to grab the phone on the floor.
It wasn’t over. Darkness surrounded the man’s body. He was still possessed.
“It's still not over!” Khale pinned the man down.
But just then…
Something loomed around the darkness, and from the corner of a building came out a creature.
It was dark and huge. The shape of a giant octopus.
This was not good. Another one. Possibly stronger due to its sheer size… Khale was in no shape to fight it and restrain the man at the same time.
Not now.
Anything but now.
Khale let go of the man and backed off, glancing at Kiri as they both had the same expression, fear.
At that moment, the man began to rise again.
The man’s eyes were wide open now. In the shade of the alleyway buildings, it looked almost as though it were emitting light. He stood sluggishly, as if this were his first time standing.
Khale’s vision began to become blurry. This was the end.
Then, the man turned towards the other creature made of darkness. White fire sprouted from the man's shoulder.
He lifted his arm, and made a sound that sounded like, “Shade.”
Suddenly, a large dark slash rippled through the air and the other creature was cut in half vertically.
The white fire disappeared. The black veins on the man's body returned to its original color.
The man then fell to the ground, unconscious.