Chapter Ten
Pebbles fell from the exposed sky, knocking off the remains of the mountain they were once a part of. Though the human hadn't been unconscious for long, he had fallen face-first, completely exhausted of any energy that might've kept him awake to see that where he was was no longer the mysterious, foreboding gravesite for the anguished fallen.
Yes, indeed. That had been long since erased from history. For though the strange energy that made up the source of the human's mysterious white runes travelled the galaxy, touching all those more spiritually inclined, the explosion on the planet had rendered the subterranean facility to nothing more but airborne rubble.
And where he was left was a crater that had all but eviscerated the once-awe inspiring mountain range. The alien waves nearby no longer crashed against a steadfast rock but finally began to seep their way down through the cracks in the hard rock and soft sand. Trickling down, the water was a beautiful contrast against the utter destruction that occurred just moments ago. But even then, the water itself seemed disoriented, almost as if it was unsure if it was safe to flood the newly formed crater. Perhaps the explosion was enough to permanently alter the nature of the planet itself. Whatever the case, where there were once ferocious waves fighting the good fight, there was now only still water and their newly forming streams.
The human's unconscious body, still dealing with the shock of that unbridled power coursing through, soon began to take the full brunt of the explosive aftermath. At first, it was simple dust motes littering his dirty hair. But it didn't take long for the barrage to become worse as the rest of the now-shattered mountain rained down.
Faint bonks on the head at first, the human finally began to stir when his rest broken by a sizeable rock landing on his back. "Hmm..." But though he began to shuffle about in the small pool forming below him, calloused hands relaxing and clutching rhythmically, he still did not wake. And from the mini splashes appearing in the increasing number of streams around him, time was beginning to run short for the exhausted human. They only grew in volume, size, and intensity as he remained still, the worst yet to come. But while it seemed that wouldn't be enough to wake him up, the air and pulverized mountain continued to work together trying to raise the human from his incoming grave.
Like rain, it started slowly, but without warning, it came at full force. No more was the last atoms of pebbles gently ushering him to wake. No, now the planet had a certain agency, a certain urgency, as it continued to progress the rocks' size, weight, and density. But even then, that was not enough to wake the human, his mannerisms more akin to a corpse than a living being at that moment.
Fine. A bigger one, then.
After the planet decided that, it wasn't long before the next wave of rocks began to dot the almost perfectly round hole he was responsible for. Streams that once went undisturbed with the little pebbles that went with the flow now had their work cut out for them as sizeable roadblocks cemented themselves with no intention of moving. And those roadblocks were now pelting the human's head with painful taps. "Hrn... Huh?"
With a sudden jolt, the human sat up, the shock of a large rock nearly making a dent in his head completely overpowering the sore muscles that plagued his body. His face, still dirty and bloodied from past injuries long gone, hid most of his facial features like a grim mask. But his eyebrows shooting up in alarm were plain as day visible. "What in the-?!"
Just then, the human now fully awake, it seemed the planet was no longer able to hold back the incoming storm of dense minerals about to rain down on him. Not even a second after awakening, his face was nearly bashed in when a rock the size of his head landed not so far away from him. The ensuing splash was all the incentive his instincts needed to kick into overdrive.
Without a single word, the human jumped up, ignoring the alien feeling of whatever it was that made its home in him waking up with a jolt. Though his rib cage shuddered in response to such a sensation he knew for sure he wasn't going to get used to any time soon, his heart fluttered for an entirely different reason. The panic he felt as he pushed himself back onto his rump only to be nearly crushed by a boulder the size of his thigh sent his brain racing than it had any right being. "Shit!"
He scrambled, cursing with every close call that almost ended his journey before it could even begin. Ain't THIS a wake-up call! God damn! The crater thankful had grown course as the nearby beach drifted into the ridiculously smooth crater. The drying sand provided footholds for traction to be gained. If not for that, the human's end would've been slightly comically: slipping and falling in the water just to be smushed by a comically large rock.
The human's straining could easily be heard over the clutter around him, though the whirlwind of whistling brought about by the boulder shower. Though the initial blast reduced everything to atoms, the same could not be said for the outer layers of the mountain. Most of it was simply displaced from its original home, which meant that sturdy formations still stuck together in large chunks. Christ on a fucking STICK; damn, that was a CLOSE one! "Oh, my GOD!" Though his gasps were erratic with every close call taking his breath away, it wasn't as bad as it was when the ratfolk chased him down. In fact, for whatever reason, though his body was sore, it did not scream out. He was just... tired now.
It was like that extremely short rest was all he needed for his body to get a full night's sleep. Which barely makes ANY sense but- hey! He finally managed to push himself onto his feet, his evasions no longer animalistic but calculated dodges and side steps. That wasn't to say he was calm. His wheezes as he almost lost his balance and surprised, panicked exclamations reassuring reminders that even though he now housed an eldritch being AND energy in his bosom, he was still plenty human.
He had only a second to view his surroundings. He didn't even realize where he was until he stood still for a second to spin around. There: the outside of the crater was just in front of him, the incline an entrancing escape from the rocks blown sky-high. It should be pretty easy to dodge the shits up there. He hesitated for not even a second, his dash forward swift as surprisingly strong legs propelled him forward. HEHEHE-RE goes!
It seemed in a twist of fate, the very things that were trying to kill him were now the only way he was going to be able to make it out of the colossal mess he made for himself. Their weight and the velocity garner could crush him in less than a second, but then, like all things in life, the bad also came with good. From how hard they crashed back down into the pale grey rock below him, they became miniature steps for the human to take to escape, the steep incline not as daunting as it seemed at first sight.
The human wasted not a second. The human's mind was slower than his feet as he bounded forward. His barely functional pants were more like a loincloth and the last scraps of his right thigh. But the human didn't feel the least bit exposed or vulnerable because of his lack of clothing. In fact, with every hop and twist in the air to dodge the deadly minerals, he couldn't remember feeling as good as he did in his very short memory.
His vitality felt endless, and though he didn't notice right now-- fighting for your life against the forces of nature would do that you-- his muscles were rippling with strength untold. Mind you, he was just barely able to keep up with the fight. But there was an undeniable fact he could not ignore. He felt different... Powerful. Not so long ago, he felt none of those passions; weak, pathetic... afraid: these disturbances plagued his doubtful soul.
But now, that was farthest from the mysterious case that had become the awoken human. As he fought against the rocks descending with every intent to kill, he instead now felt these: strong, confident, and above all, resolved. He didn't feel much stronger physically, but as he jumped around, there was not even an inch of his soul that doubted his survival. Even if it was nothing more but a placebo effect of confidence gained from whatever was inside that orb invading him, he had to admit: it worked like a charm. I've come this far. Some rocks won't do me in. Not today, at least!
Narrowly dodging a rock that had coincidentally been sharpened to a razor's edge, the human winced in pain. But the worry that barely spawned vanished in but a moment. For when time slowed down, the adrenaline sparking a flame in his body that loosened and powered his muscles to something near-superhuman, he was able to look beyond the fray of falling rock. Well! Shit! Am I already at the edge?! But I could've sworn that I was just... "Eh, screw it! Hup!"
The human landed on the ground with a roll, dodging the last of the falling rocks within an inch of his life before he found himself sandwiched with a giant boulder. It managed to keep its former self as part of the large cliff face together: it was practically the size of a small house's wall. It hid him well from anything that might've survived such an explosion.
As he spun and coordinated himself, the human's hands and feet were waiting to spring away like a frog. But to his surprise, as he looked up, ready for action, the human's shoulders relaxed as he looked up to see a parted, clear sky. Looks like the worst of it is over... His eyes followed large black dots growing smaller and smaller the further they went away from him. "Gah!"
Recognizing that the life-threatening boulders that rained from the sky finally came down from their temporary home in orbit, the rested human didn't hesitate to fall onto his back, gasping loudly. He was taking this moment to rest his sore body before anything ELSE could take him off guard. Lord knows there's probably more just around this corner. Yup. Knowing my luck, after what I've been through, some fucker probably wants to try and kill me for blowing up his beach or something stupid like that. Speaking of blowing up...
The human faced the sky as sweat trickled down into the stone-infested sand now below him. When he first escaped, the entire planet seemed to be on the cusp of releasing a major tropical storm. Now, as he looked back up, his breath was taken away. If it weren't for the damn rocks and this gray-ass sand, it kinda feels like...
Like home...
The human lied there, mystified by just how... at peace he was. Sure, he could still hear the boulders falling down from around here, but the little peddles that landed on his bloodied face were more like sweet raindrops tickling his face. For some odd reason, such a sensation seemed... familiar to him. Like it was an intrinsic part of who he was... or once was. A part of him was simply content to lie there and experience the beauty of the moment. After all the commotion, the intrigue... the pain, he really wanted nothing less. Another time... Another place? I would've loved to be here. Big ol' martini, lawn chair perhaps? "Hmm..."
But with a snort of restlessness, the human closed his eyes, enjoyed the moment for one last second, and then get up with a jolt. I'll have plenty of time to relax once I'm off this world. Now the question is... how do I do that?
With his back up against the 'wall' behind him, he let his long hair act as a cushion as he admired and examined the world he caused to be flattened so. Damn, I really did do a number on this place! Flat as a board...
He wasn't exaggerating, either. However it happened, the crater he came out of was barely a few hundred meters wide. But, of course, his thighs knew all too well just how deep down he was, feeling like they jumped up a few kilometres in the distance. It took him quite a while to hop and dodge away from the ensuing bombardment despite what it felt. It was just like when one jumps into a cold swimming pool or when a small dog with foam at its mouth begins to chase you; you don't notice how time flew by until you've hopped a fence.
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But the area where there was once a grand cliff face that took his breath away? Nothing. Simply... flat. The world around him was positively wiped clean. Like someone took an eraser and a ruler and just... swept the slate clean. And because of that, the cold, fluid sensation curling around his nearly exposed rear and toes could be only one thing. Damn place is flooding around me!
It wasn't just his crater where the once-raging seaside waves soon became nothing more than numerous gentle streams. Like the aftermath of a hard war finally won, the newly formed beach was slowly but surely losing its dry surface as the water began its conquest. Yet, the human wasn't nervous, no matter how it gushed around him. It... kinda feels nice, actually! Just sucks that I still gotta deal with this fucking great situation I've stuck myself in...
How do I get out of here?
It was just then, as he peered off into the new horizon before him, that the human truly realized... just how EMPTY this planet had become. And that no matter how powerful he had become from... whatever was inside that orb, NONE of that would matter if he just didn't find a way off this planet.
At the moment, it offered nothing except for loud splatters of water and the thumps of sand being displaced. It wasn't deafening, but depending on which way the coastal breeze was going, it would've been hard to hear something just a few hundred meters away. There are was truly... nothing. No doom, no salvation, nothing.
Apart from the occasional rock falling from orbit, that is. The only companion he had in the suddenly bland realm around him was the wall-like rock holding him up. To that, he patted the surface behind like it was a dear old friend, though he rolled his eyes as the realization about his current circumstances really set in.
At least from where I'm sitting, there ain't SHIT! No other rock formations, no hills, no towns, no nothing! He groaned, throwing his hands in the air as he got comfy, trying to make the best of a hopeless situation. What a boring-ass-! Just then, his dirty hair flew back as his sight was interrupted rather abruptly. A huge rock the size of him landed right by him, charred black as it came back down from orbit, caused the water to cake his face.
It finally wet his bloodied features enough that they dripped down his body. While the impromptu shower was something he did appreciate, the cold alien sea starting to wipe the grim from his face, there was also still the fact he nearly got crushed.
"O-oh." His lips tightened, and his head went back awkwardly and slowly, making sure that was the last of the rocks. From what he could tell, it was. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed, being all but completely caught off guard just then.
If he wasn't so shocked, the human would have noticed how the mix of blood, dirt, and sweat flowed down his body in a nightmarish display. But that rock simply could not be ignored, its purpose clear enough to the shook human. It served as an embarrassing reminder that made him sheepishly scratch the back of his head, as if he could feel the planet itself glaring at him, daring him to finish his thought. Okay, MAYBE that MIGHT be my fault. I wasn't expecting to NUKE the damn planet, that's for sure!
The planet seemed to take that into consideration as the majority of the rocks seemed to have finally landed, which meant that the loud shower around him quieted down enough for him to concentrate. Though he still timidly looked around-- he was beginning to theorize was ACTUALLY ALIVE somehow at this point-- he huffed and blew wet hair out of his face.
His palm, with his elbow placed on a knee pulled in closed, held a contemplative chin. He squinted off into the distance, and he willed the planet into revealing something that might help him. Literally fucking anything, huh? What about it?
Sadly, no matter how hard he sat there staring determinedly into the distance, nothing but some more orbital rocks returning home revealed themselves. Though he still didn't give in to defeat, not after everything he promised to himself and that poor family, he couldn't lie to himself: things were looking grim for him. Oh, damn it all.
Now well aware that the planet had a vendetta against him, the human shut his eyes and hung his head hopelessly. Can't really blame ya, bud, considering... well...
He waved his hand like he was shooting a bug, gesturing to the flattened landscape slowly but surely becoming populated by the airborne aftermaths. "Yeah." He sighed despondently, bringing the back of his two hands to rub away the trails of blood and salty alien water from his eyes. Gotta think, damn it! What... "What in the world?!" For a split second, his eyes opened, and that was all it took for him to see them.
Dark runes plastered the back of his hand now. He gapped like an idiot put on the spot. "Wha..?" They didn't jump out at him like a spider waiting for the right time. Instead, they just remained set in his flesh. Quickly, his curiosity took over the place of his alarm. "What is... this?" He examined his entire hand now, flicking his wrist multiple times as he alternated between examining his palms and the back of his hand. Both were completely riddled with the dark runes that looked so awfully familiar to him.
Then it clicked. I... know these! These are the same fucking things as that white energy-stuff-or-whatever. He didn't know a lot; he would admit that much right now. But there was no denying it: they were of the exact same design as the mysterious energy that appeared not so long ago when he first escaped onto the beach by busting that door open. Or, more importantly, when those white lines returned to his body after crushing the covering of the orb that was the cause of his current surroundings. Th-this doesn't make any sense. Those shits disappeared after I... somehow activated them. And they just... faded away. Did I picking up that orb cause them to engrain those weird-ass designs in me?
He let out a breath of amazement, taken back by how smoothly they curled around his fingers like spiralling snakes. After crawling just below his fingernails, the snake-like tattoos that went back down into his palm were something he could only describe as an alien symbol of rigid edges and smooth insides. Whatever it meant, he had less than a clue; he was completely baffled. Nevertheless, the very outer edge of his lips curled upwards, pleased that he was given something other than the woe around him to concentrate on.
Funnily enough, other than the runes started to fade as they passed his wrist, they were nowhere else to be seen. The runes on his chest that appeared grabbing the orb didn't feel they need remind him of their presence like the ones on his hand. Those runes stayed below the surface. At least, from what I can see right now. A single eyebrow went up, a thought coming into his mind. I can't really see my back, now can I? "Hmm..." Now I wonder...
With a minor bout of imbalance, the human stood up with his two hands on his hips. "Koshoooo! Mmmm..! Gah, there we are! Now..." Cracking his back with two hands, the human was surprised by just how relaxed his body felt. On with the most important observation yet. Swinging his arms twice each way, the last of the human's back was cracked, allowing optimal efficiency in looking behind himself.
But it wasn't his shoulders or neck he wanted to make sure were free of the same runes that didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. He had his sights on only one important thing. And what he saw nearly made him fall down in surprise. "I'll be god damn-! Holy LORDY! M-my ass! Man, what happened to YOU?"
There it was. It finally happened. The out-of-the-woodworks thing that the human could have never prepared for. Out of everything that had happened to the human thus far, THIS was the cherry on top of the rather bizarre cake that was being made.
Perhaps it was the orb that was supposedly supposed to strengthen him that caused IT to happen. Or perhaps it was the unwanted, nonconsenting alien who had taken up shop within his rib cage that added some extra mass from the deceased Big Boss. Whatever the cause and reasoning, one thing was for certain to the human.
He looked off into the distance, bewildered to no end. But soon, his senses came back and with them, a demand for the answer to the endless questions he now had. He knocked hard on his ribcage, and from how the alien within reacted by tensing up against the blunt trauma, he assumed he got its attention. "You. Asshole. Ya hear me?"
He didn't even wait for it to make a movement of acknowledgement. I've got a pretty bad feeling this fucker is basically me at this point. But at least it should know what the HELL I'm pointing at! "Do you see this shit; feel it?! Why is my ass so damn MUSCULAR! Out of everything on my body? My arms, my legs, abs; none of these seem any fucking different, but my ASS!?"
Now, he wasn't even talking to the rather equally perplexed alien. No matter how it writhed being disturbed like so, he couldn't care less about the awkward feeling around his heart. He just couldn't stop admiring himself. "Mama! Now that..!" He kept on looking, flexing and unflexing, practically hypnotized by his new rear and its newest capabilities. "Oh, now that is something I could get behind."
It took him a second to get the pun he just made, but upon realizing it, he let out a single, loud laugh. He had almost forgotten what it was like to let out a guffaw like that. But one thing was certain: it eased his spirit and gave him some much-needed positivity.
Something he would need to get him through what was about to skim right over his head.
While he admired himself, the combined sound of his admirations and amazement, as well as rock falling into the growing puddles... kept something veiled from him. But it really didn't try and hide from him as pieces fell out. To a normal person, the disturbing sight of a small, scrapped-together-quickly plane barrelling towards them, engulfed in black smoke, would be cause enough to run as far away as possible. For him, it was quite the opposite, in fact.
His ignorance was just that monumental. Mistaking the shattered metal frames peeling off its wings for just more rocks, the human only continued to gawk at himself. Luckily, for him at least, one of the last of the giant rocks plummeted and met the plane midflight. A giant ball of flame erupted from the side of the pathetic metal beast, as most of the last remaining essentials were ripped from the side. To the degenerates inside, it was catastrophic. Seeing the last of the sheet-metal chassis untouched by the unknown nuclear blast being torn off in a split second only confirmed that their violent descent was inevitable.
But to the human, the smell of burning oil smelt oddly... familiar. A faint ocean breeze blew his way, which meant that he didn't even need to breathe in to smell what was incoming. To say he was puzzled would be the understatement of the year. "What in the world?" His head went up like a dog, face scrunching as he took in another deep breath to really confirm what he smelt. His eyebrows went up before he squinted, taking his eyes off his rump as she twirled around, searching for the source. "Is that... chicken? Where in the fuck... is... Oh, my-!"
"S-s-shit!" The make-shift ship's 'ambush' had been sprung, and though the human would never admit to anyone living soul he would soon meet, he was completely taken by surprise. In a fit of panic, as his alarm got better than him, he found himself trapped behind the rock behind him. He looked back at the wall like his best friend in the whole world-- which in his case wouldn't really be that far off-- just stabbed him in the back. Traitor!
The roar of the shoddy metal bird flying to meet its earthly grave was more like the final death groan of steel melting and wires snapping. The air rushing around served only to further ignite the fires engulfing the ship, giving it a rather hellish appearance like it was a demon from the depths coming to claim his soul. And he had nowhere to go, considering that even if he was to dash to the left or right, such was the girth of it that it would end up with him being crushed either way.
When the plane flew right over him, it split itself down the middle with the tip of the rock. He nearly felt his ears combust as he was standing right below the cause of the most unearthly, unnatural shriek of metal being torn asunder he had ever heard. His hands went over his ears, and he collapsed to his knees as he felt his entire head vibrate. The pain was nearly as bad as when he felt his jaw being crushed by the force of that midget rat's cyber-enhanced fist.
His eyes opened up, and he saw how the once peaceful grey tone of the sand below had become ghastly orange and black, and instead of little rocks sprinkling the landscape, it was the ashen, charred remains of inadequate hulling.
Over as quickly as it came, he watched with shaking eyes as the near-disaster passed overhead, crashing not so far away behind the wall where he now rested his body. It's gotta be... a hundred meters or so... He slid down the wall, the ringing in his ear making him wince with every inch he went down. Oh, my god. What was... Who was that? He wasn't too sure if he spoke that aloud or not. His auditory senses were far too overwhelmed to be sure, and his entire head was numb.
Shell shocked into silence, he sat. There was nothing he could do except breathe heavily for a few minutes. With the roar of the metal bonfire nearby being as intense as it was, the cold water below him was all that more welcoming. He yearned to do nothing more shrink into it, no longer so ready to move on as he was mere moments ago. But he knew that simply was not an option, especially with something this energizing. If there wasn't a clearer sign from the universe..!
Undaunted by that mentally but certainly not physically, he fell onto his hands and knees. He gained his bearings, but he couldn't help the wave of nausea that seemed to be amplified twice over by the alien inside him, who was most definitely feeling as disturbed by the close call as he was. He groaned in misery, though he certainly didn't punish the alien inside of him for feeling that way as well. Besides... I don't think I can puke up anything else. And I don't want to find out what puking up my stomach would feel like. Giving you a good whack? Yeah. That'd do it.
Instead, he let his body weight take him forward onto his hands, and through the work of a higher power to be sure, miraculously, they held him up. One-one... hand after the other, man. Christ, what the hell just happened?! Well, whatever that was, it was fucking BIG! Taking him around in a circle, it was no longer his back that faced the wall but rather his face now. I... gotta see this shit for myself! There could be people still in there or something.
Propping himself up on one hand, the other trailed down the now-slick-with-oil wall until he found a good grip on the edge of the rock that denied him the knowledge he wanted. It's just around this corner. For whatever reason, deep down, there was a part of him that didn't feel so comfortable doing this. And it wasn't just because he suffered the trauma that comes with nearly becoming paste beneath a flaming scrap heap. Something ain't right here...
He couldn't have been more right, for both thoughts. Not only were there people now flying out a collapsing landing ramp desperately trying to escape the billowing smoke that infested the inside of the plane... but he recognized them too. The only other aliens he knew besides those dead and those in his misty memories.
Any concern he had for the denizens flew away from him at such speeds that even their crash would never be able to compare. His heart raced with an emotion he was becoming far too familiar with. It brought back his hearing faster than he could have predicted, and simply hearing their idiotic accented slurring was enough for the emotion to increase tenfold. He was far too focused, peering with one eye to notice his grip was cracking the wall that hid him from sight.
What he felt was unbridled rage. His lips were beginning to curl back as he leaned against the wall, the fatigue he felt fading away as his muscles went taught with strength. His eyes were narrow in concentration, but not because he was scheming how to escape.
He had made up his mind what the next course of action was the moment Big Boss' replacement flew out sputtering. He hissed silently, though because of the nearby wreck, he would've been safe to scream if he so desired. The other lackeys, even the midget, came out next. Oddly enough, he didn't see the gross female who desired him. Whatever happened to her, he honestly couldn't have cared less. "It's these rats again..!"
You smarmy little BASTARDS!