Jenny whipped Miriam across the face with an exoskeleton-covered tentacle. The red coating crackled, leaving an ugly groove on Miriam's white covering.

Miriam's exoskeleton was almost as strong as the Desecrated Angel's. It was dense and thick, but Jenny already knew the secret to breaking through. Multiple attacks.

It helped that the girl wasn't as strong as the angel; though the impacts of Miriam’s attacks still hurt. Jenny was falling apart from prolonged fighting with the angel and the surprise explosive attack she’d taken to the chest.

But that terrible beam attack... whatever it touched, it incinerated. It was like Jenny's Ignite but concentrated to a lethal point that burned through steel and concrete and even her exoskeleton-reinforced tentacles in a flash. Which meant, if the beam landed on her body, it was game over.

This wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped. Miriam wasn’t just some human; she was transformed like Jenny, corrupted by the Survival Challenge. Blooded and fueled by a deep ugly rage, and Jenny wouldn't be surprised if the other girl also had a Bloodlust Ecstasy Bonus.

Where Jenny tried to channel her rage into fighting the angels and surviving, Miriam completely surrendered to it. Jenny could sense the cruel cold intent through her tentacles as she whipped around, dodging Miriam's ugly, clawed wings and explosive bubbles shot out of glowing arms.

Every time she closed in, ready to sink her weapon into Miriam's neck, a wing slammed Jenny away.

If this was a fair fight and she hadn't just fought the Desecrated Angel, if she hadn't been caught off guard by Miriam's exploding bubble, she was sure she could take the other girl down easily. Even with her white exoskeleton and those creepy nightmare wings.

But Jenny was exhausted. Her throat felt like it had been scraped raw. Her muscles were already pushed beyond the point of exhaustion. She needed rest. She wanted another potion, but enough time hadn't passed. Trying that again would backfire and leave her weak and vulnerable.

Crying out in frustration, she struck Miriam over and over with her tentacles, even the shortened ones, in a cyclical barrage. Like she was spinning her arms on the playground and threatening to walk into someone.

Miriam slapped each one away, screaming and snarling, swiping with her hands and her wings. Jenny shifted gears and focused on the Desecrated Angel. That stupid thing was still alive. If she could just kill it, stomp out its pitiful existence, then she'd level up. She'd get all the Energy she needed, and even though Miriam would level up too, Jenny had the advantage of a higher level. She could stop Miriam before the girl could make sense of what had happened.

Miriam grabbed a tentacle with her teeth, ending the barrage. Her lips curved into a gruesome smile, and she bit down.

Before Jenny could scream with rage, Miriam slammed a fist into Jenny's chest. The impact set off so much pain, that her vision flashed white.

"I knew you weren't healed!" shouted Miriam gleefully through a mouthful of crackling tentacle. "I could smell it."

"You bitch," spat Jenny, raking Miriam's scalp with her claws. Her sharpened tips scraped the exoskeleton, but she curled her fingers and grabbed a fistful of Miriam's hair. She tugged as hard as she could.

Miriam shrieked. So loud and shrill, Jenny covered her ears with her shortened tentacles as the girl struggled to get away. The ugly wings snapped forward and shut, crashing against Jenny like a pair of cymbals, over and over. But Jenny only held on tighter.

Green light blossomed between them, and Jenny wrenched Miriam's head back and slammed her elbow under Miriam's chin, just as another beam erupted from her lips. Heat and energy blasted into the ceiling as Miriam screamed, clawing at Jenny's chest and straining to lower her head and hit Jenny in the face with the attack.

Rubble rained down from the ceiling. Smoke and ashes, and molten bits. The wings kept beating, hitting Jenny again and again as she struggled to keep the beam pointed firmly upwards. Just one swipe, she thought. I could slash through her throat.

Miriam snapped her teeth shut. The beam vanished, and her eyes shone bright. Pursing her lips, she exhaled a bubble instead.

Not this shit again. Jenny kicked off the floor, throwing herself backward as she crossed her arms and tentacles in front of her body. The bubble snapped, and the explosion sent Jenny flying.

She crashed into the vending machine where the red cocoon lay smushed and stuck in shattered glass. Miriam got knocked away as well, but Jenny couldn't see where the other girl landed. With the ceiling still falling apart and all the smoke and dust, Jenny could hardly see a thing.

Groaning as aches trembled through her tentacles, she pulled herself out of the vending machine, dripping red goop down her legs. Shards of glass bounced away. The exoskeleton of her arms and tentacles had burnt away, the crimson now a rusty brownish red. The rest was either weakened or crumbling, but at least she'd protected her chest this time.

She made a mental note to hug Susan extra hard to thank her for healing her arm. It would’ve been blown off by now.

Her head rung from the repeated wing attacks, and her face from exposure to the beam up close. The shimmering beam of light had looked like a pillar right in front of her, and if even just a little bit of it reached her forehead, her skull would've been incinerated.

I have to get the angel.

Trying to shake off her exhaustion, Jenny snapped her tentacles like whips. She rolled her head, sucking in deep breaths, using her tentacles to sense the angel's location. As soon as she found it, she launched herself in its direction. The creature was crawling across the darkness to where a few more Tarnished Angels climbed into the cafeteria.

She ran as quickly as she could, leaping over a debris-covered table and one of the ruined cocoons, but just as she saw the angel pulling its bones across the floor, Miriam emerged from the side. Her wings flapping, hair trailing. With her glistening white exoskeleton and wings, she looked more angelic than any of the monsters they'd faced. But Jenny was forced to turn and meet the attack head-on.

They collided in a shower of sparks. Jenny slammed a tentacle into Miriam's jaw, forcing the girl’s mouth shut as green light bubbled. A wing reached for Jenny, but golden light flashed, and she struck the wing with her hatchet, slicing through what felt like stretched skin and drawing blood.

Miriam howled and backed away, clutching her injured wing, eyes wide and teary, as though accusing Jenny of hurting her. She inhaled deeply then let loose another beam of sizzling green energy just as Jenny dashed in for another strike.

In a desperate attempt to dodge and reach the angel, Jenny used a burst of instant acceleration to cross the cafeteria floor. She threw her hatchet in the opposite direction, hoping its reflective face would draw attention away. And Miriam turned her head, trying to catch it with her beam.

Jenny came to a stop right behind the Desecrated Angel. She could see through its back. Flaps of meat stuck to its spine. How was it still alive? But it pinned a Tarnished Angel against the darkness and fed as the weaker creature screamed helplessly; the Desecrated Angel would heal. Jenny could feel it in her bones. The monstrosity was trying to patch itself together, and if she didn't stop it now, it would go after Susan and the others and get even stronger while she dealt with Miriam. She raised her claws and was just about to bury it in the creature’s back, when the green beam zipped over her head.

It ripped an ugly groove through the ceiling and the front of the cafeteria. As soon as her tentacles picked up on the oncoming heat, Jenny ducked and threw herself to the side, maneuvering maniacally to keep out of reach. She sensed Miriam closing in, and Jenny spun around right as Miriam crashed into her, viciously snarling as she knocked the hatchet away.

Swearing, Jenny pulled the other girl into a bear hug, pinning her arms to the side as they fell to the floor. She wrapped a tentacle around Miriam's head and chin to keep her jaws shut tight.

"What are you gonna do now?" she said through clenched teeth as Miriam flopped like a fish, trying to wiggle out of the embrace.

Jenny held on as tightly as she could, wrapping her legs around Miriam's. They rolled over the darkness, growling and hissing, trying to overpower each other as though they were locked in a wrestling match.

Miriam's wings beat over and over, trying to lift them off the ground and give Miriam an edge. But Jenny whipped her tentacles against the fingerlike structures, bruising and breaking and drawing blood, giving Jenny the chance to roll Miriam onto her back and prevent her from flying away.

As they spun, Jenny caught sight of Susan standing by the burnt entrance. The metal door was partially melted. She felt Susan's presence through her tentacles. Her fear. Her desire to help. Her exhaustion. But worse, Jenny could sense the Desecrated Angel healing, and every single one of her instincts screamed Danger!

The angel’s flesh was growing back slowly but surely. Its metallic skin seeped out of its shredded muscles like soapy water from a sponge, spreading and hardening.

It's healing! she wanted to call out. She wanted to scream. Kill it now! You can kill it right now and stop it!

But that moment of hesitation was all Miriam needed. Her wings spread wide. She rolled on top and flapped them hard, generating enough force to lift them both. One of her legs came free, and she kicked off the floor with another strong beat of her wings. Before Jenny could call out to Susan or attack Miriam, they rocketed through the destroyed ceiling at a speed just like Instant Acceleration.

Burnt tiles and busted light fixtures exploded. Miriam flew them straight through cement and steel. It was all Jenny could do to shield herself with her tentacles, wrapping them like protective layers above her head, and letting them absorb most of the damage as they drilled upward into the lobby.

Jenny got a quick glimpse of the empty lobby. Blood stains. Severed limbs. A handful of blue-eyed humans wheezing and groaning, their bodies too torn apart to move - and then they crashed through the next ceiling. Through the second floor. And into the third where they smashed into a piano, the keys and strings chiming as the heavy wooden instrument blew apart. Miriam's wings unfurled like a parachute, and Jenny and Miriam were wrenched apart.

She tumbled through chairs and more musical instruments, destroying the seats and tables as she blew through them. She struck the teacher's desk and rolled to a stop beside the computer section where she'd spent countless afterschool hours trying to produce music digitally for extra credit last year. Susan had helped her, and Jenny managed to pass the class.

Dust floated around as she lay with her head against the metal leg of a table. She tried to get up, but sharp pains in her shoulder and sides proved too much, and her legs gave out. She'd shielded her head as best she could, but the rest of her body had taken a beating. Her exoskeleton was scuffed and cracked all over. Though she didn't think Miriam could be much better off.

Wincing, she grabbed the edge of the table and forced herself up. A monitor toppled and bounced off her face, the screen cracking. She smashed it under an armored foot as she stood, coughing blood onto the back of her hand and surveying the ruined music room.

None of this was going to plan. She was so far away now from the Desecrated Angel, but maybe she could jump back down into the cafeteria. But before she could hobble over to the hole, she heard sniffling.

Wiping her lips, she turned toward the sound and spotted Miriam in the dust and rubble. Her wings were folded around her, reminding Jenny of the cocoons, except there was no glow. The wings were fleshy and grey, and they almost camouflaged into the surrounding chaos. She was crying.

"Miriam," called Jenny. She concentrated and summoned her hatchet back with a flash of light. At least that worked long distance. "Miriam. Stop this, please. I think... I think I can get us all out. There's no reason to fight like this."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I'm trying to reason with a people-eater.

But I ate people too...

Not living people.

I have to kill her no matter what. All Miriam wants to do is eat. But if I can distract her... if I can buy some time, kill the angel, and recover... then I can kill her no sweat.

Or I'll just catch her off guard.

One of the wings lifted. Miriam's sobbing face peeked out. Her white exoskeleton was cracked and grotesque, and Jenny’s insides twisted at the sight. Did she fly through each floor face first?

What the fuck is wrong with her?

"Jenny," whispered Miriam, sobbing uncontrollably. She wiped her eyes, blood seeping from the cracks on her face. "Just let me win, okay? Please. I've never asked you for anything before. Please just let me do this. I'll make it quick for everyone. I promise."

"The fuck?" spat Jenny. Is she asking me to let her kill me? And everyone else? "No. Fucking stop this. Right now. No more bloodshed. Aren't you sick of this? Look at what you've become!" She forced herself to meet Miriam’s eyes as the girl sobbed.

Down in the cafeteria, the Desecrated Angel must be making its move. Susan and the others... if the angel recovered, they didn't stand a chance. And Jenny couldn't sense anything with her tentacles from this distance.

"Stop attacking me," said Jenny, speaking slowly, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible despite the hatchet. "Stop it. Help me fight the angels. We can protect the others." I don't have an opening. Should I throw my hatchet at her face? It was broken enough. Maybe... Her wings would just block it.

"Why would I want to help them?" asked Miriam, still crying, her voice wobbling. She stared at Jenny like a hurt animal, wounded and needing attention. "Only one of us can win."

And Jenny felt her heart breaking. They were the same. Hurt and terrified and giving into their worst impulses but I wouldn't eat innocents.

"I think I have a way out," said Jenny. She looked around the music room and could almost see herself sitting in class with her head on the desk, bored out of her mind. "We can end this. We can all go back. Just help me stop that angel down there."

Miriam sniffled. She sat up straighter, expanding her wings to reveal even more cracks in her covering spanning her chest and torso like lightning. Jenny spotted the cattle prod sticking out right away; it was still inside Miriam. Her exoskeleton had grown over it. Miriam faltered, looking like she might faint, but she caught herself, resting her hands on an upended desk.

Jenny squeezed her hatchet, ready to throw it. One Vital Throw. In the chest. The throat. The face. It would shatter what was left of Miriam's exoskeleton and burst through.

"Look at your eye, Jenny," said Miriam softly. "You look just like the monsters. It's the same hunger, isn't it? Bloodlust ecstasy..."

Jenny froze. Miriam had sensed her intent, hadn't she? Or was she just rambling?

"I bet you taste so fucking good..." Saliva dribbled down her chin.

No, she’s lost it.

"You're not listening to me, Miriam," hissed Jenny. Her tentacles swished in agitation, aching to leap onto her. They could taste the blood leaking through the cracked exoskeleton.

Miriam threw back her head and cackled. A laugh as ugly as her unfurling wings. She stood on the rubble, lurching from side to side, hunched forward. "You can't trick me like that, Jenny. Your face is too fucking honest." Her lips curled back to expose stained teeth. Then she took a deep breath, baring out her cracked chest and raising her head.

"No!" shouted Jenny, shielding her face with her tentacles as she ducked. But the light sailed over her head. It hit the ceiling and zipped around in an unruly circle. The tiles, the concrete, all of it came crashing down in an avalanche of destruction, and Jenny leaped backward and away to the opposite wall, pressing herself to the bulletin board covered in flyers for the school band. Rubble covered the hole back to the cafeteria, burying the instruments and chairs.

"See that?" shouted Miriam, flapping her wings and floating over everything. Dust billowed all around. With the ceiling gone, they could see the swirling gray emptiness of the Veil. In its eerie light, Miriam's exoskeleton glowed ominously. "Look up there. There is no going home, Jenny. There's nothing for us except this. This is all that matters. Where only the strongest can win." Her eyes bulged as she spoke. Her arms extended like she was preaching. "Who's the pathetic bitch now? All those years I took your shit. I studied. I prayed. But it never stopped. The hurt never stopped. So, this... this is the only thing that matters to me."

Jenny didn't respond. She inhaled deeply, over and over, making use of her tentacle's ability to breathe as well, trying to oxygenate her muscles and her blood as best she could.

But Miriam was still ranting. "We only go home when one of us wins," she snarled. "Do you really have what it takes to end this? Do you really think you can win? Isn't Susan your best friend?"

Jenny grimaced, automatically asking Eve if Susan was still alive. But Eve didn't respond. Fuck you, Eve.

How many people left?

Human population remaining: 8

"Oh," said Miriam. Her cracked face twisted into a gruesome smile. "Oh, she's not just your friend, is she? You've got a thing for her. You like her." She shook her head, another laugh making her shoulders shake as she stomped through the rubble. Her wings beat, blowing away the rising dust, and she moved closer. "Then don't worry one bit, Jenny. I'll treat her with all your love when I rip her open and lick her all over. Just like I did to Janice while her bitch ass boyfriend watched. You should've heard them screaming..." Miriam licked her lips.

She's just trying to rile me up. She's hurt. I can do this. I can do this!

Focusing as best she could, Jenny stomped forward and threw her hatchet at the drooling girl. Vital Throw!

Miriam swerved, and the hatchet struck her on the shoulder, knocking her back. She cried out as her exoskeleton shattered, revealing the bare skin of her shoulder and part of her chest. Her wings beat furiously, green light shimmering in her mouth, but before she could use another beam, Jenny leaped in front of her, grabbed her shoulders, and used Ignite!

Flames shot out of Jenny's throat and right into Miriam's. The green light vanished as Miriam shrieked, stumbling back, smoke rising from her mouth.

But Jenny didn't relent. Ignite! Fire caught on her fingers, up her arms. Her hatchet lit up with flame as well as her tentacles, and she struck Miriam over and over, cracking and burning more exoskeleton so the once white covering fell away scorched and crumbling.

Eyes filled with tears, her tongue painfully blackened, Miriam clawed at Jenny's face and chest, but it was no use. Whenever Miriam blocked Jenny's hatchet, Jenny hit her with a tentacle like a burning whip.

She went for the throat, swinging her hatchet underhand, but Miriam stepped back, nearly tripping on the rubble. Jenny lashed her with a tentacle, catching the exposed skin of her bare shoulder, and Miriam sizzled.

A wing whipped forward and smacked Jenny away just as she was about to attack again. Green light surged. This time through Miriam's arm and into her finger.

"You stupid bitch," screamed Miriam, smoke billowing from her lips as she grabbed her burnt shoulder. Her face covering was partially melted, but her eyes gleamed furiously. She raised a shaking, glowing finger at Jenny and fired.

The bubble sped toward her, but Jenny was ready for it. She grabbed a chair and flung it at the bubble, making use of Vital Throw. As soon as it struck, the bubble burst, and another explosion rocked the ruined music room.

More green bubbles, one after the other, burst out of the smoke, coming from every direction as Miriam rushed around the room, screaming. Her wings flapped like a bat out of hell.

Jenny kept bouncing back, picking up chunks of rubble with her tentacles and lobbing them. As smoke and dust clouds filled the room, visibility dropped, so she focused with her tentacles.

Feeling for the bubbles disturbing the air. Trying to focus in on Miriam's presence, and there she was. With two glowing arms. Wings beating like mad.

Jenny leaped through the smoke. The only thing on her mind was kill kill kill.

Two bubbles rushed over head, too close for her to throw anything, so she dodged.

"Got you!" screamed Miriam. She burst forward with a thunderous beat of her wings, flying straight into Jenny like a rocket. Her head smashed into Jenny’s chest.

The impact threw Jenny across the room, but before she could grab anything and stabilize, before she could crash into the opposite wall, she saw the flash of green light.

As though it were in slow motion, the beam stretched from Miriam's blackened teeth and surged across the room. It pierced through the right side of Jenny's navel.

Before Miriam could turn her head and slice through Jenny's torso, Jenny shot a tentacle through the floor and yanked. She threw herself to the side with a burst of Instant Acceleration, and the beam zipped right over her, slicing through three more tentacles as she crashed into rubble face first.

When the dust settled, Jenny squirmed in pain, grabbing the hole in her side, expecting to see blood, but the wound was already cauterized. The exoskeleton melted and peeled back all around, and the pain so excruciating that all she could do was clench her teeth as tears streamed down her face. What was she missing? A kidney? A huge chunk of her intestines?

"Does it hurt?" whispered Miriam from somewhere through the dust. "You're still alive right?"

Blood gushed out of Jenny's mouth; she retched, her one long tentacle twitching and twisting as the shortened ones writhed in pain.

Footsteps drew near, and Miriam appeared, hobbling as though she'd been the one injured. She grabbed her face covering and peeled the scorched, cracked pieces away. Her skin was red, as though she'd peeled the top layer of her skin off too. Saliva dribbled down her chin. "Once I eat you... I'll be unstoppable."

Jenny's chest pulsed with pain. She threw up in her mouth, blood gushing out from between her clenched teeth as she glared at Miriam. Squirming on the floor, she summoned her hatchet back with a flash of light that caught Miriam's attention.

"That's a neat trick. Shiny..."

I'm going to ram this down your throat, Jenny wanted to say. But she couldn't even stand. Her legs wouldn't work. She raised her arm to launch it.

That was when Miriam sped forward without warning, dropped to one knee, and slammed her claws into Jenny's chest.

The hatchet clattered to the floor. There was an ugly series of cracks as Miriam ripped a sizeable chunk away, revealing Jenny's burnt, ruined chest. Miriam's claws left fresh new trails of blood, and this time Jenny couldn't keep the cough down. She threw up blood in Miriam's face, and the girl shut her eyes and sighed.

A wing smacked into Jenny's face, knocking her to the floor. Her head bounced on a chunk of the ceiling. Something grabbed her tentacles and squeezed, and then she felt an all too familiar suck.

Miriam's lips found Jenny's chest, and she pinned down Jenny's arm with a wing. She held the tentacles back with clawed hands.

Jenny screamed as teeth connected inside her. As her blood spurted into Miriam's mouth.

"Fucking delicious," whispered Miriam, moaning against Jenny's neck as she grasped skin with her teeth and peeled upward.

Flames erupted in Jenny's throat and flickered out. Her tentacle slashed and struggled, but with Miriam squeezing it and holding it out of reach, it was useless. The girl was completely latched onto Jenny's bare chest, and with each slurp, with each tear, with each swallow, Jenny felt what little strength she had left draining.

She was being eaten alive. Unbearable pain blossomed. A burning, cutting, feeling as teeth struck her ribs. She managed to work one hand free, and she grabbed Miriam's hair, tugging and tugging, but already she was too weak, and Miriam was too blood-lusted to be stopped.

No. No. No, like this. No!

Eve! Where the fuck are you?

No!

There is only one thing you can do, Jenny Huang.

Hide.

Jenny screamed. Summoning her hatchet and trying again, but golden light pulsed across Miriam's face. Her exoskeleton was glowing, spreading anew. Steam rose as it healed back together. White and shiny. Miriam opened her mouth wide, grinning as drool and blood dripped down her chin and onto Jenny's exposed insides.

I won't be helpless again... A shudder went down her spine. She shut her eyes and focused on Susan's sad smile. When Susan had healed her. Susan's hand grasping her heart.

She reached as far into her consciousness as she could, drawing on the skill that saved her before.

Hide. Hide as you always do, Jenny Huang. Surrender to your truth.

Eve flashed. The three-headed figure. But now all three faces were Miriam's, bloodthirsty and twisted in manic glee, eyes bulging.

Fuck you.

The warning message played again. But she didn't care. It had to stop.

It had to stop right now.

Severed Spirit!

The pain of someone chewing through her chest vanished without a trace. Her vision flashed red. Her thoughts blurred and faded as Miriam swallowed.

Jenny felt herself plummeting away. As though she were an angel again falling from the sky, sucked forcefully into a gaping darkness. Her body dissolving, shifting and changing, turning into nothing... nothing... nothing...

Her heart stopped beating. A tremor went through her body. When she inhaled, the metallic scent of blood coated her tongue and filled her lungs. Miriam hesitated. She raised her head.

Jenny stared right back, her face expressionless. Miriam’s eyes slowly widened. Blood dripped from her nose and lips onto Jenny’s exposed chest.

Then Jenny slammed her palm against the cattle prod sticking out of the girl's side. With an ugly squish, it punctured Miriam's insides, and the girl spat up all the flesh and blood she’d just eaten.

Miriam collapsed to the floor, wriggling in pain, clawing at herself and trying to pull the prod out. Jenny's tentacles grew anew. They drew on her own flesh, and she could almost feel the drain on her body, but she didn't care. They extended, longer and thicker than before, raising her from the rubble so that her legs swung limp. She hovered over the whimpering Miriam.

Something's wrong...

It doesn't matter...

Why does my head hurt so much? She felt like she was in a dream, a bystander watching herself move. Like she'd slipped out of her body...

It doesn't matter...

I have to get back to Susan. I have to stop Miriam. Whatever it takes. We can win this.

She raised an arm, her red exoskeleton glistening in the Veil's pasty glow, and three tentacles swooshed forward, smashing into Miriam.