"What are we going to do?" Jackie asked no one in particular.
"Are those things even Modified Humans?" Kimberly spoke out, a tremble in her voice.
Looking at the variations of creatures walking about in the large cavern, Han was impressed by how the Modified Humans had adapted to their surroundings.
"I doubt those things can be called human at this point," Lexi said in a quiet voice. "Judging by their appearance, it looks like whatever caused the change has given them the ability to change their genetic makeup." Her helmet turned to look at the larger creatures. Pausing, her eyes caught the sight of something that gave her theory more credibility.
On the ceiling, near the walls of the cavern, were numerous holes. Occasionally, there would be bodies that fall down and landing on a large pile of corpses. Eating at the heap were dozens of massive monsters, each one more disturbing than the last.
A monster that was feeding on the dead human bodies began to shudder. It looked like it was having a seizure, the way its limbs were twitching. From the shape of the creature, it seemed like a person on all fours, though the neck was elongated. In an instant, the monster used each of its limbs to grab a nearby being. Plunging the human hands into the beasts, the smaller beings began to flounder as they tried to escape. Next, the more massive creature speared two more using its feet.
Without having finished whatever it was trying to do, it snatched four more monsters, though these were slightly larger. The way each of the, relatively, smaller monsters were screaming in pain made everyone in the group shudder and want to turn off their external microphones.
Its skin began to bubble and move about, covering the eight monsters. Slowly, the eight looked to be absorbed and add to the size of the main body. Where the elbows and knees were located were two heads above and below what appeared to be the joint. Even after taking in the new creatures, the main body was still jerking about, though the main head was continuing to eat more bodies.
"It also seems to allow them to take in the biomass from other creatures," Jade said as all of them were watching this one creature. "This is something of a concern, especially if they're able to breed and multiply..." She was silent. "Looks like the show isn't over."
Along the back of the monster, the skin split open, and a shape emerged. It was a large torso of a woman, that looked eerily like a person. There was even long flowing hair coming from its head. The woman was facing the opposite of the original main head, making it appear like a long tail.
"What the hell are we looking at?!" Grace yelled out.
The woman's eyes opened up, and it smiled as it turned to face the direction the group was hiding. "You're looking at the next stage," It said to them.
A palpable silence fell on the group. It was unexpected for the monster to address them. They didn't move in hopes that the creature wasn't speaking to them.
"There's no reason to be huddled together and frightened. All of you should be honored to have witnessed my birth," It sensually stretched its arms and smiled. "And, yes, I can hear you, all, chattering. I hope you don't make me use these beasts to get you guys to come out?"
"Shit," Lulu said.
"Yep," Lexi replied.
"What's the plan?" Steve asked.
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They waited to hear what Jade was thinking, considering she was the most senior in their group. Each of them looked around, seeing all the monsters inside of the cavern stopping what they were doing and turned to look at where they were located.
"Jade?" Kimberly asked anxiously.
"We don't have a choice," Jade said.
The human monster hybrid smiled, sensing her victory at Jade's words.
"I want three of you to head to where Jae-Hwa and Amanda are and secure them. If they're up for the task, then they can join us. The rest of you follow me and let's show this bitch what we got!" Jade commanded dashing forward.
The hybrid scowled at hearing their words. "I want to feast on their bodies! They will go nicely with my current strength!" It yelled at the surrounding monsters.
All around them, monsters began charging in their direction. It was several times the number they had faced against in the forest with the multi-legged monsters. Seeing so many monsters rushing towards them was frightening, but with the hybrids appearance, each of them knew that running away wasn't an option.
"Before the others get here, I'm going to enjoy chewing on your bones. I may even bless a few of you and transform you into one of us, and I'll keep you as a pet!" It laughed, already counting on its victory.
Jennifer had her spear out and was already about to clash against a group of the creatures. "Let me show you why I'm called a Crowd Controller!" Jumping up into the air, she spun her spear and turning it into a wheel of flames. As she began to finish her arch, she twisted the spear to her side and slammed it into the ground.
Screams of agony could be heard from the monsters as Jennifer's attack created a wave of fire and burnt the immediate monsters into ash. "Let's see you try and eat us!" She yelled victoriously, stabbing her spear at more of the monsters and causing a lance of fire to burn through dozens of Modified Humans.
Getting ready to take on more of the monsters, a voice interrupted Jennifer's next fiery rage.
"I can't let my junior show me up!" Steve chuckled. Piercing into the dozens of creatures, he unleashed a maelstrom of an attack. He appeared to be in the center of a tornado that cut nearby enemies and sucked them into the air. "How about you take a break and let me handle them?" He called out to Jennifer, in a jolly voice.
Continuing to incinerate nearby foes, Jennifer yelled back, "Not a chance! It's time for you seniors to give up your seat to the next generation!"
The temperature near them seemed to drop several degrees, as a figure dashed past Jennifer and headed towards a man that looked like a mix between an elephant and warthog.
"Not a chance. Maybe when you deserve it, we'll give you the title of best generation." Kimberly said as she slashed her giant blade and giant ice crystals to form. Jumping away and going to the opposite side, the ice crystals exploded both damaging the opponent and sending ice shrapnel towards nearby enemies. Each shard that struck an enemy had a similar effect and wounded even more.
"Let's show these kids how we do things," Jade called out to Kimberly.
With her whip, she surrounded herself with lightning as she whipped her weapon around. The dome of electricity looked to be building up in intensity. Judging by Jade's words, she was waiting for something from Kimberly.
Kimberly struck at the sides of the monster, causing multiple crystals to form. Dashing all over, she kept slashing at the thing until nearly all of it was covered in ice. With how fast Kimberly was moving and the damage it took earlier, the creature wasn't able to land a single hit with its trunk and tusks. Jumping on top of the head, Kimberly leaped backward in the direction of Jade.
To match Kimberly's attack, Jade wrapped her whip in such a way to build up the tension, and in a single move, she let released the whip, the tip flying in the direction of the enemy. Looking at the length of the whip and how far the enemy was, it was apparent that the attack wouldn't land. But at the very last moment, Jade snapped the whip, and all the energy that was built up in her weapon was directed at the foe. It was like a dragon composed of lightning and just as it appeared it was gone.
A massive explosion was set off with all the ice being directed in all directions aside from theirs. Compared to all the other attacks that were performed, nearly a third of the monster were wiped out in an instance.
"Why didn't you guys do that before?" Grace asked as she twirled the heavy iron weight. It glowed with a purple light, causing nearby rocks to float in the air as the gravity was distorted. Throwing the weight at monsters, it pierced through several opponents. A flash of purple was seen, and nearby monsters were dragged towards the iron weight. Bones could be heard as their bodies were crushed and turned into a sphere of meat.
Han watched as they attacked the monsters. While he as killing enemies near him, he kept an eye on the hybrid, curious as to how it was going to react. What threw him off was how the being didn't appear worried and only looked annoyed by their success.