The thing rapidly swung a fleshy, slimy appendage at Pelos and smacked him squarely. He flipped over and slammed head first into a nearby table that sat between two booths. The ray gun flew out of his hand and landed up towards the engine. Max started to crawl away on his back, still staring at the thing. At that moment when the girl’s pathways had shut, he had witnessed something profound. It was disturbing and otherworldly, the birth of this alien creature. At that exact moment, it gained consciousness and feeling. It was a feeling that Max could not understand.
An appendage slammed between Max’s legs. That renewed his train of thought away from that energetic dimension. It slithered towards him at a slow pace, but crawling in this position did not make him any faster. Another appendage slithered out along the ground and wrapped itself around one of Max’s legs. He grabbed on to the edge of a nearby booth, but the appendage was not weak. He started to slide towards it. He looked back to where the ray gun sat, still out of his reach.
A sound of blades being drawn for battle brought his eye up to where Phaedra’s unconscious body lay. There stood Pelos, nasty bruises and blood all up and down one side of his face. In one hand, he held Phaedra’s thin blade.
A twinkle came to his eyes and a snarky smile crossed his face. He started to laugh as he swung the sword against the appendage that held Max. Hit after hit after hit upon it did not slash through it. Pelos began to laugh harder and more neurotic. The appendage finally let go of Max and went for Pelos. He fought wildly like a mad man, quite a break from his usual gentlemanly demeanor.
Max nimbly hopped to his feet and ran for the ray gun. He swiped it up in a palm and while turning he adjusted the nozzle. The laughter was maddening and the sounds of flesh rubbing on flesh actually brought Max’s mind to think of something disturbingly pornographic. The thoughts sent waves of shivering madness down his back. With those feelings coursing through him, he leveled the ray gun on the alien and fired opposite of Pelos.
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With that shot, it was all over. The disturbing and alien feelings they felt and witnessed were never discussed further. The alien birth that Max witnessed through his power only came up in theory from Pelos.
**
Max looked upon Phaedra, sweat soaked his own brow as if he had injuries and fever.
Pelos snapped his fingers in Max’s peripheral, “Max. Hey in there. I need to know about these abilities of yours. You’ve met a Scion now.”
Max gazed upon Pelos with eyes like burning daggers stabbing at him.
Pelos didn’t let his persona fall away for even a moment. “You promised me.” He grabbed Max’s hand forcefully as he started to turn back to Phaedra.
Max almost lashed out in anger, though the touch actually gave him a certain level of understanding, somehow, that Pelos tried mostly to distract him from Phaedra’s pain. Max nodded and allowed his shoulders to relax. “Now’s as good a time as any.”
“Interesting.” Pelos slowly moved his hand back into his own lap. “You sensed something stronger and deeper from me when I made contact, didn’t you?”
Max nodded.
“I’m thinking of a simple mathematical equation now, tell me what numbers are involved.” Pelos tested.
Max looked into Pelos’s shaky, discomforting eyes. He couldn’t even tell more than that the man was deep in thought. “I don’t know. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Are you sure?” Pelos moved forward to grab Max’s arm again, but Max quickly pulled away and out of his reach.
“I’m sure as this train will take us to safety now.”
“Oh to the dead creator, don’t even curse us like that.”
The questions didn’t stop for some minutes. Max answered what he could and subjected himself to Pelos’s tests. His heart and mind grew distracted, thinking about the prisoner’s from the Spire and the emotional and physical trauma that befell them. Just like the one here, they’d surely all meet a terrifying end.