Intermission: Adepts

The sun was sweltering. Bright rays beating me down with every passing second. They warmed the pale shite grains of sand below me, as well as the deep-blue waves that softly beat against the shore. Making it so that the sea was pleasantly warm once anyone stepped into it.

Add in the refreshing morning winds and the whole scene was the very picture of a heavenly island resort. The kind only the disgustingly wealthy could afford to attend, as their employees capered about in order to fulfill their every want and whim.

Even now. Knowing what I knew, it was hard to hate.

'I shouldn't have been such a miser.' I lamented. 'Life is supposed to be enjoyed. I could have reconciled with pops. Taken him and the rest of the family on a nice tropical vacation someplace warm. Where they could leave all their troubles behind. Me and Bonnie could have gotten a nice tan. We could have danced on the beach as the evening sun set. It could have been wonderful. Just like it was before the monsters came. Before life became a dreadful, inescapable cycle of endless supply hoarding and never-ending expansions to the basement bunker. I could have done more. So much more. For pops. For Bonnie. For Sully. Especially for Sully. The death of his ex hit him so hard. He could have used an escape like this. Maybe he could have met someone else while on vacation. Someone who could have taken that gloom away.'

Those regrets were meaningless however. Sully had been in his university dorm when me and Bonnie were taken and pops had been at some spooky black-site training up United Military assassins or orchestrating mysterious disappearances or whatever else his taskmasters told him to do. Neither would have been made aware of the Tutorial.

I sighed at the thought.

'Well, at least pops can be trusted to look after Sully. He's all the family the old codger has left after all. I shouldn't worry too much about them. No. My main concern should be getting back to them in one piece.'

That was easier said than done however.

The heat felt like whips lashing against my bare back. The castigations of some cruel taskmaster with nothing better to do.

Despite the beaches and the calm seas being the very definition of sublime beauty; everything here was designed to test people. To push them further through constant pain and struggle.

Daylight brought on less monsters and was generally safer than the other possible weather conditions, but it also brought on blisters and peeling skin. Heatstroke and rarer conditions called sun poisoning, where people came down with rashes, nausea, fever and chills.

Well, the normal people did anyway.

The Enhancers and Shifters among us didn't have those problems. A couple points into the right abilities let them sail right on by without having to worry about trivial matters like skin cancer.

To them, there were hardly any downsides.

Too bad my wife and I were Telepaths.

I sighed once more. Resisting the urge to scratch at my peeling skin.

'I guess I should be thankful we're together at all. I don't know if either of us could have survived being stranded by ourselves.'

I roiled my fog around the beaches. Forcing the blasted thing to turn on and work properly.

Signals came to me then. Thoughts, emotions and impressions from deep underground. Sleeping crabs and lobsters and other nasty things lying in wait. There must have been dozens of them beneath the sands. A veritable horde of grotesquely mutated crustaceans. Mostly dormant until nightfall when their prey lost much of their visibility.

The smallest hint of a smile crept upon my face.

'Well, I guess its not all bad. The others can't find easy pickings like these.'

I charged up a bolt. Pushing and cramming Psy until the orb threatened to explode within me. Then, I set it loose. Sensing the packed energy as it found a target and slew it within a single heartbeat.

I waited with baited breath after that. Trusting in [Premonition] to warn me of any incoming dangers before they became apparent. When nothing happened, I breathed out a sigh of relief and waited for my cooldown to end before striking out again.

I only stopped once I felt my Psy pool dropping below 25%. Begrudgingly leaving the monsters alone in their hideouts, despite my misgivings.

'Stop that fool. The monsters will be the least of your worries if one of Halkon's men find you. You'll need to keep up [Hide] if (Crab) hits the fan.'

My blood began to boil as I retreated. Wondering if any of the creatures waiting below would kill one of ours when the sun went down. Knowing that those deaths will have been preventable.

'Its just like back home. The monsters hunt the people while the people hunt each other. And just like back home, the people are worse.'

Three days.

That's how long it had taken for the five thousand people here to descend upon each other like wolves upon a doe. Ripping and tearing at each other the very second someone showed the slightest sign of weakness.

It hadn't mattered if people were young, old, or infirm. Not to Halkon. Nor to those that chose to follow him.

He'd apparently come from a world where conquest, slavery and brutality were commonplace and he had been eager to continue the tradition with the rest of us.

I thought of Puffin then. Of her story. Of how she had teared up when me and Bonnie took her in. Of the things Halkon had threatened us with, if we didn't give her up.

I clenched and unclenched my fists. Reminding myself that there was no helping it at this point. All I could do now was adapt and survive.

I was about to turn away and head deeper into the jungle, when a new mind entered my senses.

It, she, was coming from the ocean. Swimming towards me in a blind panic. Her emotions blaring like sirens as she cut through the waves.

I readied myself for battle. Charging another bolt and waiting for whatever was chasing her to come into range. Each second felt like an eternity after that. My mind sharp as blades as she came closer and closer. Until I could make out the alabaster horn on her forehead and the emerald hair racing across the water with my own eyes.

Yet no monster followed.

I sent the bolt flying down into another waiting monster, ending its unnatural life in a second, before making my way closer to the beach.

“Puffin? What’s wrong?”

“Dad…I… I’m sorry. They followed me.”

I blinked. Several timers in quick succession.

Making sure to take a deep, steadying breath before anything else. Releasing the air within my lungs and some of the tension within my body.

‘Don’t panic Reggie. Don’t lose your cool. This isn’t the end of the world or anything. Positive thoughts now. Positive thoughts.’

“It’s okay Puffin. It’s okay now. Come on. Let’s get you back to camp so we can talk about what happened.”

“But they know. They saw which direction I ran in. They’ll know we’re in this island now.”

I shook my head. Trying to dispel images of that very real possibility.

“It’ll be okay. They won’t be able to cross over to us until they make new rafts and they won’t be able to make enough of them for a good ten hours or so. That, and they’ll never be stupid enough to cross at night. If they did, it would actually make our lives a whole lot easier. We’ll have time to move. Or, failing that, to leave a few surprises behind for them. It’ll be fine.”

Puffin sobbed harder.

“B-but everyone worked so hard to make our home safe. We all spent so much time making a good home.”

I hugged her. Bringing her close to me and squeezing tight.

“Don’t say that Puffin. Don’t even think about that. Those are things. Just things. They can always be replaced. Our lives are always, always more valuable. No one back at camp will blame you for this.”

I smiled at her. Showing off a confidence I didn’t feel.

“Besides, things have been getting tougher with the big-(Crab) spider in the center of the island. We would have had to leave sooner or later anyway. If we’re lucky, or smart, we might see our neighbors running into it as soon as they take whatever we leave behind.”

That stopped her sniffling at least.

“You really think we can get away?”

“Puffin! I know we can get away! We have the pre-built emergency rafts after all. That, and we’ve been drilling ourselves for just this situation. They’ll never be able to find us.”

She looked up at me. Her short frame still shivering from the cold as water dripped down towards the white sands beneath us.

“Okay.” She spoke. As meekly as a mouse. Stopping and wondering if she should say those next words.

“Puffin. Dear. I can read your mind. Its okay.”

She stiffened, then relaxed. A small smile blossoming on her face.

“Thanks Dad.”

“Anytime Puffin. Anytime.”

The two of us walked back to base after that. Moving through the dense jungle while retaining our usual vigilance. It might have been daytime right now, but there were still all sorts of critters making their way through the foliage.

Mosquitoes the size of one’s fist that came about in swarms of 50 or more. Dragonflies as big as cars that would occasionally swoop down and grab people off their feet. Maggots that would leap upwards from beneath the soil and spew oozing acid at human faces they happened to find. Multi-coloured lizards that silently prowled through the underbrush, their claws razor sharp and their mouths full of venom.

And those were the easy ones.

Massive birds of prey had a habit of dropping boulders on unsuspecting travelers. Trusting in them to crush skulls so that they could feast on our innards without having to worry about their prey fighting back.

Eight-legged felines napped atop treetops every hundred metres or so. Lazily waiting for humans to wonder close so that they could teleport to our sides and go for our jugulars. Their eyes shining like sapphires when they reflected the overpowering sunlight of this biome.

Carnivorous plants were spread around the place as well. Their tendrils hidden beneath thin layers of soil until they felt movements near their vines. They would then spring into motion, entangling legs and dragging them down towards the center mass of teeth and envenomed fangs that would surface in anticipation of its next snack.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

All of these were horrors that would have called for superheroes back home. Here, they were tragically commonplace.

The crabs were still the worst of course, though they thankfully only came out at night.

‘Small mercies I suppose. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining too much either. Me and Bonnie can sense the ambushes from a safe distance and we can do away with the monsters without getting our hands dirty or having to risk getting poisoned mid-fight. Being Telepaths isn’t all that bad.’

We reached the camp in about an hour. Passing through the outer perimeter of stakes dug into the earth, as well as the trenches and the makeshift palisade that followed.

We’d already been noticed by those on watch duty and they called out to us as we continued to approach.

“Hey Reggie. Hey Puffin. How’s it going?”

I waved at the speaker. Forcing a relaxed smile unto my face.

“Hello Luigi. We’re… we’re fine. We just need to have a meeting with everyone present. How many people are out hunting?”

The young man’s features went stiff. As if his whole body had been paralyzed by my words.

“Why do we need to have a meeting?”

“Because of Halkon and his goons. Again.”

Luigi cursed. As did the other sentries.

“There are about three people hunting out by the hill. They said they’d be back by noon. Otherwise, everyone’s here.”

He sighed in defeat.

“You know, I really liked this place, Reggie. It was much nicer than the other two.”

Puffin stiffened. Looking down in shame. I placed a hand on her shoulder without taking my eyes off the young man.

“I know. We’ll just have to make do.”

He nodded and started making his way down the tower. His mind flooded with impotent rage directed at Halkon. At the sycophants who chose to follow him. At his own lack of power.

I empathized more than I cared to let on. For all the talk of evil Telepathic masterminds back home, my actual options for battle had proven to be less than satisfactory.

‘Stop that, Reggie. That road doesn’t lead anywhere good. At least you’re safe and warm and fed. For the most part.’

My stomach growled right then and there. Reminding me of the fact that I’d skipped breakfast. Again.

I ignored it and kept moving along.

Taking in the faces of my comrades and neighbours as they heard the news from Luigi. They were a diverse lot, with some being small and some being tall. Some young and some old. Some coming from civilized worlds and some coming from barbaric autocracies where might made right.

The one thing we all shared in common was our hunger. Ribs peeking out from beneath slackened sections of skin. With a few having to walk around with distended bellies. Their eyes haggard and devoid of hope.

‘They’re wrong about that.’ I told myself. ‘There is still hope to be found. We can move. We’ll get even stronger than we are now. We’ll make it through this and go back to our families as soon as the Tutorial is over.’

We gathered together after that and I began to explain what had happened. Assigning tasks for the others as I made mental plans for a smooth transition to another island.

None of the others seemed too pleased with the idea but their protests died as soon as I reminded them that the alternative would be life under Halkon. Or, what passed for life there anyway.

The entire camp was unrecognizable less than two hours later. All of our rations had been bagged up and all the huts were being dismantled. My colleagues re-assembling the wooden walls into rafts and paddles for our next crossing.

Everyone was working. From the hunters to the infirm. From the old grannies to the children. Moving about like ants and carrying supplies to where they’d be stored for our journey.

‘Its good progress, given that there are hundreds of us. If we’re lucky, we might even be able to reach our next outpost before the sun goes down.’

Alas, it was not to be.

A [Fire Bolt] raced through the air immediately after. Luigi’s signal for human hostiles approaching base camp.

The elderly took the children in their arms at once. Scrambling towards whatever cover they could find behind stony outcrops and whatever walls remained standing.

Meanwhile, I made my way over to the palisade. Searching my own fog for any incoming signals.

And there they were. Ten men armed with sharpened wooden stakes. Sauntering about as if they owned the place, despite this being their first-time setting foot on this particular island. Entering my range with all the confidence of the truly strong.

I began charging up a bolt. Feeling Psy gathering behind my eyes and readying myself for battle.

My hands felt clammy and cold then. My skin bristling as I came closer and closer to killing a person.

‘Stop that fool. This is self-defence. Get a hold of yourself. You’ve got people to protect.’

The ten men paused some ways away. Their leader shouting in order to get our attention.

“REGGIE! Come out and talk!”

Luigi balked.

“Come out he says. Right. As if we’d get out from behind cover so they can stab us more easily.”

I nodded. Sending a [Message] instead.

‘Leave this place or die. Bandits. We’re armed and ready for you.’

The leader laughed. Bending over as if his body couldn’t contain his mirth.

“Come now Reggie! Don’t be like that! We’re here to parlay with you all! We only had one raft ready you see, so we figured we might as well give you all the chance to come quietly. Save everyone the bother, you know?”

Luigi’s mouth hung open. As did mine for that matter.

‘You think we’ll just, open our gates and surrender? After all you’ve done?’

The leader laughed again and wagged a finger.

“Of course you will Reggie. It’s in your best interest, after all. Well, that’s not strictly true. We’ll have to kill you to set an example. But we’ll take good care of your wife and that slave you adopted. Halkon assures you that he will look after them himself. To, repay you for all you’ve done so far in the Tutorial. That way, you can rest easy from whatever afterlife is waiting for you. Isn’t he generous?”

The rest of the goons laughed in unison. As if they’d rehearsed this entire bit before coming here.

“This is the best deal you’re gonna get, Reggie. Because if we have to come in and get you by force… well. Then we’ll have no reason to show mercy. Everyone dies then. You, your pretty wife, and all those brats you insist on saving. We’ll make it slow, if you resist. Trust me. Halkon has a way with people in sticky situations. You don’t want that to happen. Better to go out quickly and without too much hassle.”

“Suck my (Crab)!” Luigi bellowed. His face reddened from the fury racing through his heart.

The men laughed at him.

“See Reggie? See how the false hope you’ve given these fools has doomed them? Now we’ll have to kill your son’s friend too. Shame. I had all sorts of things planned out for him.”

More laughter arose, followed my more curses from Luigi.

“You might be thinking of escaping again, Reggie. I know I would be doing just that in your shoes. However, that time is done. You see, we’ve got a secret weapon now. A little power called [Precognition]. It lets us see the future. More clearly than [Premonition] ever could. It doesn’t matter where you go or how far you run. We’ll always find you. Always.”

He walked over to one of his peers. A lanky, furry creature that resembled a monster more than a normal human.

“Meet Scallop. Our resident seer. He’s seen where you’ll go after this. He’s seen how this ends. We outnumber you lot twenty to one and we have the food and clean water to chase you faster than you can run.”

I could see his smile widening, even from this distance.

“And he’s not our only Telepath. Halkon’s got three more back at the fort. Face it, Reggie. This offer is the best you’re likely to get from us. Think of your pretty wife. Think of that mutant you adopted.”

His smile grew more sinister.

“Think of your son. Reggie. What was his name again? Sully, was it? How do you think he’ll react if we show up at your home after this cycle ends? How ready do you think he’ll be?”

Luigi spat their way.

I felt all my blood freezing inside my veins. Goosebumps breaking out all over my skin as my teeth gnashed against each other.

He must have noticed my expression because he and his gaggle of killers began hooting.

“Go on Scallop! Tell us what the encounter will look like!”

“Hehe. Right away boss.”

Scallop placed his hands on his head. Making odd noises as he breathed heavily through his nose.

“Ah! There he is! I see…. I see…I….”

He paused. His body turning rigid within half a second.

The next sounds that came from his throat, were those of a strangled chicken. His voice breaking as he struggled to get air into his lungs.

“Scallop? Scallop!? Hey! Snap out of it!”

The bandit leader went to grab his pet seer, only for his arm to miss his frame.

The small man floated upwards; arms spread out like those of a human being crucified. Purple arcs of lightning flying from his eyes and lacerating sections of bone and muscle away from his body.

It was then, that the screams began.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAGGHHG!!!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Coming from his mouth and from other places where voices shouldn't originate from.

From his arms. From his legs. From the very space around him and the soil beneath our feet.

They went on and on and on and on and on. Unrelenting in their desperation. Their need for the agony to end.

His skin began to melt like ice-cream in the sun. Dripping down in droplets that changed color. Going from the tan of regular human complexion to a ruby-red that shone like carmine diamonds as the syrupy liquid fell.

All while the screams refused to end.

Indeed, I could have sworn they only got louder as the poor fool's suffering redoubled.

The longer I saw him, the harder it was to unsee him.

My eyes refused to be shut, as if some dreadful puppeteer had his hands above me. Forcing his baleful will upon my body and not allowing me the respite of looking away.

The sensation was horrifying. That, and familiar. All too familiar.

Memories came unbidden. Of me hugging my wife and son as monsters ripped their way into the re-enforced community center. Of the gigantic crabs tearing my neighbours limb from bloody limb. Of the Tall Man. That sick freak that had toyed with men and monster alike.

I wanted to retch then, but found that my body would not obey me. My ears ringing as the volume and pitch of the screams rose higher and higher. Until it seemed as though it was the only sound that existed.

All the birds and the monstrous insects and all the other monsters nearby heard them too. Turning their heads for fractions of a second, before fleeing in all directions. As if this small man was a volcano seconds away from a cataclysmic eruption.

I could see them in my fog. Moving with such desperation that one would think the literal end of days was upon us. All of them having been consumed by an insurmountable terror that told of unspeakable suffering if they were foolish enough to linger.

Their own fearful, strangled cries were heard for only the briefest fraction of a second, before the screams overtook them again.

The island, no, the world itself seemed to crack and splinter. Corners undoing themselves in spiraling patterns and three-eyed faces appearing where no markings had been before.

The small man’s limbs began to stretch then. Twisting until they’d been freed from their sockets in a manner shockingly similar to that of medieval torture devices, while his very spine lengthened with the visceral snaps of breaking bones.

Then, to top it all off, was the suit. An illusion that overlaid with the man’s current body. White, pristine fabrics flowing from his neck and down to the cuffs and reaching until the spots where pants should have met shoes.

His feet remained bare until he reached the ground, where small pools of black tar began flowing from where his heels met the soil.

After that, his body vibrated slightly and disappeared. Re-appearing only as his hand penetrated his leader’s ribcage.

The man had no words. Gaping in mute horror as Scallop withdrew his arm and his still-beating heart. Before crushing it in front of his eyes.

The leader’s body went limp and the others, who had been frozen until now began to scream at last. Their previous confidence vanishing like morning mist.

They tried to run, but kept tripping over empty air and I felt a new, terrible shivering overtaking me. Watching in stunned silence as the seer’s body exploded in a cloud of gore. Shards of bone and smoking blood striking at the fleeing meat and severing arms or legs by the score.

There, in place of Scallop, was a new creature. A horned horror with skin as red as molten lava and wings as black as pitch. It had three legs composed of writhing centipedes and a face that resembled a mole. Complete with pink feelers that tasted the air.

A long, serpentine tongue emerged from between those animalistic lips. Tasting the air and wrapping itself around it's own face as what passed for its features writhed in indescribable ecstasy.

When at last it returned to the confines of the thing's jaws, a small, barely audible whisper escaped its lips. Somehow carrying over to us and probably throughout the entirety of the island.

"Mittens is here."

Then, that head. That face. Reared up to the heavens and cried out in what seemed like the deepest ecstasy any living being had ever felt in the history of the universe.

“Glory to the Tall Man! I come here by his will! Let these lives be snuffed and these wails gathered up as proof of all my kills!”

A massive, two-handed battle-axe manifested in its hands and the monster leapt at Halkon’s men with a childlike glee that beggared belief.

His strides covering impossible distances faster than men could blink.

Then it vanished again, only for it's weapon to find itself within the grasp of one of the goons. The man swung the weapon, a maniacal smile carved upon his face as his teeth began to rot and fall off in droves.

"Mittens is inside you! Mittens is all around you! Mittens is here!"

The men's desperation redoubled, but their comrade flung itself in their direction. His limbs twisting themselves in mid-air until the cracking and splintering of bone echoed throughout the jungle. His head turning at impossible angles as shards of his spine poked out through his skin.

Yet, the smile did not fade.

"Mittens will follow! Mittens will slaughter! Mittens is here!"

Despite the horrific mutilations, the victim's arm moved at speeds that beggared belief. Severing one man's legs at the knees and turning around to behead another before the torso struck the forest floor.

Then the possessed thing leapt. Moving like a jumping spider and howling like an enraged baboon. It's demented musings overtaking the natural order of the very world as the smell of sulfur suffused the area. So mighty and concentrated that it was overpowering for me, even at this distance.

"Mittens will weave! Mittens will cleave! Mittens is here!"

That body exploded in yet another shower of gore. The blood burning so hot that it scalded the few grunts unfortunate enough to be within range of the blast, all while the man on the floor was doused in the stuff. His own features melting as the seer's own flesh had moments before.

The thing was visible mid-flight. For an elusively small second. And then it was gone and another man, one who had been mewling on the ground, rose up with that same, ferocious grin.

"Mittens will boil! Mittens will despoil! Mittens is here!"

He took his time with them. Making it so that each wound was less than fatal and dragging out their torment for minutes at a time.

Jumping from one body to the next when it's current host was disfigured beyond the point of saving.

"Mittens will play! Mittens will slay! Mittens is here!"

He kept it up until there were no more men to torment. His body finally visible once more in the daylight.

That elongated serpentine tongue came out once again. Slobbering all over his grotesquely misshapen body and licking away all the sizzling, ruby-red blood that still clung to his fur.

Those eyes, those horrible, terrible eyes, turned our way.

And its smile widened.

"Mittens is in the ground. In the sky. In the trees. Mittens is the songs you sing and the air you breathe. Mittens will never, ever leave. Mittens is here."

Those eyes regarded me in a different way then. To the point where I was sure this was some trick. Some, vile manipulation to make me remember the pet we couldn't find that day. The cat we'd left behind as we rushed to the safety of the shelter.

His name, had been Mittens too.

'Sully had decided on the name.'

His frame started crumbling. His mighty muscles turning into dust in the wind.

As he realized this, he growled. So loudly that the sound must have carried over to the whole island. Ending the few victims that still drew breath before raising his axe to the heavens.

“Glory to the Coffin! My time has come to burn! I invoke his awesome power that I may return!”

Them, he was gone.

Leaving nothing but carnage and destruction in his wake.