Calypso, along with the girls, knew that they had to immediately go, make haste and use the chance their professor gave them… But they couldn’t help but “stand” there. Stand frozen and stare at what just transpired.
It was sheer pity for these poor monsters. They never had a chance and they didn’t know it. That this frail, bookish educator that didn’t look her relatively young age was the biggest and most powerful monster, merely lying in wait.
The remnants of their enemies—which merely seconds ago they were on the verge of breaking down Calypso’s door to kill them—rendered into black ooze and chunks. Pieces of a laminated wooden door scattered about.
And with the bone-rattling roar the girls heard off in the distance, it was very clear that Mrs. Moses—the Mermaid Consumed—was really coming after every single skinwalker that got in her way. It finally woke Calypso and co. up from their terrified daze.
“Righ—right—okay,” the gnat glanced over at Calypso. “You’re good with basically wearing sheets or do you want help--?”
Calypso leapt from her bed, tearing any and all teethers to the machines she was hooked too. Cockily rotating her fist as her wrists healed in seconds with her head leaned to her side.
“Okay—fine—be showy,” the gnat turned on a dime and started to run out of the room.
Gale, of course, turned to Calypso with her worried expression. “Are you actually okay like this, Cal…?”
Calypso returned a genuine, if not muted, smile. “I’ve been cooked alive by dried up, magma blood. I think being in a hospital gown is nothing compared to that. But thank you, Gale.”
Gale nodded, with an uneased giggle—very different than the usual, but Calypso figured the idea of her nearly dying got to her friend. But never the less, it was Gale’s turn to sprint out into the fray.
Calypso glanced toward the window with the blinders raised. Seeing the masses call out, dance in discordant panic. Now there’s law enforcement vehicles pulling into frame.
She couldn’t thinking about them, right now. As much as it pained her that she can’t. Maybe after all this madness, the skeletal monster could tell Sal everything…
But she had to survive first.
Calypso sprinted out of her hospital room, hoping against the possibility of slipping on Subsumed slime on the way out. Hoping whatever carnage her professor was brewing, it wouldn’t be too much of an obstacle.
It couldn’t have been more misplaced, that last hope.
The gentry, white halls were drenched, stained with black blood that coated them. The doors to the other rooms, torn from the hinges or outright ripped apart from the bottom. What could be seen of the floor—the tiles ripped up and scratched apart in multiple angles and multiple times amongst themselves.
But it was the most damning detail… People—rather Subsumed, reaching out weakly, most if not all in pieces.
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The thing was—as Calypso was lost in thought as she continued to run, surveying this… Utter insanity—Her teacher, her senior Consumed—just told them not to slice them so their transformation could be sped along.
It was draining, trying to look about—seeing these false humans grapple with mortality… Until it hit Calypso. Snapping into place. Ravage the monsters, render them into chunks that they couldn’t exactly morph due to being so heavily damaged… The problem takes care of itself.
Calypso wasn’t just in awe. It was admiration for her mentor figure.
The gnat was ways away from Calypso and Gale, turning backwards at them with a dopey expression of astonishment. “TAIL—CAN SEE HER TAIL—LAID INTO FIVE GUYS AT ONCE AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, SHE WAS SWIMMING IN THE FLOOR AND THEY WERE ARMS AND LEGS—M-MAYBE SHE’S HEADING TO THE HELP DESK, LET’S KEEP UP!”
Calypso thought to herself, for once during their very short but turbulent relationship, that the gnat can rattle and prattle on for so long. The normal person couldn’t cough out “Can see her tail”—
Nevertheless, Calypso managed to gain ground, running side-by-side with Gale. It was clear that this scene was overwhelming to her, as the girl periodically looked about, her face wavering from horror to sadness to realization she didn’t look forward in a long time. Calypso wanted to support, tell her to focus ahead and not think… But Consumed or not, Calypso wasn’t physically fit enough to run AND talk. If anything, her being a Consumed aided her in managing to maintaining this speed alone.
So she continued to do what the skeletal monster girl can only do, observe. It was one of the main reasons why her professor mounted this attack in the first place. All they needed right now, was something… Some sign that they could use and look into…
Thankfully as they turned the corner, the group was offered more than that. More than they could've asked for and known.
The state of carnage was still the same, and yet the levels of such were expressed in ways Calypso was gobsmacked at. How can one be so knowledgeable and manage to find ways in ripping people apart...?
Limbs were littered about the help desk. The black blood smeared across virtually every surface, showcasing very different yet ultimately the same sense of struggle. Entire bodies rendered into merely slabs and chunks.
So, the sight of a bisected, widthwise, "patient" was a complete surprise. As if their professor not only left this as a boon, but a clue.
The gnat already rushed over, taking the time she saved to adjust that god awful wig on her head. At least it gave her and Gale a chance to catch up, flanking her sides.
The boy... No. The monster that tried to be a boy, maybe 16 when this filth took his life. It was terrified. So much that the trembling it performed, how the flesh was pulled back and hung off the skull that formed terror. It's confidence was completely rocked. It thought itself save in the company of it's kin, felt on top of the world. Now barely sitting up without the legs it stole.
"Listen," the gnat began, subtly edging forward with every point she managed to make. "You have no legs. You don't have your buddies. You're almost dead. You're out of options. Tell us what you know and we'll promise we'll look the other way and maybe you can figure something out with... The no-legs situation you've found yourself in. Or."
It was almost on cue. Calypso transformed her arm again, back to the state of Consumed, and held her elbow scythe to the throat of the interloper. Not only was the poor wretch was petrified, but the gnat and Gale jumped in their own skins.
"Yeah, I was gonna just let the threat be words and let that linger--with-with imagination pulling that weight--but sure, yeah, we need actual-scary right now--" the gnat sputtered out trying to calm herself before turning her gaze, hidden by her goofy glasses. "Your move. She hates me, by the by. Even if I do tell her no, she's not gonna listen."
His eyes were the only things that moved on his stolen body now. Trembling, looking at Gale--then to the gnat--then Calypso herself... Pathetically looking about, hoping someone to save him.
And began to tremble so vividly, so violently, that his head bashed itself against the base of the help desk--his balled fists shuddering up and down to hit the once pristine waxed floors.
Finally, the sunken eyes rolled backwards, and the form went limp. The head slinked to the side.
"...Well congrats," the gnat rose back up. "You might've scared the monster to death--"