Ira Invidia (X): Battle Between Beasts

--- Booker H. Freeman ---

As his eyes watched the monster creeping ever closer across the cameras, he found that he had only a single thought in his mind. (I thought we were the Smiling Man?)

(Pride: That was our working hypothesis…)

(Envy: One that looks like it’s wrong.)

(Sloth: So wait, wait… We're stuck smiling because of this guy, rather than ourselves?)

(Greed: And more importantly he’s why we woke up broke in a back alley!)

(Lust: That wasn’t nice of him…)

(Wrath: No. It wasn’t.)

(Gluttony: Why don’t we show him who the true apex predator is.)

He couldn’t help but smile at that thought.

(Sloth: Wait, didn’t he stomp us the last time we fought him?)

(Pride: We may have lost, but I would like to believe that we gave as good as we got at the very minimum.)

(Sloth: So good we ended up left for dead in an alley.)

He ground his teeth at that, because as much as he hated to admit it, if the Smiling Man was the one responsible for his current state of affairs, then in all likelihood he had lost while at the top of his game.

(Sloth: Then you get why we need to run now, right?)

(Gluttony: CoWaRD!)

(Wrath: I dislike agreeing with beast but to retreat now would be dishonorable.)

(Sloth: Better dishonorable than dead.)

(Pride: Have you no pride man?)

(Sloth: No, that’s your job.)

He inhaled before exhaling as he decided. “We won’t be running from this.”

“W-what?” Lydia asked, her voice sounding hollow.

(Sloth: Fine, get us killed. I’m going to go take a nap. Die in my sleep or whatever…)

(Wrath: Good choice.)

“Now the question is what will we be doing?”

“Why, why aren’t we running?” Lydia frowned with her worrying frequency.

“Several reasons.” He answered, not sure if he could properly summarize the… sinful desire that had begun to build within him.

“Oh my god…” Lydia let out a rather pathetic sounding laugh as she fell to her knees. “I’m going to die because you’re on a vengeance kick… I should’ve known this was all too good to be true… Some stranger coming to fix all my problems… I should’ve known better…”

(Lust: Oh… We shouldn’t force her to stay with us…)

(Envy: Tell her to run. We’ve dragged her along long enough…)

(Wrath: It would be the honorable thing to do.)

He considered that for a moment before looking around the room. (Given our previous loss, how can we turn this fight to our advantage?)

(Pride: Well, it’s obvious we’ll be going into this at a disadvantage. And evidence says we’ll lose if we fight the Smiling Man head on, meaning it would be best to set a trap of some kind and attack him from there.)

(A good idea in theory, but…) His eyes darted around the room finding it sparsely supplied. (I doubt we have the materials necessary to make that particular idea work.)

(Pride: I’m sure we could come up with a creative solution.)

He wasn’t as sure, and given how the cameras showed the Beast making its way down the elevator shaft he also wasn’t sure he had the time to assemble a proper trap.

(Envy: Well, what we do have on hand is a large power source right there and while I can’t control it without its spell anchor, it shouldn’t be too hard to just dump it all in the Smiling Man’s face.)

(Greed: Meaning we would’ve gone through all of this for nothing.)

(Wrath: Except for our pound of flesh.)

(Gluttony: And a gallon of blood in interest.)

(Greed: … Point.)

He ran his hand through the air above the circle of blood, feeling a faint static along his fingers as he touched the edge of the contained magic. (And how safe would this method be? From what I recall unleashing raw power, so much greater than our own, isn’t exactly a safe practice.)

(Envy: Between blowing up the building and a fight with something that likely sees us as food… I’d take the magical explosion.)

(Let’s just put a pin in that for now.) He felt he was a risk taker, but not in so much as to be willing to set off an explosive while he might be in the blast radius.

Though he’d still do it in spite if there truly was no other way.

(Envy: Well, you’re not leaving us many options…)

(Lust: Oh, you think Lydia has any ideas?)

(Given how she seems to be in the middle of a panic attack I believe… not.) He grinned through his grimace as he watched the near lifeless girl stare off into space.

(Gluttony: If we’re going to show this knock off its place on the food chain, then all we need is claw and fang.)

(Pride: That is… several different kinds of foolish. Especially given how we’ve already established we lost our previous conflict with this Smiling Man.)

(What if we were to use our Sin in a manner similar to the Sinner’s Song?) He wondered as he began to hum in thought as a glance towards the cameras revealed his foe had finally entered the basement alongside them.

(Lust: Nope. Not going to work here. I am not feeling it. The Smiling Man’s song would overwrite anything we try to do here.)

(Envy: That’s probably the power from this thing mudding the air.)

(Wrath: If we’re to duel this monster then take one of those nails in hand. We do not want to face a foe like this unarmed.)

(Envy: And the nails seem to be helping contain the power here. Removing one might be little better than my own idea.)

(Gluttony: Meaning we get to do this the fun way, and feel its BlOoD oN oUR hANdS!)

The idea left him feeling giddy, an odd sort of hunger began to fill his stomach as his teeth began to itch and his fingers began to burn.

(Sloth: Don’t forget the minion.)

(Lust: Weren’t you going to sleep?)

(Sloth: Shut up.)

As once more made his way towards the door, he found himself pausing as he took one last glance at his currently lifeless companion.

“Lydia.” He called, causing her eyes to drift his way. “Given the lack of options, I’m going to fight this Smiling Man head on. If you see an opportunity, take it and do not regret your decision.”

What that opportunity was, and what she’d decide to do with it he had no idea whatsoever. (But she’s a resourceful young woman. I’m sure she’ll figure something out.)

The moment he stepped out into the crimson lit halls, that hunger in him began to grow painful as he found himself stumbling against the wall, his heart pounding against his rib cage in search of escape. His bones began to ache, feeling far bigger than his flesh could contain, pulling his own skin taught as every step down the hall became longer, more lopsided, more… feral.

(Gluttony: Don’t fight. Give in. Let the Beast take over.)

His tongue darted out across a grin full of fangs, tasting the air. The blood, the sweat, the rot, and most importantly the fear and hate in the air as he began to track his quarry through the dark labyrinth, as he himself was hunted by his would-be prey.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

(Gluttony: Wait… Listen!)

A frantic sort of scraping in front of him had him pausing, before instinct had him darting into a small alcove, hidden away in the darkest corners where the crimson lights refused to touch.

There he stood inhumanly still, not even breathing as he stared unblinkingly at the corner ahead of him… watching… waiting… hunting…

Eventually five fingers slowly wrapped themselves around the corner, each ending in a knife-like claw so well used that the very flesh around them was stained red by blood as they left crimson streaks in the concrete they cut through.

The hand pulled against the corner and from around it a smile crept forward, dark shadows that could only be blood covered its gator-like teeth, all held in place by pitch black gums as rotted as its soul. This (horrific/disgusting/wretched) smile took up most of its host’s pale scar covered face, leaving little space for two unblinking red eyes only visible through a mop of shaggy untamed hair due to their unholy glow.

As the Smiling Man came into view, its corpse took up most of the hall, its hunched back scraping against the ceiling as it crawled forward on its hands and knees like a rabid beast to be put down. Its torso was covered in a dark crimson suit, one that had likely once been an entirely different color before decades of bloodstains had ruined the craftsmanship that had gone into it. Around this suit were iron chains shaking and bound, a number of locks hanging from them as they did seemingly little to keep the beast contained or controlled.

Closer to his little alcove the monster crept, far slower than it had when moving across the cameras, almost as if it sensed his presence lurking there in the dark.

Still he did not move.

The Smiling Man inhaled, sniffing the air in search of its prey’s scent as it grew closer to his corner placing its claws to either side of his burrow pinning him in if it truly knew he was here.

Still he did not breathe.

The monster began to open its massive maw revealing more than a single row of teeth as it stretched large enough to consume him in a single bite, a serpentine tongue darting between it all.

Still he did not fear.

A sound rattled down the hall and the monster’s gaze snapped towards, (Lydia making her escape.)

Not that mattered after all… as he was… He could only hunger…

His teeth dug into the Smiling Man’s throat, fully intent on ripping it out and filling the gnawing all consuming hunger.

The Smiling Man did not screech at this, instead grabbing him with claws that dug into his flesh before ripping him off and flinging him down the hall.

He swallowed the (delicious) copper tang before he even hit the ground and rolled twice in the time it took his claws to catch the ground and bleed his momentum.

From half a hall away, these beasts stared each other down with mirrored glowing rabid red gazes that glared into each other with nothing but a mutual hate… and hunger to devour the other.

They both shot forth with little regard for any threat the other may pose, their only desire to see the other dead and devoured.

The Smiling Man swung first its massive claw rending gashes in the wall, the dust trailing behind it as he ducked beneath the deadly swing that whistled above him and instead drove his own hand into the monster’s stomach.

Only to find his claws finding no purchase as they scraped uselessly along the Smiling Man’s coat, leaving little more than bruises if he was lucky.

Unfortunately, as he realized the coat was coming closer he wasn’t what one would consider lucky. The Smiling Man seeking to crush him beneath its massive weight.

Reacting swiftly, he grabbed onto the (Chains That Bind) the beast and used them to pull himself out of danger by both climbing up and leaping away from the Smiling Man’s body.

Not that this stopped him from being slammed into the ground as the creature’s shoulder trapped his legs, smashing them between bone and concrete breaking them alongside the floor.

As the Smiling Man began to pick itself off the ground, he clung onto its chains as his flesh and bone were stitched back together. Thus allowing him to pull himself onto the creature’s shoulder where he pulled an arm back and drove his claws into one of the beast’s eyes.

The scream that tore itself from the Smiling Man’s throat shattered his ear drums as they erupted into a piercing pain.

While he was stunned by this the Smiling Man grabbed onto him and slammed him into the ground over and over in a series of dazing blows that his mind fading in and out of consciousness. His power just barely keeping him conscious.

(Pride: I knew this was a bad idea…) One of the voices noted through the haze in his mind as the Smiling Man lifted him off the ground once more.

Spots flooded his vision as he struggled to focus, his concussed mind just barely putting together the fact that the Smiling Man was raising him over its open maw, preparing to devour him whole.

(Sloth: Should’ve run while we could’ve.)

(Wrath: Or at the very least grabbed a weapon…)

(Envy: Come on, I know you’ve got more than this!)

That… didn’t sound like it was directed at him…

(Gluttony: Grr-ah! Rip aNd TeaRrr!)

His eyes shot open as the hunger in his stomach became a thousand knives stabbing through him, the hollowness demanding he eat whatever he could reach!

In depraved instinct his hand shot forward grabbing the Smiling Man’s tongue and tearing into it with his teeth.

The gaping maw that had been about to devour him snapped shut biting off the creature’s tongue as he and it were flung away from his screaming adversary.

Not that any of that mattered as his teeth continued to dig into and devour the only meat within his reach.

But it was not enough… (It will never be enough!)

His eyes shot to the Smiling Man as it roared at him, and all he could see was the meat moving in front of him. (I wAnT It tO sqUIrM iN mY teETh!)

On all four he shot forth, his claws scraping at the ground as it cracked beneath every step.

The Smiling Man swung its claws at him, and leapt over them, clinging onto the wall as he dug his claws into it.

A massive fist moved to squish him in a backhand the size of his body, only to be used as a platform to crawl his way ever closer to his food. “HuNgRy!!!”

His teeth dug into the Smiling Man as it toppled backwards, uncaring for the bits of the creature’s coat that he had to tear through to do so. And all the while the creature that sought to eat him swiped at him, desperate to rid itself of the thing slowly eating it alive only to tear into its own flesh as it tried to stop him from finishing his meal.

With each failed strike, and each chunk of flesh devoured, the Smiling Man slowly realized that rather than being a predator on the hunt. That in truth… it was little more than prey to be devoured.

It was with this revelation came desperation, and with desperation, progress.

The Smiling Man rolled itself off of its toppled back, no longer caring to fend off his relentlessly hungering assault and instead tried to flee while slamming itself against the walls in the hopes of trying and failing to get him off of it.

As the terrified creature continued to run, flame erupted in front of it with the familiar sound of broken glass.

Rearing back in fright the Smiling Man left itself open for another molotov cocktail to strike it across the chest.

Not that any of this mattered to him as his endless hunger demanded that he continue to devour his now cooking prey, uncaring for the danger the flames may pose to him in his own desperation to sate this never ending hunger.

Fending off the flames, the Smiling Man once more toppled backwards, and in a twisted mix of instinct and reflex he leapt away from the creature as it fell, pausing his meal to keep from being crushed.

Shaking himself off he gazed down at his fallen prey, before slowly stalking forward. Fully intent on finishing his meal and devouring the entirety of the burning beast as he continued to feed the black hole in his stomach.

Only his prey still lived.

Desperately the Smiling Man lunged its mouth opening wide to try and devour him in an action so sudden, he kicked off the ground to avoid this fatal blow only to have his blood-caked shoes slip on the debris riddled floor.

With a grin larger than ever the Smiling Man’s teeth snapped shut, cleanly severing his arm off.

Instinctively he pulled on the same power he had every time he’d been injured this day, only to find nothing there to grasp, his arm refusing to regenerate.

(Gluttony: I… I’ve got nothing…)

A loud gulping drew his attention back to the Smiling Man as it began to pick itself off the ground, the flames that had been eating it alongside him slowly being snuffed out by the creature’s own healing factor used his arm for fuel.

As he sat there, blood poured from his missing limb as the roles of predator and prey once more found themselves switched.

The Smiling Man looked down on him as it stood over its fallen prey, ready to return everything done to it ten times over as it devoured its pound of flesh straight out of his hide.

What neither of them accounted for however, was the third member of this fight.

“Yaahhh!” With a yell that echoed off of the halls Lydia ran forth and drove her knife into the Smiling Man’s back, doing much as he had and clinging to the creature’s chains as she drove her blade in over and over again. “Booker!”

Snapping out of it, he forced himself back onto his feet as the Smiling Man swung around trying to reach yet another welp clinging to it.

And with only one arm to him, he rushed forward with just as much determination as his young companion, using one of the creature’s legs to climb up its body before driving his claws straight into the Smiling Man’s throat.

The creature’s eyes immediately locked onto him with a rumbling growl, completely forgetting about Lydia as it moved to smash him between its hands. Thus leaving it open for the young girl to drive her knife into its neck from the opposite side of him.

Slowly, the Smiling Man’s growl began to fade much like the crimson glow of its eyes.

“Is… Is it dead?” Lydia eventually dared to ask, her shaky voice echoing in the now deathly silent hall.

He swallowed, his head growing foggy as the adrenaline slowly faded. “I… I believe so…”

Lydia stared at him, her eyes blinking uncomprehendingly, “We… we killed the Smiling Man…”

He gave her a soft smile as he felt his once taut muscles begin to go limp. “I… I believe we have…”

The young woman’s eyes went wide before she grew a beautifully manic smile. “Holy shit… We killed the Smiling Man!!!”

Sadly… he could not join her celebrations…

“...”

“We killed the fucking Smiling Man!”

As blood loss claimed him…

“...”

“Booker?”