The brain

Chris was always referred to as being the ‘dullest tool in the shed.’ Chris did not understand much, but he did not need to. Chris had his Brain. Brain was kind, Brain kept him from going off track. Sometimes Brain would seem angry, like when he had to do that x-ray. Brain cared for Chris, ensuring that Chris was always fed and happy. Sometimes that meant taking control of Chris’s body, but that was fine. Brain was nice.

I stare at the boy on stage for the talent show. Chris. The kid had no upper head. Everything above his middle forehead was a pulsing brain. He seemed nice though until the brain grew legs.

The brain scuttled forward on its six spiked appendages. Its legs only had sharp angles and no smooth curves. Then it reached the crowd, who until now thought it was a projection or robot.

They were oh so wrong.

The ‘brain’ grew from only coming up to their ankles to being up to their waist in a matter of seconds.

Then it opened its frontal lobe, and it had so many teeth. Too many teeth, more than any creature should be able to have, especially in that space

Ms. Froid was dead, her now mangled corpse half sticking out of the beast’s maw.

Nobody even managed to see it bite, and she did not get time to scream.

Nobody did. Not even Michael.

Brain was hungry Chris knew. Brain wanted Chris to let him out, so the child obliged. The only sad part is that Chris had to go to sleep whenever the brain left. But this time he was not asleep.

He was awake. This is bad. Brain did not like it when people watched things like this.

Chris got up; he had fallen over onto his rear. Chris smiled.

Smiles like his are only seen on apex predators, and rarely at that.

Chris wanted to join the hunt. Brain had made his teeth sharper, his muscles stronger and his reflexes godlike. All at the minor cost of being a form of transport.

His favorite part was the bones crunching into dust beneath the might of his jaw, and the feeling of his teeth ripping through flesh like it was butter.

A few days later, there was a sighting. People wanted it to be fake. The sighting was of hundreds of many-legged variants of these brains. No single one even got close to the kid in the middle of the horde. None except the one within.

[https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fherofactory%2Fimages%2F5%2F5d%2FThe_Brains.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20210714200805&tbnid=gCb0n5AWn9V6eM&vet=12ahUKEwiX48nWtd_9AhUkH7cAHQjhAkAQMygDegQIARAv..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fherofactory.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBrains&docid=3Dh9XpfPQx10tM&w=1366&h=768&q=bionic%20lego%20game%20brain%20enemy%20with%20many%20teeth&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwiX48nWtd_9AhUkH7cAHQjhAkAQMygDegQIARAv]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The surrounding towns died extremely fast. Nobody lived. Nobody but Chris, that is. Chris was at this point more monster than anything else. He looked like a living, writhing mass of solid shadows. But at least Chris was not the dullest tool in the shed anymore.

After all…

You cannot be the dullest in the shed if you light the world on fire. Because then there is not anything else to compare it to.

[https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blendswap.com%2Fblend_previews%2F21315%2F0%2F0&tbnid=GNKG2c_GEvtCNM&vet=12ahUKEwih1LHXtd_9AhUs03MBHZ3lBh0QMygEegUIARDXAQ..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blendswap.com%2Fblend%2F21315&docid=41Xk_Xzta4kRzM&w=1024&h=1023&q=prey%20phantom&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwih1LHXtd_9AhUs03MBHZ3lBh0QMygEegUIARDXAQ]

Those few people who had helped him joined in on the slaughter, they too lose their form. Some became more for the army, and others were specialized. Like Daniel.

Daniel had become a Reaper. A silent assassin in all corners of the world at once.

[https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com%2Ff%2Fef67bfd7-8b78-4afb-9ca6-a4fe406f159d%2Fddoimfs-81a827b7-f1c1-4d33-8994-d83741a11f3f.jpg%2Fv1%2Ffill%2Fw_736%2Ch_1086%2Cq_70%2Cstrp%2Ftyphon_phantom_by_quinn_red_ddoimfs-pre.jpg%3Ftoken%3DeyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MjM1OSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2VmNjdiZmQ3LThiNzgtNGFmYi05Y2E2LWE0ZmU0MDZmMTU5ZFwvZGRvaW1mcy04MWE4MjdiNy1mMWMxLTRkMzMtODk5NC1kODM3NDFhMTFmM2YuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTE2MDAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.zK6cc4GzgWeQsCozmq0oKpcbNKc9yNK2Bn-c-_YaKUs&tbnid=yFFSgVOsokVqOM&vet=12ahUKEwih1LHXtd_9AhUs03MBHZ3lBh0QMyglegUIARCmAg..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2Fquinn-red%2Fart%2FTyphon-Phantom-827239960&docid=7ntAWuj7lwPQ2M&w=736&h=1086&q=prey%20phantom&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwih1LHXtd_9AhUs03MBHZ3lBh0QMyglegUIARCmAg]

Briana became an Ascended. A being one step closer to being the true apex predator, but still far below Chris.

[https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmittensmcedgelord.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F166995639020%2Ftyphon-week-day-2-phantoms-part-2-of-mittens&psig=AOvVaw2JSmz18HDSkox9Mvz3xzLl&ust=1679020706220000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCIiv-ti13_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ]

Then there was the pyromaniac, George.

Nobody remembers what gender George is, but they sure do love setting things on fire, including themselves. George might be insane. But that does not matter, Brain does the thinking.

[https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F18659vgsdof91.gif&tbnid=Vh_ctzVMqPwWGM&vet=12ahUKEwj61b7Itt_9AhXBS3wKHVjpD48QMygFegUIARDOAQ..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FWhatWouldYouBuild%2Fcomments%2Fwfxwh6%2Fthe_typhon_phantom_from_the_2017_game_prey%2F&docid=up9hUg09CsHdMM&w=341&h=600&q=red%20prey%20phantom&hl=en&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwj61b7Itt_9AhXBS3wKHVjpD48QMygFegUIARDOAQ]

Carlson, the shadow. Feared everywhere because he was not limited to this single world.

[https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fdemon0072&psig=AOvVaw3eJn5TCz6gqmwsRjJnjUJX&ust=1679020887477000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCKjZmK-23_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE]

Then we return to Chris, whom you may not understand the true scope of.

Chris, the man who ended the world.

Chris is the man who travels through all planes of existence to spread the ‘cure’ as the brains knew it.

Can’t be sick if you died last year, can you?

Chris is the one who only gives what he receives.

[https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fgods_and_demons%2Fimages%2F0%2F0a%2F51gTAnMGd1L.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20201008144759&tbnid=1kEEoxUsNfDzPM&vet=12ahUKEwi1gLXct9_9AhWozqACHT3dCSoQMygAegUIARCZAQ..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fgods-and-demons.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FDeath&docid=wWgBBxEgW4yLwM&w=600&h=750&q=death%20demon&hl=en&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwi1gLXct9_9AhWozqACHT3dCSoQMygAegUIARCZAQ]

There was one other survivor, Rose.

Chris protected rose. Rose came from a terrible home and had a new family.