As they passed another random room, the group jumped in surprise as a series of clatters and bangs exploded from the doorway.
“What the hell was-” Victor’s surprise ended quickly as a massive red blob slammed into him, cutting their group in half and knocking the air from the man's lungs..
Devon was the first to act as he backpedaled away from the scene of the collision. Sean fell to the ground and peered up to the source.
Their faces curled into their own unique renditions of repulsion as they took the sight in. A large red ball of ground meat was pushing Victor into the concrete wall with a series of small fat arms and its own squishy mass.
“What the fuck is - going on?!” His desperate shouts were interrupted by a meaty fist to the mouth.
Sean lunged forward throwing his shoulder into the beast blocking the way only to sink into its fleshy body. The cold wet muscle fibers pressed against his face as his feet slid against the concrete floor searching for purchase. One of the stubby appendages slammed into his head weakly, covering him in juices.
“Ugh, this thingy is disgusting.”
He pulled away from the mess and flung his blood covered arm to the ground, sending a spray of gore away. Victor lifted his chin up as the monster attempted to fill his mouth with its soft flesh only to get tangled in his short beard.
“Devon! Any ideas?”
Sean peaked over as the tattooed man flew overhead and rolled to a stop like a professional parkourist.
“Woah!”
“We might need to abandon him.” His voice was artificially flat and unsure.
The trapped man struggled away as the two coworkers turned to each other.
“This is the guy that literally found you, woke you up from the coma, and helped us get this far. We can’t just leave him.”
The tattooed man chewed his lip.
“We don’t know how long we have to get out of here. If the exit isn’t that way,” he pointed back towards the commotion, “then it's the other way. It only makes sense to go. We don’t even really know him.”
Something deep within Sean really didn’t want to leave the man behind. He had changed from caustic and combative to helpful and friendly with just a little push. It was clear that there was sincerity in the man’s actions and he felt the need to answer them in kind.
The meatball pushed deeper towards the pinned man.
Sean looked back towards Devon and could tell the man was ready to let the man get suffocated by the meatball. He just need a reason they could let that happen. One that he couldn't argue with.
“What if-ah- one more person could be the difference between life or death. That could have been either of us if he wasn't here. We need him.”
He looked his coworker in the eye, resolute in his desire. Their short conversation ended as a muffled shout for help filled the hallway.
Sean was the first to burst into action, scooping handfuls of the meat away from his face. The beast was literally pushing parts of its body forward in a bid to suffocate him while they struggled to stop the onslaught of flesh. He felt an arm brush past him as Devon joined the struggle.
“We need to pull him out of it.”
The duo grabbed ahold of the man’s free limbs and started pulling. Slowly but surely, more and more of Victor was freed from the masses grip. His gang’s uniform was dyed red with juice and gore.
“Move.” Devon’s commanding voice urged the two men forward as they rushed in the opposite direction.
Sean turned to look at the beast as they were making their first turn. It had recollected itself in a fine ball and its stubby arms began carrying it forward.
“Guys, we need to hurry up, it’s coming!” They pushed against the floor as they bounded through the halls, checking the doorways as they went.
“I feel like it’s going on forever.” The hispanic man choked out between deep huffs of air.
A loud slam drew their attention behind them where the meatball had slammed into the wall and splattered like a dropped egg. They stalled while watching it for a few moments. The mess slowly crawled back together to the onlookers' unbridled horror.
“Keep moving.” Sean choked back a wad of spit as they turned from the monster.
“Hey, Reaper. What’s your power?” Devon glanced at the man for a moment.
“How-” Victor looked surprised before foregoing it to answer. “I have an enhanced metabolism.”
“You can eat without getting fat? What kind of power is that?” The tattooed man scoffed in between deep measured breaths, in contrast to the younger men behind him who were desperately sucking in air like fish out of water.
“Hey, fuck-” The exercise left them winded as they ducked under some low piping. “Whatever!”
A loud metal clang filled their ears as the meatball sped after them, destroying the pipe in their wake. They took another hard turn just as it tumbled past them and exploded against the wall. A rain of meat flecked their backs as they sped away, shedding the flesh like dandruff.
The path had no doors for them to check and the stench only grew stronger by the second, rancid and pungent. Sean hoped that it signaled the approaching exit as they raced to the end.
A series of short hallways made it feel more like a maze than an underground laboratory. They stopped as they reached the first crossroads in a while.
It branched off in two directions like normal but offered far different views. One had flickering lights and wet floors while the other was clean and dry like the rest of the laboratory.
“Which way?” They looked between the two in uncertainty, glancing back for any signs of the approaching meatball.
“Maybe the shitty looking one? It looks like it goes on for much longer.” Victor looked giddy to get moving, desperately wanting to gain more distance from the all encompassing blob.
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“Sounds good to me.” They took their first two steps before freezing in place.
“Are those eyes?”
Far away in the darkness, dozens of shining dots reflected the overhead lights with an orange tint. They slowly bobbed up and down when It finally came into view.
The same slinking beast Sean and Victor had seen earlier had all of its many eyes trained on the trio. It raised up on its hind stump and opened a horrifically wide mouth devoid of teeth, sucking in air like a vacuum. It stopped for a moment before blowing a rotten stench their way.
“Really clashes with the sewer stink, doesn’t it?” Victor took a single step back.
The corner of its human-like lips lifted at the corner into a disturbing smile and sprouted a variety of horribly mismatched human teeth to the complete horror of the onlookers. Each one was the size of a man’s closed fist and ranged from coffee stained yellow to pearly white like they had all come from different mouths.
“Fuck no.” Devon turned from the beast and led the others in the opposite direction with a newly discovered second wind.
The wet slap of the monster filled the air as it chased after their retreating figures, slow and awkward.
Their feet pounded against the floor in a desperate plea for freedom. The hall quickly ended as they reached another split in the path. All three of their hearts sank as they looked between each way they hoped to go.
They were no beasts, mad scientists, nor endless hallways. They were both merely dead ends.
Rubble covered the floor where the tunnel once led off into the distance. The crumbling concrete appeared very much like their hope. Crushed to smithereens.
They shared a short glance before Sean made the decision. He leaned down and grabbed a large chunk of stone in each hand.
“We are going to bash that thing’s brains in.” He turned to them with a glint of hope readily visible to the deflated men.
They perked up like new life had been breathed into them. The pair sorted through the pile for a few moments to find the best pieces they could before walking back over and turning to look down the hall.
The mixed stench wafted towards them as it inched forward with unrestrained desire. Sean could tell it was excited in some primal way as it stared at them with its numerous eyes, glinting with joy.
He had to force his first foot forward as it nearly refused to move. The other two followed in his footsteps, slowly approaching the monster that desperately moved towards them like a bloody inch worm. Their knuckles were white as they gripped the hefty chunks of solid stone.
The wet slapping let them know it was less than impressed by the weapons they now wielded in defiance of the monstrosity.
“I’ll go first.”
Sean stepped ahead of his compatriots and tossed the concrete in his hand a few times, getting accustomed to the weight. He planted his feet firmly to the ground and looked up at the monster.
It wasn’t the fastest thing and certainly wouldn’t be able to dodge the attacks in the narrow hallway.
He hefted the concrete chunk above his head as his arm cocked back past his shoulder. It flew from his hand in a beautiful arc, whistling through the air, straight to the fleshy inch worm. It slapped down to the ground in its jerky movements, letting the chunk of concrete careen over it and skitter across the wet floor in a demoralizing tumble.
“Fuck.” He backed up as the other two pushed forward, launching their stones at the monster.
They cracked the beast with ease causing it to recoil back and shake its meaty head side to side. Globs of red spit and sickening fluids splattered against the sides of the hall.
“Nice!” They shared a short celebration before its many eyes refocused and glared at the trio.
Sean immediately felt a change in its demeanor. The pupils all shrunk to fine dots while its disgusting warped teeth ground together. He flinched as a few of the yellowed fangs and massive molars shattered under the force.
Despite its barely contained anger, its pace slowed to a crawl.
“Oh shit!” Victor scrambled back to grab more projectiles while Devon merely gave it the stink eye.
“Come on! Let's grab some more.” He went to pull his coworkers arms only for the man to pull away.
“It doesn’t matter. It stopped moving. We are trapped.” His tone carried a hint of resignation while staring down the hall.
“What are you-” Sean stopped as he looked at the monster.
Its awkward motions had halted just as it reached their only escape, but they had taken far too long to notice. Now the only way out was through the experiment. They had no other options.
The pair joined Victor in grabbing some new weapons with nothing else to do but hope they magically turned deadly. Stone after stone flew in the monster's direction while he guarded the path.
The blows sank into the flesh only to reform with ease into its original silhouette.
“We are so fucked. That psycho is gonna come and cut us to pieces while we are still alive or pull our spines out and use them as golf clubs!” His shouts ramped up in intensity while shaking Sean by his shoulders.
“You think he golfs? Doesn’t really strike me as that sort of person from our short conversation.” Devon cracked a smile while the hysterical Reaper stared with an open mouth.
The silence was only interrupted by the rancid huffs of the monster a few dozen feet away.
“I might have something else. I need you guys to step back for it though.” They turned to Sean with confused looks only for Devon to take the lead and open the path. Victor followed soon after and watched him from behind.
Sean closed his eyes and flexed his hands open and close. His palms had grown sweaty despite the chilly air that pervaded the area. The concrete dust caked his skin as the perspiration made a thin layer over his entire body.
‘Come on, just a little bit of magic. Maybe a wave of psychic energy strong enough to topple the hulking monstrosity.’
The power resisted his call. His scalp tingled lightly with energy. Memories of his accidental usage of it during his first night at the club flitted through his mind.
‘How do I get it to listen?’
The first wave of mental energy was an accident. Nothing more. It had simply happened in the moment. A burst of clarity and desire to live. A common moment for awakening powers.
The second time he had used it had almost scrambled that random thug's mind. At that time, all he had wanted was to get his stuff back.
His eyes opened and focused on the monster. It had gone from angry and disgusting to down right feral. A snarling beast with nothing but murder on its mind.
He had no doubt that it would love nothing more than to rush after them and gnaw them to a fine mush. Something had to be restraining it and they needed to take advantage of it.
He pushed his hands forward and begged for a wave of mental energy to rip towards it, yet nothing happened. Not a gust of wind nor an ounce of energy.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Devon was the first to ask as they watched the blatantly untrained actions taking place.
Sean bit at his lip before throwing caution to the wind. There was no point in secrecy when it might mean he never would get the opportunity to live a better life because of it.
“I…don’t truly know how to activate my power. It's just a spur of the moment kind of thing.”
Victor looked between the two with a confused look. The tattooed man spoke up.
“Alright, we don’t have a lot of time so I will give you the fastest version I can. Unless it is truly passive like a change in your biology like the bosses, or a conditional one like Imani’s, then the manifestation of your power relies on desire.”
“The triggers are always caused by desires but then they diverge into those three categories. If you are saying that it just happens sometimes then that means it's entirely desire dependent and you just need to channel the right thing. Mine comes from the desire to get to know someone. Just that little push and I can tell they have a power.”
Sean thought back to what he was trying to do each time he called on his abilities. They were pointed reactions to things he wanted more than anything else.
He needed the man not to smash his skull in like a rotten pumpkin months after Halloween and he needed the thug to drop his clothes unless he wanted to become a streaker once more.
‘What do those times have in common? ‘
He couldn’t figure it out. Something was missing.
A flash of memories returned to him. The night of his death and the dream he was subjected to. It was a blur and everything came out as a confusing jumble of many lives intertwined, but one thing stuck out to him.
Everything he saw carried along an intense feeling of continuation. Every moment that sought to end his way of life was altered by the power.
He needed to live to continue working and getting his life back on track. The power answered his call. He needed his clothes and cash to continue with his plan of getting his power tested. It responded once more.
‘That has to be it.’
He opened his eyes. The mental energy was still there. He could feel it innately. He just needed it to listen.
His hands slowly pushed forward as he called on his desire to continue. To get on with his life as he knew it. To get through this fucked up situation and get back to society. His scalp tingled and the energy surged.