The embodiment of terror and monstrosities fell at their feet, refusing to move a single inch. It probably didn’t help that it had half its face charred off by whatever was happening above them, but Kauss expected it to endure more of a beating than that. It broke his arm just by throwing him once, so there was no way in hell it could die so easily. Yet, here it lay, upon bones, urine, and blood, soon to be forgotten by time as its body decayed into the very stone floor. Tetsons have walked one more step into the pathway of extinction.

The shaking stopped soon after, and everything quieted down. No other words were spoken and sounds were made outside of the Tetson baby’s excessive whining. Kauss wondered if the Tetson they just killed was their momma. If that was the case, then it was a horrifying way to go. Slaughtered in front of the children they swore to protect.

Kauss sighed and walked up to the Tetson. He worried about what happened for it to turn out like this, but they came here for one reason; to take its freeze organ. This just so happened to make their job a lot easier. He put away his flashlight and took out his knife. In order for him to see, he pressed the button on the handle and it glowed red as lightning circled around the blade. His face glowed from the light as he approached the corpse, prepared to carve out his reward for doing absolutely nothing.

Suddenly, the blade powered off, and he was once again bathed in darkness. He repeatedly pressed the button, but no lightning exited the blade. Even the red glow the blade passively emitted went out, returning to its natural silver. The energy ran out at the absolute worst time imaginable. His arm was still broken, so he couldn’t hold his flashlight and cut its neck at the same time.

Suddenly, a light shined behind him. He looked back and saw Helona holding her flashlight at the Tetson’s head and neck. Kauss nodded, thanking her for the service. She smiled, and Killian held a thumbs up, pushing him on to finish the job. Kauss turned back around and approached the corpse once more with a decent light shining his way.

Before he could get close enough, one of the baby Tetsons ran in between him and the corpse. Instead of whimpering, it began growling and chomping its teeth, trying to intimidate him. If there was any doubt that the dead Tetson was its mother before, that doubt vanished now, seeing how over-protective it was. At first, Kauss was cautious, expecting the little guy to start breathing fire from out of nowhere. However, it refused to, making him think that it still didn’t have the ability to do so.

So he kept walking forward, unafraid of the beast that stood in his way. It continued to growl and bark at him, and Kauss could practically hear what it was thinking. Stay away from momma. I’ll kill you if you touch her. He ignored the cries from the thing and continued his way. Once it realized he wasn’t stopping, it began backing up, yet continuing its attempts at intimidation. The whole ordeal was pitiful and pathetic, seeing something completely out of his league, yet continuing to fight back. It angered him, even more than that disgrace to God on the wall.

Raising his leg, he kicked at the Tetson with full force, sending it flying with a wail. It slammed against the stone wall and flattened against the surface, blood flying and organs dropping. Every bone in its body snapped and its skin opened, releasing blood and organs, dripping down the wall. It flattened like a pancake and moved in a way that only a corpse could imitate. Its body began sliding down the wall, and fell, hitting the ground with a wet slap. Once that nuisance was finally out of the way, he could finish the job.

Kauss got on his knees and drew his knife against its neck. He imagined the best way to cut it open and extract the organ without causing too much damage. He used to steal organs for the Owerneckers in exchange for electricity a few times, so he was fairly certain he could do this with little incident, even with a single arm. With a thrust, he cut into its throat and began carving it open, blood staining his knife and arm. He carved a single incision along its throat. When he was done, he removed the knife and placed it beside him. Using his good hand, he opened the throat wider and searched for the organ.

As soon as he opened the throat, an interesting smell left the wound, overpowering his nose. It smelt faintly of mint mixed with pepper that was smothered on an old man’s back. Not only that, but he could hear a whistle, like gas escaping a pipe. Looking around, he found the organ as it released gas from a tube at the bottom.

“Killian, I need your help. Bring a brown capsule while you’re at it.”

Killian dug through his pockets and took out a brown energy capsule and button. He hurried to Kauss with them and got on his knees. When they were side by side, Kauss pointed inside the Tetson’s throat.

“See that? Take it out with my knife and cover it with the energy.”

Killian grabbed the knife and dug into the throat. He looked around it to see what it was attached to. He dug into the throat and sliced any meat, flesh, and bone that kept the organ in place. Once it was free of any obstructions, he took it out and quickly brought out the capsule. The organ plopped on the floor as Killian placed the energy capsule on its surface. Pressing the button in his hand, the capsule lid opened and air entered, causing an immediate reaction. The liquid burst into lightning and it went after the first thing it touched. Once the lightning came in contact with the organ, it stayed in place and covered it with more lightning. The entire event happened in less than a few seconds and the whistling paused as soon as it was completely covered.

Once that was finished, Killian grabbed the organ and held it to his chest. They had a bag waiting for them at the tree that they would carry it with. He wondered how Linux was doing at the moment. Once they met up, he was going to ask if he knew anything about what had just happened up on the surface. However, he felt like there wouldn’t even be a need to ask. That shaking was so fierce that he was sure that the aftereffects would be visible the moment they left.

“So, you two ready to go?” Helona asked.

“Sure.” Kauss stood up and dusted himself off, accidentally getting blood on more parts of him. “Can you keep the organ safe?”

Killian nodded and began walking down the tunnel. After everything, they didn’t even need to fight for their prize. Killian didn’t know if that was a blessing or just plain disappointing. He wanted to test his mettle against such a fierce beast, so seeing it drop before they shared blows upset him. He was itching for a fight and he hadn’t gotten a real one since arriving. The last fight against the guard didn’t tickle his fancy, since he didn’t even remember it. One moment, he was flying down the town streets so fast the buildings turned into blurs, the next she was dead.

As they walked down the tunnel, Kauss realized something odd. Either his eyes weren’t working, or something about the environment was off. Their light shined and hit a dirt wall, which would be normal considering they came down a dirt pit, but there was no entryway. The tunnel looked like it just ended with nothing to appropriately transition them from stone to dirt. It was just a sudden halt.

Helona ran up to the dirt, leaving them behind in the process. She slowed as she came to the end and made a horrifying realization. Thanks to the shaking from earlier, the entire pit caved in on itself. The amount of dirt, rocks, and sediment needed for such a thing to happen was astronomical. They all stared up at the roof, wondering what the hell was going on up there.

“What do we do?” Kauss asked.

“Lets just think this through.” Helona said, attempting to calm herself down. “There’s no way this was the only entrance to the place.” That’s what she told herself, but she knew that was false. From what they saw and what the journal said, this was the only entrance. She needed to keep that false hope in order to keep her mind from going crazy out of fear.

“Well then, where could it be?”

Helona began thinking again, until another noise started vibrating through the dirt. They all looked at the entrance as it sounded like something was digging its way to them. Helona backed away and pulled out her gun, ready to fire as soon as it peeked its head in. This could either be their savior or their doom. It all depended on if they could kill it or not.

The sound of claws digging at the dirt and shoveling it away grew louder as the Tetson grew closer. Killian was gearing up for a fight, and Kauss was backing away, raising his knife. He was out of energy, and even though he gained partial movement back in his arm, it still wouldn’t respond to him. Even worse, there was a strange feeling going into his brain. It made him feel at ease, but that was the exact opposite of what he needed at the moment. What he needed was dread and panic, since at least those emotions would help him react accordingly.

On cue, the Tetson’s face popped out of the dirt and Helona fired off her first shot. It hit its eye, and it cried out agonizingly as it crawled out of the hole and charged toward them. Helona fired a few more times before diving out of the way as it sped past her. Kauss jumped out of the way too, and it ignored him as well. Killian was the only one not jumping out of harm’s way, rather he stood in front of it.

His gauntlets were already activated, covered in red lightning. He raised his fist and prepared to punch it as it ran toward him. However, the unthinkable occurred. As soon as the Tetson saw his fist, it froze and cowered beneath him. It bowed its head and dropped to its belly, showing off its powerlessness against a mighty foe. That was so out of the ordinary that Kauss pinched his broken arm to make sure this wasn’t some weird hallucination. Turned out, he discovered two things. The Tetson was very real, and he might just be a masochist considering the pinch felt good despite his nails were digging into his skin.

Killian looked at it, disappointed, waiting for it to show that it was tricking him, then jump at him with its mouth wide open. He waved his hand, and the lightning reacted and spread. One bolt whipped the floor in front of the Tetson’s eyes. As soon as that happened, it yelped and began running again, this time not slowing to stop. Killian didn’t prepare for that and jumped out of the way. It ran past them and into the room that was now home to a corpse and children.

Killian turned back around and saw a hole that was left behind by the Tetson digging its way under. It truly was a wonder that it got down here, otherwise they would be stuck down there with nothing to keep them alive long term. Helona had already begun climbing the hole and Kauss went up right after. Before following them, Killian looked back into the darkness, wondering if there was enough time to fight the beast then return.

“You coming?” Kauss shouted.

It turns out there was no time. He followed sluggishly, upset that he didn’t get the fight he deserved. When it was running toward him, he thought he’d have the fight of a lifetime. However, it just had to get scared because of the lightning. But why? Kauss fought the monster before and from their injuries, it didn’t seem like it was afraid then. So why was it afraid now?

As they climbed, Kauss could hear a new type of roaring. It wasn’t that of a wild beast, or a person pretending to be an animal. It sounded like a force so wild and uncontrollable that it couldn’t help but burn away. It was a sound all too familiar, a sound that always came after a gas leak. He didn’t realize it, but his feet began moving quicker without any input of his own. His body was acting on its own accord, with no way for the brain to wrangle it back.

He had passed Helona some time ago and was already nearing the surface. Light shined down the hole, and that was nowhere near a good sign. It was so bright that even with his flashlight turned off, it lit up the tunnel. There was no way they were under there for so long that black turned to blue, but the sky was still alight. As he exited the hole, he found out what it was alight with. Turns out, it was hell.

All around him fire ran wild and free, sucking out all the oxygen from the air with the toxic smoke steaming the sky, blanketing the world in darkness, only kept away by the light from the raging fire. No small sky lights were out tonight. The smoke obscured their vision so much that it blinded even the eyes of God. The fire reflected in Kauss’ eyes as he looked around some more. Trees were uprooted, dirt and rocks spread about the place haphazardly, and they were standing in a giant crater. If the smoke blinded God’s eyes, then he must have been asleep for this all to happen with no interference.

Helona climbed out, and Killian slowly followed. One by one, they looked at the destruction in an awed silence. The beauty behind such savagery and brutality was so mysterious that they couldn’t help but gape at the wonders they’re witnessing. The roars and cries of both the dying and the panicking monsters rang out as fire burnt them alive and left them with scars that would last generations. Dawn truly rose the moment they left the hole. It was the dawn of realization as these people repeatedly destroyed themselves again and again with little care for self preservation. Survival meant nothing because if their enemies perished along with them, then they could die with a smile on their faces.

Kauss began moving, panic swirling in his mind. The spot where their bag sat is close to where they were now. And inside that bag was one of his excuses for life. Inside that bag was one of the many reasons he decided to climb the tower in the first place. He looked at Helona and Killian, a fire in his eyes.

“You two go find Linux!” He shouted.

“What? Why not come with us?” Helona asked.

“Just do it.” He didn’t wait for a response. He sped off into the flames and ash, leaving his friends behind in order to protect his grandmamma.

Helona watched him speed off, a helpless feeling washing over her. She knew what he was going after, but they didn’t need to split up for that. However, it was too late to stop him and bring him back to reason. He was already on his way, going farther and farther away from them.

“Lets go.” Killian said, heading the opposite direction.

“Where are we supposed to go? We don’t have the slightest idea what happened to Linux.”

“Well then, we gotta find out.”

Killian ran off, forcing Helona to follow him. Kauss had already disappeared behind the smoke and there was no sign of him anymore. She coughed as smoke worked its way into her lungs as she began moving through the endless fire.

With every additional step Kauss made, he sped up a fraction more. It felt like there was unlimited energy running through every vein, muscle, and bone through his body. He didn’t understand where this power was coming from, but he abused it with everything he had, siphoning whatever source he was stealing from and using it tenfold. His mind was far from clear, almost going as fast as he was moving. He passed by giant fires as their heat licked his skin, burning trees and corpses where their burnt bodies added to the ashes, and he saw a single guard trying his best to put out the fires. He was somewhat successful, but the scale was way too overwhelming.

He sped past them all, becoming a blur in the orange and red blanket of light. Sweat fell from his face and stung his eyes, forcing him to blink for a second to stop the burning. At first, it felt like natural pain as fire burned his skin red and pink, but soon after that pain quickly transitioned to a type of irresistible pleasure. It became so overpowering that he had to breathe heavily just to vent out the unneeded buildup of pleasure.

As he ran, something moved in his way. He skidded to a stop and drew his knife level to his throat. He was prepared to skin a bitch forcefully while screaming if he had to. He didn’t have anytime for someone to get in his way.

The thing that jumped in front of his path was a guard using a giant hose that sprayed water on the fire. The hose connected to a giant device on his back that looked heavy enough to flatten a small child to dust. Once he got in his way, they made eye contact and the both of them froze. They stared at each other, shocked to find one another in such an awful position. Kauss raised his knife higher and took a fighting stance.

“Get out of my way and I don’t have to kill you.”

He couldn’t exactly move around since on all sides of him was fire upon more fire. The guard failed to comply and instead he kept on hosing the fire down. Pressing a button on the side of the device, water exited the hose so powerfully that it recoiled, nearly pushing him to the ground. He turned and spun, spraying water everywhere. Kauss shut his eyes and felt the splash of cold water spray him, soaking him to his bone. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the amount of pleasure it made him feel. If he didn’t fight back the pleasure, he would’ve fallen to the ground long ago and let the fire devour him.

When the sound of water stopped, Kauss opened his eyes and saw that a lot of the fire around them was put out. The guard loosened the straps on his back and let the device and hose fall to the ground. They once again locked eyes, seeing what the other would do.

“I helped you so you help me.” The guard said, pointing behind him. “There’s a Tetson back there. I want you to kill it and fucking leave and never return. Hear me.”

The guard didn’t need to tell him twice. Where he pointed was exactly where he needed to go in the first place. He didn’t understand why the guard helped him, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was if grandmamma was safe. He ran around him and carried on his way. He kept his knife out for when he encountered the Tetson that the guard warned him about.

It didn’t take long to get there soon after. He was still surrounded by fire, but the blaze was becoming less and less pronounced as he ran further away from the epicenter. The wind blew and carried the smoke in the opposite direction, helping him breathe again. The tree where they rested was still standing, although a bit scarred. Their bag was still safe sitting under the tree, and the dome was gone, so he could easily get it without feeling even more pleasure. Right next to the tree, however, a Tetson crouched on its legs, roaring at the fire. It could easily dig under the ground to get around it, but its animal brain was panicking way too much to fully understand that they could just dig. That didn’t matter now. What mattered was that a dangerous monster was way too close to the bag.

Pointing his blade forward, he charged with all the might he had.