Teeth gritting metallic hands grinded against sharp stone, sending ear splitting screeches in the evening hours. Static breathed heavily through the nostril orifices, struggling to garner what little strength that there had been left in him.

“That devil! I swear, I’ll have my vengeance if it means taking my last living breath. Hah! To protect she says, that is the root of all weakness, having something to constantly guard.” Gears grinded away in the back of his mind, realizing that her sole purpose of existing evolved into something beyond just her.

Dragging himself from the bottom of the crater of a hole he was in, he flopped and rolled onto his side, taking gulping deep breaths. Holding his hand up, he carefully considered the damage he had undertaken. All over his body, clear fractures had been formed from the beastly strikes she landed on him. His entire form glowed ominously and whined lightly, no one would notice the high pitch sound unless they pressed ears against his body.

“To think that dog was able to understand how my abilities scaled up.” He muttered half heartedly.

Memories swirled from the decisive moment from those many years ago, Grusha proved to be far too troublesome, far too wild. The strength she amassed proved to be apparently endless, foe after foe, her adaptation abilities always adjusted to set her in the path of assured victory. I am sorry, Grusha, but your usefulness has expired. This is good-bye, but you will not be forgotten. Your contributions will forever be remembered.

“I should’ve uprooted far before those roots became peskier to do away with, my expectations were always too high even for my own good, and ultimately my own greed.”

He chuckled and gradually escalated to a maniacal laughter, a laughter of a person who lost all sense of reason and rationale. Balling up his fist, he crashed them down onto the ground angrily, mixed with emotions seething rage, maddening lunacy and foolish humor. Continuing his trek away from the hole, he crawled on all fours.

“Most I could have done was sever her arms, the hell have I meddled with? Fine, next time I will have to be more prepared. All I need is time, yes, time. Once I recuperate, all I have to do is continue with what I have always done, play both sides of the game. I will recuperate Enigma, I will reamass my static dust, no I will amass even more than before. Yes, and so much more. So much more.”

Statics rambling spiraled downwards to a realm of insanity, plotting the impossible demise of his enemy, abandoning any hope of his original goals. All that he had left was the utter destruction of the one who humiliated him.

“Dog! Devil! Witch! Rat!” He spat a stream of names. “You-you…” He paused. Blue orbs of eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “YOU BEAST!” He roared powerfully in the cloudy night sky on his knees.

There was no response to his maddening outcry but the silent winds bellowing from the artics, not even the stars of the cloudy sky paid any heed to his cries. Suddenly, like an angel parting aside the heavens, a powerful light scoured the landscape in search of something. It settled its light on him and the object that emitted the beacon grew in size, eventually hovering right above from where he settled. The chopping rotors a massive helicopter nested itself several meters from him.

Snapping back from his lapse of sanity, he recognized danger when it really counted and presently that was one of those times. He had no idea who they were and they more likely than not had interest in what had transpired here. Desperately crawling on his knees, he struggled back into the hole he had just minutes ago crawled out of. Sliding doors hissed and men in clad armor came pouring out from the helicopter, they all took barrel shots at Static who came tumbling back into the hole and came to a sliding stop at the bottom.

Lifting his head to stare back up the top of the crater, a well dressed figure in a military suit rested two hands on his waist. Staring authoritatively high from where he stood down at Static in contempt. The beams of light behind made his facial features impossible to distinguish, it was not until some sparks that emitted from his breath he was able to tell it was.

“Tombs.” Static let of a sigh of relief, wiping the mud off his face. “I should have known that it was you, after all, that beer-belly of yours has not lessened the least bit. Get me out of here, we have work to do and-”

A soldier of his pressed against, asked loudly. “I have a clear shot, waiting on your mark, General.”

Tombs lifted his hand up, signaling to hold their fire. He grinned ominously at Static, who was confused about the entire thing.

“General?” Static asked sheepishly, his voice croaked slightly.

What is this? Am I being intimidated by a man noless? No, that can’t be. He shook the thought right off.

“I don't appreciate you trying my patience, General. I order you to pull me out now and drop me off where I want immediately. Must I remind you what our relationship consists of?”

“No need for reminders, the relationship is fully understood between us.” His grin widened. “It is absolutely predatory, you’ve preyed on me while you stood high, but now it is my turn. This is how true beasts in this wild world feed off each other.”

Tombs flicked his hands forwards a few times, gesturing for his men to follow some silent command. Several soldiers went skidding down towards Static, holding their weapons trained on him. Static made a futile desperate attempt to escape by the opposite direction, finding by some form of miracle to momentarily stand up and run away. One of the soldiers shot a round into him, a painstaking pain coursed through Static that took him completely by surprise. There was nothing that the humans had that could harm him.

Static came tumbling face first into the ground, completely limp even though he could feel his heartbeat the beat of a whale. Yet his body refused to comply with his mental demands, it was as experiencing a nightmare while fully awake. Several other shots sent sputtering spasms in his limbs until there was no strength left in him. Tombs circled around him with boots ankle deep in the mud and stone.

Squatting down over Statics face, Tombs tentatively poked a finger at Static and whipped it back when a spark jolted between his finger and the face.

He angrily raised his voice. “I thought those geeks said the blasted guns would immobilize him.”

One of the soldiers responded. “His biology is a big unknown for us, it may have been involuntary.”

“Very well. Bag him, and let’s get him better accommodated before he recuperates.”

The soldiers shuffled among themselves and strapped him in electric clamps that hummed ominously, all the while Static choked to get words to come out but all he could do was groan.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be well taken care of. Besides, it seems Elijah is taking a liking to you, you’re gonna be his new plaything.”

Static’s eyes widened.

Your head is going to roll in front of your family’s eyes, I will ruin your career, everything you are is because of me! But all his yelling fell onto deaf ears in his isolated mind.

They laid him in a futuristic box, ironically similar to the appearance of a coffin. Blue lights glowed from the apparatus and it too hummed like the bondages that were strapped around his limbs, then the temperature suddenly dropped and Static was forced into a state of stasis. His final free thoughts boiled between fear and denial of everything that transpired, and ultimately came down to his overwhelming hatred of Grusha.