Chapter 4: Chin Chopper Chin Chopper!


Fresh meat...

Was just so hard to come by, but Pudge had always known that getting hot meat on his hook was never going to be a stroll into a market, dumping a few measly coins into a vendor's hand and walking off with a pitiful scrap of rib. No, he was going to do it the hard way: hunting. He was shepherding the creeps he was assigned to guard as they sneaked into enemy boundaries, foolhardy and tedious it was but someone had to do it. He heard the birds squawk in alarm high above with his deformed ears, nasty little things, feathery and all bone, no chewy meat. His bottomless pit of a belly rumbled, urging him to feed, however there was nothing but the creeps, all burnt on the outside, dry on the inside, that would probably taste like twigs in autumn, a prospect that Pudge wouldn't want between his teeth.

Then his keen nose smelled something much more promising, the scent was like an aroma from a freshly baked pie, just fetched from the oven and laid out on a windowsill; the smell however, was of a man, with his heart still beating and his blood pumping like gravy on a turkey. Pudge licked his non-existent lips, and he followed the smell's trail. Then he saw the man, crouching amongst bushes; he had a ridiculous hair-do, orange skin and armed with a pair of sparkly blades. Pitiful, a scrawny young lad with not much meat on him, but surely he would make a fine quiche, or a roast with an apple in his mouth. Pudge's hunger intensified, green viscous drool dripped from his maw. He couldn't stand the anticipation, the prospect of fresh meat after days of arduous traveling was too great of a temptation. His hook was ready, and so was his cleaver. He swung his hooking arm and threw, chains rattling, hook hissing...

Come to Pudge, succulent meat.

Time seemed to have stop as Magina faced the meat hook, its wicked claw was just a few meters away from piercing into his skull and pulling it apart. His legs froze, stiffened by surprise and fear. Magina's mind was frantic, trying to force his body to evade, screaming "Move, dammit! Don't let me die now!". It worked, and his legs found their reflexes, quickly springing out of the way as the hook was close to touching the tip of Magina's nose. He rolled onto the dirt, his hands balancing the forces so he would not injure himself. The hook struck past, fast as a viper's strike, completely missing its intended target. The menacing claw found something to vent its anger on: a tree. The hook snagged into the tree's thick bark with a crash, wood chips and splinters flew and the hook dug itself into the trunk, making a large, deep scar. The chain behind sprung and straightened as Pudge yanked back, the hook was embedded deep. With a tremendous amount of strength, the sturdy tree was yanked out of the ground, roots pulled free of their anchors, and the tree moaned with despair as the hook was free at last and it fell to the ground with an echoing thud.

"Blast it!" cursed Pudge.

Magina's breath was heavy, his legs trembled from the adrenaline, warm sweat flowed on his skin and shivers ran down his spine. He was fortunate to have rolled into thick bushes, concealing him from sight. His thoughts ran wild, trying to comprehend what had just happened. What had just attacked him? Was it a flying sword? A flail? A metallic serpent? He peered from his shield of leaves cautiously, just in time to see the weapon of question: a... meat hook. A massive black one, the size of a torso, was snaking across the ground, dragged by its rattling body of black chains stained with blood, like a fisherman's lure that was being reeled back empty. The chains reeled up into a grotesque, yellowish pale, muscular arm, raw with muscle by its forearm, stitches patched the skin together. The owner of the arm and hook, was a horror to behold.

The behemoth was bloated and stout, skin as pale as a rotten, infected corpse with tints of tartar yellow and grime green. The abomination's head was round, two soulless pale eyes peered from scarred sockets, its maw was like a drooping bear trap, chipped and rotten teeth poked out, strands of drool hung from its tattered gums, stitched scars riddled his face. Surprisingly, green, swirled hair grew on his pale scalp. Spinal bones jagged out from his neck to large back, piercing rings jingled from it. The beast's belly was enormous, a crimson scar stretched from its neck down to its bellybutton, stitches struggled to hold the gap from splitting. Intestines snaked out of the scar, as if the beast had too many to keep in its bloated form. Its barely visible legs were stout and thickly muscled, the toenails were as chipped and rusty yellow as maggot-chewed bone, a blotch of decay appeared on the patches of grass with each thunderous step. A true paragon of gluttony, fused with the epitome of atrocity, armed with a head-sized bloody cleaver. He was nonetheless the fear of the Reaper, the Butcher.

The Butcher hissed as his jaws grinned, a thick, sickly green smog blew from his rancid breath. Acidic drool dripped and hissed on the grass below, deadening them. The Butcher inhaled sharply, like a bloodhound sniffing for its quarry.

"Come out come out, ye little morsel," called out Pudge, his deep, cracking voice mocked his cowardly prey "Pudge'll make sure that you'll be served with finesse, sliced and diced as fine as cubes, seasoned with your powdered bones, sauced with a thick broth of your blood and roasted by Lucifer's hottest of ovens. DELICIOUS!"

Magina heard the Butcher's steps getting closer to where he was, with his sniffing growing intensely. The Butcher's maniacal chuckle sent shivers down his spine, and as he drew closer, Magina could smell the pungent rot; the sickening scent was almost unbearable, it turned Magina's nose red and his nostrils into sulfurous furnaces, his eyes watered and he began to choke. Magina was glad he hadn't eaten heavily, or else he may had already lost it. The bushes rustled violently and Magina ducked, and a peering, bulging eye intruded, but was unable to see him.

"I can smell your fear," growled Pudge "It's like the sweet aroma of a hot roast left out in the open; you cannot hide, nor can you run from my insatiable hunger. I, the Butcher, see all, smell all, hear all, TASTE all! You may have escaped Death's scythe once or thrice, but you'll never escape Pudge's HOOK for long!"

Magina heard a faint hiss, then in a mere second a blinding cloud of rot-green gas gushed into the bushes. The horrendous stench invaded, and the leaves withered into black fingers almost instantly; the acidic sting of the gas swarmed Magina's face and he barked in pain, it felt as if his skin was being eaten by tiny, voracious maggots. If he stayed, he would surely succumb. Quickly, Magina blinked away, a flash of blue illuminated betwixt the bushes. Pudge reacted and swung his cleaver, the air whooshed and the black bushes were cleared aside. Magina was nowhere to be found, and Pudge was not pleased one bit.

"Feel your soul decay with your flesh, little morsel!" roared Pudge, "You're a slippery meal, but it'll all be worth it once I get to tear into your torso, chop you up and leave nothing for the scavengers. Just hide and wait, and I'll getcha!"

Pudge however, knew it wasn't going to be as easy as he said. At least his threats instilled fear into his meal, which always made them taste better, but this young warrior was a tough catch. Only a handful had evaded his hook before, and half of which he killed soon after with his tenacity. Pudge sniffed the air once more, but the scent of his prey was fainter, as if somehow his teleportation erased his presence and the rot's lingering, foul affliction. Pudge growled, he never liked fast food.

Magina was out of reach and sight meanwhile, high on a branch of the tallest tree, shielded by a curtain of leaves. He cringed as his skin pained, whatever horrible gas it was, it certainly was effective. He peered at the Butcher, lumbering about, sniffing the air like a ravenous wolf. He eyed the hook attached to the Butcher's right arm; it was grisly, stained with old blood but still gleamed like a beetle's back. The thick tree that the hook yanked down was nearly split in half; Magina gulped, imagining what would happen if the hook were to sink into him.

Shoving aside trepidation, Magina contemplated on his current options: flee or fight. He glanced at the Butcher's stitches that seem to hold his limbs together; what if he were quick enough to cut loose those stitches? If he could evade the hook and strike quickly before the Butcher's rot surfaces, chances of dropping the behemoth like a rag doll would be slim still; yet, the prospect of returning to his allies with the Butcher's decapitated head was alluring. If he were to run, he would be seen as a coward, which would destroy his chances with Mirana. No, he shall return as her hero... today!

Pudge heard a rustle above, branches shook as a faint shadow dashed behind the leaves. He glanced above at the treetops, piercing sun beams went through the leaves and birds chirruped warnings to their neighbors of his presence. He caught a glimpse of the fleeting shadow once more as it dashed from branch to branch, he felt confused, as if his prey was playing him as a fool. More rustles came from all around, as if he was surrounded by more than one warriors. Then he heard a snap of twigs from behind, and he swerved his massive bulk around to look. His prey was fast, but Pudge had caught faster before. He licked his tattered lips in anticipation of the meal to come, he could already taste the sweet meat and crunchy bones between his gnashing teeth.

Then he smelled something familiar: bloodlust...

Pudge spun around with his cleaver swinging, its heavy grey blade clashed with the white crescent twin blades of the Anti-mage, blazing sparks flew like lightning. Magina was blown back by the immense force, Pudge had swung so strong and swift that he felt his grip tremble from the shock. The Butcher was surprisingly fast, despite his bulk. Pudge grinned, delighted his prey was eager to battle. Spinning around once more, Pudge let loose his chains and swung the hook in an arc. Magina's eyes went wild, he immediately ducked beneath the hook as it moaned past him, he felt the the edge brushing over his hair. The hook crashed into another tree's trunk, digging deeply into it. Magina saw his chance, with the Butcher's hook stuck and his gruesome back exposed. Dashing forward with a ferocious resolve to end the fight, Magina yelled with all his soul, blades sparking intensely with crackling light. He leaped high into the air, bringing his blades above him, ready to strike the beast down. However...

Pudge was far from vulnerable.

Once again, the green gas gushed out from the Butcher, completely enveloping his massive form. Magina sliced but damaged nothing, and he found himself chocking from the thick smog. His skin bubbled with pain, his throat filled with the deadly fumes, and so did his lungs. Magina scrambled to get out of the thick cloud, for if he stayed it would mean certain death. He leaped out of the devouring cloud, gasping and coughing for clean air, his face reddened from the acidic burn. His sight was blur and spinning, he could hear his own heart thumping beside his ears. An insidious chuckle came from behind, and for a moment the world came back to him. Magina front-flipped as the Butcher's cleaver came crashing down, evading the air-splitting slash as it smashed into the dirt. Pudge snarled, frustrated that he almost had him.

"GET OVER HERE!" roared Pudge.

Pudge yanked his chain hard, whilst the hook was embedded in the tree. A sharp crack sounded, the tree's roots were pulled free and the tree toppled over. Pudge swung around again, pulling the chain upwards, with the hooked tree dragging across the ground. With sheer strength, Pudge swung the hooked tree upwards, it flew to the treetops. Magina noticed in time and blinked away, just as the massive tree came crashing down like a roaring hammer, the ground quaked from the impact, the tree tore in half like paper and the hook came hissing free back to its master.

Magina panted as he steadied his stance, facing the dirt cloud the impact had created. The Butcher's dark silhouette emerged from the brown obscurity, then Pudge's gruesome glory beheld itself. Magina heard snarls, hisses and roars from the bushes. Just as he feared, Pudge's creeps came leaping out. Snarling like possessed apes, the creeps drew their swords, they came by dozens, encircling Magina. Pudge laughed, assured that his prey couldn't escape.

A ring of black swords closed in on Magina, he tried backing away, only to be stopped by the burnt demons. He spun and blocked incoming stabs, kicking aside charging demons, fighting for his life. Then, one of the demons threw a black, thorny net into the air, as Magina pushed aside another demon. Magina noticed the splaying net too late and it came crashing down on him, the thorns dug into his flesh as he felt the heavy weight push him down. Then, a paralyzing sensation overwhelmed his instincts to blink; neural poison. Magina yelled in pain, as if a thousand fire ants bit into his nerves and he fell on his knees.

Pudge hideously laughed in maniacal glee as he watched his prey struggle; the poisoned net came in handy after all that time of hauling it with them. Pudge smacked his lips, his belly rumbled, drool dripped from his yellow teeth. The creeps roared and whooped like a troop of crazed apes, in jubilee to their victory. Pudge laughed once more as he swung his arm and threw his hook, the chain rattled as it stretched. It was finally time to dine on meat, sweet, succulent and...

"HAHAHA! FRESH MEAT!" roared Pudge.

Magina gritted his teeth, tears of frustration rolled down his cheeks. He had let everyone down, as he knelt there helpless as the hook's claw flew towards him. Despite the excruciating pain, he clenched his fists and lifted his chin in submission, ready for the hook to tear into him and yank his innards out. He sent a silent prayer to the Earth Mother, knowing that he will join her and his brother monks soon. He had failed his quest for vengeance against magic...

"Forgive me... everyone." he whispered.

Was this truly the end?


Author's note: Finally done, sooner than the last update. A lot of careful consideration had to be done for this chapter, because I felt Pudge deserved a lot of character planning to make him seem fierce and terrifying, and not a big ol rotting teddy bear. I tried to imagine what it would've been like to be rotted by Pudge's rot, and it must've hurt a lot. I know that Magina is an elusive hero, but hey some players play him as if he's an instant Houdini hero and end up dying because of their rash actions, so I've reflected this on this chapter. Question is... am I gonna let Magina get dismembered? Or gonna let him live? Review, fav or follow to find out soon!

Stay awesome,

HCZS