Showcasing
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Yes, I know Backup Plan is in the middle of crunch-time, but I'm on Thanksgiving Break, so I have seven days of nothing to do to but write chapters and play games.
This idea struck me like lightning, and I had to get it out ASAP. Subject-3 Beta needs some screen time, and this chapter is entirely dedicated to the man himself. This will be nothing but action and gore, exploring his drive, his morals, and his powers/abilities, which stretch the realism of science-fiction. So, for those who are excited to see Aster interact with the Hunters, I regret to inform you that this is not the chapter for you.
Also, at the end of the chapter, I will ask a very important question that can only be answered via poll. Now that we have that squared away, on to the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, AVP…or Twilight (sorry about what's coming, but giant wolves make for some lovely prey)
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August 18, 2006
Southern British Columbia
The man screamed his lungs out, as if it would magically save him from death. It didn't. It just got his head sliced cleanly off, abruptly cutting off his scream.
The rest of the hunters, a large band of 39, all came sprinting from wherever it was in the surrounding woods they were, rifles up high, dogs barking, and breathing ragged, drawn by the desperate call of their comrade in arms. The reason for these men and older teenage boys to be hunting en masse like this?
Sightings of a demon straight from the bowels of Hell itself…and several headless family members.
There was one group, one that was closest than the rest of the teams, that was hit first. An older man, maybe in his late forties, along with another that looked remarkably similar (brothers, perhaps), and twin boys of maybe nineteen, twenty, or twenty-one, were making a mad dash for where they heard Leeroy yell.
Something dropped right on top of them, literally. One of the twins was crushed by the thing's massive weight, and panic ensued. Whatever this thing was, it was entirely transparent…like a moving heatwave. The living twin didn't even get to react before there was a hole in ribcage that went all the through his back.
By this time, the father and his brother had registered what was happening, somewhat, and reacted…too slow. The brother's gun was brazened across his chest in mid-aim, when something large and powerful slammed straight through the wood and metal, sending the brother rocketing into the dirt, his bones turned into powder.
The father hadn't even paid attention to that, his mind solely focused on killing the distortion in the air. He fired his trusty weapon, both barrels spitting fire and smoke. The next sound was that of an annoyed clicking, followed by the sound of blades extending, then tearing flesh.
The father's fear-stricken visage would forever remain on his severed head, impaled on the not-quite invisible blades.
The clicking was heard again, and the distortion became wholly visible as the filters along the exoskeleton allowed for the absorption of light-wavelengths once more. Subject-3 Beta was revealed in his six-foot, heavily-muscled, dark-green-and-black exoskeletal glory. The head of his latest trophy impaled on his extended wrist-blade-bones.
Ah, those were quite the ingenious biological creation, the wrist-blades. That cancerous-like growth on each of his forearms served as the sheath, with fourteen inches of ultra-thin, ultra-powerful bone, neatly carved and sharpened, hiding within. The blades were connected to a thick cord of muscle at the back of the sheath, and could be extended and retracted with just a thought…much like the flexing of a muscle.
S-3 Beta clicked once more, his mouth never parting but his mandibles trembling. He removed his newest trophy from his blades, and dropped it right into his own in-built head storage.
That was also quite the novelty. Along with the lower dorsal tubes, the massive, powerful, clubbed tail, and the upper, curved dorsal tubes, there was another added edition the back of S-3 Beta. A series of protruding spines, with the first one sprouting up above the tail, curving upward, and the rest parallel to each other, curved toward the one directly across from it, travelling up along the same path as the dorsal tubes.
With this next head, that made five trophies contained within the neat space that served as his mobile game-sack. The bottom spine kept the five skulls from falling out, and the spines along the sides kept the skulls from tumbling away. And that five skulls had been added, the fifth skull at the top triggered a nerve located at the top of the spinal cord that caused another spine, one like the spine at the bottom, above the tail, to extend forward, sealing all the skulls within an organic, morbid basket.
With his quota for the day now reached, S-3 Beta activated his bio-cloak, the special pores and cells on his exoskeleton bending and contorting light waves to the point that he was invisible from a distance, and a mere distortion at close range. He ascended into the trees, his large bulk doing nothing to impede his agility and grace.
Using his unnatural strength, and the selectively adhesive film on his palms and feet, he bounded from trunk to trunk, silent as an owl coming in for the kill. He sailed over hunters and dogs, none of the beasts ever taking notice of him. Within just a few short minutes, S-3 Beta arrived at his temporary layer: a cave carved into the side a cliff, shielded by foliage and trees.
The cave was deep enough to shrouded in complete darkness, but if you went far enough in, there would be a sudden drop down to a lower chamber, and a quick hike through there would lead to a rather nifty area. A crevice high above allowed a copious amount of sun to shine down upon the cave, and runoff from a nearby stream traveled down along the jagged wall into a small basin that slowly trickled out down the back. Niches carved along the walls were filled with the skulls of humans, moose, deer, rodents, bears, and wolves.
This was where S-3 Beta cleaned and displayed his trophies.
The hybrid rolled his pupiless eyes at the thought of trophies. This was fucking ridiculous. Humans? Animals? Easy prey. Too easy. So easy it was sickening. It had only been a few short days since his revitalization, and he had already accumulated 39 skulls, and stored them all inside of this cave. It was nothing to be proud of. These trophies…it was the equivalent of a grown human fighting mere children.
There was no glory to be found in hunting such simple vermin. Still, though, there was such thing as wasted prey, and the hybrid went to work on cleaning his newest decorations. That didn't stop him from entering a disgruntled slumber, however.
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Beta dreamt for the first time that night.
His mind's eye was currently showing him Earth…from space. Then there was a buzzing sound as three red lines came together to form a blinking triangle that was centered over a part of the planet. Then his eye was propelled forward to the point where that triangle encompassed everything.
Now there was a closer view of the planet. Then the tringle returned, and again, and again, and once more, and each time the mind's eye got closer and closer to the ground. The hybrid's vision had zoomed to the point where he seemed to be about ten feet away from the top of a very specific cliff…with a very familiar crevice on it.
His current lair.
Cue suspicious clicking.
Then his mind's eye was jerked all the way back out to the point where the whole of North America was visible. The triangle buzzed back into place, this time over Northeastern Washington State. Zoom in. Another buzzing triangle, this over the Olympic Peninsula. Zoom in. Then a final buzzing triangle came together over a small part of the Peninsula, zooming in to the point where a road sign could be read.
Forks, Washington.
Pop. 3688
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The genetic clone of Subject 3 bolted wide-awake, his irises dilating to the point to where they were more comparable to that of pinpricks. That dream was not a regular dream. It was a sign-a message-an answer! -to the problem of a lack of worthy prey. Without a second thought (because there was zero possibility of a dream like that being false), the ten-year-old bolted out of his lair, through the cave, and out onto a nearby tree.
The hybrid paused, thinking about something…then he whirled around on the bark to where his curved dorsal tubes were facing the cave entrance. In the dead of the night, it would be impossible for normal eyes to differentiate between the cliff face and the cave, but Beta had no such issues.
Instead, the tips of his tubes glowed bright blue, before twin discharges of highly compressed, focused, and volatile bio-electricity shot forward. The twin bolts slammed into the back of the cave, exploding with enough force to cause the entire structure to cave in on itself, burying and crushing every single one of Beta's trophies.
It didn't matter though. Those skulls were an embarrassment to his self, his skill, and his power. The sooner those were forgotten, the better. Now, with the past buried, Subject-3 Beta turned his attention South, in the same general direction of this…Forks.
The hybrid did not know what he would find, but he knew that the prey there would prove to be a most worthy challenge.
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August 18, 2006
Forks, Washington
Outskirts, in the woods
It was evening in the Cullen Clan household, and the entire family of sentient disco balls was lounging on their many couches, watching a program on the television. Carlisle and Esme were cuddled on one couch, Emmett and Rosalie on another, Jasper and Alice on yet another couch, and Edward opted to lean against the staircase, lost in his thoughts about his girlfriend, and how her birthday was in a month.
Then Alice seized up.
Not an entirely uncommon event, given the vampire's ability of premonition, but it still had the coven leaping up and surrounding her in a swarm of worried near-immortals. Except for Edward. The mind-reader stood frozen at the wall, the images he saw running across his adoptive-sister's mind chilling him straight through his frozen body.
Alice's hand began to move erratically in the air, as if trying to draw something, as she stared at space with an open-mouthed, blank expression. Jasper was quick to fetch pencil and paper, and his mate was even quicker to start drawing. Her hand moved at an impossible pace, the pen creating an image that was soon to be made out as a demon.
"Something's coming," Alice said vacantly. "A hunter…a powerful hunter…his desire for…trophies and sport…insatiable…he's coming…for us…the wolves…and the humans…he's coming…he's coming…" Alice fell unconscious before she could finish reciting her vision.
But her drawing had been completed.
The vampire clan all looked at what Alice had created, and it made them apprehensive, even the uncommonly strong Emmett felt threatened. The demon had a snarling visage, with his body drawn in a way that suggested he was covered in some kind of armor. His head was spiked, and two horns sprouted over his shoulders, facing forward. A large tail, ending with a spiked club, was drawn frozen behind him. From the top of his wrists, twin blades of some sort extended out.
And then there was the position in which the creature had been drawn, as well as the background. The creature stood with legs wide, slightly hunched over, his left arm curled in like he was flexing his bicep, and his right held outward with his tail pointed in the other direction. Impaled on the right blades was…a skull with its spinal column still attached. As for the background, Alice had drawn several tall sticks, all taller than the creature, at least, and adorning each stick was a skull.
There were seven skulls…and seven vampires.
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August 21, 2006
Forks, Washington
The hybrid clicked in ready anticipation. Three straight days of running, jumping, leaping, and slaughtering anything that moved, and he had arrived. Beta stood upon the side of a mountain, a clearing in the trees serving as his vantage point. Below him was what could only be the small town of his destination.
Asteria's clone clicked once more. His body trembled with excitement. His heart hammered with thrill. His mind was already thinking of traps to set, techniques to use, and whatever kind of prey he would find. Subject-3 Beta faded into near-invisibility as he left for Forks.
Time to begin the hunt.
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In an unknown environment such as this, keeping a low profile and staying incognito were key to success. Also a key to victory here, was information. Information about the people, the residents, the history, and the surrounding areas. And that information could be found at the town's chief institution of authority and law.
The police station.
Subject-3 Beta remained hidden in the dense foliage that covered this place. He didn't even need to bend light around him to remain hidden, with his skin matching the trees and brush perfectly, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Now, who was the one in charge here?
The hybrid placed his hand upon the cool earth, closing his eyes in concentration. Slowly, yet surely, the map was made. Using the seismic vibrations of the staffs' footfalls, Beta made a mental map of the small facility…memorized the scents of those inside, police, visitor, prisoner…and picked up snippets of conversation.
Despite being part Xenomorph, Beta was not his original. He did not have Asteria's telepathic ability, because his DNA was not so pure as to allow that power. His Xenomorph genes were diluted when compared to the daughter to Poseidon, but he had strengths the girl did not.
He had greater hunting instincts. He physical strength was greater than Asteria's. His tail was bigger. He had all the abilities of Aster, such as acid blood, spray, imbuing ability, and healing factor, longevity, heightened senses, pheromone-seeing, electro-location and other powers. Powers Beta didn't even know he had.
All irrelevant at the moment though. The hybrid had determined the chief executive of the station to be a man by the name of Charlie Swan. The Predalien hybrid would now lie in wait for however long it took for the man to leave…then he would be stalked to his residence…relieved of his head (and the heads of his family, if any) …and his ID and credentials commandeered for temporary nighttime use for infiltrating the station covertly I order to gain access to public records.
There had to be people that stood out from the others, people that were out of place. These humans would be investigated, and if that proved fruitless, then Beta would move on to Plan B: murder townsfolk, and bring their bodies to the woods, where traps would be set, in the hopes of attracting worthy prey.
The hybrid refused to believe that he had a dream of this town for no reason. There was big game somewhere in the town…and it would be located, hunted, killed, and collected.
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Night blanketed the small town, and it was time for Charlie to head home.
Beta watched the proceedings silently from his vantage point in the trees, and followed swiftly after the car. He stuck to the trees, effortlessly bounding from branch to branch, never staying long enough for the wood to collapse under his weight. Eventually, the policeman pulled into a driveway, and the house to which it belonged was saturated with his scent, and the scent of a girl.
Beta remained where he was, hidden in the foliage, and his cloak combining with the zero-light made him impossible to see. After thirty minutes of waiting, silently observing the man's mannerisms from a safe distance, Subject-3 Beta felt confident that the girl would not be arriving, and moved in for the kill…only for the universe to work against him as a vehicle came rolling down the street.
Instead of clicking in annoyance at the sudden intrusion, the hybrid just remained hidden in the trees. The girl that exited the vehicle had a scent matching the female one that covered the house. Swan's daughter, most likely. No matter; she was merely an insect to be disposed of with swift, silent, and lethal intent.
Then the man exited the vehicle. The hunter in the trees immediately locked onto to this man for two reasons. One, the man had no discernable scent, and two, when switching his vision to see in the infrared spectrum of light, the man had no thermal signature. Instead he was blue, purple, and cold. Like the ground.
Now that was interesting.
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Charlie was no longer needed at this point, so Beta didn't even waste the time in killing the man, or his daughter, Bella. Instead, the hunter followed this Edward boy right to his home, following from a safe distance. The boy wasn't human, that was for sure, so extreme precautionary measure would be taken.
Following from a distance no less than 80 meters, for one. Making as little sound as inhumanly possible for second. And being very aware of all traffic and scents and signatures for third. This Cullen person was no doubt the prey that Beta had come here to hunt, but the conversation he had picked up at the Swan house alluded to more. An entire brood of cold people. Hence the stalking.
If this was indeed the Cullen residence, they did not like to live close to civilization. That was a good sign. If they were indeed something more, then living at such a distance gave credence to a race of intelligent creatures that recognized to advantages of secrecy.
Since Subject-3 Beta could not smell these creatures, he relied on his hearing and his seismic sensing to give him information. Let's see…seven people…four males…three females, all cold…talking about…interesting. They were conversing about the possibility of 'the hunter' being present, and how Edward had felt like he was followed yet saw no signs of pursuit from any direction, nor from any one.
Beta retreated silently, then. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! He found them, all of them, all of his prey. He found their den, knew how many they numbered, knew that they had beyond human abilities, and that they were most definitely worthy to be trophies.
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September 17, 2006
Forks, Washington
S-3 Beta was equal parts annoyed, and giddy. Annoyed because the Cullens had skipped town, fleeing to parts unknown because of a botched birthday party for Bella Swan, and giddy because now Bella had a purpose to serve, and that was as bait.
Edward was infatuated with the human, yet he left her to protect her. Noble, yet stupid. However, his blunder equaled opportunity. Bella was now alone in this world, but she was still closely watched by the 'vampires.' So, by threatening the girl, Edward would come running, and, following him, the rest of the Cullens.
A sound strategy, especially considering all of the psychological profiles the hybrid had made on all of them, after a month of extreme observation. Carlisle was the oldest, the patriarch, with Esme, his mate and wife, being the matriarch. Edward was the unofficial second-in-command after Esme, and had the ability to read minds, yet S-3 Beta's seemed to be shielded from the man, seeing as he had never been found during his stalking. Rosalie and Emmett were mates, with the female desiring for mortality as opposed to immortality, while Emmett was the headstrong muscle of the family. Jasper and Alice were also mates, with the male having the ability to manipulate emotions, and the female having the power to see the future…which was slightly problematic but not so much anymore.
Even if the woman could see any future traps, the hybrid was adaptive. He also didn't believe in such a thing as fate, or that the future was set, he believed in the thrill of the hunt, and the satisfaction of a worthy kill. Which was why he was feeling rather ticked off with the black man with the dreads and his nonsense speech about mercy killing and someone called Victoria.
However, those ramblings yielded much valuable information.
Beta needed Bella, in one form or another, to bring Edward and the Cullens back to Forks so that they could be hunted, and their skulls turned into his trophies. That made Bella valuable to the hunt, and this...Victoria…she was a threat to the hunt, and threats to the hunt would not be tolerated.
And neither would Laurent, another cold one, who was in the middle of trying assassinate the hybrid's chosen choice of bait.
…
Those were some big-ass wolves. Those were some fast, powerful, wolves. Those were wolves that had served to reveal the abilities of Laurent, and perhaps the most basic skillset of all the vampires, and made a good measuring stick for what Beta could expect from the Cullens.
Still though, those wolves were perhaps even more of a threat than Victoria was to the hunt. If those damned canines got a hold of any of the Cullens, and killed them, Beta would not be happy. Best to remove the pack from the equation right now in order to avoid any undue stress in later days.
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The five members of the Uley Pack, consisting of Sam Uley, Paul Lahote, Jared Cameron, Embry Call, and Jacob Black, felt rather accomplished with themselves after killing the 'leech with the dreads.' The five wolves made for the clearing to return to the reservation, when it appeared. Whatever it was wasn't visible in the traditional sense, only appearing as a distortion in the air.
It crashed down in the middle of the clearing, sending dirt and dead plants flying, cracking the earth with its force. Two yellow lights flashed near the top of the distortion, and the pack's fight or flight instincts took over like Rome. And Sam Uley was not one for running.
With a snarl befitting that of a cornered beast, the black alpha wolf charged forward, followed closely by the rest of the pack. Sam leapt up, intent on crushing this unseen foe, only for his jaw to be shattered and his skull fractured by a monstrous force that slammed into the left side of his head.
He had been backhanded away.
Paul shared the exact same fate, only he was batted in the other direction.
The distortion hadn't even moved from its position, but it did move when Embry got within ten feet of it. The distortion seemed to shoot forward, slamming into the silvery wolf with enough force to stand him up. Then he was thrown all the way back into the tree limbs, and landed with a heavy thump. He didn't get back up.
Jacob and Jared were the next to try, both zooming in as Embry went flying out. The distortion seemed to spin, and that's when the struggling-to-regenerate Sam noticed the distortion behind the distortion. The apparent tail slammed into Jared's side, sending him careening into Jacob, sending them both sprawling.
Black was just dazed, but Cameron seriously wounded. It looked like his ribs had been caved in, his fur was matted with blood in that same area, and he was wheezing something horrifying. Sam struggled to stand, his head ringing and his jaw extremely sore, but he was healed enough.
But his anger was sent through the roof when the distortion leapt, and crashed down right on top of Paul, shattering his spine and then snapping his neck. Fury boiled through the alpha's veins, and all his injuries were instantly healed to the point of nonexistence. Sam sprinted forward, faster and stronger than before, Jacob right next to him.
Embry and Jared were still down, and Paul was out forever.
Sam was inches away from the distortion, when it dove to the side. Sam, due to his momentum, went sailing past, skidding across the ground. He eventually came to a stop, spinning around just in time for Jacob to come grinding to a halt right next to him…laying limply on his side. Dual, parallel cuts had been dealt to the rust-colored wolf, trailing from his jaw, all the way down to his haunches.
He was dead.
Jared's wounds had finally healed, and he was up and running. Sam thundered in his head to retreat, but that just caused the wolf to stumble in surprise, right in the distortion's presumed grasp. A sickening snap was heard just moments later, and Jared went limp, before he fell lifelessly to the dirt.
This time, primal fear gripped the Uley Pack's leader. His entire pack, killed, within five minutes, and they didn't even know what they were fighting. Sam's flight instinct ripped him apart, and he turned tail to flee, only excruciating pain to erupt from his hind legs…or where they were supposed to be.
Sam desperately tried to crawl away, using only his fore limbs, but an inhuman clicking sound made him freeze. Then something was grabbing his spine and ripping out his skull.
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Beta roared in triumph at his defeating of the wolves, and the claiming of the alpha's skull. He could track Bella down right now, and it would be easy, but there was a more pressing matter on hand at the moment. Such as what to do with the cadavers. Actually, the answer to that was simple: put 'em on display!
The hybrid put his newest trophy on his back, his spines sliding out to hold it in place, and went to work on fixing the corpses to his desire. Inborn instinct took over, as it always did when it came to cleaning, and Beta relieved the wolves of their pelts, their skins, and most of their internal organs, before fashioning a number of ropes from tree roots, and stringing the wolves up by their feet.
Beta raised them higher, higher, and higher still, to where the displays were above the human's line of sight. Blood dripped freely from the skinless animals, making puddles on the ground below, but it was of little consequence. The hybrid sniffed the air, picking up the scents of the wolves, and began to follow it back to where they came.
If there was more than just one pack, they would all need to be eliminated.
That night, the residents of La Push all mysteriously disappeared.
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September 18, 2006
It was the next day after Beta slaughtered the wolves, and their families, and now he wanted to get rid of this Victoria character before she could present a serious threat to his hunt. It wasn't going to be hard, since the presumed woman was after Bella, and the lack of contact with her compatriot, Laurent, would make her antsy, and sloppy, especially after seeing the corpses of the wolves.
Speaking of, there was supposed to be an expedition into the woods today, led by Chief Swan himself, with the main bulk being civilians with shotguns. That would be interesting, but Beta wasn't going to be there for that. He was going to be using Bella as bait to lure Victoria out.
…
It was pathetically easy to ambush the Swan girl, knock her out, and carry her off into the forest. A simple nick to the shoulder let her blood flow slowly out, and its scent permeate the air. Now it was a waiting game. The Predalien hybrid leapt into the trees, and activated his bio-cloak.
He almost snorted when he felt the vibrations of something light coming in at almost 100 miles per hour. Seconds later, a woman that was blurring suddenly came to a stop, just feet away from the unconscious Bells. Red-head, dressed in white, barefoot, and was just as cold as Laurent and the Cullens.
Victoria.
The hybrid sprung his trap, simply allowing himself to fall to the ground, landed with a heavy thump, and capitalized on the shock the vampiress felt at his arrival, by bashing her legs with his tail, which had the effect of tearing them clean off her body with the sound of breaking ice. Before she could fall, or even scream, Subject-3 Beta was there, grabbing her by the face and slamming her into a tree.
He reared his other arm back, extending the blades, and stabbed her right beneath the voice box. The blades went right through her body with a crack. Then he simultaneously ripped up and down, tearing off Victoria's head with a very loud cracking sound.
Beta gazed at the severed skull in his hand with interest. Instead of blood spurting everywhere, and skin hanging loosely around the base, there was nothing but ice, or at least, something akin to ice. There was a problem here, then. If the skin could not be cleanly removed, and the underlying muscle not easily removed, then turning this into a proper trophy—turning all of the Cullens' heads into proper trophies—would be impossible.
Clicking to himself, the Predalien hybrid turned to look at Bella. The girl was still unconscious, still bleeding slightly, and still useful as a lure for Edward, and by extension, the rest of his family. Also, miles away, Chief Swan and his large hunting party were still stalking among the woods, yet were a great distance away from the hanging wolf carcasses.
Well, the humans made for poor sport, Bella's absence would be discovered eventually, and Cullen should be rearriving here soon. Then there was the head that had to be dealt with.
Beta faded from view.
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September 20, 2006
Edward sprinted through the trees faster than any human ground vehicle could even approach. His body was fueled by anger, rage, fury, and the volcanic desire for vengeance.
Alice hadn't said it aloud, but the vision in her head was enough. The creature…the hunter…whatever it was, had killed Bella. And Charlie. And the Packs. And the residents of Fork. And the residents of La Push. Everyone. Dead. Slaughtered.
Was the mind-reader running headlong into a trap? Possibly. Did he care? Not at all. If he died, then he'd be with his Bella, and his family would finish what he started. In the end, Edward would win, either directly, or indirectly.
Edward rocketed in from the North, coming from Alaska. It didn't take long to cross the border from Canada into Washington, or from the border to Forks. What did take him long was tracking this monster down.
Forks was eerily silent, with nothing moving. No birds, no dogs, no cars, no people. There weren't any minds available to read, which could mean one of two things: A) every resident of the 3,000+ population had packed up and left town, or B) they were all dead. Edward was inclined to believe the latter.
Still though, the small town was perfectly pristine. There were no signs of a battle, every building was intact, and there wasn't a scuff mark anywhere. Everyone had disappeared. And, as if to add to the dark tone, the sky was blanketed by an ocean of fierce grey.
Edward began his search at the Swan house, and, to his luck and dread, he picked up a trail right off the bat. Said trail being small splatters of Bella's blood leading into the woods. The vampire followed the trail, easily picking the scent of his beloved mate out from the rest of the forest scents. However, the deeper he went, the more…clouded the scent became. Clouded not as in something was blocking his nose, but clouded as in too many scents began filling the area.
Then something wet splashed on Edward's cheek from above.
He wiped it off, noting that it was red and cool. Old blood. Then more splashed on his face, causing him to flinch and step back, using his shirt to wipe it off, instead of drinking it. Looking up, Edward saw something that, if he was still human, would've made his blood freeze in his veins.
Bodies.
Skinless bodies.
Thousands of skinless bodies.
Thousands of skinless bodies all hanging by their feet from tree branches.
Human infants, children, adolescents, teens, young adults, full-grown adults, and dogs, cats, gerbils…even the massive lupine bodies of the Packs. All of Forks had to be strung up here.
"Edward!" Bella's frantic voice resounded from further into the trees.
"Bella!" Edward said, before delving deeper in.
"Edward! Please help me!"
"Hold on! I'm coming, Bella!"
It didn't take the vampire long to find a clearing in the woods, shadowed by the lack of sunlight. There, his mate sat on her knees, facing away from him. Elation filled Edward, so much in fact, that he failed to realize several key things.
"Help me, Edward, I'm hurt." The Cullen stumbled forward, immensely relieved to find his mate unarmed. "Oh, Edward…"
SHNIKT
SHRAKT
"…how I've missed you."
Edward's diamond-like head rolled to forest floor as his body collapsed in a heap. The imaginary camera that is your mind's eye was suddenly panned away from the distorted figure standing triumphantly over the vampire's decapitated corpse, to the front of Bella Swan.
Her eyes were glazed and rolled into the back of her head. Twigs and leaves were layered in the front of her hair. Her mouth was wide open, flies buzzing around and inside with happiness. Her skin was a pasty grey, an effect that was caused by being dead for a while. Finally, where her torso and navel were supposed to be, was only a massive, bloody hole devoid of ribs and organs.
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The rest of the Cullens arrived after their family member just hours later. They too, followed the blood trail of Bella Swan. They too, had their noses overloaded with the scents of 3,954 assorted corpses. And Jasper was the first to die. His death was swift and easy due to the element of surprise, and his head was severed without issue.
Then the gates of Hell were opened fully on the Olympic Coven.
Alice screamed, leaping at the tall, muscular creature (that had just become visible) and was slammed into a tree, shattering the trunk and sending it toppling, via tail. She wasn't dead, but the damage was severe.
Emmett was next to arrive, Rosalie right next to him. The creature made to slam them into the ground with his palms, but the female spun to the side in a burst of speed, and the taller male intercepted the outstretched limbs with a feral growl. His snarl was met with equal ferocity.
Carlisle darted over to assess Alice, while Esme rushed into the fray. Gravity worked its magic on Rosalie, and she landed in a sitting position on the creature's shoulders, missing those demonic horns sprouting from his back, and wrapped her arms around the creature's chin, ready to rip its head off, but a spiked club slammed into the side of her head, cracking her skull and throwing her off.
The creature adjusted its grip on Emmett's arms, causing his golden eyes to widen, and spun, throwing the vampire into his adopted mother, who was just feet away. They both went flying into a tree, blowing through the trunk and into the one behind it, denting that trunk.
Rosalie was slow to rise, and she would've had her head removed if not for the timely arrival of Carlisle. The Cullen Patriarch, slammed into the creature, sending it skidding across the dirt, and gave chase in a blur, but something happened, something too fast for Rosalie to make sense of, but the end result was another toppled tree, the creature on its feet, and Carlisle's upper body being held aloft by his hair, and his waist-down being held up via ankle.
The creature dropped the halves like sacks of garbage, and advanced on Rosalie. Alice was still trying to regenerate her cracked body, and Esme and Emmett were still over there, either unconscious, dead, or struggling to get untangled. However, Rosalie was ready for battle this time.
She sprang to her feet, leaping into the tree, ignoring the skinned corpses and their rotting blood. She pin-balled around the trunks in a blur, searching for an opening. She eventually found one, and she dove at terminal velocity, aiming for the jugular. Rosalie drastically underestimated the creature's reflexes.
There was a blur of movement, the sound of breaking glass, and the vampiress' head rolled across the dirt, severed by blunt force. Her body slammed down, useless to everything. There was a titanic roar of anguish from Emmett, and he was in front of the creature in an instant.
At 6'5, the vampire towered over the creature, but their muscular builds were mirrored by the other. Emmett's arms became blurs as he whaled on the creature in a relentless torrent of punches. Each blow had enough ferocity to resonate with the cracking of bone, and the physical effect of knocking the creature back a step with each strike.
Emmett roared, before he reared back, and punched a hole straight through the creature's chest. However, he failed to impact any vital organs, not that there were any, and it turns out that molecular acid is super effective against undead flesh. Emmett roared again, but this time in agony as the acid ate his arm away, and the splashes from impact chewed through his chest and face in billows of steam.
As the vampire fell to his knees, and then to his face, Alice and Esme were treated to the sight of the hole in the creature's chest disappearing as the skin cells multiplied and split at a rate only seen in comic books. In seconds, Emmett was mostly gone, and the creature was perfectly fine.
Esme screamed, her despair and anger overwhelming her rational thought, and she charged in. The creature's front-facing horns glowed brightly with blue energy, before twin discharged flew forward. The bolts of energy completely obliterated Esme's arms at the joints, as well as taking an unhealthy amount of matter away from her torso, yet left her neck and head alone.
Shocked, she fell forward, and her skull was torn clean off her body by the blades that sprouted from the growth on the creature's wrist. Only one Culled remaining. Above, the clouds thickened and darkened, robbing the clearing of much of its light.
Self-preservation instincts stormed into Alice's soul, and the injured vampiress tried to desperately crawl away for life. For safety. For survival. Her ankle was grabbed by a large, sticky hand, and she tried feverishly to dig into the dirt, or find a root so as to halt her movement.
Her screams of terror would forever be unheard as the hunter dragged her into the darkness…
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First off, I am terribly sorry for this absence. I meant to have this out much sooner, but things happened that Delayed this chapter. Second off, I am terribly not sorry for any Twilight fans I made angry for killing off 85% of the cast.
I needed a measuring stick for Subject-3 Beta's powers that wasn't Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, mortal, or any other mythology, and I happened to remember that certain shiny fairies just so happened to live nearby, and well, sounded good to me.
Now, I need a name for Beta here, as I have had no idea on what to call him, but Perseus will not be happening. Perseus is the name of the main character, and the main character chose the name of Asteria. I feel that calling Beta Perseus would detract from the centralization that Asteria holds as the main protagonist.
Speaking of protagonist, there is a poll on my profile that deals with this. What will Beta's roll be?
Boyfriend/Mate-in which he is the pairing, duh, right off the bat in the first meeting, due to chemicals, pheromones, hormones, and instincts. He would be protective, territorial, and very violent towards any and all threats to his lover.
Brief Antagonist/Eventual Friend/Companion-in which he would battle Asteria, lose, and primal instinct would make him defer to his 'Queen' as his leader, which I guess could evolve into Boyfriend/Mate status. Or not.
Brother-in which Asteria and he would recognize the other as siblings due to their genetic codes, and that's as far as that relationship would go.
Straight Antagonist-his desire for trophies and worthy prey would single out the gods and half-bloods, especially Asteria, as prime hunting material to satisfy his thirst, and, in classic anime fashion, upon being defeated by his original, would join the Titans on the promise of power and victory.
Fav, Follow, Review, and go to the Poll for your opinion to be heard please!