TYRANT!

PROLOGUE (II) - A Boy Named Burnside

"No, wait!" Claire yelled, but the tyrant didn't understand. The wondrous look then turned to anger, and with a loud angry grunt, the tyrant Steve slammed the axe blade against the wall. Claire stared at the tyrant, then ran. The tyrant Steve soon caught on, and gave chase. To Claire's amazement, he was a lot faster than he looked. He grunted angrily again, and threw the axe against the wall, just barely missing Claire's head.
Claire ran faster than she ever had in her life as she ran towards the large metal gate at the entrance, as it was now slowly closing. Claire picked up speed, but the tyrant Steve was close behind. She could hear him breathe behind her...big, grunting breaths.

She looked behind at him, then ahead again. The metal bar door was nearing the floor. Claire continued to run, then when she got to the closing door, she slid underneath, locking the tyrant outside. The metal bars slammed stiff when they reached the floor, not allowing anything to go through.
The tyrant Steve stopped at the bars, and looked at Claire who was trying to catch her breath. He looked angrily at her, then forcefully slammed his axe against the bars. He grunted loudly and angrily as the door slowly gave way to his power.

Claire slowly looked up at him, trembling in terror as he slowly bashed through the gate. She slowly began to stand up, but then through a small vent behind her, a large grey tentacle sweeped around the room, and finally lunged at her and wrapped around her, causing her to not move a muscle.
She tried to wiggle free, but it was way too tight. She knew this tentacle belonged to alexia, who injected herself with the T-Veronica virus 15 years ago. She must've thought Steve couldn't do the job himself. How... interesting?

Then a loud clang filled the air at the bars of the door finally split open in half. The tyrant Steve panted loudly as he walked over the wreckage, and stood before Claire. He lowered his small, grotesquely human head to catch his breath, then he looked p at Claire again. Claire looked back at him, as the tentacle kept her still.

The angry look still on his face, the tyrant Steve raised his axe, his red reptilian eyes focused onto Claire's. With a powerful grunt, he quickly swung the axe towards Claire's head.
Claire shut her eyes, not willing to see her demise. But suddenly, Steve's roar stopped, and the axe froze inches from Claire's face. Claire looked up trembling, and saw the massive tyrant, who began to tremble a bit too. Soon, the fearful face that Steve had once before returned.

He stood there, staring in disbelief at what was going on. He focused on Claire again, his black slit pupils staring at her. His mouth then nervously moved to make words, but he was too scared and too uncomfortable with his new body to speak. Eventually, loud, guttural words emerged.
"CL-CLAIRRRE!!!" he yelled. Claire stared at him, still in fear as he too in fear got a better grip on his axe. With a furious roar, he rose the axe once more and slammed it squarely on the tentacle, slicing it in half.

Claire flew to the floor, as the tentacle screeched in pain, and lashed at Steve with great force, knocking him to the ground. Then it screeched again, and slipped out the vent where it came from.

***

Steve then slowly returned to his own size, his skin returning to the paleness it once was, the spike disappearing into his shoulder...
Claire rubbed her head and stood up. She glanced back at the chair, blood and the residue and remains of Steve's clothing all over it. She then turned towards Steve, and saw that he has a large cut on his stomach. "Oh, Steve..." she said softly as she walked up, and kneeled near him. Steve took her hand and pressed it on his cheek. "Hmmm... you...you're warm..." he said weakly.

"Steve, y-you've got to hang in there! M-My brother's come to rescue us, a-and we can get out of here!" Claire begged. "Your brother... kept his promise. I am sorry... I cannot." Steve moaned. "W-What are you saying?" Claire asked, a worried look in her eyes.
"I-I'm glad that I met you. I... I love you... Claaaaaairrrre....." Then, he was gone. Claire froze, then shook Steve who had now hung his head. "Steve? STEVE??" But there was no response.

Claire fell silent, her hand on his chest. Then, she hugged the lifeless body, and burst into tears. She cried the hardest she had ever had to in her life. Cradling his body and weeping, she vowed never to forget the boy Steve Burnside.