Out of the Future
Chapter 22: Out from the Ashes
Dust settled from the falling building and smoke rose from the fires. An orange-red glow settled down upon them, outlining their frozen features. Koiohla was finally gone, and so was Rachel.
"She can't be gone," muttered Max.
"Look, you guys have to get Jesse out of here Max and I will have a look around."
"Alec…"
"He's right, you and Asha go."
"Max…"
"You have to go, don't let Jesse die too," said Max.
"Max?"
"She's gone," she whispered, tears making their way down her face, "How many members of my family have to die?"
"Max," said Alec, he kissed the top of her head, while fighting back his own tears.
*Creeeeep*
"What was that?" asked Logan looking towards the fallen factory; it looked more like a wasteland now more than ever.
They all heard it, a creaking, cracking sound. It sounded like it was right in front of them.
"It sounds like…"started Alec.
"Creaking, maybe the damn factory is settling," said Max monotonously.
"Uh, no Max I think that…"
*Fwoooooosh!*
The entire front of the factory was ripped up as an inhuman scream pierced the air. Metal and debris was thrown everywhere as she crawled out from her grave.
It was Koiohla.
"You think that's it?" she screamed at them.
Her clothes were tattered and torn, blood coated her face and limbs. The X38 stood up and took a shaky step towards the speechless group.
"You think some pathetic little explosion was going to bring me down? Maybe the X9 but I'm much more durable than she was-obviously."
Koiohla started to take sharp intakes of breath as her bones snapped and reorganized themselves, her face lengthened as her body started to grow in size and width. Her once pale skin became dark and spikes shot out of her back. Her spine cracked and her knees buckled. When it was over the former woman let out an unholy roar.
Koiohla's true form.
A gigantic beast of mass destruction, she was on four thick muscular legs and seven feet high. Her skin was now a molted brownish, black. The X38's hair was now a row of pure black spikes running from the top of her head down to the end of her long, strengthened tail. Her hands and feet changed into sadistic looking claws. Her ears were now long and pointed, the skin pulled tight over her gargantuan face. Wicked looking teeth protruded from the creatures giant, gaping mouth. Her eyes once gold, and red, were now a shocking pupiless white. It shook itself like a dog to shake off the dizziness that the explosion had caused.
"What…the fuck…."
"Oh my God."
"This isn't good, is it?"
The X38 growled at them and took a few steps closer.
"Okay really," said Alec, "what is that thing?"
"What? DNA splicing wasn't enough for those people?" said Logan, "they just had to rearrange the entire human molecular system didn't they?"
Just as Koiohla made a move to attack, a sharp twang was heard, the creature lurched forward and made a strangled sound before collapsing to the ground, dead.
A metal rebar protruding from her neck.
"I never miss," said Rachel
Not ten feet from where Koiohla's body lay quickly decomposing, the X9 stood. Her white t-shirt ripped and stained with blood. The knees of her pants were completely torn and there was a deep cut on her right thigh. Blood and bruises covered her body; she smiled wearily at the group and then passed out.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Really short chapter only about 2 pages. So yeah Koiohla. is really, really dead now. After all she's put the group through I killed her off in one sentence. Sorry if her death wasn't what you'd hoped for. And now the Denouement.
Chapter 23: Phoenix Tears