Another series of bangs could be heard from behind. Whatever Kèxīng was keeping from me certainly wanted out. What being worse was that even if I was right on what waited on the other side of those bars, I would be screwed, extra strength or not. Still, thinking about it was certainly not doing me any favors. I just did what I could to ignore it and watched as Crane continued to fight the mauler.

So far, Crane kept his distance, flying around the area, analyzing any point of weakness that the locust creature may have had. I doubted he would. A mauler is basically like a walking tank. It was covered head to toe in thick armor, including its head. A moment passed until Crane tried attacking for what I can assume is the umpteenth time by now. Again, his talons did nothing. The mauler however tried taking a shot and attempted to hit Crane with its flail. It missed and ended up leaving a second hole in the floor. As I took a peek at Crane, I saw the sides of his beak curl upwards. For what reason though, I didn't know. Maybe he has an idea? Well whatever it is, I have my doubts on it working. Not that I think Crane was weak, no, far from it. It's just that, well, even a kung fu master is unable to cut through strong metal Armour. I'm couldn't even crush it as a python. So if Crane was planning on attacking it then he wasn't going to do much damage to it. All the same, Crane has been known to bring forth a surprise or two, often pleasantly, so I would have to see how this "idea" would turn out. Not as though I could do much else now, is there?

I just continued to watch as Crane moved once more, flying high into the sky until his head nearly hit the ceiling. Then, to my confusion, he performed flying kick into the nearest pillar at an incredible speed. Not only was I baffled, but so was the mauler. I figured I should now be questioning the sanity of my friend here. Though the odd thing was that he was now kicking the pillar as hard as he could as fast as he could. The hell was he doing?

I was almost about to ask that out loud, forgetting for a moment that he wouldn't be able to hear me. What was wrong with him? Did he have a grudge against stone or something?

Small chunks of the stone pillar begun to rain down onto the floor as Crane continued his... assault on the pillar. Just the top bit though, where it was attatched to the ceiling. From what I've learned, most kung fu masters had enough strength to perform incredible feats, one of them being able to kick through solid stone, though it did nothing to explain the fact of why he was doing it in the first place. The mauler had become so impatient at this point, it had begun to slam its flail into the same pillar in the hopes of getting Crane away from it. The locust was big enough to hit the very bottom of the pillar without needing to climb onto the large platform supporting it. Not that I blamed the guy for going loco at this point, I'd probably be annoyed too if I was in his position, only I wouldn't go slamming my weapon into the pillar like an idiot. Guess maulers really aren't the smartest of the locust. Then again, were any of them other than their queen?

In a second, Crane sped right back down to the ground, keeping a distance of fourty feet from the mauler which had done a considerable amount of damage to the bottom of the pillar. Looking back up at what Crane had done, I was impressed to see that there was now not one part of the pillar connected with the ceiling. From the looks of it, that pillar was very unstable now. One more hit, I was certain that it would collapse and fall to the ground. I watched Crane as he landed feet first, his cocky smile still plastered onto his face before giving a mock wave to the mauler, as though inviting it to try and kill him. Of course, being a dangerous monster, the mauler decided to act first and think later as it charged at Crane, swinging it flail round over its head, growling the word "Crush" As apparently it's the only word I've heard maulers use other than "roar".

By the time the mauler had almost reached Crane, the avian took to the air again, only this time by a couple of feet. Still a presentable target for the mauler. At least it would have appeared that way if Crane hadn't just flown past it at a lightning fast speed and slamming into the pillar within the span of half a second. The pillar had had enough. It was beginning to come down. Slowly at first, but quickly gained momentum and fell. Guess in whos direction.

The mauler let out a guttural growl, which could have been some sort of swear, before the pillar crushed him.

I couldn't help but notice that my jaw was slightly open. Partly because of his tactic, using the maulers weapon against it by having it destroy most of the pillar for him, but the fact that Crane was the first person to have... well, killed. I mean, I know it's all in my mind, and that the mauler is from a game, but it didn't stop me from nearly hurling at the contents of the mauler leak out from under the destroyed pillar. At once, Crane vanished before he could take in the taste of victory. That makes three for three now. Guess it's my turn.

I slowly turned back to Kèxīng. She had been watching with fascination the entire time. Could have been worth a shot to attack her but I've kind of blown that chance now since the fight was now over.

"Well, that's Crane done with. I trust he's safe"?

Kèxīng faced me.

"Would I have it any other way? To dishonor our agreement and have you mistrust my deeds"...?

"No need to get iffy, just asking a question". I muttered cheekily. A moment of silence passed. I could almost feel her eyes piercing through mine and in through my head. I sighed, knowing full well what she wanted to hear. "Alright, yes. Whatever! Let's just... get this over and done with".

"As you wish"...

I slowly turned to the barred doors, forgetting all about the Mèngyǎn for a brief moment as I heard the snarling of the beast that lurked within. I braced myself as the large knife-like head stuck out partly. The longer it was separated from its prey AKA. Me, the more savage it acted, trying its hardest to tear down the bars. It didn't take long for the bars to turn into mist before evaporating, allowing the thing to step out into the light. From there I saw...

Oh you've got to be bloody kidding! Turns out I was right all along...

Large knife head, two blue eyes on each side of its face, large clawed hands as well as a smaller pair underneath, weird thin yellow lines around its skin, a long tail, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The only plus side was that it was much smaller than it was supposed to be, It now stood at eight feet, Not exactly as helpful as you'd think it'd be.

For those who haven't guessed it yet, allow me to fill you in. Standing before me was the BLEEDING KNIFEHEAD KAIJU FROM PACIFIC BLOODY RIM! NOW HOW IN THE HELL AM I EXPECTED TO BEAT THAT AS A HUMAN?!

In seconds, as though it heard me, the beast roared and charged right at me with its knife-head ready to skewer me.

I effing hate that demon...

...

Hi guys, sorry for the short chapter. Coursework keeping me busy (again). Still, seemed like a good point to break until the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this short (Slightly lame) chapter. Also, yes. I am doing more than just enemies from games. Cheerio!