Did it disturb me? Any of it?
The horrifying abomination before me? The fact that it had died as a kid, alone and afraid? That I was in the middle of a mass graveyard?
I'd be lying if I told you no. Of course I was disturbed! The anger that had fuelled me up to this point of reaching the spirit that had tormented me for so long, gone. How many horrifying secrets had I uncovered this day alone? How many more was I about to uncover? I don't know.
All this time my determination and hatred was manipulated, just to bring me here. I see that now. Just the next of many countless bodies around me waiting to be added to the pile, all because of a feud between two dangerous spirits. Now they stood before me, mixed together in one disgusting mutilated form with the worst of the pair in control. The odds were against me.
Believe it or not, in that moment contemplating the possibility of death, Viper crossed my mind. Just her. Every moment we had together. I don't know why these thoughts came to me at that moment but they did. Maybe my mind was giving me one last chance to remember all my best times in this world? I was thankful that it did. It made me wonder what she was doing right now?
Probably trying to track me down so she could kick my ass for being so damn stupid and reckless. Hell, I'd let her too. I've bloody well earned it. Not that she would be able to track me here anyway.
That actually gave me a chuckle. A final laugh before IT made the first move against me.
The monstrosity moved quickly Incredibly quickly, rushing at me in an almost unnatural way. Its feet stomped heavily making it sound as though an elephant was charging. I braced myself as best I could and prepared to retaliate. Once close enough the thing raised one of its deformed feet and tried to crush me underneath it. It was fast, but not as fast as I was. The attack was easily avoided and I coiled round its leg, advancing upwards until I reached its clawed arm and attempted to crush it. Rendering that arm useless would give me a much better chance of coming out on top! I was barely able to give a light squeeze before getting ripped off by the tentacles that made up the other arm. Had I not reacted and stabbed the beast in one of its open sockets with my tail, I would have been dead right away. It wasn't enough to penetrate the brain within, assuming it had one at all, but it was enough to make it drop me. Better than having my head crushed at least. Not that I had time to think about it.
As the spirit/rotting muscular inferno roared in pain, its long bony claws scraped the ground over and over trying to slice me to pieces. I hastily retreated to a safe distance. Guess this thing was too strong to take head on. Not the best start to this fight.
I had to come up with a new tactic, and quickly if I wanted to have even the smallest chance of surviving, let alone beating this demon. Time to use my size to my advantage.
The demon attempted to slice me up again, charging a second time with its heavy steps thundering through the barren cavern. For such a large beast it moved surprisingly fast. A minor advantage I could use against it if I pulled this off. Only when the thing was mere feet away did I suddenly I grab a tail-full of sand and went for its eyeholes again. At least the ones that weren't festered and writhing with tentacles. Hell, maybe the damn spirit didn't have eyes, it was hard to tell. Especially with it trying to bloody kill me. But the dirty trick was enough to at least catch it off guard as it grunted and allowed some of the tentacles on its arm wipe the sand and dust from its face. Thanks to the speed it was moving at it couldn't slow down in time before missing its intended target and slamming into the rock wall behind me. It's large muscular arm absorbed most of the damage probably doing very little to actually hurt it but it gave me the chance to do what I needed to do.
The second it passed me I ran into the many shadows that covered the cavern. Not to flee, but rather to wait for the right chance to strike, see if there was some kind of weakness this thing possessed.
By the time it recovered (A mere few seconds) I was already well hidden. All I needed to do was pray that the Mèngyǎn relied on its eyesight more than its other senses.
The beast roared, louder than before. It soon began looking round and started to either crush the rocks it thought I might have been hiding under or just outright threw them aside like they weighed nothing. It was rather scary to witness. Less than a minute passed before it too decided to switch tactics.
"So yOu wiSH To hiDe LiKE thE sNAke you Are dO yOu? VEry well tHeN, I'll play YouR gaMe..."
The two crocodile-like skulls that made up its face suddenly split open at an angle no living creature could naturally achieve and... some kind of light shined from it, getting brighter and brighter until I had no choice but to duck my head back under the rock I was hiding under lest I was blinded. It took perhaps ten full seconds before it dissipated and I risked a look.
It was gone.
How the hell it had done so I had no damn clue. It certainly hadn't run away. Not in terms of defeat at least. Damn demon's too proud for that. Not that I had long to think about it as I picked up a terrifying noise.
It echoed as a light shriek or hiss around me. A mixture of the two. It didn't sound like any animal I had heard of yet it sounded oddly familiar too. So haunting, so threatening, so...
...Alien...
Shit! I completely forgot about its morphing ability!
"FOUND YOU!"
I didn't have even a second to react as something snagged my tail and lifted me into the air. I soon found myself looking at an upside down xenomorph. Only... it wasn't... What I saw was the equivalent of a xenomorph if it had been killed, had half of its exoskeleton ripped off, left to rot for two weeks and then been brought back to life. Had the two spirits merging together affected the Mèngyǎns powers or was it an attempt to frighten me? Either way it was rather disturbing to look at. A second hand grasped my neck.
"An ineViTable OutcoMe, yet yOU ofFerEd a pitifUl resiStanCe. NOw ETerNal paIn is YOur rEwaRd."
Has anyone ever seen an undead xenomorph smile before? It is VERY disturbing!
"For yOU, as It hAs for oTHEr sOulS, dEath Is meRElY tHe bEGInniNg of yOur suFFeriNG..."
The hand round my neck tightened uncomfortably. I opened my mouth, hoping to say something. Give one last insult, a shout, a curse, anything. But I never got the chance. Everything suddenly became chaos for me.
The next couple of moments blurred. I heard what sounded like the rushing of wind and all of a sudden, the grip on my neck loosened and a shriek could be heard. Hard not to when it happened right in your face. But it wasn't one of frustration like the last time. This time it was of pain. The grip on my tail loosened and the - dropped me to the floor I landed with an audible thud and something landed on my chest. I jumped once I saw it was a large black hand. It dripped green blood but thankfully the liquid wasn't corrosive, otherwise I'd be suffering a very painful death. Another lucky break. There was also a fairly large, very sharp looking shuriken imbedded in the rock, dripping with the very same liquid that covered me and leaked from the still screaming xenos hand-less arm.
Despite the respite I was still unsure what had just happened. Had someone saved me? Can't be, no-one is supposed to know I'm here!
You could only imagine the shock, horror and even relief I felt when I spotted Viper a mere thirty feet away.
I wanted to smile, but two things stopped me. The first, most important thing being that if she was here then she was in serious danger! Especially after cutting the -'s hand off. The second was the murderous glare she gave. Not at the wailing monstrosity, but at me. It wasn't hard to know why either.
Something told me that if we survived this I'd be getting the mother of all scoldings.
"So tHE InsePEarabLe duo rEunIte oNcE morE...!" The Mèngyǎn roared angrily. Its hand reforming slowly, giving a more claw-like appearance while its other arm split into long flexible strands. It was shifting back into its original form! I quickly retreated while I still could to viper.
"ThEn tHErE is No othER cHOiCe...!" The face crumpled then pushed forward like something was trying to break out inside of it. Then with a snarl, the elongated skulls broke from the xenos face and the remaining alien body burst apart revealing to viper its newest form. "I'lL kILl You bOTh!"
...…..
It's not over until its over.