Chapter 3: Parasite

Jonathan sat in front of an array of monitors displaying the surveillance view of Hub Island's Experimenter Facility. He had beige-colored skin and chestnut hair. He wore his black fleece jacket with 'Security' written on the back, along with a white buttoned-up shirt underneath it. He wore his black slacks and black leather shoes. He was observing the north and east wings of the building, watching the people in lab coats pass by the cameras or have a wordless conversation with one another. It was his job as a security guard, sitting down at his desk all day watching other people do their work.

Jonathan turned around and saw his partner, with pale skin and raven-black curly hair, slouched in his seat, his fleece jacket draped over the backrest, and scrolling through his phone.

"Jordan," Jonathan spoke up. "What are you doing?"

"Working," Jordan blankly replied without batting an eye at his partner.

"Well, clearly not," Jonathan said. "You're scrolling through on those forums again."

Jordan groaned dramatically as he leaned further into the chair. Turning toward his partner, he wore a tired expression on his face.

"I'm just taking a break, alright?" he said. "All we do is just observe the cameras all day until something happens!"

"Jordan, that's what you signed up for when you applied to this job," the unamused Jonathan said. "What did you expect?"

"I dunno!" the annoyed Jordan replied.

Jordan turned to Jonathan's screen and his expression shifted from annoyance to a frown.

"Jon," he started. "The cameras from the Bio-Chem Lab are on static."

"What?"

Jonathan quickly turned towards his monitors. Surely enough, Jordan was not messing with him this time. The feed from some of the East wing cameras was somehow cut off. They were all static.

"Huh," Jonathan uttered out in confusion.

"Let me try to fix it through console."

Jonathan opened a terminal window on his computer and typed in specific code into the text box. After pressing enter, a series of codes began running through the window. Jonathan stood up from his chair and walked over to his friend's desk. Together, they observed as the terminal analyzed the data. The computer emitted a 'ping', and they watched the static feed of the camera, but nothing changed.

"Maybe the cameras are busted?" Jordan said.

Jonathan replied with a hum. He reached out to the right side of his desk and picked up his small yellow walkie-talkie with a black antenna. He turned towards Jordan.

"Who's in charge of patrolling the East wing?" he asked.

"Lang, I think," Jordan replied.

"Lang," Jonathan spoke to the radio. "Do you copy?"

They were met with silence.

"Lang, do you copy?" he asked again.

Silence.

"Anyone patrolling the Bio-Chem Lab, do any of you copy?" he asked.

Another silence.

"You should go check that out," Jonathan said.

"What?!" Jordan exclaimed. "Why me?"

"I caught you slacking off," Jonathan replied.

"Roshambo?" Jordan asked.

Jonathan faced his partner with an unamused look. He then brought up his hands, one hand in an open palm facing up, and the other folded into a fist placed on top of his palm. Jordan did the same. In unison, they beat their fists into their palms. As they beat for the third time, they showed their hand signs. Jordan stuck out his index and middle fingers, while Jonathan stuck with his fist. Rock beats scissors. Jonathan won.

"Fudge!" Jordan cussed. "Every time…"

Jordan walked toward his chair, grabbed his fleece jacket, and put it on. As he wore his jacket, he moved toward his desk, grabbed his walkie-talkie, and a belt with a gun holstered on it. As Jordan left the security room, Jonathan slouched into his chair, his hand going behind his head, and an amused smile forming on his face.

Jordan walked through the white concrete walls, his shoes tapping on the white marble floor as it echoed throughout the halls. In front of him were two glass doors, each with a white metal frame surrounding them, and "Bio-Chem Lab" written across both. As he approached the door, Jordan pulled out his ID from his jacket. He went to the right side of the door and held up his ID to a scanner. When an audible "beep" sounded from the scanner, the glass door slid open.

Jordan went into the room and stepped onto the metal grate. He was standing on the bridge overlooking the rows of huge metal cylinders, with pipes protruding out from the base of each container, creating a maze of pipes that carried grod-knows-what. He heard the door close behind him. He continued his walk on the bridge, looking around for signs of Lang or the other workers in the lab.

"Hello?!" he called out.

He was met with silence. He reached the steps going down further into the facility. With every step he took, the sound of his shoes hitting the metal steps echoed throughout the lab. Jordan reached the lower level of the lab, and he realized that the metal containers were much larger than he had anticipated them to be. He walked straight between the towering containers, with his hand still holding his holstered gun. As he reached the cross section, he looked to his left and found no signs of the workers. He then looked to his right and saw a man, wearing the same uniform as himself, lying on the ground. Jordan quickly ran towards the unconscious security guard.

"Hey, are you-"

Jordan halted as he got near the man. His eyes dilated, his breathing hitched, and his body trembled. He looked in horror at what seemed to be Lang lying on the floor. His light brown skin was drained from him, leaving a decreased saturated brown. He looked like he hadn't eaten for a month, his fingers were thin, and his rounded face was devoid of fat. His once hazel-colored eyes are now creamy white and his neck had a circular bite mark, but no signs of bleeding.

Jordan clumsily reached for his walkie-talkie, hands still fidgeting, and his breathing a bit hastened. He brought it up to his mouth.

"Jonathan!" he exclaimed.

"What the zip, man?!" Jonathan exclaimed through the radio. "Can you tone it dow-"

"Call for back up," Jonathan insisted.

"Wha-"

"Just call for backup, you ding-dong!" Jordan exclaimed.

A loud bang sounded off in the distance. Jordan held his breath for a moment. He figured that the sound had come from the right corner of the container.

"Jordan?" Jonathan called out. "Are you still the-"

Jordan turned off his walkie-talkie. He couldn't risk attracting whatever had done this to Lang. He reached for his gun, unholstered it, and gripped it tightly in both hands. He turned off the gun's safety, his index finger resting on the trigger. He slowly walked towards where the sound came from. As he reached the corner, he pressed his back against the container, feeling the cold touch of metal against his spine. He mustered enough courage to peer out from his position.

As Jordan peered out, he saw Experimenters sprawled all over the ground. Their bodies devoid of life, sharing Lang's fate. He breathed in sharply and could feel his body trembling from the sight of what seemed to be a massacre. As he looked further down the corridor, he saw a man crouched over one of the Experiments. He moved out from his position, his gun aimed at the crouching man.

As he walked past the lifeless bodies of Experimenters, he got a closer look on the man before him. The man was not wearing any clothes, he had purple skin, no hair, and violet veins coursing throughout his body. His face buried into the neck of a female Experimenter, her mouth was trembling, and her white milky eyes shifted towards him, trembling as if begging for help. Jordan shuddered from the sight, thinking that maybe he's not cut out to deal with this. But he gripped tightly on his pistol.

"Hey!" he called out.

Jordan tried to sound commanding, but there was still a tremble to his tone.

"Stand up and turn around!" he continued. "If you try anything, I swear to Grod I'll shoot!"

The purple man unlatched himself from the woman's neck, leaving the same bite mark from his other victims. The man turned towards Jordan, revealing his black beady eyes, the lack of nose, and a circular mouth with sharp teeth protruding behind it. Violet veins surged through the musculature of his face and down to his body.

"Another… appetizer," he spoke in a deep, raspy voice.

The purple man stood up. Jordan realized that the man lacked some features of the human anatomy, mainly the boingloings. The man started limping towards Jordan. He instinctively stepped back, his gun still aiming at the monster in front of him, his finger trembled over the pistol's trigger.

As the suspect inched closer, Jordan finally decided to press down the trigger, a loud "bang" sound echoed throughout the facility. The creature quickly ducked while the bullet sailed above him. Before Jordan let out an audible shock, the creature dashed towards him. Jordan tried to fire another shot at him, but the creature grabbed his wrist where he was holding gun. In an instant, the creature chomped down to his neck.

Jordan screamed until his lungs ached. He felt the creature sucking the very life out of him. His vision began to blur, his grip on the gun loosening as he dropped it to the ground. His legs buckled beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor, the creature still latched onto his neck.

Jordan's face began to deflate, his skin almost hugging his skeletal frame, and his blue eyes began to lose their color. He breathed out a long, winded breath until he froze, lying lifeless on the ground. The creature unlatched from Jordan's recent victim, letting out a satisfied sigh. It heard the door sliding open in the distance, the sound of several shoes stepping on the metal bridge. The creature let out an excited growl.

"More… appetizers…"

Finn scrubbed the red brick walls of the shop with the broom, scrubbing it along the crevices between the bricks. He pulled the broom away and dipped it into a bucket of soap and water mixture. He brought the broom back to the wall and started scrubbing it, creating more foam. He glanced towards the shop's window and saw his dad cutting a customer's hair. He was wearing a simple white shirt, light blue jeans, and his typical red boots.

"Helping out with your dad's shop again?" a familiar feminine voice called out.

Finn turned to his right and saw a hulking figure of a woman. She towered above him; for comparison, he stood below her eye level. She wore a Seeker uniform—a periwinkle V-neck shirt with short purple sleeves that showed off her massive porcelain forearms. She wore a pair of purplish-blue shorts and violet boots. She wore a dark purple hat that had cat ears, whiskers on either side of her head, and a tail in the back. Her blonde bangs stuck out from under her hat, and her long braided hair hung down over her shoulder. Finn's face lit up in excitement.

"Kara!" Finn exclaimed.

"Morning, Finn-"

Finn crashed onto her, causing Kara to let out an audible "oof". He wrapped his arms tightly around his sister-figure's waist. Kara reciprocated the gesture.

"You're strong," the amused Kara said. "I'm starting to doubt that you're not a Seeker in training."

They broke their embrace. Finn looked at Kara with a nervous look on his face.

"Um, well…" Finn stuttered. "Just doing some home workouts."

"Well, that's one heck of a workout plan," Kara said. "I mean look at you! You're beefed under there."

Finn looked down and examined his clothing. The gray t-shirt had soaked patches from the cleaning he had done earlier, revealing his toned abdominal muscles. He let out a nervous chuckle, wiping the wet cloth over his hands, hoping for it to dry. Thankfully, he had no wet stains on his navy-blue jeans. He didn't want another embarrassment of people thinking he had wet his pants.

Kara laughed at Finn's awkward demeanor. It was surreal for her to see him all grown up. The first time she saw him, he was a little toddler running around the hospital halls, playing with his rocket ship. Dr. Campbell would bring Finn to the hospital. Occasionally, she would visit the hospital whenever she caught a bunch of Hiders. And on those occasions, Kara got to play with him even for a moment. Whenever he saw her, he would squeal in joy, and would call out her name in a cute way. Kara snapped out from her musing.

So," she started. "How have your parents been doing?"

Finn looked up from his shirt, his smile widened.

"Mom's doing well with her Helper job," he said.

"Dad's business is a bit slow nowadays," he continued. "But other than that, he's doing fine."

Finn looked back through the shop's window as his dad shook the white cloth, discarding any stray hairs. A man beside him, with a shorter haircut, rummaged through his wallet and handed over a bill to Martin. Martin accepted the payment and waved at his customer, who exited the shop. As he did so, he noticed Finn and waved at him, which his son reciprocated the action. He then noticed someone standing beside his son, giving him a small wave. He recognized who it was and flinched at the sight of the Seeker. He gave her a quick wave, accompanied by an uneasy smile, and backed away toward the back of the shop.

"He's still intimidated by me, isn't he?" Kara asked.

"Well, you did break his legs when you caught him," Finn said with a smirk. "But you don't have to worry about that, he'll come around."

Kara gave a small chuckle.

"So how have you been doin'?" she asked. "I heard it's your last year at high school. Have you thought of what you'll study for college?"

Finn hummed.

"I was thinking that I should become a Helper," he said with a smile. "Mom's a big inspiration for me and I think helping people is the right thing to do."

"I think it suits you," Kara said while nodding. "Your mom would be proud."

Finn gave Kara a warm smile.

"But speaking of school life," she continued. "Have you dated someone yet?"

Kara gave Finn an expecting look. She raised an eyebrow and her mouth formed into a smirk. The boy stiffened at the sudden inquiry.

"Um," he started nervously. "No, not really."

"Oh, come on," she teased. "Don't tell me that you haven't asked a girl out yet."

"I, uh," he said hesitantly. "I did, once."

"How did it go?" she asked.

Finn gulped. His face began to turn red, his eyes looked to the side trying to avoid eye contact from Kara.

"I, um… there was this girl, her name's Angela," he said. "And I spilled my lunch over her when I tried to ask her out."

Kara's face winced at Finn's story. Suddenly, she felt the second-hand embarrassment as the boy scratched the back of his head.

"It was at the cafeteria," he continued. "I was holding my lunch tray and I just felt confident asking her out at the time. I didn't know the floor was wet. They didn't put out a wet floor sign!"

Finn let out a hefty sigh.

"So yeah," he shrugged with an embarrassed smile. "She never spoke to me. I guess I just have bad luck when it comes to this."

"Sorry about that, Finn," Kara said with a comforting smile.

"But enough about me," Finn said with a smile. "How have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know... just typical Seeker stuff," she replied. "Patrolling around the island and capturing any Hiders we find out on the coastline."

"Have you dated someone yet?" Finn teasingly asked.

Kara laughed. She gave Finn a weak punch on the shoulder, which the boy reacted dramatically to, making it seem as if he had been punched hard and joining in her fits of laughter. Kara sighed.

"No," she said. "Not since, you know…"

Her smile turned to a melancholic expression. Finn knew what she was referring to.

"Have you tried talking to her yet?" he asked.

"I just don't know what to say," she said. "I betrayed her, Finn. I couldn't face her after that."

Finn walked up to Kara. He placed his hand on her bulky shoulders and gave her a comforting smile.

"I think that when an opportunity presents itself, you'll say whatever speaks your mind," he said. "Does that make sense?" he asked as winced at his own words.

Kara looked at him with an amused smile on her face.

"Kind of," she said.

"Kara?"

The walkie-talkie on Kara's belt sounded off. She grabbed it and held it up near her mouth.

"I'm here," she said.

"There's trouble at the Hub Island Experimenter Facility," said the feminine voice from the radio. "We need you here now!"

"On my way," Kara said.

Kara looked at Finn with a serious and stern expression on her face.

"I have to go," she said. "You and your father should stay inside the shop, alright?"

"Will do," Finn replied. "Be safe."

Kara gave him a nod and ran off towards the facility. Finn stood there until Kara disappeared from his view. He quickly ran off inside the shop, rang the bell, and grabbed his bag from the couch. He then ran back towards the door.

"Finn?" Martin called out.

Finn turned around and saw his father standing in front of the bathroom door, wiping his hands with a cloth, and a curious look on his face.

"Where you goin'?" Martin asked.

Finn looked at his father for a moment. He removed his glasses and gazed at his father with much confidence and determination on his face.

"I have to go," Finn said.

"Oh," Martin replied. "Be careful, alright?"

Finn gave him a nod, then ran outside the shop and headed in the direction where Kara had run off to.

Kara ran as fast as she could, she knew that the situation was urgent. Not only that, but someone she once knew worked at that facility. With her enhanced capabilities, she sped through the streets of the city, dodging every passing vehicle by leaping over them. She continued to run in a straight direction, until another female Seeker ran alongside her. She has the same cat hat but a violet color, a curly brunette hair spread out in the back of her head, and she has a fair skin.

"What's the situation, Kara?" the Seeker asked.

"The Experimenter facility is under attack," Kara replied. "We'll get a quick briefing once we get there."

In the distance, they were able to see a large cylindrical building, consisting of array of black stained windows across the facility, it has white concrete as the base and support for the structure, and it has four tall towers protruding from the building facing the direction of North, East, South, and West. The two Seekers are headed towards the North wing side of the facility.

As they got closer to the entrance, the facility's doors burst open, and workers of the facility flooded out of the building. They all ran in panic and screamed in horror as they passed the two Seekers. Before they could enter the building, something was thrown out through the black stained glass. It was another Seeker. He had a violet lion's mane on his head, he was badly beaten, and his fair skin was covered with scars and bruises. He struggled to get up.

"Get out of here!" he exclaimed. "He's too dangerous!"

"Who?" Kara asked with concern.

"P-Parasite!" he exclaimed.

A purple blur pounced out through the broken window. A purple creature tackled the injured Seeker; its hunger-filled black beady eyes stared down at him, its circular mouth barring its sharp teeth. It chomped down onto the Seeker's neck, causing him to scream in pain. The Seeker began to deflate, his skin becoming paler, and his eyes losing all their color. The violet veins on the creature began to glow a bright purple. As it sucked the life out of the Seeker, the creature stood up, its body shifting, the muscles becoming bulkier, and it growing a few inches taller than Kara. The parasite hummed in satisfaction.

"Delicious…" Parasite said.

Parasite turned towards the two shocked Seekers, staring at the horror in front of them. Black beady eyes widened, and he growled with glee.

"More full course meals…" Parasite mused.

Kara's shock turned to anger. She dashed forward towards Parasite. The creature pounced towards the Seeker, but Kara saw it coming. She leaped up to the air and grabbed Parasite by the head. She used the full force of arms and her momentum to smash his head down to the ground, creating a small impact crater to road. She quickly got back up and gave the creature the hardest kick she could muster. Parasite soared above the facility's parking lot until he fell back to the asphalt ground, creating a slightly larger impact crater.

Parasite tried to get up, but he failed to notice Kara speeding towards him. She gave him a mean jab to where his nose was supposed to be, bringing him back to the ground. Kara repeatedly punched the creature, not giving him a chance to recover. Parasite brought his legs up, his knees touched his torso, and his feet faced Kara's abdomen. He kicked her as hard as he could, sending Kara flying away from him.

Kara skidded through the asphalt floor. She wheezed in pain, felt like she was hit by a speeding truck. She looked towards where the creature was, Parasite ran towards the blonde and was a few feet away from her, ready to pounce. The brunette Seeker slammed herself towards the creature, sending him off course from Kara.

Before Parasite could stand upright, the brunette gave him a mean left uppercut, followed by a powerful right jab to his stomach. Parasite buckled to his knees, and the brunette followed it with a right roundhouse to the creature's head. Parasite quickly got up and caught the roundhouse with a one-arm lock to his side. The brunette struggled to pull her legs away from the creature. Parasite pounced on the brunette, biting into her neck, causing her to let out a scream.

"No!" Kara yelled.

Kara stood up and started speeding towards the parasite. With each second, it was growing taller. Parasite saw the blonde bolting towards him. It dropped its half-drained Seeker and punched the blonde right in the face, halting her pursuit and causing her to fall to the ground.

Kara could almost taste the metallic flavor in her mouth. She brought her hands up to her nose and felt something wet coming out of it; she saw her blood-covered fingers. She looked up towards the creature, who now stood twice the height of Kara, carrying a lifeless Seeker in his mouth, sucking the life out of it. He disposed the Seeker over his back like he had just finished drinking a soda can. The parasite looked down on Kara, who stared at him with fear written all over her face.

"I want more…" Parasite mused.

The sound of thunder crackled across the clear blue sky. Before Parasite could look over, a blur crashed into him, sending him back into the facility. He crashed into the already broken glass, widening the hole, and then crashed into the inner walls of the facility. Kara looked over to the building, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

Finn, now wearing his "super-helper" gear, had no idea what he was doing. He shoved Parasite into the massive room in the center of the facility, crashed and skidded through the floor and into the marble fountain. He floated above the creature as it lay flat on the broken structure, water pouring out all over the floor. He had never faced a foe that was three times his size, let alone fought anyone before. His only plan was to save Kara and take down the giant purple monster. Luckily, all the people inside the facility had already evacuated out of the building.

The interior of the facility felt like they were inside a fancy mall. It had five floors, white concrete walls, marble floors and pillars, and glass with metal railing. The hallway was illuminated by the huge circular glass skylight above them.

Parasite began to stir up. Without missing a beat, Finn crashed down feet-first into the creature's belly. The parasite let out a painful grunt from the impact. Finn dashed into the creature's face, giving him a powerful punch; the impact rattled the entire building. The parasite grabbed Finn's leg and threw him across the center of the room.

Finn crashed through the glass with metal railings and skidded through the marble floor. He was not hurt, but he was certainly surprised. He had never been thrown like that before; he was the unstoppable force that could speed across the island. He stood up and walked over to the edge, stepping over shards of glass, and found out that he was standing on the third floor. Parasite stood tall, with his head almost reaching the second-floor railings. The creature stared at the man who looked like an old-timey pilot from the history books.

"You're strong…" Parasite spoke. "Stronger than the Seekers."

"There's a lot more where that came from," Finn said.

"I bet," Parasite replied with a smirk.

Finn sped towards the hulking creature and gave him a jab across his face. Finn continued to pummel Parasite, making him stagger back. Parasite launched his fist to his assailant's chest, sending him to a nearby marble pillar. Finn gasped. He was stunned for a moment. He felt it; the punch had hurt him. He never felt any physical pain in his entire life. His musings were interrupted when purple hands wrapped around his lower torso. Parasite lifted him up to the air and smashed him down to the marble floor. He did it again and again.

Parasite brought Finn up to his face; his goggles were cracked. He widened his circular mouth and tried to bite down on the boy. Finn brought up his left forearm to block the bite. The teeth sank into Finn's impenetrable skin, much to his surprise. Parasite's violet veins glowed a bright purple, coursing out through his body. Finn could feel his strength slowly draining from him. He balled his other hand into a fist and struck the creature towards its jaw with as much power as he could muster. Some of Parasite's teeth flew out of his mouth, the creature unlatched from Finn's arm, and released the boy from his hold. Finn struck another punch right at Parasite's face, sending him to the other side of the center.

Finn's vision began to spin. His sight became unfocused and blurry, his head started to hurt. He stumbled from the dizziness, his hand going to the arm where the creature had bitten him. The sleeve of his shirt was torn, and he could see the bite marks slowly fading away. He felt a little better and sighed in relief.

"Incredible!"

Quickly turning toward Parasite's direction, Finn's eyes widened as the creature grew in size. Four times larger than any Seeker he had encountered on this island, Parasite flexed his new muscles and admired them.

"Such power…" he said.

Parasite turned to Finn and stared at him with hungry, black beady eyes. Its circular mouth somehow managed to form a wide smile. The uneasy feeling in Finn's gut grew stronger.

"And you got more to spare," he continued "You're not just a full course meal, you're a buffet!"

Parasite brought his fist to the ground, creating a small impact crater; he crouched in a charging position. Finn put on a serious look, even though the feeling of uneasiness still lingered in his mind. Finn reciprocated with a stance of his own, crouching, and his hands balling into fists.

"I'm going to suck you dry," Parasite said with a greedy tone.

"You could've worded that better," Finn replied.

Parasite charged towards the boy. Finn flew towards the charging creature. Their hands balled into fists, and they pulled their arms as they were near each other. As they struck, their fists collided, sending a massive shockwave throughout the facility. The floor cracked below them, and glass railings and windows shattered around them.

Kara felt a small tremor erupt from the facility. Suddenly, the windows shattered, sending shards of glass across the parking lot. Kara quickly ducked down and covered her head to protect herself from the incoming debris. When everything calmed, Kara peeked out to see that the facility was still intact, but the glass shards from the windows were scattered across the parking lot.

She began to hear murmurs from behind her. She looked back and saw civilians grouped in front of the parking lot, gawking at the state of the facility. A faint crash was heard from within the facility. The civilians flinched at the sound, while Kara looked towards the North wing doors.

Something burst through the concrete wall above the doorway, and it was headed towards Kara's way. She ducked again, covering her head. She felt something soar past from above her and crashed into a metallic object, followed by the screams of the onlookers. She looked behind to see someone crash into the hood of a car. She quickly got up and ran towards the man. When she got near the damaged car, she noted that the man looked like he was in his early twenties. He wore a leather aviator's cap with a chin strap and goggles, which were broken. His long black sleeves were tattered and ripped in some parts.

When Kara reached out to check his pulse, the man's eyes shot open, revealing blue pupils. The shocked Kara quickly retreated her hand from him. He gasped and sat up from the hood of the car. Kara looked at him incredulously.

"H-how are you still alive?" Kara asked.

The man turned to look at Kara; his eyes widened at the sight of her. Before Kara could inquire about him further, something burst out through the doorway. The parasite stood tall and bulkier than before.

"Looks like I have to take this meal to go!" Parasite exclaimed.

The purple creature charged towards them. The man beside Kara stood up from the hood and looked at her with a serious expression.

"Get out of here, now!" he commanded.

He leaped off the car, sending it back a few feet. The strong gust of wind staggered her back a bit. She watched as the man flew towards the purple creature, much to her surprise.

Parasite aimed a punch towards the flying man. Finn weaved from the attack and aimed a punch to Parasite's side, hitting him on his left rib cage. Parasite staggered a bit, he then swung at Finn who flew away back in return. Finn flew back towards Parasite and gave him a two-punch combination to the creature's face. The frustrated Parasite tried to grab Finn with both of his arms. Finn flew away from the grasp of the creature, he then gained a little bit of altitude and sped down towards Parasite, aiming for his chest. Parasite side stepped from Finn's attack and quickly grabbed him by his ankle. He then swung the boy over him and smashed him on the floor. Parasite swung him again and threw him towards the nearby apartment building with all his might.

People watching from the windows of the apartment quickly scurried away. Finn skidded through the side of the building and fell onto the street, where he crashed into the asphalt floor and created a small impact crater. Finn groaned and tried to set himself upright. He could hear the screams and murmurs of the people around him.

"Look out!"

Finn could hear the increased screams and panic of the citizens around him as they began to run away. As he looked up, he saw the creature soaring through the air; it was descending, its trajectory aimed at Finn.

With quick thinking, Finn leapt away from his spot. Parasite crashed down, shook the ground, and created a larger impact crater at the center of the road. As Parasite stood up, his body began to twitch. He groaned as he brought a knee down to the ground, crouching and clutching his head with one hand. He brought down his hand to his face and noticed that he was beginning to shrinking in mass. His black beady eyes widened, and his face contorted into a look of dread.

"No…" he muttered.

"No!" he exclaimed as he smashed his fist into the ground.

Finn noticed Parasite's change of form. He realized how he could turn the tides in this fight. He just needed to deplete the creature of its source of power, which meant he had to get the citizens away from the fight. Finn also realized that he had to be careful with approaching Parasite; he needed to be more defensive and attack only when an opportunity presented itself. Finn hummed quietly as he thought about his plan, even though it wasn't the best he could come up with, but he knew he would manage to make it work somehow.

Parasite climbed up the crater and turned to Finn, letting out a growl. He was ready to charge towards the boy and absorb his power until he was nothing but bones. Suddenly, he felt a bump on its right leg. When it looked over, it saw a green minivan had crashed into its stumpy leg. The driver, who looked terrified and confused, was holding a phone in one hand and the steering wheel in the other. The driver let out a nervous chuckle.

"I, uh… shouldn't drive and text," the driver said.

Parasite gave the driver a look full of malice. He pulled both of his arms over his back, as if he were going to crush the car and the person inside it. Finn's eyes widened in realization and he mustered all the speed that he could achieve.

Everything seemed to move slowly, and it felt like diving through water. Finn soared towards the car while Parasite's arms inched closer to the windshield. His finger touched the glass, and it instantly shattered on impact. Finn quickly entered the car and reached for the driver's seat belt to unbuckle it. He then pushed the driver's side door, shoving it completely off the car, and flew out of the vehicle with the driver in hand. As soon as he landed on the sidewalk, everything returned to normal, and he heard the loud sound of metal being crushed.

He turned around and saw Parasite looking over the car with a mix of frustration and confusion. He turned towards the driver, who was still in his arms, looking at Finn with a bewildered look on his face. Finn laid the man to the ground and looked at him with concern.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked.

The man stared at Finn. He was about to say something when his eyes darted to the side, almost bulging out of their sockets.

"My car!" he exclaimed, pointing behind Finn.

Finn looked back and saw the green minivan, trunk-first, soaring towards them. It was only a few feet away. Finn quickly turned and caught the car by its underside. When he lifted it up, he saw Parasite charging towards him. Finn quickly turned towards the cowering form of the man behind him.

"Go!" he shouted.

The man obliged and ran away as fast as he could. Finn flew towards Parasite, carrying the green minivan with him. As they got near to each other, Finn shoved the car right at Parasite. The creature staggered back, and without missing a beat, Finn flew in and gave Parasite a roundhouse kick to the face. Parasite tried to snatch Finn, but the boy weaved away and flew back in with a punch.

Parasite staggered back and groaned in pain. He began to twitch again. His form slowly shrank, his size was equal to a Seeker. He let out a frustrated roar and quickly moved towards Finn, grabbing the boy's head with both of his hands much to Finn's shock. He quickly brought the boy closer to his mouth, but Finn quickly stopped it by using his all his limbs and tried to push away Parasite from him.

"Give… me… power…" Parasite said between breathes.

With his teeth gritted, Finn tried to escape from Parasite's grasp. But he seemed to have some leftover powers from Finn. He had no choice but to use them. It was too destructive, but he had no other option. He had to end this fight.

"You want power?" Finn asked through gritted teeth.

Finn could feel the burning sensation in his eyes. His vision began to turn red. Parasite noticed the boy's eyes beginning to glow red and his eyes widened in shock.

"I'll give you power."

Finn shot off red beams from his eyes, directly at Parasite's chest. Parasite staggered back, struggling to fight against the burning sensation from the red beams. Finn screamed as he increased the power, causing the beams to widen and the intensity of the heat to rise. Parasite could feel his entire body burning, but he was not on fire. He was absorbing the heat, and he did not like it. Finn pushed Parasite toward a truck parked on the side of the road. Paraside's heated body began to melt into the large vehicle.

"No… more…" he struggled.

The truck exploded, and the loud boom echoed throughout the street as the glass around it shattered from the impact. Parasite was blasted off from the exploding vehicle. Finn quickly closed his eyes, stopping his attack on the creature. When his eyes had cooled down, he slowly opened them and saw that a nearby bakery shop had been caught on fire.

Finn quickly flew towards the shop; he took a deep breath, pursed his lips, and blew towards the flames. His breath became cooler, white vapor shot out from his mouth, forming thin layers of ice to douse the fire inside the shop. Fortunately, no one was inside the shop, much to Finn's relief. He quickly moved towards the scorched remains of the truck, layers of ice forming on it. Finn looked for Parasite, who was lying unconscious in the middle of the street. Finn moved towards the creature and blew his freeze breath over his body, trapping him so he wouldn't do any more harm.

Finn sighed in relief. He realized he had beaten his first super-powered bad guy. Even though it hadn't gone exactly as he had hoped for, he was lucky to have survived the fight. He heard murmurs around him. As he looked up, he saw people gathering around him, but also keeping their distance from the scene of the explosion. They stared up at him with astonishment, shock, and fear on their faces. Some already pulled out their phones and began taking pictures of him. Finn's face turned to dread in realization. He was seen, exposed to the people of this island. They knew what he was capable of. His breathing became erratic; his head spun.

He made a mistake.

So, he flew up. Leaving dazed and confused citizens looking up to the sky.

Author's Notes:

This is the longest chapter I have ever made and really enjoyed writing the action scenes. I hoped I conveyed the descriptions well, if not? Let me know in the comments :)