CHAPTER 54: THY FLESH CONSUMED, PART 3
Meet Kenny. He's a cannibalistic youth who lives in The Farm.
A quiet night and dinner is all that was in mind for him and his friends, with their findings for dinner being a young girl's arm and a baby boy named Ethan. After Kenny and his friends had finished their appetizer of the arm, it was time at last to feast on the baby they had taken from his parents in exchange for their lives.
Breaking its neck with a swift motion, Kenny and his friends filleted and cooked the baby boy, feasting down his corpse and letting no piece of flesh go to waste. From each of his organs to the skin and muscle on his bones, every part of Ethan had gone to the purpose of keeping their bellies full, and he was absolutely delicious.
Kenny and his friends decided to drift off to a peaceful sleep after their meal, preparing to wake tomorrow and continue their predatory acts to feast on their fellow human beings to survive, finding pleasure in their hunts and kills. Whatever lives they might have lived prior to the Fall of Hillwood, they cannot possibly imagine living another way now; giving themselves into the insanity of Hellwood.
But these plans had come to a strange turn of events.
Waking up leisurely from his compromised resting place, Kenny found himself with some kind of blindfold over his face, unable to move his arms or legs, and the only sensory input he received being the smell of cooking meat. Struggling against his unknown bindings, he realized that he was in some kind of place of danger, but unaware of what sort of danger he was in.
"Wha... What's going on? Kyle? Stan? Eric? What's going on?!" Kenny shouted.
Not receiving any answer from his friends, Kenny was given a helping of food into his mouth in lieu of a response, with some kind of meat shoved into his mouth. The meat itself he could not identify, even if it seemed familiar, but its taste was moderate while it was cooked competently.
Swallowing the bite of food, Kenny continued to call out for his friends.
"Okay, guys, I'm enjoying this whole breakfast-in-bed thing, but what the hell's going on here? Why can't I feel my legs or arms?" Kenny asked.
"Do you know who I am, punk?" Valiance asked.
Hearing the growling whisper of a voice in his ear, Kenny suddenly quieted down from the question, recognizing the true threat he was in.
"Wh-what? What's happening?" Kenny said.
"I'm the worst nightmare you ever had. The kind that made you wake up screaming for your mother." Valiance continued.
"What do you want with me, man? Why am I tied up like this?!"
"You've got a mother, don't you? Every punk should have a mother."
"C'mon, man, quit playing games with me! Why's there a blindfold on my face?!"
"That baby you ate had a mother, one that you stole from her arms and murdered so you could satisfy your own sick needs."
"I was hungry and I needed to eat something, okay? Food's rare these days and I had to eat something! Look, I think I'm bleeding, man! I think I need a doctor!"
Kenny found another piece of the mystery meat shoved in his mouth, chewing it down and swallowing it just as he did the last bite.
"Begging for a doctor? Begging for help? That's rich from a predator like you." Valiance said.
"Stop playing with me, man! Just get me some goddamn help, will ya?!" Kenny asked.
"Never mind about that for now. I want to know something. The Jolly Olly Man. Where do I find him?"
"Look, man, here's the deal. I tell you where he is, but I walk away free. Deal?"
"You're not in any shape to be walking again anytime soon. Let me show you."
Removing the blindfold from his face, Valiance finally revealed to Kenny what was hidden from his sight. Having no clue what could have happened to him during his blank spot of unconsciousness, the revelation of what could be in store for him was a mystery, but he could not guess that his predicament was as bad as Valiance mad it seem to be.
Finally looking at himself, he found he was dead wrong.
The meat that he was previously eating had shown itself to come from his own legs, with one sawed off of his body and being cut up by Valiance, cutting smaller pieces of it off and cooking it on a small griddle. With the realization that the few bites of food he was being fed were from his own leg, Kenny gained a full realization of the danger he was in.
Horrified at the situation he was in, Kenny gave a scream, and a very loud one coupled with tears.
Taking another piece of meat from Kenny's leg, Valiance shoved it in his mouth to eat again, this time with the knowledge of the source of the meat.
"That's right. Scream and cry. Just like all the people you've butchered and eaten. How's it taste now, knowing where that 'food' came from?" Valiance asked.
No longer finding the taste of the meat satisfying, now disgusted with the taste of it in his mouth, Kenny began vomiting out both the bite in his mouth and the contents still in his stomach, leaving a mess of regurgitation all over himself as he tried not to choke on his own half-digested food still in his throat.
"Good. Go ahead and make more room. There's plenty more where that came from... but supplies are limited." Valiance said.
Taking out a line of razor wire, Valiance ran it underneath the remaining leg, positioning it right up behind the knee.
"Before you woke up, I hit you with a paralyzing agent that my company whipped up. It makes your whole body go numb and keeps you unable to move for 24 hours. For the first 4 or so, you don't feel anything at all. No pain, no nothing, just in case you're wondering how I got the first leg off. But it's been well over 4 now. You still can't move... but you'll feel this just fine. Like a sleep paralysis." Valiance said.
Pulling the wire against the skin of his leg, Valiance began moving it back and forth, cutting through the skin and digging deep into the flesh to slowly cut away the limb. Feeling every last nerve of pain severed through and torn away, Kenny screamed in agony at the slow, painful removal of his leg; carrying on his hysterics without end.
Following a slow severance of the leg, Valiance took it to the griddle, beginning to cut away a piece of muscle from it, throwing it on to cook. Letting the meat slowly sizzle in the pan, a savory smell of cooking pork filled the air, with Kenny beginning to choke on the smell of his own burning flesh in disgust.
"Hear that, Kenny? That's your fat starting to burn. Most effective weight loss program you've ever joined, isn't it?" Valiance asked.
As the meat continued to cook on the griddle, Valiance stepped over and kneeled over Kenny, confronting the cannibal face-to-face.
"I'll make things easy for you to understand. You're going to die. No one is going to help you. Anyone around here that could help you would rather just eat you instead. You can either wait for that to come and die slowly, or you can tell me what I want to know and you can die quick and painless. The choice is yours." Valiance said.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you! It's the old Dan's Meat Packing building! That's where he lives!" Kenny said.
"Good. Now, one last thing. Insect Girl. Is she there, and is she alive?"
"I don't know who that is!"
"Does he keep a young black woman around?"
"He... He's got someone in his private quarters that he eats... not all at once, just rations her... fuck if I know why... Look, I told you what you wanna know! If I'm gonna die, just kill me quick already, will you?!"
"Sure."
Taking the razor wire in his hands, Valiance wrapped it around Kenny's neck, tightly fastening the wire around him, digging just enough into his flesh to draw blood. Placing both ends of the wire in Kenny's hands, Valiance left him with an easy way to finish his life.
"I lied about two things. One, that paralyzing agent wore off an hour ago. That's why you felt the leg, and you can move your arms, too. If you really pull and squeeze hard enough, you should be able to cut your own head off quick enough to die fast. Go too slow, and you'll just cut your throat and choke on your own blood." Valiance said.
"W-wait! You said you were gonna kill me quick!" Kenny pleaded.
"That was the second lie."
Having the information he required from his prisoner, Valiance stood up and began walking out of the building, leaving Kenny to decide how to end his own life.
After an hour of thinking, Kenny began moving the wire back and forth to try to cut his own head off. Another hour he spent in the effort only resulted in some small cuts.
Another hour he would spend in anxious indecision until a group of people would find him from the smell of his burning meat, and feast on the uncooked flesh instead.
Far off from the torture that Kenny had been put under, another, less deserving victim was under abuse from her own captor. In this scenario, the victim is Nadine, known as Insect Girl to the Hillwood Heroes. The victim is Willie, the Jolly Olly Man, the cannibalistic chef de cuisine of The Farm.
Having removed a slice of her leg, the Jolly Olly Man filleted the meat from the bone and cooked up the portion, seasoning it to his preference and serving it on a plate. Taking his selection of food, he sat down on a small chair just across from Nadine, eating his takings as he looked back at her.
Having no eyes and only one ear left, Nadine was well aware of his presence, and remained quiet as not to disturb him.
"You know... I do really enjoy our little moments together like this. It's not everyday you get to talk to and get to know somebody you eat." Jolly Olly Man said.
Taking another bite of the food, the Jolly Olly Man chewed down the bite, while Nadine cautiously listened on as her own flesh was being eaten.
"I know I said I've never been interested in sex or love before, but this... this is almost starting to feel like one. I wanted to just make you suffer to get back at the Hillwood Heroes and that bastard, Valiance." Jolly Olly Man said.
Scooping up another bite, the Jolly Olly Man savored the portion of meat, chewing this one more slowly and letting the taste linger in his mouth.
"But I like being able to talk to you like this and take care of you. It's a very interesting feeling to know where your food comes from. Like the Native Americans, you get to show respect to where your food came from, and you never let anything go to waste. I wonder if they had anything like we do between what they killed and ate." Jolly Olly Man said.
Shoveling up the last bits of food on the plate, he finished the last of his serving, setting the empty plate away. Concluding his meal, the Jolly Olly Man walked up to Nadine and lightly ran a hand across her face, feeling the skin as his very touch made her start to quiver in fear.
Reaching down into his own pants, the Jolly Olly Man began feeling his own body as well, stirring something in his clothes to stand to attention.
"I do feel very close to you like this. I like this little connection we have. Each of these scars, all these missing pieces, they're all like little reminders of our moments together. It's not like all my other meals where I just eat, and that's it. I get to reflect on every moment, and it makes me feel good to think about it. I know you think about it all the time, too. Every cut I've made, every scar I've left, everything I've taken away... Ungh..." Jolly Olly Man groaned.
Growing incredibly aroused from his own speech, he gripped himself tighter, bringing Nadine closer to himself as he did.
"It just makes me feel so good... and it makes me want... even more of you." Jolly Olly Man said.
Bringing Nadine's lips to his, the Jolly Olly Man began kissing her, sucking against her mouth with the taste of her own body still in his. Brought into the kiss against her will, she was left with no choice but to cooperate with his advance, for fear of losing any more pieces of her body sooner or in a more painful manner.
If she still had eyes, she would be shedding tears.
Returning to the Hillwood Heroes' base, Valiance began taking as many weapons and firearms as he could gather, placing them all into his armored vehicle in preparation to start his one-man war against the Jolly Olly Man and rescue Nadine. Making sure he would spare no expense or leave nothing needed behind, his approach to preparation was to throw everything but the kitchen sink inside.
During his hour of armament, he was soon found not to be alone in the base, with the presence of the Harold joining him. Taking note of the various weapons being loaded up into his vehicle, Harold looked at Valiance with a face of disapproval, with the white knight himself looking back at his former soldier to address his distaste.
"Whatever you're doing with that many weapons, I doubt Arnold's gonna like it." Harold said.
"Whatever." Valiance said.
Displeased with being dismissed so easily, Harold made his approach more aggressive against Valiance.
"You don't care about anything, do you? Arnold's doing his best to put us back together again, way better than you were, and all you can do is keep up causing as much chaos as you can." Harold said.
"It's Nadine. I found where she is, and I'm going to get her back. You and Arnold can say or do whatever you want, but I'm going to get her back. I owe her that much. She's my daughter's best friend. She's the only family I have left. I care about her." Valiance said.
Gaining more of an understanding of his reasons for loading for war, Harold softened his approach back to a normal conversation.
"Just tell me one thing. Do you think that's the best way to do it? To kill as many people as you can to get to her?" Harold asked.
"Yes." Valiance said.
Content with the answer given, Harold nodded his head.
"Fine. Then you go do what you need to do. I won't stop you." Harold said.
"Good. Because if you did... I would make sure you wouldn't get in the way." Valiance said.
Jumping back into his armored vehicle, Valiance drove off to Dan's Meat Packing to rescue his intended target, not stopping for anything until he accomplished that mission. As he departed from the Hillwood Heroes' base once again, he could not help but feel as though this might be the very last time he would do so.
Harold shared much of the same sentiment, and stood still in reflection of the character of Valiance, and what awaits him now.
Driving himself down the destroyed highways of the city, Valiance led his armored assault vehicle, the mobile weapon he called the War Horse, outside the gates of Dan's Meat Packing. Loaded for bear within the War Horse, Valiance took his time to observe the outside of the building, analyzing his odds and opposition.
Lingering outside of Dan's Meat Packing were a large gallery of armed guards, mostly wielding smaller rifles like .22LRs as not to mutilate any potential food from their kills. Having much heavier artillery on his side as opposed to the pathetic low-caliber weapons that the citizens of The Farm wielded, this seemed to look less like an imminent battle, and more like...
...as the citizens of The Farm would say, a slaughter.
Pushing his foot to the pedal of the War Horse down to the floor, Valiance drove his vehicle straight towards the heart of Dan's Meat Packing, busting through the front gate to all the confusion of the armed guards within. Having barely any time to react to the sudden threat, most fled from the War Horse's path as not to be hit by it.
Continuing its push through the loading doors of the building, the War Horse made its way inside the main facility, coming to an eventual stop inside a dead end. Having now the time to catch up to the situation, the armed guards all surrounded and rushed to the vehicle, firing all their weapons at it.
Completely bulletproof from all angles, their firearms had absolutely no effect on the vehicle or anything within, leaving them only wasting their ammunition. The group eventually came to realize this, lowering their weapons and steadying their trigger fingers as they decided what to do next.
As the next part of Valiance's plan, the War Horse began dropping small orbs all across the ground, leaving the guards more confused as to what would happen next.
Their confusion was cut short as their lives were snuffed out by the orbs exploding violently, proving them to be bombs. Blasted to shreds and pieces by the destructive force of the bombs, the entire facility around them was completely destroyed as well, demolishing tools and meat processing equipment and leaving in their places scrap metal and flames.
With the window to the War Horse retracting, Valiance stepped out of the vehicle, carrying multiple weapons on his persons for the remaining enemies to come. With an assault rifle and shotgun slung over his shoulders, a pistol strapped to one leg and a submachine gun on the other, a belt-fed light machine gun in his hands, and various grenades and knives on his armored suit, it was a guarantee that no one would survive his wrath.
"Knock, knock." Valiance said.
[Soundtrack Cue: Five Finger Death Punch - No One Gets Left Behind]
Beginning to make his way further into the processing plant, various more armed guards began rushing towards him with more weapons, each intent on taking him down. Cocking back his machine gun, Valiance began firing at the oncoming soldiers, downing each one coming his way in seconds.
He squeezes the trigger. One, two, lucky number three dead.
He squeezes the trigger again. Four, five, six, lucky number seven dead.
He squeezes the trigger again. Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, lucky number thirteen dead. The odds seem in his favor so far.
Moving forwards through the plant, the hallways began to flood with more oncoming enemies, each armed with a rifle in hand and firing right at him. Protected with an armored power-suit, the gunmen had no chance to take down their enemy, only existing as target practice.
He squeezes the trigger again. Fourteen, lucky number fifteen dead.
He squeezes the trigger again. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, lucky number twenty-one dead.
He squeezes the trigger again. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four...
The gun clicks empty. Out of ammo.
Dropping the light machine gun, Valiance moves onto his assault rifle. Increasing his pace, he runs down the hallways of the plant, making his way to Nadine, wherever she may be within. Striding through enemies left and right, downing each one with the pull of a trigger, Valiance was little less than an enemy to face and more of a devil from hell here to collect his souls.
Thirty-three down. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Thirty-six.
Blasting through enemy after enemy, the opposition in his path never seemed to dwindle, but only kept up their enthusiasm and battle spirit. Valiance did much of the same; still not letting up or stopping until he had acquired the person of his interest and freed her from this circle of hell at last.
Thirty-eight down. No, thirty-seven. Thirty-nine. Thirty... something. Damn, he's losing count.
It doesn't matter. Only two things matter to Valiance at this moment in time: Finding Nadine and rescuing her, and killing as many of these monsters as he can. To imagine himself surrounded by people who traded in their humanity for something to put in their bellies, regardless of what it was; such a ridiculous reason to have to turn to such an evil.
Pulling the magazine out of the rifle, he flips it over, inserting the other magazine taped to it. He's reloaded.
He keeps firing at enemy after enemy that comes his way. No matter how many he shoots, they won't stop coming after him. Wave after wave, these incessant cannibalistic gunmen still carry on desperately to try to end his life. He's walked into the heart of a hornet's nest and kicked it from the inside.
He keeps firing and doesn't stop. He shoots at as many enemies as he can see in his path. Several more go down, but he still loses count. As long as they stop breathing.
His rifle clicks empty. Tossing the weapon aside, he moves onto his submachine gun and pistol, wielding both akimbo-style. The bullets still continue to fly without stop, tearing through polluted muscle and tissue and organ of every cannibal still standing in his way.
These weapons deplete much faster, but not before taking out many targets first. Dropping the firearms, Valiance resorted to his shotgun, his one final gun, moving quicker down the hallways of the plant with no more weight to hold him down. Moving to his destination with haste, Valiance continued blasting away enemy after enemy in his way, blasting away muscle and flesh in large chunks with slug rounds.
Making down a narrow hallway, Valiance pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it behind himself, letting it explode and take out various more gunmen behind him. The blast might have taken out numerous more enemies, but the shockwave also sent him falling on his chest, leaving him to pick himself back up again.
Continuing his move down the path, he found his slightly weakened mental state exploited by one enemy still in his way, grabbing his shotgun and holding it up to prevent him from being shot with it. Caught in a mutual struggle against this foe, Valiance pushed back hard against him, leading the barrel to his foot.
Pulling the trigger to the shotgun, Valiance shot the enemy's foot to pieces, leaving him to lose his balance and collapse against a wall. Concluding his work with the foe, Valiance grabbed the footless foot soldier's attacking arm and pinned it against his body with a knife, following with another knife driven into the top of his head, finishing him.
Having two more enemies in his path, he quickly scowered his surroundings, finding more weapons to compromise. Taking a pair of circular saw blades, he threw them towards each enemy, landing one blade in an enemy's head and the other in the other enemy's chest, putting both down.
Taking a machete from one downed enemy, Valiance continued on to the next enemies standing in his way, stabbing and slicing his way through cannibal after cannibal. With each step closer to the destination, there were less and less opposition coming in path, a sign that there was little enemies left to send his way.
With a total of 5 enemies pouncing up and surrounding him all at once, Valiance spun himself in a 360 degree motion, decapitating all of the attackers in one swift motion. Though this downed group gave him some false sense of security to ease down, the swinging of an axe to his hand had brought him out of that state of inattentiveness and back to being alert.
Blocking the next strike of the axe with his arm, Valiance grabbed the axe and hit its user in the face with the handle, causing him to release his grip on it. Taking the axe for himself, Valiance cleaved a large gash into his opponent's shoulder, then drove it upwards into his stomach, cutting and piercing through organs and muscle, leaving him to bleed out on the ground.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
With all of his enemies dead, Valiance took out the last two grenades on his persons, preparing them to destroy the main center of governance for The Farm. Tossing one at a collection of flammable liquids and the other at a power station, the building was set even further on fire and the flow of electricity malfunctioning.
Stepping through one final set of doors, Valiance reached the last remaining room in the plant untouched by his brush of death: A large, factory-like section filled with vats of acid and meat grinders. High above these objects was a large section of scaffolding, and standing atop this was the man he sought out, found at last:
Willie, the Jolly Olly Man.
Wearing a butcher's apron with various knives, meat cleavers, and other cutting tools, the Jolly Olly Man showed to be well-prepared for his battle, and smiling in wait.
Surrounding him were various dead bodies gutted and flayed, hanging from meat hooks, but he drew one in particular that was not dead yet, though she had come very close to being so. Recognizing the mutilated, torn body of Nadine, Valiance's eyes widened under his helmet.
"Looking for this?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
"Nadine." Valiance whispered.
"Buckley... Please... Forget about me... Just kill him..." Nadine mumbled.
"YOU SHUT UP!" Jolly Olly Man shouted.
Pushing the suspended Nadine aside, the Jolly Olly Man put himself back staring at Valiance, continuing to smile at him from his perch.
"That was quite a show you put on there. A waste of meat, for sure, but fun to watch nonetheless." Jolly Olly Man said.
"Don't get so excited. You're next." Valiance said.
"Oh, I know. I know you'll try. That's what I've been waiting for. You know, tell me something. Do you like killing people?"
"I like killing criminals. Scum of the Earth like you."
"But you like to kill. I thought you, of all people, could see at least some understanding of what I do. Arnold? He's too much of a goody-two-shoes to understand people like us. I remember how unrelenting he was with his little sense of kindness all those years ago, even as a kid. But you? You're someone better than that."
"I'm not like you at all, so don't even try to make that kind of comparison to me! You kill and eat innocent people! You kill and eat children!"
"There's no such thing as innocent or guilty anymore in this hellscape. It doesn't matter. We kill the weaker so that the strong survive. It's survival of the fittest. That's what the new dichotomy is in Hellwood. You can't stop that. Not you or Arnold or anyone. This is the future. We are the future."
"And that future includes cannibalism and torture? To turn into something less than human?"
"I've tried being human. It's overrated. Work an awful job full of people that hate you, and keep at it until you eventually die. Given between that or the option to live as you please, and live on your own terms? I find this to be a far better outlet. The Freak showed me this better way of life. If you can't eat it or fuck it... then kill it."
"Including the one person I still care about."
"Oh, yes. Her I had some of the most fun with. You know, she told me she was starting to think about you for awhile, how safe she felt when thinking about you. She told me how you fucked her good and hard, even ate her cunt. I ate her cunt, too, you know. It was delicious."
With a scowl full of unbridled rage settling in behind his helmet, Valiance's eyes began to go bloodshot from anger; his knuckles cracking under his clenched fists.
"I'll make this easy for you. You know I'm going to kill you no matter what. You let her go, and I'll end you quick." Valiance said.
"No deal. You don't think I got all dressed up so I could stay home from the party, don't you?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
Giving into the Jolly Olly Man's game, Valiance began walking up the stairs to the top of the scaffold, coming face-to-face against his enemy and readying his fists.
Eager to begin the fight, the Jolly Olly Man widened his smile as he readied a meat cleaver in one hand and a knife in the other.
"That's right. When I kill you, I'm going to mount your head on my wall and savor your heart for last. Now, my fair lady, shall I have this dance?" Jolly Olly Man asked.
[Soundtrack Cue: Body Count - Carnivore]
With both opponents rushing towards one another, the battle had just begun, with Valiance making his first move by leaping into the air and throwing a kick to the Jolly Olly Man as he landed. Starting to send the enemy tumbling back from his first strike, he continued to lay punch after punch into the vicious cannibal, sinking to a new level of viciousness himself.
Acting quick to defend himself, the Jolly Olly Man pulled a hanging body in the path of his next punch, leading Valiance to hit it instead of his intended target. Having him up close and put to a stop for one second, the Jolly Olly Man landed a cut through his bullet-proof clothing and made a slice to a joint, managing to draw some blood from his opponent.
Continuing to slice away at the costume, the Jolly Olly Man sent away chunks of cloth from his suit, revealing more vulnerable spots to hack away at. Making one cut to exposed skin, followed by another, it seemed that he was gaining the advantage over Valiance in their fight.
Throwing his arms up to block the next strike, Valiance caught the blades in his armguards; the metal build catching the blades as they dug into them. Pushing his arms to his sides, he tossed each weapon away from the Jolly Olly Man, leaving him unarmed against his relentless punches again.
After taking a punch or two from Valiance, barely conscious enough from the first strike to know if a second landed or not, he blocked the next strike to grab hold of his helmet, intent on removing it from his suit. With Valiance putting his arms on his enemy's shoulders and the Jolly Olly Man still holding onto his enemy's head, the two were stuck in a deadlock for a good moment.
Putting his foot to Valiance's chest, the Jolly Olly Man kicked him off, keeping his grip on the helmet and taking it with him as he stumbled back. Tossing the helmet off the scaffolding, he drew forward another knife and a metal meat mallet, intent on exploiting the exposed weak point he had made.
Approaching the Jolly Olly Man with his hands held up in a boxer's stance, Valiance continued to throw more punches to his target, blocking slashes and now bludgeons from his enemy in retaliation. Though he kept up his best efforts, his skills ultimately were not able to prevent all harm from coming to him.
With one punch being thrown, the Jolly Olly Man exploited the opening, landing a slash across his face and drawing blood again. As Valiance winced in pain at the cut, the Jolly Olly Man followed up this strike with a blow to the head from his mallet, making him black out for a split-second and sending him falling to the ground.
Not able to afford another strike coming to his head, Valiance blocked the next blow coming his way, picking himself up to deliver fierce uppercuts to the Jolly Olly Man's stomach. Having most of the breath knocked out of him, the Jolly Olly Man utilized the what little energy he had to think of a way to spare himself for a moment to catch his breath once again.
Landing the knife into Valiance's back, piercing straight through to the flesh, the Jolly Olly Man managed to make his opponent release his grip and end his punches, giving him the chance to breathe as needed. Having only the one weapon of a mallet in his hand, he made sure to make the absolute most of its use on his enemy.
Throwing more blows to his body, Valiance's armor started to dent and bend under the bludgeoning of the mallet, taking away precious protection against his opponent and leaving more skin for him to attack. Drawing the knife out of his back, he decided to use the Jolly Olly Man's weapon against him.
Driving the knife into his shoulder, Valiance pulled it out and began stabbing at the Jolly Olly Man over and over with it, intent on drawing as much blood as he could from his body. Taking advantage of his unfocused stabbing frenzy, the Jolly Olly Man bashed him in the head again, following with multiple successive attacks until Valiance finally fell on his back in exhaustion.
Leaping on top of Valiance, the Jolly Olly Man continued to bludgeon Valiance in the head, intent on smashing his head open and eating his brains raw in rage. Feeling each blow of the hammer hit his head, Valiance's concentration began to dwindle with each hit; his mind dizzying and his vision blurring.
Remembering the reason as to why he was fighting this enemy, why he had come this far, however, he soon started to feel less and less of these blows to his head as he remembered the person that he had come so far to rescue, the last piece of family that he still had in his life:
Nadine.
Grabbing the arm as it prepared another blow to his head, Valiance kept a tight hold over the Jolly Olly Man's arm and kept his tight hold, ensuring that he would not lose his advantage over his enemy. Pushing back against the arm as hard as he could, both opponents soon realized what was coming for the restrained arm.
Bending the arm back further than it was meant to go, Valiance broke it in half, leaving the Jolly Olly Man to scream in agony and drop his mallet. Kicking him off and picking himself up again, Valiance grabbed the dropped mallet as the Jolly Olly Man grabbed one more knife from his apron for his opponent.
Losing focus from the pain of his broken arm, the Jolly Olly Man kept slashing away at Valiance like mad, intent on taking as much flesh away from his body as he could. Having the more brutal weapon of the mallet on his side, Valiance made sure to use it well against the lone slasher in their fight.
Bashing him over the head with the hammer, Valiance made the Jolly Olly Man start to spit large globs of blood about the scaffolding, making him even closer to his defeat by the second. Trying once again to slash away at Valiance, the Jolly Olly Man only continued to miss his opponent, only hitting at the air and the various bodies hanging about the scaffolding.
Finally, driving his knife deep into one of the bodies, the Jolly Olly Man was knocked back by Valiance before he was able to procure the knife again, leaving him completely defenseless. Grabbing the cannibal by the neck, Valiance carried the Jolly Olly Man towards an empty meat hook hanging about with the bodies, impaling him onto it and piercing straight through his stomach.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Left stuck on the meat hook, the Jolly Olly Man screamed in pain and misery at the injury, unable to free himself or even defend himself any longer against Valiance. Watching the white knight walk right up to him as he laid vulnerable and helpless, the Jolly Olly Man realized that his death was coming near.
But not so near as he thought.
Grabbing hold of one of his legs, Valiance began tugging at the limb as hard as he could, intent on forcefully removing it from his body. Feeling the flesh and muscle start to tear from the intense stress it was put under, the Jolly Olly Man began screaming even louder, throwing a fit on his hook as he was helpless to stop the abuse.
With enough force exerted on his leg, it finally came off to bloody and brutal results, with Valiance tossing it aside. This time, grabbing a hold of something between the Jolly Olly Man's legs, Valiance ripped his genitals clean off, making him start to scream even louder, but cutting those screams short by shoving them inside his mouth and punching him in the face.
"So you liked eating Nadine's genitals, huh? HOW ABOUT YOU START TO TASTE YOUR OWN, YOU MOTHERFUCKING ROTTEN PIECE OF DOGSHIT?!" Valiance screamed.
Having his fill of beating him in the face, Valiance ripped off the Jolly Olly Man's broken arm next, starting to beat him in the face with it. In between choking on his own severed penis and testicles, and bleeding out from his stumps that once held an arm and leg, the Jolly Olly Man eventually stopped screaming, now beginning to cry.
The crying soon brought Valiance to a stop, remembering an instance where he was confronted with a similar situation.
A year ago, he recalls a similar fight with someone who also put a decent fight against him, and what results it bred. This fight was between a younger and brasher Wolfgang, and one of his earliest fights where he did not have the Green Eye to prevent him from killing.
"What are you, just some old man? You think you're better than me? I've always been the best! No one beats Wolfgang! I'm the superior one!" Wolfgang boasted.
Wolfgang threw one more punch towards Valiance's head, preparing to put him down for good. Not ready or willing to be defeated at the hands of a criminal, Valiance gave a surprise retaliation with a punch of his own, matching his own fist against Wolfgang's fist.
The force of Valiance's punch, combined with his reinforced armor, was too much for any normal human to take; the punch breaking Wolfgang's hand and audibly breaking numerous bones in his fingers. With immense and sudden pain flooding his mind after the severe damage to done his hand, Wolfgang screamed in pain.
Standing up on his feet again, Valiance stepped towards his enemy, ready to continue what attack he started.
"No, punk. I'm the superior one." Valiance said.
Valiance grabbed Wolfgang's head and punched in the face several times, giving him a concussion and a severe nosebleed that intensified with each hit.
"I fight the scum of the Earth, protecting the innocent. You are the scum that destroys the lives of others." Valiance said.
With Wolfgang weakened and off-balance from the injuries done to his head, Valiance punched him in the stomach, making him lean down and groan in an attempt to catch his breath. Grabbing him by the head, he hit Wolfgang in the head with his knee, beginning to crack his skull.
"People like you should feel ashamed to exist. You aren't human. You're not even an animal. You're not even alive." Valiance said.
Unable to move any further, Wolfgang fell on the ground, too severely injured and too much in pain keep fighting. Despite his opponent being well out of the fight and clearly defeated, Valiance continued his onslaught, not yet satisfied with the punishment inflicted on his enemy.
"You are a disease. You are an infectant in the gene pool." Valiance said.
Valiance grabbed Wolfgang's arm and took it in his own, preparing himself to bring an even more damaging attack to Wolfgang's body.
"And I'm the sterilizer." Valiance said.
Breaking his arm like a dry twig, Valiance caused the already-pained Wolfgang to scream in agony at the loss of his arm, sending him in further misery. Still not satisfied with breaking one of his limbs, Valiance knelt down to Wolfgang and began beating his face, further cracking his skull.
After pounding his fist against Wolfgang's face, Valiance then grabbed his legs and bent them backwards, breaking several bones and shattering his kneecaps in the process. Again, having two more limbs taken from him, Wolfgang screamed in agony at his excessive punishment, wishing desperately for it to stop.
Having nearly killed Wolfgang with his beating, Valiance pulled out his handgun and pointed it to his enemy's head, preparing to finish the job.
"Good riddance, infectant." Valiance said.
Unexpectedly, a staff flew towards his handgun, knocking it out of his hands before he could end Wolfgang's life. Looking to the source of the staff, he found the Green Eye, having mustered the last of his strength to rise to his feet, all for the sole purpose of saving Wolfgang's life.
Though barely able to stand on his own two feet, the Green Eye still raised his fists to Valiance, still willing to fight.
"No... I won't let you take another life... You'll have to kill me to stop me..." Green Eye said.
Not impressed by the Green Eye's grandstand against him, Valiance punched him square in the face. With no energy left in his body, the Green Eye could not block away the punch or defend himself from it, leaving him to take the hit. Falling on his back, powerless to do anything else for himself or Wolfgang, he was left helpless and rendered completely unconscious.
"I don't kill innocents. Not even stupid ones like you." Valiance said.
With his distraction removed, Valiance picked his handgun back up and turned back to the near-dead Wolfgang, aiming it back at his face. With death seemingly arriving for Wolfgang and nothing left in hopes for him, he had nothing left to do now but cry in pain and misery, doing just that as he awaited his execution.
Watching his enemy cry on the ground with his body broken, Valiance began to feel a strange emotion from viewing the humiliated Wolfgang; something that almost registered as pity. The feeling made him hesitate from ending Wolfgang's life, leaving him to keep observing the fallen enemy in an attempt to anaylize it further.
Not knowing what to make of this emotion, his hand began to shake as he aimed the gun; his trigger finger finding itself in a state of indecision. Though the urge to eliminate evil still existed in his heart, he could no longer find himself able to consummate the final blow on Wolfgang, unable to shoot.
In a move even Valiance himself could not expect, he decocked his handgun and holstered it, deciding to spare Wolfgang's life.
"Valiance had mercy on you this day, punk. Let that teach you a lesson." Valiance said.
With the knowledge of the future he has now, Valiance remembered the consequence of leaving an individual such as Wolfgang alive, and how many lives it has cost to this day because of that one moment of mercy that the Green Eye helped instill in him. What has gone around has come around.
He will not repeat that mistake again.
Taking the meat hook by the chain, Valiance began positioning it over the scaffolding, reaching over one of the vats of acid below. Looking at the boiling inferno that awaited him below, the Jolly Olly Man could not idly sit and accept a horrible death, so he decided to plead for a quicker death.
"N-No, wait, please... Not that... Just shoot me in the head... Break my neck... Anything but that... Please...!" The Jolly Olly Man begged.
"Fuck you." Valiance said.
Releasing the chain to the hook, Valiance dropped the Jolly Olly Man straight down into the vat of acid, sending him down with a loud splash, followed by louder screams. The instant he landed in the vat, the acid began eating away at his flesh, just as many a child had suffered inside his stomach.
Being eaten alive inside the acidic bath, the Jolly Olly Man flailed around his remaining limbs in an attempt to free himself from the hellish torture, but, with the weight of the metal meat hook and chain keeping him in, he was unable to escape. For all his efforts and crying, as enthusiastic as they were to cling onto some form of life, his efforts did no good.
Feeling the acid start to flow inside his body from his open stab and puncture wounds, it began to eat him from the inside out. Accidentally getting the deadly chemical in his mouth, it ate through his mouth and burned through his jaw, making it fall off of his head and leave his tongue to flair around with saliva mixed with blood running down his chest.
Stepping down from the scaffolding to ground level again, Valiance walked up to the vat to watch the show of agony up close for himself, wanting to ensure that his victim would suffer as much as possible. Watching the Jolly Olly Man cry out for help and scream, Valiance began to allow himself a smile; one of the few he had given in some time.
Soon, the Jolly Olly Man stopped his incessant struggles for life, sinking into the acid and letting the last of his body be dissolved by the acid. It seemed that he was at last finally dead, and that Valiance had completed his mission and exacted sufficient revenge on his target for his crimes.
The one smile he finally gave started to grow wider.
"See you in hell, you piece of-" Valiance began to say.
Before Valiance could finish his sentence, an arm consisting of only half-eaten muscle reached its way out of the vat and around his neck, gripping tightly around it. As the acid on the hand itself began to sizzle against his throat, Valiance was soon treated to the gruesome sight of what remained of the Jolly Olly Man.
With little more to his body but a the upper half of a skeleton with chunks of muscle and organs hanging from it, a head with a piece of skull exposed, one remaining eyeball and his jawless mouth still slinging a half-dissolved tongue, and just small patches of skin remaining on his body, it was clear that the Jolly Olly Man was not out of the fight yet, nor going out without taking a life with him.
Having the tight grip of acid around his neck, Valiance knew that his life would surely join the Jolly Olly Man's if he did not act fast, so act fast he did.
Moving to a large meat grinder, Valiance freed a hand to turn the device on, sending multiple blades of metal spinning in ready to devour and process whatever meat it was fed. Hanging the Jolly Olly Man over the meat grinder, he slowly began to lower the remaining body into it, finishing his opponent off at last.
"You scream for ice cream, motherfucker." Valiance said.
Sending his body into the meat grinder, the machine began slicing and tearing away at his remaining skeleton and flesh, sending large fountains of blood flying into the air and all over the white knight's suit. Still not stopping until his opponent was dead at last, needing to finish him off at last, he kept pushing him down into the meat grinder to ensure no piece of him remained.
As the meat grinder churned out the pasty remains of the Jolly Olly Man, the aforementioned cannibal was slowly and surely further ground further and further into the machine, taking out the last bits of life that he still had within his body. At one point, Valiance could swear he saw the exact moment in which the life left his last eye.
With no more life force to keep his arm functional, the Jolly Olly Man released his grip, finally succumbing to his wounds and falling down into the meat grinder. The last bits of his body were sucked deep down and away into the grinder, chewing up the last remains of him and leaving nothing behind to mourn over, much like the many people and children that had suffered his insatiable appetite.
Willie is dead.
Satisfied with ending his opponent at last, Valiance picked up his helmet up from the ground and placed it back on his head, fastening it tightly. On his neck was left a scarring from the Jolly Olly Man's grip; a reminder that will stick with him from this battle for the rest of his life.
Heading back up the scaffolding, Valiance moved to Nadine, gently lowering her from the harness and carrying her in his arms. With little left on her own body that was not severed and eaten, she weighed little in his arms, driving him to treat her gingerly as he carried her.
"H-Hey... Buckley..." Nadine said.
"Shh. Easy, soldier. Easy." Valiance said.
"Wh-What took you so long?"
Nadine tried to laugh under her own joke, but only managed to cough from the effort.
"Let's go home." Valiance said.
Carrying her out of the burning building of Dan's Meat Packing, Valiance brought her outside the inferno and gently set her outside, allowing her a moment to rest. Pulling out a remote control, he summoned the War Horse to drive itself outside the building, parking just next to them to allow their departure.
"You just hang on, we're almost there. I'll get you to people who can help, we'll get you fixed up in no time." Valiance said.
"Oh, spare me your bullshit. Just look at me. I've got no eyes, no tongue, no legs, no tits; nothing. He took everything from me. You can't replace all that." Nadine said.
"Don't talk like that, I swear, I'll get you fixed! Th-there's technology, we can fix you again, surgery can fix the rest, we can put you back again!"
"There's no going back for me now. He made me eat... other people. I can't go back from that. I can't live with that. I don't want to be kept alive. I just want to die."
Desperate for him not to lose his last piece of family, Valiance desperately held onto Nadine, trying to convince her to live on.
"No, NO! I am not letting you die! I've already lost all my family! I won't lose you, too! I... I won't allow it! I forbid it! I ORDER YOU NOT TO DIE!" Valiance shouted.
"You always were a stubborn son of a bitch, Buckley. Listen to me. I want to die. I don't have anything left. Just let me die, you owe me that much." Nadine said.
"I... I can't."
"Yes, you can. My Arthropod Influencer. Give it to me."
"...No."
"Give me my goddamn Arthropod Influencer, Buckley. All my life, I only cared about bugs. Let me die with my bugs."
Hesitant to give her the weapon, Valiance turned away, unable to face Nadine for the action.
"I said give it to me." Nadine said.
Finally giving into her wishes, Valiance took out her Arthropod Influencer, placing it firmly into her remaining hand so she could feel it.
"Now go away." Nadine said.
Still not able to leave her at last, Valiance held back a tear from the painful decision; breathing heavily to compose himself.
"I'm gonna take this whole godforsaken slice of Hellwood with me when I go. I'm not gonna hurt you, too. Get out of here while you still can. Go the fuck away." Nadine said.
Complying with her wish at last, Valiance stood up and stepped back into the War Horse, driving himself away from Dan's Meat Packing and far away from The Farm as he could. Leaving behind one of his last soldiers, he felt a deeper emptiness begin to sink in, piercing at him during his departure.
Though he will never admit it, he had shed many tears while driving away.
Alone at last, Nadine had taken her last few moments of breath before her imminent death, making whatever peace she still could with her status as a near-vegetable. Save for the smell of burning mortar and bodies from the Dan's Meat Packing facility in flames, the night air gave a sense of serenity; a nice taste of calm and collectiveness to ease her nerves.
The calmness gave her more of the strength needed to carry through the next motion that would lead to her eventual release in death, leading her back to the Arthropod Influencer in her hand. Her hand had only its thumb and index and middle finger remaining, but that was enough to suffice the last needs required of her one arm.
Activating a switch on the Arthropod Influencer to push the device to its maximum power, Nadine tossed it aside, patiently awaiting the coming event.
[Soundtrack Cue: Metallica - One]
Thinking back on her life leading up to this point, Nadine begins to reflect on the times she had as a child, and how it led up to her current state of being. The thoughts she had brought her more of a sense of peace, making her more content with her coming fate.
Since her early years as a child, the topic of insects and bugs were always of interest to her. Owning a bug-catching kit as at the age of 3, rarely was she seen without it; collecting all manners of creepy-crawlies and things that go bump in the night, and keeping her collection vast and well-maintained.
Not too long after, her and Rhonda Lloyd became best friends, despite the two having polarizing interests. With Rhonda a rich girl interested in fashion and carrying disgust for nature with Nadine engrossed with nature and all its dirty inner workings while eschewing hollow concepts such as fashion and beauty, the dynamic of opposites attracting seemed well in play, and it sustained their friendship well.
Stable as that friendship was, it could not overcome the eventual tragedy and death that came for Rhonda following the debut of the Freak. Left without a good friend to lean on, she eventually found a place in the circle of Sheena and Eugene, turning the 3 into a group of close friends and an effective team in the Hillwood Heroes.
Following their deaths, she was once again left without someone to hold on to, eventually leading her into the arms of Buckley Lloyd; the only person who was left to accept her and the last remaining piece of Rhonda she still had, a sentiment which Buckley himself shared.
However, it had all been ultimately for nothing, except this one moment. Left with little to call a body, she now waits to die and find her peace at last.
Hearing the sound of insects buzzing in the air, she knows that comes closer and closer, giving her a content smile.
Coming to the beckoning of the Arthropod Influencer's call, swarms on insects began flying towards the corner of Hellwood known as The Farm, bringing with them uncontrolled and animalistic hunger. Among the insects and bugs flying in were locusts, beetles, flies, crickets, fleas, mites, and other sorts of flying plagues.
Though many of these lesser creatures might seem benign on their own, they were coming to heed this call for one mission:
The call of the Arthropod Influencer was calling them to devour all the human flesh that they could eat.
Coming into the section of the island, the buzzing of their wings began to grow louder and louder with their approach. Those residing in the province of The Farm were previously minding their own business, in what personal business cannibals could have in their open range, were quickly brought to the attention of the loud buzzing, unable to ignore its ear-piercing droning.
As the buzzing started to grow louder and louder, the night sky began to grow just a little darker, bringing a much-warranted sense of dread to the citizens.
How much their dread was warranted, they learned the hard way.
Flying down from the sky and coating the very Earth with their presence, the insects sent the populace of The Farm scowering away from the plague as quickly as they could, seeking out any sort of shelter against the swarm that sought after the flesh on their bodies.
They find no such shelter.
Within seconds, people were collapsing to the ground; their bodies being torn apart by the rampaging and ravenous bugs that coated the land. Eating everything they could from the outside, then crawling inside their bodies and eating them away from inside out, the bugs made sure that they left nothing behind in their wake of death and destruction on absolutely everyone in their path.
From individual hunters and packs of killers, to families simply looking to survive, no one person is spared from the wrath of the insects. This is not a situation of innocents and guilty being equally punished, for there are no innocents in this place that prides itself on feasting on human flesh.
Of course, among those who are devoured is Nadine herself, getting the sweet release of death that she craved for days. For a girl who loved insects and bugs most of her life, it seemed only fitting that it should be insects that take her life, and she might be with them forever in that manner.
As the plague of insects finally reached her, the bugs started to eat away at what flesh remained on her body, tearing away flesh to reach the organs and muscle underneath. Coated entirely in the carnivorous bugs, Nadine felt each bite of the insects take away what little remained of her body, giving her a sense of levity with each bite.
While she felt pain and agony at every infliction of pain brought upon by the Jolly Olly Man, this death, slow as it was, gave her relief with each bite of the bugs. Perhaps it is not only because she grows closer to the release of death that she needed, but because she also knows that this same pain is what many more cannibals are suffering through currently is what gives her the strength to laugh.
Opening her smiling mouth to laugh at last, Nadine laughed hard and joyfully at the pain and death as it slowly came to her; her laughter growing harder and harder with each passing second. Her laughs were only stopped by the insects starting to crawl inside her mouth, beginning to devour her from the inside out.
Reaching far down into her stomach, the bugs chewed away at tissue and organ beneath, continuing to eat away until they had reached the bone and consumed all of their meal. Choking under the slow, churning death inside her body, Nadine's laughs eventually came to a stop; the last thing to leave her mouth bloody coughs followed by the insects inside her crawling back out of her mouth and eating their own orifices to escape from.
Continuing on their feast, the insects had picked away at the last bits of skin still hanging on Nadine's body, leaving her as nothing more than a partial skeleton that once held the mind, body, and soul of Nadine. By the act of her beloved bugs, she had found the peace in death that she wanted.
Nadine is dead.
Left with nothing left to eat within The Farm, the insects began eating away at each other, ending the maelstrom of flesh-eating that they had just finished and turning their energies back onto one another as the Arthropod Influencer began losing its power and control over the bugs.
With every last living creature within dead, The Farm has been destroyed. Looking back on the last heroic deed of Nadine, Valiance whispered to himself...
"Good soldier. Good soldier." Valiance said.
Far from the apocalyptic event that had taken place in what used to be The Farm, Arnold Shortman, following a long day of battling off gangs and other wrongdoers while helping the people still living in Old Hillwood, laid in bed with Helga, holding her body close to his to find some kind of solace away from the hellish landscape outside his window. Feeling her bare body next to his, the hold does a decent job.
Until a feeling starts to sink into his subconsciousness. Feeling a sudden sense of loss come to his mind, some kind of emotion he could not totally pinpoint an identity on, Arnold stood up from the bed. Awakened from the sudden disturbance her fiancee had, Helga stood up as well, trying to deduce the reason behind his action.
"Hey Arnold? You okay?" Helga asked.
"I felt... some kind of disturbance. Like thousands of people all cried out in terror and suddenly went quiet. I think something terrible's happened." Arnold said.
"Well, what could it be?"
"I don't know, but somehow I feel like a lot of it has to do with-"
Searching deeper into the emotional disturbance that he felt in Hillwood's collective unconscious, there suddenly was found a familiar presence that was the most likely candidate for the strange occurrence. Recognizing the threat and what it meant for everyone else, Arnold's eyes sneered tightly in a scowl while his irises turned a bright green, his mouth uttering the name of the presence implicated in this affair.
"Valiance." Arnold growled.
Stopping the War Horse at a small safehouse, one set up for situations such as this one, Valiance stepped out of the vehicle, entering his safehouse to prepare himself for the next mission. Shedding the broken parts of his armor, he tossed each one aside, throwing each one with a sense of rage bottled in him and unable to go away.
Left with no family to his name and no more support, he was completely alone at last, and left to deal with his own rationally-declining thoughts.
"I tried it your way, Arnold. I really did." Valiance mumbled.
Picking up new pieces of armor, Valiance began placing them onto the exposed portions of his suit, ensuring he was well-protected and safe.
"Look at what your way's gotten us. Everyone dead. Everyone gone. Hillwood gone. It's all gone and dead. It's all gone." Valiance mumbled.
Completing the repairs of his suit, he was not content with simply re-armoring himself. Instead, he took to the many weapons stored in the safehouse, seeking new armaments for his mission as well.
"My way got results. My way's always gotten results. You just don't like what results that gives. You're too soft on crime. Too sympathetic to life." Valiance mumbled.
Taking smaller weapons like submachine guns, Valiance began taking to modifying them to his needs, starting with welding them to his armguards.
"Life... Life's the reason all of this happened. People keep making mistakes throughout their lives. Keep doing things wrong, keep turning evil. You keep doing your best to fix them, but they just don't want to be fixed." Valiance mumbled.
Continuing his modifications, Valiance converted the submachine guns to be belt-fed, ensuring faster firing and less need for reloads, keeping more belts around his suit.
"They never learn. People never learn. They'll always just turn evil. That's what they do. You need to instill fear and terror in them. Make them believe in a bogeyman. Make them understand the consequences of their actions." Valiance mumbled.
Grabbing mountable grenade launchers, these, too, were added to the mounted submachine guns, as were large harnesses of grenades on his suit.
"Make them understand that life is cruel and always leads to evil. Make them understand that life is evil. I tried to bring Rhonda back, her life resulted in this mess. I tried to save Nadine, she only wanted death. Maybe death is the natural state that people should be in at this point." Valiance mumbled.
On top of his already mounted weapons, Valiance took towards strapping himself with as many other firearms, grenades, and bladed weapons as he could, completely coating himself in weapons. If one did not know any better, one would think he is declaring a one-man war.
If they were to listen to his ranting, however, they would know he was.
"I get it now. Hellwood really is hell. Everyone here is damned. Guilty. Their very lives are the crime... and I'm here to carry out their sentence." Valiance said.
Stepping outside the safehouse, Valiance carried his weapons with him, loaded for bear and intent on only one goal now:
Omnicide.
"The crime is life... the sentence is death." Valiance said.