Mythos Prelude

  Episode Jackie

  Chapter 3.5 — Check, Part 5

  by Caide Fullerton

  ???: “Why, why, why!? All of you, all of you, all of you, getting in my way! I’m just so hungry..! All of you, I’ll kill all of you!”

  A chorus of distorted voices wailed so in unison, each permeating out of the body of a child that hung limply in the air as it gestured furiously, held up by the eight skeletal arms that protruded from its back. Tears ran down its face—a human child was its facade, though its temperament was just as immature as the real thing.

  The child—no, the Kumori—turned to Loid and Jacqueline as it screamed, its veins nearly popping in its rage. It began to creep toward them, carried by its skeletal arms like a great spider stalking its prey. Krimling from all around the complex gathered at the sound of the Kumori’s voice, but they kept their distance—whether out of fear or simply because they wanted to watch what came next, only they could know.

  Kumori: “Running and running and running and running running running running running runningrunningrunningrunningrunningrunning RUNNING! Everyone always runs away! Why!? Why, why, why why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhy WHYYY!?”

  With that final shout it leapt forward, several of its skeletal fists raised in the air above it. Loid and Jacqueline ran to the side and behind one of the many stone pillars littering the area, taking cover behind it as the Kumori crashed down. As its fists impacted the ground, it sent forth a wave of dust and mud that sent a few overly-opportunistic Krimling flying. The Kumori barely paused in its movements, its other arms carrying it sideways as it rotated its body, swinging one arm wildly to topple the stone pillar with a single blow.

  Kumori: “Just come back! Just come to me! I’m hungry, so just let me..! Let me eat, let me eat, let me eat eat eat eat eateateateateat LET ME EAT!!!”

  The Kumori lurched forward, crawling right over the toppled pillar. One of its skeletal hands reached forward, toward Loid and Jacqueline—but, at the last second, it suddenly whipped around instead, holding out one of its skeletal arms.

  A chain swung down from the sky above, an anchor at its end. A metallic screech rang out as it crashed against the Kumori’s skeletal defense. Airborne at the other end of the chain, of course, was the Mimic, a scowl on her face.

  Human and Krimling alike watched on in silent stillness as the two beasts clashed again. Immediately the chain began to retract, the anchor hooking the Kumori’s blocking arm to drag it away; the Kumori dug several hands into the mud, firmly rooting itself in place. With a click of her tongue, the falling Mimic shifted away the anchor and raised her leg instead, extending it into the form of a flagpole, just like the one she’d used before against the Humans.

  The pole was swung down with a devastating axe kick; this time, the Kumori raised two arms in defense, and after the pole crashed against them, it threw them upward with a furious sob, throwing the pole off to the side. With a roar of its many discordant voices, the Kumori began a forward charge.

  Her daggers at the ready, Jacqueline watched the clash of titans with bated breath. To a degree, she wasn’t even sure why she bothered readying her weapons; she could do nothing against either of those beasts, or against the horde of Krimling that had assembled.

  Forming a wide ring of flesh around the area, hundreds of the despicable creatures were assembled in haphazard rows, some stacked atop each other, some standing atop buildings and pillars. The beasts were unusually still, simply watching the battle unfold.

  Perhaps they were content to watch their meals kill each other?

  Jacqueline gasped. The Kumori, having leapt into the air toward the Mimic, clapped two of its skeletal palms together, aiming to crush the Mimic; rather than get crushed, she condensed her body into her head and transformed into a bird, which shot up into the sky.

  What caused Jacqueline to gasp was not the harsh, echoing sound of the Kumori’s clap, but a realization—she had given up. Even though she’d fought so hard, even though Loid had risked his life to come fight with her, even though Jackie was waiting for them to return, she’d given up any hope of making it out alive.

  Was she content with that? After everything she’d lived through, could she really just admit that this was too much for her, that these monsters’ strengths were beyond her league, and proceed to lay down and die?

  Could she really give up on ever seeing Jackie again? Could she really give up on her promise to Roche?

  She grit her teeth, forcing a smile through the pain that reverberated throughout her entire body. After all,

  Jacqueline: “I’m not the kinda girl that gives a damn what’s impossible.”

  Loid gave her a curious glance as she voiced those words, but she didn’t notice; her sharply-narrowed eyes were focused on the monsters surrounding them.

  In her apathy, she’d glossed over just how odd the Krimling’s behavior was. Rather than charging into the fight, they waited patiently for the combatants to kill each other. Did they fear the Mimic and Kumori? Did they take pleasure in watching the spectacle?

  Whatever the reason, this behavior could be used to their advantage; so long as the Mimic and Kumori continued fighting, the Krimling wouldn’t close in. That said, the Krimling wouldn’t sit by idly if Jacqueline and Loid tried to break through their entrapment, and the two had no chance of overpowering their sheer numbers—or escaping without being followed.

  With a few quick glances, she confirmed that the ring of Krimling had a consistent thickness—all except for one spot, that was. Several ruined buildings stood along one edge of the ring, right beside where the Mimic and Kumori were currently fighting. A number of Krimling stood atop the roofs of the closest buildings, but only a few stood guard in the alley between them. Rather, it was more accurate to say that most of the ones that had assembled there were fleeing to other parts of the ring, distancing themselves form the larger monsters.

  Only the two dueling titans could break through the defenses of the Krimling. Once they escaped the entrapment, only the titans could hold the waves of Krimling back. And, once they finally escaped the complex, only the titans could hold the Krimling’s attention.

  Their only hope was to take advantage of the brute strength of their hunters. The moment one of them died, the Krimling would surge in and overwhelm the wounded survivor along with the two Humans. The condition for their survival was to keep the titans locked in a stalemate until they escaped.

  Jacqueline took in a deep breath, realizing she’d forgotten to breathe. Her smile widened despite herself—not the forced smile from before, but one she could not contain as she faced the challenge ahead. She felt invigorated, and though she was surprised to find Loid staring at her when she turned, she wasted no time in whispering a ludicrous plan to him.

  Across from them, the Kumori spat out insults and curses as it stared up at the sky, grinding its bony fingers together. “Stupid! Worthless! Shitty coward! I try to hunt and you stop me, I try to eat and you stop me, and you just run away, run away, run away, run run run run run! Come back down! Come back! Come back, come back, COME BA—“

  Its voices rose in roar, but they cut off as the shadow above it darkened, expanding in size as it rocketed down towards the earth. The Kumori got its wish, but the Mimic returned in the form of a wrecking ball.

  The Kumori’s limbs snapped into position instantaneously, four bracing against the ground around it while the other four rose to meet the falling object. The titanic impact split the earth beneath the Kumori, the roar of the shockwave deafening everything nearby. The mud eroded into a small crater with the Kumori at its center, the walls of the nearby ruins shattering. Krimling cried out as dozens of them tumbled into the battlefield.

  Its lower arms were stretched out almost horizontally, its upper arms left shaking as they were practically folded in half. Even the hands and feet of the child at its core braced against the ground. With trickles of blood leaking from its forehead and ears, the Kumori began to slowly rise, lifting the metal ball over its head. Its many voices grew in a choir of bloodcurdling screams as it reared its arms back, then flung the metal sphere over its head.

  The sphere let out a dull ring as it struck the ground, crushing the unfortunate fallen Krimling beneath it. It rolled straight into one of the ruined buildings, crashing against what remained of its front wall.

  The many voices of the Kumori seemed to pant as it staggered out of the crater, skittering after the wrecking ball with a vicious glare. It rose several skeletal arms, preparing to pummel the defenseless orb—

  The creature came to a stop, suddenly snapping one of its arms to the side. Its skeletal fingers closed around the metal haft of a javelin, stopping it a mere foot away from its core. Its voices growled, and it tossed the javelin into the ground in frustration, its body turning towards the source—to Loid, his arm outstretched.

  A bony hand slammed into the mud, the Kumori lurching one step towards the Human. It was only as it heard the sound of shifting flesh beside it that it realized it had made a critical mistake.

  The Mimic’s body emerged out from the metal sphere, connected to it by an arm. Just as her features took shape, the sphere melted away and rapidly condensed into a large, rectangular object at her side. She swung her arm with incredible intensity as the shape hardened, and what struck the Kumori was a stone column, or perhaps a chimney.

  Two of the Kumori’s arms caught the blow, but the sheer force of the impact sent it skidding backwards. Its supporting arms caught on the remnants of the fallen wall behind it, sending the creature stumbling into the confines of the ruined building.

  Bony fingers clattered against stone as the Kumori rushed to right itself. Above, several dozen Krimling peered down at the creature which had stumbled uncomfortably close to them. In a moment of decisive action, one of them leapt forward, claws outstretched as it took the plunge towards what it saw as a golden opportunity to catch its prey off-guard.

  That single Krimling’s action served as the first link of a great chain, its weight dragging each of the following links down with it. Sparked by their comrade’s bravery, a dozen more Krimling leapt down from the rooftop, soaring toward the Kumori; they were swiftly followed by a dozen more.

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  The Kumori looked up at the rain of vermin with one teary eye dilated, three of its arms clamping down against the ground like a tripod. The remaining five arms stretched out around it, and in the next moment the air became a blur of white and red.

  The brave Krimling that had jumped first surely felt emotions such as joy and pride in its final moments. The punch that reduced its fragile body into a shotgun spray of viscera killed it too quickly for it to realize its mistake; that honor fell to the many others that had jumped after it.

  The Kumori unleashed a barrage of upward punches onto its attackers, each strike precisely snuffing out the life of a single Krimling. Blood, skin, and bone shot above it in a fountain of gore, painting the second wave of attackers red before its fists met them.

  Back in the alley, the Mimic took a step towards the Kumori, her right arm melting back into shape. The left began to deform as well, preparing to strike her distracted opponent—

  Jacqueline: “As if I’d let you!”

  The Mimic turned, eyes widening as she realized Jacqueline had closed the distance between them, charging right into the alley. She swung a dagger downwards, managing to slice into the Mimic’s deformed right arm before she could jump back.

  Hissing, the Mimic turned her full attention to Jacqueline. As her right arm reformed, a nasty gash in its forearm, her left hand became an axe. Jacqueline leapt back to escape a hasty lunge; the axe shifted to place its blade on the opposite side, and the Mimic pushed forward with a second swing.

  Jacqueline leapt back again, but this time the attack clipped her arm. She grit her teeth as blood flew; the Mimic snarled, seemingly satisfied after delivering an equivalent blow to Jacqueline. The twisted grin quickly faded, however, as she saw that Jacqueline was still smiling as well.

  And then, she ducked.

  A short ways behind Jacqueline was Loid, his second javelin in hand. Or, to be precise, it was in hand—he threw it the moment before his partner ducked, leaving the Mimic with only a split-second to react to the incoming projectile. Her face instantly deformed, a heater shield taking its place; the javelin bounced right off its smooth surface, producing a loud clang as the Mimic was sent staggering back.

  As the shield became a face once again, the Mimic’s expression was furious. Jacqueline stuck her tongue out at her, only stoking her anger more. She lunged forward, raising her axe for another attack, when,

  Loid: “On your left!”

  It was Loid who shouted this time. His words were not a distraction, nor a feint—the Kumori had eliminated all the Krimling, and it really was charging the Mimic’s left, a bony fist surging forward to strike her down. With his warning, the Mimic’s body shifted away just before the attack reached her, flowing upward and condensing into her head.

  With the Kumori’s fist beneath it, the Mimic’s flesh bubbled up and stretched out before hardening, becoming an anchor once again and crashing down onto the outstretched arm, pinning it against the ground.

  Its arm now pinned down, the Kumori spared only a brief glance at the two Humans before skittering into the alley and placing three of its hands on the anchor. The child grit its teeth, many voices grumbling from exerted effort as it swung the anchor into the air and over its head.

  The Kumori looked away, and the Mimic was… occupied, caught in the process of being thrown. It was then that Jacqueline and Loid dashed rightward, into the small ruin where the Kumori had just been delivering death to the Krimling. The entire building was painted red, slippery with what remained of the Krimling, but no replacements had come to guard its roof yet.

  Jacqueline ran across the building and to the back, to an empty doorway which lead out into a different alley, one perpendicular to the site where they’d just left the Mimic and Kumori to battle. Though she nearly slipped across the blood in her haste, she caught herself on the doorway and swung outside.

  A cry rang out—an accusatory shriek. Hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with the larger monsters—especially after seeing what the Kumori did to the Krimling that attacked it—the ring of Krimling had stood by idly, allowing Loid and Jacqueline to encroach upon the edge of their entrapment. Perhaps they were confident that the two clashing titans would prevent escape in their stead. It was now, however, that they realized their plan had failed, and their food was escaping.

  Another Krimling cried out, then another, then five more, then a dozen more, then thirty more, then fifty more, then a hundred more. The complex erupted into a roar of shrill shrieks and chattering as a thousand little feet spurred into action all at once.

  As Loid followed Jacqueline out into the alley, he heard the clattering of the Kumori entering the building behind him. Its many voices grumbled in frustration, and then it leapt, flying over the wall and over the alley, landing on the roof of the opposite building.

  As the two broke into a sprint, racing down the alley, the Kumori followed from above, its fingers clattering against the stone of the ruins. They passed an intersection, and the sound of the Kumori’s chase disappeared. Loid glanced back, seeing that the Kumori had grabbed the corner of its current foothold with one arm rather than jump across to the next building.

  That single arm lifted the rest of the Kumori into the air, and its other arms each curved inward, forming a roughly spherical shell around the child at their center, which itself curled into a ball as well. The arm reared back, and then it swung down in a similar motion to delivering a bowling ball. The arm released the ruin at just the right moment and snapped into place with its fellow arms, completing its spherical transformation and allowing the Kumori’s body to barrel down the alley.

  Loid and Jacqueline hopped to either side, pressing their bodies flat against the walls of the adjacent ruins to allow the Kumori to pass between them. It rolled straight through the alley and to the next intersection, where several of its arms sprang outwards and whacked the ground in unison, bouncing the rest of the body up into the air. Its other arms spread out to catch the front walls of the ruins on either side of it as its core body continued past them. It slowed as its arms stretched to their limit, and then the beast threw itself forward, launching back at the Humans like a slingshot.

  The Humans ducked, hoping to avoid the Kumori’s outstretched fists—but they never arrived. Before the creature could reach them, a segment of the ruin wall beside them broke loose from the rest of the building, shooting out into the alley. The Kumori was caught perfectly in the surprise attack, crushed against the opposite wall by the stone assault, its forward momentum brought to a sudden and complete stop.

  The Kumori’s voices cried out as it was suddenly slammed into the wall, its bony arms doing little to cushion its fragile core. Bellowing out a sobbing roar, it shattered the projectile wall with a four-armed thrust, its core collapsing to the ground. The child hacked up blood as its arms flailed in search of the ground. Finding it one after another, they lifted the child out of the mud, allowing it to direct a hateful glare to the inside of the building.

  Its arms carried it into the ruin, and it began an indiscriminate barrage of punches, obliterating the interior in mere seconds. As the chaos unfolded, Loid and Jacqueline took the opportunity to slip by behind it. Upon reaching the next intersection, a glance to the right revealed a wave of Krimling rushing forward; the duo promptly turned left and bolted down the alley, an open area just ahead.

  As they passed the building where the two monsters now fought, the empty windows of the ruin granted them glimpses of the action inside. The Mimic had somehow slipped behind the Kumori and created a wall of iron bars from her hands, stretching from floor to ceiling. Pushing the cell wall forward with all her might, she forced the Kumori back against the opposite wall, attempting to crush it again. Its large hands struggled to stop the bars as it was caught off guard, but several hands pressed against the back wall before it could be crushed.

  The Kumori swiftly turned the tables, forcing the Mimic back with its sheer strength; in return, the Mimic reshaped her arms to be thicker, regaining the upper hand as she augmented her muscles. As the two entered a stalemate, the tiebreaker approached them from behind—the Krimling.

  The two Humans cleared the alley, entering a small, open area behind it, the mouth of a road just ahead of them. Behind them, a single window in the near wall of the ruin provided a view of its inhabitants. As the Mimic stood her ground, Krimling began to leap onto her from behind, clawing and biting.

  As the first sank its teeth into her shin, she let out a shrill shriek, and a metal spike suddenly grew out from her skin, impaling the poor Krimling right through the back of its neck. More spikes erupted out from her, felling each Krimling that leapt for her, but their numbers grew far quicker than her attacks could manage.

  At the same time, the Kumori, too, grew desperate for an escape as the waves of Krimling closed in. Its hands began to claw at the stone wall behind it, and as it became more frantic its clawing became desperate pounding.

  Both of the monsters reached their breaking points simultaneously. For the Mimic, she was forced to give up on crushing the Kumori; the cell wall melted away into a series of metal bars at the ends of her reforming fingers, and she spun in a circle, the bars forming a whirlwind of death as they crashed against the numerous Krimling surrounding her. For the Kumori, it gave up on holding the Mimic back, rearing all of its arms and slamming its fists against the wall, bursting it open. Accompanied by a smattering of stone shrapnel, it stumbled out into the open space at the edge of the complex.

  Of course, Loid and Jacqueline did not simply stand around to watch all this as it happened. As they found a glimpse of the events within the ruin, they also glimpsed the surging mob of Krimling rounding either side of the building, and so they turned to sprint for the road with what little strength they had left, hoping something else would catch the mob’s attention long enough for them to escape.

  Having nearly reached the mouth of the road, they did not turn as they heard the ruin shatter into stone fragments, nor did they stop as those selfsame fragments pelted the mud around them. One of them, however, was unfortunately stopped by force—a chunk of stone shrapnel struck Loid in the shoulder, sending him tumbling into the mud.

  Jacqueline whirled around in alarm as she heard her partner fall. Behind them, the Kumori was tumbling through the mud as well, and as its arms scrambled to lift its body back up, it found itself directly facing the two runaway Humans.

  The beast became eerily still for a moment, simply staring down at Loid as he struggled up to his feet, blood oozing from his shoulder. It seemed to regard him with a strange curiosity. Whatever thoughts lay in its distorted mind, it cast them aside and crept forward. Loid staggered back, but the Kumori surged forward, towering over him as it maintained a distance of just a few feet.

  Loid stole a glance backward at Jacqueline, standing at the mouth of the road with her eyes wide. Her knuckles were pale as she gripped her daggers; there was nothing she could do against the Kumori. Returning his gaze to the beast, he ceased his retreat.

  The Kumori tilted its head at him as he stopped, looming over him. Then, as the cries of several Krimling reminded it of the oncoming mob, it raised an arm, preparing to strike down its prey.

  Its fist swung forward, and Loid held out his javelin in both arms in a feeble attempt to block it. Of course, this did little against the brute strength of the Kumori. Its fist pressed the javelin into his chest as it slammed into his body, lifting his feet off the ground and flinging him backwards with the force of the punch.

  Loid crashed into the mud beside Jacqueline, who swiftly knelt down to him. He let out a shaky gasp, but rather than sucking air in, he was struck by a revolting feeling and belched out a splatter of blood.

  The Kumori looked down at them and began its slow creep forward again. Behind it, the mob of Krimling encroached ever closer. As the beast closed in, it raised two arms over its head—

  And then, a shadow blanketed it.

  The Mimic came crashing down from the sky, a great rectangular shape soldered to her arms. Its metallic casing was smooth and painted, each of its sides bearing empty spaces where windows should be. A hollow, flattened section of the casing bore a metal grill at its front, and four circular openings were carved into the sides.

  It was an object no creature present knew the name or purpose of. Regardless, the Mimic swung down the empty shell of the automobile with meteoric force, crushing the Kumori where it stood. The creature managed to hold back the brunt of the attack with several arms even as it was flattened against the ground, but the Mimic raised the automobile again almost effortlessly, her arms shifted to be so thick and muscular the rest of her body seemed to wither.

  She slammed the automobile down against the Kumori, and again it resisted. Parts of the object crumpled, the Mimic’s blood seeping out of its metal panels, but she lifted it again nonetheless. Over and over she slammed her colossal weapon down into the Kumori, squashing it like a bug. Its voices cried out in pain, sobs mixing with roars.

  Then, the Krimling were upon them. Dozens of the small creatures dove at the two great beasts, the mass of bodies swiftly surrounding them. Seeing these great hunters in such a compromised position, the vile swarm seemed to have all but forgotten the two measly Humans.

  Shrieks cried out as some great attack spelled the end for a band of Krimling. Howls and crashes rang out, but the two Humans, gripping each other’s shoulders as they limped down the road, dared not stop nor look back.