Ikra began pounding Beam with his fists, pushing him back with each hit. Whenever Beam was about to hit Ikra, he would quickly zip away from the attack. The creature would screech in frustration, becoming more erratic each time.
Although Ikra was able to fight Beam, he couldn't find where the creature's flesh was. Every hit he got in felt like he was hitting steel, not Beam. Its body began to deform, denting in the areas he hit.
I need to end this
Ikra's power was strong, but it also quickly tired him out. He was sure that Beam was a beast he could deal with, but he was already tired from chasing Warhound. "Hey Wing!" He shouted out, "Can you and Anora make it out while I fight this thing?"
Wing tried pushing the boulder away from Anora, but its massive size and weight prevented him from making any progress. "Can you get your leg out?" Wing asked her, he noticed that she had already created a pool of blood from bleeding out.
She tried to forcefully pull out her leg, "No luck." Acting fast, he got out his knife and tried to cut her leg off, but she stopped him. "I've already lost too much blood, you should just get out of here"
"I already lived a good life, at least by my standards" She started to think about her past, "At least it was definitely better than yours"
Wing nodded his head, "Yup, you definitely lost a lot of blood. You're already showing signs of delusion"
Anora laughed amidst the pain, "Make sure to tell them I went down fighting" She then shooed Wing away "Leave me with my final moments now" Wing got himself up and turned to Ikra, "She's stuck!"
He thought about helping her himself, but he was too occupied dealing with Beam. He dodged as Beam struck a few tentacles at him, "We can't do anything, we have to leave her!" Ikra felt bad for Anora, they had worked together for a lot of missions. But she was a mercenary, she knew that it was part of the job to risk her life.
"No you don't!"
Ryu shouted out as he went to the fight. He looked at Beam, the monstrous serpent like creature that had countless tentacles behind him that tried and swat down Ikra. "I came to help!" He shouted out to Ikra.
"What?!?" Ikra shouted out, "I thought I told you to go out of here?" He was clearly frustrated, but couldn't scold him at the moment. The fight demanded concentration in order for him to stay alive, "We'll talk about this later!"
Ryu sprinted in, getting as much momentum as he could before landing a punch. "Ow ow ow!" He held his hand instinctively, the punch barely did anything. There was no way he could attack Beam from punching its metallic skin.
I need a weak spot
He ran around Beam, watching closely to find a spot where he could effectively attack it. Meanwhile, Pheo finally caught up to him. He saw Wing and Anora, heading to them as soon as he saw one of them was injured.
"Who are you?" Anora pointed her gun at Pheo. Wing slapped her hand down, "It's a kid, what do you think you're doing?" She looked at him pissed, "I wish I shot at the head the last time I saw a kid"
The statement made Wing sigh, "She's showing more signs of blood loss" What he said irritated Anora, prompting her to throw a nearby rock at him.
"The wound" Pheo pointed at it, "I can help you with that" She looked at him with doubt, "Alright, patch it up for me please" She pointed her gun at him, "Don't try anything you'd regret"
Pheo went to her leg, "Can I check what's in your bag?" Anora thought about it before answering, "Sure" Pheo grabbed it and rummaged through her belongings, grabbing anything that seemed useful.
"Can't you be careful with my stuff?" She asked as he watched him throw items away. He got out a waterskin and poured the water on her wound, cleaning it of all the dirt surrounding it. Then he grabbed a handkerchief and used it as a pressure dressing to stop her bleeding.
"I need your belt" Pheo held his hand out to Wing. "What?" He asked, holding his belt tight. "Just give it to me if you want her to live" He told him, "What can a kid do against you two with a belt anyways?" Wing sighed, he unbuckled his belt and tossed it to him.
Pheo caught it and wrapped it tightly on Anora's leg. "You actually know what you're doing, huh?" Anora lowered her gun down. She turned to see Ikra and Ryu still fighting Beam, both of them clearly exhausted. "I don't think I'll be surviving though"
"Don't say that" Pheo told her, "The first step to surviving is having the will to" She laughed at his words, "You're right. I can't believe I needed a kid to remind me"
"Wait, aren't you supposed to be ten years old?" Wing asked him. He's surprised at how calm and rational Pheo reacted. "I'm actually eight" He told him as he continued to treat Anora.
That young?
Wing was observing Pheo the entire time, the skills he displayed were like one of trained professionals. He had thought that Ryu would take a lonely path with the insurmountable talent he had, but as he watched Pheo he saw that someone else would be able to walk that path with him.
THUD!
"Dad!" Ryu shouted out. Ikra was hit by one of Beam's tentacles. Beam quickly sent his tentacles to crush him, but Ryu was barely able to punch them away. "I can't move, Ryu" Ikra told him, "You have to run"
He was spent, exhausted beyond belief. He had been exerting himself the entire time, from chasing Warhound to getting all the way here to fight Beam. After being struck down, he couldn't even move to get himself back up.
"No" Ryu went against his dad's wishes, standing his ground as Beam kept trying to finish off Ikra. "We're getting out of this alive!" He shouted out while punching the tentacles that came his way.
Wing began shooting at Beam, he couldn't let Ryu handle Beam all by himself. "Make sure you protect that idiot!" He shouted out as they both split the creature's attention.
Pheo looked at the situation, if it continued on like it was now they would eventually all end up dead. They were all doing the best they could yet it wasn't enough, what can he do that would make a difference?
Pheo looked at Beam, it was undoubtedly a strong creature yet he didn't feel like it was acting on its own volition. There was something off with Beam, something amiss in the way it acted.
Help...
Pheo heard a faint voice cry out. He looked around, no one was calling out for help nor did they react to the voice. It confused him, the voice sounded so close by.
Over here...
This time he heard where it was coming from, he turned straight towards Beam. The creature was still busy trying to deal with Ryu and Wing.
Please...
Kill me...
His eyes widened, was Beam speaking to him? If so, how? The voice sounded desperate, as if it was pleading for him to help. It made him feel pity, he felt compelled to help Beam no matter what.
"Hey" Pheo called for Anora, "Can I use that?" He pointed at the gun. Anora looked at him shocked, "Why does a kid your age need a gun?" She looked hesitant, he could tell from her eyes that she wasn't planning to hand it to him anytime soon.
He pressed her wound, causing her to use both of her arms to cover it. Pheo then quickly grabbed the gun and ran away, "Sorry!" Anora was about to shout at him but stopped, "Ah, what the hell, I'm going to die anyways"
He ran far from everyone else and began shooting at Beam, "Come here buddy!" Beam looked at him, noticing that out of the three of them, he was the weakest. He jerked towards his direction, then lunged.
"Pheo, what are you doing?!?" Ryu shouted out, he was sprinting towards him to help but he got stopped by Wing. "Stop!" He grabbed Ryu, but he kept flailing.
"Come on, he needs our help!" Ryu told him, trying to pry his arms away. "Ryu, why do you think he's getting Beam's attention?" He asked, "He's trying to save you!"
"What?" Ryu looked at Wing, "But he can't handle that monster alone" He knew that Pheo was smarter than him, but not stronger. He started to think, his eyes opening wider at the realization. "Is he sacrificing himself?"
Wing nodded, "We came here to save them, but we ended up being saved instead" He felt bad about the situation, but desperate times call for desperate measures. "Come on, lets not waste his sacrifice"
Wing went to Ikra, "Can you walk?" Ikra tried to get himself up, but failed. "I probably can if you help me" He helped him up, slowly making him adjust to walking. As they went back, Ryu felt awful, like he was betraying Pheo.
They passed by Anora, "Hang in there, we'll call for them to come get you as soon as we get back up" Wing told her, he was glad that someone who knew first aid came by to help. He looked to Ryu, he was following them but his face was full of regret.
If only there was another way
They started walking back to the staircase with Ikra leading the way. Though they ended up being able to go back, they all had a bitter taste in their mouths.
Pheo ran around the caverns as Beam chased him down. Using the time he had spent down there, he was able to navigate through the terrain easily. Beam was already beaten up from multiple fights, he just had to think of a way to deal the finishing blow.
He was still looking for a way to defeat Beam. There was one piece to the puzzle that confused him, a factor that made Beam's existence an anomaly. According to all that he had learnt, Beam shouldn't be alive.
Beam was missing crucial parts of the body that would be needed to survive. Not only that, but his skin was deformed from the attacks, they weren't cut or wounded. In the first place, where would they get enough food to feed a creature of that size?
Kill me...
Pheo heard the voice again, he had been the entire chase. He doesn't know how or why, but only he can hear Beam's cries for death. "If you want to die that badly then stop trying to kill me!" He shouted out at Beam.
He tripped from the small debris scattered on the ground. Beam took advantage of this and slapped Pheo with a tentacle. He went flying, soaring through the long pathway and crashing at the end of it.
There was a sickening crunch of his bones as he landed. Blood spilled from his mouth, his bones twisted and turned. The pain could be felt everywhere at once. It was sharp and blinding, then quickly drowned under the shock.
His ears rang, the world felt far away as if he was submerged underwater. Pheo tried to focus his vision on Beam, but it slowly darkened, spinning into blackness. Slowly succumbing to the fact that he was going to die, he tried to at least complain to himself about the weight pressing into his chest but he wasn't even able to speak.
As Beam made his way to Pheo, all he could think of was the torment he had gone through. Funnily enough, he was still able to think rationally due to the constant abuse he had suffered from his father.
This world was so horrible. Everyday was full of suffering, each day a different way to torture me. I'm glad that now, I can finally be released from this place.
He closed his eyes, death was surprisingly easy for him to accept. The time he had spent was so short, yet he felt that he had lived way more than he should've. Maybe in the afterlife he could find peace from the violence he had been through.