The monster was catching up to us rapidly… we had to hurry up and decide what to do.
"Urh we need to pull over!" Anatoly exclaimed as he swerved off the road and slowed down.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" I screamed.
As we came to a stop he pulled the parking break and hopped out of the car.
"If that thing breaks this, then I don't know how we'll get back to Yuri."
I was left a little stunned by his response.
"O-oh yeah that…"
"WAIT WHAT?" I yelled.
"So?? Were just going to punch it then?" I said sarcastically.
"That's a good idea!" He pointed as he walked to the back of the car.
I face palmed… there's no way. I slowly pulled my hand down and looked through my fingers. I guess he does look pretty similar to Yuri… maybe a little taller, stronger… handso-
I quickly turned around and got out of the car.
"not the time" I mumbled as I slapped myself.
"You alright?"
I turned around and was about to respond before noticing the monster. It had slowed down quite a bit… what was it doing?
As Anatoly's arm and legs slowly transformed, I kept having this weird feeling go over me… something about this thing didn't feel right.
"You know what this is?" I asked him as I got behind the car.
"Do you not?" He sounded confused.
I didn't really know how to respond. Was I suppose to? Why do I feel like I still can't be that truthful with him… luckily I wouldn't need to answer him right now. The monster was here.
Anatoly walked forward, and they both stared at each other. They slowly started walking in a circle, Anatoly keeping an eye on it. The monster had no interest in me, or just wasn't worried about me.
Even it thinks I'm pathetic…
Why is it acting so… weird? It's acting so different compared to the one I saw before. Not to mention, while it shares similarities, it looks different. Stronger, smarter, more agile, and… the most worrying, human like.
Something about it was sending shivers down my spine… its face. It hadn't looked up once since noticing us. Does its face also look human like? I'm not sure, but I couldn't shake the feeling.
"Time to put you out of your misery…" Anatoly said while looking at his weapon, which was his arm.
The monster stopped, and so did Anatoly. His foot flinched as if he was about to bolt forward, but before he could, the monster… started talking.
"T-time… to put… y-you in… misery." The monsters voice was rasping as it's head twitched, but we understood what it said.
It didn't just copy what he said, it changed what he said.
The monster started lifting its head, but I couldn't see the details from where I was standing, as it was in front of me. Anatoly's face though told me everything. He'd never seen anything like it… but what was he seeing??
"H-how?" Anatoly's arm slowly started flickering around. As if the alien within him had the exact same reaction.
"What's going on?" I asked.
What was even happening? Was there going to be a fight or what?
The monster bolted forward taking advantage of Anatoly being stunned, and he went flying back. I spoke too soon.
"NOOOO!" I screamed as I tried to catch up, but it was too fast.
In the distance I could see what looked like Anatoly flying into the air, and falling back down. I could see an explosion of dirt and dust fly up from his impact.
"No, no, no!" I repeated as I kept running, a tear flowing by.
As I got closer, I could finally see Anatoly exchanging blows. This thing was much stronger than the one Yuri killed. It was also much more strategic. If the monster I faced was like this, I would have never left a scratch on it, let alone still be alive for that matter.
I slowed down… what was I even going to do if I ran over there. I'd just get in Anatoly's way. I'd just cause more problems. I'd just-
My eyes started fizzling. The exact same thing that happened when I lost control and beat the guard to death. I couldn't lose control now, especially since I don't know what would happen to Anatoly if I did.
I slapped myself across the face, "Snap out of it!"
Who knows, it may not be me who needs to snap out of it. I still haven't ruled out the alien being the one who controlled me.
A giant roar irrupted as someone was just smashed into the ground. I almost lost my footing because of the shock wave. I covered my face as dust flew by.
Out of the dust came the monster bolting towards me, and in this moment I could tell it was after me all along. It never cared about Anatoly, it just needed to get rid of him… he was the only threat.
I couldn't think about Anatoly right now though, he'll probably- hopefully, heal. I need to help myself right now.
I ran as fast as I could back to the car and tried to start it, but it wasn't budging.
"Why's it-"
I forgot. There were no keys in it… meaning I had no way of starting it.
I jumped out of the car and started running. My legs were taking forever to transform… even though I think they were fully healed, something was stopping them.
"Come on you stupid legs!" I punched my leg.
I had a head start since they're fight dragged them pretty far away, but it was gaining distance. At this rate, if my legs don't transform, I'll die.
I could tell they weren't going to… I could still feel the pain of my feet smashing into the ground at higher than normal speeds. My ankles and heels were burning. My chest was burning. I was-
I tripped over something and came crashing down. It was over.
Dust flew into the air and my transformation immediately reverted back as I scrapped my knees.
I rolled over groaning in pain to see the monster slow down and start walking up to me.
It had a slight hunch, but didn't try to walk on all fours like the other one. Its nails were almost human like, but extremely sharp. Its limbs were very skinny, I could almost see the bones. I could see one of its arms slowly transforming, into a blade similar to the one Anatoly's arm looked like. It was imitating him.
As it got closer to me, I could finally see the monster's face… and now understood Anatoly's reaction.
It's face was blurred, just like ours.