Chapter Five
[AUGH]
CRASH!
Luka hit a mountain side, landing in a crater of his own making. He winced as he slowly peeled himself off of the rocky surface before locking his shoulder back into place. "Euugh…" He groaned, stretching slightly before looking down where he once was, the plains with Mari and…. Whatever that thing was. No time to ask questions though, as Luka began to conjure up wings of his blue cinders. With a single movement, he propelled off the cliffside, burning through air as he travelled back down.
"Agh!" Mari bit her tongue as the absolute goliath of a foe slammed its elbow into her side, breaking its own arm to grip the back of her head and pull it straight back down into its knee. Mari recoiled almost immediately from the burning hot sensation of pain, only for it to clock her in the face and send her flying into a tree. Almost immediately, a ball of azure flame crashed in front of the cracking beast, falling away to reveal Luka.
"HATE!!"
The beast exclaimed with a roar, immediately rushing towards the draconic man as it swung a large claw at him. Luka retaliated by conjuring a hand of flames, pushing the claw aside and swinging at its face and sending it stumbling with a roar. Luka turned and dashed towards Mari, pulling her up. "You alright?"
"Yeah.." She coughed, regaining her breath. "I think I got a few things understood about this… thing. Its name is Samuel, and judging by how it looks, I'd go the extra mile to say that it's Samuel Gravesly."
Luka blinked, staring for a moment, as if waiting for an explanation. Mari stared back before sighing. "Gravesly? As in Mr. Gravesly? The Gravesly Siblings?"
"Not ringing any bells…" He slowly shook his head, before looking back at Samuel as he slowly got up.
"Look, I'll just tell you later, let's send this thing outta here.." Mari replied, biting her fingers before digging them into the ground. Luka just nodded, not questioning what she was doing as he went to hold off Samuel.
"GRAHH!!!"
He exclaimed, his voice laced with hatred as he began to charge at Luka. The ground rumbled with each heavy footstep, the floor burning under him as he shoulder slammed into Luka, driving him back with each step he took.
"Ghhk!-" Luka coughed, his ribs fracturing from sheer impact alone as he was forced to step back to keep his balance. In retaliation, Luka engulfed his entire form in the blue flames he made, two large pyrokinetic hands protruding from his back starting to push back against Samuel, though making very little difference. Suddenly, the floor ruptured open, finger bones piercing through and bending itself around to pierce Samuel through the torso, raising him into the air. With a tugging force, the bones ripped Samuel in half from the waist before sending him crashing back down into the ground.
Luka looked back at Mari in confusion, who was pulling her fingers out of the ground and retracting bone into her fingers. She noticed Luka's stare and smirked. "What? Darren told you I was biokinetic…"
"Uh, yeah.. Just.. didn't know that it could do stuff like that…" He replied, eliciting a laugh from Mari.
"Yeah, just… what's this guy doing?" Mari looked past Luka and at Samuel, causing Luka to also turn back. Samuel was pulling himself back together, crawling over to his legs and reattaching himself at the waist. The process was surprisingly swift, able to stand back up almost instantly. A low hum was heard as the cracks along Samuel's body began to pulsate, his jaw suddenly unhinged, energy coalescing into a black and red ball. Just pure, unadulterated… Animosity.
Luka's eyes widened once he realised what was happening. Without second thought, he dashed his way into Mari's direction, shielding her from the behemoth. He didn't even have the moment to look away from her before taking the full brunt of the attack, a massive beam made purely of the hatred, the Animosity, that fueled Samuel. It burned across Luka's body, charring every single piece of him. He couldn't even scream, his vocal cords burned up. There was still one person who could though.
"LUKA!"
Mari shrieked, pulling Luka aside once the beam had dissipated. "LUKA! YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!" Her eyes pricked with tears, shaking him. She placed her hands over his burnt apart chest, rebuilding new muscle and skin, though no response came still. With nowhere else to look, she turned to Samuel with hatred greater than his.
"You… YOU BASTARD!" She screamed, only for Samuel to roar in return, beginning another charge towards Mari, however, Mari did not move, she held her ground. Slowly, she held her hand out, making contact with Samuel's chest the moment he came close. Her palm burnt up and shrivelled, but Samuel suffered worse effects, slowing to a halt as his colours dimmed. Mari was draining his Life Force, and just for a moment, it appeared like a pulse of colour shimmered around her.
"Go back to whatever fucking pits of Hell you crawled out of…" She muttered with disdain, releasing the stored Life Force in an instant, causing Samuel's form to explode instantly, launched through a tear caused by the release. She stared where Samuel once was… before turning to Luka and lifting him up in her arms. Fishing through her pockets, she searched for her doorknob, pulling it out and jabbing it into the air and pulling it open.
Darren was at the workbench with Isaac, looking over a new project. The two were fully engrossed in their task, before the shimmering sound of a door opening cut through the air. Darren was the first to turn, only to find an unconscious Luka in Mari's arms. "Holy hell- What happened?!"
In an instant, Darren joined Mari at her side, looking over at Luka as they both rested him on the couch. Mari looked over at Darren, her expression tired. "A Gravesly happened…"
"What? You two fought one of them?! But Outpost 12 is supposed to be sa-" Darren was cut off by Mari's annoyed tone.
"SUPPOSED to! I know, what I don't know is WHY one of those freakshows turned up!" She exclaimed looking over Darren, who had fished out what seemed to be a looking glass out of his pocket, holding it over his view of Luka.
"Don't ask me… I can't predict them.." He muttered, before analysing Luka with the looking glass. "He's not dead, which is good… but he's got a dangerously high amount of Animosity in him… surprised he hasn't exploded, not much we can do except wait for it to simmer down."
He sighed before looking at Mari, sensing her unease. With an easygoing smile, he nudged her arm. "C'mere, I'll show you what Isaac and I have been workin' on."
Mari slowly nodded, taking a final glance of Luka before following Darren to the workbench.
[End of Chapter]