Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 113: When You Fail

The bug like creature hovered, moving like a blur back and forth. The way to the truck was blocked. Looking at the bug man that was in front of them, Kat and Laz both felt their spines growing cold. Laz also knew that if he figured out what had happened to Jon, there was no way Kat didn't. Looking over at her briefly, he saw her angry face fighting off the tears as she tried to lock down the bug man's position so she could attack it. He could already see her body crouching down and assuming a fighting stance.

Looking at blurred images that the creature was making along with it's green armored body and death dealing arm blades, Laz didn't feel as though this was a fight they could win.

He couldn't help but laugh.

How did it always come to this?

Would she bring him back again?

He found that when he thought about it, he wasn't really afraid. Especially because he knew she would be watching.

The red light that was blazing out of his eyes began to spread, causing his entire body to light up. The dark hue of the light was strong enough to light up the entire street as the black flames flared to life on his hands.

He was going to go all out. Without the gun or any other way to fight back, this was all he could think of.

He wasn't going to be stupid though.

*When you have the chance, get back to the truck. I will follow you once your safe,* Laz sent out to Kat.

*You want me to run? This thing killed my dad! I'm going to fucking end it...* Kat snarled back.

*If your dad died, how much of a chance do we have? You want to die too? Trust me, it's fucking painful.* It might have been harsh, but it was the only thing Laz could come up with just then. He knew how it felt to have the all the blood leave you while a massive hole in your stomach was exposed to the outside world. Besides pain and the shock that comes with it, numbing you, all you feel is the endless, mind breaking cold. He didn't want her to go through that.

*So you want to do this on your own?* Kat shot back, as the bug man seemed to slow down.

"You two... your like me..." The creature spoke with a weird, raspy, nail on chalk board kind of voice, cause both Laz and Kat to freeze in their tracks.

"Holy..."

"Mother..."

'This thing can talk?' They both thought when words failed them.

"Become my followers and you will live. Resist, and you will die," the bug man offered.

"W what? Who are you?" Kat managed to say.

"Like you. I'm human. I was human. Now... I am them. Each and everyone one of them is me and I am them," The creature move it's arm in a way to indicate the various people that had caught up. They formed a half circle around them but didn't get any closer.

"Some are dead, some chose life. But they are all humans. And they all obey me. For you though, you will still be you if you follow me," the bug man offered..

"And what the hell is this thing?" Kat asked, pointing at the monster that was in front of her.

"I grew it. It is my masterpiece. I will have more soon. Many more..." Although Laz wasn't sure, he felt like the creature might be laughing.

*If these are all puppets that are being controlled...* Kat started out.

*Then where is the puppet master?* Laz finished.

Both couldn't help but look around, but nothing stuck out. All they saw were the lifeless eyes of the controlled staring back at them.

"I'm not here. My main body is far away. And yet, I am everywhere all at once..." The creature continued laughing...

Despite their quick conversation, Laz had kept his power going. He got the feeling that the only reason it had even bothered to talk to them was because of him. He got the feeling that the puppet master felt fear towards his black fire.

*Stick with the plan. Get ready,* Laz communicated. They knew that there was no way they would be unharmed if they followed this beast. And Jon's body was probably still laying around somewhere in the bitter cold, freezing.

Kat and Laz both got into position to run for it. The creature figured out the talks had failed.

"Pity, but even dead, you will still be of use. I can turn you into more reapers.." They quickly figured out how this thing was grown.

"Go!" Laz yelled as he was about to make a run for it.

"Shit!" Kat, who had been paying attention to their surroundings didn't move forward, but instead jumped at Laz. The bronze colored light from her hardened bronze body lit up, meshing with the blood red light Laz was giving off. She tackled him to the ground before he could stop her.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

BOOM.

Several shots rang out, followed by what sounded like a cannon going off. With Kat on top of him, Laz was barely able to look over and see that the puppet officers had pulled out their guns and fired. One of them was even using a shot gun.

Ting, Ting, Ting.

A couple bullets hit Kat's body, but didn't do any damage. She had protected him. The creature then disappeared, reappearing right above them as it brought it's blade like arms down towards Kat's exposed back.

"FUCK OFF!" Laz screamed as he brought his fist up and let loose a huge stream of fire at the bug. Despite being caught off guard, the bug creature dodged quickly as the fire only managed to brush past the side of it. Despite touching very little of it, several parts of it's armor like green body started melting like warm butter.

Now Laz knew the fire was super effective. The bug sped away quickly, backing off just a bit to find another opening. More shots rang out as they laid there while Kat tried her best to cover him.

"We need to make a run for it," Laz said after observing the situation.

"How? I move and you're dead."

Laz had no answers, he just knew staying like this wasn't going to work. The creature came in again for another attack and was once again repelled by Laz's black fire. Having no other alternative, Laz suggest the first thing that came to mind.

"Crawl, you crawl and I will slide. We have to get to the truck or at least some sort of cover. Let's go." With that, Laz started using his feet and legs to push himself towards the truck while Kat used an army crawl to cover as much of him as possible. Although the movement was slow, they made some progress. If it was one person shooting at him, Laz felt like he might be able to dodge it. But with several shooters and a shot gun added in, he knew there was no way for that to happen.

"He he he he... you call me a bug, yet you are crawling on the ground like real insects. So enjoyable," the bug man taunted as it continued to hover around and look for an opening.

Just as they reached the truck, they quickly crawled around to the driver's side and hid behind the bed as their attackers started to move closer. Having no choice, they separated briefly as Laz struggled to open the door. Several shots rang out at this moment, hitting the truck and shattering the windows. Laz ducked down to avoid it while Kat tried covering him again.

Just as the latest round of gun fired died off, Kat backed off so Laz could open the door. In the split second Laz turned away to open it, he heard a whooshing sound. As he turned back, he saw Kat had disappeared while there was a bronze glow moving away in the distance. As he watched, the glow started going upwards before it suddenly came crashing back down to the ground.

"KKKAAAAATTTTTT!!!!"

Laz ran as fast as he could, not caring if he got shot. Quickly coming upon her, he saw he lying on the ground as she was bleeding out. Two large knife wounds had penetrated her hardened body causing the blood to come gushing out as the bronze light got fainter and fainter.

Laz quickly knelled down next to her and took her in his arms. She was barely able to open her eyes and look up at him.

"Laz... Laz. ou nnee eed oo unn. Ooo." Kat coughed out blood as she tried to speak, but Laz didn't listen and just held her tightly. Seeing that he wasn't listening, she spoke one more time.

"Iss mmee... nd don let em use ma ooddy..." She just barely managed to get out. This time, Laz did as she ask and carefully brought her head up to his, kissing her gently but deeply. He held her for a moment like that till he felt her body go limp. As he brought her head away from his, he could just barely make out a smile on her face while her eyes had closed.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH," Laz screamed out as his heat started beating even faster and deeper, making a sound like a drum beat that seemed to shake the ground around him. The red light surrounding him grew even more intense, exploding out like a star going supernova.

As all the breath left his body, his cry finally died. On the inside, his body was raging, but on the outside, he suddenly went cold and calm.

He kissed Kat one last time on the forehead before laying her down. With the slightest of movements he waved his hand, allowing the black fire to cover her body. He stood silently for a few moments as everything that she was melted away in front of him.

"I can't do this..." Laz mumbled. Thoughts of Kat raced through his head.

The times they trained together.

The times she cooked for him.

And the time that he held her warm, naked body in his arms.

Looking at the approaching puppets, he noticed the bug was hovering around as well. All of them were blocking the way to the truck. But he didn't care.

He was going to kill them all. Even if it killed him.

Just as Laz took a step forward, a burst of golden energy escape out from where Kat had almost completely vanished. It shot forward like an arrow, hitting him right in the stomach before circulating throughout his body.

It was warm, very warm.

Closing his eyes, Laz felt like she was hugging him one last time. The energy mixed with his own and freely changed. The final wall that had stopped him burst as the final piece fell into place.

His energy was fully compressed as Laz enter the condensation stage.

A wave of red energy escaped, practically warping the air as it spread out like a storm.

Looking at his enemies, Laz only had one thought.

KILL.