Jake's face went blank as the stared at the five eyed monster. It was a Grim. Grims were a humanoid monster that he had faced twice before. The number of eyes they had determined their strength. Two eyed Grims were small, child sized monsters with too much grey colored skin that hung off them grotesquely. They looked like someone took an adult and replaced the skeleton with that of a child. They were no smarter than an animal but fast and cunning. They normally swarmed in large numbers making them a threat despite being so weak.
Three eyed Grims were the size of an adult human as if you took a two eyed Grim and gave it the proper skeleton. They were faster, stronger, and smarter. Though not quite human intelligence they were definitely more than animal level. Able to use tools and weapons.
But the real threat were the four eyed Grims. Bigger than most adult humans they were faster, stronger, and overall more powerful than your average "gamer" in this region. But what made them really deadly was their ability to use skills, normally magic.
Jake had battled two four eyed Grims in the past. His Rift Jumper ability had come from one of them. The other, a shaman with powerful magical abilities, had escaped. He had faced that shaman a second time just a week before. When battling at the Dimensional Anchor for another town. It was as the name suggested the Anchor that kept a dimensional pocket stable. A pocket identical to the one his town was currently in. It allowed humans to live safely away from the toxic environment that Earth had become and was fueled by power cores farmed by "gamers".
During that battle, he had seen his first five eyed Grim. The very same monster that was now somehow in the sanctum that his town was supposed to be. As terrifying an enemy as a five eyed Grim might have been what really shocked Jake. Was that it spoke English. Though only a few words, it was still unsettling. Even more so because the words it spoke and the way it acted reminded him of someone from his past. Of Killgore, the other player who had killed him once before. That act of PVP triggered the events that resulted in him murdering his friends.
"You can't be here." Jake muttered. It just wasn't possible. The dimensional spaces were safe. No monster could get in. It just wasn't possible. It wasn't possible…. It wasn't…
The Grim snarled pulling back its narrow lipped mouth from jagged teeth. All five eyes locked in on Jake as it charged forward towards him, ignoring everyone else. The naked brute stomped across the street with enough power to crack the asphalt.
"Look out son!" Jake's father stepped forward trying to push his son back as the brute rushed up in a blur. Jake's eyes went wide as he snapped out of his daze.
Darrel was no fighter, just an engineer for an electrical plant. But after his wife's death, he had failed his son as a father in his own mind. Not being strong enough to support him. Nor had he been able to comfort his son after his girlfriend was mauled by a bear in front of him. Darrel didn't know what the monstrous thing was that charged them, but he would not fail his son a third time. But saying that his body trembled. The thing in front of him was a monster. Gritting his teeth he raised his arms up defensively, preparing to fight so his son could escape.
Then he was flying backwards. A figure had appeared out of thin air in front of him and pushed him gently but powerfully backwards. It lifted him off the ground and sent him sailing back to crash surprisingly softly to the ground.
Darrel watched as his son's hand that had just casually tossed him back turned into a fist and launched forward. It met the charging brute's gigantic fist with a bone jarring impact. Bones shattered as Jake drove his fist forward, crumbling the monster's arm all the way to its shoulder. Then with practiced grace, he reared back and kicked the towering giant in the chest so hard it sent them flying across the street to smash through a window.
"Ai, Have Leru get my Dad and Gerri out of here!" Jake shouted as liquid metal erupted from his neck and rose up like a shining flower around his head. It close in and formed a mirror polished full helment. With the sound of ripping fabric, he tore the long sleeve shirt from his chest. Beads of silver formed from the pores on his chest and back while inky black ones formed on his arms. Jake's Dad and Gerri both watched as liquid metal. Some was metallic and shiny other inky black as it spread over his scarred body. Even in the madness, they both noticed the mass of strange scars on his arms and the large patch at the small of his back.
Jumping to his feet Jake's dad started to rush towards him only to find everything suddenly different. He toppled forward falling over the couch in his living room. Beside him, Gerri's worried voice asked if he was ok. Scrambling up he moved towards the door not even bothering to respond. When he opened the door. It opened back into his living room as if opening from his bedroom. He looked back behind him and saw himself standing in the door. His head swam.
"Sorry. But if I let you return he would be angry. Also, you would impede his combat potential." A synthetic female voice spoke up. "You may observe from here. He will be upset but it will facilitate explanations later." The TV flicked on, showing not a movie or news show but Jake and the monster.
**********
The hulking monster emerged from the broken window, its arm dangling like an empty sleeve at its side. With a flick of its shoulder, it whipped out that flailing sleeve of flesh, and the bones mended. Flexing its fingers the thing rushed forward even faster than before. Jake swung only to catch air and several powerful blows struck him in the lower ribs as the Grim ducked under his swing. There was a flash of pale blue light as his armor's shield absorbed the kinetic energy of the blow.
Jake brought both fists down on the shoulders of the monster. Even from the low crouch the thing shrugged off the blows and wadded in. Jake vanished and reappeared in the air intent on dropping down on the monster. Liquid metal violently erupted from his leg, tearing through his pants and merging to form his clawed boots. Before he could crash down foot first the thing reached up and grabbed his leg. Blue light encased Jake as the thing tried to crush his leg before smashing him repeatedly into the asphalt.
Beneath his body, the ground caved in with each blow. A blue flash accompanied the first several blows before it winked out of existence. Jake felt the impact of his body against the shattered ground and groaned as he bounced only to be smashed again.
A sudden burst of flames engulfed them both as Jake's gauntlets erupted. The sudden elemental attack startled the Grim enough that it let go mid swing. Sending Jake to smash into the wall of a nearby building.
"Everyone has been evacuated. Engineer Leru is attempting to open a portal back to Earth. Please stand by." The synthetic female voice of the AI spoke calmly despite the situation.
"Stand by?" Jake growled as he pushed free of the partially caved in wall he was in T posing in. The Grim rushed him again and threw another blatant punch. Jake met it, their fist colliding again. This time even with Jake's gauntlets engaged the arm only crumpled to the elbow.
"Is this thing getting stronger?" Jake wheezed out as he dodged the Grim's counter attack.
"Insufficient data." Was the response.
Growling Jake rushed in even as the Grim's arm healed a second time. His right fist glowed like an ember as he launched a punch with all his might, heedless of how telegraphed it was. Instead of trying to dodge the Grim stepped in and met the attack with his own cross counter. Despite their difference in size, Jake's gauntlets gave him equal reach. His fist smashed into the Grim's face and flames exploded forward in a blast. In turn, the Grim's own fist smashed right into Jake's visor. Cracks spread across it but it kept from shattering completely. Yet the blow rattled his brain.
Jake stumbled back slightly dazed but grinning beneath his smashed mask. The five eyed Grim… was now a headless Grim. Its towering body stumbled around and flailed, not yet aware it was dead.
"You can cancel that portal." Jake's voice was confident.
The headless Grim's corpse stopped flailing around. Jake expected it to fall but instead, it just stood still. Then to Jake's horror, the charred flesh of its neck split open. Bone erupted from the charred stump rapidly growing into a spine, then a skull. Muscle, blood vessels, and then skin rolled over it like a rushing wave. Then five eyes blinked open and the thing pulled back those thin lips in a disgusting grin of triumph.
"That isn't possible." Jake shook his head in disbelief before gritting his teeth. Both gauntlets smoldered before bursting into flames. Jake rushed forward. He dipped low as the Grim swung at him using his left arm to deflect the attack. His right swung out and up right into the Grim's gut. Flames exploded forward adding to the strength of his blow and sent the Grim rocketing forward to blast through the wall of a building. Jake didn't even bother chasing after him but instead, Rift Jumped into the building. Both arms raised and blazing in a huge doubled up fist. He smashed down on the smoldering body of Grim.
Fire exploded from the blow, blowing out the windows of the building and even knocking a number of bricks free. The roof was torn off and a pillar of flame rose thirty feet above the building before it fizzled out. Jake panted as he stood over the charred body.
"Regenerate that." His voice crackled and popped through his broken mask.
The blackened corpse snapped forward, its head smashing into Jake's mask further damaging it. Jake staggered back before a heavy foot kicked him in the chest and sent him blasting through one of the damaged walls. With a hard impact, he hit the ground and rolled.
"Perhaps a strategic retreat is in order?" Ai's voice spoke, calm as always. "According to the report from your previous encounter, it hasn't even used its main weapon."
Jake pushed himself to his hands and knees as some of his shattered mask started dropping away. His health bar was below the halfway point and he realized she was right. The thing had just been playing with him, again.
It stepped out of the smoldering building. Charred flesh falling away to reveal freshly healed skin. Ai was right. He wasn't strong enough. To kill something that healed like that he would need to destroy it completely, all at once.
"I'm not leaving this thing running around MY town." Jake growled and jumped up to charge the monster again. The thing didn't even bother to move, just grinned at him with a smirk of confidence. Jake shoulder slammed into it. Pushing the monster back while reaching out with both hands to grab its right arm. With a sickening sound, he broke the monster's arm just below the elbow. Bone jutted free and he gripped the Grim's broken arm before kicking it in the gut with all his might as he twisted the limb.
Its right arm ripped free from below the elbow as it was sent flying. Jake Rift Jumped right in front of it just as it came to a skidding stop. He flung the arm away. "You were going to blow it off anyways." Jake grabbed the stump of its arm and yelled. "Go on. Use it!"
With a sneer, the Grim complied. Jake could see the long narrow cylinders sliding up its body just beneath its skin before sliding down that left arm. Gun barrels jutted out in a haphazard mess until half a dozen of them emerged from the stump. The monster… laughed. A barking harsh sound.
It stopped when Jake laughed back, a mad cackle as he jabbed the mass of barrels into his own gut. "You killed me once. Can you do it again?"
Jake saw a flash of recognition in those five yes. He didn't know how, but he was sure. This thing was Killgore. The world around them seemed to slow, all outside noise faded away. It was just the two of them. From the brute's arm, Jake heard the muffled sound of firing pins striking. The roar of gunpowder igniting. The shriek of searing steel propelled by super heated gases.
Molten steel erupted from the barrels, tore through the living metal of his armor, and shredded his flesh. Jake watched as his health bar instantly depleted to black and choked out one final defiant phrase. "I win."
Even as the void swallowed him up, he heard the chime of his system.
"Survivor's Fury Activated"