And this was when Nathan realized that this being in front of him was a monster.
One that couldn't be tamed, by him or anyone.
With a defeated sigh, Nathan raised both hands in surrender.
"Enough, we lost. Do as you please."
He realized that Grey had gone easy on them and that trying to be forceful wouldn't do them any good.
He needed everyone to be in good form to deal with any threat they encountered and couldn't risk injuries. Besides if Grey wanted to kill himself it was none of their business.
Grey frowned, ticked off by Nathan's surrender, but nodded understandably. He was enjoying the exchange, yet Nathan had to go ahead and end it.
Grey had wanted the brawl to last longer, to fight until he lost all his energy, but it seemed it was too much to ask.
Not everyone was a battle junkie like him, and he shouldn't expect others to be the same.
No one in their right mind should be like Grey, who seemed to enjoy the thrill.
He was an anomaly, who seemed to be born for this, whereas these guys were just ordinary workers trying to survive. Some had chosen to adapt, others were unwilling to accept their new reality, and some were cowards who hid away from a fight.
Grey turned towards his former boss, who stepped backward, startled by the sudden gaze that fell on him.
"You can stop what you're doing now," Grey said, and Michael narrowed his eyes, wondering what he was talking about. "Like your leader said, it's enough."
Cold sweat formed on Michael's forehead as he swiftly made the fire bullet he had been charging behind his back—since the beginning of the fight—vanish.
He wasn't sure his regular bullet would do any damage to Grey, so he decided to power it up, away from sight, waiting for the right time to use it if the situation called for it. Not that he was willing to jump into a fight; he knew his limits. A smart decision, as Grey was scarier than he had initially thought.
It was unsettling to think Grey was aware of what he was doing, even if he wasn't actively engaged in the fight.
"What a scary perception," Michael thought, shaking his head.
He wasn't the only one shaken by Grey's display of strength; everyone watching was filled with fear and uncertainty. Wendy and Amy could only watch the scene unravel with a mixture of shock, fear, and confusion.
Wendy was even more shaken, as this was the first time she had seen Grey fight. Grey didn't look like the work-driven and shy person she had always known.
This Grey was scary and colder, which made her wonder where the frail guy she always wanted to take care of had disappeared to.
Grey turned and began to walk away like he had initially wanted to, heading toward the elevator, Apollo following him.
"Wait!...stop there, bastard," Pius grunted as he stood, but Nathan stopped.
"Stop, If he wants to die so bad let him."
Wendy, watching, couldn't help but perceive how lonely Grey seemed, and this suddenly reminded her of someone.
"Wait... Grey," she yelled as he entered the elevator
"I told you I'm not staying," he turned and said coldly.
"I know that. It's just... I'm just wondering..."
Wendy didn't know whether she should ask this question, but she decided to as she was quite concerned.
"Where... where's Jace?"
Grey's face twitched on hearing the name of his friend, and he looked downward, exhaling before raising his head and looking Wendy straight in the eye.
"He turned into a zombie."
Wendy covered her mouth in disbelief, tears dropping from her eyes. Though the two weren't close, Jace's constant attempts to hit on her had always made her laugh, bringing some familiarity.
The elevator doors began to close, but just before they fully shut, Grey uttered, his voice barely audible but enough for Wendy to hear,
"And I killed him."
*****
Atop the office building, a grotesque cocoon made of pulsating, semi-transparent slime loomed ominously. Its surface shimmered with a sickly, iridescent sheen, the consistency of thick mucus, stretching and contracting as if alive.
If one looked closely into its translucent depths, one would witness a blood-red oval shape nestled within, eerily pulsating in rhythm like a beating heart.
Inside this grotesque cocoon, something stirred—a dark silhouette, vaguely resembling a giant fetus, writhing and shifting, as though eager to emerge from its slimy prison.
Then, a cockatrice descended from the sky, its leathery wings flapping with a heavy thud as it landed atop the cocoon.
The creature's serpentine eyes gleamed with a mix of curiosity and hunger as it tilted its head, inspecting the quivering mass beneath its taloned feet.
It extended its sharp, beak-like snout, cautiously prodding the cocoon.
The slime recoiled slightly at the touch, but the cockatrice was undeterred. Driven by its primal instincts, it tore a chunk from the surface with a swift snap of its jaws, the gelatinous flesh parting easily under its sharp teeth.
As the cockatrice swallowed the morsel, a surge of vitality coursed through its body. The taste was unlike anything it had ever experienced—rich, potent, and strangely invigorating.
A thrill of satisfaction ran through the beast as it realized the cocoon held more than just a meal; it was a source of raw energy.
It seemed the cocoon had a strengthening effect, which prompted the cockatrice to consume more.
It moved closer and munched even more boldly, taking a mouthful bite and raising its head high to swallow.
But then, after taking in one massive chunk, the cocoon reacted, and before it could swallow, a branch shot out and wrapped itself around the cockatrice's throat.
The cockatrice thrashed violently, its throat constricted by the vine that had lashed out with lightning speed.
Its wings flared wide, beating the air in a desperate attempt to break free, while its venomous stingers jabbed and lashed at the ensnaring tendrils.
But for every vine it tore, more emerged from the cocoon, weaving together in a relentless, serpentine embrace that quickly bound the creature's limbs and wings, immobilizing it completely.
The vines tightened their grip, coiling around the cockatrice's entire body until it was utterly helpless, unable to move even an inch. Then, as if the vines themselves were alive, they began to pulse, releasing a sickly green gas that seeped into the cockatrice's scales.
The gas hissed as it made contact, rapidly corroding the once-mighty beast's flesh, turning its tough, armored hide into a bubbling, oozing slurry.
The cockatrice let out a final, strangled cry as its form liquefied, the acidic gas dissolving it into a gelatinous mush that the vines eagerly absorbed, draining every last drop of energy from the vanquished creature.
This was now a world where the strong eat the weak. Every monster sought evolution through consumption, and one was about to be born.
The fetus inside began thudding even louder, and there was more movement inside, like limbs poking at the edges of the silky envelope.
The vine started to lose its life, its energy-draining, as all its vitality was sucked out, and in a few minutes, nothing was left. The cocoon had dried up completely.
Then an insect-like arm suddenly pierced out of the cocoon, followed by a head with two bulging eyes and antennas. Its entire body tore out of the cocoon, and with a loud grating voice, the creature screeched, as if announcing its birth. Fully free, its insect body creaked as it steadied itself.
Its height reached seven feet, and its body was covered in scales akin to the [Iron Carapace] Grey used.
A new life form was born, and it was hungry, so it instinctively turned towards the shell it came out of and unceremoniously consumed it.
But the shell wasn't enough.
The dead vines lacked the energy needed to sate its hunger, so acting on instinct, it activated its sensor, scanning its environment for every energy-filled life form nearby.
Its radar went below, scanning the entire building, but strangely, it didn't go beyond the edges of the building.
Not that it mattered. The ant creature had found more than a dozen life forms with the necessary energy to sate its hunger and clicked its mandibles. Anticipating.