The sun climbed higher, turning the morning chill into a sticky embrace that did nothing to ease Axel's discomfort. He'd found refuge in an abandoned strip mall, the kind that had gone extinct when those shiny new mega-malls started popping up like consumer-driven mushrooms. The empty storefronts stared at him like hollow eye sockets, their windows plastered with sun-bleached "SPACE FOR LEASE" signs.
"This isn't happening. This ISN'T happening." His new voice bounced off graffiti-covered walls, deep enough to make the rats scatter. A discarded newspaper caught his eye - yesterday's date mocked him from beneath a pizza crust. "Shit... MOM."
The thought of his mother sent fresh waves of panic through his system. She'd be worried sick by now, probably calling everyone from his friends - imaginary friends - to the police. The image of her face - lined with concern, dark circles under eyes that had seen too much - made his chest ache.
"Can't go home. Not like..." He caught his reflection in a broken window and immediately wished he hadn't. The stranger staring back was built like a Greek god's bigger, meaner brother. Mom would take one look and KNOW something was wrong. She always knew.
"Hey, maybe I can just tell her I hit a really late growth spurt!" He barked out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "Yeah, sure. 'Sorry Mom, puberty hit me with a fucking dump truck last night. Also, I might have eaten the football team. No biggie!'"
Fresh memories surfaced, making him double over:
Flash. Brad's face contorting in horror as Axel's fingers punched through his clipboard... and kept going and going.
Flash. The quarterback - what was his name? Tommy? Jimmy? - trying to run, cleats slipping in the growing puddles of red.
Flash. The satisfying CRUNCH as metal lockers crumpled like tin cans, pinning his prey...
"No no no..." Axel slammed his fist into the concrete wall. The impact should have shattered every bone in his hand. Instead, the wall exploded inward, showering him with debris. "FUCK!"
A rat the size of a small cat scurried past, dragging what looked suspiciously like a fossilized Hot Dog on a Stick. Axel watched it disappear into a hole, envying its simple existence. At least it didn't have to explain to its mom why it suddenly looked like a Schwarzenegger stunt double.
"Okay, okay... think." He started pacing, each step leaving small craters in the floor. "Can't go home. Can't go to the police. Can't exactly walk into a gym and ask if they're hiring..." His stomach growled - a sound like distant thunder. "And apparently, I need to eat a fucking horse or something."
The hunger was getting worse. His new body burned through energy like a muscle car burns through gas, and the... the MEAL from last night was wearing off. The memory of that feast made bile rise in his throat, but something deeper - something with teeth and appetite - purred in satisfaction.
"I did NOT just think that. I did NOT just..." Another wave of memories hit:
Flash. Sinew separating from bone with wet, meaty sounds.
Flash. Marrow sweet as honey, muscle rich as prime steak.
Flash. The intoxicating rush as strength flowed into him with each mouthful...
"STOP!" He slammed both fists into the ground, cratering the concrete. "This isn't real! This CAN'T be real! I want to go back! I want to go HOME!"
The air in front of him... rippled. Like heat waves over hot asphalt, but WRONG somehow. Colors began to bleed together, reality folding in on itself like wet origami. The space between one heartbeat and the next stretched like taffy, and suddenly...
"What the actual fu- not again!?"
A portal hung in the air - a perfect circle of electric blue energy, edged with what looked like static electricity. Through it, Axel could see... the same mall. But different. The windows were intact - mostly intact. And from somewhere in that alternate version of reality came a sound that made his new muscles lock up:
GRRRRRRROWWWWLLL...
"NOPE!" Axel stumbled backward, panic making his voice crack. He recalled being locked up that room by those assholes, and the monster from that place that had turned him into this. "Nope nope nope! GO AWAY!"
The portal winked out of existence like a TV being switched off, leaving nothing but the smell of ozone and a fresh wave of questions. Axel stared at the space where impossible things had just happened, his enhanced brain trying to process this latest deviation from reality.
"Did... did I just..." He waved his hand through the air where the portal had been. Nothing. "Okay, either I'm having the mother of all mental breakdowns, or..."
He concentrated, picturing the portal again. Nothing happened.
"Come on, come on..." He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing harder. "Work, damn it!"
Still nothing. Axel let out a frustrated growl that echoed off the walls like distant thunder. Great. Not only was he some kind of muscle-bound cannibal monster, but now he was hallucinating? Perfect. Just perfect.
"Maybe if I..." He tried to remember exactly what he'd been feeling when the portal appeared. That desperate desire to escape, to be anywhere but here... "Please?"
The air shimmered. Colors began to run together like wet paint, and...
"HOLY SHIT!"
Another portal materialized. It showed the same mall, but with a monstrosity staring at him. Memory from last night flooded back in. He was bitten by one these things. He was transformed, becoming like them - then he wasn't anymore. What - ?
The monster burst through the portal like a nightmare given flesh, its malformed body all wrong angles and glistening muscle. But Axel's newfound instincts kicked in before terror could take hold. With a thought, he collapsed the portal - the edge of swirling energy bisecting the creature with surgical precision.
"SHRAAAAAAAHK!" The thing's upper half hit the floor in a spray of black ichor, legs and lower torso vanishing as the portal winked out. Its claws scrabbled against concrete, leaving deep furrows as it dragged itself toward Axel with terrifying speed.
But something had changed. Where last night's encounter had been a blur of terror and confusion, now everything seemed to move in slow motion. Axel could see every ripple of mutated muscle, count each razor-sharp tooth in that too-wide maw. The creature's movements, while still blindingly fast, appeared almost... predictable.
"Not this time, ugly." Axel sidestepped the lunging monster with a grace that felt completely foreign in his new body. His hand shot out, fingers sinking deep into the creature's shoulder. The sensation of raw power flowing through his muscles was intoxicating.
RIIIIIIIP!
Arm and shoulder separated in a spray of dark fluid. The monster howled - a sound that shook dust from the ceiling - but Axel barely noticed. His awareness had narrowed to a laser focus, every movement precise and purposeful. This wasn't the panicked flailing of last night. This was... hunting.
"What's wrong?" He grabbed the thrashing creature by its throat, lifting its considerable mass with one hand. "Not so fun when your prey fights back, is it?"
The monster's response was to sink its teeth into Axel's forearm. Last night, those same kind of teeth had torn through his flesh like wet paper. Now? They barely broke the skin. Axel laughed - a deep, rumbling sound that surprised even him.
"That tickles."
CRUNCH!
His grip tightened, crushing the creature's windpipe like an aluminum can. But it wasn't enough. Something deeper, darker, HUNGRIER demanded more. Axel's other hand found purchase in the monster's chest cavity, fingers wrapping around whatever passed for a ribcage.
CRACK! SNAP! SQUELCH!
The sound of breaking bone and tearing flesh filled the abandoned mall, echoing off graffiti-covered walls. Gore painted Axel's arms to the elbows, spattering his face and chest in a gruesome canvas. The monster's struggles grew weaker, then stopped altogether.
"Jesus..." Axel stared at the carnage, waiting for the wave of revulsion that should follow such violence. Instead, he felt... satisfied. Strong. The gnawing hunger that had been building since last night quieted to a contented purr.
"No. No no no." He dropped what remained of the creature, stumbling backward. "I'm not... I can't be..."
Axel stared at his gore-covered hands, watching black ichor drip between his fingers. "Maybe... just a taste...?"
YUCK!
The taste lingered on his tongue - rancid, chemical, WRONG. His enhanced stomach churned in protest, rejecting the corrupted flesh.
"Shit... SHIT!" He stumbled to a nearby trash can, retching violently. The monster's blood burned coming back up, leaving his throat raw. "Note to fucking self: interdimensional horror-beasts are NOT on the menu."
But the hunger remained. If anything, it grew stronger, more insistent. His new body's metabolism was like a furnace, demanding fuel to maintain this impossible muscle mass. And somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice whispered about sweeter meat, about the feast from last night...
"Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" He slammed his head against the wall, leaving a perfect impression of his forehead in the concrete. The pain helped clear his thoughts, but only briefly. "I'm not... I won't..."
GROWWWWL...
His stomach's protest echoed through the empty mall like distant thunder. The sound sent rats scurrying for cover - their tiny heartbeats a distracting percussion in his enhanced hearing. He could smell their fear, their warm blood pumping...
"Stop it!" Axel grabbed his head, trying to silence the predatory thoughts. "I'm not a monster. I'm NOT."
But the memories wouldn't stop:
Flash. The satisfying resistance as teeth sank into fresh meat.
Flash. Strength flowing into him with each mouthful, making him stronger, faster, MORE.
Flash. The intoxicating rush as life itself seemed to pour down his throat...
"I need... I need to test something." The words came out in a growl that didn't sound human at all. "Just to understand. Just to know what I'm dealing with."
He hurried headed out, searching for something. He came across the back of a butcher shop. The early morning sun cast long shadows across dumpsters and delivery doors.
"Okay. Okay okay okay." Axel took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Just meat. Normal, boring, LEGAL meat. No people. No monsters. Just... food."
He stepped through the portal, immediately assaulted by the rich smell of blood and flesh. His enhanced senses picked up every nuance - beef hanging in the freezer, pork wrapped in butcher paper, chicken parts sorted for delivery. But it was all... flat. Dead. Processed.
"Better than nothing." He moved toward the back door, his new strength making short work of the lock. Inside, the walk-in freezer hummed quietly, promising sustenance. "Just gonna borrow some inventory. Leave some cash to cover it. Oh wait. Well, no big deal."
The first bite of frozen steak was... disappointing. His new body could process the meat easily enough - teeth shearing through frozen beef like it was butter - but something was missing. The hunger subsided slightly, but that deeper craving remained.
"Not enough." He tore into another cut, barely chewing. "Not... fresh enough."
Three sides of beef and most of a pig later, Axel sat among the wreckage of his "meal." The gnawing emptiness in his gut had dulled to a manageable ache, but satisfaction remained elusive. He knew, with a certainty that terrified him, what his body really wanted.
"No. There has to be another way." He grabbed a marker from the butcher's desk, scrawling "SORRY" on a piece of paper. Obviously, it was not nearly enough to cover what he'd eaten, but... "I will pay you back one day, butcher guy... Maybe if I just keep eating normal food? Lots of protein shakes or something?"
A sound from outside caught his attention - a delivery truck backing up to the loading dock. The driver's heartbeat was a steady thump-thump-thump that made Axel's mouth water. Fresh meat, walking around on two legs...
"FUCK!" He practically bolted, returning back in the abandoned mall. The predatory urges subsided slightly, but the truth was becoming horrifyingly clear: his new body needed more than just dead flesh. It needed...
"Life." The word came out in a whisper. "It needs life force or energy or whatever the hell you want to call it. That's why..." He swallowed hard. "That's why those guys felt so... filling."