"We need to lead it out of town," Phass said.
"How do you think we should do that?" Asked Alice.
Phass looked beyond Mega-Scalhound. "There," he pointed. "There's a forest straight ahead. Follow the road, and you'll make it." There wasn't time to talk.
Mega-Scalhound growled and turned around. It had spotted them.
Phass started running to the other alley.
"I need to disappear! It's attracted to me," He sprinted. "BUY ME TIME!"
"Get behind me!" Ben told Alice.
Mega-Scalhound was not stopping.
"RRUUUUNNN!!!!" He screamed as he began firing stray bullets at the monster. The bullets didn't do a dent in it. Its skin was as hardened as diamond. The bullets simply compressed against it and fell. Ben used his latest item---a hand grenade---he was saving up and threw it.
"Go!"
The hand grenade was too small to be seen by the monstrous form. It detonated. BOOM! The small, fragmented explosion caused dust to swirl. This gave Ben and Alice ample time to run across the alley they had come from previously and into the other road. Not as effective as bigger bombs, the small explosion did, however, blister the monster's leg. This angered the beast, while not as devastating as what Phass could compare, the beast's eyes marked its new targets. It charged.
Alice and Ben were out of the alley. Alice being the first and Ben the last. When did come out, he trained his weapon in front of him, and ordinarily, the Mega-Scalhound moved past the destruction of buildings in that tiny gap alley and crashed into another group of buildings on the side of the road. Ben aimed and fired. Releasing all the might of his weapon. The bullets spew like thunder. The Mega-Scalhound is unaffected as ever.
"Shit Alice, think think, what can you do?!" She asked herself as she was the only one unable to do a single action that might help Ben. She turned around and found an operable vehicle. The key was still in the chamber. She turned the key three times in a row and there was no response. "Come on, come on! Work already!" she looked on the mirror to her rear and saw Ben still firing. She knew he wasn't going to last long. Her hand was slow this time as she took her time. The fourth time she turned the key, the engines roared. "Hell yeah!" she excitedly shouted.
The vehicle was working. Alice sat in the driver's seat. "Get in!" She yelled.
It was right on time. Ben ran and hopped on. Alice clucked the gears and hit the pedal----VVVRRMMMMM!!
The Mega-Scalhound found Koito's shots wasteful and sought to entertain the punny creature, slowing stepping, and moving, closer to do a powerful blow that'll surely knock its lights out. But the punny creature and its other, got away. The image of the vehicle mirrored on the Mega-Scalhound's retina. It's roaring scream---GHRRRR!---spoke volumes, its actions fooled to the likes of how little the punny creatures quickly moved.
"Ah-a-ha-ah, ww-what do I do? Do I just drive straight ahead?!" Alice panickily drove.
Ben was in the back seat. He moved up and pointed, "This road leads to the forest, although a few directions are there. Just drive. I'll guide you."
Easy for you to say?! Alice's heart was pumping rapidly. She has never been this much pressured.
Ben fell back to the back seat. He looked behind him and as expected, the Mega-Scalhound was on their tail.
"It's coming!"
"What! Already?!"
The Mega-Scalhound was at a roar as it was catching up. This was also the time to think about which route to take when the road split into two directions.
"Where do I go?!"
Ben saw the passes. "Take the left!" He said out loud.
The turn was heavy leaning to the left in a curve. Thanks to those extra driving lessons she got when applying for her driving lessons, she was able to pull the signature drifting flawlessly. Didn't know those driving lessons would come in handy, but hey look at me, I'm doing it.
This was probably due in turn to the car brand that came in with such flexibility. The Toyota GR Corolla. Practically a five-door body, offering 300 horsepower, channels the power of a rally-car. A monster built for everyday use. That said, the corolla is a polished black. Compared to the rusty Ford van, not to say it is useless---which isn't---is years ahead: the steering wheel feels thick and substantial in your hands, the leather wrapping gives it a premium feel, and the grip contours naturally fit your hands; the seats hug your torso and shoulders much more, the bolsters keeping you from sliding around during the hard cornering; and the interior design looks reasonably balanced just as how well it ran with the turbocharged engines giving major responsiveness and acceleration. Mechanical monster against a 25-meter-tall behemoth. Flesh against Machine.
"Heyyyy Ben!" Alice called. "Where do I go?! Up or down?!" The corolla was coming to a bridge. Below, there was an underpass.
"Go down. We'll try to lose it through the pillars."
Under the bridge, the corolla didn't have to deal with the pursuit of the Mega-Scalhound constantly chasing them. Silent befell with the sound of the Corolla's engine noise left to echo until the pillars started to crack. More of the cracks, the debris fell. One huge chunk from above the underneath of the bridge almost hitting the Corolla.
"It's above us!" Ben said.
Alice drove and looked up beside her window. She could see and tell smaller hints that the beast was right above them. The puffs of dust are cast from the concrete surface. THOOM! The weight of the beast's feet rattles the concrete, each step closer to total collapse. She trembled. That's when, the longer the beast remained above, the concrete became loose, and debris began to fall repeatedly. There was no stop to it.
Straight on the road, the Corolla was running out of ways to drive and the fact that the vehicle was still going is thanks to Alice's ability to turn at a moment's notice when she sees debris going to fall in her current position. Her focus was highly comparable to that of a rally driver. Almost. The Corolla was going in a pattern. A zig-zag pattern, or S pattern as Alice turned, clutched the breaks, the gear, every switch in her brain as all she could do was keep alive.
"Now right!" Ben gave the call before the whole foundation of the bridge, the bridge included, fell on them; and buried them.
Shit! I can't believe I pulled that off. Alice thought for second: They'd be good as dead if not for her quick reflexes. "Any sign of it?" She asked looking at the rear mirror.
There was dust and smoke blocking what Ben could actually from collapse of the bridge. Then WHOOOOSH! The wall of dust exploded outward as the monster burst through, swept aside by a powerful gust. This revealed the creature's hulking form in an instant. Angry at what the punny creatures could pull off, there was no turning back. It charged at full speed.
"It's on our tail again. We can't stop it."
The road was clear for once. No civilian. No vehicle blocking the road. Few destructions came and went. Alice looked once more at the rear mirror and back to the front. She wanted to know now. How fast can this baby really go? She was thinking of it. She was going for it.
"Hang on tight!"
"What do you mean---"
The Corolla accelerated as the gauge reached beyond its limit. Superfast.
---------------------------------------------------
As the Corolla made it out of the town's confines and into the forest, it all seemed well as the beast was nowhere to be seen. That's because you were looking the wrong direction. You not only look up and see the beast sent flung in the sky and closing in---the beast landed on impact in the forest with an impulsive force so strong that it blew the Corolla out of balance. This sent the car rolling, taking punishing blows one after the other, the windshield cracked, the exterior contorted and misshapen, until at the very end did the car finally slow down.
The wrecked Corolla lies in ruin. Inside, Alice is merely unconscious, but blood did spill from her head. Koito knocked the back seat window and escaped through there. He also got Alice out.
"Uh, what happened?" She asked merely strong to think.
Ben glanced at the beast while shouldering Alice. When the beast attacked with its arm at the two helplessly, the monster's hand caught fire and electrocuted. Its hand retreated after sensing the unknown surge of energy.
"What was that?" Ben was confused and surprised.
"What was what?" Alice repeated.
The monster tried again but it was futile. Whenever it got closer, it felt the same sensation over and over and over again. The Mega-Scalhound's claws weren't able to reach the two. In a fit of rage, the monster sent its arm flying---it is there the secret revealed itself. The arm couldn't go any further as what stopped it from going another inch was a barrier. Invisible to the eye but faint and is felt when close. How did this barrier all of sudden come about? Who was the mastermind behind this?
That person that walked at the back of the Mega-Scalhound was the one responsible.
"Do you like what I've done with place?" Phass introduced.
The monster hearing his voice, turned around to see who it was. Its pupil sharpened. It was the one responsible for its severed arm.
Phass continued. "It's nice, isn't it? I didn't know about this barrier shrines for so long than just a few months ago. I have to say: it really does change the playing field." He raised the Staffance at the beast.
The Mega-Scalhound scowled.
"I know you're listening. This makes you prisoner and I," he paused for a while, "The Executioner."
This mocking of words enraged the monster. It had enough of playing around and decided to just kill the punny creature that has caused it the most harm. And with this rage it charged again. Like a battering ram.
"Round Two huh, well I'm up for whatever you throw at me," his feet pushed him to run. "This time I won't be SO LACKING!" Dubbed the last protector of Aggem by his teacher, he was not going to disappoint.
Safe---outside the barrier---at last, Ben put Alice down near a tree. Her head was in pain. "You'll be okay. Hang in there," he said.
BOOM! The sound of clashes erupted. Ben stood up and stared at the battle.
Alice weakly tilted her head high. She could barely see with minor blurriness. She could Phass taking on the Mega-Scalhound. Yet. She fell. Her unstable mind passed out.
Ben turned back to Alice and was horrified. "Alice! Stay with me Alice!" Her felt her vitals. She was alive, but only asleep. He turned to Phass's battle. He wanted him to win. If necessary.
By then at this point, the Mega-Scalhound's all remaining limbs (except for the legs) were cut down and from them spawned distorted Scalhounds. He dispatched of them quick relentlessly. Not one was spared. As if confronted with someone of greater power, an unstoppable foe, the Mega-Scalhound turned around and ran towards the barrier, hitting its head continuously on the barrier to some extent that it may break or shatter. And it was beginning to come to that outcome as the four barrier shrines that acted as generators for the field was being depleting of the remaining power source same as the hardened dust crystal Phass used to give him a fighting edge in battle.
"Not so fast, you evil!" He called out. He ran for the Mega-Scalhound.
KRASH! The barrier shattered into a shower of glittering fragments. The beast was out.
"Take this!" Phass threw the Staffance like a javelin at the head of the Mega-Scalhound.
The Staffance didn't hit, rather, it swept beside its left side and that's when Phass pulled the invisible energy string that attached to the end of the Staffance. The Staffance reacted and Phass was teleported to the Staffance, catching the weapon, and simultaneously slashing the Mega-Scalhound's eyes.
The Mega-Scalhoud screamed in agony and Phass had landed safely on the ground. Now as the monster had paused for the while, Phass recharged the Staffance and aim for the legs. VVVSSHH! The energy slash cleanly cut through. The Mega-Scalhound in constant pain was over, energy and stamina drained, it fell. Full body flat.
Phass walked at the top of its head. "It's over," he said as the monster was still agitated and active.
Wish there was another way we could have made up our differences.
He flipped the Staffance around and raised, with both hands, prepared to do it.
The final straw: He plunged the Staffance's tip into the cranium. The monster screamed but was over when he pushed further in and turned the staffance to the left as energy filled the creature; its vitals faded from extremeness to a lying dead corpse of massive flesh and bones.