P.O.V. Morgan Key Blackwood
Twelve hours.... Twelve hours are all I have left before starting a life hunted by supernatural beings and monsters that only exist in myths.
The old Murloc cave has been transformed into my base. After taking a risk and cooking one, I realized that its taste and texture, though strange, are edible. Without having to resort to more junk food, I was finally able to fill my stomach.
Furthermore, after the massacre of those creatures and using a vast amount of Alchemy to alter the cave and its entrance—making it as secure and monster-proof as possible—I managed to max out Miles' and Edward's assimilation levels.
Now I have a functional home, plenty of stored food thanks to Alchemy, a water source through a modified sewer system, and technically, a safe haven.
But if I've learned anything, it's that I can't just sit still and wait for those things to knock on my door every day trying to devour me. So, before that happens, I'm going to send a message...
Finishing the final touches, I let out a sigh. I wipe the dirt and dust from my body and hands, step onto my hoverboard (courtesy of the "Back to the Future" card), and begin to glide slowly through the tunnel. I've never ridden a skateboard, but Killua has, and with his current percentage, it's not that difficult for me.
I check my status one more time and, with a nod, I pick up speed.
Name: Morgan Key Blackwood
Assimilated Cards: Miles Morales (100%)
Assimilation Slots: 3/3
Edward Elric (63%)
Killua Zoldyck (27%)
Sheldon Cooper (4%)
In the end, I decided to absorb Sheldon. I don't know if absorbing Shizue would put a death timer on me because of Ifrit, and sincerely, I have the biological urge—as a self-respecting man—to find a way to help and give a happy life to a sweet, kind girl like her.
So, while my mind is slowly calculating the mass of a black hole and simultaneously the number of folds needed for the Flash's suit to fit into that tiny ring, I finally find my first target.
Something that fits the word "demon" much better than actual devils do. A being with a humanoid body but possessing goat-like features. It looks up from whatever it was eating, its face smeared with blood and its rectangular pupils staring into my darkest sins. I simply accelerate and, using a spear I had ready thanks to Alchemy, I impale its chest with a powerful thrust, pinning it to the ground.
The creature writhes and screams in agony as blood gushes from its chest and mouth. I stop just to watch it suffer. I turn my gaze to the side to see what it was eating before and... oh, shit... a little girl. She can't be more than twelve. How could this thing kidnap her?
My mind stops analyzing that as I spot a multitude of rectangular eyes watching me from the darkness. Beyond those I could see, I felt more and more of these Jersey Devils gathering around me. I stood still for a moment, then quickly took off at full speed on the board, pulling the spear out of the dead Devil's body.
Behind me, I heard a cry that was a mix of an animalistic shriek and a scream from a horror movie. That one cry became five, then twenty, thirty... and I just kept moving at top speed.
As I escaped and banked through the same tunnel intersections I had used before, my renewed Spider-Sense made me shift my body to dodge the claws and hooves of the beings trying to knock me off the hoverboard. Occasionally, I struck out with my spear to slice a limb or a neck. When I reached a certain intersection, I clapped my hands together, generating an electric current. Upon touching a wall as I turned, numerous circles began to glow.
Almost randomly, guided by my Spider-Sense, I moved between the stalactites and stalagmites that erupted from the ceilings, floors, and walls, skewering everything that entered the designated zone. My pursuers weren't lucky or fast enough to avoid it; they became a series of supernatural kebabs. When I cleared the danger zone, I braked and turned around to find the maw of a creature inches from my face, only stopped when I saw its skull pierced by a stone spike.
I looked at the wall filled with spikes and skewered flesh. I could hear some of them still alive, writhing in pain and trying to tear away the fragments of stone, concrete, and steel piercing their bodies. I simply started counting.
"Twelve... twelve survived."
Tapping the wall after clapping my hands again, the stone spears retracted into place. The corpses and some injured survivors slumped to the ground.
I looked at the healthiest ones—those who by pure luck escaped death from my preliminary attack. With a cold gaze, I spun my spear and lunged at them. I'm not going to leave any of these things alive. I will make it my personal mission to eliminate every supernatural creature in this subway, and I'll make sure they suffer every second, for every man, woman, or child devoured by these things.
"You are the pests... and I'm the fucking exterminator."
[End of Chapter]