Team

In a street littered with rubble and destroyed buildings, a purple humanoid figure was standing in a defensive position. His knees were slightly bent and his hands held a 'sword' each. It was impossible to see the figure's expression, as its face was covered with a purple liquid that had only two holes through which the eyes could see.

Around him, a dozen mutant dogs were dead, some were cut in half or decapitated, while the rest lacked their heads, neck and part of the torso, next to each dog in that state, a puddle of red-gray liquid lay. The purple figure was breathless but focused. Apparently, there was nothing else around him that was alive, however, the humanoid figure didn't relax.

That figure was Lucas, although he didn't see any enemies, he didn't get distracted. [Blood Intuition] constantly warned him that ten other mutants were around him, he deduced that they were the same species as the dogs he just killed, but he couldn't be sure.

While he waited, he decided to be proactive, took the time and began to purposefully absorb the blood of the dead mutants around him. Doing so would help him to recover faster and consequently better prepare for an eventual battle.

His actions did not go unnoticed by the hidden mutants. Quickly, as he absorbed the blood, nine black birds showed themselves. Lucas, upon seeing them, deduced that they were originally vultures before the mutation. Its appearance was very similar to that species, the few differences were its wings and skull.

Though its torso was completely coated in flesh, its wings and skull didn't have a single hint of it. They were completely skeletal, white as snow, making a stark contrast to the creature's black body. Watching these creatures caused a lot of agony, those exposed bones made a sick feeling.

When he saw those deformed vultures, the purple figure felt his heart stop for an instant. When he used his [Blood Intuition] earlier to analyze the mutant dogs, he realized that the energy emitted by them was lower than his own. But now, each vulture emanated an energy greater than yours.

Lucas didn't know what to do, he could feel that he wouldn't last long in that state, his head was hurting badly as a result of the constant use of his mutation. So, instead of waiting for the attack, he ran towards the vultures without wasting any time.

Fortunately for the vultures, his actions were quick and opened their beaks. In the next instant, a loud high-pitched noise resounded through that region. The sound was so high that most of the surrounding concrete rocks shattered at the same time.

When the sound hit Lucas, who was still covered in his purplish red blood, it almost completely dispersed that layer of liquid wearing him. He immediately stopped running and put his hands over his ears, dropping his 'swords'. The noise was so loud that her eardrums burst on first contact. Without warning, he could no longer hear anything.

He totally lost his balance when his eardrums burst, dropping to his knees on the floor trying to endure the pain, obviously that pain was nothing compared to losing his flesh every second in fighting dogs. However, losing one of the top five senses out of nowhere was extremely agonizing.

After falling to the ground, the vultures wasted no time and flew to their prey, even though they did not have wings made of flesh. Their tips and feet pierced the liquid layer and managed to excise large amounts of skin. All nine birds attacked at the same time and most hit his back, while the rest charged from the sides.

Fortunately for the purple figure, the mutated vultures didn't immediately resume their attack. After the onslaught of the flock of birds, their feet, which were used for the attack, began to dissolve and the birds screamed in pain. Unlike their wings and skulls, their legs were flesh and bone, so Lucas' corrosive blood had a pitiful effect on these birds. As for their beaks, they were in much better shape. The corrosive blood could not dissolve them because they were made only of bone, but it still created fissures that caused a lot of pain.

When Lucas' flesh was torn apart and regenerated at the same time, his stressful pain from before returned, but when the vultures stopped attacking him, he managed to regain some consciousness. His ears were slowly recovering from the recent injury. The thrill of hearing it all over again was an immense relief.

Unfortunately, his relief did not continue. Again, a great high-pitched noise rang through the area as the nine birds opened their beaks. As if in a time loop, the stones around it shattered and Lucas fell to the ground in the same position as before, kneeling.

The ear was responsible for the balance of the body, so when it was damaged again, the purple figure collapsed to the ground. Following the loop, the birds take the opportunity to attack again, but this time they were more intelligent. Instead of using both the beaks and the claws of the feet to damage their prey, they used only beaks that were made only of bone.

More flesh and blood were ripped from Lucas and nothing he could do. Without his ears to provide balance, he couldn't get up and counter the vultures. His only offensive was the liquid armor that had corrosive properties and enveloped him, but the mutants had already developed a countermeasure.

Mutant birds formed a cycle of attacks. First, they echoed their high-pitched noise to immobilize their prey, and when it fell to the ground, they would attack with their beaks, tearing much of Lucas' back. Even if the acidic liquid deteriorated their bones, this corrosion was not strong enough to stop these birds from killing their prey.

The purple figure was hopeless. There was simply nothing to do, he couldn't get up and fight back, and his energy was rapidly depleting due to the cycle of regeneration and wounds.

"This is the end," thought Lucas.

…

A few minutes earlier, in an old-fashioned pickup truck, a couple had been sitting resting in the trunk. Their conversation was casual.

"Apparently he died. I didn't see any other living beings besides us, how did he die?" Said the man named Ace as he scratched his head.

"Don't be pessimistic, maybe he just got lost." replied the woman. Her beauty was unparalleled, her hair swayed in the wind, her blue eyes sparkled in the nearby sunset.

"Anyway, we found water and gasoline, and we already had enough food for a few days. We don't need to stay in the city, let's wait until the sun goes down and then we'll leave." Ace said with his determination in full swing.

"Well, it was a shame, he looked leg-" Ruby's speech was cut short by a sharp noise.

…

After three or four more rounds of screams and physical attacks, Lucas's liquid armor was gone. His flesh was on display along with his bones and organs. The sight was ghastly, a gaggle of scrawny vultures devouring a nearly fleshless 'zombie' while screams and screams resounded in the area, causing the debris to crumble.

The humanoid figure felt nothing but pain and dizziness. She couldn't do anything without balancing herself. Feeling just that was intense and unimaginable suffering. Once again, his mind was on the verge of collapse less than an hour apart.

Suddenly, he didn't feel any new wounds, nor did he even feel the vultures around him. Curious, he raised his head and even though he couldn't hear, his surprise was great. He saw a tall man six feet tall levitating low in the air, a few marbles surrounding him but not being suspended by anything physical and visible. They were simply floating in the air, forming circles and arcs as they flew.

Lucas also saw a slender woman, beautiful and perfect in every way. She had no defect in her figure, her curves were divine and in the right places. She was definitely an incomparable beauty. Unfortunately, that beautiful woman disappeared in an instant.

The young man crouched on the ground and covered in wounds saw the man kill the birds that had recently been about to kill him. Ace used his extremely hard marbles to launch them at high speed killing three of the birds instantly. His accuracy was absurd.

With only six birds left, they prepared to attack the rest of the flock. Suddenly, one of the six birds dropped dead, she was decapitated. Amazingly, traces of blood seemed to float in the air, forming an outline of a knife, resembling a floating knife, as if there were a ghost holding it.

With only five birds left, the couple was very relaxed, it felt very natural to them. However, the young man on the ground was not at all calm and still unable to hear, he could see that the vultures were opening their beaks more than usual.

Lucas then yelled, barely able to muster his strength due to his injuries:

"Ears!"

Ace and Ruby didn't understand what that young man meant, but they soon found out.

The remaining birds screamed again, echoing an agonized shriek. Immediately, the cousins ​​put their hands to their ears in a desperate attempt to protect them. Fortunately, as the birds were reduced from nine to five, the lethality of the scream was reduced by almost half, making it incapable of destroying a normal human's eardrums in just one attack.

Even though he couldn't hear, Lucas could feel that the sonic attacks were much weaker than before, but remembering that he was the only one with accelerated regenerative power, he despaired. He didn't want to see his teammates lose their hearing, as he knew it would be permanent.

Then, even without decent balance, he raised his hand and with almost all of his remaining energy, reabsorbed his lost blood along with the blood of the dead birds. In doing so, his body had recovered almost to its peak, his muscles had returned and only his skin had not regenerated. However, he didn't need her for his next action.

The skinned young man raised his arms and focused all his remaining energy on performing the same attack that had killed one of the leaders of the dog pack moments before. Only this time, it wasn't just one shot, it was five! Soon, five purple blood spheres appear in front of his hands.

These spheres fired at high speed towards the remaining vultures, time seemed to stop for everyone present in the scene, as if this last attack defined the result.