Volatile Passing

"Ugh..." Looking around in pain, I notice debris and smoke filling the area. I barely managed to jump away in time while pulling ken along.

"Cough, cough! What the hell was that!" While saying that, Ken slowly lifted himself, observing the area. While we were both looking around, the smoke cleared revealing an absolute abomination. It was a mass of flesh barely pieced together from various corpses. Hands, feet, heads, and various other body parts are haphazardly placed and ground together. It has the build of a giant at 6 meters tall, with its 'head' just made up of crushed flesh and bones, with empty eye sockets and a gaping mouth.

'What the heck is that thing!' while thinking that I speedily open the watch to run an analysis.

[Due to the level of the said creature, it will take at least two minutes to complete an analysis, please wait...]

'Not good.' Knowing we don't have that kind of time, makes me anxious about what to do. The worst part of it is how that thing is blocking the entrance, preventing us from leaving, and will cause that horde to catch up. The abomination seems to be moving sluggishly as if he recently woke up from a slumber. I then notice Liam, who was on the opposite side of me and Ken with the monster in between us.

*HIIIIKK* *SCREECH* *HIIIIKK*

The screams are coming closer, waking up the monster even further. 'At this rate, we will be trapped on both sides!' Knowing something and doing something about it are two different things, as I truly believe that it's probably checkmate for us.

Ken probably thinks the same, as he hands me the pistol he probably got from Danny. "If you want a clean death, a pistol is ideal." Not knowing whether I should be thankful or insulted, I take the pistol from his hand and was about to get ready until I noticed an odd movement from Liam.

Liam seems to be looking in the direction of the horde and despite the distance, I can feel an odd passion laying in his empty eyes. It was then that he started walking towards where the screams are coming from steadily. I yell to cover up the bad feeling I have despite the risk of fully waking up the flesh heap. "Hey! What are you doing, the horde is that way!"

He stops, turns around to face me, and proceeds to say slowly. "I'll lead the horde away, so you take care of that monster and get out of here. This can at least be one good thing I did in my life." I was about to refute that, but when I saw the determination in his eyes, the words died down from my throat. Ken also holds my shoulder and shakes his head, as if saying it's the only way.

The only thing I could squeeze out was a silent murmur. "Sorry..." It was at that moment the horde finally arrived showing an unstoppable momentum.

Liam then took a deep breath, then yelled as loud as he can. "YOU BASTARDS, COME AND GET ME!" While banging a baton against the wall, and then runs into a hallway on the other side. The horde immediately focuses their attention on him, chasing him with renewed fervor.

Looking at the horde disappearing, I heard Ken whisper depressingly. "That's a dead end..." Trying to pretend I didn't hear that; I notice there were a few stragglers which are heading toward us. Just as we were about to face them, a mass of flesh catapulted on them, crushing them and dragging the bodies to that flesh monster. It was then that I realized the analysis was finished.

[Analysis complete, here are the results.

Flesh Puppet: A monster born from massacre, has extremely strict conditions to be born. The more corpses, the stronger the puppet. It typically sleeps in hibernation until it detects either living or dead bodies nearby. Once it wakes up it becomes a weapon of mass destruction, able to split itself at extreme speeds to collect corpses, with the main body durable with self-regeneration properties. The only seen weakness would have to be fire, which causes its body to be dull and slow. Its inner body contains a highly volatile explosive gas when exposed to fire but is protected by many layers of corpses.]

After seeing the description, I thought of multiple plans that could work. 'Let's try to test it first.'

I put down the pistol quickly and grab the lighter out of my pocket and throw it to Ken before bringing out the molotov. "Hey, I can only use one hand, mind lighting this for me?" He looks at me for a moment before lighting it up. And while the Flesh Puppet was feasting on those bodies, I threw the molotov at it as hard as I could.

*Whoosh* *Crack* *Fwoom*

Before it could reach halfway, a part of itself split off and knocked down the molotov midair, preventing it from hitting the monster. 'As I thought, I guess that's the only way then. Come on then! I'm not going to be stopped by some mid-boss!' Feeling a heavy feeling in my chest, I take off the bag and hand it to Ken.

I then say. "There's at least one more molotov in there, I'm going to distract its attention and when I give the signal, Throw it as hard as you can." After saying that, I quickly grab the knife and hang it on my belt, and then pick up the pistol on the ground. After the monster finished digesting the corpses, it seemed to have grown a bit and directs its attention to me who threw the molotov.

"Come at me, ugly!" After yelling this, I start shooting bullets at it while running in an unnatural pattern to prevent it from hitting me with those flesh cannons. The bullets barely penetrate the body, and the wounds heal soon after. It starts looking at me in annoyance as it starts shooting off parts of itself.

'Step one done. Moving on to step two' After emptying the cartridge and dodging the pieces of flesh by a small margin, I throw the gun away and charge in with the knife!

The closer I get, the harder it is to dodge. Around halfway through, after barely dodging the projectile, the monster seems to be sick of it. In annoyance, compared to when only one spot rippled, multiple spots rippled in tension. Knowing what this signified, I found myself extremely close to the other side. Everything seemed to slow down at that moment, a single mistake could make the difference between life and death. The monster roars heavily as multiple high-speed flesh pieces cover my vision. In that single moment, despite the seemingly sure death attack, I never felt more at peace. I jump forward and relying on the momentum of the jump, I slash toward the thinnest part of the attack!

Despite it being the thinnest part though, it seemingly wasn't enough as time seemed to freeze. At that moment, the watch glowed which caused my body to be filled with mysterious energy. Using the energy instinctively, my strength soars allowing me to pierce through! As I barely managed to get through the wall of certain death, and noticing the monster seems exhausted, I yell out hoarsely. "Now! Throw it now!" And right on cue, the molotov spins threateningly onto the monster, causing it to roar.

*Crack*

*Crackle* *Crackle* *Crackle* *Crackle*

After the fire spreads, the puppet seems to be duller and slower. I barely manage to pick myself up when Ken quickly comes to my side. "You are the most insane person I have ever met to do such a crazy action."

"Urgh. Is that a compliment or an insult?" Looking at the puppet, I notice a gap towards the entrance.

I tell Ken. "Let's go get freedom." He nods and we both rush past the monster who's panicking from the flames. Just as we were about to escape, an invisible film suddenly blocks us.

I immediately thought of the worst possibility. 'No, this can't be... the entrance was a bait this whole time?! Damn! Damn! DAMNIT!'

As I'm in despair, I notice Ken looking at me deeply with a sharp look and then looking at the burning flesh puppet. "You know, I always hated you from the first moment I met you." I look at him as if wondering what he's talking about all of the sudden.

He then proceeds to say with a sigh. "After all, I feel like you're the center of the whole thing, and you also killed my partner and probably others indirectly. I just can't bring myself to like you."

"Hey, what are you talk-" As I speak, he interrupts me.

"But hey, since you are the center of everything, doesn't that mean you have a way to fix it? So, you should live with everything on your shoulders. It will be heavy, but I hope you can remember us as you set everything right." After saying so he suddenly rushes towards the puppet, gun and knife hand in hand.

As the puppet is burning, he doesn't notice the detective until the last second, bringing its giant fist down. Ken quickly dodges away, stabbing deeply into the softest part of the body. He then sticks his whole arm with a pistol in hand into the wound. Seeing this, I somewhat had an idea of what he was trying to do. 'No way, he shouldn't have known about the volatile gas!'

"Hey, Ken stop it right now!" But he didn't listen, as he started rapidly shooting the gun, and as he was about to shoot one last time, he looked at me with a small smirk, as if saying it's up to you now.

*Bang*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM*

The explosion was massive, pushing me flying backward. As I was flying, I felt an impact followed by a sound akin to breaking glass when everything went dark.