Mythical Cat

A strong stench woke Matty up, stuffed up his nose. It was putrid and vomiting-inducing and he pushed himself up to his knees with one arm. His left arm up to his elbow was gone. Incinerated. His vision became blurry and he was tempted to fall to the abyss again.

Until he heard her.

"Ack!"

Matty would never forget the taste of human flesh burning. Never. But more than that, for the remainder of his life, he would never forget waking up to see death choking the love of his life atop a pile of corpses.

'No... no, no, no,' Matty muttered, the words stopping his heartbeat. In a twist, his heartbeat quickened, and a surge of adrenaline propelled him to his feet. He tried to move, to intervene, but an unseen force held him in place, as if the very fabric of the world resisted his efforts.

[ Warning! Mana has dropped to zero! ]

His MP was entirely depleted and he suffered the consequences. He dropped to his knees, needles coursing through his veins. Every little move was a pinch to his heart. A loud order for him to sit down and stop.

All the while Jack continued choking Jules.

Jules gasped for air, her form convulsing. The gloved hands tightened around her neck. Jack offered no mercy. If he wanted to, he could have ended her. Instead, the nasty killer spoke to her.

"The Mythical Beast Class. I heard about it but I've never seen it. Tell me, how did you come to acquire it?"

"Ack! Nnngggh! I-I don't need to tell you—!"

Squeeze and saliva continued to trickle from the ends of her mouth. Her cries of pain ripped his heart apart. Matty grit his teeth, ignored the emergency messages, and charged at Jack.

Only at the very last moment, when he accidentally stepped on a corpse too hard that Jack actually noticed him. Illogically, before his fist was able to make contact with his mask, there was a smack! Jack back-handed him away.

"M-Matty!" Jules choked out.

"I thought I injured him enough to keep him down…hm?"

Matty got up again, his legs convulsing, and bulldozed right at him. This time, he was able to make out the aura of darkness around Jack as he countered. Smack! Matty was sent tumbling away for the second time.

Though certainly not the last.

Again and again and again, Matty got up and attacked him.

Upon his fifth attempt, where he threw a rock and then lunged, Jack intercepted Matty's advance with alarming ease. He punched him in the gut and watched as he dropped to his knees.

"You do realize I have wish to kill you. I have you deemed you worthy. Sit down and be content with that."

"No…way…" Matty stared up at him, eyes red. "Let…go…of her."

Jack looked at Jules, whom he was holding with a softer grip. "I'm not hurting her, see?"

"I said…let go!"

A resounding slap echoed through the virtual space as Jack's boot connected with Matty's cheek, sending him sprawling to the side. The force of the impact reverberated through his skull. Damage to the brain was next to certain.

Yet Matty pushed himself back up. Determination burned in his eyes, his focus solely on this flesh-made darkness before him. Ignoring the stinging sensation in his brain, he charged at Jack once again.

"I liked those eyes. Kudos to you." Jack actually dodged his punch rather than intercept it. In his mind, his heart leapt. He was making progress and since one hand was occupied with Jules he stood something of a chance. "But why are you obsessed with this cripple?"

Matty refused to let his rage take over his thought process. He swung his one fist all the while thinking. 'Think, think, think!' How could he defeat a foe infinitely superior? Jack leaped to the left like a professional dancer while still carrying Jules.

That was when Matty saw it. A black blur amidst the rubble of a house. There was no time to think. He had to commit to it. He stopped to breathe, gathered up all the energy in his fist, ignoring the system's warning of no mana.

It was now or never.

"Haaa—!"

He swung his fist at Jack, only to be met with a faster, stronger fist. The bones in his remaining hand shattered and he bit down on the sensation of pain. 'Don't think—fight!'

Matty entered the range of death. He came right up in Jack's face and slammed his head against his mask. 'Feels like a brick wall!' Blood trickled from his forehead down to his nose as he recoiled back, huffing and puffing.

"Let…go of…her!"

Jack stared at him, head tilted. Jules was limp in his hold, her eyes closing. She was breathing but barely. Jack wanted her alive for reasons—but he wouldn't mind her dead either. In other words, she was only alive because he was intrigued.

"You're…really not bad. Where are you from?"

"Haa…" His breathing felt murky. "Philadelphia…"

"Philly? I was thinking Seattle." Jack paused and looked down. "A black cat?"

He didn't notice. He didn't notice! The cat's paw had touched his ankle. A beat passed and Jules' neck slipped from his gloved fingers like butter. Free from the suffocating hold, Jules gasped for breath. The tide had shifted and Matty seized the opportunity.

"Huh—"

Bam!

Matty slammed his fist into his mask. A tiny, insignificant crack formed and Jack was actually forced to step back. "Huh? How did you…" Matty didn't let him finish and landed another blow, then another.

Bam! Bam!

It was working!