MAXIMUM PART 3

Maximum stood completely still as it stared at the man before him.

Dawning black armor with mysterious blue markings all over his limbs and torso along with a black mask accentuated with glowing blue horns, this was a figure that radiated raw power.

The Maximum hated him.

It didn't know why or how but it had seen this man before, and more than the four eyed man or it's hunger, it instantly hated him.

Out of pure instinct it lunged at the figure again, ready to attack despite it receiving a devastating blow to the gut before.

It clearly didn't learn it's lesson the first time as it received another powerful blow to the gut, more powerful than the first in fact, which sent it flying across the corridor.

Again.

The creature immediately recovered from this blow however, and watched the man look at it with hatred building withing the centre of its core.

For a brief moment their eyes met from the distance.

Until suddenly there was no distance between the two.

"I feel like I've seen you before" Jake said, close enough to the creature's face it could hear him breathe. It seems in the blink of an eye, Jake has ran towards the creature with his super speed.

Something Zack found extremely reckless to do.

"Jake! What the hell are you doing?!" Zack screamed as a drop of cold sweat left his scalp and fell on the chest of a confused Paulina who was watching the two begin to bicker.

"Look man, Just stay where you are! I got this. It seems I've seen this thing before somewhere but I can't tell where."

"So you're telling me you know this thing?" Zack screamed as a vein on his head started to pop.

As the two bickered, Paulina looked at Zack's friend Jake. She knew about him and his mission involving the shadow Baron but didn't hear any more of it. Not that she wanted to. The less said about the Lost Light the better.

But this guy?

She immediately scanned him out of curiosity and gasped at her discovery.

"What's wrong Paulina?" Zack asked her.

"Th..this guy? He's your friend Jake right?"

"Yeah. You're the one who didn't want to talk about him considering he's connected to the Lost Light now. What's wrong?"

"That blue energy he's radiating. It isn't muman"

"What do you mean? He got his ability from the Shadow energy awakening his muman genes. At least thats what we were told."

This isn't Muman genes Zack. Neither is it Shadow energy. It's something else." Paulina said as she turned toward the creature to give it a scan as well.

"This thing we've been fighting, it's some bizarre combination of muman genes, some it's own and others resembling Mr E."

" Then it must be some sick experiment of his." Zack said looking that the creature, starting to feeling somewhat sorry for it once he realised it had been put through such torture.

"Yes... but what's wierd is it also has Shadow energy mixed in there as well."

"What?! But Mr E doesn't have access to Shadow energy so how does it have it?"

"Because maybe it didn't get it from Mr E but it already had some. Maybe it's.. it's a member of the Lost Light." Paulina said as she began to shake now realising the severity of the situation.

"So you're telling me this thing is some fusion of muman genes and Shadow energy like Jake?"

"Yes but I don't detect any Shadow energy in Jake at all. It's something else. Some sort of blue energy I've never seen before. And it appears to be reacting to the creature's Shadow energy. Its.. fusing with it."

Once Zack heard this, he took a good look at the creature and noticed its body was mutating. It's pitch black body parts and stomach began to glow blue all of a sudden.

"Ugh..Jake!" Paulina cried out to him, getting his attention for a brief moment.

"Ah! You! I remember you! You're Zack's girlfriend. I don't think we've met. What are you doing here? Are you a super too?"

"Never mind that! Stay away from that thing. It's radiating Shadow energy and whatever your body is made off is somehow reacting to it!"

"Oh is that a fact?" Jake said, frowning under his mask and turning back to the creature.

He noticed that his energy was causing the monster to mutate back into a smaller form. As blue energy began to envelope it's entire body, its shape began changing from a hulk like physique to something much less grotesque.

Something resembling that of a human.

Jake, now realising what his energy was doing to the creature, rushed at his with maximum speed and proceeded to punch it again.

... and again..

...and again.

"What the hell is he.." Zack said before Paulina intervened.

"He's curing it!"

"How?! You cant cure muman mutation! You can suppress it sure, but cure it?!"

Because the creature isn't fully a muman."

"What?"

It seems the creature's nature is like some kind of matryoscha dolls scenario. It's muman mutation is covering up its Shadow energy, causing the two energies to fight for control, turning the creature into this abomination. Jake's blue energy is merging with the Shadow energy, empowering it and allowing it to take over and return the guy to his human form."

"Woah... so does that mean that Jake can empower Shadow energy users?"

"I think so.." Paulina said but her mind quickly drifted towards another thought.

"If the Lost Light got their hands on this guy...we're all screwed."

Jake kept on hitting the creature and for a while it couldn't retaliate. All it could do was lay down and take the hits as it's body began to shrink down, causing it so much pain it began to wail in agony.

On hearing this, Jake suddenly stopped.

"J..Jake? What are you doing?" Paulina said, afraid the thing would get back up with this window of opportunity.

"He can't."

"What?"

"He's starting to feel bad for it. I've known Jake for quite a while and he isn't the type to let an animal suffer."

"Animal?! That thing is.."

"A mindless beast that runs on instinct. Your point?"

Paulina stayed silent. She got what Zack meant and got why he stopped. Despite this though, she couldn't allow this thing to return to its rampage.

"Jake! Finish it! Don't let it's cries stop you! Take a look" Paulina said, pointing to none other than the injured Stacya.

Jake turned towards her and was horrified he didn't notice. She was bruised and thanks to a horrible broken leg she was in too much pain to notice him barge in.

Jake wanted to run over to her but then heard a small whimper from behind.

It was trying to get up.

Jake turned back to the creature and realised he couldn't allow something like this keep going and hurting people.

Charging his arm with even more blue energy, causing it to glow so bright it made the onlookers start squinting, he punched the creature's face one last time.

The energy quickly engulfed the the creature's whole body, causing it to scream in intense agony as its body morphed and smoothened to create a human form.

That's when the energy began to glow red.

Suddenly, the creature exploded in a giant ball of black limbs, gore and red energy, sending everyone flying towards the nearest walls and blinding them all temporarily as well.

It was over. Jake had won...

To be continued...