Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Chapter 16

POV: Gree

Gree kept on running; there was no use in arguing with Genesis on matters like this. If it wasn't for her reaction time, they'd have been buried underneath a mass of metal and beetles. It's just unfortunate that now they're all spread out. Gree tapped his scouter on his face for a moment, then sighed. The signals from the other two were still clearly coming in. The map on his scouter was primitive and ugly. t hurt to try and make sense of it. If only he could bash his way through several layers of metal to get to his allies.

As much pride as he has in his body, he would not be able to perform that. He'd run out of energy really quickly in enemy territory, so even if he did meet back up with his allies, it'd not end well for them. They'd need to take more time to relax which wasn't available if beetles were still in the area. So he lowered his running speed to a mild jog.

His flashlight illuminated the areas in front of him as he kept moving. They all looked the same. Large hallways meant for people and goods to move through the station, each as nondescript and dilapidated as the last. It was boring scenery. Gree just hissed under his breath. "If we get out of this, I'll go drinking until I black out. This is just slave labor…." He grumbled underneath his mouth.

Several minutes passed as he kept on jogging. The other two blips on his map just got farther and farther away from him. It worried Gree, especially with Eve. Eve wasn't like Genesis or him. She could barely take a hit to the face before crumpling. Gree decided to take a few minutes to collect himself. He sat down on some leftover boxes and took a couple of deep breaths to regain his stamina. There were no beetles following him anymore. If only he was granted that 'magic organ' like some of his tribesmen, he'd have roasted the whole swathe of beetles. But he was young and brash. So he left before ever getting it.

He scratched the scales on his snout, then looked down the hallway towards the end. He just needed to get to the mined-out hole, right? The rest of the crew would definitely join up around there. He brought up the map and looked through it, finding that the exit he took and the hallways he passed brought him the closest to the massive hole in the station. He just needed to go a bit further before he got there. 

Gathering his wits and his energy, he carried on. He unhooked his axe from his back and hefted it up onto his shoulder. He had his weapon ready. At any moment, he could find some enemy contact. As he moved on, there were fewer and fewer holes made by the metal-eaters. In fact, some signs of people going down these hallways, old dusty footprints. They were something to go off of. 

Several minutes later, he managed to get to a pair of giant open doors. But that wasn't the only thing; from far off, he noticed lights coming from within the new room. Gree turned off his light and clambered up to the doors, waiting and listening for whatever might be around. Gree peered into the doors, trying to keep his bulk stealthy. On the other side was a rather large group of people in what appeared to be a ruined food court. They were all dressed like workers, and some had weapons on them. They were pretty run-of-the-mill.

They started to speak to each other, and the conversation was bustling. Gree could barely pick out that try were setting the area up to be scavenged and that their boss would be here soon. One of the elites of this group, perhaps? One of the workers brought out a 6 ft tall tube-like structure which they slammed into the middle of the court. A couple seconds later, this bright blue light that scanned over the entire area came from the top - it beeped once, then released a large gaseous substance that reeked of rust.

It surged outwards, flowing specifically into holes and filling the area with it. It must be repellant for the metal eaters. Once it was finished, it went inert. Gree was enthralled with the technology used, even if he didn't know shit about what it was. But he could make guesses. 

He was enthralled enough that he didn't notice someone else coming up behind him.

"Sneaking around?"

Gree suddenly became violently alert and turned to face the voice. But his reflexes were slow. A fist smashed into his face, which sent him shooting into the food court. The group of scavengers all became very alert the moment Gree was shown.

Gree groaned and got up, hefting his axe up. "Wha the fuck-"He looked towards where he flew from. His opponent walked through the darkened entrance to reveal himself. He was a large humanoid. His eyes weren't visible, as the entire upper half of his head was covered in a white cloud-like substance. Hair? No, wool. On both sides of his head were ram-like black horns. The man's lower face had a sharp nose, and his flesh was tanned to almost a deep earthy brown. He had a muscular jaw. It wasn't the only part of him that was muscular, either. The rest of him was as well. He was shirtless, which exposed a statuesque physique like an Olympic god. But it was marred by shaved lines of white wool covering his chest and down his sides. They seemed to be carved that way to look more like tattoos.

On the man's shoulders and elbows, wool balls covered the joints and around his wrist. Down below? The man wore something more like a warrior's skirt made of metal. He even wore a necklace with a bunch of bones woven into it. His voice was deep, with powerful bass.

"A red lizard has infiltrated us. We had lost contact with a crew a few days away from here. I was hoping, waiting, wishing I'd get the chance to avenge the captain. You aren't one of us." He pointed a finger accusingly at Gree while his other hand pulled out a collapsible spear. It extended to be just as tall as this 6'5" tall, muscular man. Compared to Gree's own immense bulk, it was cute. But the warrior's power was incredible if the punch earlier was anything to go by.

By now, the crew had cleared out, going to the very edges of the room. Gree wielded his axe in both of his hands. He warily looked at the warrior. "Revenge?" Gree sneered, hissing at the word. "He was a tough son of a bitch. He went down fighting and screaming. So who are you, warrior?"

The warrior moved down to the center area, and Gree and the warrior started to circle each other. The warrior wielded his spear in both hands as well. "Ovis. Yours, intruder?" Gree grinned, showing all of his sharp teeth. "Gree. Enough talk. I'm going to butcher you."

With a flash of footsteps, the two clashed in the middle of the room, their weapons erupting with an aura of ki. Gree's a vibrant red, Ovis' a bright white. A shockwave burst outwards from the impact zone. It sent several pose screws and shards of metal flying from their strikes. The single strike pushed the duo into a deadlock, with their energies coating their weapons.

The two warriors stared at each other. Both of them were hardly putting their all into this. Gree's brow furrowed, and he used enough force to break their deadlock apart. The two started t dash between each other, striking each other with their weapons in order to get a feel for their opponent. They were mostly equal, but Gree's mass held a higher power in this clash. 

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After the 10th shockwave-inducing clash, they stared down at each other again, Gree's tail caving in the floor below him with a smash. He smiled, "You're good. But I'm better. Give up now, warrior." From within his throat, a low hiss was given; he was laughing. Gree was arrogant in this situation. His height and mass gave him an utter advantage. Ovis just snorted, "I refuse. I will skin you and use your scales as new pants."

They shot forwards once more, but instead of clashing, Ovis brought his spear forwards into a lance-like charge. Gree smacked it away with one of his hands, leaving only one to hold his axe. Ovis twirled the spear around in his hands, then, using the force Gree gave it to bring the spear tip aiming into an overhead slash. Gree knocks this away with the axe. The two were trading blows at high speeds. Despite their muscles, they were both quite flexible.

Parrying here and there with weapon or hand, the axe strikes never quite impacted Ovis, and the spear tip never sliced Gree. Blow after blow tore up the metal around them from strikes that seemed to shatter the air. The battle was ramping up in intensity. The duo's warrior spirits lit on fire. Their auras and coloration saturated their bodies as Ki burst forth from within them.

“[Grand Cleave!]”

“[Armor Piercer!]”

Two voices yelled as their weapons were coated in dense Ki. They closed the distance, Gree with a powerful downwards blow, while Ovis shot his spear forwards with a spiral of white burning ki coating it. The impact was catastrophic. A deafening explosion followed by the rending of metal sounded out with a plume of smoke. The two shot outwards as the smoke cleared. In its wake was the floor being cleaved straight down an entire floor while the ceiling had a massive hole rent into it like a spiral.

The two were scuffed up from the impact but not exactly harmed. Their weapons, though…disintegrated into nothingness. They had nothing to fall back on but their fists. Gree had a rifle, though. He forgot about it; there was no point to it in his mind when fighting someone like Ovis. Too predictable of a path, no matter how fast the lasers fired. Gree kicked off the floor, Ovis following suit. They met mid-air, clashing with kicks and punches. Minor shockwaves rippled outwards from those titanic blows until they touched the ground again. 

Ovis took on a stance, and so did Gree. This time blows were flung with much more precision, the two exchanging blows strong enough to turn a basic human into a crushed pile of meat. Sometimes their protection slipped, fists impacted flesh or even kicks. This left deep bruises while some of Gree's scales got cracked and shattered by the blows brought to him. The two were getting tired, even with their Ki coating their forms.

Devastating blows now came. Gree slipped through Ovis' defense, bringing a monstrous uppercut straight into the sheep-man's abdomen. Ovis coughed out a bit of blood from the blow, but Gree kept his combo going. From an uppercut to a hook, another hook, and then he jumped up and used his entire mass and tail in a monstrous drop kick which smashed into Ovis, trying to defend his body with weakened arms. Ovis was unable to contend with the force and shot backward in mid-air.

He explosively impacted a far-off wall of the food court, giving it a new massive hole through layers of metal and machinery. Gree was hardly finished. His throat bulged as he brought up his ki into his signature mouth beam. From there, he fired it into the hole. The raw amount of heat turns the hole's edges into molten slag. Gree was panting slightly, "Whew… that's one down. Fucker owes me a new axe…." He was about to get going…

But a blue light shimmered through the hole. A turtle shell of bright blue energy filled the hole before Ovis popped out - his wool and aura a new deep pastel blue. "Don't write me off so soon. I'm getting serious." Ovis now seemed slower as he ran at Gree. Gree didn't know what this new coloration was, but he punched straight into Ovis's face. What he didn't expect was for his hand to feel like it was hurt. It was like striking a wall. Ovis took that moment to strike Gree in his side with a powerful kick. It wasn't any stronger, but there was an odd sense of weight to it that forced him back. It hurt!

Gree grunted and brought up his nails and infused ki into them, making them glow a bright, hot orange. Then, he created ranged slashes of nothing but raw heat with a claw slashed downwards. The heat scorched the air as it traveled to Ovis, who did nothing but rush straight in, taking a light four-clawed hit to his chest. He seemed a bit surprised, "You cut me through the spirit of the turtle?" He frowned but took Gree's distraction to bring his foot up and give it a shelled coating of blue energy. He SMASHED it against Gree's other unharmed side.

Now it was Gree's turn to feel pain bloom in his stomach. "Guh!" He gripped his side as he was sent tumbling backward from the increased weight behind the blow. Ovis took a deep breath, then his entire aura changed. From blue to yellow as his energy took on an almost electrical nature. He bounced on his legs, then disappeared from Gree's view.

“[Yellow Comet!]”

Gree felt his stomach get churned up. He looked down, and Ovis was there with an energy construct of a rabbit's leg over his legs. It sunk at least a foot deep into Gree's armor and cracked it through. Gree's stomach was smashed into. Gree vomited, mixed with blood, and the meal he ate before coming on the station. But that was such a small moment. The 'comet' didn't strike once. 

Gree's eyes swam as yellow streaks of light flew around him, sending kicks into his body all over. His tail, spine, neck, face, chest, and legs. These strikes sent shockwaves and nasty sounds of flesh impacting flesh at impossible speeds and power. A proper superhuman technique. 

Gree was unable to compete against it. He felt his own spirit slipping as this sudden incredible speed overwhelmed him. He collapsed to his knees as his sight got blurry. Ovis reappeared, his body covered in cuts and bruises from their battle. "You did well, warrior. But not enough. I have uses for you to bring out your allies. You won't die but will atone for your crimes somehow." 

The last thing Gree saw was Ovis turning a bright, vibrant red coloration with a bull motif of energy coalescing around his right arm. The arm shot forwards, and with a deep heavy crack, Gree was out like a light. His body collapsed to the floor as the darkness took him. His final thought was…

He hoped the others were fine…