A grinding alerted him to some new terror, more ravenous than the birds of prey biding their time until their next feast. Survival instinct kicked in when he saw the fountain of blood had expanded rapidly until the fluid began to peculiarly sluice about his feet.
From it came a monster, spilling out like the pyroclastic flow of a volcano spewing out its insides much like Ben had shortly after eating the snow, the thin fluid raining down around it. Fur rippled its massive body that rivaled the proportions of the being Accountant had morphed into.
“That can’t be a…what, werewhale?” Ben asked with a sadistic smile, enjoying the incredulous aspect. “Hope I don’t meet any wereflowers anytime soon, or a werepenguin.”
A rubicund tsunami advanced. Once it reached him, Ben floated for a brief period of time before being forced under. He fell to the ground sputtering after it passed, taking no heed of Alucius’ refusal to budge.
He saw his skin had been dyed red by the tidal wave, but he was past caring; staring into the feral eyes of the whale, he saw how the formerly free being had been stripped of its soul, its eyes glazed and opiate.
Those stoic eyes fell upon him, and the monster flung itself at the speck of a human below it. Its maw gaped in a famished manner, and as it prepared itself for the meager meal, it was confused when a beam of twisting light crashed into the protection runes its maker had left on it. The barrier around it glowed with an iridescent sheen before cooling off and reverting back to a strange color.
“Accountant left this behind,” someone said. Ben turned to see Alucius, the man’s arm raised to the heavens and the ground around him cracked from the powerful jolt of the artificial antimatter blast. “Must have protected it against my power, though antimatter usually decimates all matter. Curious.”
Alucius attempted to circle the werewhale, but he couldn’t find any weakness for him to strike; the defenses had been placed impeccably. Ben saw it had lured it away from him though it may not have been intentional.
The whale slammed down at where Alucius had been an instant before, content that it had taken care of the monster. Ben saw the armored man spinning through the air, landing on the side of his assailant and grabbing a handful of the barnacle-covered fur that sprouted from its thick hide. He pulled himself onto the top of the whale, pausing for balance as the whale reared up.
He snuck unnoticed, slowly making his way along its top in the direction of the train graveyard. Plans formulated in his mind as he slid down the odorous side of the monster, his hair flying behind him due to the velocity of his near vertical drop.
Ben was turning feverish, vomiting once more; this time it was not black bits of flesh, but a clear liquid that carried the miniature Dolph Demetrius. He stared silently at the stubborn demon. He started to hallucinate: polychromic swirls invaded the lapis lazuli sky, the whale elongated and its head took on a rectangular shape, and the opiate eyes turned into blazing azure suns surrounded by violet light.
“Oh hell,” he fell to the ground, a massive migraine mentally cleaving his mind in two. He had a dim recollection of Alucius reaching the train graveyard and running to the side of one of the locomotives. Moving it, both he and the train groaning from the pressure, he managed to maneuver it to face the whale.
Ben thought he heard Alucius cry out, “anti-matter is my anti-drug” before the train sped forward, perhaps propelled by Alucius’ power. Strips of metal began to shear from the front from the brute speed of which the locomotive traveled, crashing into the whale with an explosive impact.
Flechette tore through the thick hide of the whale, breaking the protection runes to make the being susceptible to Alucius’ power. Hellish illumination gathered around his clenched fist, the motes of light dancing around him being drawn into the force to add to the destructive force.
Ben, in his hallucinatory state, was not sure if the things shooting from the sky were actual streaks or energy or more illusions conjured up by his mind. He gave a dry laugh when he saw Thor sitting on a cloud, flinging down the bolts and giving his wife Sif an affectionate look, doubting his sanity.
Alucius rushed forward, the air around him crackling with a multitude of colors as he went, luminous aftertrails disintegrating until the silhouettes were unrecognizable.
“What’s wrong with me?” Ben collapsed, eyes swiveling to watch Alucius’ fist meet the werewhale. Runes flared. Thor and Sif disappeared. The colors inverted. The taste of rising bile once more invaded his mouth, tickling his teeth.
Alucius’ fist broke through the defenses and burrowed into the surprisingly soft flesh of the whale; ichor sprayed from the wound, covering his face in rancid specks. He spun, foot connecting with the whale and leaving a new hole in it.
Pushing off of it, he waited until he was at a safe distance before unleashing a ray of antimatter. A horizontal clean gash was left in the middle of the whale that nearly split it in two. The beam continued on, slicing through half of the fountain and spilling its contents to the ground. The ray continued into the fathomless depths of the ground, eventually dissipating after digging its way through most of the crust.
The whale collapsed, obliterating the rest of the fountain and flattening the scarlet forest. Alucius bent his knees so he was able to reduce the slam of gravity when he landed, a scowl offered at Ben before he walked toward the whale. As he did so, the antimatter ate at its flesh, and it dissipated into nothingness in moments.
I still have chapters named "I'll change this later."
