Fishing Part 5

[Living_Hellfire]

Monday, May 26, 01:07hrs Local Time, 2025

 

"Gin!" She cried as she slapped the cards down onto the table.

 

"Goddammit, Mike!"

 

"It's Mikayla, Steve, how many times?"

 

"Fine, fine... sorry. Bad habit."

 

The two security guards sat in cheap, white plastic chairs at a folding table in what used to be a greenhouse on the roof of a two storey warehouse. Two other such tables were placed haphazardly in the room holding hastily assembled electronic equipment, laptops and an improvised radar system, a radio cradle with six slots sat on a shelf by the exit door, two slots unoccupied. The stars twinkled down at them, shining through the glass ceiling of the now repurposed greenhouse in the early morning hours.

Steven shuffled the cards and began to deal them out when thunder rolled over Mercy Island. Steve paused and locked eyes with Mikayla.

 

"What's the forecast for tonight, Mikayla?"

 

"Supposed to be clear."

 

Four eyes widened. Two heads turned skyward to spot a burnt orange speck in the sky. Mikayla grabbed the binoculars on the table and peered through them as Steve bolted upright, spilling over the chair and dove towards a red button sitting on a nearby desk, but not before tripping over the loose cabling strewn about the floor.

"It's him!" Mikayla blurted as she lowered the binoculars. "IT'S HIM!!" As the burnt orange comet screamed overhead. The sonic boom shattered the glass of the greenhouse, showering the two security guards in glass, followed by a wave of almost unbearable heat that carried with it a single word, like a whisper shouted in the dark.

 

"RUN!"

 

And so they did, out the exit and down the spiral staircase to the second floor, out into the hallway where they called for the men and women working overnight setting up offices and secondary labs to evacuate. In all eleven people made it down the stairwells and out the emergency exit by the time The Legendary Living Helfire had come around for another pass. Three workers would go unaccounted for in the aftermath, never to be found.

 

He watched them flee out the side entrance as he made his final approach on his second run. Holding out his hands in front of him he summoned twin cones of Hellfire that draped themselves across the roof of the building. Aluminum evaporated and steel support girders liquified almost immediately, collapsing the roof down onto the second floor. His strafing run complete, he climbed into the sky, soaring above the city. The cool, early morning air giving an extra snap to the flames in his wake as he rose upwards, banking left before coming to a stop. He hung in the air hundreds of feet above the sea of low-rise buildings, arms folded across his chest and watched the progress of his efforts.

 

The fires capered and danced malevolently, devouring all matter organic and inorganic. He watched as it jumped from surface to surface as it communicated with itself, making decisions, like a predator deciding what part of its prey to consume next. It gleefully chewed through the flooring of the second storey, sending the remains crashing down onto the first before finally guttering out with the exception of a handful of stubborn spot-fires that danced in the dark.

 

Down through the wreckage he floated, almost reluctantly, dreading what he would find. He would not be disappointed. It was a horror show of experimental cruelty. Stations were set up to dissect and vivisect these poor, unwanted creatures. Limbs and extremities, scattered by the destruction of his entrance were strewn about the enormous, hastily assembled laboratory and along every wall were stasis tanks filled with fluid containing massive, mutated Arachnoids. Most of the tanks had been consumed or otherwise damaged beyond repair by voracious Hellfire but a a few remained relatively unharmed.

 

He approached one of the tanks that were still intact and inspected the monstrosity within and The Angel grew wroth. He clenched his jaw in anger. These poor creatures, products or even descendants of Recluse's avarice and cruelty, granted not mercy but a second chance at torture as they were mutated even further. Changed forever from the mortals they had been or could have been into these... things. Recaptured and subjected to even more agony and usury. Only peace remained for these poor souls.

 

He raised his hand and clenched his fist and the tank melted, sending the Arachnoid to wherever it needed to be in the hereafter. He repeated this for every tank left standing until his labour was finished and he paused, allowing the moment to pass over him when he heard the roar.

 

The monster came out of the dark, enormous and feral, larger than any Arachnoid he'd ever seen. It grabbed him out of the air, carrying him backwards, crashing down onto the floor. Uncaring of the blistering heat as its hands and appendages began to blacken with contact, the two combatants grappled as they slid across the laboratory floor before slamming into the corner of the room. The Legendary Living Hellfire tried with two hands to control four. Sharp appendages stabbed at him, mostly skittering off Infernite armour but occasionally finding flesh, punching holes in the Angel as they slid to a stop. There was a flash. A Celestial Blade and an amputated appendage and the mutated Arachnoid leapt away, with one fewer limb.

 

He got to one knee and coughed blood onto the melting floor beneath him before bearing down, inward, summoning Hellfire to cauterize his wounds. A helpful trick learned from his time in The Pits.

 

He climbed to his feet as the Arachnoid mutant stalked him. The Angel recognized this behaviour. The doubly mutated creature was unsure of its prey, having been not so easily defeated. It circled him, backing away from the foe that floated a few inches off the floor, closing the distance.

 

"Big boy, aren't ye?" He twisted the grip of his gladius in his right hand. "Alright, then, let's see what ye've got."

 

The thing charged and was met with hardened flaming projectiles that struck with just enough force to send it staggering off course, sending it careening into the wreckage of a shattered stasis tank. It fumbled and thrashed for a moment, freeing itself from the corpse of its kin before regaining its feet.

 

"Aye, I've got ye now." The thing charged again and The Legendary Living Hellfire moved through time and space, meeting the creature half-way, driving all three feet of Lightfire through the chest of the monster. It thrashed and struggled, first lashing out and then frantically attempting to get free but it was too late. A black circle widened around the Celestial Blade's point of entry and the Arachnoid cooked from the inside. Its head lolled back on its neck as it burnt to ash, leaving nothing but a cloud of blackened flakes that floated into the updraft.

 

"Arh.... Godsdammit." Muttered The Legendary Living Hellfire as he wiped blood from his mouth. His ribs ached and he checked beneath his armour to find still seeping wounds. He would need a moment to recover, but he wouldn't get it.

 

"Mr. McRae" A voice in his mind, fractured but clear. "Mr. McRae, this is Specialist Paulson with Longbow."

 

The Angel sighed as he rose up through the carnage and into the clear night sky. "Hello, Specialist Paulson, why are ye invadin' me noggin'?"

 

"I'm sorry, Mr. McRae, but we need your help. One element of the infiltration team sent to Dr. Aeon's lab has made it out successfully, but the second element has come under heavy enemy fire and has lost their transport specialist."

 

"The teleporter?"

 

"Yes, exactly. They need you, Mr. McRae. They won't make it out without you. You're the only one that can help them now."

 

He turned East, towards Cap au Diable and breathed slowly.

 

"Mr. McRae?"

 

"I'm on me way"

 

A blazing trail of burnt orange flame scorched its way across the early morning sky.

Edited Monday at 09:50 PM by Living_Hellfire