Alex's heart pounds wildly as the creature's molten eyes leer at him. All his survival instincts tell him to run, but his limbs are like lead, and his body is trembling from pain and exhaustion. At best, he can crawl. He's like a ragdoll, waiting to be torn apart by a vicious dog.
The creature is still shrouded in a cloud of dust, but Alex can make out its silhouette.
Four animalistic legs ending in large, clawed paws support a muscular body. A long, slender tail cuts through the air, with drops of glowing, orange-red liquid falling from its tip. A large, strong neck flows into a lean, predatorial head, like a big cat's. Parts of its body glow like molten rock and pierce through the veil of dust, such as the tip of its tail, the inside of its snarling mouth, and a large gash in its flank. But none are as piercing as its eyes.
Its eyes are like two pools of pure molten steel condensed into orbs. They seem to flow and shift as the creature looks at Alex, as though the molten metal is still flowing, and they radiate heat like two miniature suns.
The two molten orbs curve upwards as the creature lets out a horrendous laugh. Then it draws back into the smoke, and a few seconds later, a loud scraping sound approaches and a heavily rusted steel beam slides across the concrete, bumping lightly into Alex's leg.
The movements of the creature have cleared away a portion of the dust, so Alex can see a bit better now.
In this clearer environment, Alex struggles to lift his head and can't help but notice that the beam is unusually short, only around half the length it's supposed to be. Shifting his gaze to the beam's end, Alex can see that it's warped and twisted; the steel is solid but looks like it once flowed like water. It had been melted through.
The creature's mocking eyes reappear, and its metallic laughter gets louder and louder, reverberating all around Alex. The creature's laughter is ecstatic and unrestrained, as though it had just heard the funniest joke in the world and can't hold itself back.
Alex stares at the melted beam for a few moments, a litany of realizations and emotions swirling around in his head. The creature's laughter is overwhelming and mocking, surrounding Alex and penetrating his mind.
It broke the supports. I should have realized the fall wasn't natural. Ah, I was too panicked to realize. Alex doesn't move for several seconds, before lowering his head back to the ground. He takes a deep breath and listens to the creature's laughter, then he suddenly starts laughing too. He laughs loud and hard, without restraint or dignity, matching and then surpassing the creature's unnatural mockery.
The creature's laughing abruptly stops as Alex catches it off guard, but Alex doesn't stop. He laughs harder and harder, straining his throat and hurting his chest. He laughs so hard that the dust he's inhaled scrapes his throat and comes out in violent coughs. He laughs so hard that those raw scrapes rupture and blood leaks out. He laughs so hard that the blood mixes with his saliva and flies out of his mouth, wetting the ground.
"All this! Just for me! I'm honored!"
Indignance, hatred, and sheer overwhelming disbelief all mix within him as Alex laughs at the creature. It's baffling that it would go all this way just to kill him. Just what makes him so fascinating that it's willing to knock over a tower just to kill him? What's so interesting that it's willing to fight Silas and chase after Alex all night, just to end his life? It's such a mystery!
To think that it did all this just to kill him! Maybe it's the exhaustion from being chased all night, maybe it's the pain from being burnt and beaten over and over again, or maybe it's the shock from this latest catastrophe, but Alex just can't make sense of it!
Maybe that's why the creature's mocking him?
Well, Alex will mock it back! When there's nothing else to do, just laugh! His hatred for the creature, his disbelief at its actions, and his confusion over what exactly it is all swirl and merge into an uproarious, mocking laughter.
The creature, still hidden in the dust clouds, growls menacingly.
"You pathetic wretch! You're hiding yourself even now! All that power, but you're still a coward! Too afraid to leave the dust!?"
Alex will not let the creature have the last laugh; that would be his greatest defeat. He's well aware of his situation, he's too injured to escape, and the creature is way too bloodlusted to let him try. At this moment, his death is the only certain thing in the universe. So, he will laugh even as the creature boils his blood and burns his flesh! His jeers will continue until his lungs are destroyed and his throat is crushed, because Alex will not let it win! He will have the last laugh no matter what!
"Come on! Kill me already! Are you such a coward you won't attack me directly!?"
The creature snarls, dripping with fury. It cannot understand Alex's words, but it can intuit his mockery, and it fills it with hate. This is not the conclusion it wants; this is not the satisfying end it needs.
But that is the frustrating truth of life: almost nothing goes perfectly. If the toy will not scream, then the creature can only get rid of it and find a new one.
The creature steps forward with its large, metallic claws scraping against the ground. One step, two steps, three steps, slowly moving forward. Alex can finally see the creature's full body, but only laughs harder.
"Well, look at you! And here I thought you'd be cute!"
The creature is like a wildcat that was entombed in iron. Large scraps of iron and steel cover its lean body. Some scraps look like partially melted steel beams, while others resemble pure iron ore, uncut and unsmelted. These scraps are numerous and vary in shape and size, covering the creature's entire panther-like body.
From small cracks between the scraps, and a large gash that's torn through the creature's side, flowing molten rock can be seen. It flows and sizzles within the metal, radiating heat but never melting through or leaking out. It's as though the panther's true body is an amorphous mix of molten earth, with the metal shell giving it both protection and form.
The tip of its tail is lacking metal, revealing a molten tip that drips red-hot liquid onto the ground, each drop sizzling on the concrete. On its paws, large, blade-like claws scrape against the ground and create sparks. Its cat-like head is covered with much smaller scraps, giving it more menacing detail and expression.
The creature takes one last step and stands over Alex's body, its sternum inches above his. At such a close distance, Alex can feel the extreme heat radiating off the panther's metal shell. It feels like he could catch fire at any moment.
The steel panther stares down at Alex, meeting his emerald eyes with its molten ones, and raises its upper lip in a low snarl. Alex doesn't let this perturb him and keeps laughing, his spittle landing and sizzling on the creature's face.
"Are you gonna just stand there!? Take a bite! I'm sure I taste great!"
The panther's snarl intensifies, and it opens its maw wide. Its long, bladelike teeth glow in the molten light of its throat. It can take off half of Alex's head in a single bite, and that's exactly what it plans to do.
The panther lowers its head, its teeth mere inches from Alex's skull.
Suddenly, a loud woosh whistles through the air, and a small, silver blur slams into the panther's side!
The panther yelps as a large metal spike pierces through its metal shell and impales deep into its molten core. The Impact knocks it off balance and jumps off Alex in order not to fall over.
Alex is stunned into silence, his constant laughing halting in an instant. It's a shocking thing to expect to die one moment, only to be given hope the next. But before he can even start processing what's happened, the creature growls menacingly into the cloud of dust. It immediately ignores Alex and instead jumps over him to run towards a shadow in the dust.
A moment later, the shadow vanishes as though it disappeared into thin air. The panther roars in rage and irritation, and swivels around, but it's too late.
Alex feels a strong hand grab his shoulder, and Silas's familiar voice enters his ears. "Thanks for laughing, helped me find you." Alex is too surprised to respond, and even if he could, he wouldn't have time.
Silas tightens his grip on Alex's shoulder and violently tosses him back with unnatural strength. Alex is sent tumbling across the ground, sliding and rolling like a ragdoll, getting bruised and beaten in the process. After a few moments, he finally stops and lies curled up on the ground, aching all over.
In truth, he would like nothing more than to stay like that and fall asleep. But that's not an option. Silas had given him an opportunity to survive, and he'll be damned if he's not going to take it!
Alex trembles as he uses his lead limbs to turn over face down. Every action takes immense willpower, and every movement brings extreme pain. Despite this, he slowly raises himself to all fours on the dirt.
Dirt?
Alex's breath hitches, and he almost stumbles down again. He had been so dazed before that he didn't even notice, but the concrete beneath him is gone. With great effort, he raises his head and looks around. Beneath him is a long strip of grass, to his right is a long, concrete sidewalk, illuminated by intermittent streetlights, and to his left is a large body of water flowing in one direction: the Missouri River.
Alex can't help but mutter. "What the hell is going on?"
Right in front of him is a directional sign meant for tourists, a different location branded on each arrow. Alex's pupils shrink to pinpoints as he reads it. "Rye Stadium - 12 Miles, Harrow Bridge - 4 Miles, Layered Technologies Tower - 5 Miles"
Somehow, within a few seconds, he's moved from Northern Rifield to Southern Rifield.