THE VROL TRILOGY (83 page)

A few kilometers to the northeast, the
mutated human known as Kylen walked into a filthy little
storefront, startling the owner with his perverse appearance. He
was a unique being, and if someone had never seen him before then
they would most certainly be frightened out of their wits. Even in
a world of Vrol and other odd hominids, Kylen was terrifying. His
six legs were scary enough, but it was the mouth in his abdomen
that was truly disturbing.

The obscene creature looked at the
small storeowner - a normal named Bob (as could be discerned by the
ramshackle sign above the entrance, which said
Bob's Shop
), who had some ancient (and most
probably expired) canned goods on his shelves, along with some
dried meats in large glass jars. Kylen approached Bob and looked at
him with a curious expression, almost as if he were reading the
man's mind, which he was not. He was analyzing the weak human - as
he did with all of his prey, which was virtually everyone he
met.

"I seek someone - someone who has… abilities.
His name is Max. He is like an evil lycan, but looks like a man and
apparently has mage powers. Do you know of him?" asked Kylen, with
a slightly metallic twang to his voice.

Bob just stood frozen in place and stammered
out nonsensical syllables. He had no idea what was to come
next.

Unfortunately, he was on the menu.

Fortunately, he didn't feel a thing.

In a lightning-flash of nearly indiscernible
movement, Bob's head was severed and rammed into Kylen's abdominal
mouth. A local girl happened to walk into the store just moments
later, seeing Kylen slowly skittering in circles on all six
insect-like legs, head leaned back, his long, razor-sharp,
prehensile tongue slashing wildly through the air, as his abdominal
mouth savagely chomped on what was by then an unrecognizable human
head. Bob's decapitated corpse was on the ground, involuntarily
twitching and jerking, as blood spurted out of a massive, gaping
hole where his neck was previously connected. The girl was lucky -
she didn't make a sound and slowly backed out and then ran
away.

Not having noticed the human witness, Kylen
emitted what one could consider a belch, except for the fact that
he didn't possess a small esophageal passageway through which the
stomach would force a large amount of gas - it was a very wide,
utilitarian digestive tube, and it merely emitted the sound of a
large amount of air rushing through a tunnel, of course followed by
a horrendous smell. The scent was that of death - puke, rotting
meat and ammonia. Kylen was not bothered by it, as it was his
scent, and most are immune to the stench of their own gasses.

Waddling out into the street, the creature
headed to the west - intent on finding his target.

"Pandy, are you sure you didn't kill Marko? I
gave you some power tools for defense, not for abuse."

"He was breathing when I left him, Max. Sorry
- maybe I was a bit tough on him, but he has been a total jerk for
a looooong time," responded the youngest member of Feral.

"But hun, we need to be kind too," said
Jessica.

"Okay, I'll mellow out on him from now on.
It's just so hard not hammering him, especially after everything
he's done, especially to you, Jessie," stated Pandy without
considering her best friend's feelings.

"Pandy, shhhh. Please, let's not-"

"Hey, what do you mean, Pandy? Jess, what's
he done to you?"

"No big deal. It was a long time ago, before
Dons or Pandy were even born, so just drop it, okay?"

"
Jessica, what
did Marko do to you
?" Max thought to
Jessica.

"
Huh? What the
heck? How are you doing this? Can you read my
mind
?"

"
Only if you
speak to me directly, my friend
,"

"
Max how do
you do this? And why didn't you ever do it
before
?"

"
It's not me -
it's your bracelet. I added a little feature enabling all of you to
communicate with each other, but without speaking."

"
Dons! Pandy!
Can you hear this
?"

"
Jessica, they
can't hear us right now, as I made our conversation private - it is
one of my… talents. So, quickly, what did Marko do to you that has
garnered so much resentment
?"

"
Maaaax, I
really don't want to say… it's been a long time
now
."

"
Jess, have I
not treated you well and proven to be a good friend? I don't mean
to pry, but this could change the dynamics of how I deal with Marko
and his clan."

Jessica sighed and hung her head low. Looking
over to her friends, who apparently somehow understood that Jessica
and Max were communicating telepathically, she looked back and Max
and audibly stated, "Marko is my ex. He beat me up after an
argument. He beat me and then left me for dead. Later, he found
that I had given birth to his son, and he stole the boy from me and
again beat me severely. I hid out for a number of years, but then I
met Dons and Pandy and we became family. So, that's it.
Satisfied?"

Jessica had tears streaming down her face,
and Max instantly felt regret for having pushed so hard for an
answer. He looked over and saw Dons and Pandy, who were both
wearing relatively sad expressions.

"I'm so sorry, Jessica. Wow, that has to be
tough. But can I ask, what became of your son?"

"Marko, being the total dumbass he is,
allowed the demons to take him," she responded, her look becoming
even more forlorn.

"Heya Jess, you know we're all sad for that,
but we found each other, right?" asked Dons

"Yeah, I know, but it still doesn't hurt
every time I see that prick."

"I have a big - no, a huge problem with
domestic violence, Jessica. I think I've just changed my mind on
the
use of force accords
on
your bracelets," said Max, conveying ample amounts of hostility in
his voice.

The alien mage had put limitations on the
girls' bracelets, as well as Dons' sword, and even more so on
Adam's wand, but he started to reconsider, not having had previous
knowledge of Jessica's predicament. He had beaten Marko once, and
then felt badly for him, believing the lycan to simply be a product
of his environment, but his change of heart was immediate and
savage.

Bolting up and flying outside (literally
flying), Max collided with Marko as the lycan leader had just
started to collect himself after his thrashing by Pandy.

"Slimeball! You beat her up? What kind of a
beast are you? Where I'm from lycans are heroes and help the weak.
Here, you're all opportunistic parasites, and I swear I will
eradicate you and anyone like you before I leave!" screamed Max, as
he flew through the air with a startled Marko in his grip.

"Put me down, or else I'll…"

"You'll what, ass-hat!!? You are nothing!
You're a weak bully who pushes everyone around. You are done! If I
could perform a 3D slip I'd have your ass parked in Siberia."

"Leave me be, freak. I have no more business
with you," the annoying lycan growled.

"I'll make sure you never, ever abuse anyone
else again, Marko. My biggest mistake was even letting you live
when we first met."

"You never had a choice, asshole. I'm too
strong for you and you know it."

Max realized that Marko was dealing in a
different kind of reality. He was so far disconnected from rational
thought that he would simply mutter braggadocian claims, justifying
his actions. But Max couldn't let him get away with his abuses.
Putting out his hand, he pointed it at the lycan, closing and then
twisting his fist slightly as Marko gained an extremely
uncomfortable look. Drawing his fist tight and pulling it inwards,
he saw Marko's face protrude forward as it appeared that Max was
disassembling the lycan bit by bit.

Marko emitted a scream, but tried to
instantly muffle it with his hand. It was obvious he was feeling
pain, and not simply discomfort. But Max was again filled with
remorse and was not able to take a life. It was easy with Sally;
she had tried to murder him. Marko, however, had no such desires or
abilities, and for all Max knew he and Jessica had previously
maintained a relationship.

"Marko, you have to leave these people alone.
Otherwise it will end in your death," pleaded the alien. "I am
ordering you, from one lycan to another."

"I'll die before I cooperate with you, freak.
You're no lycan. I saw what you turn into."

Max had two choices - kill him or walk away.
He threw Marko down and then walked off, fully expecting his enemy
to attack while his back was to him, but to his surprise nothing
happened. Wondering why Marko didn't take advantage, he casually
turned back in time to see the lycan in the grip of something
absolutely horrifying and evil.

Kylen had arrived, and he was hungry.

All six insect-like legs were fully extended,
bringing Kylen's height to near three meters, as he held Marko by
the throat, the lycan's feet a good meter off the ground.

"I seek the one called Max Gunnarsson.
Identify him and you shall live," Kylen rasped with his
odd-sounding metallic voice.

But curiously, Marko didn't make an attempt
to point out Max. What he did do was completely uncharacteristic of
the annoyingly rude lycan - he displayed his middle finger to
Kylen, which in turn prompted the odd mutated being to toss Marko
away as if he were a rag doll.

Max made sure there was plenty of room for
tactical movement, and then identified himself to Kylen as a crowd
started to gather.

"I am Max Gunnarsson. Why do you seek
me?"

"Nothing personal. I was hired to kill
you."

"By whom? I mean, I know I have the capacity
to piss some people off, but for the most part I'm a groovy guy,"
responded Max.

"I do not generally reveal the names of my
clients, but he was a lycan up near Saugus who claimed you
slaughtered his clan and drank the blood of his children."

"Miles? That loser? I drank the blood of his
children? Seriously? He had no children, and I left them alone
because his wife's pregnant."

"It does not matter. I have been paid to
perform a task, and I mean to complete it."

Max looked at the creature, trying to figure
out an angle, in case he suddenly rushed him. He had six legs, and
they appeared to move quite quickly. He also seemed to have a good
deal of upper body strength, and he would need to disable the
being's motor skills quickly in case words failed.

"Look, something happened to me and I ended
up at Lykanrol's camp. They invited me to go on a raid, and when we
went they wantonly slaughtered innocent people - a mixture of
lycans, normal, nekos and vampires, all living together peacefully.
They murdered children. I was horrified by their actions, so I
helped as many of the campers as I could, and then knocked Miles'
clan mates unconscious and took them all back to their own camp.
Then a couple of his subordinates lit me on fire and tried to kill
me, so I…"

"Lies! All lies! If they had lit you on fire
you would have scars!"

"Um, no, not really. You see, I have healing
abilities and…"

"Now you must die, Max Gunnarsson," said
Kylen, as he quickly moved in Max's direction. However, he had no
idea that Max was a truly powerful mage - he had just assumed him
to be a minor-mage, as Miles really wasn't intelligent enough to
provide an accurate description of Max's abilities, especially as
he had embellished the story of Max's massacre so much.

Max immediately shot up 10 meters in the air,
and stood on an invisible platform as he looked down at the odd
creature.

"Come on up, if you can, creature. I haven't
the time to mess around with you. If you intend on killing me then
I won't even bother explaining to you how Miles is an idiot and a
liar. I value my own life far too much."

The crowd that had gathered was keeping a
good distance

"I shall wait here and simply pursue you as
it fits my needs. Maybe you will be interested to know that I have
no emotions, morals nor scruples and I only seek to kill you. It is
nothing personal, as I said before. Surrender your life or I shall
begin to kill… someone from this crowd."

Max looked down in horror as Kylen scanned
the crowd, and ejecting his long, prehensile tongue, grabbed a
young, brown neko. It wasn't a fraction of a second before he was
chewing on her severed head. Nearly everyone in the crowd started
to scream and run away, as Kylen lashed his tongue out more, trying
to reach another victim. Max dropped to the ground, horrified that
someone - something would be so brutal and vicious.

Quickly darting over to where Marko lay,
still unconscious from his treatment at the hands of Kylen, Max
picked up the lycan and shot over to the entrance to the bar,
handing him to Dons and Jessica, who had been watching the whole
scenario.

"Get him inside. I'm ending this
quickly."

Max turned around and pushed his hands out
and then apart, forcing the crowd away even further from Kylen,
whom he then approached.

"You just killed an innocent child, creature.
Identify yourself."

"I am called Kylen, though it matters not, as
you are now going to-"

Kylen was going to say
die
, but his body exploded into
chunks of flesh and shards of bone before he could utter the word.
Max gave him no opportunity to cause further damage. The crowd
stared, shocked at the effectiveness in which Max destroyed the
creature. Walking over to the creature's remains, he picked up the
nearly intact head, looking at it curiously. Conjuring a burlap
bag, he placed the head inside and walked into the bar, setting it
on a table. He then went back out to console the family of the
slain neko girl. They weren't strangers to death, but this was
truly tragic; Max had yet again hesitated, costing someone their
life in the process.