Menace #28: The Heroes and the Beasts
There are many lakes throughout the Wharton State Forest, some woven amongst each other, others isolated within respective plots of land. One lake in particular — a lake dubbed “The Black Marsh” by the Menace — stood nearly ten acres from the cube. It’s water is a mixture of dead swamp and pollution; nothing in the water moves or lives. In the dim moonlight when Nate first discovered the lake, the murky water looked thick enough to be dirt. It was black and unmoving. The trees surrounding the lake formed a thick wall around it, making it hard to stumble upon, but easy to find upon multiple sightings. The ground around the lake was soft, as if there was little distinction between the lake and the surrounding grass.
The Mutation stood waist deep in the black water, firmly holding the hair of the Tiger, forcing its face into the water as it attempted to scramble out of his metal clutch. As he held the beast underwater, he noted that he’d never seen the lake so startled, that the stillness of the lake had seemingly never been broken before his eyes. The Tiger let out a desperate roar as it continued to flail. He wasn’t sure he liked the water so rustled. The putrid smell of the lake was not going to leave him anytime soon. The Tiger stopped howling, the water stopped moving. He hoisted the beast from the lake, climbing out after him. He reached down to grab the amulet hanging from the Beast-man’s neck, only to find another hand had already been planted there.
His eyes moved up to focus on whomever it was, but the person had vanished, leaving the Mutation standing above a naked, normal man.
There are many streets weaving through the downtown district of New Monmouth City. Certain streets are unruly, with sidewalks that are cracked and blackened, and roads too porous to drive. Others are kept in fairly good condition, with new homes, shops, and restaurants lining the streets, ready to serve. It was the latter kind that Lionheart decided to haphazardly run down while being chased by the Dragon.
The new, practically freshly cemented sidewalk now ripped and torn by the fiery claws of the Dragon-woman, trampling swiftly after the running man. She had learned her lesson about taking to the skies around the man — his sonic shouts could topple her to the ground — so she began to pursue on foot, letting loose a bolt of fire every so often in attempts to destroy the yellow-maned man. Finally, a bolt of fire shot from her mouth that singed Lionheart’s shoulder, and he fell to the ground. The creature approached him slowly, savoring in the juicy sounds of his whimpers and tears. He turned to face the beast as she towered over him and let loose one last piercing shout directly into the face of the Dragon. Her claws rushed to her elongated ears as she began to roar back directly into his face, causing him to scream in terror, halting his powers. The beast huffed smoke from her nose as her mouth watered.
As she reared to deliver the final blow, Lionheart heard the voice of a man beside him, reaching out and touching the beast. “Now, now,” the man said, “it’s time we get back to work.” Lionheart chanced to open his eyes, but there was nothing to see, except a destroyed, boiling road before him.
“There are many fields, which one do I need to go to, Caff?” Nate asked into his phone as the crowd that had amassed around the town square began to dissipate.
“I don’t know, whichever one to which Earshot went,” he responded. “From what Mutt and Lionheart tell me, he’s just going for the amulets.”
“I’m on my way,” Nate sighed, and began running towards the South side of the city, towards the old farmland. “Every wonder why Earshot doesn’t turn into a bunny when she wears the amulet?” He asked as he weaved among the city streets, rubbing his sore arms as he did.
“How do you know she doesn’t take on rabbit-like features? She’s always covered head to toe,” Caffeine responded, spinning in his chair at town hall.
“Fair point,” Nate conceded. “So, tell me, what do you do all night when everyone else is asleep?”
“Mostly research,” he said. “With all the magic and aliens in the world these days, you’d think someone would have already written a collection of all we know. Turns out, no one has. So I do lots of that, mostly. Exercise sometimes. There’s a great all night diner on the corner of Broad and Main, they know me pretty well. Are you almost there?” He asked.
“I think so… Believe it or not, I don’t frequently visit the fields. No one does. Fuck knows why Earshot led Pygmalion and Galatea there,” Nate complained.
“Rabbits like fields, I think,” Caffeine responded, and Nate had to crack a smile. He slammed to a halt as his foot caught on a ridge in the soil of a field, and almost fell onto his hands. He looked up, his goggles covering his eyes, and squinted, turning his head to try and see the entire landscape. Far across the flat plains he saw the outline of a Rabbit-girl kick the head of off a giant woman. He began to spring towards her as she approached the man cowering behind the headless woman.
As he grew near, he saw Vanish appear behind her, his hand against her neck. He tore a piece of her white rabbit costume, revealing a golden amulet embedded with a large purple stone. His hand reached for the amulet, but was surprised to find Menace’s hand had beat him too it. Their hands lay atop one another now, their eyes met, and the field around them began to vanish.