MAYHEM ON EARTH

Chapter 42: Behemoth

Standing at fifty-one storeys tall, it was indeed a behemoth. It had black skin similar to that of a human, but thicker than blubber. Its eyeballs were completely black as well, and so was its oddly-shaped hair. It had a humanoid appearance, but it clearly hadn’t been a human. Like breaking out of an egg, it had exploded through massive buildings as it was born, and their rubble now littered the ground around it. A chill spread throughout the city. The sounds of destruction and thousands of people screaming filled the air. Marking its birth by the instant decimation of the entire area, ‘it’ sat in the middle of the remains in silence like a king in his newly-conquered land:

Steve.

Among the rubble were some other, similar, but smaller creatures—these ones formerly humans. Due to the potency of the new Blucteryhem, any human that had contacted Steve had mutated as well. They were now mindless monsters, fortunately confined under rubble that kept the normal humans somewhat safe from them for now.

General Rein had realized that this would happen during the moments he was running toward Steve. To keep himself and Drake from mutating, he carried him, jumped out of the balcony, and flew as far and fast as possible with his jetpack as the transformation had taken place. They roughly landed on the terrace of a partly-destroyed building.

Now, Rein watched the scene before him.

Dang it! How could I let this happen? If only I had been a little faster! If I had a gun, I could have shot him, but the security at the Smummr earlier was tight.

He couldn’t slice its head off while it had been transforming because if he’d made contact with Steve accidentally, he would transform too. It wasn’t that he was afraid of mutating. It was that he was afraid of causing Drake to mutate or die.

It had been a blunder putting Drake’s life first.

Drake coughed from the dust and got up. He took a good look at his surroundings—at the rubble, at the panicked civilians as they ran, and at the monster at the center of it all. The destruction reminded him of the Night of the Apocalypse.

“Wha—What happened…? How did it come to this?!?”

It had all happened so suddenly. They had been recruiting people to find out more about Dr. Lazzie and capture her, and they’d suddenly been informed that Steve was actually some sort of malicious alien. Then, they soon confronted him, and, due to improper communication, he’d been forced to mutate in a sort of suicide attempt—one that caused immeasurable damage in the process.

There was no time to assess the damage and help people, however. The Mayhem was in a seemingly dazed state, probably because it had just mutated. This was the best time to attack.

“You don’t have your equipment. Stay here. I’ll go find a way to kill that thing.” Rein was prepared to do anything to kill Steve, even if it meant he had to contact it and mutate himself.

He was about to fly off when Drake stopped him.

“Hold on, Rein. You can’t just kill him.”

“For the last time, that’s ‘General’ to you. And why not?”

“What do you mean, ‘why not’? He’s Steve!”

“And right now, it’s become a giant, man-eating monster within the Walls.”

Drake was taken aback. “Ah. Well… I get what you mean, but… you know… he’s Steve. We can’t just kill him. Maybe we can find some way to turn him back…”

Rein knew Drake and Steve had been close, so it was hard for him to accept the necessity of the situation.

“Enough of this. I know you may not like it, but I have to do this.”

Rein couldn’t afford to waste time convincing Drake. Every second wasted was one that resulted in more casualties and got closer to Steve beginning its rampage.

Before Rein could fly, Drake turned off his jetpack. Rein quickly swiveled and tried to push Drake away. Drake quickly backed away.

“Don’t interfere.”

Drake clenched his teeth and fists. “No. I can’t just stand by as you try to kill my friend.”

“You friend?” Rein tried to turn his jetpack back on. “Look at it, Drake. He’s one of the things that you’ve hated and killed for months! You should know its danger!”

“But this is different. He’s a person. A sentient being like us. There must be a good reason for why he did what he did. He’s not an enemy!”

Drake ran at Rein and grabbed his arms to stop him from turning it on.

“We can save him somehow…

“I know: Dr. Lazzie’s team was creating a cure to the Blucteryhem, right? They even showed a prototype for it last Smummr. We can try that!”

The General resisted and pushed Drake away; Drake was young, after all, and couldn’t compete in strength, especially against Rein.

“We can’t trust Lazzie. She could have ties to the aliens. Even if she doesn’t, the cure may not be complete. We must kill Steve as soon as possible, to reduce damages.” They couldn’t waste time on a gamble.

Rein drew his sword. Drake closed in once again and kicked the sword out of his right hand using his right leg.

Something’s wrong. That was too easy.

That was when Drake saw Rein’s other hand pulled back. The sword had been a lure. Rein’s arm rocketed forward. Drake instinctively leaned back to avoid it. He was now on one leg, with his body horizontal. As the sword clattered on the floor, Rein used his free right hand to grab onto Drake’s leg before it reached the floor.

It's just like that time with Arthur, Drake thought.

He put a hand on the floor to balance himself, picked up a chunk of cement from the floor nearby using his other, and hurled it toward Rein. Rein had to loosen his grip to avoid it, allowing Drake to escape his grasp.

Drake once again put some distance between them. He was aware of the difference in their abilities.

Rein, too, didn’t take his opponent lightly: he was aware of his training under Arthur. Typical Drake… The amount of guts he has to act against his superiors is always both surprising and annoying.

The two stared each other in the eyes.

Drake knew he couldn’t defeat the General, but he wanted to try anyway: the stakes were that important to him.

"Forget it, Drake. You've only known him for a few months. Why have so much persistence to save this one man? Is it worth the lives of the rest of Rencia?"

Why did Drake care so much?

In his childhood, he hadn’t had many friends. He'd mostly stick to himself and routinely daydream. It had been a boring life. But recently, he’d spent a lot of time with Steve, who’d helped him realize many things. He was one of the few Drake had left and he really didn't want to lose any more—not after everything he’d lost during the Apocalypse. He was tired of losing things close to him.

Not only was Steve important to him, but Drake wanted to prove to himself that all his training was worth it and he could protect his friends, especially after he’d failed to save Arthur despite it. He’d worked so hard. The effort couldn’t have been for nothing.

Drake felt a strange determination he hadn't ever felt before. It was as if everything that had happened to him since the Apocalypse had led to this pivotal stand, and its result would define and determine everything about him. At the moment, he could think not about the lives of the people in Rencia, nor the authority and strength of the General, nor the potential destruction Steve could cause, but could only listen to his desire—and that was to save his friend. And for that, he was ready to fight anyone that came in his way.

* * *

Drake closed the distance once again and tried to feign a punch. Rein was prepared and aimed a side kick to his waist. Drake lifted his knee to use his shin as a shield. The kick knocked him back, and the force made Drake stumble.

Rein used the opportunity and ran straight at him, bending low and aiming a punch at Drake’s liver. Drake put his arms out and grabbed onto Rein’s shoulders and hardened his abs to cushion the impact.

“Oof,” Drake winced at the punch to the abdomen.

The force pushed him back, but his grip on Rein prevented him from falling. He quickly tried to knee Rein. He knew a hit to the chin would shock him enough to buy some time. Rein used his arms to block the kick. They provided a counter-force preventing Drake from falling backward. Drake used one arm to elbow Rein, who tried to avoid it but got hit in the shoulder. Drake then used all his strength to push on Rein with his other arm, letting go. The two recoiled back.

Drake had less experience, less weight, and less quick thinking. No matter how one looked at it, he was severely disadvantaged. But here he was, holding his own against the General.

He once again ran toward the General. Normally, he would think of a strategy, but right now, he couldn’t think. He was being driven by instincts, and he felt great.

Drake punched. Rein dodged. Drake didn’t relent. He kept punching, pushing Rein back. Rein used his arms to block. Drake didn’t leave any room for Rein to kick.

What’s he planning? There’s no pattern to his moves, Rein thought.

He moved forward and tried to tackle Drake, wrapping his arms around him. Drake responded with a headbutt to the forehead. Both were dazed for a moment, but Drake’s body moved, knowing what it had to do. He tried to uppercut Rein. Rein slipped low just in time and did a low roundhouse kick. Drake jumped to avoid it.

What’s with him? Rein thought as he recovered. Does he not feel anything?

As Rein came around, he punched Drake in the chest with the back of his fist. He then got up and punched him hard in the stomach with his other arm.

Drake took a few steps back and coughed. He somehow still looked ready to fight. Rein was amazed at his willpower.

Rein ran at Drake and tackled him to the floor before he could react. Drake struggled. He gritted his teeth and yelled.

“I know you. you're the type that needs a beating to understand.”

Rein punched him in the face.

“Urg!”

The two had had a tense relationship recently, and it felt like it had reached its breaking point, where the frustration and emotions let loose.

“For a commander, a subordinate that follows orders is always better than a strong rebel. That’s why I was never a fan of you.”

Drake’s nose started bleeding.

Before Rein could throw another punch, he heard the familiar rumble of jetpacks. Behind him, the Defense Force appeared. They flew to the top of the building and landed where the fight was happening

Jord spoke. “Hold on, General. I don’t know what dispute you two got into, but Drake is just a kid…”

It was then that Rein realized he’d gone too far.

He sighed. “You’re right.”

He got off Drake and the soldiers separated the two and restrained Drake.

“Great. Now that you all are here, we can figure out how we’re going to deal with that thing. I won’t go into the details, but long story short, that Mayhem is Drake’s friend, Steve. He mutated himself using a more potent virus that mutates humans also—so don’t touch it. I’ll explain why after we take him down,” Rein briefed.

The soldiers murmured as they began to understand the situation. They’d seen the explosion and giant monster suddenly appear within the Walls and immediately equipped themselves at the Quarters and gathered there.

Although they had so much information to process, they still had the time to wonder how Drake had lasted so long against Rein.

Rein thought carefully about how to motivate the soldiers. “Although this situation seems more hopeless than the Gorilla incident because we can’t touch the enemy, which is now inside the Walls, and we’re low on ammo, we do have an advantage: the Exosuits.”

The Department of Technology and Weapons had recently unveiled its latest product: the Powered Exoskeleton Suit. It served as an extension to the jetpacks, even running on the same power source, and provided a metal frame going along the limbs of one’s body. It allowed one to use far greater strength than normal using pneumatics and mechanics and eliminated the burden of the jetpacks.

“Wait,” Drake started. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “General… You said that Steve is one of the things that I’ve hated and killed for months. I can understand why you’d be confused as to why I’m supporting him. I used to only care about killing Mayhems for Revenge. I only had hatred for them, and I acted only on that hate. But I’ve changed since then. I realize now, that I want to protect my friends, more than killing Mayhems…”

Drake looked Rein in the eyes. “Steve is one of those friends.”

Drake had realized just then that he needed a better method to stop Rein than brute force attacks or selfish reasoning. He recalled Steve’s advice on convincing people to do something by looking at their desires and objectives. Drake searched for reasons for Rein and the others not to kill Steve.

“I’m sorry for attacking you, but that was the only thing I could do at the moment. I want to talk.”

Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy. Not only was he out of character, but he was trying to talk from an unfavorable position after attacking the General.

“Listen. Steve could be worth a lot if we de-mutate and capture him. He is an important asset to humanity, as we’ve seen from his ideas and tactics. Further, he has knowledge about the aliens that’s crucial for understanding and protecting ourselves from our enemies. He can solve all the mysteries of the meteorite crash for us…”

Is he seriously doing this right now? Jord thought.

“…So, please give me a chance to talk to Dr. Lazzie’s team and see if they have a solution to the Blucteryhem.”

Everyone looked at Rein for a response.

Rein stood in thought. Drake’s words prompted him to remember a conversation he’d had with General Arthur during the Expedition:

Arthur had mentioned to him that he’d been training Drake. “That kid is interesting. Although I can’t speak for his leadership, he does have the potential to be a great motivation for humanity, as we’ve seen with the Gorilla incident. His ability to turn Mayhems from an object of fear to that of hate is also beneficial to the Defense Force, not to mention his fighting ability in battle.” A general had to have great instincts, and Arthur’s told him that Drake would be an important figure in humanity’s revolt.

“As for the leadership we currently have in Rencia,” Arthur sighed. “I’m worried. Straggler and Atkinson—those two having their childish fights may bring Rencia down.”

“Well… we can’t really do anything about it,” Rein responded.

“Can’t we? I’m not so sure about that anymore. Look at what Steve accomplished. He didn’t even have the Pass to enter the meeting and he somehow convinced a majority to take on this Expedition. I think he knew full well of the political implications of the proposition as well. If he’s patriotic enough to do something like that, well… we need more people like him among the Authorities.”

“So, you like him?”

“Yes… He did do his research on the SORS and thought of a plan seemingly on the spot for the Expedition and he’s taking the risk of joining us on this mission. He’s on Dr. Lazzie’s team, too. He does seem quite competent. I’m sure he will have a significant role in humanity’s future as well.

“Those two: Drake and Steve. We’ll need to watch over them well, and see how they change the world…”

And later, when he was about to get killed, the General said:

“…when I see someone like you, in the new generation, eager to fight our enemies, and Steve, who’s determined to help humanity at any cost or effort, it leaves me satisfied with how I’m leaving things…”

Rein had heard it clearly. It was to those two that the General had entrusted his legacy. He realized now, why he’d decided to save Drake earlier, rather than kill Steve. He’d put more value on Drake’s life than on those in the vicinity, and it was because he knew Arthur had been right. Drake and Steve were the future of humanity.

Finally, General Rein sighed and then spoke.

“Let him go.”