A branch behind me snapped. I popped to my feet, the shank of venison I had been eating still in hand but forgotten as I activated Two’s power and swept the area. There. It was unexpected that I would be found out here. More unexpected that a creature, a man-lizard, would be the one to do so. [Rotlimb: The fuck is that thing?!] [Edict: Oh!! Oh oh oh…]

“Good,” The creature lisped, the word stretched thin like it had been scraped with sandpaper. I rose to a stand and turned in place, matching its pace as it circled around the clearing. The slits of its reptilian eyes shifted with each of my movements. I suspected it was examining me, but it was difficult to tell, given its strange anatomy and the limited light from my campfire in the moonless woods. A grating sound like a clicking purr escaped it, a trifurcated tongue sliding over its lips. “I would hate for this to be a boring kill.” [Belial: Confident. Is it earned, though?] [Butcher: Whatever it is, it better kill Twelve.] [Footloose: Yooo, that tongue.]

“You will find I am not easy to kill. And killing me comes with consequences.” [Toro: Fucking right? This outdoorsy shit is the worst.] [Footloose: A tongue like that is practically built for cunnilingus!]

“I’m counting on it.” [Caterpillar: Interesting.] [Alchemist: Of course.] [Rotlimb: Eugh!]

Not a chance encounter then. I continued to match the slow, circular pacing of my attacker. It had a scaled hide, likely quite durable. Large teeth and claws as well. Potentially dangerous in close combat, and likely a parahuman. “You’ve hunted me specifically. You know who I am.” [Caterpillar: It is fitting, I think, that the hunter should be hunted.] [Alchemist: Of course the one four-syllable word Footloose knows is cunnilingus.] [Rotlimb: Why would you put that image in my head?!]

“Diamondback. The twelfth Butcher.” The creature paused its pacing. The tilt of its head with its eyes made its assessment more obvious than before. “The Teeth called you a coward, but you’re no coward. Tell me, Diamondback, why is it that a woman as strong as you, a woman who feels no fear—no pain—hides in the countryside?” [DZ: You’ve gone and done it now, Alch…] [Footloose: Wha—! I know loads of four syllable words!] [Rotlimb: Gonna need to fucking bleach my brain…]

I considered whether to reply. Giving this beast more information might arm it in ways I couldn’t foresee, but there was a possibility it might stand down as well. On balance, the latter seemed more probable. Enough to act. “Survival is what matters. To stay would have given me unreliable manpower and a target on my back. Out here, I have everything I need.” [Toro: I actually agree with Three. The world is ending.] [Footloose: Masturbation…]

Another clicking purr. “Survival. Yes. Yes, I see it now. Sturdy but weak. You could have been overcome. Unacceptable!” [Butcher: Six.] [Footloose: Bisexual…]

It stepped forward. I lashed out with One’s and Nine’s powers, striking it with pain and overwhelming fear. The creature snarled sibilantly, then my nerves burned as the beast surged forward fast enough it kicked up a spray of dirt. Three’s—? [Footloose: Motorboating…] [Klaus: Foot, please don’t…] My surety cost me; no time to dodge. Forced to risk igniting the trees, I teleported past it to the edge of the clearing. The lizard-man was ungainly in aborting its leap, more dirt flying as it sank claws into the earth to bring itself to a halt. [Footloose: Sexercism…] [Alchemist: You think you disprove my point, yet you strengthen it.]

“So you made others’ strength your own! I see you now, Diamondback!”

I only knew the feeling of Three’s power from inherited memory. My power was my durability, and this creature was one of the only beings I had ever met strong enough to overcome it. Was that strength also the source of its speed? That would explain its fast movement but seeming lack of enhanced reflexes. My suspicion was vindicated when the creature proceeded to rip a tree easily forty feet high and perhaps four feet in diameter from the soil. [Footloose: Missionary… but ew.] [Rotlimb: Sexer—?! That is not a fucking word!] The creature took a sweeping swing with its impromptu weapon, and I began to dodge back and away, just out of reach. I realized my error when the dirt caked roots whipped around towards me a moment later. The creature hadn’t merely used the tree as a bat; it had thrown it. [Footloose: It absolutely is! Oh hey, there’s another one!] [Klaus: A ‘fucking’ word…]

“You took their strength, but I will have your skin!!”

No warning from Three’s power, but with my line of sight blocked, I teleported into the sky over the clearing, far above the treeline. A chance to reassess from a vantage point. Except… [Alchemist: Yes, bravo, bravo, Footloose. You’ve certainly shown me.] [Toro: And now I’m agreeing with Six…? Ugh.] [DZ: Please no puns…]

Gone. My attacker had vanished into the trees. I had expected such a Brute would be the type to attack until put down. The creature defied my expectations at every turn. [Footloose: Expectation! Aaaa, I said it first! Fiiirst!] [Toro: Sexercism is where you fuck someone to get over someone else.]

I didn’t bother teleporting again, instead letting myself strike the ground at speed. Better to leave a minor crater than to risk more explosions. [Footloose: Teleporting! Tel-e-por-ting!!] [Rotlimb: I hate that I know this now.] [Edict: Would you all just please… please stop.]

I walked up the impact site and settled into an erratic sweeping pattern with Two’s power, waiting for the beast to strike while leaving no pattern to abuse. Minutes passed while I reviewed what I knew of the creature. Reptilian—Case 53? Strong, enough to overcome my durability and make Three’s power warn me. Normal reflexes. Unaffected by fear induced from Nine’s power but not pain from One’s. [Toro: How about you fucking make me stop, you butterface shitstain!] [Caterpillar: How does it feel, Twelve? To be hunted solely for the power your death brings?]

Tedious.

Minutes turned to hours. The campfire guttered out long before another attack came.