Michael entered the training room expecting a straight-up fight like the last three, but was sorely mistaken as gunfire ripped through his back from above. He coughed up a good amount of blood as the bullets tore through his lungs and out of his chest. Michael blinked away the pain as his regeneration kicked in and turned to face his assailant. His instructor, dressed in a loose-fitting black robe and bandana covering the top of his head, stood with several white bone-like protrusions spinning out from his feet and digging into the wall. Empty mags fell from two heavenly modified handguns. He pressed a button on their grip, and two metal rods, holding a full mag each, shot out from his robe.
“Give up Michael. This is your one and only chance,” he said slamming the guns into the extended arms reloading them.
Michael coughed up another handful of blood as his wounds finished closing. Wings sprouted from his back, and every inch of his body was covered in a rocky substance.
“Let me show you what I've learned this past year.” His pupils turned a shade of yellow and took on a predatory look. His feet changed next as his bones cracked and morphed, forming three talon-like claws. His arms changed next, feathers growing over his rocky skin as his nails grew into razor-sharp claws, and he grew almost 3 feet taller.
“Neat trick, but it will not save you.”
Michael exploded into motion and, with a single flap of his wings, shot toward his instructor. Impacting the wall where the man had been standing just a moment before. His fist passed straight through, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris as the building shook. Another hail of bullets slammed into his back as he freed himself from the wall. He let out a cry of pain as some found gaps in his armored skin, burrowing into his body and releasing a jolt of electricity. Grinding his teeth, he got back to his feet and charged the reloading instructor. Bone plating grew over the man's body in an attempt to defend himself. Michael slammed his overgrown fist into it, cracking it and continuing forward, sending him flying through a nearby wall.
“Lucky shot,” the man coughed out as Michael approached.
“Stay still and I’ll make this quick.”
His instructor let out a pained, wheezing laugh. “I’ve been killing since before you were even born. Men, women, children, guilty, innocent. It didn’t matter as long as I got paid.” He looked up at Michael with a haunted look in his eyes. “I don’t deserve a quick death, and soon neither will you.” The man pulled a grenade from under his robe and pulled the pin
Michael jumped back, covering his body with his hardened wings as the explosive went off. A spray of blood and viscera covered his body, and he had a vision of how to use the man’s powers.
“Useful,” he muttered as the ability to shape his bones into weapons and armor entered his arsenal.
“Holy fuck!” Tom shouted, walking through the massive hole in the wall. He flinched back as Michael turned toward him, staring with two yellow eyes that activated some deep instinctual fear.
They returned to their normal shape and shade less than a second later.
“So, am I ready?” Michael asked.
Tom composed himself and nodded. “Yeah, we can get started,” he said with a grin.
“Good.” Michael walked past him and back into the building. “Let’s get this done,” he said as his hands let off a slight tremble of anticipation.
Six hours later, three men walked around the warehouse that covered Raymond’s bunker carrying a medium-sized trash bag. They made their way to the back of the building and to a large ac unit. Two kept watch while the third bent down and undid a few screws. He pulled a hatch free, exposing a small ventilation shaft. He grabbed the trash bag, cut it open, and dumped Michael’s mangled form down the shaft.
“Good luck.”Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Michael pressed his head and what remained of his torso against the wall, slowing his descent as much as he could. With a thud, he fell into a slightly larger duct way and let his regeneration grow a small portion of his arms and legs back.
He crawled through the vent, following the map he had memorized, to just above Raymond’s throne. He sat in wait for almost an hour before Raymond finally entered the room and sat down. Michael smiled. It was finally time for his revenge. He burst from the vent, falling to the ground as the rest of his wounds closed and stitched back together as his limbs fully regrew.
“What the fuck!” Raymond shouted, springing from his chair and watching the grotesque sight in shock.
Michael turned to him, his face covered in a plate of bone, reminiscent of his old mask.
“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you think your doing?!” Raymond shouted as a deck of glowing cards appeared in his hand.
“A ghost you thought dead. A soul you took your time grinding to dust. A revenant comes to kill you.” Michael’s eyes ignited with a yellow glow, and his arms burst into feathers and flames.
Raymond’s eyes widened before returning to normal as he laughed. “Null? What the fuck do you think this is? While I give you props for fooling someone like Tom, what the hell do you think this will accomplish?”
Michael stared at the man and smiled. This is going to be fun.
Footsteps echoing down the staircase distracted the pair just before Michael pounced, and Wonder Boy walked into the room.
“What the fuck is that thing?” he asked taking a step toward the staircase.
Raymond laughed again. “Its fucking, Null that stray I picked up years ago. Thinks he is tough shit now.”
Wonder Boy looked between Raymond and Michael before smiling. “Let me take care of him. I still need some pay back for fucking up my plan with the Seamstress.”
“Knock yourself out,” Raymond said, sitting back on his throne. “Oh, and Null, do try to hold out long enough for this fight to be enjoyable.
The bone plating pulled back from Michael’s face, and he smirked at Raymond. “I don’t know how, but you’re still seeing me as the helpless child you stole everything from. Let me show you how wrong you are.” He blurred into motion, appearing next to Wonder Boy and striking him so hard that he was embedded in the bunker wall.
Michael turned back toward Raymond. “You still find this funny–” The ground beneath his feet liquefied and solidified, trapping his legs.
“Don’t underestimate me, brat,” Wonderboy said, emerging from the wall.
Michael gritted his teeth as several sharp cables sprang from the ground, severing his legs. They were back less than a second later, and he turned to face a frowning Wonder Boy.
“So I did,” he said, changing his regeneration and flames to premonition and bone manipulation.
He watched as, three seconds into the future, Wonder Boy liquified the ground, and Michael sprang into action, flapping his giant wings and appearing next to the man again. He watched the three timelines in front of him before deciding to take a gamble. He slammed his fist down with a 2/3 chance to flatten Wonder Boy and a 1/3 chance that.
Shit!
Wonder Boy raised his hand just in time, raising his arm to catch and liquify Michael’s arm. Michael jumped back and was happy to see the strike had at least caused a compound fracture in Wonder’s arm before he could counteract the force. Michael smirked.
All that for me to just regenerate– He turned to look at his still liquefied arm, splattered on the floor. Shit! He cursed as he realized what was wrong. He could still feel his arm even in this state, meaning his regeneration thought it was still attached to his body, and nothing was wrong.
He gritted his teeth and changed his power back to bone manipulation. He grinned as an idea came to his mind. If it’s still attached, then…
Spikes made of bone exploded from the liquid that used to be his arm, impaling Wonder Boy. he let out a grunt of pain and began liquifying the spikes while giving Michael a murderous glare.
“Are you sure you got this?” Raymond asked.
“Shut the fuck up Raymond!” Wonder shouted in response.
“Fine, don’t ask me for help if he ends up killing you.”
“He’s not going to!” Wonder Boy dashed forward as blood began to pour from his wounds.
Michael simply stood and waited with a grin on his face. “This fight is already over.”
“No the fuck it’s no–”
Wonder Boy’s head fell from his body as a cable he failed to notice grew tighter, severing it with little resistance. Michael flashed over, touching the corpse to gain the man’s power before solidifying and regenerating his arm while turning to Raymond.
“Are you ready for your turn?”
Raymond growled. “You’re going to regret that.”