❝how do you kill a monster without becoming one?❞
In the last city ruled by man, fish soar in the skies above and monsters lurk in the alleys below. Ten years ago, Jase lost both his legs and his mother to one such monster. However, tragedy couldn't...
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Jase, of course, did not stay.
Red Riding Hood was here, killing people and Jase knew he could help. Hesitation was not a luxury he could afford, yet his feet still faltered in pushing himself up from his chair as Kova disappeared over the rose bushes. He was going to take on Red Riding Hood all by himself.
Forcing his feet to move, Jase ran towards the chaos, like he should have done in the first place. He should have reacted when the screams first began, like Kova. They were Stingray Agents - the best of the best - and when chaos bloomed, they picked it like flowers, filling baskets with bloody red petals.
People were running and pushing, desperately trying to escape. Jase could hear the screams of people inside as he pulled out his gun, thanking every deity he now knew that he'd brought it. Pointing it at the ceiling, Jase fired three precious shots before people got out of his way, clearing a path into the building.
A swirling storm of emotions raged beneath Jase's fingertips as he closed his eyes and attempted to find just one thing to focus on. Anger. Pure and simple rage. It was the poison that had been festering in his chest since he was eight years old. Anger was enough to send adrenaline through his veins. This would not be like when he was a kid. This would not be like the simulator. He was not going to freeze. He was going to destroy Red for what she'd done.
The further Jase got into the building, the more smoke filled the air. Small fires flickered and burned around piles of debris. There were moans of the dead and dying and the metallic stench of blood. Blood had such a distinct smell - it was something that Jase would recognize anywhere after that night.
His footsteps echoed through empty halls. If Red was here, then there was the distinct possibility other Smiles might be lurking in the shadows. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a full-scale attack by the Big Five. The rational part of Jase's brain told him that he should find Kova. They would be able to do more damage together.
But the instinctual part, the part that was controlling Jase at this point, told him to keep going. To keep looking for Red. To find her and kill her. He didn't need Kova to do that. He didn't need anyone. He would do whatever it took to kill her so long as rivers ran red with the blood of the Beast That Did Not Bleed.
Then he heard it. The final cry of an innocent. The thud of a body on the ground. A trill of laughter.
Jase took a breath as he stepped into the room and fired. His shots bounced right off her skin, but they did manage to grab her attention. Lifting her head, Jase felt his heart catch in his throat. Pink hair and dark, almond eyes, Midnight smirked at him.
"I was right," she said, getting to her feet, dark red staining her pink dress with Red's signature choker tied around her neck. "You did have a gun."
Jase didn't care who she was, he just shot her again. She snarled, her eyes flashing red as her pink hair darkened into crimson curls. Jase had no time to process this seemingly impossible transformation as he found himself face to face with the very monster that had haunted his dreams, twisting them into nightmares and forging his fear of the shadows.
