Lord Of Beasts

While Elara and Kaela fought, and Ethan jumped off to God knew where, Mark had been doing his best to stay out of trouble. He had taken up position in a watchtower on the corner of the compound, the same place Elara had left him earlier. From there, he could keep himself away from the main fighting while everyone else dealt with the remaining enemies.

It had seemed like the safest option.

At least, it had until two of the armed racists spotted the man that stood out like a sore thumb, watching the action from above. One of them slowed as he approached, his expression twisting with disgust.

"To think they even brought a dirty black with them."

Mark’s jaw tightened.

But the racist and abhorrent remark was the least of his worries, as the second man was already reaching for his rifle.

Mark’s eyes narrowed, his hand moving toward his own weapon. The rifle had originally belonged to one of the men stationed at the compound. Elara had taken the man down earlier, and Mark had claimed the weapon afterwards.

But that wasn’t the only thing he had taken.

Among the man’s belongings, there had been something else.

A strange, dark pill, one that had whispered to him and almost seemed alive. Of course he had guessed what it was, having heard from Ethan and the others about these drugs and seeing the transformed men below.

Still, he took it anyway.

And now his fingers brushed against it through his pocket.

The first man sneered, also pointing a weapon at him.

"What you doing ’round here, boy?"

Mark stared at him.

His grip tightened around his rifle.

’Shoot him.’

The thought came naturally, and if he didn’t, this very well could be how he died.

Yet his finger refused to pull the trigger.

He couldn’t do it.

Mark had killed before, but only when he absolutely had to; the last time had been different. His friend had been in danger, and Mark had acted because there hadn’t been another choice.

Even then, Ethan had stolen the kill from him, burdening himself with the guilt.

Mark still remembered that night vividly.

The blood, the silence afterwards, the dark look in Ethan’s eyes.

He swallowed.

’I can’t.’

The man’s lips curled into a cruel smile, seeing his hesitation.

"Don’t have it in you?"

Mark slowly lowered the weapon and raised his hands.

"You don’t have to-"

He thought that maybe if he let them capture him instead, Ethan and the others could come to the rescue. Even with guns, they would be no match for his Titled brother and his companions.

But he was too naive to think these racist fools could be reasoned with.

Bang!

Pain exploded through Mark’s chest, and his body jerked backwards from the impact.

Another shot followed almost immediately.

Bang!

Then another.

Bang!

Mark collapsed onto the ground.

As strong as he was, ultimately he was still Untitled and couldn’t tank high-calibre rounds to the body.

The two men laughed.

"Pathetic."

One of them approached, looking down at him with contempt.

"Look at you."

Mark struggled to breathe as his vision blurred. His hand moved instinctively toward the strange object in his pocket, and his fingers closed around it.

For a moment, he hesitated.

But nobody was coming to save him, and what did he have to lose while on death’s door?

’Anything to survive...’

He weakly raised his hand to his mouth, then he swallowed; the object quickly disappeared down his throat.

But nothing happened.

Mark waited.

His chest still burned, his body quickly draining of strength, yet he didn’t transform like the others.

"What?"

One of the men laughed.

"Did you seriously just eat one of those things?"

Mark’s vision began fading, his hope of surviving quickly fading.

Then he heard a distorted voice.

It wasn’t coming from either of the men, or from anywhere around him, but from somewhere deep within.

"You are a Monster."

Mark froze.

’...What?’

There was no response.

His mind raced as he tried to understand what he had just heard.

’Is that a Title?’

It certainly didn’t sound like it, and from what he knew, they would usually hear, "Your Title is... whatever it was."

But before he could think any further, his body moved.

His fingers twitched.

Then Mark suddenly pushed himself upright like a puppet yanked by invisible strings.

The two men stumbled backwards.

"What the fuck?!"

Mark looked down.

His bullet wounds were closing.

The flesh knitted itself together before his eyes, sealing the holes as the blood stopped flowing. The pain vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, and even his skin colour was changing.

Silver spread across his arms.

It crawled over his chest, shoulders, and back until his entire body was encased in a metallic layer.

Mark stared at himself in disbelief.

The man holding the rifle went pale.

"So he was Titled too..."

That wasn’t the transformations they were used to seeing from the drugs they were helping to produce, so it was only natural they assumed it was otherwise. Even Mark himself was unsure exactly what was happening, but he definitely wasn’t complaining.

They immediately opened fire again.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Mark flinched and instinctively raised his arms.

The bullets struck him.

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

They bounced harmlessly off his metallic body.

Mark slowly lowered his arms.

His eyes widened in amazement as the men stared at him in disbelief.

’This is incredible.’

Mark suddenly ran to take cover; gunfire followed him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He dove behind a concrete barrier as bullets tore into the surrounding stone. Several struck him in the process, but none managed to penetrate his metallic exterior.

Mark stared at his body.

There wasn’t even a scratch.

’I’m not hurt.’

It was hard to believe, and despite seemingly being bulletproof, it was only natural for him to avoid direct gunfire. But now that he was certain, it was his turn to have some fun and feel the thrill of being a superhuman.

He stepped back into the open, a smile on his face.

"Do you accept me now that I’m silver?"

The men didn’t even respond to his joke, firing again desperately.

"Shit!"

One of them ran out of ammunition and frantically went to reload with a spare magazine, but it was all to no avail.

Nothing they had could pierce the large man’s reinforced body.

Mark slowly walked toward them, watching as their confidence disappeared entirely.

They suddenly turned.

"Run!"

The two men fled.

Mark laughed and immediately chased after them.

His metallic legs were heavier than expected, and the two men were still ahead. He pushed harder, his thighs beginning to burn as he forced himself to accelerate. His breathing became heavier, and at this rate, he wouldn’t catch them.

’I really should do more cardio.’

But as he focused on his targets and on wanting to run faster, something inside his legs shifted.

The silver plating tightened around his limbs as the muscles beneath it expanded. His thighs became thicker, his calves hardened, and a sudden surge of power rushed through his lower body.

Mark’s eyes widened.

’What is happening?’

He didn’t have time to wonder; his body answered on its own.

Mark pushed off the ground.

Boom!

The earth cracked beneath his feet as he exploded forward, the world blurring around him.

One moment, the two men were several metres ahead, running atop the compound’s walls; the next, Mark was beside them. The first man barely had time to turn before Mark’s metallic fist slammed into his stomach.

Boom!

The man was launched across the ground, crumpling after having the air knocked out of him.

The second man spun around and pulled out a blade.

Mark turned toward him.

"Really?"

His fist smashed into the man’s jaw.

Crack!

The man collapsed instantly.

Mark stood between the two unconscious men, breathing heavily as the silver coating slowly receded from his body.

’Guess I didn’t need any special power to knock these guys out.’

But that’s when his legs suddenly gave out.

He collapsed onto the ground, his entire body feeling so drained he could barely lift his arms.

Yet he couldn’t stop smiling.

Mark stared down at his trembling fingers.

’So this is what it feels like...’

He looked toward the two unconscious men before turning his attention back to his hands.

A strange realisation slowly settled over him.

’After I took that pill, I adapted each time I needed to. I healed from the bullet wounds, I had metal skin to take on the bullets, and I gained super-speed to catch them...’

His smile widened.

Mark wasn’t afraid of what his new power might turn him into. Instead, he was overcome with curiosity after finally experiencing what he had desired for so long.

’Just how far can I evolve?’