The storm battered the industrial district. High above the decaying rooftops, the three-eyed raven glided on the freezing wind, tracking the silhouette below.
Down on the flooded streets, the behemoth marched through the downpour. Bare feet slapped against the wet pavement.
A thick, metallic scent drifted on the cold wind. He followed it, halting outside a derelict warehouse. A cargo truck sat parked near the entrance.
Inside, sheets of transparent plastic divided the space. A teenage boy lay strapped to a metal surgical table. His chest cavity was pinned open, blood pooling beneath him. He breathed in shallow, rattling gasps.
Four armed guards secured the perimeter. A man in surgical scrubs hovered over the table, his hands deep in the boy's ribs.
On a cart nearby, an open laptop cast a dim blue light over Victor's face. The client was leaning close to the screen, watching the live feed without blinking.
The teenage boy arched violently off the cold metal. A gurgling choke forced its way past the blood in his throat. The leather restraints groaned. The heart monitor spiked into a frantic, continuous shriek.
The surgeon paused. "He's fading."
"Keep him alive," Victor's voice crackled through the speakers. "The boy stays awake. Push the adrenaline. Add another dose of the pain-stimulant. I want the organs fresh for the 4:00 AM transport."
The surgeon pressed a syringe into the IV line. The boy's eyes rolled back. His pupils shrank into pinpricks as the chemical hit his veins.
One of the guards yawned, shifting the MP5 on his shoulder.
"Did you place the order for the pizza?" he asked his partner.
"Yeah. Pepperoni and jalapeño," the second guard leaned against a rusted pillar, picking dirt from under his fingernails. "Told the guy to leave it at the outer fence. Should be here in twenty."
"Good. I'm starving." The first guard watched the floor. "Hey Doc, watch the mess. Took me three washes to get the blood off these boots last week."
Outside in the freezing rain, Kai raised his bare foot over the humming diesel generator.
His heel drove straight down.
CRUNCH.
The steel casing crumpled. The generator choked, sputtered black smoke, and died.
Inside, the surgical lights vanished. The chatter died.
"What happened?" the first guard barked. The sharp click of his weapon's safety echoed in the pitch black.
"The generator is outside," the captain snapped. "Marcus, take two guys and go check the—"
Creeeeeak.
The iron factory doors groaned. They began to slide. Inch by inch.
The screech of reinforced metal forced off its tracks echoed into the hollow space.
Four flashlight beams cut through the dark, snapping toward the widening gap. Marcus dropped his phone. He gripped his MP5 with both hands, the barrel shaking.
"The motors are dead," he choked out. "Boss... you need a winch to pull those open."
"Shut up and hold your fire!" the captain snarled. His beam pierced the freezing rain blowing in. "Light up the center! Whatever steps through, turn it to Swiss cheese!"
The guards aimed at chest height. The light caught only empty, rain-swept air.
The captain jerked his flashlight upward.
The beam hit a pale hand gripping the upper edge of the door. Fingers as thick as a man's wrist rested nearly seven feet off the ground, dragging the heavy steel along.
The iron door slid further back. The flashlight beams trembled, sweeping down from the giant hand.
They hit a shoulder.
A shoulder breached the doorway, draped in a tattered black raincoat. Half of the behemoth now stood in the threshold, the storm lashing against his back.
The guards froze.
"What the fuck is that?!" the captain roared. "Shoot it!!"
The warehouse erupted. Automatic fire drowned the storm, muzzle flashes strobing against the dark coat.
Rounds tore into the doorway, shredding the pale hand gripping the iron edge. Blood sprayed the rusted metal as 9mm slugs took off the fingers.
The iron door continued to slide open under its own weight. Only half of the figure behind it was exposed. Bullets ripped into the tattered raincoat. The body jerked violently as rounds punched through flesh.
Then, the shape collapsed, hitting the concrete with a heavy thud.
The gunfire ceased. The sudden silence was ringing, broken only by empty brass casings rolling across the floor.
The captain lowered his MP5. "Marcus, confirm the kill." He pointed at the other two. "You two, get outside. Restart that generator. We are losing time."
The two guards jogged toward the gap in the doors, flashlights cutting through the downpour.
The captain turned his back to the corpse, walking toward the surgical table to check on the surgeon and the dying boy.
Marcus leaned in, his flashlight beam washing over a pale expanse of hardened flesh. The creature's brow was bare, its features thick and deformed. The eyes were tightly closed.
Marcus swallowed hard. He nudged the motionless shoulder with his gun barrel. "Target neutralized, boss," his voice shook slightly. "Just some deformed freak."
Miles away, Victor leaned forward in his leather chair, his pale eyes fixed on the laptop screen.
"Interesting," Victor whispered, his cold voice crackling through the warehouse speakers. "It survived the mag-dump."
Marcus went still.
Tink. Clink. Clatter.
A series of metallic taps echoed across the concrete. Marcus aimed his light down. The pale flesh visible through the bullet holes began to writhe. Mutated muscle contracted, rippling as it forced the flattened 9mm slugs out of the deep wounds. Lead dropped to the wet floor.
Marcus opened his mouth to shout.
Kai rose. He brought a fist down on the top of Marcus's skull. The blow drove straight through bone, crushing the cervical spine.
The guard crumpled. The flashlight tumbled from his limp hand, casting wild, spinning shadows across the blood-splattered walls.
Hearing the crunch, the captain spun around. The two guards at the entrance halted.
Chaos broke out. The guards scrambled backward, firing blindly into the dark.
Kai lunged through the strobe of muzzle flashes. He caught one of the retreating guards by the shoulder. With a single, brutal pull, Kai ripped the arm from its socket. The MP5 clattered away. The guard collapsed, screaming in agony.
"My arm! My—" he howled, writhing on the concrete as blood pumped from the ruined socket.
Kai planted his bare foot directly onto the man's face.
The guard's scream spiked into a panicked wail. He clawed blindly at Kai's ankle.
"—please—"
Kai shifted his weight. The skull gave way with a dry crunch. The screaming stopped abruptly as the head caved in.
He lifted his blood-soaked foot and slowly turned his head, his glowing eyes locking onto the captain standing mere feet from the slaughter.