A deafening roar tore through the underground chamber as the beast lunged forward, massive limbs tearing through stone and air like a battering ram of pure primal chaos.
"Move!" Brendon yelled, diving to the left just as the monstrous fusion of lion, gorilla, and squid crashed into the space where he'd just stood. The shockwave from its impact sent cracks spiderwebbing through the floor.
Tyson rolled the opposite way, slamming his thick arms down to stabilize himself, his ox-like form anchoring with instinctive strength. Robert flailed into a clumsy tumble, barely avoiding the creature's sweeping tentacle.
"Shit!" Robert shouted. "If it weren't you, Brendon, I would've never come here! Man, I am not a fighter! What the hell am I even supposed to do here?!"
Brendon, breath ragged, was already repositioning. "Robert! We need you to shoot! Get that revolver out!"
Before Robert could respond, Tyson barked at him. "Shut the fuck up and use that damn service revolver of yours!"
Robert blinked, slapped a hand to his pocket. "Oh. Right. I do have that." He whipped it out, loading a bullet. "Huh… it sure is a viable option."
Brendon crouched beside a cracked support beam. "Okay, I'll keep him busy upfront. Robert, stay behind cover and take the shots when you see the opening."
Tyson snorted. "I don't need your help, pup. I've handled worse situations than this."
Dr. Grimm's voice echoed with theatrical venom from across the chamber. "Don't get cocky, Mr. All-Muscle. Your bones are just as breakable as anyone else's."
Brendon's lip curled into a snarl. "Let's test that, then."
The Fight Erupts.
Tyson charged like a freight train unleashed, each step thudding against the chamber floor with the weight of a sledgehammer. His bellow echoed off the walls, matching the roar of the monstrosity that awaited him.
The Chimera X-Prime snarled—a grotesque chorus of lion growls, ape screeches, and something wet and slithering from the squid part of its twisted anatomy. It stood tall, towering over the humans, its grotesque muscles pulsating beneath patchy fur, mottled skin, and sinew.
Impact.
Tyson's shoulder smashed into the creature's gut, a thunderous collision that rattled the chamber. The Chimera staggered back—two steps, no more—but Tyson followed through, planting both feet and launching a right hook into its ribs. Bone and muscle met alien flesh with a crack.
"Come on, you ugly bastard," Tyson growled.
The Chimera responded in kind. One tentacle whipped out, slicing toward his side like a bladed whip. Tyson ducked low, the appendage grazing his back. With a grunt, he rose again, elbowing the tentacle aside and sending a straight jab into the beast's midsection. Then a cross. Then a knee. Each strike fueled by years of muscle memory and battle-hardened instinct.
But Chimera X-Prime wasn't a sluggish beast.
Its gorilla-strength arms came down fast, both fists crashing downward. Tyson raised his forearms in a tight guard. The blow sent tremors through his body, but he didn't buckle. He pivoted, using the beast's momentum to redirect its weight, sliding around its side.
"Your size don't scare me," he spat. "You're just big. I've wrestled angrier."
In a rare display of almost human intelligence, the Chimera hissed and lunged—not blindly, but strategically, attempting to trap Tyson in a grab. Tyson stepped back just in time, but a tentacle coiled around his ankle, yanking his leg out from under him.
He hit the ground hard.
With a roar, the Chimera raised a massive paw-like hand, claws extended, aiming to crush his chest.
Tyson rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow as it smashed into the stone floor, sending debris flying.
"Okay… That's new."
He kipped up with a burst of effort, sweat rolling down his brow. Without hesitation, he drove a full-force punch straight into the Chimera's side, forcing the tentacle to unwind from his leg.
The Chimera reeled—its lion face roaring, its squid eye blinking with alien rage. It lunged forward with its ape-like arms and batted Tyson across the chamber like a ragdoll. He crashed against a slab of broken concrete, the blow
Brendon lunged in next, ducking under a swipe and rolling into a clean uppercut that hit the creature square in its jaw. It staggered, but barely. Its squid-tendrils shot down like spears. One grazed his shoulder, ripping through his sleeve and drawing blood.
"Tch. That's gonna leave a scar."
Robert steadied himself behind a collapsed pillar. He peeked out, gun in hand, and tried to line up a shot. But Brendon was too close, darting left and right, weaving between the monster's limbs like a ghost.
"Damn it!" Robert muttered. "I can't shoot, he's in the way!"
The Chimera slammed both arms down with a boom, knocking Tyson backward. The ox stumbled, skidding to one knee.
"Chief!" Brendon shouted.
"I'm fine!" Tyson growled, panting. "Just a warm-up!"
But his limbs told a different story—shaking from effort, his breaths growing labored. He'd taken too many hits already. One of his shoulder joints cracked as he rolled it.
Brendon didn't hesitate. He jumped between Tyson and the Chimera again, ducking beneath its swinging arm and delivering a spinning kick to the beast's side. The creature roared in frustration, clearly not used to being dodged so frequently.
"NOW, ROBERT!" Brendon yelled.
But just as Robert rose to take the shot—
A thud echoed behind him.
"Wh—"
WHACK!
He was tackled from behind by two figures—human-looking, but with glazed-over eyes and Nightroot-covered veins crawling across their skin. Mind-controlled.
They slammed him to the ground, his gun skittering away. Robert screamed in pain, trying to wriggle free as their hands clawed at him.
"Get off!"
He kicked one away, but the other lunged at his throat.
Meanwhile, aboveground—
Judith and Jason stood atop the rubble-strewn surface of the ruined building that had once disguised the underground lab. Thick black smoke billowed from the cracked vents. Judith's eyes scanned the perimeter, her gun locked and loaded.
Jason clutched a crowbar with trembling hands.
"I never signed up for this shenanigans," he muttered, watching a strange silhouette lurch out from the trees.
From the tree line came more of them—dozens of mind-controlled individuals. Some had the appearance of soldiers, others civilians, but all had those same unnatural veins and pale, cracked eyes.
And worse—
Trailing behind them, on all fours, were three malformed creatures. Chimeras—though smaller than the X-Prime—still twisted amalgamations of various animals. One had a fox's tail, spider legs, and a horse's head. Another resembled a porcupine crossed with a vulture. The third, a massive snake with tusks.
Judith's jaw tightened. "Jason, stay behind me."
"Y-yeah, no problem Ma'am!"
TWANG!
She released a bolt. The arrow pierced one of the chimeras in the eye, dropping it mid-lunge.
Jason swung the crowbar awkwardly, smacking one of the mind-controlled attackers across the jaw. "I'm not dying today! Not like this!"
Back underground—
Brendon's claws had ripped clean through the beast's shoulder muscle—but it kept going. The Chimera X-Prime was bleeding green ichor, but it only seemed to grow stronger.
The ground shook again as Grimm cackled from his position above. "You don't get it! This creature evolves with every wound. You're feeding it!"
Brendon swore under his breath. "Oh, great. We got a big rampagingmonster before GTA VI."
Tyson struggled to his feet, groaning. "Srop getting distracted Wolf. We need to stop its regen— target the heart or something more vital!"
"Am I not trying already? We don't even know where its vitals are!" Brendon shouted.
The Chimera raised its arms—and brought them crashing down again.
Brendon grabbed Tyson and dove, barely avoiding the shockwave.
Robert, now bloodied, managed to elbow the remaining assailant and crawl toward his revolver.
"Come on… come on…" he muttered, fingers scraping against stone.
He grabbed it, rolled over, and—BANG!
The bullet struck the Chimera in its side.
The monster paused—startled, just for a moment. Not because of pain—but because it hadn't expected that.
Brendon saw it.
"Robert!" he shouted. "Keep doing that!"
Robert nodded, breathing hard, reloading. "Just… buy me a few seconds!"
Suddenly, screams echoed down from the tunnel above.
"Huh.... wh-what?" Brendon looked up.
A hiss of wind—and a voice.
Far away, high above, nestled in the boughs of a tall tree outside the perimeter fence of the lab facility, a girl with moss-colored skin and skin-patch camouflage sat reclined. She had a long, sticky tongue curling around a lollipop, and her green eyes narrowed behind tech goggles.
A chameleon tail flicked behind her. Her laptop beside her beeped violently.
She tapped the keys quickly, staring as the screen lit up.
"What?"
Lines of encrypted communication flashed across it.
'French Naval Units entering Lagooncrest Island territory. ETA: 12 minutes.'
Her long, clawed fingers twitched.
She pulled out a communicator from her belt, flipped it open.
"Ma'am," she said calmly, "I think things are getting really ugly here."
Her binoculars zoomed in on Brendon fighting in the pit of hell—and on the tide of mind-controlled people surrounding the facility.
Then she saw the army approaching from the southern coast.
"Really really ugly."