5 The Hike

"We finally made it! We can complete the job and get the heck out of here!"

Scanning the tower for any orifices on its shiny, waxy exterior Alfred was at a loss.

"How… do I get in? Can I climb it?"

Feeling the wall Alfred quickly concluded that there would be no possible way for him to climb it. It's simply too uniform and flat, lacking any grips.

Taking a long deserved break from the unrelenting journey he sat down, pondering his next actions. This was quickly interrupted by a horrifyingly loud cacophony of buzzing.

Dispersing from an area not too far above himself there was a countless number of mosquitos flooding the sky, causing a temporary night.

Realizing that this may be his only chance at getting in Alfred signaled. This had been Alfred's first time seeing this happen. He had no idea when this could happen again.

Catching the attention of the mob a huge section of the bugs descend upon Alfred and Pedro.

"I… might've overstepped myself here…"

Throwing away Pedro, Alfred ran behind the nearest comb wall. Seeing all but the few thousand mosquitoes's chasing him had dispersed Alfred was slightly relieved, slightly.

As the ground began to shake from the sheer noise of the approaching horde Alfred made a decision.

Rushing out from behind his small amount of protection he dashed towards Pedro and picked him up.

Swiveling on the spot Alfred buckled at the knees, readying himself for the oncoming disaster.

As the first insect spearheaded the charge and made it within half a meter Alfred lunged, taking vantage on top of the mosquito's head.

Pushing off the bug's head he lunged upward with all his power. This didn't go unnoticed by the horde as the saw their leader's head turned into a fine mist by the sheer force of Alfred's kick.

Panicked they spread out, attempting to avoid Alfred by any means necessary. Driven by nothing but instinct they flew in any direction not occupied by their current predator.

As off as it may seem this helped Alfred. So long as there were more bugs, higher, he had more stepping stones.

He ascended as steadily as one would consider possible for what he was doing. Rocketing off of each bug, he indiscriminately turned them into coloured rain to paint the ground below. As he launched himself towards the exit/entrance the bugs used initially he exclaimed out, to the world!

"This, is, justified!!!"

His plastered grin only lasted so far as he was airborne. He'd come up a meter short of his goal. It was impressive that any of his plan worked before this but it seems that his plans will ultimately fail here.

"Adverse, character building event? I think not!"

Using sheer, unbelievable force Alfred punched into the wall causing the entire spire to shake.

Lifting himself up like a gymnast he used his personally drilled grips to flip onto the sill of the octagonal doorway.

What Alfred saw momentarily took his breath away. The entire tower was covered in eggs, which were then covered in a boundless and disorienting amount of bugs, which were all already alerted to his presence by the previous, fleeing bugs.

"This… this is a problem."

Clutching Pedro to his chest he looked up, ignoring the imminent problem to study his next move. The spire had clouds within it higher up. It was such a supermassive building that one couldn't see the roof of it from the bottom. The only support came from octagonal cross beams which appeared every hundred meters.

Looking to his left he spotted a bug. Grabbing it by the eyes he yanked up, pulling them clean out of their sockets.

"Sorry about this buddy, nothing personal."

Putting Pedro into his shirt Alfred then yanked up once more, on the massive, mutated nerve endings directly connecting to its brain.

*SQTSQTSQT*

Making noises that could only be interpreted as the final cries of a creature in pure agony it took to the skies, full throttle.

Taking Alfred and Pedro with it, it rose as fast as its biology allowed. Below Alfred and his mount, it appeared as if the floor itself was raising to consume them. Peeling away from the wall there was an eye hurting number of assailants chasing them.

Laughing like a madman Alfred continued his ascent. This was ironically, the first time he'd felt so… free, alive!

As they passed by the clouds they were covered in what appeared to be dew. While his vision might have been obstructed temporarily he could now see his goal.

A dark, ominous, dodecahedron covered in shining, luminescent eggs hovered far, far above them. It appeared as if this massive, swaying lump of natural material was what was keeping the entire tower from falling.

Smiling, Alfred knew what to do.

Positioning himself to launch, he readied crouched on the back of the half-dead mosquito steed.

Lunging off of its back, pushing into the crowd of its angry brethren Alfred punched through the bottom of the structure.

This caused the entire tower to shake, swaying more freely than before. With more movement the startlingly stiff natural material began to crack and chip in some areas.

Making it through the humongous shell Alfred wound up in a dank, cavernous area. Every single inch covered in either human bone or glowing egg.

Seeing his goal Alfred smiled, knowing that his journey would soon come to an end. Stepping forward he introduced himself to himself.

"Hey Alfred, what's up?"

The Alfred stood, stepping out of the shadows it displayed itself. Ten meters tall, a mantis-like humanoid resembling our protagonist stood, shaking with audible fury.

"Heh, we're going to have a SHELL of a time!"