Fighting The Mysterious Creature

Later in the evening, Joshua went to a supermarket to buy some things for his little apartment. "I'm out of milk and eggs, rice too. What else?" he said while browsing through the aisle.

"Is that you, Josh?" A pleasant voice sounded behind him. He turned and saw who it was; A pretty woman with blonde, naturally curly hair, long legs, and slender waist, Jenna, his neighbor from where they lived before.

"Hey!" He greets.

"Long time no see! How are ya?" She opened.

"I-I'm fine. You?'

"Good. It's good to see you, last time we talked was before your mother left. How was she by the way?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's been long, she's not with me anymore. The day she left, she never came back." He replied.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Josh."

"It's alright. You live near here?" He asked.

"Yeah, just a couple of blocks from here. What are you up to now? You still study?"

"Oh ok. I am working at a canning factory. I don't study anymore, sadly." He said.

They talked for a while when suddenly a loud, blaring sound was heard across the street. Then the roll-up doors of the supermarket started rolling down to a close.

"What's happening?" She asked a bit surprised.

"They're locking down the establishment." Joshua ran towards the counter and immediately asked the man behind it. "What's happening? Why are you locking down?"

"It's a code Orange. Some dangerous criminal is on the loose along the streets. The police are chasing them at the moment." The fat guy replied.

"It could be a robbery. Why the hell is an Orange alert been raised?" said another bystander.

"What kind of criminal would raise an Orange alert?" asked by some people in the supermarket when they heard the fat guy.

"You think just a robbery can raise an orange alert? Not even the last "White Wolf" incident raised an alert, and now you say that just some robbers can do that?" Disagreed by another customer in the supermarket.

The city has an early warning system imposed. From Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Red alerts. From Green to Blue alert means its just minor problem and can be solved by the local police. However, from Yellow to Red alerts, its either a very dangerous criminal or a monster invasion that could potentially endanger the entire city.

"Could it be the serial killer, then?" Joshua mumbled.

"What? The serial killer?"

"Yeah, I heard from the news this morning, there was another murder in Block 4B. It's close to here." Some mustached guy also said.

"Attention citizens! Please remain indoors. Establishments are to be lockdown until further notice. This is for your safety. No matter what you hear or see, please do not go outside on the streets. An unknown Gene Beast has entered the city. Our police forces are cooperating with the Gene council to capture the beast. Again, please stay indoors. Citizens still on the streets, please clear the area immediately." The announcement said.

"Quick turn on the news!" Some guy ordered the fat guy on the counter.

"An unknown gene beast has been spotted along the alley of Block 4C earlier. It has been spotted to be feeding on some poor citizen. The Gene Council has not released any words regarding the incident for now." The news anchor reported.

"This just came in; 20 lives have already been claimed by the beast. The police forces are backing out and made way for the Geneticists to handle the situation. The beast is reportedly fleeing towards Block 4E and still not been captured. Citizens, please stay indoors, and those who are on the streets still, please vacate the area." The reporter added.

"What kind of gene beast do you think it is?" Jenna wondered.

"Is it possible that the serial killer on the news is the gene beast they are chasing now?" Joshua voiced out.

"Nah, that's impossible, man. There was a witness. The serial killer was a guy with weird, mutated hands." The mustached guy said.

"Really? I didn't catch that from the news earlier." Joshua mumbled.

"Oh, it was not aired. I heard it from my neighbor whose friend is a friend of the neighbor of the witness' neighbor." He said.

"Oh."

"That's some gossipy neighbors." Joshua then put his focus back on the news.

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"Tess! Get your head in the game! That beast is getting away fast!" A brawny military man ordered.

"I'm on it, sir!" Tess raised her hand, and a blueish ripple came out targeting the running beast. But the beast swerved right and dodged.

"Shit! Jamie, get me on top of that building, stat!" he ordered again.

"Roger that!" Jamie grabs the brawny man's shoulder and "poof" they disappeared into smoke, like the one in the mutant movie with the teleporting power. They next appeared on the roof of one of the buildings on the corner where the beast ran away.

"Time to end this!" the brawny man mumbled and suddenly transformed. He grew furs all over his body and growled. He turned into a were-bear. "Heads up! I'm coming down!" He said and jumped, right towards the running beast.

The were-bear dropped in front of the running beast. "Where are you going?"

The beast was 2 meters tall, with white fur tainted with blood. It has features of a dog or a mixed breed of a hyena and a lion. The claws of the beast were long and sharp. The back of its joints has a spiky bone protrusion, and it was growling and frothing in the mouth. "You're a nasty piece of work! Wonder what kind of gene you can give out? Guess, we'll have to find out after I kill you!"

Tess who caught up with Jamie, positioned herself above the buildings and fired another bluish wave towards the gene beast. This time, the beast was caught off guard and was hit directly. The beast was suddenly pushed down. "Success!" Tess exclaimed.

She is a newly promoted 1 – star Senior Apprentice geneticist who has a mutation that allows her to partially control gravity. Her gene ability is Enhanced Sight.

"Thanks, Tess!"

"No problem, sir!" the brawny military man who was in his werebear form, slowly walked towards the beast. He said, "No more escape for you!" He raised his sharp paws with glistening sharp claws and slashed the head of the beast. It was one hit kill.

"Jamie, extract the gene!" He ordered.

"Aye sir!" Jamie hurriedly took out a small handheld device and injected it on the dead beast's body.

'Ping!'

"Unknown gene extracted…" the device sounded.

"Parsing resources…"

"Gene compatibility found… Gene: Greyhound…"

"Huh?" Jamie who was a military commissioned gene zoologist, a 3 – star Senior Apprentice geneticist exclaimed. Her mutation allows her to teleport to short distances. Her gene ability is spatial mapping. "How is it a greyhound?"

"What's wrong, Jamie?" the brawny man asked.

"Sir John, this beast is supposed to be a greyhound… but its features… its different." She told him.

"A greyhound?"

Suddenly, their watches blared an alarm. John immediately contacted his fellow soldiers, "What happened? I've already subjugated the gene beast, it's a mutated greyhound!"

"Sir, another beast has been sighted in the eastern position from your location and another in the southernmost position from you!" the soldier from the other line reported.

"Shit! What star are those beasts?"

"The one in the eastern direction is suspected to be 8 or 9-star High Commander while the one in the southernmost is an unidentified beast which is suspected to be 6 or 7 – star Mid Commander beast!" the soldier said. 

"Is there any available Master geneticist aside from me in the city?" John asked impatiently. He was a 2 – Star Master geneticist with a bear transformation mutation. His gene ability is Sharp Claws.

"Unfortunately, you are the only Master geneticist currently present in the city, sir!" The soldier replied.

"Fuck! Jamie, Tess head south and try to stop the gene beast there. I am going to follow you after I finish that other beast!" John ordered as he sprinted towards the eastern direction.

"Yes sir!" The two ladies said in unison and started to head south as ordered.

Meanwhile, inside the store, "Did you hear those explosions?" Someone asked.

"Obviously! Could they have killed the beast already?"

"I am sure the geneticists already dealt with the beast outside, but why are the locks not lifted yet?" Another said.

"What do you think, Josh?" Jenna turned to Joshua, clearly scared.

"The beast might be still at large, that's why the doors are still locked." Josh smiled to her and added, "Don't worry, the geneticist is surely cleaning up this mess. Everything will be fine."

'Boom!'

"Ahh!"

An explosion sounded and one of the metal doors flew in and hit some of the by standers dead. "What's going on?"

Screams resounded in the store, then someone suddenly shouted, "It's the beast!"

Soon, when the smoke faded away, a humanoid beast appeared just outside the store. It has black skin and was wearing a lab coat. Its claws were long and sharp.

"Shikh arkain Arkayl! Kelo kelo rettoshina!" The monster suddenly growled.

"T-the m-monster… it…it spoke!" The people in the store tremble in fright.

"It's not a beast!" One of the people exclaimed.

The beast was about to enter the store when a shout was heard, "Stop!" A bluish ripple hit the beast, and it stopped moving. It growled as it tried to move.

"Jamie, this guy is too strong, I can't hold on much…"

"Coming!" Jamie appeared below the beast in a smoke and tried to inject something into it, but the beast regained control of its body and swatted Jamie away.

Boom! Crash!

"Jamie!" Tess called out. She fired another wave of restricting light towards the beast. After a few seconds, the beast broke the restriction and was about to slice its claws to Tess, but an orange blur landed on its side.

Boom! The monster was slightly pushed away. "Josh!" Jenna called from the crowd.

Joshua, who now equipped with his Rockhorn gloves, attack the monster with his fist. "Thanks!" Tess said to Joshua. "Are you a geneticist? What rank?" She asked hurriedly.

"I am, 1-star Apprentice!" He replied.

"What?!" Tess exclaimed, surprise. 'How brave of him to enter the fight with that level of strength?', she thought. "Get back, as grateful as I am for helping, you won't do much. Just stay back. Help protect those civilians!"

Joshua understood and nodded. He quickly moved away from the fight. However, the beast seemed to have taken notice of him thanks to that one punch. It suddenly moved fast past Tess and arrived in front of Joshua. "Wha-" the beast swiped its claws and struck Joshua on his stomach. He was thrown far into the adjacent building.

"Oh no!" Tess hurriedly waved her hand, and a bluish bubble wrapped around the beast. She hurriedly went towards Joshua.

The beast slightly kneeled. The bluish bubble seemed to be exerting pressure and is greatly restricting the beast. "Hey, are you alright!?" She used her ability to throw away the rubbles that covered Joshua's body.

Joshua coughed up blood as he clutched his slashed stomach. It was a very big wound. "I… I can't die… I can't die yet!"

"Just stop talking. You won't die just yet; I won't let it happen! Just hold on for a while!" Tess said.

"Tess!" Jamie appeared beside her, also gravely wounded. "We can't handle that beast! It's too strong!" She spoke.

"Do you have anything that can help him?" Tess asked her. Jamie grabbed something from her pouch and went to Joshua. "Eat this," she ordered. She then followed by taking a green liquid and poured it on Joshua's stomach. The wound sizzled and it was rapidly healing.

"Raaaarr!"

"Jamie! The beast has broken my restriction again! Let's go!" Tess waved her hand and threw bluish balls of compressed energy. The balls exploded as soon as it touched the ground. The beast was able to dodge them, unfortunately.

Jamie teleported behind the beast and slashed it with a knife. Clang! The knife couldn't wound it and just made sparks fly. "It's skin is too hard!"

"I hope commander finished off the other beast and can come to help us!" Tess said hopingly.

Meanwhile, in the city center, in the police headquarters, an old man was seated behind the police chief's table. "What news do you have for me?"

"Chief, three gene beasts have been causing chaos in the Block 4C, Block 4D, and Block 4F. The gene beast in Block 4D has already been neutralized by 2-star Master, John Duval. However, two of the remaining beasts are still at large. The one in Block 4F is a High Commander beast suspected to be 8 or 9 stars while the one in Block 4C is a Mid-Commander suspected to be 6 or 7 stars."

"Do we have other Master geneticist in the city that could help?" The chief inquired worriedly.

"We've already contacted Sgt. Codines." The police said.

Sgt. Codines was a police officer who was a former geneticist. He was a 2-star Master geneticist working as a Gene Hunter before he retired and became a policeman.

"Of all times, it happened during his vacation leave! Dammit, are there others we can call?"

"No sir. The gene beasts attack during the Gene Council annual convergence. All Master and above ranks are all called to the Gene Council. We only have a few Senior Apprentices, but they are also deployed to protect the civilians."

"Dammit!"

Back in Block 4C, Joshua slowly regained consciousness. "Ah! Fu-," he clutched his stomach in pain. The wound was already healed but the remnant pain was still there. He trailed his eyes on to the street and saw the two geneticists struggling to fight the unknown gene beast.

"Tess!" Jamie called out. A bluish force shield appeared in front of her blocking the beast's claws. Jamie pulled out a handgun and aimed it on the beast's head.

A laser light fired off from the guns nuzzle, but the beast was able to dodge by a hair's breadth. Jamie teleported away and fired another shot at the beast.

Tess tried to hold the beast steady with another restriction, but she was hit by the beast's palm. She was thrown off and crashed into one of the cars parked on the street.

Joshua stood up and ran towards Tess. "Get up!" He hurriedly grabbed her and ran away. Then, the beast appeared quickly and slashed with its claws. It was fortunate that Joshua and Tess were able to dodge in time.

"Let us help!" A man with huge eagle wings appeared in the sky and shouted. He flapped his wings, and several razor-sharp feathers struck the beast.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

The feathers created sparks as hit the beast's skin. "What hard skin!" the man grumbled.

On the ground, a female nun arrived at Joshua and Tess' location. "Let me heal you," the nun said. The newcomers were both Senior Apprentices who were nearby.

"Yaaah!" A brawny man dashed towards the beast. He was covered in rock-like skin.

Bang! The beast was pushed away and crashed into several cars.

"Haha!" The brawny man laughed.

The winged man praised, "Nice one, Diego!"

"Where did you guys come from?" Jamie who suddenly appeared beside Tess asked.

The winged man flew down and introduced himself, "I am Alfred," he pointed at the brawny man, "that's Diego," and gestured at the nun, "and she is Anna. We are mercenaries. We just arrived from a mission outside the city when we heard the commotion."

"Are there others?"

"Yes, there are other two mercenary groups with us. One of the groups went to Block 4F. The other group were helping calm the citizens."

"Are there any Master ranks with you?" Jamie inquired.

Alfred shook his head. "All Master and above ranks were called to the Gene Council headquarters. It's just us."

"Watch out!" Joshua hurriedly blocked the beast's claws with his Rockhorn gloves. Sparks flew as the claws grated the gloves. "Hey!"

The winged man flew up and fired off his feathers towards the beast. Jamie fired off her laser gun at it. However, those attacks did nothing.

"Ah!" Joshua screamed and gathered all his strength into his fist and punched the beast square on its face.

Bang! His Herculean Strength emerged. The beast was pushed away again. It palmed its face, clearly felt Joshua's punch.

"Roooooaaaaar!"

The beast roared angrily and sprinted towards Joshua again. The beast jumped up and was about to claw Joshua when a bluish bubble wrapped the beast. It was abruptly interrupted and was pushed onto the ground.