Megalomanical Misantrophy
— That thing was related to Green? — She asks.
— Seems like so.
— I don’t want to see it again.
— Did we ever find out what Green was in the first place?
— Not that I remember.
— We gotta ask Franchise and Evangelist later. I don’t know if Killer wants to share any information. And I don’t blame her. Suddenly she has a lot of work to do, and she still needs to take care of all of us assholes. And who knows. If Green is a rogue Searcher or some kind of mutant from the wetlands… that thing is just another one. Nothing we can’t deal with.
— But if there is another besides Green… then how many are there, exactly?
— No clue…
Juice glances at Ragnarok hoping to peak at a seemingly more vulnerable expression. But witness terror once more. As if forced against thick plastic, a head was reaching out of the wall. Behind the woman, was Kruger. And his hollow eyes were clearly aimed at her. Juice doesn’t even yell at her. He simply grabs her by the hand and with his other hand aims at the monster.
She realized an instance later, but trusted her ally with this sudden movement, because she could feel, that his aggressiveness was not aimed at her. Safer by his side, she feels the explosion consume the room. A second later, a little stunned by the gunfire, they decide to make distant between the enemy.
“He followed us here? But how?” — Juice thinks.
— I FOLLOWED GREEN’S STENCH.
Seeing that there was nothing in the now-blown wall, they turn back. Felling Krueger’s disgusting and overwhelming breathing just behind.
— AND I WAS LED TO YOU.
Towering over them, in full display.
— METHOD DEVELOPMENT: CORTISOL ROOM v1.0
After saying what he said, a dark crimson mist fills the room until it is all that can be seen. It’s Ragnarok. Juice. And Kruger.
Chapter 4: Megalomaniacal Misanthropy
— This motherfucker… — Juice reloads swiftly.
— His weakness must be that brain of his. — His partner suggests.
Kruger scratches his brain, deeply and satisfyingly, as if shoving his fingers in a bowl of spaghetti. Ragnarok’s hopes were immediately swapped by disgust and inadequacy.
— AND TO BELIEVE THAT GREEN WAS TAKEN DOWN BY — BY — BY A BROWN GIRL AND A RETARDED — SWEET MAN!!
The anger felt was such that his self-imposed censorship was failing him from time to time. And to be honest, he really wanted it to fail.
— BUT NOT TO DESPAIR! I WILL CONSUME YOUR PASTA!
— Juice! — Ragnarok draws her mace, worried.
— Yeah, yeah, I know!!
— DISCOMBOBULATINGLY!!!
If Green, a symbol of ego and self-centrism had the power to make the universe listen to him, granting him omnipotent-like levels of luck. Kruger’s power, as a symbol of insanity and madness, went against the very idea of order and logic.
— WAITING AT THE SHIP DOCKS!
As he sang in absolutely no tune, he slammed his fist down.
— WAITING FOR HER MAN TO COME BY!
But the impact was felt by Ragnarok. As if the monster had kicked her in the ribs. Matter of fact, one of his legs emerged from her back to smash her in the ribs. But there was no contact with the real fist and they were a good 3 meters of distance from him. Yet, the throttle of that warped attack, launched her towards Juice and they both go down.
Stressing, Juice gets on his knee and fires again. His VSS ability was to create these flare-like bullets with a purposed energy. Most of the time, his intended desire for the projectiles was simply for power. He used them like cannons to fire loud and devastating impacts. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something different.
The flare fired towards the floor was a smoke one. Having all its energy directed away from causing damage to releasing a smoke curtain. And as the curtain was forming, he protects Ragnarok’s eyes and fires again. Aimed at Kruger this time, the flare explodes into blinding light.
— BABY BOY!! I LOVE YOU!!
— Come on!!
Juice helps Ragnarok stand and they run away. Getting away from the smoke cloud, into the hallways of the Lapse. However, it seemed as if they were not in the same place. The halls were tainted with crimson red strokes, leaving little of its original white.
— We need to warn everyone!
— Wait!!
Besides the colour, there was sick and putrid smell that was hard to recognize. Ragnarok realizes that an assistant that they passed by was turned to a wood statue.
— Is she dead?
— …his trick. — Juice concluded.
— Trick? Like a VSS?
— It’s the only answer.
Juice and Ragnarok look back at the end of the hall and see Kruger struggle to fit inside.
— DO NOT ATTEMPT!
“It’ll be a hit and run…” — Juice fires at him again. This time the damage is prioritized.
As they start running again, Kruger shifts the entire room sideways. Now “up” was the right turn they would have taken. And “down” was a fall straight to Kruger. Juice holds on to a door frame and Ragnarok sticks her mace into the wall. The remaining objects like plants and benches fall down and Kruger consumes them.
— UP! — Juice yelled, trying to climb off the door frame and any other protrusions on the walls.
Ragnarok, using the strength of her grip and her toes, finds it rather easy to escalate the wall. But she was already aware of another problem. When Kruger shifted the room, she held on to the wall on the left, but the turn to safety is at the right, where Juice is. Meaning she would have to jump to the other side.
Down, Kruger shifts his body to fit the room. He became a giant head, perfectly fitting itself on the tunnel. But he still needed to move up, so his teeth and brains turned into long skinny arms, and they clawed the walls, dragging his humongous head up.
A single glimpse down made Juice climb faster. Ragnarok reaches the top and her head was almost touching the roof, in a perfect position to jump off. And as she does so, Kruger attacks, with bone blades that came from his hollow eyes. He scratches her arm, but she makes it safely. She rushes back to the edge and helps Juice climb up as well. As she drags him to the same level as her, Kruger attempts to impale him as well, but they miss him entirely, destroying the roof and walls.
Big head Kruger then reaches the top as well and reforms into his proper form. Except he was a little condensed in order to fit in the hall. He was now two meters tall. As the Searches make some distance in the still flipped corridors, the monster advances.
— METHOD DEVELOPMENT: IMPROBABILITY BEADS
Juice fires another flare but the trajectory went all over the place. The flare made curves and moved back and forth like a living insect before reaching Kruger and exploding his face. But as walks forward, out the smoke, he seemed unharmed. The monster then went in for a punch and his large red hand was engulfed in blue flame. And his bead necklace was also glowing. But Ragnarok deflects the punch by swinging her mace against the attack.
— What’s the plan?! — She asks.
— I’m working on it!