1☆ JAKE BUCK ☆

Bang!!!

The deafening sound of a gunshot rang out in the forest, followed by the sounds of birds and other critters fleeing to safety. Silence slowly followed the chaotic chirping and galloping of hooves as the creatures of the wild quickly stayed clear of whatever monstrosity had caused the horrific sound.

"Got me a big 'un, another one fer me to mount on my wall," an excited voice cut through the eerie silence that now loomed in the forest, the rustling of leaves announcing the arrival of the voice's owner from the bushes.

Leaves and twigs were stuck in his naturally dirty-looking blonde hair. He was unbothered to tidy his cropped hair as he straightened himself, standing at an imposing 6'5". A monster of a man, his rugged features gave him a rather intimidating presence.

He held the monstrosity that had caused the horrific sound in his hand—the .375 H&H Magnum. Barely visible wisps of smoke escaped the barrel, like the last breath of a dragon after unleashing a powerful fire blast.

The gentle breeze brushed his hairy arms as he held the rifle firmly, seemingly ready to fire another round.

"Damn, ain't no others 'round," he realized, sounding disappointed.

No creature was foolish enough to wander around after hearing the cry of the monstrosity in his hand.

His dark blue eyes darted around, hoping to find a hare that might have stuck around to see what was going on, but to his dismay, there wasn't even a butterfly fluttering around despite the summer breeze.

He dejectedly shifted his gaze from his search. The dejection in his eyes turned into pure bliss as he gazed upon his catch of the day, a spirit bear—a subspecies of the North American black bear. This exotic creature was forbidden to hunt in his part of the world.

The giant white, more like cream-colored bear, lay on its side. Its breaths were slow and heavy, its beautiful fur stained with blood from the wound on its side. Every breath sent unbearable pain through its body, yet it could only let out soft, almost inaudible groans as it endured the agony.

"Well, look at you, still breathin'. You're one tough cookie, ain't ya?" A condescending voice pierced its ears, its moist black eyes turning to the man.

Its black eyes reflected the image of a man who almost stood at the same height as it would if it were standing on its hind legs.

"What a beauty. No wonder them capitalists wanted to keep you all to themselves... Well, I ain't lettin' that happen. I'll hunt every last one of ya down," the man chuckled to himself. Even though the bear couldn't understand him, it could feel the malice in the man's every word.

The man was none other than Jake Buck, a hunter whose love for the game had grown into an obsession.

From killing ants as a child, he felt the thrill of having the life of another in his hands—something he described as "true beauty." His love for hunting grew from that, and he decided to follow in his Pa's footsteps, becoming a hunter.

His first true kill was a rat, then a chicken, then the family turkey. Gradually, he moved on to bigger game: a deer, a bear, an antelope.

He couldn't get enough of it, to the extent that he went beyond hunting to poaching, believing no one had the right to the "true beauty" he saw when he took the life of another creature—one that was supposed to be greater than him, one that was born to survive but could only squirm under his traps and rifles.

Over the course of his forty years of taking lives, he had traveled the world. Though he looked much younger for someone approaching his fifties, he had visited every corner of the world with exotic, almost extinct creatures, personally erasing their names from the animal kingdom.

As a result, he was wanted and banned from entering most countries, yet that did not stop him. He wanted to show that humans were the strongest of all creatures, despite not being gifted with claws, wings, or other adaptations.

The bear could only look on as this demon in human skin squatted down, his blue eyes directly meeting the almost lifeless black eyes of the creature.

"You'll look mighty fine next to that polar bear I caught last week. That one was a feisty critter," Jake smirked, showing off his pearly whites. As a trophy, whatever endangered species he caught, he would hang on his wall, with many houses dedicated to particular species.

He enjoyed the sight of knowing he bested these creatures. To him, he was always on the side of humanity, believing they were the strongest and should stop showing off power to each other and show it to the rest of the races. He was kind to humans, irrespective of race, one reason why he had not yet been caught. He always did good with the large amounts of money he gained from his hunts, making everyone love him.

"Alright, time to say your prayers. I got a long day ahead of me," he said to himself, breaking eye contact with the bear.

The bear could feel a foreboding danger, a feeling of dread washing over it. Like all living creatures, it did not want to die, so its brain squeezed out the last of its adrenaline, granting it strength and numbing its pain receptors. It raised its giant body, its claws ready to deliver one last devastating blow to the enemy before it, one that did not allow him a chance to fight back.

Jake noticed too late, as he was reaching into his pocket for a dagger, an ESEE 6P, strong enough to easily penetrate the tough hide of a bear.

The bear had already pounced on him, but to its dismay, Jake's imposing figure was not for show. He squared off with the bear, keeping his ground as he held the bear's paws in place, a smirk in his eyes.

"Well, aren't you a cutie. Think you're the only one strong enough?" he taunted, taking advantage of the bear's momentary stun to let go. The bear's momentum brought it down hard, allowing Jake to stab the dagger into its wound, his whole hand pushed into the creature's side. With a painful groan, the creature let out its last breath. The final heartbeat thumped as it fell, the light fading from its eyes.

"Still got it," Jake smiled to himself, a victorious grin as he pulled his hand out.

As usual, he was about to perform his ritual of peeing on the corpse to show supremacy when he felt a sharp headache. His head felt like it was being split in half with a saw from all sides, a ringing sensation in his ears, as if he had a front-row seat to a jet launch. His eyes rolled to the side of his head as his vision went completely dark, then almost immediately white.

_________

[Humans, the day of reckoning is now.]