Werepanther 5 Chapter 2

“Farewell, Bastard of Baast,” Newt said as he gave me a little wave. “I’d say I hope we meet again someday, but I actually hope these Lizoids feast on your bones, sooooo… Yeah. Have fun!”

The bastard turned away and started to walk toward the edge of the building, but I gave chase.

Or, at least, I tried to give chase.

One of the Lizoids scuttled forward and let out a hiss as he spat some sort of purple liquid from his mouth, but I jumped backwards just as the liquid slammed into the ground, and it burnt a hole into the concrete with a high-pitched sizzle.

“Acid,” I growled as I looked back at Leia. “These things spit acid!”

Before I could make another move, the Lizoid slammed into my side and knocked me to the ground. I rolled with the blow and then kicked it away just as it spat some more acid, and the corrosive liquid splashed harmlessly into one of the metal poles that stuck out of the roof.

Then I saw Newt’s body disappear over the edge of the roof, and for half a second I thought of giving chase, but a gasp from Leia made me abandon that thought instantly.

I had to protect her first and foremost.

If that meant Newt would need to be dealt with at a later time, then so be it.

I grabbed onto the nearby ledge of the rooftop without even looking, tore out a hunk of concrete, and then came around swinging. There was a spray of gray dust as the concrete shattered against the flesh of my attacker, and the Lizoid let out a pained hiss as he was launched across the rooftop.

He flipped up onto his feet as he rolled to a stop and then snarled like a dog ready to attack, but my blow must have done some major damage, because the Lizoid’s entire left side was now covered with a deep purple bruise. He charged forward sluggishly, but I couldn’t quite focus on him at the moment.

My ears picked up the sound of another Lizoid spitting, and I backflipped out of the way seconds before I would have been burned by the acidic liquid. I landed on my hands and knees and then propelled myself forward with the force of a pouncing tiger. I unsheathed my claws as I bounded toward my first target, who had been hobbled by my initial attack. He tried to hit me with a shot of acidic spit, but I quickly flipped out of the way and rolled over to his right side. Then, without missing a beat, I leapt forward and stabbed my claws right into his side with a fleshy thunk.

The Lizoid screamed as I gutted him like a fish, and his dark purple intestines plopped out onto the ground as dark red blood sprayed all over the rooftop.

I kicked the dying Lizoid to the ground and then rolled away from another blast of deadly spit. When I came up this time, I zeroed in on the fucking reptillian sniper who was trying to do me in.

There were three of the beasts about fifty feet away, and they were all launching acidic projectiles in my direction.

And just beyond those three creatures were five more that were focused on Leia.

I watched as the Poliwarm woman flipped, twisted, and twirled away from shot after shot of acidic spit and then lashed out with her tongue. She picked up one of the Lizoids and tossed it into another creature nearby, which sent them both tumbling to the ground, but she didn’t have a chance to make another move since she was instantly assaulted by the other two reptilians. Leia let out a frustrated grunt as she dodged a bite from one of the creatures, and then she jumped up onto its back and used it as a springboard to flip away from the chaos.

Meanwhile, I was stuck playing the world’s deadliest game of dodgeball.

I sidestepped one blast of acidic spit before I somersaulted forward and tried to close the gap between myself and the Lizoids. One of the reptilians launched another blast at me from the sky, and I twisted out of the way seconds before it splashed onto my chest.

I landed about ten feet from my assailants, and that was when I got to work. I rolled forward, sunk my claws into the side of the first Lizoid’s head, and then snapped it to the right. There was a wet crack as the creature’s head turned at a full ninety degrees, and his body went limp as acidic saliva began to gurgle out of his mouth.

The next closest creature let out a snarl as he lurched forward and tried to sink his teeth into my shoulder, but I was quick to dodge.

However, I wasn’t quite quick enough.

Something wet slammed into the back of my left shoulder from behind, and then a wave of pain shot through my muscles as my nostrils filled with the scent of burning flesh and hair. I roared with pain as I spun around and ducked under another deadly projectile, and then I bared my teeth as I charged the Lizoid that was a bit further away from me.

I easily dodged a few more shots of acid spit before I unsheathed my claws and aimed for his throat. His long neck jerked to the side before I could make contact, and then he sunk his teeth into my left arm. I let out a snarl of pain as a few splurts of blood shot out of the fresh wounds on my flesh, but I didn’t have any time to waste.

If I didn’t act immediately, this Lizoid was going to melt my entire arm clean off at my elbow, and at this close of a range, there was nothing I could do.

Other than strike first.

I stabbed my claws into the back of the reptilian’s neck, dug them in deep, and then dragged my paw vertically down his flesh. His neck opened up like an overripe watermelon, and a mixture of crimson blood and acidic saliva sprayed out like an out of control hose.

I stabbed my claws into the Lizoids’ underbelly as I spun around, and then I held his body out in front of me as a shield. The dying creature’s saliva sprayed out directly into the face of the second Lizoid, who let out a painful scream as the flesh melted off his face until there was nothing left but a skull.

He let out one final gurgling sound as his body wobbled and then collapsed, dead. The Lizoid in my grasp tried in vain to hit me with a shot of his acid breath, but it was no use. Every time he attempted to shoot the deadly liquid, it just sprayed out the back of his open neck and further scarred the body of his dead comrade. Eventually, the Lizoid stopped struggling and released his grip on my arm, and he collapsed to the ground as the last little bit of life drained from his body.

My arm was on fire as it gushed blood from the ten fresh puncture wounds I saw, but otherwise I was fine. I was careful not to step on the acidic saliva as it oozed from the dead Lizoid’s mouths and onto the rooftop with a sizzle, and eventually I found myself right back into the thick of things.

Leia flipped away from a Lizoid bite as her tongue shot out of her mouth. It wrapped itself around the reptilian’s throat and then went taunt, and the poor bastard was pulled to the ground with a powerful thud. Leia let go of the Lizoid as she evaded another projectile and cartwheeled away to the right, and at the moment, all four of the creatures had their attention on Leia.

I could use that to my advantage.

I waited until one of the creatures was about to launch another shot of deadly spit, and then I jumped up onto the bastard’s back before I sunk my claws into the side of his head and yanked it to the left.

The acid shot out all the same, only it had a new trajectory, one that sent it straight into the side of a second Lizoid. There was a loud sizzle as the acid burned through the creature’s front right leg, and he hissed in pain as his entire front end fell forward against the rooftop.

The Lizoid I was currently standing on tried to buck me off, but I wasn’t about to play that game.

I dug my front claws into his flesh even deeper as I sunk the claws on my feet into his back. I held on for dear life as I began to pull on the creature’s head, and he flailed around helplessly as the flesh at the bottom of his neck started to stretch and then break. Purple acid and dark blood splashed out of his wounds as he continued to try and get me off him, but it was no use at this point. I gave his head one final tug, and his entire neck tore away from his body with a wet squelch. Then I jumped away from his collapsing body as his friend tried to hit me with his acid, but he was just a millisecond too slow.

The acid hissed past me in the sky and then harmlessly splattered against a nearby satellite dish.

“The satellite company’s never gonna believe that,” I chuckled to myself as the gray plastic melted away.

I spun around just in time to sidestep another bout of acid, and then I charged at the monster in front of me. He reared back as if he were going to spit again, but he scuttled to the side at the last second and narrowly dodged my razor-sharp claws. Then the Lizoid reared up on his hind legs and slammed his front feet square into my left side.

His blow wasn’t that powerful, but it caught me off balance and sent me down to the ground, and the Lizoid’s body jumped over me and attempted to pin me down, no doubt with the intent to melt my face off from point-blank range.

However, he didn’t know who he was dealing with. He was like a fucking toddler compared to me.

I reached up, grabbed onto both his front legs, and then tore them off his body with a spray of dark red blood. The Lizoid shrieked as he fell forward and unleashed his acid breath, but I was able to roll out from under him before it had a chance to dissolve my flesh.

I flipped up to my feet, unsheathed my claws, and then stabbed them into the Lizoid’s side. Next, I jumped over him with the five deadly points still embedded in his flesh and tore him open like a fleshy pinata. Blood gushed out from the wound as his insides were exposed to the world, including his ivory-white spine, so I reached down, grabbed the fucker’s spine, and pulled a Sub-Zero on the bastard.

There was a sickly crunch as I ripped the Lizoid’s spine out of his body, and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet without its strings. His entire figure twitched as I tossed his spine away, and then I watched the life drain from his body.

Five down, and two to go.

When I looked over at Leia, I saw the Poliwarm woman was now riding on the back of a Lizoid with her tongue wrapped around its neck like a makeshift bridle. The monster tried to buck her off as she tightened her chokehold on its throat, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Leia crushed his windpipe completely.

If the other Lizoid didn’t hit her with a shot of acid breath first, that was. It was already rearing back to attack, so I darted forward with the speed of a cheetah.

Then I let out a small roar to draw the Lizoid’s attention, and his head quirked to the side as he glanced over in my direction.

The reptilian let out a high-pitched hiss as he turned to face me, and he held his attack as I approached. Then, when I got about five feet from the bastard, he shoved his front feet into the ground and twisted his body violently, and the Lizoid’s tail caught me in the side with a powerful thud.

Too bad for him it did absolutely nothing. In fact, I barely felt it whatsoever. His attack was the equivalent to throwing a rock at a tank, and I was pretty sure even the Lizoid knew he’d fucked up.

The creature frantically tried to get all four feet back on the ground, but he wasn’t fast enough.

I picked the Lizoid up by the tail, stabbed my left set of claws into his torso, and then began to pull the reptilian bastard in separate directions. There was a wet crack as his spine snapped inside his body, and then a disgusting squishing sound as the flesh on his hind end tore away from his body with a spray of blood.

And still the fucker wasn’t dead.

The Lizoid hissed and snarled as he tried to get his head back around to attack me, but I simply slammed his upper half into the ground before me. My paw tore through his flesh like it was made of wet cardboard, and he let out a soft gurgle when it popped out the other side. He weakly tried to raise his head back around, but it was all in vain. The Lizoid’s body went limp, and he slumped over, dead.

I stood up from the scene of carnage and then watched with macabre glee as Leia finished off her assailant.

The Poliwarm woman was now using her hands and feet for leverage, and she pushed her body backwards as her taunt tongue continued to dig into the Lizoid’s flesh.

The creature’s face was now drained of color, and every attempt he made to launch more acidic salvia only produced a bit of harmless spittle. The Lizoid made a choked, gurgling noise as his white eyes bulged out of its skull, and it started to get weaker by the second. Then the Lizoid that Leia was riding started to stumble as it walked, until finally it fell over.

Still, Leia didn’t give up. She pulled her tongue even tighter, until finally there was a wet snap from the Lizoid’s throat. Then she unraveled her appendage and sucked it back into her mouth, and we both watched as the reptilian creature gargled its last breath.

And then there was one.

The final Lizoid came at me with his milky white eyes narrowed down to little slits. He spat a few shots of deadly acid breath as he charged, but I was able to flip, twirl, and twist away from each of the attacks without much effort. Still, the monster closed the gap fairly quickly, and soon we were right on top of each other.

I lashed out at the Lizoid with my front claws, but he ducked down seconds before he was decapitated.

Then he whipped his tail around and slammed it into my right side with a fleshy thunk, and I growled as I stumbled a few inches to the side. The Lizoid started to turn his head to blast another shot of acid my way, but Leia was already on the case.

Leia’s tongue twisted around the neck of the lizard-beast and jerked it in the opposite direction. The creature let out a snarl as he was yanked to the side and crashed against the edge of the roof, and his acidic breath splashed harmlessly onto the rooftop with a hot sizzle.

Now, it was my turn to attack.

I sunk my claws straight into the flesh of the Lizoid’s tail as I lifted him up off his feet, and Leia’s tongue released its grip. The monster flailed and hissed as I started to swing him around like a throwing hammer, and then I slammed him into the ground hard. Bits of concrete flew up into the air as the ground cratered beneath his body, and he yelped in pain as I slammed him again and again until there was a wet crunch.

Then, much to my surprise, the fucker’s tail popped off with a wet shluck, and I stumbled backwards.

“What in the fuck?” I gasped as I watched the Lizoid start to scramble toward the edge of the roof.

“It’s a defense mechanism,” Leia sighed. “A lot of lizards have them.”

The blonde tried to catch the Lizoid with her tongue, but he was now running like a bat out of hell, so her long, pink appendage just slapped onto the edge of the roof as her target went over the side and disappeared from our view.

“Ohhhhh, no you don’t,” I snarled as I bounded after the bastard.

I took a blind running jump off the edge of the building, and for a brief second my heart seemed to stop in my chest as the ground disappeared from underneath me. Sure, I was a super-strong werepanther, but I had also just jumped off a multi-story building without anything to catch me.

This was either gonna hurt, or it was gonna be the most badass thing I’d done in a long time.

The Lizoid continued to scuttle away to the north, but I’d given myself enough of a springboard to cut him off. I passed over him like a hawk circling its prey before I plummeted down to the ground. Then I landed on all fours with a silent thump, and I instantly turned around and let out a small roar.

The lizard-beast’s eyes went wide as it skidded to a stop in the middle of the alleyway. It hauled back its head and spat a bit of acidic saliva in my direction, but I simply vaulted over the projectile like it was nothing.

I unsheathed my claws as I came down on the monster’s head, and I heard the bones in his skull crack beneath my feet as I landed. The Lizoid let out a yelp as his brains were smooshed out through his ears, and I tore into his back with my front claws. Blood splashed up onto my body as I ripped into the fucker, until finally his body went limp.

And then there were zero.

“Did he really think that was going to kill us?” Leia asked with a scoff as scurried down the alley wall, jumped off, and walked toward me. “We’ve fought a freaking Lovecraftian horror and walked away.”

“That’s the one thing that seems to be true in both fiction and real life,” I said with a long sigh. “The villains always seem to be overconfident to the point of defeat. This Newt fellow is no different, apparently.”

“What did you see when you looked at him with your revealing vision?” Leia continued. “You seemed pretty amused by what you saw.”

“He’s a turtle,” I chuckled. “No joke, I saw Newt as a giant snapping turtle.”

“I don’t know why you’re laughing.” Leia frowned. “Snapping turtles are nothing to fuck around with, considering they can clamp down with the force of two-hundred and nine Newtons.”

“History student here,” I reminded the Polliwarg. “What does that even mean?”

“It means their bite is strong enough to cleave through a whole pineapple,” Leia explained. “And that’s just the regular ones. A man-sized snapping turtle, though? That thing could do some serious damage.”

“Not if we get to him first,” I growled as I looked around.

“We don’t have time.” Leia shook her head. “We have to dispose of these bodies quickly, or else people are gonna have some major questions in the morning…”

“The acid,” I suggested. “We can melt these bodies with the acid they produce from their throats.”

“Well, we can’t use all of them. You tore the throats out of a bunch, so they’re probably bone dry.”

“Fine,” I laughed. “We get rid of the ones that have any acid left.”

“Then I’ll race you back to the top.” Leia smirked before she suddenly extended her tongue, wrapped it around the Lizoid body in the alley, and sprung up into the air. Then she scurried up the wall like a sexy Spider-Man, and I chuckled to myself before I squatted down and launched myself upward.

I didn’t clear the entire building, but I managed to dig my claws into the wall a foot or so below the roof edge, and it was easy enough to vault myself over.

“No fair,” Leia pouted as she jumped onto the roof a split second later and tossed the Lizoid body with several others.

“All’s fair in love and--”

Before I could finish my sentence, I heard something fall over in the alleyway below us, so I clenched my teeth, slunk down as close as I could to the ground, and then approached the direction of the sound.

Was this Newt, come back to try and finish the job? If it was, I was going to make him rue the day he got into my lounge.

Which was still a mystery, considering Naomi had cast a seemingly air-tight spell on Cincy’s Jewel.

When I looked down and finally saw a figure standing there, my jaw dropped.

I saw a mocha-skinned woman with short brown hair step standing in the mouth of the alley we’d just vacated, and she looked up at me with pure terror in her green eyes.

Valerie.

Did she see part of the fight? And she was now face-to-face with me in my Werepanther form.

Fuck.

“Wh-what are you?” the woman sputtered as she took a step back.

“Valerie…” I trailed off as I made a “shushing” motion with my paw. “I can explain.”

“How do you know my name?” she gasped in a horrified tone.

“Valerie, please,” I hissed, and my eyes darted around to make sure no one else was out and about on the darkened street. “Don’t run, and please don’t scream. It’s me, Carter.”

Suddenly, the woman’s eyes narrowed, and I heard her heartbeat start to increase.

“Carter?” Valerie breathed. “Y-You’re a--”

“I know.” I nodded.

“And Leia?” she demanded. “She’s one, too?”

“No.” I shook my head, and then the blonde Poliwarm stepped up beside me.

“Oh, shit!” Leia hissed under her breath when she saw her friend, and then she tried to plaster on a big, fake smile. “Hey, Val! Look what I found while out and about… Somebody must have really been feeding this stray some good food or something.”

“I saw you, Leia,” Val argued with wide eyes. “I-I saw your tongue and those lizard things. What-- What are you two?”