Chapter 13: Slug Extermination
Note: Ranked 11th right now, very close to 10th. Although we didn't meet the goal, I'm gonna post another chapter anyway. It comes out in an hour🔥
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Seeing the dissolving person put me in a bad mood. I wanted to destroy all those slug bastards for good, so I turned toward the spacecraft and took a step forward.
"Wait." Gwen held up her hand, stopping me. For a moment I thought she was too scared to continue, but her eyes narrowed with that calculating look I knew all too well. It wasn't a look of being a nuisance, she had an idea.
"You got anything?"
"I think it'd be stupid to head into their spaceship. They'd have more control there, and we'd lose our water advantage," she made a good point.
A month ago, she'd have freaked at the mere sight of such alien slime. Now, Gwen forced down her revulsion and tried to focus on the bigger picture. "If we fight them in there, it's over," she said, her voice steady despite her clammy palms.
I paused, considering her words. She was right. Inside that ship, we'd be fighting the Limax on their terms. "You're right," I admitted, studying our surroundings. The broken pipes continued raining down, creating puddles across the cavern floor.
"Then what do we do?" Jessica asked.
A plan started forming in my head.
I stomped my crystalline foot hard against the ground, channeling my powers. Massive diamond spears erupted from the floor—six feet tall and deadly sharp. Perfect for what I had in mind.
"What are you doing?" Jessica asked, limping closer.
Instead of answering, I tapped the Omnitrix symbol on my chest. Red light flashed as I reverted to human form.
"What the—" Jessica stared, confusion etched across her bruised face. "Why would you change back now?"
I grinned, already twisting the dial on the watch. "Because Diamondhead isn't what we need right now." I found the silhouette I wanted and slammed my palm down.
"Four Arms!" I roared as the transformation completed, my body expanding into the massive four-armed powerhouse.
Jessica's jaw dropped. "You have more than one! This is cheating…"
"You ain't seen nothing yet," I replied, flexing all four arms. "Stand back!"
With a grunt, I grabbed the first crystal spear, hefting its considerable weight like it was nothing. Taking aim at the spacecraft, I hurled it with all my strength.
The spear rocketed through the air and impaled the ship's hull. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the metal crumpled around the impact point, and a violent explosion ripped through the air, the blast wave washing over us.
"That's what I'm talking about!" I shouted, grabbing another spear and launching it toward a different section of the ship.
The ship screamed as its hull buckled inward, each impact shaking the cavern like an earthquake. The next explosion hit even harder, a deafening boom that sent a shockwave of heat rippling outward.
Orange flames licked along the alien metal, illuminating the cavern in a hellish glow. "Get down!" Jessica yelled, shoving Gwen behind a toppled support beam as flaming chunks of alien metal rained from the sky.
The cavern groaned, cracks spiderwebbing across the ceiling. A few huge slabs of rock crumbled loose, slamming into the ground like meteors. I braced myself as the second explosion tore through the ship, flames bursting outward in a molten inferno.
My eyes caught some Limax amid the destruction. They shrieked, their slug-like bodies catching fire, thrashing and rolling in agony. But the worst part? It didn't kill them. They weren't dying—they were absorbing it.
Jessica stared in disbelief. "Jesus Christ..."
The destruction had consequences I hadn't fully anticipated.
From the burning wreckage, more Limax emerged—larger and angrier than before. The flames seemed to strengthen them, their bodies glowing with heat as they surged toward us. Right, they get power from flames.
"Uh, Ben?" Gwen's voice was full of nervousness. "I don't think they enjoyed the knocks on their door."
"I think you're right," I said, quickly assessing our options. The fire-enhanced Limax were closing in fast. Behind me, Jessica and Gwen backed away, their path to the exit blocked by another batch of advancing aliens who'd been hiding in the allies of this colony.
I glanced up, spotting the large water main running across the ceiling. I'd have been worried if I didn't have a plan. Without hesitation, I leaped upward, my powerful legs propelling me to the cavern roof. My four hands wrapped around the pipe, the metal groaning under my grip.
In my absence, Gwen snatched up a discarded scrap of metal—a broken signpost, by the look of it. An acid-spewing Limax lunged near the collapsed pillar, and she used the makeshift shield to deflect the sizzling goop back onto its body. The creature wailed, dissolving in a foul puff of smoke.
"Get away from her, goo bastards!" I taunted as the Limax charged directly beneath me.
With a mighty heave, I ripped the pipe free. A pressurized torrent of water erupted, blasting down precisely where the Limax were gathering. Their triumphant screeches turned to agonized wails as the water dissolved their bodies, reducing them to steaming puddles on the cavern floor.
Despite my efforts, a few managed to approach the girls. Jessica gritted her teeth, staggering in front of Gwen despite the gash on her side. "Stay behind me; I can still fight," she insisted, balling her fists.
She swung at a writhing slug that got too close, but her punch lacked its usual force. Gwen had to yank her out of the way as acid hissed against the stone floor.
I directed the water toward them just in time.
Jessica's cheeks burned with anger—at the aliens, at her own helplessness. "Damn it, I was supposed to be the one saving people…" she muttered, stumbling. Her ragged breath betrayed a hint of shame.
More Limax emerged from the burning ship, only to meet the same watery fate. They had no choice but to advance directly into my improvised water cannon, and within minutes, the last of them dissolved into nothing.
It was a sight to see, observing the disgusting aliens dying like flies.
I quickly dropped to the ground and returned to human once more. The cavern was now a flooded mess of broken alien technology and dissolved Limax goo.
"Amazing!" Gwen finished, grinning despite her soaked clothes. "I can't believe that actually worked." Her mood dropped considerably when her eyes fell on the eggs again.
"That was..." Jessica began, at a loss for words. "Wait, weren't you the guy who clashed with super terrorist Magneto's group in D.C? I saw a video…"
I dusted off my hands, trying to look nonchalant even though my heart was still racing. "All in a day's work. But wait." I frowned, remembering something as I scanned the cavern. "We might not be done yet."
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, her celebration cut short.
"These Limax... they're tricky. There might be stragglers." I twisted the Omnitrix dial again. "I need to make sure."
With another flash of green light, I transformed into the orange-furred, eyeless form of Wildmutt. My enhanced senses immediately picked up scents that human noses could never detect. I prowled around the perimeter of the cavern, sniffing the air and ground.
There—hidden in a small crevice near what remained of the eggs. There—something was moving. A small, gelatinous thing, oozing its way out of the wreckage. Its sickly green body pulsed weakly, barely alive, but it had enough left to survive. Enough left to… fight.
I lunged, but it screeched, suddenly expanding. A barbed tendril shot toward me, aiming straight for my throat.
Too slow.
My jaws snapped down over its slimy body, and the impact sent a disgusting burst of fluid down my tongue. It struggled, thrashing, until I spat a thick glob of saliva onto its face.
The moment the spit hit, it hissed, its body melting into a puddle of boiling sludge.
Nice try, slug bastard.
The last Limax was dead.
I trotted back to Gwen and Jessica, the Omnitrix timing out this time with a flash of red. Human again, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and exhaled deeply.
Now, the cavern was a swamp of steaming alien viscera. Acrid smoke from burst pipes and half-fried spaceship wiring stung my nostrils, making my eyes water. My hands were trembling a little as they felt sticky as if coated with that clinging, oily residue of alien gore.
As the last of the Limax sizzled into nothing, we all stood still, listening to our own ragged breathing bounce off the cavern's dripping walls.
My arms shook from the fading adrenaline, and Gwen's eyes glistened with a mix of horror and relief. Jessica pressed a hand to her side, wincing, but not complaining.
For a long moment, nobody spoke, the distant hum of the broken pipes the only sound. Then I finally said, "We… we did it." It felt half like a question, half like a statement.
Gwen clutched her soaked sleeves, taking in the carnage around us. A month ago, could she have dreamed of wading through half-dissolved aliens, helping patch up a superhero investigating mutant undergrounds?
"Oh, yeah… I'm okay," she murmured to herself, and I didn't point out how her knees were trembling. She inhaled sharply, steeled her nerves, and looked at me. "Ben, you good?"
"No, ew…" I was covered in slime, but they seemed to have lost their acidic property. "Let's get out of here first,"
"What about the eggs?" Jessica asked.
Gwen took that question and rushed toward the dissolving eggs. We followed and spotted a thin figure crawling out of a collapsed hovel. The so-called "Morlock", who was just a regular human with mutant powers scorned by society for it, had wide eyes that were glassy with shock. His skin was riddled with small burns and slime.
The Morlock's eyes flickered, clouded with shock. He rasped, "H-help…" Gwen knelt, gently laying a hand on their shoulder. A wave of pity washed over her.
"We'll get you medical help," she promised, voice shaking. "Just—hang in there."
I swallowed a rush of worry. They were still alive. "This is good. We can still help them. The ones who'd survive would wake up on their own, from the looks of it. Quick, let's return to the surface and call for medical help."
"True…" Jessica said, a little dazed.
I looked at her dazed expression. Jessica Jones, the gloomy depressed victim of Killgrave. That was her identity in the comics and her own TV Show, but in this world, that tragedy didn't happen yet.
She was a lot more cheerful, clumsy, and fun to interact with. She also had a heroic spirit in her that would one day be snuffed out if things developed like the canon universe. I had to make sure that never happens.
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