[i][b]Edward Vates – 8 Months Ago[/b]
The moss covered beast crept towards Vates with a smile and with each step the beast took in the puddle, a bundle of sickly flora would flourish. The beast did not seem eager to kill Vates with haste. No. The beast wanted to toy with his food thought Vates, who’s grip on the hatchet had grown so tight that his knuckles had gone white. [b]“It wants us to run, doesn’t it?”[/b] asked Janus, his tone flat and cold. Vates did not respond, nor did he need to. This host had grown more disturbing than he had been in the vision, more a beast now than a human. As each second passed by the chances of escaping grew shorter as the fungus and mold began to encircle him. There was a building to Vates back but the doors and windows had bared the brunt of structural damage and were mostly inaccessible. 

“What’s wrong? Too scared to run? You’d be surprised how often that happens to people. Don’t worry so much, the pain only lasts a while.” teased the beast. Mocking passiveness the beast held its arms out to its sides for a moment before allowing a couple of vines to pierce out of the skin on its wrists and grow into whips. “Cool huh? They can pop out of the strangest of places. My hands, wrists, belly, bum…” the beast laughed, now only metres away.

“Fuck it” hissed Vates before bursting towards the beast. As he got within range Vates used his kinetic gauntlet to push the beast back and in doing so also reflected an incoming vine whip. As the beast toppled back a couple of steps Vates closed the gap and tried to sink the hatchet into its neck, but the layers of flora offered some protection and Vates only managed to inflict a small snag on the beast’s neck. The beast spun in response, attempting to deliver a blow as it did so but Vates jumped back and swiped down at the beasts arm, cutting it off. 

“ARGH! You’ll fucking pay for that!” roared the beast in agony. Its threat went underappreciated however, as Vates continued to swipe madly at it. Pure adrenaline and fear had quickly taken over Vates, and now he acted on instinct alone; by this time he had only come across a few hosts and none of them were as horrific as this one. The beast, whilst hurt by the onslaught was far from defeated, and as Vates swings begun to lose steam it charged forwards knocking Vates back. As the tide of battle shifted the beast took the advantage and sent one its vines whipping the hatchet from Vates hand and over towards a doorway (one where a gap still remained). The beast let at a quiet but maniacal giggle as he revealed that his arm had begun to slowly grow back. 

Vates quickly began stepping back to create distance and in doing so realised that the fungus and mold had completely enthralled the patch of land where they were fighting. In fact looking down he realised it had begun growing on him and that he was quickly getting weaker. [b]“I’m trying to hold it off, but I can’t for much longer. You need to fini-”[/b] Janus tried to say, but was cut off as the beast sent whipped Vates with a great force and sent him flying back against a wall. Vates was dazed even more and simply sat limp in horror and confusion as he was lifted and held up against the wall by moss and vines. “No… please” he exhaled weakly, but the beast only smiled in response. Vates eyes grew heavy but as they begun to shut he saw something run up behind the beast.

“Get off of him you ugly son of a bitch!” came a defiant shout accompanied by a hatchet blow to the beast’s neck. It was the man Vates had taken the hatchet from earlier and whose dead wife he had found. “You! Will! Not! Take! Another! Life!” the man continued to shout, delivering a blow with each word. The man was having more luck than Vates had, having got the element of surprise and attacking the beasts back where it appeared to be weaker. It tried to turn and face its opponent but the man moved with it and tried to keep the advantage. The distraction caused the vines and moss holding up Vates to weaken and he dropped to the floor. 

[b]“Get up Vates! Before the bugs and these plants eat you alive! Help the man!”[/b] commanded Janus who put what little energy he could into his hosts body. There wasn’t much Janus could do, his powers were not physical and with Vates this weak there would be too big a risk of him going into stasis; he could at least fight off the effects of the mold though. Vates eyes opened more and he could see the fight before him. He managed to slowly push himself onto his feet and begun stumbling towards the fight but he fell to a knee after only a few steps; he did not have the strength in him to keep going, not while the fungus and insects sapped at his energy. Vates tried to rise again but fell completely onto his side and his eyes barely managed to stay open. 

“I’ll kill you and your boy! Just like I killed your wife!” the beast mocked. The man’s hatchet had become lodged into the beasts back. All things considered, the man had done an incredible amount of damage to the beast… but it wasn’t enough. The beast turned now to face the man and managed to catch the man’s fist as a punch flew towards it. The man tried to step back but his feet had become planted. A desperate boy’s plea for his father’s life echoed from aside but neither of the fighters noticed it. Pulling the man closer the beast opened his mouth and unleashed a swarm of insects into the man’s face. The man screamed and thrashed about wildly as they made their way down his throat and through his eyes. 

“NO!” came another yell from a boy, this time louder and more aggressive. Vates tilted his head up and could see the boy. He appeared to be in pain as he bent over and fell to his knees. ‘The beast has him too’ thought Vates. 

[b]“No”[/b] gasped Janus [b]“He’s a conduit”[/b] The boys head flung back upright to reveal an extended snout, longer ears and a face covered in hair. The young boy was turning into some sort of wolf man. The transformation continued and the boy grew larger, more muscular and more wolf-like whilst the moss beast continued to obliviously kill his father. As the transformation became complete the werewolf let at a hollowing howl and charged at the beast. The moss beast didn’t have time to react and was tackled easily to the ground before being ripped apart… [/i]
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[b]Vates – Present Time – Tuborg Heights[/b]
Vates awoke from the flashback with a gasp and a sweat. He often relived this series of events in his sleep, perhaps because it still lacked closure. Vates sat upright against the headboard of his bed and looked at his clock. 5am. It was early but even so, Vates had slept longer than he perhaps should have. [b][i]“If you want closure you need to put Marley out of his misery. The boy is gone, you know that Vates. Only the wolf is there now.”[/b][/i] Janus advised, [b][i]“Is that why you could not do the same for the girl? Do you think that sparing her meant that you could spare Marley?”[/b][/i]

“Marley’s parents are dead because of me. I chose to be selfish, to put my own safety first. His father, despite this, gave his life trying to save me. I owe that boy everything. If I can’t save him, I can’t save anyone. Keeping him alive pushes me to be a better person, to be stronger, to be more trusting, and to save who I can. I won’t kill him… I won’t kill anyone.” Vates didn’t like discussing the topic and so quickly rolled out of bed, “Now then. There’s a gang we need to deal with.”