ManBeast - Book 1: A Kingdom of Predators

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

"FRAAANKIIEEE????? COME OUT TOO PLAAYYY!!!" Manny taunted as he stalked to the lower level of the construction platform. Frankie had disappeared from view, but he could smell him; the metallic smell of blood was strongly adrift in the air, pushing Manny's drive for slaughter to its utmost. "You think you can escape me, Frankie? Escape your sins, your evils, that you so willingly flaunt in the faces of your Brothers? You were a titan amongst mortals, Frankie! I hated you as one of the top draft recruits in our class, Frankie! I envied you even more! Beloved Frankie, honorable Frankie, dutiful Frankie! Only to see you degrade yourself into a pet! A plaything! A neutered shell of an animal that willingly gave his fucking balls to some human whore! A potential alpha dog made runt! You remind me soooo much of those stuck-up, butt-fucking officers who tricked all of us into thinking we were a true platoon! "Honorable soldiers to a cause; a family and a unit!" HA!!! For what? To be made into murderers for an agenda that didn't even keep us in contemplation after the fact? To be a second-class citizen in my own country, a freak of nature unworthy of connection or acceptance? BUT YOU GET TO HAVE THOSE THINGS, WITH NONE OF THE ACCOMPANYING PAIN?" Manny screamed into the darkness of the lower level.

Flickers of light from construction overhangs and the flashes of lighting from the storm in the distance momentarily distracted Manny as he continued his search for Frankie. "Why should you ever be allowed to feel, to have what I could never have? Despite everything I gave up?" Manny hissed furiously as he threw aside several steel drums in his search for Frankie. "Why were you chosen by him??? WHAT DID YOU HAVE THAT I DIDN'T, FRANKIE!? WHY DID STEPHAN ADORE YOU???" The lights flicked on to a steady glow as the Manny wheeled around where he stood. In the corner of the lower level, close to Manny's position and near the safety hazard edge barricades, Frankie stood at the ready, transfixed on the incensed Manny.

"ANDDDD WE'RE BACK FOLKS! OUR DEDICATED CREW LOCATED THE TWO FIGHTERS AND OUR REFREE ON SCENE IS BACK IN TOW! AS YOU CAN SEE, MANNY'S GOT FRANKIE PINNED TO THE CORNER ON THAT UNDERPASS LEVEL! FELIX, THEY'RE SO HIGH UP, I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT FRANKIE ISN'T AWARE OF THE DANGERS BOTH BEFORE AND BEHIND HIM??" Harry shouted as the two Beast-Men came back into view on the screens. Jules turned to Doug, who looked just as worried as he did. "Tell me Frankie's got a plan, Doug," he whispered anxiously. Doug began to chew on his fingernails as his eyes remained on screen. "Knowing Frankie, he does... and it could work...but it's going to be a gamble, kid..." Doug answered. As Doug finished sharing his concerns over Frankie's pending plight, Manny opened and snapped his jaw shut in rapid repetition again, launching the crowd into a fervor. "HERE IT COMES AGAIN; THE BONITO BITE BLITZ!" Harry shouted as Manny lunged at break neck speed towards Frankie. Jules couldn't believe it; although Manny was a savage and a goon, he wasn't stupid. Such a technique at this positioning could only be meant to make Frankie fall from the platform. While that wasn't an "intentional killing", it would still spell the same outcome for Jules' stoic mentor.

Just as Manny was about to make contact with Frankie, something odd happened that everyone noticed immediately; Manny seemingly bit Frankie on the thigh, but no visible injury was present. Taking a step back for a second, Manny then launched another Blitz at Frankie, this time aiming for his opposite shoulder. Same result, the bite appeared to land, but no injury was present. Al, who had been unusually quiet for the duration of the fight, gave an exaggerated yawned and folded his hands across his chest. "Yup, here it comes" he stated loudly, which caused Doug to let out a "WOOOOO! HES BACK!!!", much to the surprise of everyone sitting nearby. Manny attempted his attack several times, to various areas of Frankie's body, but to no avail; it was as if Frankie had become intangible. "I NEVER GET TIRED OF SEEING IT FOLKS, AND HALF-BELIEVED WE WOULDN'T BE GRACED WITH IT TONIGHT: MONSTER MACK IS IN FULL ON PHANTASM PHASE!!!"

The cheers of the crowd caused tremors under the seats, catching Jules off guard. "That's right, Harry! By continuously shifting his center of gravity along the meridian line of his body, and hyper twitching his muscles at a minute level, Frankie can evade attacks at the very last second, making it appear as though the attacks are passing through him! This takes tremendous amounts of focus, control, and prediction of his enemies' movements, as one misstep could spell doom for Frankie!" Felix cried into the mic.

Manny attempted one more Blitz attack at Frankie, only to be met with a crushing upwards elbow into the chin. Wasting no time, Frankie proceeded into a three-strike combo: finger-jabbing Manny in the neck, low-kicking him in the inner thigh, and finishing with a brilliant heel palm thrust into the bridge of Manny's nose. Dazed and visibly injured from the attack, Manny attempted to retreat momentarily, only for Frankie to seemingly glide over to him, closing the distance in a second. Manny put his hands up in defense, only to be rocked in the chin twice by two perfect straight jabs, knocking Manny to the floor.

"HES DOWN!!" Harry screamed as the audience eagerly awaited the countdown. As Frankie walked over to Manny to deal the finishing blow, Manny suddenly spun around on the ground, lashing his legs out in a break-dance style maneuver and kicked a puddle of pooled rain water into the face of Frankie. Momentarily stunned, Frankie retreated slightly, which gave Manny the ample time needed to prepare his next technique. "OH, SHIT FRANKIE! LOOK-OUT; HERE IT COMES!" Harry shouted, as Manny planted his right leg towards to ground so hard that the sheet metal of the platform underneath his boots dented. Manny lashed his leg out in a manner that caused his leg to appear as though it had bent at an impossible angle from the sheer speed of the kick. Frankie was struck full-on in the chest, completely knocking the wind out of him and leveling him to the ground; the sound from impact was identical to the crack of a bull whip. "THERE IT IS! THE KRAKEN WHIP KICK!!!! FELIX, LAY SOME KNOWLEDGE ON US!" Harry cried.

Felix followed suit quickly: "Well, Harry this is an unusual technique; Manny is essentially compressing, then decompressing and relaxing his leg muscles at such an extreme degree within a second that when he steps off with the kicking leg, the power generated swings his leg with such force that it appears to undulate in mid-motion and strikes hard with whip like force! That undulation makes it a motherfucker to block too, as the point of contact will likely differ from the perceived angle of motion!"

As Frankie staggered trying to bring himself back up to his feet, Manny had almost fully recovered and made an exaggerated chomping motion his hands; this move by Manny led several nosy Beast-Men in the crowd to start zealously chanting "OVER-BITE, OVER-BITE!!!" as Manny prepared to strike. Doug whispered "Oh no" under his breath as Betty covered her eyes to the coming horror. Unhinging his jaw to a grotesque degree, Manny lunged at Frankie again, this time making a solid connection and sinking his teeth deeply into Frankie's same forearm that he had bitten earlier; "CHOMP!"

Manny's face vibrated back in forth as he used his hands to push the top of his head and the bottom of his jaw, pressing the bite deeper into the wound. A spurt of blood from the bite landed on Manny's face, further accentuating the ferocity of the technique. "IN THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG, "OHH THE SHARK HAS PRETTY TEETH, DEAR! MANIAC MANNY'S SIGNATURE FINISHING MOVE: THE OVERBITE OF THE ABYSS!!! NO BEAST-MAN HAS EVER BOUNCED BACK AFTER SUFFERING THE OVERBITE! CAN FRANKIE PROVE HIMSELF TO BE THE FIRST?????"