Skylands Legends

22.1 The Beast

The Night Squatch kicked away the suction grenade in frustration. The icy wind pulling at his thick, black fur subsided, allowing the beast to right himself. His scorching red eyes turned upon Jet-Vac. He bared his teeth as he spoke in his deep growl of a voice. "Move aside."

Jet-Vac had not realized the beast could talk. The realization somehow made him even angrier than he already was. This was not just some wild beast out killing his friends, it was a cold blooded killer!

"No," he growled back, tightening his grip around the lance. "I think I'll take your head instead."

The murderer's glare deepened, his jaw tensing in frustration. It almost looked like he was holding himself back. Jet-Vac did little to discourage this, meeting his eyes with a glare of his own. The beast broke eye contact first, his eyes glancing down at the lance. A flash of recognition crossed his eyes.

He spoke again, his deep voice sounding remorseful rather than demanding. "He was your friend."

"Eruptor," Jet-Vac cut in curtly. "His name was Eruptor!"

The beast watched him carefully, red eyes studying him in silence. "You are not who I came for," Night Squatch finally said, his tone dismissive. "Step aside."

"I do not care what you came here for!" Jet-Vac snapped. "I came here to kill you!"

The beast's eyes narrowed. "Your rage, it consumes you."

"And whose fault is that?"

Night Squatch's scowl softened. "I am sorry for what happened to your friend." He winced. "For what I did to your friend."

"Oh, you're sorry, are you?" Jet-Vac scoffed. "That's good, I guess I don't have to kill you after all." The beast opened his mouth. "NO! DON'T SPEAK!" He was practically shaking with anger at this point.

"All of this that I have gone through, everything that I have done these past few days. It is ALL because of what you did! Their deaths are on your hands! This destruction is on you! And I must avenge them!" He paused to let that sink in. "I don't care if you think you have some just reasoning for killing my friend, he was. My. Friend. And you took him away from me. Now I must take your life."

"I understand what you are going through," the Night Squatch countered. "I understand..."

"NO! Don't you dare say that you understand what I am going through — what Hell you have put me through!" Jet-Vac yelled.

"But I do!" The beast roared. "I am the only one who understands!" He shook his head. "The rage — it is not the answer."

Jet-Vac shifted his grip on the lance. "I don't care."

Boosting himself forward with his jet pack, he drove the lance towards the beast's throat. A large hand swatted the tip away as Night Squatch side stepped his attack. Jet-Vac whipped around and went to stab the beast in the back but he had already jumped to the top of the steps, putting distance between them. In response, Jet-Vac lowered the lance and pulled out the vac gun. A flurry of icy blades flew at the beast. With a short twitch of the beast's hand, the air parted around him, diverting the blades away. Jet-Vac blasted toward him once more, jabbing and wielding the lance with a red hot fury.

The Night Squatch dodged every one of his attacks. The lava lance would come close to landing a blow, but it seemed like the beast would gain a miraculous burst of speed that allowed him to dodge at the last second. He never struck back at Jet-Vac. It was beginning to frustrate him. His attacks became wilder and more desperate as he tried to land just a single blow on the creature.