The Parasite

Chapter 22: Land Shark

Henry crashed through the door and slammed into the wall as if he was some sort of living cannonball, knocking the air from his chest and injuring his back. Slumped over, Henry clutched his arm stump as he gasped for air, but before he could recompose himself Marshal's boot slammed into his face. Henry groaned as he stumbled onto his back, looking up to see Marshal's horrific face staring back down at him.

Henry looked around him, the solid stone room resembling the maintenance halls he found himself in was dimly lit with a single lightbulb, obscured slightly by the smoke produced by the doors disappearance. Marshal grabbed Henry by the throat and lifted him off the ground before slamming him against the wall. "You think you can stab me in the back!? I'm not a mark, you can't trick me!" Henry struggled against Marshal as he was repeatedly slammed into the wall until he relented slightly, allowing Henry to say. "Yeah maybe, but it's still worth a shot." Pain shot through Marshal's body as a sharpened branch pierced his abdomen, causing him to drop Henry and stumble back. As Marshal clutched his side, Henry rose to his feet, rubbing his neck as roots grew from his arm stump.

Marshal charged forward with intent to Slice through Henry, with Henry barely managing to dodge as Marshal's hand slipped past him and into the wall only managing to graze his face. Thinking fast, Henry kicked out Marshal's front foot, sending him tumbling forward. Slipping into the floor, Marshal flipped around, half submerged and managed to kick Henry in the throat, sending him tumbling into an adjacent door.

Marshal slowly approached as Henry gasped for air and braced himself against the door. "Where's Myers?" Henry asked between breaths. Marshal stopped in front of Henry and growled quietly. "Myers is dead." before kicking Henry through the door, into the storage closet behind it, and as Marshal sank into the wall he grinned and said. "I think you'll go down a lot quicker."

Henry shot out a number of branches from his arm stump which crashed into the wall, cracking the stone apart and sending chunks of rock tumbling to the floor, but missing Marshal as he disappeared into the wall. Henry almost immediately made a dash for the door to get out of the closet only to get knocked back into the closet by Marshal punching him in the face. With that Marshal began a barrage of punches and kicks, dipping in and out of the walls to avoid retaliation as he pummeled Henry.

After a lull in the assault Henry bent over, concealing his front, but leaving his backside exposed, and as Marshal emerged to attack again Henry reacted to the slightest sound he made and with a single motion, fired out a series of branches from his back. As Marshal was caught off guard, one of the branches managed to pierce his right hand, and with that, Henry turned to direct the rest of the branches into Marshal's arm, tearing it to pieces as Henry grabbed onto Marshal with vines and threw him out of the closet and back into the room.

Marshal sank into the floor to break his fall as he clutched what remained of his arm. "That's for my arm." Henry said as Marshal looked at his disheveled appearance and said as he forced his ravaged body to stand. "You look ridiculous."

"And you look like a corpse." Henry said, looking at Marshal's mutilated face and bloodied outfit. "I'M NOT DEAD!" Marshal roared, lunging forward. His Charge, however, was quickly cut short by a branch plunging deep into his chest. Marshal shoved himself forward and managed to plunge his hand into Henry's chest. Henry recoiled in pain as Marshal's hand gripped his innards. "I win, I got you by the heart kid, so if you try anything, I'll rip it out, or if you try to knock me out I'll release my powers and your chest'll explode, so you pull your filthy stinking hand out of mine before I make you do it."

Henry's branches twisted around inside of Marshal as they began to take shape in place of Henry's arm. Pain shot through Marshal's body as his grip loosened and his arm began to tremble and swell, and against Marshal's will the arm began to pull back, seemingly of its own accord. As Marshal resisted, the swelling gave way to tiny vines that contracted and expanded to puppeteer the arm, and as they grew they would tear through the sleeve of Marshal's coat. Once Marshal's hand had been fully removed from Henry's chest Henry yanked the branches free from Marshal's body, eviscerating the inside of his chest cavity and arm as he tumbled to the ground.

As Marshal lay on the ground he attempted to speak with his remaining lung and damaged throat. "Y-you can't kill me, I don't want to die. Don't run away, you can't run. No, don't leave me!" Marshal's eyes glazed over as his vocal chords gave out and his pleas turned to incoherent sounds resembling those of a goose's squawking, and with time he would eventually fall silent.

In order to replace his damaged clothing, Henry took Marshal's coat, or at least what remained of it after the fight, and placed it on his shoulders as his shirt and Jacket fell to the floor like rags. On Henry, Marshal's coat was heavy and oversized, not to mention the numerous blood stains that adorned it, and the fact that the right sleeve had been torn out and what remained of the left sleeve was adorned in holes and drenched with blood, but it would have to do for now.