Fusion and Iron

28. Technology and Torture

The road to repurpose was a difficult one.

As the headless corpse made its way across the vast jungle at night, his weary eyes blinked in and out of a state of consciousness. They looked up at the sky, trying to find the right path while shuffling through the thick yet infected wildlife. A muscular arm cradled around his wound, the thick fusion matter slowly pouring out like an intense cut wound. The bruises from his most recent battle paired with Samurai Jack's deadly efficiency left him woozy, struggling to stay as the towering puddle of slime he was.

Fusion Niles continued onward through the decaying tropical forest, thoughts clouded with pain and an odd hunger. His muscular and veiny frame had been exposed, the flesh dripping steadily. Each drop of fusion matter which slipped out of his frame sunk into the tarnished soil underneath, being sucked away and absorbed into the great rot. His focus was to get through the rot one step at a time, the fusion around him rejecting any and all advances to heal himself.

The wildlife was in the early stages of decay. The once vibrant essence of the leaves and bark of the palm trees around were like dying house plants, hunched over and shrinking. The ground beneath them was stinging with necrotic grassy dirt, eating away at the tissue of life on the insides as a twisted growth. It was like a graveyard, acting as a rotting maze where any poor and unsuspecting traveler might end up.

There was no life left; Fusion Demongo's assault had wiped it all away.

The remnants of an Infected Zone stood out amidst the sickly verdurous veins surrounding it. The walls had been deactivated, torn down by the filthy overgrowth it was meant to contain. Cracks spilled out toxic ooze which pulsated like living organs, slowly gaining in mass every single day as the fusion matter consumed the earth. The borders had been breached just recently, their purpose forgotten and left to be claimed by the jungle's cancerous infection.
Without the guiding hand of a S.A.C.T. team to contain this chaos (or a particular doctor), the section of forest had become a breeding ground for vile, festering algae.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

The moment he stepped over the wall and inside, his crackling eyes immediately darted to his right. The deep, low buzz of a massive insect caught his attention.

Finally, prey.

With his other free hand, he stretched it out and towards the creature. His palm in between his fingers began to sizzle and bubble like a cooking spit, burning hot fusion matter dripping from out of it. A surge of energy hit his arm as the essence within himself suddenly started glowing. It was painful having to push himself to his limits, though it couldn't bother him as much as his defeat.

A large odonate laid crumpled on the ground, hidden in some shrubbery and vines. Its vile black and sickly lush body had been injured, one of its wings tattered and useless. It hung by its side, struggling to lift itself back up but could only twitch. The fly's legs twitched feebly, rubbing its massive limbs together to try and stand. Every few seconds it would slowly lift itself a couple of feet off the ground and then collapse on its weight.
Its wide eyes would dart around, constantly searching for the next opportunity or any sign of danger. Its palpus would frequently buzz, making sounds like a revved-up chainsaw.
This creature was a Dark Fusionfly, having failed its most recent act to catch its next meal.

As Fusion Niles approached, he felt a twisted satisfaction and could only smile with glee. Watching this pitiful struggle brought him perverse joy, giving him pleasure in his otherwise insufferable existence.

"You and I are alike, friend. Though unfortunately, one of us has to keep going."

There was something so euphoric about watching others suffer, even if they were on his side. Something as foul as a Fusionfly, brought so low, practically beckoned him to take advantage of it. Slowly but surely he made his way forward, the palm of his hand locked onto the creature ready to finish it off any minute now.