The Moon Childe (COMPLETED)

Chapter 11: Project A.P.E.

The last words of Moric's slithering voice echoed; "Project A.P.E.!" From behind, Amelia heard Madeline gasp and Jerry chuckling to himself again. Amelia never liked it when Jerry would laugh; it usually brought terrible things to her or her friends. So, she turned around and stepped up to his face and growled at him.

"What the hell is Project A.P.E.?!" Amelia demanded at him, but he only slightly stopped laughing. Jerry pointed behind her, under where Moric's balcony once was. She looked over the shoulder to see the wall parting ways in the center; within the darkness, blue lights were turning on in trival places.

"Doesn't he know that we'll die too?!" Madeline's fear-stricked voice said. "That thing won't just go after her!"

"Then stay outta its way! You stupid human, it isn't that difficult to stay hidden from its sight," Jerry snapped.

Amelia turned completely around to watch as a colossal sized gorilla, hunched over itself, used its massive hands to stroll out of the hidden room. It must have been 12-stories high, forcing everyone to bend their necks just to see its head. One of its eyes were replaced with a mechaincal one, along with its left arm, and stomach. Wires weren't entirely hidden within its body, some were proposly left out to show how much work had been done on it. Amelia marveled at how the Jusnors could do that to an animal, considering they were nearly animals themselves.

The gorilla looked straight ahead, intinially missing all the humans at his feet. It looked around while its stomach began to change color to orange. "He's hungry," Jerry whispered with such admiration. Amelia was too stunned to move, but stared up at its head; she was studying how to defeat such an abomination. Behind her, James and Madeline were backing up, to stay out of its line of vision. Jerry flapped his wings to propel him upward; he was the first to actually get in its sight.

It followed Jerry's comparatively smaller body for a few moments as its mechanical eye changed its color to red; red was always a bad color for Amelia. The gorilla growled at him, obviously, the beast was being feed humans. Amelia saw the stomach change color to red, along with its arm. Jerry was trying to lead him to Amelia, but the beast was so hungry, it attacked Jerry.

It smashed Jerry against the wall and released a loud howl. Amelia flinched and was about to get ready for a massive fight. She jumped back and watched as the gorilla removed its enormous hand from the wall. Jerry's beaten body fell to the ground; his wings broken and mangled. Surprisingly, he was still alive and awake. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, just as Madeline let out a scream. The gorilla changed its line of sight and saw Madeline and James in the corner. It released a puff of smoke from its nostrils, and, while still hunched over, closed in on them. It walked right over Amelia, still noticing her at all.

She took this opportunity to see how thick the metal plating was on the beast. She crounched down, readied her blade, and swung it upward; onto its stomach. Her blade bounced off it immediately, causing her to fell on her back. The beast felt this and backed up, to see what had hit its stomach. Amelia was on her back when the giant gorilla lowered its head to examine her; its breath was that of Death's. It reminded her of the concentraction camps that the Nazi's used in World War II, how they used to burn the jews, homosexuals, and gypsies.

The beast bared its hideous teeth at her, and growled; pushing more of its horrendous breath into her face. Amelia, uncontrolably, began to cough right into its mouth. It reeled its head back, somehow disgusted by her coughing; unknowningly giving Amelia plenty time roll out from under it. She stopped right next to Jerry's crippled body.

"How do I kill it?!" she demanded from him. This was the first time that he wasn't laughing when she spoke to him.

"I'd rather die with you, then fight with you," he muttered, obviously in pain.