Supernatural: Fallen Son

Manticore

The manticore wiped his lips in satisfaction. His furs stood on edge, and bristled metallically in excitement as he took another bite out of the limp body of a fat mechanic. The recently-deceased meat still quivered beneath his fingertips, and he felt the last few beats of the heart caress the top of his mouth. A fleshy tongue wormed the last pieces of clothing from between his teeth, and his throat gulped down a slimy chunk of liver.

Creatures like him hadn't existed on the planet since the angels had fallen. His family had woken up, and set about their mission that had been given to them before Christ. Consume. Kill. Feed.

'So the creature killed two people at this playground, and then moves to this junkyard. How many victims has it claimed here?' Asked Dean, from behind the wheel of the Impala. The car's wheels grated along the gravelled ground of the yard, and then Dean pressed down on the brakes. 'Well... One worker has gone missing, and several others are reporting animals that they've never seen before. Therefore, I guess that this place is the manticore's nest.' Sam replied, looking through a small book of lore. He threw the book onto the backseat of the car, and then got out and made his way towards the trunk - to prepare himself to take out the monster.

Dean loaded a handgun with silver bullets (usually used to kill werewolves, but they should work on manticores as well), and Sam pulled out an Angel Blade - capable of killing almost anything. 'Okay, Dean - remember, we need to stab this thing through the mouth to kill it. Nothing else wor--'
'Yes. I know how to kill a manticore.' Laughed Dean. Sam smiled briefly, though then felt like a ton of rocks had been dropped into his stomach. He lurched over forwards, and closed his eyes. His heartbeat thumped in his head - Trial Fever.

Red spread from the corners of his vision, and his fingers splayed against the metal of the car. Dean quickly placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. 'Y'okay - do you think that you should sit this one out?' He asked. 'No. No. N--' Started to say Sam before he promptly threw up. 'Ooh. Hmm... Yeh, just stay here for a bit, Sammy.'

Roughly 10 minutes later, Dean was standing, in the middle of a large space in the scrapyard - having evacuated all of the workers that he could find, and left Sam in a locked Impala. God knows what he might do whilst like this - be it trying to close Hell again... or just discovering Crowley in the back of the trunk...

The manticore's ears pricked up, hearing the footsteps of Dean Winchester on the granulated ground. He looked up from his feeding, and his tail coiled forwards. Hunters. Not much had changed since BC, it seemed. His nostrils flared up at the scent of oil. Oil like in one of the modern vehicles. It stood up on its powerful hind legs, and then moved towards the smell.

Dean's eyes searched anxiously around the yard, but couldn't see anything vaguely monstrous. Sam pressed his sweating back up against the seat of the car, and clutched the ice-pack to his forehead. Ringing in his ears, he could hear the footsteps of something approaching behind him. 'Dean?' He practically gurgled. The manticore cocked its head slightly, and sensed something on the prey item inside the car. It was sick. Sick and unclean in the biblical sense.

The creature raised its hackles slightly, and dropped silently down onto all fours. It moved quietly towards the trunk of the car, and then made its move. Sam screamed in shock as the enormous, barbed tail of the thing launched itself through the back window of his car. In a single, jerky movement - Sam fell onto the driver's seat and clutched the steering wheel. His vision swim with the Trial sickness.
From outside the passenger seat window, Sam could just about make out a gaping mouth. Salivating and slobbering.

Adrenaline flooded his synapses like a drug - and he saw clearer than he had for the past month. His foot instinctively kicked down onto the gas pedal, and he raced away from the beast. The creature saw this, and leapt onto the roof of a car in the scrapyard. Bounding from derelict vehicle to derelict vehicle - the manticore gave ruthless chase.

Swerving the car backwards and forwards - Sam's vision slowly started to degrade again. 'Shit.' He cursed - and then tried to stop the car. The creature was right in front of him. With a yelp from the driver, the car slammed into the manticore; shattering the windshield and bending the metal.

Dean heard the disaster from a mile away, and loaded his gun again to be sure. He ran towards the sound. First the sound of shattering glass - and then a very familiar car alarm. 'Baby, nonono...' He groaned under his breath, and twirled an angel blade. The breath was knocked from his chest when he witnessed what had happened.

The car had crashed into the monster: but the monster was still breathing. Still breathing. Still bristling in all of its metallic abhorrence. Sam's face had slammed down into the airbag, and he was unconscious. The creature slowly moved its head towards Dean. It seemed to smile with a mouth filled with horrific teeth. Clambering to its feet - the manticore's tail curled upwards behind it - and fired darts at the hunter.

Dean rolled out of the way, and cursed loudly when one of the spikes impaled itself into his knee. Trying to hobble out of the firing range, Dean slashed at the creature's pelt with the angel blade. To his horror, however, the blade simply drew sparks. It couldn't penetrate the beast's skin. Feeling a sense of hopelessness and sickness wash over him, Dean Winchester collapsed to the ground. Gritting his teeth - he kept his eyes open as the manticore descended upon him.

Its massive mouth snapped and drooled as it leered ever closer to his face, and Dean recoiled at the stench of rotting meat. His leg pulsed with pain, and his veins raised to visible point underneath his skin - flowing black with whatever appalling venom had been injected. With a final movement against all of the pain - he thrust the angel blade upwards into the creature's mouth.

Sparks of energy flashed from behind the monster's eyes, and it collapsed backwards. Dean's leg quivered, and then tensed. The barb fell from it, and his veins passed back underneath his flesh. With a passing interest, he grabbed the dart, and then walked towards Sam and his car.