Bricks and plaster crackled under the claws of Veronica scurrying along rooftops and walls of NewYork City's suburban apartments. The monstrous figure filled with raw instincts launched itself fromrooftop to rooftop, chipping away with every step and bound it took.A pause and Veronica lifts her snout high, sniffing into the wind, catching a faint scent ofnourishment, a strong smell of fear, weakness. Like a hunter, Veronica followed this trail, scalingmore buildings. The scant citizens that still populated the suburban streets could only catch vagueglimpses of the large silhouetted creature as it reached each subsequent rooftop and beyond.Hissing and panting, Veronica continued to direct her bulk with locomotive efficient movements toaccelerate and sprint as quickly as possible.This creature felt at home in the urban jungle. Her senses and abilities were in tune with theformer memories. It knew how to utilise its tools to fuFrenzy Origins-2-he continued to take systematic sips from the bag wrapped bottle, as if it were a mandatory courseof action.Meagre amounts of dust lifted from the cement floor as Veronica landed gently, scurrying herbody to one side of the ally casually observing her prey's movements. She slinked from one side ofthe alley to the other in irregular diagonal movements, carefully observing the man as he graduallydisappeared into the darkness.Attuned senses meant that Veronica did not fail in tracking the grimy figure. Her eyes seemed torecord the negative space and convert it into a mental mind map; she could picture whereeverything was. Just by feeling along the ground, Veronica could sense out what was in herimmediate vicinity; walls built high, forming a three sided arena.The scent of the man acted as a homing beacon and Veronica stuck to him like an arrow, knowingfull well that escape would be impossible for him. Something was amiss as the man drifted out ofsight, Veronica, or what remained of her obtained another scent. It was similar, like the man, butfainter, almost sweeter.Interpreting the smells, Veronica realised that there was another person down this alley.Relishing the thought of what could only be humanly described as a buffet; Veronica slinked into theshadows and rounded the corner as the end of the alley came into view.The alley walls created an imposing threat to any poor soul who'd happen to find themselvestrapped, no small gaps and minimal manoeuvring space. A claustrophobic and quick end it wouldbecome if Lizard could exploit the element of surprise. The odds greatly stacked in her favour; weak,disorientated prey, they would put up little fight. Clinging to the shadows and taking slow deliberatemovements along the wall, Lizard positioned herself right above the two souls, both hopelesslyunaware of her presence.Coughing and wheezing, the two desperately tried to warm themselves. One stood upright,bottle still in hand, continuously taking sips until his vessel was dry. The other was hunched down ina ball, leaning against the wall, just trying to keep him warm. His breathing was laboured and slow ashe drifted into a nod.A sudden gust impacted his head. The air was calm and the funnel like alley previously had nowind fly down it. Again a sudden gust flew into his head, much harder this time, blowing his woollenhat clean from his crown. This caused the man much concern, his breathing turned to shallowbreathes and terror as he heard a low growling noise. Another gust impacted his bare head, thestrongest yet...He looked up slowly. Sudden terror and a deafening shriek pierced the night as a large gapingmaw brimmed with serrated scissor teeth gouged the man's skull. He screamed and wailed in pain asVeronica clamped his head between her jaws. The man continued with muffled screams, his headdeep within Veronica's vice-like mouth. Blood-red nectar gushing from within splashing onto theother intoxicated soul.Veronica flailed her head back and forth in quick, forceful motions. Bones cracked as the forcecaused the man's neck to break; his arms fell limp at his sides and followed his body as he swungback and forth like a ragdoll. In drunken disbelief the other man just stared, mouth gaping wide openparalysed by sheer terror, unable to move. Veronica stopped shaking her head and stared directlyface-to-face with the hysteric man, he began to back away slowly. Frenzy Origins-3-His friend's body remained hanging from Veronica's jaw; head, still inside the mouth. Bloodstreamed from the creature's maw and down the ragged clothes of the limp body, dripping onto theconcrete ground.With one big forceful crunch, the creature snapped through the man's neck, dismembering thetorso and below from its head. The body dropped, piling onto the floor in a contorted fashion. A loudgargle and bile spewed forth from the disbelieving bystander's mouth. His reversing motored into alight jog then a stumbling sprint, turning around he ran towards the alley's opening.Refusing to allow its prey to escape Veronica made chase. Relinquishing the man's bloodied,decapitated head atop his own body, Veronica launched herself from the wall with great strength asshe witnessed the drunken man disappear around the corner again."Help!!! It's a monster!!!" cried the man as he stumbled left and right towards the alley opening.As the asphalt of the road drew closer and closer, the man felt like he'd managed to save himself, hebegan to grin. A shadow leapt over him, dropping down in front of him. Veronica blocked the alley."No!!! No, no!" he cried out arms raised, slowly backing away into the alley, into the shadows.The reptilian Veronica stalked him, observing him closely."Nice, uh, doggy?" His heart pounding heavily, eyes wide as possible, slight shiver in hismovements. One moment of misfortune and he stumbled, collapsing onto his rear. Veronica's frillsplaying outwards and mouth gaped wide open bearing terrible teeth. She pounced.The man screamed aloud as he feebly raised his arms to protect himself. Veronica came crashingdown on top of him and lurched her snout forward ready to take a bite out of his face. A suddenforce against Veronica's rear launched her off of the fellow; she wailed sharply. Pain surged throughher body as she crashed onto her chest a few feet down the alley. Looking up, she roared as anunknown figure had launched itself high into the sky, landing on a nearby rooftop.It stood there, perfectly poised, staring at her, taunting Veronica, enticing her to attack. With adeafening roar, Veronica charged down the alley and lunged herself into the sky; vaulting over thewalls, steamrolling towards the figure...A ground shaking crash followed, Veronica was forced to the ground, only mere feet in front ofthe figure. Strong pulsating matter gripped her around the torso and snout, which effortlessly flungher to the ground. As the matter retracted slowly towards the figure, Veronica snarled at the sight ofthis thing: a feminine figure, fully clad in what would appear to be a purple, skin tight suit. Howeverthe suit seemed alive. Tendrils and lengths seemed to randomly creep out from the skin, flailing toand fro with peculiar shaped. Deathly white eyes glistened in the moonlight.Veronica pounced, tackling the figure, lifting her off the roof. During midflight the creature latchedmaterial to nearby buildings and managed to over compensate Veronica's tackle. Causing her tolaunch further upwards into the sky, offsetting Lizard which followed with a tremendous kick to hertorso, blasting her to the ground with a thundering thud.Veronica lay squirming momentarily as the figure acrobatically landed before her. The fury ofbeing played like a toy enraged her lizard persona. She rapidly charged into the figure, off-balancingit. Her skull became the hard end of a battering-ram. Veronica charged into the nearest buildingheadfirst, smashing the purple figure into it.The figure groaned slightly as bricks and mortar crumbled down onto it. Nearby pedestrians ranfor cover, screaming in panic as the two creatures continued fighting. A handful of bystanders gazedin wonder as the purple creature pries open the massive jaws of the Lizard and forces her back. TheLizard wailed and panted as it tried to slam it's mouth shut, knowing that if she caught a hand, it Frenzy Origins-4-would surely break it. However, the purple figure's strength was impossible to break; her bodyseemed to compensate for the additional pressure from the reptile's sheer jaw strength. Her armsbulked up slightly in order to account for this.But the creature was raw and unbalanced; she couldn't hold the Lizard in a single direction andwent from one side to the other in a desperate wrestle for dominance. Lizard took advantage of this.Whilst applying as much strength into its bite she whipped her huge tail around smacking thecreature off her feet and to the side, narrowly avoiding her hand being caught in the rapidly closingmaw. Spines puncturing the creature's skin left gaping slash holes where fleshy tones becamevisible. The 'wounds' repaired in an instant. One brave bystander was recording the wholeencounter on his mobile phone, gawking in amazement at the spectacle."Whoa! Just like in the comic books," he exclaimed, "Bugle would pay top dollar for this!" Thetwisted acrobatic display between the two continued as Lizard repeatedly tried to cover ground.Slashing, biting, and moving as quickly as she could. The purple figure continually utilised itsversatility and advantage at range.Tendrils whipped and smacked the Lizard around like a doll, slinging it around into buildings andinto the sky. Launching hardened pulps of purple mass at the Lizard only seemed to rebound straightoff its firm carapace. Clawing at it had little effect also. The creature knew all too well that it wouldhave to use the Lizard's own momentum against it and keeping it as far away from her as possible.However, a lapse in concentration allowed the Lizard to lift the creature off her feet, smashingthrough a construction barrier and down a gaping hole in the street; the pair fell into the New Yorksewers...Lizard and the purple creature tussled in the air as they fell, both trying to get the better of theother. The Lizard kept trying to bite off her foe's face, the creature retaliated by shoving Lizard backand blinding her with strands of purple mass. They crashed into a raging torrent which swept themalong the city's underbelly.Whilst wrestling in the current, Lizard utilised her abilities, her body glided through the streamingwaste water. Biting at ankles and dragging her under, Lizard continuously tried to get the better ofher adversary. Sometimes, the purple creature would get the better of Lizard, but only momentarilyas Lizard made full use of the elements. A distant rumble caught the purple creature's attention, arapid of cascading waste water led into an abyss.Pulling itself free from the Lizard and the torrent, the creature attached itself to the ceiling of thegrimy, sludgy tunnel. Sensing the impending drop, the Lizard reacted quickly. She lunged out of thetorrent and stood atop the threshold of the vertical drop.Numerous drains led to this single drop off, many other cascades fell and joined into one greatfalls of liquid waste. The cylindrical structure made it look like a deep well. Turning around, theLizard was launched from her perch as the purple creature came swinging into her, both legs lungingforward. As she fell backwards down the hole, a distant light glinted in Veronica's eye, all thesenseless knocking around had brought her consciousness back.Veronica couldn't fathom what was going on. The last minutes, hours had been a total blur.The light above vanished as the figure flew down from the pipe, feet first once again. Tendrilswhipping from the wrists of the creature latched onto the tough chest of Veronica. Using tendrils topull herself towards Lizard, the creature applied massive force, winding Veronica and increasing therate of descent. Veronica screamed with her reptilian squeal as she fell into the darkness, followedshortly by a loud, impacting splash. Frenzy Origins-5-The base of the 'well' had a steady stream leading down dark, dank arching corridors, weavingaround the foundations of New York City. Determined not to be beaten, the Lizard bellowed loudly,reverberating up the well, enticing the purple creature to follow. Veronica's rational thinking hadgranted a degree of intelligence within the Lizard allowing her to formulate a plan. Dangling severalfeet above the base, the purple creature hearing the Lizards bellows lowered herself downwards,landing gently on the saturated concrete below.Faint sounds of tipping tapping claws encouraged the creature to explore the corridors. Darknessengulfed the passageways, scant, flickering lights providing little assistance to the creature. Thesound of the Lizard seemed to be everywhere, behind, in front, all around. Scales scraping along theground knocked debris onto the ground, confusing the purple creature. A sudden squeal and theLizard pinned its opponent's face to the ground.Triumph quickly shifted to defeat as dozens of powerful tendrils sprouted from the creature'sback, ensnaring the Lizard and lifted her into the air. Tendrils flung Lizard from one side of thecorridor to the other, each hit made her weaker and weaker. One crash to the ceiling and one finalfling down the corridor, the Lizard laid exhausted, wheezing and growling.This creature was too much for Lizard to subdue, no matter how hard she tried. It approachedslowly, one foot in front of the other, mockingly swinging hips as it went. The creature's skin becamefrenzied, tendrils flailed wildly, it's 'hair' stood upright, wriggling and writhing, fingers elongatinginto talons.It primed for a strike. Talons primed and teeth bore for destruction.Lizard became threatened and retreated as the creature continued approaching, she roaredloudly before slinking off into the darkness. The victor stood proudly, yet unsatisfied. Sharp teethformed into a mouth and a thundering, retaliatory roar followed, travelling around the snakingtunnels and passageways.They would meet again, the purple creature, relishing a future encounter...
