~This one is shorter! Enjoy
Several days ago, construction began on an otherwise unremarkable subway tunnel. Soon after that, they dug a little too deep and unearthed something, which killed almost the entire crew and left the survivors without the ability to talk sense. It was for this reason Arcanus Valiant strolled down that very same tunnel. There was very little knowledge on what could be down here, so Valiant had taken no chances.
Most things that people unearthed were immortal and most of those things didn't appreciate silver; he had a clip of silver bullets in Irony. Some also didn't like garlic, so he had eaten a couple cloves on the way down. He felt as prepared as he could be under the circumstances.
Using his flashlight, he found a switch and turned on the lights. One by one, rows of them lit up the tunnel in progress and revealed the carnage which had ensued. Bodies lay dismembered all throughout. Materials and tools were scattered everywhere. Something bad had happened to these people. Whatever did this wasn't friendly.
He stepped forward slowly - all too aware of the gravel crunching beneath his feet. In this den of silence, he heard nothing else. He continued step by step. The bodies kept going. A lot of people had died here. Too many.
Looking into the distance he made out a figure crouched over another body. His keen ears detected the sounds of crunching bones and tearing flesh. He pulled out Irony and checked to ensure it had the silver bullets loaded. He cocked the barrel, and took aim.
It must’ve heard him and the figure turned its head to reveal a distinctly lupine visage. It growled menacingly as blood ran out of its canine jaws.
Valiant breathed out slowly and squeezed the trigger. The roar of a well-maintained desert eagle filled the tunnel and the creature was hit dead center. A streak of dark arterial blood shot out its other side and painted a long crimson line on the tunnel floor. The force knocked the creature over. It shook violently for a moment and then stopped.
Valiant holstered Irony and muttered, "Werewolves," to himself. "Funny, it's daytime."
He walked down to inspect the corpse. Soon, he was about 10 feet away. It stood up.
"Not a werewolf?" Valiant muttered. The creature stood about 8 feet tall. It was heavily built and covered in fur, had gruesome looking clawed hands and a face only a wolf's mother could love. It didn't require a stretch of imagination to see how it tore the entire work crew into gibbons, but at the same time, for all intents and purposes, it should have been a werewolf. It should have died already.
Arcanus drew Irony again. The beast was already upon him. He fired one shot, which tore through its chest, and then they collided. Arcanus was down with the beast on top of him. He tried to push it off, but it was just too strong. It bit into his shoulder and he felt something break. With his other arm, he drew his combat knife and stabbed it into the beast’s side.
The surprise gave him the leverage he needed to roll out from under it. His right arm dangled more or less ineffectively.
"Woot," he said as he tore his shotgun off his back with his left. "Not like I needed that half of my collarbone or anything."
The beast flew at him again. The time he gave it both barrels and its momentum was stolen by the force if the blow. It slowed down this gave Valiant the time required to get the hell out of its way.
Arcanus threw the shotgun at it and drew his Katana. He thought back to one of his encounters with Destin Herod.
"Is that sword actually useful?" Herod arrogantly asked. "We have guns. Swords are outdated by like five hundred years."
“This baby has saved my life countless times over,” Valiant replied.
“I doubt it”
Today he would prove Herod wrong. He held it in his left hand like a great samurai, and he silently wished that he were one.
The beast lunged with awesome power and agility. Valiant swung hard with all the might he could muster. He cut in almost dead center and then he could move the sword any further. The beast, now impaled, stood just out of its reach. It howled and Valiant knew fear.
Slowly it stepped forward driving the sword deeper through it, but also bringing itself closer to Valiant.
"Shit," Valiant said in a manner of fact fashion. He looked around for something to help him out. He saw nothing.
He did the only think he could think of. He let go of the sword and tried to kick it. The sword slid want deeper into the beast – up to its hilt – and the beast stumbled back a fraction of a step. Arcanus drew Irony again and fired. This time he aimed for the handle of his Katana.
It connected and the beast stumbled back. He fired again, but faster than you can say ricochet, something hit his left ankle and he too stumbled backwards. His right shoulder hurt like hell. Teary eyed, bleeding and broken he took aim for the beast's head and squeezed the trigger. The force of the shot pushed Valiant to his knees.
He bit his lip. The loss of blood was becoming too much for him. He forced his eyes to stay open.
He had shot the beasts face. A hunk of broken flesh and bones hung from what was once its lower jaw. The shot must have been somewhat glancing, for the beast was still alive and regaining its composure.
"This is just ridiculous," Valiant muttered.
Valiant heard what may been muffled words coming from it. He took aim again with one shaking hand and squeezed the trigger – of the gun named Irony. His vision lost all color he saw the beasts head rip back with a terrible force. Valiant fell over and everything went black.
The sound of hooves thundered in the distance.
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