27: Gods & Assholes -Jay-

The explosion was blinding and the heat was so strong that I could feel the hair on my arms singe. The shock wave threw me back and I bounced on the ground till I hit a wall.

"Sorry I was late guys." Tim's voice came over the radio, "You all okay?"

"Did you just blow me up?!" John's voice came from the right. He was laying against a wall with several serious looking burns, but alive, "I think you just tried to blow me up! You're an asshole!"

"Excuuuuse me. Next time I'll just let the CHILD pummel you to death."

"Oh, just you wait, when I get back I'm going to show you a pummeling." John coughed, and smiled. It was obvious that he was glad to be alive.

Pieces of the plane littered the ground. Tim had used the final measure to destroy the Moth-boy. I glanced at Robby who was busy pulling himself to his feet. I jogged over and knelt to check if he was alright. A few minor burns, but he seemed to be fine.

"Well, I did what I could do. The rest is up to you." Tim said quickly.

"What do you mean the re-" I turned and was cut off by the sight of the boy reforming slowly.

"Well, you see . . . "

John was furious, "YOU MISSED! HOW COULD YOU MISS?! Next time someone else takes the computers! You can come here and get your ass kicked for a paycheck. I can't believe you missed!"

The boy's hand smashed into the side of my face and the warmth of blood filled my mouth. The next hit was to the gut followed by a spin kick to the chest. As I fell backward the boy grasped my neck and lifted me into the air.

"Humans. So weak, so useless. I always wondered why he wanted you to be better, but now We understand. You people are weak." I felt his hand squeeze tighter around my neck, "We overestimated you. Don't worry though, you will not see your friends di-"

"Hey! Retard!" John interrupted. In his hand he held a small moth, fluttering fruitlessly against his fingers, "Aren't you missing something?"

With that, he twisted his fingers crushing the small bug to death. The boy's face contorted with rage as he dropped me to the ground. Within seconds John was again the target of the assault, starting with a teeth shattering kick to the ribs. The boy followed up with a punch that broke John's only good leg.

Robby ran over, his brand new arm drawn back. The boy just split into butterflies to let Robby's hits go through himself with out causing damage.

We couldn't beat this thing alone. We needed help, but our only help was already used in a badly aimed rescue attempt. I searched the ground, but all I could find was burning pieces of plane. I heard a snap and looked up to find Robby clutching his only real arm, it's bone jutting out through the skin.

The boy turned back to John, who wasn't moving, and began searching for bones he'd yet to have broken.

What were we supposed to do? He wasn't going to stop beating on John until John was dead. I reached for a sharp piece of flaming plane and ran toward the boy. Halfway there he rotated and turned his palm to me. A flood of moths pushed me back into the air and through one of the many windows in the building. The glass cut deep as I was slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the laboratory room.

The moths flowed out the window and I could hear the sickening smacks as Moth-boy restarted his assault on John.

I didn't have much time and I had no options.

26: Too Fast -Jay-

John was really beaten up. The moth had broken his elbow and probably a few other bones that he didn't know about yet. I wasn't that well off either. We didn't have a lot of energy or time.

"You guys need to find a scientist named Emma, and then get out of there," He spoke with urgency, "Patrick is going to bomb the place whether you're there or not."

"He's a real dick, and when we get back we're going to have a long talk about how much he should be telling us on these things." John sounded pissed.

Robby was the real miracle, but he wouldn't talk about it, or his new appendage. When ever asked he would open his mouth to talk, but no words would escape. Eventually he just gave up. He was moving toward the door when he was suddenly thrown back by a torrent of moths. They shot him in to the sky and then body slammed him on the pavement. He was out cold.

Up ahead the moths slowly came together till they formed a small boy. Ever since we'd gotten here it had been one surprise after another. Things we should have known were becoming evident and the extent of Patrick's was becoming very evident. I wasn't shocked that the moths had taken the form of a young boy, nor that he had just taken down a grown man. The thing that shocked me was the fact that the boy looked like me when I was younger.

"Jay, what's going on? He looks like you." John sounded just as shocked.

"Who are you?" I called out.

"We are angry that you would kill one of us. You deserve no answers, only death." With those words he broke into hundreds of moths and reformed a mere inches away.

The air was knocked out of me as his fist smashed into my gut, my face and my groin at the same time. Wait, three hands? I fell to my knees and looked up to see the third arm fade into his shoulder. He could form his body to what ever he wanted, or just not reform it at all. What the hell?

His foot came up and caught me on the chin, sending me hurtling backwards until I slammed into John. We both rolled backwards until friction slowed us to stopping. I was still trying to catch my breath, but John was up and ready.

The boy fluttered his way into close quarters and went in for the thing he did to me, but John was ready. He slipped under the face hit and used his arm to block the groin. The shot to the stomach went through, but John spun with the momentum. John's elbow found the boy's head with a loud smack. Several moths dropped to the ground dead.

The boy didn't seem fazed, instead another arm formed in his side walloping John in his broken elbow. John's knees hit the ground as he howled in pain. Quickly the boy kicked John backward. The kick wasn't strong enough to send him flying back but it hurt. John fell back as the kid swung his foot into John's shin. A loud crack was heard and I knew John's leg had been broken.

"You people are nothing. The fact that you defeated one of us means nothing to our power, only our hearts. I strive to kill you now, not because I'm an evil being, but because you have killed a part of my family. But you wouldn't understand that, would you? You kill for fun, while I kill for survival."

He put his foot on John's chest, and raised his arm. He was going to kill him. I forced myself to regain my breath, but even as I pulled myself to my feet I knew I was too late.

The boy swung down with ferocious force.

25: Hive Father -Emma-

I rubbed my head as I pulled myself off the floor. Immediately after I'd gotten off the phone with Patrick something hit me hard from behind.

I wasn't sure how long I was out, but I knew that I smelled rotted flesh nearby. The lights flashed on, illuminating the large, specimen containment room I was in. The smell of rotten flesh came from the bowl of meat across the room.

"Emma." The voice came over the speakers, it belonged to a young boy.

One of the walls was made with large reinforced glass to allow safe observation of what ever subject we were working on. On the other side of the glass looking at me was a small boy, his hand on the microphone button.

"Hello, Mother." He smiled at me, "Are you well?"

"Stop calling me mother and tell me, what's going on? Let me out."

"We can't do that, you are very violent toward us." He walked to the window and looked outside, "People are coming. They want to take you away."

He stepped away from the window and made a high-pitched whistle, then he sat down again, "We know that you don't understand, but we are your son. Father stole parts of you to make me, we know because his brain-voice said so."

"Brain-voice?" I sat down closer to the glass, "Who's your father? I'm still very confused."

"People have two voices, one they use with this," He pointed to his mouth, "and the other they use with this." He pointed to his head, "It's hard to listen to both at once, it hurts our head."

"You're telepathic? That's really impressive." I was intrigued by this boy that claimed to be my son, "I'm still very confused about who you are."

He held out his hand to me and nodded at his hand. Sliding closer, I realized that his hand was moving slowly. The closer I got, the better I understood who this boy was. His hand, his entire body, was comprised of thousands of small moths.

"You're the Moths!" I pushed away from the glass and slid to the opposite wall.

"Father says that we're the God of Moths. We're the failed attempt at speeding up human evolution. He wanted to kill us. I don't want to die."

"So did all those people that you killed."

"Father says that sometimes it's necessary to do things that are immoral as long as you're saving more than you're destroying. There are thousands of us and only a few hundred people living here. It was a needed evil." He stared at me with cold eyes.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes." He looked out the window as a loud explosion rocked the building. His face contorted with anger as he grabbed the chair and threw it at the glass of my cell. It bounced off and shattered on the opposite wall.

"They killed one of us! They're coming to kill us all! Just like you did! You, our Mother, ignored our screams of pain after you lit us on fire! Our Father just left us there to die! This isn't my fault, it's his!"

I was terrified of this creature. I was at its mercy, stuck inside a small cage just waiting for it to come inside and tear me to shreds.

"You . . . " The boy walked to the door, "You stay here and we will be back after we take care of the people killing your children."

"No, no wait. Don't just leave me in here!"

"We were in a jar most of our life. You learn to like it.", and he left.

24: Fugly Bug Meets Big Red -John-

The roar of the moth stung my ears as it barreled toward me. The ground shook as it grew larger in my vision.

I smiled. This thing had no idea what was about to happen to it. In only a few seconds it's anger would be gone, replaced with surprise and pain.

"COME ON, YOU FUGLY BUG!" I yelled raising my hands in the air, "I CHALLENGE YOU!"

The moth roared louder. There was no stopping it now. I ran to the left, my eyes searching for a place to hide from the blast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small child looking out the window of the Gas Station.

Nothing was ever easy. It was almost as though there was some malicious being putting us in the most insanely difficult and complicated situations, expecting us to make the right choices to get the best outcome. All we had to do was explode the moth and it would have been over, but like a well laid trap the catch sprung up at the last moment. There were people in the building.

I had seconds. I wouldn't make it in time. If I turned around, then I'd be killed along with the moth and the child. I slid to a stop and ran back toward the doors. To me there wasn't a choice. I had to try, no matter what the sacrifice.

I kicked open the door to find a dozen people in a panic. My heart hit the floor as the moth roared again. It was getting closer, it was too close. I couldn't get all these people out in time. I turned to the moth and roared, "Let's go!"

I ran toward the moth. I had to stop it, I had to make it turn. I knew I never would. This was the end. For me. For these people. For my journey.

I thought of Alex as time seemed to slow down. I thought of the options that he'd felt he had. I wondered if maybe he felt the same way I did now. Was I the people stuck in the gas station, and the sun God Moloch the giant rampaging moth? Did Alex make the same choice I was now making?

I pulled back my hand as I got close to the crazed moth and suddenly the world became a blur of red. I felt someone grab me and push me to the ground. There was a loud crash. The world then erupted into bright light and intense heat. I pushed who ever was on me off and pulled myself to my feet.

"Holy shit." The apartment building had collapsed on the moth, as well as the firetruck that had forced it in to a different direction. Fire had ignited the gas causing the truck to explode. There was no way the moth survived that.

"I'll say, that wasn't the expected outcome."

I led the turn with my fist, catching Robby on the side of the head, "We thought you were dead, you stupid ass! Where were you while the moth played cat and mouse with me and Jay?!"

"I was relaxing armless at the top of a nearby apartment complex. Cut me a break, I just saved your ass."

"Yeah." I turned to look at the moth, "Thanks for that."

"You don't seem very surprised that I'm miraculously back."

"I'm not." The apartment fire was out of control, but I didn't care if it burned the whole town down. Robby was back, the moth was dead, and for some reason I felt really good, "I've seen a lot of things the last few months."

We silently stared at the fire.

23: Hero's Call -Robby-

"You know what I like about you guys?" The voice was old and wise.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. My arm was still gone, the only thing left was a tiny stump dripping blood. There was no pain, instead I felt calm and comfortable.

"Oh God."

"Don't panic."

"But my arm. My fucking arm is gone!"

I heard him laugh lightly and glanced over. He was an old man that had a look in his eyes that was very similar to Patrick, except older. He smiled and it made me feel like I'd been complimented by a parent.

"I like people like you and your friends, because you're willing to put yourself at great risk to save others. It's something I hold very highly. Most people I have contact with are so willing to do what I say that they sometimes forget the real reason they're alive. It's . . . disappointing."

My arm became second priority right at that moment. This guy was old, really old.

"Who are you?"

"Gilfred Odephius Doorstop. It's nice to meet you finally, Robby."

"That's not what I meant.", I stared at him.

"See that? Free Will! THAT'S the real reason. Choosing your path for your own instead of having another person choose for you. Being able to decide not to trust the person that's keeping you alive right now."

"Is that a threat? Don't screw with me, we already have another deviously manipulative prick. Having another would just really piss me off."

This time he laughed out loud, "Listen, you and your friends are the closest things to Heroes that I've seen in a long time, so I'm gonna give you some help."

He reached down and touched my shoulder. Tendrils of bright light flowed over me and formed an arm over my stump. The light slowly hardened into a clear-gold substance.

"I hope you don't think I'm going to owe you or something."

"I wouldn't ever ask you something like that." I believed him.

"Is that all? My friends are in a lot of trouble down there I'm sure."

"Yes, they are," He leaned close, "but you have a choice to make. Right now your friends are leading that moth to a gas station where they will attempt to blow the creature up and they will succeed. How ever, inside that gas station is a family of survivors who will not survive the blast. You could allow them to do it, allow those people to die, the moth would be dead, and you could find that delightful little girl that your boss is looking for. Or you could stop them from blowing the place, the moth would not die just yet, the family would live, and your friends would still be in danger."

I stared at the old man's face. It was serious, almost scary serious.

"How am I supposed to choose that?!"

"If it was easy, than you guys wouldn't be important."

He looked at the sky and then back at me, "I've . . . stayed here too long and given off too big a signal. I have to leave. You have only a few seconds to find a way to stop that moth from exploding."

"But I didn't even choose yet."

He laughed and for some reason it made me feel good inside, "Didn't you hear me? You guys are heroes. There's really only one option for you." He slowly faded, "Hurry up."

"FUCK!", I grabbed the edge of the roof and jumped off on to the fire escape.

He was right. There was only one choice.

I had to stop the moth from blowing up.

22: Coming Close To An End -John / Jay-

-John-

A few thoughts came over me as I sat there in hiding. Thoughts concerning my friends, and how this giant thing had become too much of a nuisance. I'm not even sure if Robby made it and I had no knowledge as to where his body went. Not to mention, it seemed Jay would be in trouble if I didn't do something and fast. Just then, another thought occurred to me as I stared off in to the distance. I snapped from my trance and sprang to my feet. Bingo.

I looked back at the screeching thing and made a run for it. The loud thumping and roars told me it was coming after me. I didn't bother to keep looking back every now and again, I kept my line of sight straight ahead while jumping and dodging objects as I fled.

In the back of my mind I hoped that Jay would manage to get out, especially since I was putting my plan in to action. Soon enough, this thing would be going down once and for all. What's my plan? It's not fool-proof or anything, but I figured it would work out somehow as long as I didn't mess this up too bad.

I was leading it to the gas station.

-Jay-

Looking over my options again, I came to the realization that I really didn't stand a chance of surviving up here in the mouth. I pulled out my knife, sat up and remembered the stomach. John had to have escaped by now, which meant there was a hole left behind for me to be able to exit through.

It was then that the raging tongue shoved me toward its gullet's opening, making me drop back down to the acidic pit below. Reliving the experience was kind of annoying, but at least I was where I wanted to be. Surprisingly when I landed, I found the bottom to lack liquids. Now, it just felt oddly more unpleasant to be wandering in. I fumbled about, feeling at the slimy surface below. Where ever this hole was, I hoped to find it quick and get out.

With a bit more of feeling around, I found an opening. I pulled the fleshy, flabby skin back and let myself drop, covering my head on the way down.

-John-

I finally reached the gas station, the thing still chasing me down like a raving banshee. By the looks of things, the pumps still had plenty of gas in them. All that was needed to be done was to make this thing have more than its fill of gasoline.

As I turned to stop and look back, I noticed a familiar figure drop to the ground as the moth rampaged toward me. Jay was out of the moth, and it was about damn time he was. I positioned myself, facing the monstrosity that followed me. From what I could tell, Jay was gathering himself from the fall. I didn't care if he was hurt or not at that moment.

At least now I didn't have to worry about him joining the beastly-thing in death.

21: The Easy Part -Jay-

It didn't take too long to get up the moth's throat, and wasn't really difficult either. There were a few close calls of going back down, but I managed to keep steady. In a matter of minutes I found myself at the back of its tongue, feeling the heaves of breath flow in and out. The smell of the stomach below finally got to me now that I was out of it. I pinched my nose for a moment in hopes of drowning out the horrid stench. It didn't work.

The moth kept roaring in pain, its tongue flickering at the sides of the mouth. I guess John must have left a decent amount of damage for it to cry so much. I looked around in order to locate the beginning of its windpipe. The whipping of the tongue made it a bit harder to focus, since it meant trying to keep my balance. I risked a jump to the right side of the mouth, jabbing my knife in to the tongue by mistake. A wicked screech pierced my ears as the giant muscle flailed about with me holding on tight.

I began to feel dizzy, leaving me unable to do much until the thing stopped freaking out. I may have stabbed it on accident, but it turned out for the better on my behalf. One moment, the world of the inside of a giant moth was blurry and made no sense to me. The next thing I knew, I was flying down a tube; the windpipe. I clenched my hands to make fists. The blade was still in my hand.

This moth just made my job all the easier. As I fell, I slashed and hacked at what ever was around me. I felt no solid connection; only air. Turns out the tube was a lot wider than expected. Me being skinnier had nothing to do with this task. Either John just wanted the more convenient escape, or he felt that I was more capable of this. Maybe it was both.

Up ahead, I noticed a glow of light. I ended up plummeting to a pretty soft landing. The whole lung was lit up with a faint tint of yellow. Since when did the innards of a moth give off any light? Guess I should be glad that I have some light while stuck in here.

I remained seated after landing. It seemed pointless to try and stand in such an environment as this. Cutting this thing wide open seemed simple enough though, due to how fragile the lungs are for any creature. I gripped at my knife and started slicing away, leaving large holes behind. While doing this, I kept my free hand clinging to the floppy leftovers that were attached to the tube above.

It soon became obvious that the giant moth was struggling for breath, raspy sounds echoing through out it. I placed my blade safely back into my pocket and ripped a piece of the remnants for a source of light.

I may have only took out one lung, but it would get the job done. Any longer in this thing and I may not stand a chance of ever getting out. I kept on climbing with my arms, it feeling like eternity to reach the exit. Ten minutes later and I found myself at the top again.

Carefully, I made my way towards the front and clung to the bottom of its mouth; adding my knife in for insurance. The thing snapped its jaw every few seconds, making me wary of just jumping straight out.

I leaped in, landed in a stomach, climbed a throat, flew down a breathing tube and made it back up to where the exit was just ahead, and freedom was right there. Regardless of these feats, the threat still remained before me. It would seem getting in and doing the job was easy.

Getting out would be the hard part.

20: To Take Down A Moth-Beast -John-

I'm not sure why we thought it was a great idea to jump into this thing's mouth. Then again, we were hasty about it, seeing how the damn thing attacked our friend and all. Either way, I really didn't appreciate being reacquainted to the inside of this beastly moth.

This time I wound up splashing head first into stomach acid. Jay landed somewhere nearby, hitting me on the way down. I quickly stood up, wiping at my face the best I could. Did I mention it was dark in there?

"Sure would be nice to have some light right now.", Jay's voice echoed the massive stomach. "Forget the light, Jay. What we need right now is a plan," I pulled a blade from my pocket, "and all I got is this knife."

In my head, I began to go over the damage this giant moth had already taken: Many, many bullets were shot; even its one eye getting a taste of lead. We applied fire to it, and by the smell of things it was still set aflame. I even managed to jab my knife up and in to its belly and cut it open. What else would it take to bring this damned thing down?

You know, fumbling with a knife in the dark while thinking doesn't help. I came back to reality due to the sharp pain in my left hand, the tip of the blade poking at my palm. At least feeling it meant that I haven't gone completely numb yet. I heard sloshing sounds come closer and closer, which told me Jay was trying to find me. As if the knife weren't distracting enough, "Just stay where you are, would ya? I'm trying to think here."

Jay stopped, speaking up, "I have an idea."

Considering I was low on getting those things called ideas, I decided to hear him out, "What do you have in mind?"

"Tear at its insides."

A part of me wanted to say how stupid that sounded, but it was the best thing we could do. After all, we were armed with knives and knives alone, and I didn't plan on becoming a filling meal for this moth. My brain finally pulled up some thoughts with Jay's help, "We'll tear at it, alright. More specifically, I'll tear at its stomach here...", I thrust the knife down, meeting flesh in the acidic bath, "...and you'll go for its lungs."

"Wait, its lungs? We could just as easily slice our way out of this thing right here while cutting it up some." I turned to his voice, "Yes, we could do that, Jay. Except that isn't going to kill it any faster, now is it? If we can take away its ability to breathe, even if it doesn't take to the lack of air quickly, it should die even faster."

"I don't see why I have to go do that.", he mumbled.

"Simple, you're skinnier."

I knew he wasn't particularly happy with that plan, especially since it entailed him having to climb up its gullet and than down its windpipe. He didn't waste time arguing though. With out another word, Jay splashed his way past me and began to stab his way up the throat.

I was left with the sounds of gurgling and some splashes of stomach acid as the moth roamed about. I closed my eyes, readying myself. Numbness was starting to settle within my body. It was now or become moth poo. I opened my eyes, clenching at the blade's handle, "Robby, this one's for you."

I charged to the right, finding the stomach lining with its tip. With all my might I ran along, trying my best to not slip. I repeated the process once I reached the other side of the stomach.

Roars and gulps of air gushed on in as I tore at its precious insides. I began to stab and rip at the stomach floor before me, running in to the cut I had made on its outside. I cut over it, deepening the wound. In an instant, I dropped to the ground below, acid splashing all over the place with a slow sizzle.

I got up and moved as fast as I could, seeing no sign of Jay. I found cover nearby and hid behind it; a pile of scrap metal. As my heart pounded and my skin slowly began to be eaten way, only one thing came to mind.

I was in desperate need of a shower.

19: Wait? What?! -Robby-

The moth’s head slammed into the wall where I'd just been standing. At the last moment, I had squeezed myself against the left wall. I put my arm in front of my face as the moth swung around to make another grab.

There was a horrible ripping sound and warmth spilled down my shoulder. The world blurred as I fell to the ground, my arm falling next to me; completely severed. I could hear myself screaming as I thought of a way out of this.

I felt its mouth wrap around my legs and I was tossed into the air. My blood sprayed out as I flew, making the entire scene look like something out of a movie. The breath was knocked out of me as I landed on the roof of the building next door.

"Nooooooooo!"

I couldn't see what was going on, but I recognized that as Jay. I bit down on my screams and looked around for some way to stop the bleeding before it was too late. I could feel myself getting dizzy.

I wasn't going to make it.