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.

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.

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.