cHApTEr 9. ouT of HAnD (2 of 3)

It was safe to assume that Impact Corpse was the Dismantler, or at least affiliated with him. How else could his presence at the abandoned factory, where the Dismantler kept mementos of his victims, be explained? It couldn’t be a simple coincidence. The Dismantler killed Mioray. Impact Corpse had attacked Mioray at the university. His left arm, along with the other victims’ limbs, was found at the factory. And now, Impact Corpse was here too.

Kevin’s gloomy prediction came true. They hadn’t gotten as far as catching the Dismantler. Impact Corpse got to them first. And now the police were here too. Mioray and the rest grew too careless, assuming everything would turn out fine in the end. Being able to cheat death over and over had done that to them. When there’s no real threat to your life, there are no stakes. Everything feels allowed, because the rules don't matter anymore. Common sense doesn't matter anymore.

Kevin had been decapitated, but only temporarily. After some time, he would resurrect once more. He just needed to get his head back. But Mioray was reminded that the same didn’t apply to everyone. The officer, whose bottom half lay on the ground at the entrance – the other half blown to pieces – was dead for good. He wouldn’t come back, because he wasn’t undead. The Dismantler’s victims weren’t undead either. Their left arms hung chained to the walls, but they wouldn’t reattach to their owners like Mioray’s arm could.

Raw life without stakes wasn’t worth much. There had to be things that mattered, things that would be scary to lose. Mioray was afraid to lose his parents. It was one of the reasons he’d left home. By capturing the Dismantler, he could get rid of the danger hanging over him and everyone he cared about.

Not just those he cared about. Looking at the dead body, Mioray realized he wanted to save all of them. Detectives, police officers, random citizens. It was too late for some. One person was already dead, and a few more were injured. He’d have to settle for less, but it would be enough if he could save as many as possible. He did want to be a superhero, no matter how foolish that dream seemed.

“Stop, or I’ll shoot!” Detective Natalie Lance, still on the ground, warned Impact Corpse. She held the gun firmly, ready to pull the trigger.

Trying to reason with the madman was useless. Shooting him was futile. But Natalie didn’t know that. She hadn’t been at the university during the attack. She hadn’t seen what he was capable of. She'd only heard about the attacker exploding his body parts and regenerating and that bullets had no effect on him. But had she really believed it? It was unheard of. It defied logic.

That was Natalie’s weakness. As a detective – as a human – she trusted logic. The problem was, logic had already left this world.

The towering man took another step forward, and Detective Lance pulled the trigger, just as she had warned. The sound of gunshots thundered through the room, dizzying the mind. With every shot fired, Matt blinked and cowered.

Bullets dug into Impact Corpse’s flesh, but they didn’t stop him. All they did was make him angry. As crazy as it sounded, up until now Mioray would’ve called him relatively collected, like there was a speck of reason in his reddish irises. But now they flared with fury, and his muscles tightened under the rags that were once a vest and shorts. Impact Corpse let out a vicious scream. Flattened bullets squeezed out from his body and fell to the floor with a metallic jingle. His wounds began to close. His once-disfigured arm had almost healed, missing only the skin.

“That’s... that’s impossible,” Natalie exhaled, unable to believe what she was seeing. Mioray once thought the same. It didn’t matter if she'd heard about it before. Seeing it happen shattered her sense of reality. Even Mioray thought it was beyond belief the way Impact Corpse regenerated, how nothing seemed to affect him.

“You… Not you!” the towering man growled, taking a step toward the detective. His speech was barely coherent, just like at the university, where he had repeated the same broken phrases. It wasn’t a physical defect; it was something deeper, something disturbed in his mind. What else could it be, considering how he behaved? “Him… Like him.”

If Impact Corpse was undead, then he must have sensed that Mioray was the same and that there were others like him. Which meant he hadn’t been hunting Mioray specifically, but any of the dead who had returned to life?

It wasn’t the time to think about it. Just a few more steps and Impact Corpse would reach Detective Lance. That would be the end of her. With how ridiculously huge he was, with his bulging muscles and exploding limbs, he could simply stomp on her…

“Matt, glue him!” Mioray yelled desperately. But the boy hesitated, still clutching Mioray’s chained arm. Mioray had to act on his own. He shot his right arm, folded into a fist, forward. It detached from his shoulder, black threads keeping it tethered, and struck Impact Corpse in the head, forcing the giant to turn sideways. Immediately, Mioray reeled his arm back.

“Matt, now!”

Finally, the boy snapped out of it. He let go of the severed arm and secreted orange slime from his palms, hurling it at the giant. Lumps of slime splattered across Impact Corpse’s legs, hardening instantly. The monster tried to move, but the slime held him in place. He tried to wrench his feet free, but it was useless. Snarling, he started pounding at his own legs with his newly regenerated arm, as if he couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t obey him.

Or maybe he was cooking up something even worse.

With a furious cry, Impact Corpse hurled Kevin’s body like a sack of potatoes at Mioray and Matt, adding the force of an arm explosion to the throw. The body didn’t explode into bits, but it shot forward like a cannonball, slamming into Mioray and sending both him and Matt crashing into the wall. The wall crumbled beneath the impact.

Behind it was a vast compartment, once housing assembly lines. Mioray, Matt, Kevin’s decapitated body, and all the chained arms, along with chunks of the collapsed wall, plummeted down to the floor below. Midair, Mioray managed to grab Matt, shielding him with his body from the fall.

He heard something crack, but there was no pain. When he tried to stand, he managed just fine. If he broke something, it wasn’t slowing him down. At least not yet.

“Mioray, I’m scared,” Matt said, shaking, tears building in his eyes. “Why is he doing this?”

If only I knew, Mioray thought, without answering. There was nothing to say. Why did the Dismantler kill? Why did Impact Corpse kill? Why were they connected? He didn’t know, and he doubted Impact Corpse would reveal his intentions.

They heard another explosion, and a few seconds later, another, blasting the wall on the ground level right below the hole they had fallen through. And of course, behind this new hole, Impact Corpse emerged. His state was pitiful. Not only were his legs and arms blown to bits; his chest was ripped open, ribs sticking out like spikes, his heart visible behind them, beating wildly and spitting blood in all directions. His red eyes, drowning in black, looked madder than before.

Was there anything that could stop him? Blood loss, destroyed heart, brain, or spinal cord – these were the only options. Blood loss seemed out of the question. His regeneration rate was absurd. And his lust for destruction even more so. He fell onto the stumps of his limbs, rapidly growing new flesh, and like a feral beast, leapt toward Mioray and Matt.

They had to act fast. Once again, Mioray clenched his fist and sent his arm flying at Impact Corpse, aiming at the exposed heart. The madman just brushed it off; Mioray’s detached arm fell helplessly behind him. Mioray forced the arm to retract, but it didn’t respond well. The black threads shrank, but much slower than before, as if they had lost their momentum.

“Damn it!” he cursed, as Impact Corpse closed in on him and Matt.

During his training, Mioray had never thought about what would happen if someone interrupted his detached limbs like Impact Corpse had. Now he found out. Bringing them back required more energy and time. Unfortunately, the timing of this discovery was really inconvenient.

“Just couldn’t stop yourself from getting right into action, eh, funny guy?”

Following Terry’s snarky remark, a loud scream filled the compartment, and a blast of distorted air hit the approaching monster on his right side. The madman lost his balance, falling and sliding past Mioray and Matt.

With a joyful exclamation, Matt ran toward Terry and Mia. Terry, riding on wheels attached to his heels, patted Matt on the head while passing him and headed toward Mioray, who stood beside Kevin’s decapitated body. Mioray felt relieved. At least now he and Matt weren’t alone in fighting Impact Corpse. Terry and Mia had joined them, and those two weren’t hurt. Furthermore, with Terry around, everything seemed simpler. He always seemed relaxed, and that vibe – that no matter the problem, everything would turn out fine – spread to the others.

“So, this is our big guy?” Terry asked as he reached Mioray.

The towering man sat slumped on the floor. Mia’s sound blast had crushed his side, but he was already recovering from it. His ribs were closing up, flesh patching around them, hiding his heart once again.

He was a true representation of a behemoth from hell.

“Yeah,” Mioray confirmed, clicking his tongue. If only they could send the giant into the portal to the realm between realms, like they did with the Soul Collective! That would truly solve all their problems – but he knew firsthand that undead like him would just pass through the portal without being pulled in.

Among the debris and chained, mummified arms, Mioray spotted his own – bruised, blood lazily flowing from fresh wounds. He grabbed it, the chain swinging loose from the wrist. If Impact Corpse healed this fast, maybe he could too? He connected his left arm to the stump and let go.

As expected, it fell back to the floor with a flat thump.

“Not the best time for stand-up comedy,” Terry said with a confused smile.

Mioray turned red. He mumbled something unintelligible, grabbing his left arm again. Then, just barely, Terry pushed Mioray aside before Impact Corpse could slam into him, his body already fully healed. He didn’t stop. Mioray wasn’t his target. His target was Mia.

He was rapidly approaching her. Mia screamed, and her sound waves hit the giant in the face. Skin and flesh tore off, the skull cracked, but he stubbornly pushed forward, driven by sheer will or madness. Mia had just enough time to push Matt away and throw her arms up in defense before Impact Corpse’s knuckle exploded against her.

“Mia, no!” Matt screamed.

Her arms were torn off, bits flying in every direction. She herself was knocked back, hitting the ground hard. Broken bones stuck out of her wounds, but she wasn’t bleeding excessively. She was still conscious, controlling the flow of blood. The towering man pounced again, ready to finish her.

“Hey, you, Impact Corpse!” Terry called out. The giant turned his face, half of it now bare skull, toward the racer. “Has nobody taught you it’s dangerous to play with explosives? Especially in front of kids?”

Impact Corpse roared at him.

“She… Where?”

“Sorry, big guy, I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Terry said, his wheels beginning to spin. “With an attitude like that, no hottie will want to talk to you.”

The madman roared even more furiously, his red eyes blazing. He lost interest in Mia, turning fully toward Terry.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Terry leaned forward, ready to kick off. “I don’t understand sign language, but I’m sure Mia would give you a hard no.”

At lightning speed, Terry broke off from the spot, closing in on Impact Corpse. Everything happened in the blink of an eye: Terry jumped and kicked the monster in the head with the full acceleration of his body. The giant’s head twisted around... in a full circle. And then once more. Bones in his neck cracked, sounding like firecrackers.

The towering man's eyes dimmed. He collapsed to the floor, making it tremble on impact. His consciousness finally faded.

“Phew, that’s more like it,” Terry said, landing on his sole good foot. The other was bent unnaturally after the kick, its wheel destroyed.

On one leg, he headed toward Mia. Mioray and Matt rushed to her side as well. They helped her sit up. Mia was still holding on. With her arms blown off, she couldn’t communicate, but they could tell from her eyes and weak smile that she was grateful for their help.

With Impact Corpse silenced, they noticed a turmoil happening in the hole Mioray and Matt had fallen through. Natalie Lance stood there, motionless, with police officers running back and forth behind her. How much had she seen? Did any of it make sense to her? She still held a gun in her hands, but it was lowered. What was she going to do next?

As soon as Mioray heard the metallic creak of a door opening, he forgot about the detective and the police. He turned toward the sound and saw Erinel and Farah entering the compartment.

“What the hell happened here?” Farah asked, not wasting a second.

When they reached the group, Matt quickly explained how they had subdued Impact Corpse. While listening, Erinel never took her eyes off the monster’s lifeless body. Her concerned look was strangely similar to Natalie’s, as if she was calculating her next move.

"You did good," she said distantly when Matt finished. "Take Kevin’s body and get back to the storage facility. The police will find their way here soon."

She was right. No one was at the hole above anymore.

"What about you?" Mioray asked.

"I'll finish things here."

She walked toward the giant’s body, every step deliberate, posture stiff with a chilling sense of finality.

"I don't plan on sticking around either," Farah grumbled. "Let's get out of here. You all look like hell, by the way."

No one asked what Erinel planned to do with Impact Corpse. Mioray watched her getting closer to him. He, too, said nothing. Maybe he was afraid; maybe he simply didn’t want to know. She clearly had something on her mind. Perhaps she knew how to stop him for good. If she did, that meant she could do the same to any of them.

Lying on the ground, no longer roaring or blowing things up, Impact Corpse looked almost peaceful. Still huge, still twisted in mind, but no longer dangerous. His chest rose and fell rhythmically, almost like he was asleep.

Mioray froze, a chill shrieking through his soul. The madman’s eyes were open, burning red, the blackness in his eyeballs just as thick as ever.

"Erinel, watch out!" Mioray shouted, throwing away his left arm and stretching his right forward. He pushed Erinel aside just as a massive knuckle slammed into the floor where she had been standing, exploding on impact. The whole room shook.

Not even a broken neck could stop the madman! He had already recovered. Mioray reeled his arm back. Erinel was out of immediate harm’s way, but not for long. She was still close to the monster and in grave danger. Unlike the undead, greanrips were mortal.

She dropped to one knee, weaving a wooden shield out of her fingers. Would it withstand another one of Impact Corpse’s explosions? Mioray doubted it and he didn’t want to find out. Yet he couldn’t do anything until his arm returned, and there simply wasn’t enough time.

Someone else dashed toward Erinel. Someone missing both arms. Mia. Her shoulders swung loosely, free from the burden of limbs. Impact Corpse raised his second hand to strike, but at that moment Mia jumped onto him, locking her legs around his neck. The madman roared, fury and agony mingling. Mia clung tightly, avoiding his frantic grabs with elegance.

She wasn’t even looking at him. She was staring at Matt, her eyes sparking with determination.

"Mia, you don't have to do this!" Matt screamed, tears streaming down his face. Somehow, it seemed he and Mia could understand each other without words.

"What is she trying to do?" Mioray asked.

"She's going for a suicide attack!" Matt cried.

"What does that mean?!"

"You haven't told him yet?!" Farah berated Terry and Matt. "What the hell was his training for, then? The suicide attack is part of our abilities. It lets us unleash massive power, but it destroys our body too. That’s why we call it a suicide attack! We have to stop Mia!"

"It's too late," Terry said, pushing Matt into Farah’s arms. "Mia made her choice. You have to respect it. Farah, take Matt and Mioray’s arm. Mioray, help me move Kevin’s body!"

"What's going to happen?" Mioray asked, grabbing Kevin’s leg. He saw Erinel retreating farther from Impact Corpse and Mia.

"Questions have to wait!" Terry snapped, grabbing Kevin’s arm and dragging the body away.

Moments later, Mioray heard a high-pitched scream that nearly ruptured his eardrums. Disoriented, he turned to see Mia struggling against Impact Corpse. She was the one screaming. The sound grew louder and louder, to the point where Mioray thought his head would burst. And he was far from her. What the giant was experiencing had to be a thousand times worse.

Then, with a sound like a balloon popping, the screaming stopped.

Mia exploded from within, disintegrating into a rain of blood, torn flesh, and shattered bone. In one moment she had been clinging to the monster’s head, and in the next, she was simply gone. As for the towering man, only the bottom half of his body remained, a gruesome fountain of blood gushing from what was once his shorts. What was left of him collapsed.

At the sight of the carnage, Mioray dropped to his knees, unable to stand. He wasn’t ready for what he had just witnessed. The air hung thick with the scent of blood, drops of it still raining down. It’s not permanent. Mia wasn’t dead, not for real. But knowing it didn't erase the sight of her exploding into nothingness. It didn’t stop the horror seared into his memory. The look in her eyes when she made her choice to sacrifice herself.

Everything was in chaos. Police finally swarmed the place. Kevin was beheaded, and Mia—what was left of her—was scattered across the floor. She had managed to destroy Impact Corpse’s body, but if they didn’t act quickly, he would simply regenerate again, just as he always did. For some reason, it never looked like he was healing old wounds by his flesh returning; instead, it was as if his bones, muscles, and sinew were growing out of nowhere, stitching a new body from scratch.