Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 55: Jacky’s Transformation Continues

Richard looked at Jacky and said, “You still have the choice I offered you. Do you want the house, Billy, or beautiful women?”

Jacky glared at Richard and said, “What kind of a question is that? I choose Billy. He is my son!” Jacky was getting mad because he didn’t understand Richard’s motives. That man had admitted to having the same mutant abilities as he had. But why was he so forthcoming with me? – he wondered.

Richard: “Before I let you go, answer me this: Since you could use your ability to get whoever you wanted, why did you choose a child?” 

When Jacky did not answer right away, Richard used all his mutant strength to punch him three times. The sound was so loud that it nearly broke a few people’s eardrums. Richard continued to punch Jacky. He punched his face, chest, arms, and stomach. He was like an emotionless machine, and blood splashed anywhere.

Even though Jacky had a strong body, it could not handle Richard’s constant beatings, and before long, he felt as if he was about to die. Everyone around them was in shock. They couldn’t figure out how a man like Richard could beat a man as strong as Jacky in such an overwhelming way, and they were all afraid. They had not realized what a monster Richard could become if he were provoked.

Suddenly, Jacky uttered an unnatural growl, and with them as his witnesses, his body began to transform. His hair began to grow in, dark and course, all over his body. In a matter of minutes, he was transformed from a broken man, to mutant human bear, and all the damage that Richard had done was undone.  

“Holy s**t!” Kevin shouted. “It’s a further mutation! Is this real?”

 Jacky’s body got bigger and bigger, and even though Richard was familiar with the mutation, he was still surprised about Jacky’s talent. He had started his secondary mutations without exposure to Radiation D. This should not be possible – he thought. Only a fool refused to see what was in front of him, though, and he was no fool, so he stood ready.  

He thought that it was likely that the recessive gene that had been activated in Jacky’s body was related to bears. It was the only thing that made any sense. A half minute past, and already Jacky was more bear than human, and he couldn’t help but wonder how much – if any – of his humanity remained. If he continued to mutate, Jacky would likely become the first fully mutant human bear.

Jacky growled and said, “Richard, you’ve really gotten on my nerves. Now, I will tear you apart.” With this new adaptation, he believed that he was powerful enough to kill anyone. Before he was finished mutating, though, Richard’s gigantic fist punched him in the face.

Everyone was shocked, including those that had tried to run away. Now they were watching frozen in place. They could not believe that, even after Jacky’s transformation, Richard was kicking his ass.

Richard laughed and said, "Foolish fellow. Strength is sometimes not directly proportional to speed. Your strength is indeed getting stronger, but your speed is becoming slower. Mutating randomly without control is like suicide. I can tell you for sure that if you don't replenish your energy in five minutes, you will burn up all the fat and muscle in your body. Then you will become a a dead man and a mutant walker."

“I cry, bullshit!” shouted Jacky. You do not know what you’re talking about. Look at me!” He waved his fists wildly about, but no matter how hard he tried, he only hit air. Richard was too fast for him.

Jacky was so angry that he began to punch holes in the walls and plaster began to rain down over them all. “Damn it!” his men cried. “Jacky is a monster! He is going to bring this place down on us! Look at him. He is the same as the blind black bear in the forest!”

“Exactly!” Someone shouted. “God is punishing him for raping that little girl. Now he is cursed to be a beast. Run, now! Or we will die with him.”

Someone else in Jacky’s gang said, “He’s right! Come on, everyone! Run!”

Almost immediately, all of Jacky’s men ran out of the villa. Finally, there were only a few bodies left, and everything was really spooky. Those that remained looked to Richard for an explanation, but he just shrugged and said, “I don’t owe you anything.” In his previous life, humans had been blind to the relationship between mutant creatures and mutant walkers. Thus, it was reasonable for Jacky’s men to treat him as they would a monster, but after what they’d been up to, he saw no reason to educate them.  

Even well-educated people like Kevin Stone were not familiar with the details of the global bio-degradation, though, so there was no reason to expect any better from the likes of Jacky’s gang. One of the men who had remained said, “Ri…Richard… The guy will die soon, right?”

After gathering his courage, Kevin walked up behind Richard. While they had been speaking, Jacky’s body had continued to change. His arms were thicker, now. His mouth had begun to elongate, and huge fangs protruded from the corners of his mouth.

Richard smiled and said, “Trust me. The faster he changes, the faster he will die. He will be a dead man in five minutes, at the most!”

Richard was confident that Jacky’s life was near its end, but he did not let his guard down. At the moment, the mutant human bear beast was much more horrible than two huge mutant dogs combined. Thus, if it came to hand to hand combat, he would be at a disadvantage.  

The horrible thing about Radiation D was that it could cause an outburst of hidden genes inside a living body without warning. If it did this,  a weak person without any power could become powerful.

Strictly speaking, Richard was also a mutant walker. The difference between him and Jacky, though, was that his degradation was a side effect being fed The Eternal Bug. Thus, his stealth genes had not been stimulated. Instead, they were being kept occupied by numerous Amoeba cells.

The biggest practical difference between Richard and Jacky was that no matter how much genetic degradation occurred in the future, The Eternal Bug would, not just resist it, but it would also heal his wounds and keep him safe by enhancing his body in new and fantastic ways.