A Bridge to Disunity (2)
1174 Words
The magical armor once again covers my body and hopefully will protect it from whatever the monster will throw at me.
“I sound the beginning of the end of evil! The Resounding Horn, Gjallarhorn!”
“How boastful of you, Gjallarhorn! Now come at me and see how tough I am!”
I already know from just a simple look at him that his bridge-shaped face is the toughest part, and that he can use it as a battering ram if he feels like it.
Thus, I'm aiming for his weaker spots.
I begin by launching rapid-fire fists at his torso and waist area.
From the looks of it, he is barely flinching, but at least it's better than nothing.
But then, he counters it with a simple headbutt, which clearly hits my head with an impact comparable to that of a car crash.
I'm knocked off-balance as a result.
“You can do better than that, Gjallar-wimp!”
“Why won't I?”
No sooner does he literally whip out several instruments of torture such as iron maidens and tries to throw them at me with a masterful manipulation of his whip.
I counter them all with my judicious servings of Vacuum Fang, which cuts the thrown instruments in half and renders them useless.
“You're staring to torment me! And for that, you'll get to taste true torture!”
Despite his hulking frame, the bridge-faced monster speedily charges towards me... with a taser in tow.
The taser immediately shocks my body with thousands of volts of thunder-elemental energy.
“And to make this torture all the more convincing, I'll show you the faces of the two families whose friendships have all been ruined indirectly by my hands!”
What in the world?!
How is he able to do this?
As my body is still bearing the brunt of being zapped, my mind is picturing two once-happy families, now embroiled with distrust towards each other.
“That's it! Because your father drained the water in the lake, I'm gonna unfriend and block you!”
“Urghh... this sweater you gave me last Christmas... now I feel awful for knowing that you have sent it to me. Guess I'll burn it now.”
“My family's highly considering moving to another town. Yours... will rot here for all eternity.”
“If ever I own a missile, I won't hesitate to launch it and blow the living smithereens out of you all!”
“i wish I would build a time machine... to go back in time and ensure our daddies would never see each other. This way, things will get much better.”
I can feel bitter enmity between the members of the two families... over an issue that is entirely not their fault.
It's the monster's fault that they're disunited.
IT'S ALL THE MONSTER'S FAULT!
Now armed with the intuition that the monster is behind all this, I fight off this combined physical and mental torture...
...with a well-placed roundhouse kick to the crotch.
Oddly enough, it is the most vulnerable part of the monster.
Basically the inverse of Ahastron's defensive structuring.
With this well-placed hit, I now break free of the bridge monster's two-pronged torture, as the fiend himself tumbles to the ground.
“NOOOO!!! How could you ever do this to me?!”
“I'm tougher than you think.”
With that quip of mine, my right foot glows again.
Time to finish off this source of torment.
While the fiend desperately charges at me, I ready my right foot for a strategically-aimed frontal kick.
As I anticipate his battering ram-like head charge, I duck his head by leaning backwards and then adroitly kick him, launching him into the airspace right above the empty lake.
I then do my usual jump, determining the exact spot where I can finish him off with my Aesir Kick while still in mid-air.
“Aesir Kick!”
With a huge diagonally downward force, I kick the bridge monster so hard that when he crashes to the crater of the lake, another crater is formed, albeit smaller.
“I'll get you for this, Gjallarhorn! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
With his dying words, he explodes in a blazing glory.
Miraculously enough...
...from the monster's remains, clean freshwater flows and fills the lake in minutes.
Yup, I called it.
I de-morph just as the cops are waking up from their monster-induced stupor.
And sure enough, as soon as the two families witness the restoration of the glorious lake they came to enjoy together...
...they waste no time in reuniting – I.e. hugging, greeting, and apologizing to each other.
Two middle-aged men – who are the fathers of their own respective families, then approach me.
“Young man... we, the Parsons and Glover families... wish to thank the armored warrior who came in to save us all from the monster who was draining the lake all along. Where is he now?”
As I don't want to divulge my alter-ego to them, I readily answer...
“He's taking a rest right now.”
“That's good enough.”
The head of the Parsons family, who introduces himself as Joseph Charles Parsons, then explains why the lake is so special to them.
“You know what, young man? We both served in the army; and we are the best of buddies since then. One day, we swore to each other that when the time comes, we would retire together, start our own families, and live close to each other next to a body of water, to represent this friendship of ours that will never change no matter how it is bent or shaped.”
The head of the Glover family, Marius Glover, continues.
“We have survived wars. We have survived natural disasters. We have survived terrorism. We have survived the worst man can do to man. But we weren't ready for something that is clearly outside our control... and that is a literal monster. Good thing the armored hero showed up and brought back hope to us both. Now that this crisis is over... we can tell you this... this friendship will be passed to future generations, no matter what.”
“Sure thing. Oh, by the way, it's 12:45. I still haven't ate lunch yet.”
“Well, why don't you join us all? We have a barbecue ready!“
“I'm game! Thanks!”
Good thing I'm given free lunch.
Hope I can stuff whatever I want before I head back to work!
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Monster of the Week Information
Name: Bridge to Torturebithia
Height: 202.18 cm (6' 7.6”)
Weight: 317.52 kg (700 lb)
Monster Type: Steel truss bridge-type monster
A monster born out of a float made out of a motorcycle trailer that is made to look like a truss bridge, which was randomly spotted upon by the hooded figure. As his name suggests, the Bridge to Torturebithia loves inflicting physical and mental torture on random unsuspecting people, all for his own amusement. As a monster, its massive bridge-shaped head means it is tough and nearly impenetrable. The head can also be used to mow down multiple enemies at one. The Bridge to Torturebithia also employs classic implements of torture as its auxiliary weapons – whips, nooses, iron maidens, and even tasers are fair game to this creature. Gjallarhorn confronted the monster, which was the root cause of the draining of the small lake that is situated between the houses of two families who used to be best of friends but were turned into the fiercest of enemies. After enduring the physical and mental torture-type attacks, Gjallarhorn was able to finally put a stop to this “bridge to disunity” with an Aesir Kick.
- Writer
