The Permutation

Apex (Part 5) Paul

Whoops.

A long, black, noodle-like shape wriggled in the little boy's ear as the millionaire tightened his choke hold. The worm fell onto the dirt, nobody else seemed to notice. However, when the thing had left the ear canal, the boy went slack, his eyes glazed over, devoid of life.

In the meantime, the Asian woman had dispatched the last three predators by herself. Her movements were elegant and Paul suspected she dabbled in Krav Maga. All women that felt powerful and self-important did Krav Maga, a martial art that tried to leverage their frail bodies into an advantage. Frail body or not, Paul didn't want her coming after him.

The black girl had not indulged in any of the violence. She shivered in the middle of the action, frozen.

Maybe she isn't so tough after all.

Meanwhile, one of the predators had gotten wise to the flying boy's games and had gotten ahold of his ankle. The boy struggled to rise back into the air, but the predator's inexorable strength made escape impossible.

A black blur that Paul felt but couldn't see streaked across the dirt throwing up clouds of dust as it went.

The predator was knocked several feet backwards causing it to release the boy's ankle. The neighbor girl stood in the midst of the predators and raised her hands in a defensive posture. The remained predators closed on her. None of the other heroes were close enough to be of any help, and Paul didn't have enough time to engage in any precise work. He took three tendrils and wrapped each around an ankle of the predators and lifted them high into the air.

A beam of brilliant light lit the night, and Paul thought the Radiance had returned, but was disavowed of that notion as the light, Paul now realized it was a beam, struck a predator full in the chest. The woman predator wearing frilly underwear, probably in an effort to invigorate a dying marriage started to cave in on herself.

Where healthy bone and muscle once were, a gelatinous human goop took its place. A fleshy mass of liquid dripped to the ground, and before Paul knew it, all he was holding was a leg. The rest had flopped to the ground, no longer held in place by her torso.

Paul looked for the source of the beam and was not surprised to see the Being with a perpetual scowl holding something that looked like a child's plastic gun. The scowl seemed to soften as a smile touched the corners of his lips. Paul nodded to the man.

A man that knows how to do what needs to be done.

"Jesus Christ Blujh!" the millionaire shouted.

Officer Durant looked at the human goop and didn't look happy, but he stayed out of it realizing things had spiraled far out of his depth.

"What else are we going to do with them? They come at us with mindless determination and I'm not risking mine or Vyth's skin for your precious humans. The Miasma is probably going to come wipe them all out anyways. Everyone here knows too much. Even me," Blujh said, his scowl returning, harder than it was before.

Paul contemplated slitting the Being's throat before it became a threat. He didn't care what happened to any of these other fools, but if they were threatening his own skin, it might have been simpler to remove the man from the equation. Before Paul could pull the proverbial trigger, Blujh put up his hands in a placating gesture directed at the millionaire.

"That's right boss, I forgot. We are leaving and never coming back. I'll see if I can talk some sense in the Miasma. Besides, some of you humans aren't as worthless as I thought."

It was clear Blujh didn't include Paul in his assessment. While the two of them were bickering, the Asian woman had dispatched the two remaining predators Paul was holding with two well placed kicks to the temple. Paul let go of them and they fell to the ground like rag dolls.