Killing the Weakness
Maverick's "Origin", if you will.
Raspy breathes fog out of Maverick's mouth, the icy air condensing his huffs into little clouds that dispel as he jogs through them. Overhead streetlights illuminate his way down the neighborhood street.
'I can't keep exerting myself like this.' his legs lead him with shaky steps, his shoes plaping against the asphalt he's running on. 'I feel like I'm gonna faint.' he looks behind him. Seeing no more rots trailing behind, he slows.
“Hah… ahhh…" he stumbles and nearly falls before catching himself and standing still. Planting his hands on his knees, he hunches over and pants like a dog on a summer day.
He looks up from his hunch, eyes widening a little.
Down the block a few house, fetid groans ping from a group of rots. Human faces dot the small crowd as well as some mammals and an amphibian or two.
'More of them! F***!' he darts towards a picket fence in the yard closest to him, tripping into the grass and crawling the rest of the way. He gets back up to a kneel and peeks though the slotted fence.
A dragon rot amongst the group slashes one of the others across the face, knocking it to the ground with a disgusting squelch.
Maverick clenches his teeth and grunts. 'I hate you jerks.' he looks at the house he's near and his face softens. 'This is Fia's house…' he frowns and looks down at the grass. 'I hope she made it.'
Pale moonlight gleams off something in the short grass.
'Her baseball bat!' he crawls at it and takes the slender metal rod in his hands. 'Why would she leave this?' he rubs it gently and a big frown plants itself on his face. He shakes his head and stands, gazing back over at the group of rots.
The dragon launches more slashes at the other rots, biting them and mutilating them.
'Even in death you all suck.' Maverick finds himself glaring at the scene. His grip on the bat tightens and he walks to the sidewalk and towards the mess. 'I can't fight him though.' he stops and his shoulders relax. 'No, what am I thinking? I can't fight any of these things!' he lets the bat hang at his side.
One of the rots turns and sees him. It gurgles and starts walking at him. The others notice and follow suit, the dragon pushing them aside and speed-shambling towards Maverick.
'Oh no.' his eyes widen. 'Go. GO! Leave!' he gives the order to his legs to move, but they merely tense and keep him in place. More fog comes out of his maw as his breaths quicken.
The dragon roars at him and trips trying to get to him, getting back up in a matter of seconds.
'You…' Maverick clenches the bat and a blaze of anger like fire engulfs his heart. 'I won't take this anymore.' he stands up straight.
The rots growl as they get closer.
'You all always said I'd never be like you.'
He eyes them with a new gleam in his eyes.
'That I could never be as strong. As cool. As likable.'
The baseball bat swings through the chilly air with a deep whoosh.
'Just because of what I am?'
He takes a step towards the approaching group, both hands trembling yet firm on the bat.
'Maybe you were right before.' he grits his teeth. 'But today my weakness dies.'
The dragon rot comes in range, reaching a decrepit hand and claws towards Maverick.
Maverick winds back and explodes into a swing, smashing the dragon's rotten jaw with a deafening crack. It falls back onto its rear.
He takes a breath as his eyes open wide for a moment.
The other rots step over the dragon and encroach on Maverick's personal space.
With another swing, he bashes another. The bat makes a metal ting as if it hit a baseball.
Blood splatters on the sidewalk and the other rots.
“Hahh-…!" he huffs and takes a step back. “No!" he slams another one, thick rotten blood smearing on the silver bat.
The rots keep coming, constantly trying to get past one another and groaning over each other.
'I can't keep doing this!' he backs away and stumbles onto his hind end, scooting back now. His mouth opens wide and his body freezes up. 'Move!'
The dragon pushes to the front again, his jaw hanging off his face.
'You… again…' Maverick's mouth closes and clenches again. The scalding fever of rage shocks him into movement. 'No, I won't be weak anymore!' he scurries to a stand and lifts the bat high into the air and swings down onto the dragon's head with a devastating power attack, bashing its skull in and dropping it like a sack of bricks.
Maverick glares at the body, then at the remaining rots.
'No weakness.' his muscles burn and his legs shake, threatening to drop him just as quick. 'No more weakness!' he tenses his whole body and lifts the bat again, dropping another rot with a loud THWAK.
With the next one down, the fierce burning in his muscles is forgotten and he brings strike after strike onto the mass of rot until none of them move. A trail of bodies and puddles of vile blood follow the sidewalk and lead to Maverick.
He coughs and collapses after the last one dies, crumbling down to a sit with powerful heaves forcing out of his throat as if he's being squeezed over and over.
“Ahh… eehhnnggghh…" he falls to his side, landing on a house's yard. The grass welcomes him with a cooling hug. His breaths slow and stabilize as he closes his eyes. Soon enough, his whole body relaxes.
Covered in rot blood, he appears as just another member of the dead as he drifts off to an instantly deep sleep.