by thedoctor, Grimm and GoozX
The sky grew dark over the decimated town. The silence was occasionally broken by a distant clap of thunder that barely echoed its bass voice. The empty field across from Dirk Bell would have, at an earlier time, been alive with the sound of crickets playing their symphony among the tall grass. But now, there was no symphony because there were no crickets, because there was no field for the grass to grow in anymore. It had been destroyed like everything else in the town.
The gunslinger had propped himself upon the the cooled remains of a melted police car. He knew it was a police car because the bull horn for the siren hung in a glob that resembled an expressionist painting off the side of the wreckage.
Had Dirk not taught himself not to cry when he was six, the grown man would have been bawling right now. But that wasn't the way of a gunslinger. He had to face the facts and move on. That's how his dad had taught him. That's how he taught himself. The only emotion that he allowed himself in these situation was to brood. That made him think about how it all happened, and how he could have stopped it. But all that was just building up one of the few emotions that he had never learned, or bothered to learn, to control. Dirk was getting pissed.
As he sat staring at the gloomy sky, his skin began to tingle. Then, it felt as though a thousand tiny needles were pricking his flesh. A low hum filled his ears. Putting his hand on the car to push himself up, Dirk felt that the surface was flat and cold. As he turned to look, instead of the police cruiser, a stone wall laid behind him. His head swung around to examine the rest of the environment. Sure enough, it was gone, too. Dirk was back at the same place that he and the rest of the group were when they were first teleported.
Whatever spell had enthralled him had been done away with by some force or another. "Well, I'm just about tired of this bullshit!" he yelled out to whoever or whatever might be listening in this place. "As soon as you figure out just what in the hell it is that you want to do, give me a ring. Until then, just leave me the fuck alone."
The sound of battle reached his ears. Vibrations of a struggle were coming from below. Dirk ran down a pathway. He soon reached the area where Grimm was fighting the two reborn Scorpion brothers. He was standing on the wall that the brothers had smashed through.
"HEY!" he yelled down. The shout caught the attention of all the parties below. "Somebody's been screwin' with my mind, and I don't appreciate that. And somebody's going to pay. I really don't give a shit who right now. You're here, so why don't I start there?"
"He's got to be fucking nuts," Grimm said to himself as he witness Dirk unholster two .45s.
"Thisss time I'll finisssh the job!" Dr. Zachary "the Leviathan" Knell exclaimed as Dirk unloaded his .45s on the Leviathan and the Scorpion brothers.
Grimm took advantage of the distraction to nail Red Scorpion with an axe blow to his vulnerable abdomen. The arachnoid screamed as a yellowish goo began to run forth from its new body. It tried to grab Grimm in a pincer hold, but he was ready this time and ducked out of the way.
In the meantime, Knell had darted around behind the Blue Scorpion and hoisted him into the air. Using all of his reptilian strength, Knell flung the beast to where Dirk stood defiantly.
"Holy crap!" Dirk shouted as the beast came flying at him. The Blue Scorpion slammed into the wall mere moments after Dirk moved out of the way. Dirk remembered his last encounter with Knell and began frantically reloading his guns and searching for something to use against the Leviathan.
The Red Scorpion, meanwhile, had caught Grimm by the arms with one of his pincers. Hoisting the undead biker off of the ground, the beast smiled and made incoherent sounds of pleasure.
This can't be good... Grimm thought to himself. The Red Scorpion's tail was held up behind him in striking position, venom glistening on the tip. Here we go agai... Aauughhhh!
The tail struck home, impaling Grimm directly in the chest. The Scorpion creature swung Grimm around several times and flung him through one of the far walls.
Sam Dawson knelt down, bent over in pain. Tears freely flowed from both eyes, gently sliding down his cheek and falling into the darkness, into nothing. Sam had enough.
"I'll take no more!"
Sam's voice echoed into nothing as he shifted his hands into long knifes. Striking all around his body, his hand broke through the darkness, which led only to more darkness.
"Let ME be!"
Sam couldn't take any more. His voice was strained and his mind weak. His body shifted into that of the Red Scorpion. Then the Blue. Next his shifts lasted but a second. Danny. Mick. Tobias. Clark. Kit. Ton-Ton. Lance. A frog-like creature.
"FREE ME, GOD DAMN IT!"
Sam's body hardened up as he shifted spikes all over his body. Frantically, he shook and lunged forward, finally breaking through the darkness.
Like a bullet, he hit the ground of the castle. His body shifted back to normal as he attempted to get to his feet, only to fail, falling back down to the hard stone below.
Only a short distance from him, he watched as Grimm was impaled by the tail of a scorpion-like creature and flung through a far wall.
"Grimm?" Sam whispered to himself, still unable to process what was happening to him, and what had just happened. Sam attempted to get up once again. Pain surged through his body, and he threw up. His mind. He couldn't think straight.
Getting to his feet again, he still couldn't hold back the pain. He threw up once again. Sam's vision began to clear. Dirk was surrounded, needed help. Dirk's a dick, anyway, Sam thought as he fell to one knee. No, he is a friend. Teammate. Gotta help him.
Sam shook his head and got up. They will not fear me. I need something more imposing. Sam thought for a second and shifted into the form of Grimm, only with a long blade for a hand. Sam moved forward, one foot in front of the other, gaining momentum as he got closer and closer toward Knell and the Scorpion brothers.
Leaping into the air, Sam/Grimm's right arm pierced Knell's massive skin, striking pain throughout the creature's form. Blood flowed as he turned. Sam/Grimm stood, still a little shaken. "Give up... bad... guy, or else!"
Fury overtook Knell, and he rushed at Sam/Grimm and pounded him with both fists, over and over again, not letting up for even a second.
Sam's last thought before passing out was that, This was a bad idea.