It immediately began to look for an opening. The bars would be cumbersome and he’d rather not get stuck trying to get through them. Instead he spotted a vent in the wall, one of his clawed hands cleanly cutting through and tearing out the grated seal.
The abomination began to squish and squeeze his way in. Leaving trails of black slick behind as his tail snaked along into the vents. Clamoring could be heard within the walls and ceiling. And the sounds of what must be other grates being opened as it looked for the path to Leon’s cell.
Unexpectedly there was an abrupt halt and silence. A shriek echoed along with crashes and the wet tearing of flesh. The fighting got closer until a Licker burst out of the vent in the ceiling and fell to the floor. Anubeyis dropped right on top of it with one of its limbs in his mouth. His primary hands pinning it to the floor while extra hands went to grab the Lickers tongue and tear out the neck. Once it stopped screeching, he tossed it aside.
“I…break…you..”
Numerous limbs reached for the chains. His many eyes focusing on snapping the links closest to the cuffs. While leaning close, syringes still stuck in his body shined in the low light. As well as what was left of the restraints when he breached containment. They weren’t evident earlier since the dripping of ink had covered them.
Anubeyis senses the reinforcements in the bloody hallway. Snapping around the monster stood nearly to full height, grabbing the ceiling and pulling himself up, body covering the flickering light bulb. He rumbled and seemingly began to drip more, shadows expanding outwards to cover the room. Skulled head lifting to stare at Leon. The glow of eyes the only thing visible.
He was waiting for them to open the door. His dark body should make the cell appear empty.
So it was smart enough to recognize that the vents might be an easier option than just trying to break the bars. That definitely wasn’t at all even more concerning.
Much to his chagrin, Leon could only sit there and listen as the creature made its way through the ventilation system above him. Part of him suspected that it might just abandon him anyway, whether from finding its own way out or out of cruel amusement. Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case as he could hear the BOW gradually grow closer and closer.
At least until there was an awfully familiar and ear-grating shriek, one that instantly had him on his feet in alarm. There was only one thing that made that noise, and the last time he ever saw one was over six years ago.
What the fuck was a Licker doing in the goddamned vents???
There was the noise of fighting, screaming, claws and teeth ripping through flesh and scraping against metal as the two monsters dueled somewhere above him. He nearly jumped out of his own skin and yelled in surprise when the Licker burst through the vent on the ceiling. The vent in his cell. The vent that, basically, was almost right in front of him.
Thankfully, he needn’t worry about being brutally mauled by it - for it was just as viciously taken out by his BOW companion. Leon couldn’t help but sigh in relief, slumping back down into a sitting position against the wall he was chained to.
But of course. Just when the first step towards freedom seemed within his grasp, something had to go wrong. He observed the creature’s movements, its anatomy - the syringes still embedded in its flesh, the restraints that clung to some of its limbs, how liquid shadow dripped from its own body and drowned any light that might have seeped into the room - either from the lightbulb or from the open bars across from him.
As he listened to the footsteps of what were probably armed guards approaching, Leon briefly pondered; was it trying to hide? But as he heard their confused shouts of alarm, something about an escaped prisoner and the sound of the lock being undone before the door to the seemingly empty and pitch-black cell would swing open, he realized that wasn’t just it.
It was baiting them.
Two of its multiple eyes remained focused on Leon, while the rest observed the door opening. Letting in light that didn’t reach beyond the threshold. It let them walk in, opening its jaws wide to let out a low subsonic rumble. Like a viper, the BOW strikes out. Multiple limbs snatching up bodies to bite. Slamming its full weight down on those it couldn’t when he let go of the ceiling. The light bulb barely flickering and stained with the ink of Anubeyis body.
Using himself as a ram, the monster charged out, horns smashing the door and the wall around it on purpose. Debris flew into the hallway. It shook itself, lifting whoever was still alive in its clawed hands. Jaws clamped over torsos as heads and shoulders were engulfed by its maw.
He was devouring them.
A long tongue snaked out to lick over the near-black blood soaking its mouth. He dropped what was left of the people in his grip. A satisfied growl left him, body rippling. Defined lean muscle forming on the emaciated body. One eye spotted something too late, and an ungodly sound projected out of him. A flash grenade. He violently shook his head, swinging it like a pendulum while blindly rushing to gore the fool who tossed it. Slamming the ram-like horns of his skull into either wall. The eyes that weren’t caught in the flash rotated to find the culprit when a second grenade went off. This time, however, he managed to close the rest of his eyes. And sunk into the shadows. His head went first and the rest of him followed. Anubeyis was not strong enough yet despite the carnage he wrought.
He’ll leave them to Leon. The man seemed smart enough. Hopefully, he didn’t just sit in that cell.
