In a musty old apartment, a man in his mid twenties lays asleep. A frown plagues his face as he writhes in discomfort. Unbeknownst to him, electric blue energy snakes through his veins and causes his body to change. Bones grow thicker, and muscles bulge with untamed power, as the man sleeps all the while.
"...ck...rick...HENRICK!!"
Henrick awakens with a start, gasping for air as he looks around his room. He notices the peeling walls and the boxes of unopened items. He places a hand on his forehead as he takes a deep breath and lays back down.
"Another nightmare."
His deep voice rumbles in his chest and startles his dog, Toots, awake. The canine's ears perk up at the sound of Henrick getting out from the bed, and stretches languidly as she prepares to greet him. Henrick smiles and ruffles her head as he stands, but almost falls as his limbs somehow feel foreign. He tries to support himself on the bedside table and pierces through the wood as if it was wet paper. Toots rushes forward and gently nudges Henrick's side as she does her best to support him.
"What the hell? Am I sick? Did they sell me rotting wood??"
With a grunt, Henrick picks himself up from the floor and pets his loyal friend. As he shakily makes his way to the washroom, he passes by a full length mirror and does a double take at what he sees. His once athletic 6 foot 6 inch frame, has somehow become incredibly muscular with broad shoulders. His boxers keep him decent, but he can't help but admire himself. His face is now more clearly defined, with a proud nose, and a strong jaw. He takes a closer look and realises that his once brown coloured eyes now faintly glow with an electric blue colour.
"...am I still in a dream? Maybe I should workout more, I don't look half bad with all this muscle."
As the words leave his mouth, the entire building lurches to one side. "Toots!!" Henrick screams as he sees his canine companion slam into the wall next to the window. His eyes widen in fear as he sees the ground coming up to meet them. The last thing he sees is the blood coming out of Toots' mouth, then the building becomes one with the ground.
With a deafening BOOM, the building crumbles into debris and rubble. The impact is jarring and shakes Hendrick's brain, but does little more than disorient him. Tons of concrete and rebar bury him and the world goes dark. Yet, somehow, Henrick feels only a slight discomfort.
Coughing with all the dust in the air, Henrick pushes aside the broken concrete and recoils at how easy it is to do so. He looks around and stares out in horror.
The very ground shifts and expands as the buildings all around him topple and collapse. The sky is painted a deep purple and the clouds are an ominous black. Then, Henrick remembers that his canine companion was missing. "Toots!!" he desperately called out as he uses his newfound strength to clear out the debris. After what seemed like hours, he finally finds the poor girl, gasping for air. Henrick hugs her to his chest and feels a piercing pain in his heart when she lets out a few wet coughs, blood spattering out every time she did so.
"My sweet girl. I'm so sorry." Hendrick's words of anguish seemed to have reached Toots, as she stares at him with love in her eyes. With one final lick to Henrick's face, she goes limp and her eyes become glossy.
Henrick simply kneels on the ground with Toots cradled in his arms, all the while the world shakes and groans with its bizzare transformation. Lightning splits the sky apart as if reacting to the despair that Henrick feels. He is brought out of his thoughts when Toots suddenly starts shifting and convulsing.
Henrick's eyes light up with hope and he quickly supports her head. "Girl, it's alright, I'm here." His hope blinds him to the fact that Toots' eyes remained glassy and her fur is starting to fall out, giving way to pinkish red mutated flesh. Without warning, Toots opens her mouth to an absurd degree and tries to bite Henrick's neck.
With a surge of effort, Henrick keep her jaws from clamping shut by holding them apart. "Toots! No! No, please! What's happening?!" His desperate question remained unanswered as his once loving companion turns into a monster. She gnashes and snarls as she grows in size and ferocity, all traces of the loving girl gone.
Henrick closes his eyes and wrenches his hands apart as Toots is ripped apart with his absurd strength. He kneels there and looks to his trembling hands, covered in the blood of his closest companion. "GAAAAAHHH!!" With a roar of anguish, he slams his fist down with all of his strength. A small crater is created as Henrick tries to compose himself.
"No time for this, soldier." Henrick says as he picks himself up. His face quickly becomes a mask of focus. He scowls as he hears inhuman screams from all around him. Realising that he needs to find shelter, Henrick runs to where he remembers a clothing store is.
As soon as he pushes forward, however, he propels himself through the air and towards a parked car. With a thunderous CRASH, Henrick bodily slams into the vehicle, warping and twisting the metal with his bulk. Surprised that he isn't injured, Henrick runs a hand through the jagged metal and is in disbelief as it gives way to his immense strength and durability.
"What the hell is going on?" He asks no one in particular as he removes himself from the wreckage. A throat tearing roar, originating from one of the buildings, forces Henrick to move faster. He stumbles along the debris littered streets and scratches his head. He climbs a partially collapsed convenience store and looks around in confusion.
"I swear it was around here somewhere." He says to himself. Henrick then decides to check the convenience store for any supplies worth taking. With practiced movements, Henrick slips into the store without making any noise. He checks the corners and ensures that no one is in there, before he checks the employee room. To his relief, a large store employee polo shirt and black slacks lay neatly folded on a desk.
Without hesitation, Henrick wears the clothes and notes that the fabric clings to his muscular form. The slacks strain against his muscular thighs, but still allows him to retain mobility. "Good enough, for now." With that, Henrick sifts through the store contents and finds some unspoiled protein bars, 2 bottles of water, and rubbing alcohol.
Henrick places the supplies in a small paper bag and scoffs at the flimsiness of the paper container. "Damned no plastic rule." He scoffs to himself and walks out of the convenience store. Not three steps away from the convenience store, and Henrick is suddenly tackled by what looks to be a tiger sized rat.
The breath leaves his lungs as the rat slams him through the wall of a building. With rage simmering in his chest, Henrick stands and scowls as the rat regards him with primal hunger. Henrick steps forward and is about lunge forward, when dozens of dog sized rats suddenly filter in through the hole he made with his body.
The colour drains from Henrick's face as he turns to run. He runs into the emergency exit of the skyscraper and runs upwards as fast as he can. The stairs seem to blur by as he rapidly ascends. The rush and elation quickly fade, however, as he peers down and sees that the rats have followed him to the emergency exit. "Damn." Henrick lets out a curse as he sees the rats slowly gaining on him.
10 minutes pass as the chase stretches on. Henrick makes it to the 50th floor and realises that he's reached the top. He bursts through the door and scowls as he realises that he is in an open plan office with large windows. The only other exit is an elevator, but the lift is still at the first floor.
A rat suddenly chomps down on Henrick's shoulder as it bursts out from the emergency exit. "AAARGHH!!" He screams in agony as a few more finally reach him and target his limbs. With a meaty fist, Henrick crushes the rat on his shoulder and works to remove the others on his limbs. The rats, however, are tenacious and won't let go unless completely killed.
The emergency exit door is torn off its hinges as a veritable hord of dog sized rats slam into it. They crash into Henrick and it is by the virtue of his now enhanced strength that he could resist the blows. Henrick chops, punches, and kicks the rodents as best as he can, but the rats prove to be overwhelming. The once dozens of rats becoming a hundred.
He is slowly pushed backwards as the rats become frenzied with the smell of blood trickling from small wounds on Henrick's body. "Get the hell off of me!!" Henrick roars, but is unable to resist the horde.
The office slowly fills with rat corpses as Henrick finds a rhythm, his fists and feet becoming a blur. Just as suddenly as the attack began, it stops. The rats pull back as if commanded.
Henrick breathes heavily as the wounds on his body make it harder for him to concentrate. He looks at the emergency exit and sees the tiger sized rat walking up the stairs leisurely. "Heh. What a prick." Henrick spits on the floor as he gathers himself and glares at the mutated creature. "Come on then, let's get this over with you overgrown pest!"
The tiger sized rat screeches, it's fur standing on end as the other smaller rats surround the two combatants. "Heh. A life and death battle with a rat. Who would've thought." The rat leader growls and scrapes its claws, its eyes glowing a malevolent red as it prepares to lunge.
Henrick suddenly lurches forward, his leg seemingly unable to support his injured frame. The rat leader capitalizes and propels itself at the large man, biting onto his already injured shoulder as they both fly towards the window. The rat leader tries to let go, but realises that Henrick has it in a crushing hold.
With a grin, Henrick twists and crashes through the glass.
They plummet through the air, time seemingly slowing down as the rat leader processes its imminent death. With a piercing screech it summons its brethren, who leap out of the broken window without hesitation. Henrick grins as he pummels the rat leader again and again, cracking its skull and dazing it severely. He places both legs on the rat leader's chest and kicks out.
The strike pushes the tiger sized rat and sends it spinning towards the street below, while Henrick flies towards the 10th floor window and crashes through. Henrick lays there and looks at the ceiling, his chest heaving rising and falling laboriously. "Heh, idiot." He laughs to himself as he struggles to rise, wounds still bleeding.
The satisfying splatter of the rats fill Henrick's ear as he clutches his shoulder and stares at the dark purple skies. "The end of the world, huh."
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END