The Rogues Of: No Man's Land

Tao had barely taken ten steps before he felt it. A shift in the air.

The kind that primal instinct warns you about before your brain catches up. He didn't stop moving, but his posture changed, looser, ready to react. Whatever was out here, it wasn't friendly.

The wasteland stretched in every direction, an endless graveyard of shattered buildings, rusted vehicles, and things that had never belonged on Earth. The sky still pulsed with that eerie, broken-screen effect, flickering between colors that made his stomach churn.

Knox was gone.

Tao was on his own. That was how he preferred it.

Then he heard it. A skittering noise. Not from one direction, from all around him.

Tao didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, boots slamming against the cracked terrain as he sprinted toward a half-destroyed building. The remains of a neon sign still clung to it, buzzing weakly.

"A diner?" Tao didn't have time to think about it. He vaulted over a rusted-out car, slid under a collapsed beam, and burst into the ruined interior.

Dust and debris covered everything. Torn-up seats, shattered glass, and the remains of something that had bled out long ago.

Tao pressed his back against a half-broken counter, fingers twitching. The skittering had stopped. That was worse. His voice came out low, gravel-rough. "Come on, then."

It was silent until a wet, chittering noise was present. 

Tao's eyes flicked upward. The ceiling split open. Something lunged.

Tao barely had time to throw himself sideways as a massive, multi-limbed horror crashed down where he'd been standing. A mess of jagged chitin, writhing mandibles, and too many eyes.

Tao rolled, kicked off the floor, and flipped onto his feet just in time to see the thing turn toward him. "Ugly bastard."

The creature charged.

Tao moved on instinct. He dodged low, pivoting around the monster's strike. Its legs tore through the counter like paper. Tao didn't stop moving. He twisted behind it, using the momentum to kick off the counter and aim a hard strike at the back of its head.

His fist connected. The thing barely staggered.

Tao landed, eyes narrowing.

Not enough force.

The creature screeched and spun, one of its bladed limbs slicing through the air. Tao leapt backward, but the edge caught his coat, ripping through the fabric.

"Yeah, alright," Tao muttered. He shook out his arms, cracking his neck. "Guess I'll have to hit harder."

The creature lunged again. Tao didn't dodge.

Instead, he rushed forward.

At the last second, he dropped low, sliding under the beast and slamming both fists into its underside. The impact sent a shockwave through his arms, but the monster reeled back, its screech warping into something almost panicked.

Tao grinned.

He wasn't about to waste the opening. He sprang upward, twisting mid-air to bring down a brutal axe kick directly into the creature's back. The exoskeleton cracked.

The thing spasmed, its limbs jerking erratically.

Tao landed, breath steady. The creature twitched a few more times before finally collapsing.

A second of silence.

Then, the air shifted again.

Tao tensed. More skittering. Not just one. Dozens. From every direction.

He exhaled. The hunt wasn't over. It had only just begun.

Tao shot to his feet and sprinted into the wasteland, heart thumping in his chest. His mind flashed through the ruins, mapping out his next few moves.

But the sound of claws scraping against metal told him it was too late.

They were already behind him.

The multi-limbed beasts. They were fast, relentless, like something out of a nightmare. Their twisted bodies darted across the broken landscape with unsettling speed, claws ripping through rock and concrete as they closed the gap between them.

Their chitinous armor creaked and groaned, a sound that sent a chill down Tao's spine.

No rest. No break.

Tao didn't dare stop. His breaths were ragged, but he pushed through the pain. He had to outrun them, he had to.

But the creatures were already on his tail.

They closed in faster than he'd expected, their multiple limbs giving them a speed that was almost unnatural. Tao vaulted over an abandoned car, ducked under a ruined archway, but every time he thought he'd lost them, the sound of their claws scraping against the earth told him they were still right there, just a few meters behind.

His senses were starting to blur. His body was already telling him to stop, to rest, but he kept running, driven by something he didn't quite understand.

The landscape twisted as he pushed forward, disoriented but focused on staying ahead.

Then, a sharp howl cut through the air. Tao skidded to a halt.

The sound wasn't like anything he'd heard before. It was primal, raw, vibrating through the air and shaking the very ground beneath his feet. The creatures froze, their chittering noises cutting off abruptly.

Tao turned, his heart pounding, eyes scanning the horizon. And that's when he saw him.

A figure emerging from the wasteland's haze.

Clad in rugged, battle-worn leathers, a fur-lined cloak hanging from his shoulders. A wolf's skull ornament was strapped to his shoulder, a trophy of some kind. His posture was predatory, his eyes locked on the beasts with the coldness of someone who'd done this a thousand times.

He didn't speak. He didn't need to.

The air around him shimmered. The creatures hissed, their senses likely picking up his presence, but they didn't advance. Not yet.

Tao watched as the man took a single step forward, his eyes glowing with an unnatural light.

The man exhaled slowly, his voice a low growl. "You're in my territory."

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he reached up to his throat and unleashed a deafening howl, a sonic burst of energy that split the air.

Tao staggered back, a shockwave of primal power hitting him like a freight train. His bones felt like they were rattling in his chest as the force rippled through the air, making the world feel like it was about to collapse.

The beasts recoiled, their bodies flinching as if the sound itself had stunned them.

Tao blinked, his eyes wide. "What the hell is that?"

The stranger turned to him, his gaze sharp and direct. "That's Alpha Howl. It's not just noise, it's power."

Tao could feel it. The air around them felt different now, charged, as if the energy of the howl had shifted the balance of the entire landscape.

The creatures hesitated, their legs twitching as if confused by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

Then, the man did something that made Tao's jaw drop.

He didn't just stand there, he moved. Faster than Tao had ever seen anyone move. His body twisted and blurred as he launched himself at the beasts.

Tao barely had time to blink before the man collided with one of the creatures, his fist crashing into its face with a sickening crack.

The thing screeched, its limbs jerking as it tried to strike back. But the man, Tao realized, was already moving, ducking under the creature's counterattack and slamming his knee into its underside.

With a flick of his wrist, the man drew a blade from his side, a jagged, steel weapon, and in a blur of motion, he slashed across the creature's belly.

The thing exploded in a burst of flesh and gore, collapsing to the ground.

But the rest of the pack wasn't backing down. They circled, snarling, ready to strike.

Tao stood frozen, stunned. His instincts told him to run, but something else, the raw energy in the air, was pulling him in, forcing him to watch.

The man was a force of nature.

He grinned, his eyes flashing with a wild, feral intensity. "Come on, you ugly bastards. Let's see if you're ready to face the almighty Rex Lupus."

The man, Rex Lupus, launched himself forward again, and Tao's heart hammered in his chest as the battle raged on. It was the first time he'd seen anyone fight with such primal fury, it was like watching a wolf rip into its prey. The man was a predator, and the beasts were his prey.

Tao realized something then. No rules.

No mercy.

Out here, if you didn't have the strength, you were just another carcass waiting to be picked apart.

And Rex Lupus?

He was the one doing the hunting.