Chapter 31: JOHNQUIS VS. REX PART 2 – THE PRE GLUTTON.
Rex’s mid-transformation was horrifying. His body no longer resembled anything human. The sawblade had melted completely into his right arm, stretching into jagged, bone-like teeth from wrist to elbow. Twitching like muscle and metal fused with rage.
Red-violet veins webbed across his swollen frame, his back so wide it looked ready to split his spine open. His jaw hung unnaturally, unhinged, dripping blood and bile onto the casino floor.
As he changed, the entire casino seemed to warp around him. Lights glitched and flickered faster... then died, leaving sections pulsing in eerie red shadows. The spinning roulette wheels froze mid-spin. Cards, chips, and blood pooled together on the broken marble.
For a heartbeat, the entire room glitched, flickering into a grim reality where the casino was nothing but a gutted, soulless ruin.
Johnquis stood his ground, chain coiled tight in his grip. But inside, a cold tremor of hopelessness crawled up his spine. He tightened his hold.
Rex’s voice distorted now, half-mad, half-monster.
"She said I was the strong one... She said I’d protect her... So why... why did she SMILE at HIM?"
The casino lights burst above them. Red sparks rained down like falling embers. Rex’s jaw stretched, voice twisting as he mocked Lex’s words in a broken childlike tone:
"Big brother, big brother... wait for me, okay? Big brother, you’ll always protect me, right? Big brother... you’ll never let them take me..."
His grin split wider,
"LIES! ALL LIES!"