Artistic Slashing Ch.17 (Patreon)

Chapter 17

Showdown at the Rest Stop Inn.

Betty slipped out of the back door of her chalet and into the storm. The rain lashed her face as she scanned the area. The poisonous bitch Ja’net was in the last occupied chalet, and Betty could see the life signs in there fading one by one.

That must have been what was wrong with the woman next door when she came back from dinner. Betty had assumed the woman was drunk, but it looked like the changeling had poisoned the food.

A nasty way to go, but it made her wonder why she bothered going into the cabins if she knew they were going to die anyway. Speaking of life signs, Ja’nets was fluctuating wildly as she moved around inside the chalet.

With a mental shrug, Betty slipped across the ground and into the main building; it was time to do a little recon work.

The inside of the main building was pitch black. Not that it mattered to Betty in the slightest. She did wonder why Ja’net bothered with turning all the lights off. She had poisoned everyone, so what was the point?

As she moved through to the restaurant and into the kitchen, she found a clean, fresh-smelling kitchen and a sink full of dishes. She sniffed the plates, recognizing the same spicy aroma as the rum. That settled it; she had definitely poisoned the food.

She moved back to reception and slipped into the small apartment behind the desk. It was small and stank of dampness and neglect… with a hint of dead bodies.

Betty found them in a closet that had been sealed shut with tape.

It was another elderly couple; they had been skinned.

Creepy, but Betty could respect the art in it.

It was clear that Ja’net wasn’t using the space as there was dust on everything.

Undisturbed dust.

The rest of the ground floor seemed normal, mostly empty rooms.

The stairs creaked with every step, so she Slasher Stepped to the top. A long hallway with rooms off to each side stretched ahead of her. Little potted plants next to each door stood in bright red pots with room numbers in white paint on them.

It was a nice effect, and the small clusters of light crystals were recessed. With the lights actually on, the whole hallway would be bathed in diffuse light. She crept to the first room and opened the door, finding a neat and comfortable room. Three doors down on the left, she found the first body. It had been skinned, dismembered, and then partially eaten. She could clearly see tooth marks where one of the femurs had been gnawed on.

Gross.

Betty gave a superior little sniff. At least she cooked them before she ate them.

She only found two more bodies over the next ten rooms or so. Each had been skinned, and most looked slightly chewed on.

Still no sign of where Ja’net was actually living.

Returning downstairs, Betty checked that Ja’net was still busy playing with her food before finding the door to the basement and heading down.

Below, she finally found what she was looking for.

A small door was tucked away and hidden beside an old bookcase full of paint cans. It drew her attention because it clearly did not belong. Compared to the rustic chic of the rest of the place, this was clearly an apartment door from something like a highrise back on Earth.

Opening it, Betty found an apartment. She looked into the door and out again. It was clearly an apartment, and what is more, it had windows. Windows that showed a city through the shutters. It was hexagonal, sure, but it was clearly a city. She kept looking back into the basement in confusion. Was this some sort of portal?

Her mind reminded her of her own Lair skill. She had never used it before, so she had no idea how it worked, but she suspected it was not like this. The Lair said it was placed, whereas this place looked like it remained where it was, just with a door that led elsewhere.

It was clearly where Ja’net had been living. Even if the spare outfit tossed over the back of the couch wasn’t a dead giveaway, the skins tacked to the wall were.

It looked like she was tanning them in some way.

“I wonder if she gives them lotion first?” Betty smirked.

Okay, so she wasn’t going in there. What if she couldn’t get back? Plus, those skins were kind of creepy. It reminded her of people with an entire bear pelt on their floor.

There was just something wrong with seeing something’s skin without the actual thing still being in it.

So, it was a nope on the apartment.

But, well, she was here so…

Betty slammed the door with a happy smile. Inside, the paint cans had done a number on the tidy little apartment. Splashes of color had been thrown everywhere, with special attention paid to the skins.

Of course, that was just the opening gambit. She had also emptied several trashcans inside, throwing the whole can in after it. The smell had been terrible.

The fire should help with the smell, however.

It was a big fire.

Thanks to those three gas cans.

Betty grinned in the darkness of the cellar.

Betty Jewel, Slasher, Xenoarcheologist, Petty Bitch.

She may not have learned anything about her adversary but felt better anyway. It was surprising how much wanton destruction of private property made you feel better. She’d just have to get her recon done the hard way.

==============

Betty lay on the roof of the main chalet as the rain poured down. The wind kept trying to push her off, but her strength was more than a match for it.

Below her, Ja’net was dragging one body after another out of the cabin she had been in. She had definitely been playing with her food. Betty narrowed her eyes, activating her Xenobiology skill.

At first, she got very little information. The woman seemed to be Bovinian, after all. She had been about to call it when she focused on the darker tone of the woman’s skin. It was a pale grey instead of the bright marble white of most Bovinians.

Darker Skin Tone -

Suggests an adjustment to high light level area.

Most likely highly resistant to sun, heat, and similar elemental forces.

Likely vulnerable to cold, low light levels, and rapid light changes.

Well, hello, useful information. She kept scanning Ja’net as she bent over and bit down on a hand from one of the bodies. She ripped and tore at the hand before moving back with a few of the fingers in her mouth.

Carnivorous Teeth -

Teeth evolved to rip, tear, and cut meat.

There are three main types of carnivorous predators:

The Hunter - actively pursues their prey, overpowering and killing them.

The Scavenger - Steals the kills of other predators using trickery or numbers.

The Ambusher - The ambush predator uses traps or other ways of weakening prey before moving in for the kill. Normally fast, agile, and often poisonous or venomous.

So she was clearly dealing with type number three here. Ja’net must poison her victims to enable the killing. That made it likely she was not very strong, which was nice… because Betty was a beast.

The final bit of information she got by luck. Ja’net had just stumbled down the stairs with a body she was dragging out, and when she threw out a hand to catch herself, it elongated into something with long thin fingers that grabbed onto the porch railing.

Changeling -

Changelings are considered pests in most of the universe. However, they must not be underestimated.

Capable of changing their shape at will, they are only bound by conservation of mass.

Carnivorous

Self-healing

Cannibal

“Well, hello, little Miss Creepy,” Betty whispered to herself. Ja’net approached the chalet with the couple Betty had killed. She was inside for a second before she screamed in outrage.

She sprinted for Betty’s place, screaming again when she saw Betty was not where Ja’net left her.

Standing outside in the rain and lightning, she screamed again and shouted, Her whole mouth deforming into a grotesque funnel as she tried to be as loud as possible.

“WHERE ARE YOU, FILTHY BITCH!” She proceeded to have a tantrum in the parking lot while Betty smirked down at her, unseen.

Amateur.

“Oi, floppy face!” Betty called down to the enraged changeling as she stood on the roof of the main chalet, rain thundering down around them both.

Ja’net’s head whipped around, and she snarled as Betty laughed down at her. “You're not in my league, Ja’net.” Betty spat.

Ja’net laughed up at her. “Really? Well, let’s see!” Her legs reversed, muscles bulging as her top half became emaciated. With a quick crouch, she launched herself at Betty.

Betty let her come, swinging Hacky in an overhand chop aimed at the misshapen head.

It never landed.

Ja’net shifted in mid-air, her legs shrinking as her arms elongated and thin veiny skin erupted between her body and arms. With a great flap of her new wings, she pulled up just in time, the axehead whistling past her face and cutting one wing slightly.

Another flap sent her into the sky.

It was an incredible show of power and control that actually shook Betty’s confidence a little. Of course, flying in a storm is dangerous…

Lighting struck the half bovinian half bat Ja’net just as she turned to dive. She fell from the sky with a scream.

Betty leaped from the building, catching the charred changeling around the waist as she plummeted past.

They both crashed into the ground below.

The changeling shifted again, powerful legs kicking Betty away as she struggled to find a crucial bit to stab.

The two killers circled each other as the rain continued to pour down.

“You stupid little Bovinian bitch!” Ja’net snarled, “Let me show you how small you are!” With that, she grew.

The conservation of mass prevented her from getting more mass, but not more height. Her body lengthened, thinned, and changed. In a moment, a seven-foot, emaciated monster stood where Ja’net had been. The long, thin arms and legs ended in wicked-looking claws. The head was some bizarre cross between a bug and a leech. It screeched and rushed at Betty.

With a grin, Betty released her Shift Form. As the creature closed on her, she changed, growing to seven feet, with powerful muscles as her mask flashed onto her face.

The changeling swiped at her, screaming as she blocked with Slashy before Hacky took the hand off the arm. A giant cloven hoof to the chest sent her stumbling back.

Betty Slasher Stepped behind the creature and stabbed Slashy through the creature’s skeletal chest before kicking it again. She went to Step again, planning to finish this quickly, only to see the changeling shift once more. It shrank, arms and legs sprouting from its body until it looked like a centipede as it sprinted across the courtyard, heading for the main building.

With a muttered curse, Betty Stepped again, placing herself in front of the creature as it dashed up the stairs.

She screamed as the creature didn’t stop. It climbed her body, and Betty found herself stumbling backward as hands punched, kicked, and slapped her while legs kicked, scratched, and in some cases, stabbed her.

Betty roared in the twisted remains of Ja’nets face and struck over and over again with Hacky and Slashy.

Tripping on the top step, she fell backward, borne to the ground by the frantically fighting creature as it bled from dozens of wounds.

As soon as they hit the ground, the changeling scuttled off of her. It slammed open the door and headed into the dark building.

Betty groaned and pulled herself to her feet. Blood covered her, and she wasn’t sure which was hers and which was Ja’nets. She looked at the building, still dark and silent.

There was nothing for it; she had to go in.

Her pride demanded it.

She had fallen for the classic villain weakness. She had posed and monologued when she should have just stepped down and beheaded the bitch while she was chewing on those damn fingers.

It wasn’t like the changeling could hide from her.

Betty walked into the reception, hearing a grizzly chewing coming from the little quarters behind the reception desk. She sighed and kicked open the door.

Ja’net was crouched over the body of the elderly man, tearing off chunks of his shoulder and swallowing as fast as she could. Already her belly looked like a bowling ball.

Not making the same mistake again, Betty leaped across the room, swinging Hacky and Slashy in deadly arcs.

Ja’net backhanded her out of the air, sending her crashing back through the doorway.

As Betty rolled to her feet, she caught sight of the changeling as it unhinged its jaw and forced the whole head and shoulders in its mouth. It crunched down… and Ja’net grew.

“Conservation of mass… FUCK,” Betty swore. She ducked as a cabinet was flung at her by the creature. It sailed over her head and left a sizable dent in the wall before it broke.

“I’m going to use your skin as my doormat, freak!” Ja’net squealed and charged.

Betty turned and ran back into the reception. She needed somewhere with room to fight.

Everything had just changed.

Ja’net forced her way out of the little apartment and into the reception area, kicking aside the reception desk without effort. She roared.

The agile little changeling was gone. A hulking, swollen thing had taken its place. Everywhere Betty looked, there was more muscle.

Betty backed up against the wall in the still, lightless room.

“Scared?” Ja’net was thrilled as she took a step toward Betty. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.” She licked her swollen, stretched lips. “I’ll eat you really slow. It’ll take hours.” She grinned. “I’m even going to eat those ugly hooves.”

“Actually, I just needed to reach the switch!” Betty laughed as she did something she had loved to do since childhood.

She flashed the lights on and off as fast as she could.

Ja’net screamed, covering her eyes.

Betty leaped forward, dancing around the blinded Ja’net as Hacky and Slashy carved away flesh left and right. The changeling went wild, growing arms, eyes, ears, legs, and even whole mouths everywhere as it tried to get a grip on her.

As far as Betty was concerned, that just gave her more to chop off.

When the creature had shrunk down to almost normal size again, Betty kicked her as hard as she could.

It was her first ever flying dropkick, and she was quite proud of the results.

Ja’net flew backward, her chest completely caved in.

Betty chased after her.

Ja’net had fled down into the basement. Betty kicked the door off its hinges, sending the crafty changeling waiting to ambush her flying backward.

Betty Slasher Stepped to the bottom of the stairs; Slashy drove through the screaming changeling as it squirmed away. It once more became that horrific amalgam of limbs as it scuttled away again.

It was heading for the door it had hidden away down here.

Betty followed along, waiting for the moment.

Snarling, Ja’net threw the door open and froze. Flames and smoke billowed out of the doorway, the smell of burning garbage filling the cellar. Ja’net screamed in horror.

Betty used her final Slasher Step, appearing astride the stunned changeling as she swung Hacky. Ja’net didn’t make a sound as her head dropped to the floor.

“Nope,” Betty said and swung again.

And again.

And again.

It took hours for the last life sign to fade. These damn things were hard to kill.

She threw the remains through the door and into the fire. A second later, the door vanished, leaving behind just a blank wall and the faint smell of burning garbage.

Betty slumped as a ding sounded in her mind.

Level Up!

Level Up!

Level Up!

3 points available!

The recommendation is… 1 Bo-

“Do whatever you want,” Betty said as she slid down the wall and took a few deep breaths. She felt the tingles pass over her as a point was put into each of the three main stats.

Bloody hell. She should have chosen herself.

Betty was tired like bone tired. She didn’t think she had had a fight that tough before, ever. The next time she came across a changeling, she was killing it before it even knew she was there.

===========

Betty had a long bath, a quick meal, and a very long sleep. As the sun passed directly overhead, Betty sat on the steps of her chalet, her things packed away and her bag next to her. After a last look around and a quick trip into each chalet to take any money, she was ready to say goodbye to the hotel.

It had turned out to be more like The Thing than Psycho, but it had been productive.

She had three new levels, and more than that, she knew what she wanted to do next. She wanted to rest. All she needed was a quiet place and a little time. She had changed so much since she got here.

And she knew exactly what her plan was. She would spend the rest of the year somewhere quiet… and next year? She was going back to camp.

She patted the Chalet fondly as she went to say goodbye to the one she had rented.

“I wish I could take you with me,” She said as she lay her hand on the side.

Claim as your Lair?

WARNING: Structure will immediately be put into dimensional storage until placed in a new area.

WARNING: Once placed, the lair can not be moved until cooldown or kill limit is reached.

Will have all the same amenities, no matter where it is placed.

“Yes!” Betty squealed in delight as the building flashed, vanishing into nothing.

No, not nothing… she could feel it there, sitting just out of sight.

“Hey, I’m a homeowner!” She cheered.

Betty Jewel: a refugee in an alien world, a slasher at large, and a lover of fluffies turned and walked off into the wild lands around the roads, searching for somewhere a girl could call her home…

Betty Jewel Will Return!

Slashers… always come back.

The End.