Chapter 38: Jason’s Abilities

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Jason’s Abilities

Chapter 38: Jason’s Abilities

Rob Dier ran through the woods with everything he had left, stumbling over roots and branches as he headed toward the ranger camp. Only one thought remained in his mind: Axel Vance had promised to help him if he found something dangerous. Fear had completely overwhelmed his concern about leading Jason toward other people.

Rob’s lungs burned while his thighs cramped from pushing far beyond his normal endurance. Every breath became shorter, his vision blurred at the edges, and his legs felt heavier with every step. Still, the thought of the hockey-masked figure behind him forced his body to keep moving.

Something made Rob look back.

The sight nearly stopped his heart.

Jason Voorhees was still following him through the forest, but the massive killer was not running. He moved at the same relentless walking pace as before, yet no matter how desperately Rob sprinted, the distance between them never seemed to increase. It felt less like a chase and more like Jason was deliberately allowing him to believe escape was possible.

"No... no..." Rob gasped as the last of his strength began disappearing. His terrified voice seemed to draw Jason’s attention, and the killer suddenly stopped walking. One huge arm drew backward with the machete held firmly in his hand.

Jason threw it.

The machete spun through the air toward Rob’s back with terrifying force.

Rob heard the blade cutting through the air and closed his eyes.

Clang!

Metal crashed against metal.

The killing blow never came.

Rob opened his eyes and found a broad figure standing directly between him and Jason. Axel held the camp’s fire axe in both hands, and the machete he had just knocked aside was buried deep in the muddy ground several feet away. The axe handle trembled in Axel’s grip from the force of the impact.

"Jesus..." Rob whispered before his legs finally gave out beneath him.

Axel did not turn around because all of his attention was fixed on Jason. "Go back to camp, lock the door, and stay there until I come back." Rob needed no further encouragement and forced himself upright before staggering away through the trees.

The sounds of Rob’s retreat gradually disappeared.

Jason made no attempt to follow him.

Instead, the masked killer remained completely focused on Axel.

Axel flexed his fingers around the axe handle and tried to shake away the numbness spreading through his wrist. Jason’s thrown machete had carried far more force than he expected, which meant a direct contest of strength would be a terrible idea. The rotting clothes hanging from Jason’s body only made the heavy muscles underneath them look more unnatural.

Axel glanced at the hockey mask and forced himself to smile. "You know, that outfit has a pretty bad reputation around Crystal Lake." He shifted the axe into a more comfortable grip and added, "You’ve made a lot of enemies here."

Jason gave no response.

Not even a twitch.

He simply bent down, wrapped one gloved hand around the buried machete’s handle, and pulled it free with damp soil clinging to the blade.

The next instant, Jason moved.

His enormous body crossed the ground with speed completely inconsistent with his size. The machete swept horizontally toward Axel’s neck in a blow that could have taken his head off cleanly.

Axel did not try to block it.

He dropped the axe, stepped backward, and drew Marcus’s oversized experimental handgun from his waist. The massive weapon came up in both hands, and Axel fired directly into Jason’s torso.

BANG!

The heavy round tore through Jason’s body and forced the killer to stagger for the first time. Axel absorbed the brutal recoil, discarded the empty single-shot handgun, and immediately pulled the shotgun from his back. He did not waste the brief opening.

The Remington 870 thundered again and again.

Every blast struck Jason at close range.

His body jerked under the repeated impacts as torn fabric, dead flesh, and dark tissue flew from the wounds.

Axel kept firing until the shotgun clicked empty.

He tossed the hot weapon aside and watched carefully.

His expression slowly darkened.

Jason looked terrible.

Most of the visible flesh across his chest and shoulders had been torn apart, and dozens of pellets remained buried inside the blackened tissue. Any ordinary human being would have collapsed long before reaching this level of damage.

Jason continued walking.

Worse, the injuries were beginning to close.

Torn tissue shifted together at a slow but visible pace while Jason kept the machete in one hand. Some unknown force seemed to be driving the corpse forward regardless of how much damage Axel inflicted.

"This is getting ridiculous," Axel muttered.

The Jason he remembered from the movies had always been difficult to kill, but this version seemed even more resilient. Axel had already learned that assuming a supernatural killer would obey the exact limits of a movie character was a good way to die.

He began backing away and pulled a bottle of Holy Water from his gear. Jason immediately accelerated, closing the gap with another powerful charge. Axel kicked the axe back into reach, caught it, and raised it just before the machete came down.

Clang!

The weapons collided hard enough to jar Axel’s shoulders.

Jason forced the machete downward with frightening strength, and Axel immediately realized he was losing the physical contest. Trying to overpower him directly would eventually end with the machete buried in Axel’s body.

Axel twisted away rather than remaining locked against him. He opened the Holy Water bottle with one hand and splashed a large amount directly across Jason’s face. The liquid struck the exposed skin around the hockey mask and immediately began sizzling.

Thin smoke rose from Jason’s flesh.

The reaction was real but not strong enough.

Then some of the Holy Water ran into his eyes.

Jason’s head jerked backward.

Dark tissue around the sockets burned violently, and his eyes clouded before collapsing under the holy power. Axel immediately jumped backward and created several yards of distance while Jason stood momentarily still.

"That got your attention."

Jason moved again.

Axel’s scalp prickled when the machete still came toward his approximate position despite the destroyed eyes. He leaned backward just in time for the blade to pass inches above his face.

Axel narrowed his eyes.

Jason was blind.

But he could still sense him.

Axel shifted several steps to one side, and Jason changed direction almost immediately. His next swing was less precise than before, proving that whatever supernatural sense guided him could locate Axel without providing perfect detail. Against an ordinary victim, the difference would hardly matter.

Against Axel, it mattered a lot.

He pulled out another bottle of Holy Water and poured it along the edge of the fire axe. The liquid clung briefly to the steel, and Axel felt a faint trace of Psionic Power settle around the blade. It was not a new system ability, but it did not need to be.

Jason attacked again.

Axel dodged the machete and splashed the remaining Holy Water across Jason’s chest and shoulder. The killer’s body stiffened for a fraction of a second as smoke rose from the soaked flesh.

That fraction was enough.

Axel stepped inside Jason’s reach and swung the axe with both hands.

The Holy Water-coated edge struck Jason’s right arm just below the shoulder.

This time, the supernatural flesh offered almost no resistance.

The axe cut completely through.

Jason’s arm dropped to the forest floor with the machete still locked in its hand, and black smoke immediately poured from the severed end. Axel stared at the result for half a second before a satisfied grin appeared on his face.

"Much better."

Jason still did not fall.

He lunged with his remaining arm.

Axel backed away, opened another bottle, and repeated the same method. Splash the Holy Water, force a momentary reaction, then use the opening to strike.

The axe came down again.

Another limb separated from Jason’s body.

Axel continued moving rather than giving the killer time to adapt.

Dodge.

Splash.

Strike.

Each time the Holy Water touched Jason, the corrupted flesh burned enough to slow him. Each time the blessed axe landed, another section of the seemingly indestructible body came apart.

Eventually, Jason collapsed.

His remaining leg was severed next.

Then the other.

The enormous killer finally became a collection of disconnected pieces scattered across the forest floor.

Axel stepped back and drew a long breath. Sweat ran down his face, but for the first time since the fight began, Jason was no longer advancing toward him. He lowered the axe and looked over the results.

Then one severed hand moved.

Axel’s expression froze.

The fingers curled against the mud.

Nearby, a severed leg twitched.

Jason’s torso shifted slightly as dark tissue at the wounds continued writhing.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Axel walked closer and watched the separated pieces trying to move despite no longer being connected. Dismembering Jason had stopped the immediate threat, but it clearly had not killed whatever supernatural force animated him. If Axel simply walked away, there was no guarantee the pieces would remain separate forever.

He reached toward his remaining supply of Holy Water.

His hand stopped.

Most of the bottles he had brought from camp were already empty or nearly empty after the fight. Axel quickly counted what remained and realized the amount was nowhere near what he would want for something as corrupted and persistent as Jason Voorhees.

The severed hand twitched again.

Black tissue slowly crawled along the edge of Jason’s torso.

Axel tightened his grip on the axe.

He had managed to tear Jason apart.

The problem was that he might not have enough Holy Water left to finish the job.

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