The couple of guys that brought Kael jumped on it first, moving almost on instinct rather than thought. There was no hesitation in their charge, no shouted warning or dramatic pause. One moment the figure stood there, silent and wrong, and the next it was buried under violence.
Steel rang out as an axe came down hard, biting into flesh that should not have been able to take such a blow. The doppelganger flinched, its body jerking in surprise as its cover was torn away, confusion written across a face that was no longer properly a face. It had been too slow to react, too busy pretending, and that mistake cost it dearly.
John's axe struck true, the impact sending a dull, sickening crack through the air as one of the creature's shoulders fractured under the force. Bone bent where it shouldn't have, joints giving way in a way that looked wrong even by monster standards. The creature staggered sideways, balance thrown off completely.
The second man didn't waste the opening. With a grunt, he went low, stone sword clenched tightly in both hands. The blade came around in a brutal arc and struck right at the leg of the doppelganger, smashing into the tibia with a sound closer to snapping wood than bone. The creature collapsed immediately, its legs folding beneath it as if they had never been meant to support weight in the first place.
Before it could recover, the boss was already moving.
He didn't hesitate. Not for a heartbeat.
He lunged forward and drove his dagger straight through the creature's head, burying the blade deep. The motion was practiced, efficient, the kind of strike that should have ended a fight instantly. Blood sprayed, dark and thick, splattering across the ground and the boss's arm.
"BRING FIRE!" he howled.
The doppelganger didn't die.
Even with half its face mangled, one shoulder shattered, and a dagger lodged in its skull, it still squirmed violently. Its body bucked and writhed beneath them, limbs twitching, muscles spasming in jerky, unnatural motions. The sound it made was wrong too, a wet, gurgling hiss that scraped against Kael's nerves.
Kael tightened his grip on his sledgehammer, knuckles whitening.
"The hell is this shit? Why isn't it dead?" he said, disbelief creeping into his voice.
"It's a Doppelganger!" the boss roared back, straining as he tried to keep the thing pinned. "They don't have a human physiology! No brains, no organs!"
The creature thrashed harder, strength surging in sudden, unpredictable bursts. The burly man threw his full weight onto it, latching on like a sack of rocks, arms wrapped tight as others rushed in. Stone blades stabbed down again and again, striking wherever there was an opening, wherever flesh gave way beneath their blows.
"Don't let it transform!" the boss shouted. "Keep bashing it!"
Kael's eyes darted over the scene, his heart pounding. He could feel the chaos tightening, the sense that something was about to go horribly wrong. And then he saw it.
One of the creature's limbs, an arm that wasn't pinned, began to change.
The skin split and peeled back as bone pushed outward, reshaping itself mid-motion. It elongated rapidly, hardening, sharpening, forming into a jagged spike. The transformation was fast, horrifyingly fast, the limb twisting into something that no longer resembled an arm at all.
It lunged.
The spike shot forward like a scorpion's stinger, aimed straight for the boss's neck.
The boss noticed too late.
From where he was, tangled in the creature's mass, there was no room to dodge, no way to pull back in time. His eyes widened as he realized it, a fraction of a second stretching unbearably long.
Kael moved.
He didn't think. Didn't shout. His body reacted before his mind caught up.
The sledgehammer came around in a brutal swing, cutting through the air with a heavy whistle. The impact was explosive. Bone shattered under the force, fragments flying as the transformed limb snapped apart completely.
The spike disintegrated.
"Good shit!" the boss barked out, even as he pressed his free hand down hard on the ruined limb to keep it from reforming.
Kael's arms vibrated from the impact, the shock running up through his shoulders, but he didn't let go.
"GOT THE GAS!" someone shouted from behind them.
"Bounce off!" the boss ordered.
Everyone leapt back immediately, scrambling away as the man rushed in and threw the can of gasoline over the creature. Liquid splashed across its body, soaking into its torn flesh, pooling on the ground beneath it.
The man froze, panic flashing across his face as he patted his pockets.
"I don't have a match or lighter!"
For a split second, no one moved.
The smell of gasoline hung thick in the air, sharp and suffocating. The creature twitched beneath it, muscles writhing, bone scraping against stone as it tried to pull itself together again.
"There's a torch lit up inside the building!" someone yelled. "Can you hold it for a bit!"
"We don't have much time!" the boss snapped. "If it turns into a different creature, we're fucked! Just hurry up, we'll keep it busy!"
Kael stepped forward.
"Move!" he howled, raising his hammer high.
"That's not going to do anything!" the boss shouted back.
Kael didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on the fallen debris nearby, on one of the collapsed beams jutting out. Rusted metal protruded from the broken concrete, sharp edges exposed.
He adjusted his stance and swung.
The hammer struck the metal beam at an angle, steel meeting steel with brutal force. Sparks exploded outward in a sudden, blinding flare.
The gasoline fumes ignited instantly.
Flames roared to life in a violent burst, engulfing the creature in a second. Fire crawled over its body, clinging to every surface, burning hot and bright.
The doppelganger screeched, its body twisting and warping as it tried to change again, limbs curling and reshaping in a desperate attempt to survive. But the fire consumed it faster than it could adapt.
It rolled on the ground, writhing, its movements growing weaker, more erratic. Soundless screams tore from its ruined throat as the flames reduced it to a blackened, burning mass.
Then it stopped.
The fire crackled softly as the creature burned in place, glowing like coals set aflame.
A notification appeared.
[You have Slain a Doppelganger!]