"...!" When Phoenix sighted the strange, black creature as it gnawed against the ankle of his boot, he was struck speechless with shock, his eyes wide as he stared at it. The monster was staring back with large, luminous eyes that Phoenix had never seen in an animal before, and the teeth that were progressively chewing deeper into his boot looked as sharp as razors.

Reacting purely on instinct once his mind had caught up with the rest of his body, Phoenix tried to kick it off, only to realize (like Niikura had) that it was clinging to him too tightly. A flash of fear ran through him, but he was too preoccupied with saving his leg to pay attention to it, and he swiped his flashlight at a downward curve towards the side of the head of the creature in the effort to somehow knock it out or at least get it to let go.