Your mind is a terrible thing to lose

Travis had until just moments ago felt like everything was under control. They may have been in a cavernous, endless black hole under the ground somewhere unknown to both Travis and his new companion, Fayth, but they had felt like they were on top of that at least. It was dark, your eyes never saw a thing, your ears would hear only the faintest echo in the farthest distance, your body would shiver and squirm, either from the cold or the unrest; yet Travis had been reassured within himself. His reassurance had hung on the balance of a few small things: one was his ability to see within this endless darkness with his true "eyes" and the other was the lack of any more big bugs trying to bite, claw, rip, or tear at their rather tender flesh from their first encounter at the start of this cave. Of course it didn't hurt to have a new friend at a time like this, Travis had only met her a short time ago, despite her punching him in the nose and thinking him useless due to his blindness; here they were together, pushing through the darkness, she was the one warm presence in the previous emptiness and in return he was the light to her darkened eyes. It felt good to be useful for a change. Blind people were never useful.

They now stood in an illuminated chamber after wandering in darkness for so long, Travis no longer felt Fayth's soft hand in his or the warmth of her body near his and something began tugging at his auditory senses. His eyes never saw the light; in fact he couldn't even tell there was no longer darkness if it had not been for the fact that he could see the swinging light bulb hanging from the ceiling as it slowly paced back and forth until eventually coming to a standstill. The noise the light bulb now made was almost deafening after the sheer silence they had walked through, hearing only the odd movement or shift in the air. Travis could tell there was electricity being sent down here through cables, they must have been specifically put in for an occasion such as this, or maybe the spiders just liked the faint heat it gave off. Either way, someone put it here, right at this spot, almost to lure you to it; it was no accident that Travis had come this way, all the time he had been walking right into someone's carefully laid trap and what was worse is that he had brought Fayth along for the ride.

Travis had accepted many things in his most recent years off life, people could be different, he was after all very different. He had met Fayth, who he had also learned was able to hear people's thoughts, two strange individuals in a big world. He had seen monsters, even beaten one to a bloody pulp with his bare hands but nothing seemed as surreal as what was about to unfold next for him. He realised that he couldn't feel Fayth's warmth anymore because they had drifted apart, Fayth had found what they had come all the way down here to find in the first place. Reina was sitting cocooned in webbing from head to toe, in fact little off her wasn't covered. She was meshed in between what could only have been the main food source for the spider they had encountered earlier. He scanned the area quickly with his eyes, sweeping from left to right and when he refocused his eyes, there was something new and awful to greet his eyes. First it was a mass of eyes and legs, clearly a spider but nothing about it was normal. It crawled forward with deep rooted intent, closing the distance it began to change however, its eight legs slowly reducing down to two, its black hairy skin changing to soft and squishy pink flesh. Once a spider, now a man stood before the two friends, one that seemed to have an odd connection to Travis' new friend.

The man that had transformed from being the world’s biggest spider into the most annoying little naked man Travis had ever met spoke to Fayth alone, he clearly never even registered that he was there. Though that wasn't new, most people ignored him because he was blind but here at least, he wouldn't be able to tell he was blind, he was simply an ignorant ass. He addressed Fayth by name and instantly Travis' anger spiked rapidly, he didn't know why but he didn't like the way he spoke to her, he didn't even like the annoying way he spoke in that awful half insectoid screech, half lazy human drone he had for a voice. The air he had around him was one of arrogance and ignorance, neither qualities that were desirable but right now that didn't matter, even without this ugly little man's bad attitude there was no way he was down here for just a friendly chat, this was serious, or at least would be in a few minutes. He made moves towards Fayth in this awkward waddling, strutting fashion and Travis moved to step in front of him but as he went to move, something tugged back upon his calf muscles as he tried to step to his new friend’s side.

Travis twisted his head round to glance at his leg to see it completely covered in white, on second glance he realised it was the thick threaded spider webbing that had covered their victims that hung on the ceiling above him right now. It had only covered his foot at this point, but as his mind tried to figure out what was going on, more webbing began to entomb him as it crawled up his leg making it impossible to move his right leg at all now. He wriggled his left violently, hoping it would still be free but the bottom of his leg was being coated in the same trapping substance. He managed to break some of the webbing on his left leg and he moved forward an inch, trying to drag his whole body with him, the spiders had done a good job of tying him up however and that would be as far as he got, soon he realised it wasn't just the webbing he would have to worry about. The spiders themselves had decided that if he wouldn't come willingly they would make him come by force as sinister black and brown bodies wriggling and slithering from the shadows towards their new target, full of dark purpose and filled with their master's malice. It was no time at all before ten or twelve differently shaped yet all deadly arachnids had surrounded him.

It was only seconds before they were all on him, at first they scrambled over his back and hands, seemingly trying to get to the very top of him, if they got to his head, they could easily have him wrapped up in seconds, or worse yet, simply wrap up his face or mouth leaving no space for him to breathe and he would suffocate right here and that would be his end. A sense of dread, anger, frustration at his weakness, sadness, and recklessness washed over him as the adrenaline spiked within his body to an all time high. He was moving without even thinking, his body felt like it was on fire, brimming with new found strength, his will to survive was strong. He was thrashing at his new enemies in a blind frenzy, his fists connected with jaws, thorax, and spine equally, crashing hard against his would be attackers, some falling and others doubling back to calculate their next move as their comrades took up the fight a new with each swing off Travis' now bloody fists. His powers were now turning themselves on and off at random now as his madness grew with each blind swipe he took at his attackers, his fists always connected and after a few blows he could tell he had probably killed another few spiders here or there. His fists would catch the sonic energy every now and then adding extra weight and force to his punches knock loose the odd spider or two and killing whoever it would meet square on.

He kept fighting and fighting with what felt like an army of these spiders, each time he struck a few down, he could feel new fangs begin to bite at him and all the while when they could the spiders would coat more and more of him in their webbing, reducing his movement and reach capabilities. His feet were completely rooted to the ground, parts of his arms were webbed together and his shirt was wrapped tight to him but he could still move his arms and that was all he needed. His mouth had been coated in webbing and he could not shout out or call for help from Fayth but his left nostril was still clear so he could breathe, although laboured. He realised that with little oxygen being supplied to his body and his continuous fight with the spiders it was more likely he would die from exhaustion rather than anything else now. Panic set in and, beneath all the trappings of the webbing, he left out a muffled scream for help as he felt the lactic acid building up in his muscles from overuse. Doing anything now created its own little ripples of pain along his arms and legs and he could barely move anything anymore, but he would not give in; blood dripped from all the bites he had taken in the fight, which coated the white webbing a dark shade of ugly red as it dripped slowly from brow line down to his toes. He screamed again, sucking in what sonic energy he could to try and amplify his cries of pain and panic. He wasn't ready to die, not here, not yet!

His screams of panic were just audible to the ears of Fayth and "Insect Boy", snapping the pair out of their previous entanglements with each other. It could not have come at a moment later as Travis began to feel the life draining from him, with each move he felt his muscles weakening and preparing to give out, and his breathing was more laboured with each action. Soon he would pass out and his world would go blank, possibly forever if someone could not stop the endless torrent of attacking spiders that seemed to have made him public enemy number one. Travis sensed the shifting mood of the true enemy, as "Creepy Crawly Dude" was most displeased with all the crushed and broken corpses of his only friends. He had left Fayth and his focus changed to Travis and with his shifting attention, so to came the shifting of his own form. He went from soft, squishy human to enormous, green and deadly killer insect. He had changed his form into some sort of Mantis like super bug, which was ugly to the eye, but more worryingly was the rather large and very sharp like scythe-like arms, barbed and tipped with razor like edges that were swiftly making their way towards him. Travis bashed a spider beneath him by bringing his knee down on top of it from above and he saw a brief glimmer of displeasure rupture through the big bug eyes staring down at him.

His victory was short lived and any joy he could of taken from giving his enemy one last moment of displeasure was gone within seconds as he felt the air rush out from his lungs. The two scythes met each other and wedge awkwardly between the fleshy muscular chunks of flesh on his arm and reaching to within the outer layer of his stomach. Spiked barbs and points dug into him as he was trapped there, agony welling up within him to meet every new pained breathe he struggled to take, tingling all over as the spiders crawled back to their master. His mind started to go blank as he was at the last of his energy. His mind flashed through all the images of his life rapidly, he believed this must really be it, he thought when he died at least the pain would stop, his mind would fog over and it would all be gone. That one last breath that hurt and then it would be over but as his mind and vision faded the pain remained. It felt like time had kept moving without him as he felt the harsh grip on his pained body begin to release somewhat. In his blurred vision of his senses, he caught the faintest glimpses of Fayth within his mind; her tone was authoritative and full of intent. She ordered something that Travis' mind struggled to make sense of, as hurt was all his senses seemed to know right now.

He thought he must have finally descended into delirium as the spiders that had once crawled over him in anger in an attempt to end his life now seemed to have turned on their master and had begun to gnaw at him instead. He left his mind drift for a moment, as things swirled in and out of focus for how long he could not tell from blood loss and exhaustion. His powers played tricks on him as for a time there was no sound or sight, just emptiness until an all too familiar sensation hit him. Pain surfaced once more, this time it was all over him, he felt it hit him and he realised that it wasn't clawing or stinging, it was the dull thud of a fall. He had fallen to the floor, he knew he wasn't dead or he wouldn't have felt the sting as he hit the ground, he thought that his opponent had grew bored of him and had discarded him, mustn't be worth the killing at this point. He laid still on the ground for a time as blood trickled from his cuts and his bruises made themselves known to him as each second they spiked his pain receptors every few seconds. He swam in his own thoughts; his mind reeling from all that had went on. He was content to just lie down on the floor and take whatever came next when suddenly a new thought bloomed within his mind, a question of why he was left on the floor, what had taken the focus of his attacker from him?

Things moved in and out of his blurred vision, even using echolocation or "seeing with your ears" seemed to distort and twist when Travis was in this much pain. He realised that he wasn't in control of his powers right now, as sound came and disappeared at irregular intervals with no prior warning. He guessed his cuts had probably hurt a lot more than he could even feel right now, the rush of adrenaline as the response to his original fight or flight instinct made him numb to the worst of it he had no doubt. He still had this intense feeling that the bugs had changed their attention to "Bug Guy", not that that made any sense but his senses were working on over time right now and he wasn't sure he could ask for much more from them. He told himself he would close his eyes for a few minutes but every time he felt his eyes get ready to close, pain would shoot through him and the thought of what he had left behind lingered making his mind drift back to the here and now. He pushed himself up on one hand and tried to take in the scene that would greet him. He had been right all along, Fayth stood alone and unaccosted by the Spiders and instead they attacked their former master with reckless abandon. It was almost like something had driven them mad.

He shifted his weight trying to get to his feet, pushing and pulling in any direction he could just to get up, but he hurt so much he could only struggle up a little bit at a time. He was glad he was in good physical shape or he guessed he wouldn't have even got this far at all. When he reached his feet, he felt sick and tired, his head still swirled but he was no longer fighting to stay awake, and his "eyes" had even focused so he could see the world around him clearly again. Fayth stood alone, she seemed to be rooted to the spot, all her focus clearly on their enemy but it was eerie, it felt like the atmosphere was empty, the bugs attacked their master enmass at any chance they could get, but they were swatted away, mostly knocked out or threw off in a hurry, though they came back almost frenzied. He knew Fayth could hear thoughts and talk to people mentally but he had no clue she would be able to turn the spiders against their own. Suddenly the feeling in the air changed when the spiders stopped altogether, they fell back and did not attack they simply stood in place and watched their two fighting masters in equal amounts and silence was all that remained, however short lived it would be. The next noise he heard was a piercing scream, so shrill and high at first he thought it was Fayth's voice until he saw the giant bug in front of him slowly turning back to its human form, clutching his head and screaming in that drone-like tone full of agony.

The sound was so deafening to the human ears that Travis had to shut out all outside noise, even only hearing the first few seconds had caused a constant ringing in his ear for the next few minutes. Shutting out all noise was possible but required severe concentration, the ringing in his ears made it awkward so every now and then damped soundwaves would make their way through. It still hurt to hear it but at least he was able to dull it as he slid along the floor, his wounds still bled and ached but he had to move, Fayth had proved her point, now it was time to go home and shut off the squeals of the beaten man. He finally made his way to Fayth's side, her face was full of rage and a hint of terror as she stared endlessly at the wailing mess of a man opposite. Fayth never blinked, Travis called her by name a few times and slowly walked round until he was in front of her. He called her name again, he waved his hand in front of her eyes but it was like looking upon glass as she seemed to see nothing. He shouted at her and took her in his hands and tried to shake her out of it. It had no effect so he shook her harder to no avail still. Something was wrong, very wrong. He didn't know what to do next; he was stuck here watching as she seemed to be mentally eviscerating him as his screams grew louder and more pained. He was lost outside their mental battle.

He went to Fayth and slowly tried anything he could, he poked her chest, then grabbed her shoulder firmly trying to apply pressure to see if she would respond to pain but it seemed to be pointless as nothing changed. The screams continued and Travis' grip on silencing both the pain in his body and in his head was slipping constantly. He looked at Fayth and for some reason he took both hands and placed them upon her head and as he did a new kind of pain hit him. A clawing at his mind perhaps as pain overwhelmed him in ways he didn't even think were possible. This must have been what she was doing to that other guy as he began to scream himself unable to control the pain. It wasn't like physical pain, it didn't have an entry point that it would hurt from, it felt like everything within him was on fire then frozen, electrocuted and then left bare, only for it all to start over and over again. It hurt like this for a time till eventually he sensed he had left his body or died as the pain disappeared altogether and he stood alone in a place he had never seen before. It was an empty space, a plain white building with an endless corridor, rows of seats all along the walls and there was nothing but the same scene repeated over and over as far as his eyes could see.

Strange, his eyes could see, his real eyes, there was no rush of sound or the usual static sounds that came with his over-sensitive ears. He didn’t have to bounce noise around the room to see, he just saw with his eyes like he used to when he was younger. He didn't have to block out the awful noises that came with his powers and he didn't feel the pain he had been up until now. In fact he realised he wasn't even hurt here, he was wearing only plain white clothes and he was completely unhurt. There was no bleeding and no screaming, he stood alone or he had until he turned around to be greeted by a somewhat familiar face. A young girl looked back at him, she was a good head and shoulders smaller than he was but she stared at him intently and something about her seemed familiar like he knew her. She spoke softly to him in voice he couldn't mistake but it didn't match the person it came from. "You’re not welcome here, go now or we will hurt you like we have hurt the other." The voice said, a tone of authority but not of menace. He was going to say something until suddenly beside the little girl came the same little man that he had been fighting only moments ago. He lay on the ground naked and afraid, clutching at his head and mumbling to himself.

Clearly still in pain and every now and then he would look up to see the little girl and he would retreat in fear from her gaze like a man who has seen into a demon's eyes. She looked at him with a plain look and then back to Travis once more. He felt like he could hear voices in his head as she looked at him, soft voices, then angry voices and then silence. He didn't know what was going on but he had to do something and he now stood beside the little girl as the scene changed again and the two were alone watching over three people in a dark lit room, two were dead and one was crying in the middle of them. Travis realised that the one in the middle was Fayth as she wept into her hands, the pathetic little man sat on one side and on the other he saw the lifeless form of himself face down choked on his own blood. He turned to the little girl and he went to his knees and he tried to cry out and tell her to make it stop but no noise was heard, he just shrank to the floor and held her shoulders, shaking and pleading in silence. He wanted so badly to scream, to make a sound, something he was so used to but now without it he felt so lost and all that flashed through his mind was the image of him left there lying in his own blood to die. He hadn't come this far to let it all end here.

Something hot and warm sprang forth within him; it spread all over him like the rays of the sun and then retreated back to a pinpointed mark on his forehead. Pain was the first thing he came back to, all his own aches and pains still remained but now a new one joined his already long list of woes. The warmth he had felt before he had come back to the real world was a thin trickle of blood on his forehead, he placed his hand up to feel why it was there but nothing was clear. He came back to the real world and saw both Fayth and the little man he had at once been at war with on the ground, though Fayth was lying in a heap right at his feet. He leant down to check she was fine, she was still breathing but had become unconscious somehow, till when running his hand over her face he felt the same little trickle of blood that was on his forehead on her's too. He had in his pain and confusion taken the only course of action he had believed was left available to him. He had headbutted her knocking her out and releasing her mental hold on him. He checked "shapeshifting spider boy", he was breathing too but unconscious, the attack had clearly taken to much out of him as he was trapped in that world of pain longer than Travis had been.

He tore off his shirt in strips and fixed them onto his deeper cuts, patching up what he could with what material had been left after all the spider bites and mantis claws. He tied them tight and could feel them soak through the cloth almost instantly. He scanned the area and sensed the one thing that had brought them here all along. Directly behind his fallen friend hung the very thing they had come all this way and endured all this pain for. Reina, a girl Travis did not know and had no knowledge off hung wrapped in spider silk, he guessed she was unconscious and unmoving but at least he could still hear faint breathing, she was fine and now they could leave. He rushed to over her, quickly channeling sound energy through his body, he brought down force behind his body and within seconds he had bashed his way through the webbing that held her trap within its bindings, taking her in his arms and leaving her down gently beside Fayth. He bent down to lay her there beside her friend and as he stood his feet felt like they had turned to water and he felt the rush of the ground as it charged up to meet him, falling slack on the ground as the very last of his energy was spent and his eyes finally closed.

Walls

“MOVE!”, Argi screamed at the guy as he held the creature tightly with his borrowed power. He could feel the invisible strands of power begin to tear and it would only be moments before the monster broke itself free. But a few moments was enough for the guy to pull away from the bone spike and quickly slip away from the immobilised deformed beast.

Argi’s concentration wavered and the creature broke free, immediately launching itself wildly towards the guy. Argi watched as it came near the guy, but the guy managed to evade and land a few strikes as it passed him. It crashed into a nearby wall, which did little but shook the crumbling dust of the stones off the building. It took off again for the guy, but its sense of direction was slightly off as it veered off the guy’s side rather than head towards his entire body.

The guy easily dodged and attacked the monster again with his fists, striking into its fleshy lumps that did little to harm it. He moved to create some distance between himself and the monster, coming near to where Argi stood. Both of them observed the monster as it collided into the wall again. A smile stretched across the guy’s face and he turned eagerly to Argi.

“It’s still blind”, the guy muttered, which was barely audible to Argi.

But as soon as the words were uttered, the beast snapped back up and charged for them. They both threw themselves away from the war path of the monster and hurried to create a safe distance away from it. Another crash unsettled the dust of the wall and the creature was disorientated. It stumbled slightly, but it remained determined to find its preys.

“How do we stop it?!”, Argi yelled as he got up. But he was forced to move as the monster came for him, drawn by the loudness of his question. As he stepped away from its path, he was expecting for it to blindly pass him as it had done before, but it relied on its other functional senses and collided into him. The heavy impact of monster sent Argi to the ground, shocking him so much that he couldn’t use his power or escape. The beast landed on top of him and proceeded to claw at him with its unbroken arm, ripping his sleeves to shreds and leaving savage cuts on his exposed arms. It let out a howling scream and seemed to widen its mouth to prepare the dive towards Argi’s head.

Before Argi could let out a terrified scream of his own, the beast was hauled back from him and tossed to the side by the guy. The guy hastily helped Argi to his feet, but the beast was heading for both of them again. Argi quickly raised his hand, but rather than freeze the creature in its tracks again, he shifted its movements and caused it to charge away from them without it giving off any indication that it had changed its course.

“What now?”, Argi asked desperately as he and the guy distanced themselves away from the creature and they saw that it had hit the wall again. In its daze, they would only have a few moments to try and plan something before it would rush towards them. A silence hung between them as the guy watched the creature staggering from its collision with the wall. Argi acutely became aware that it had started to grow cooler around him, but it apparently did not affect the guy.

“Make it run into the wall again”, the guy finally said as he dashed away and left Argi alone to be the bait. The monster started another charge towards Argi, who used his power to alter its course away from him and avoiding a repeat of his earlier mistake. It ran into the wall again, but before it could fall from the impact of the crash, the guy rushed to place himself behind the creature. He grabbed the back of its oddly shaped head and smashed it into the bricks, causing a muffled cracking sound.

The guy did not stop at that, as he quickly lifted the head back up and relentlessly bashed it against the wall again and again. The monster frantically tried to claw at the guy with its arm but it screeched in pain and its oddly shaped head was becoming more and more deformed with each hit. The guy swept his feet to bring the beast to its knees, lifted one of his feet and stomped at an angle on a point of its back. The attacks had only taken seconds, but a muffled pop later and the beast ceased moving and stopped its wailing.

-

The two men sat side by side each other against the wall opposite where the creature laid dead. They were both drawing deep breaths of air as physical and mental exhaustion from their flight and fight caught up with them. No-one spoke for what seemed like eternity, as both of them were still processing the terror of their ordeal. But they savoured the blissful moment of triumph and victory as they listened to the distant sounds of the afternoon traffic.

Argi was the first to snap back to reality and he began to rise from where he sat. Something tugged on his trousers, which Argi found to be the guy pulling weakly to get his attention.

“Leaving so soon?”, the guy murmured, his words heavily accented that Argi had only just noticed.

“I need to go”, Argi simply said and shook his leg to release the guy’s grip from his trousers.

“Before those suits find you?”, the guy said with a little more force behind the words, but it was enough to halt Argi in his place.

Argi looked down at the guy and studied his profile. He noted the guy was of South Asian descent from his appearance and accent, the dark clothing he wore, and the scar down his cheek. He also considered the guy’s actions since their first meeting, how they had fought together against the monster, and the hints pointing to the possibility of a power from the guy. Although he couldn’t figure out the guy’s intentions, Argi let out a sigh and finally said, “…yeah”.

“I have a place. You can stay with me”, the guy perked up with his offer, as if the fatigue from their recent battle was no longer an issue.

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Why should we trust each other?”

“Because we just took out that…thing”, the guy said as he nodded his head in the direction of the dead mass of flesh and bone. An awkward silence hung between them for a moment, but the guy broke it simply by saying: “My name is Rudraya”.

Argi watched Rudraya closely, like a predator surveying its prey. He contemplated the offer and the gesture behind it, but in the end, his mistrust overcame and reined his decision. Without a word, he walked away and left Rudraya there in the alleyway, walling him off from further questioning. He walked away thinking that that would be the last he would see of him, but he couldn’t quite shake off the urge that he would encounter the man again. And along with that, the mystery of the monster would not be far behind.

The shadow Moveth

It was not enough, it was never enough. He surveyed all that stood before him, anyone else would have been more than happy with what he had amassed here. In an old factory warehouse he had a team of loyal and hard working men; they crafted with wood, bent sheet metal, broke down the scrap and some welded the old and new alike. Here the men made their livings and off their backs he was made richer and more powerful by the day but this was only a shell of the dream he had working in his head. Loyal workers were hard to find and turning a profit in this city was hard, being the newest city in Europe everyone had rushed to sow up any and all business they could. He had been here for years now, hadn't he? He rubbed his temples and went inside his little office and pushed some papers about uninterestedly. The one paper that remained at the top was their expected profits and losses sheet he had his secretary type out for him. It was green across the whole board, they were killing the market with their good old fashioned family values based business, the fifth son in succession to take the company to new heights each time.


Truthfully this little space was only one of a much larger chain, factories and offices, lock ups, green space, future renovation projects and several diversity projects within various area's of Novum Aurora. He had come when Novum Aurora was still young, still ripe for the taking and in truth he had taken in handfuls. He wasn't the most well known self made man in this city but he was the wealthiest and most influential behind the scene's. Keeping to himself and biding his time, he had played the game and at every turn he had been rewarded. Though now, a deep feeling off unrest had stirred within him and nothing would abate it. Half of him screamed within his mind, a knawing, scraping wail that wracked his mind and the other stood stock still in confusion. Nothing was helping and as he realised he had never actually sat down he took himself from the room and left to find a secluded part to himself. Here the business man stood in his frustration, once sure no one was around his face broke character and within a split second his features had changed, morphing in grotesque fashion and soon he was replaced by a young but weary man who no longer resembled anything of the man who stood before.

The youth was dirty and unwashed, clothes tattered and bloodied as the man who had been standing there before was well kept and suited from head to toe. He roared and yelled as his left hand became a giant blade that he rammed through the wall with force, a single straight slice tore from one end to the other, as if a great beast with one large claw had tried to rip right through the wall at those within. In seconds he was pacing back towards the office, his face already shifting, like boiling skin shifting and moving in waves until shape and form was reconfigured and by the time he crossed the first work he was a business man, in suit and tie, fancy black polished shoes and a smile on his face as he made his way back to the little office that was his own on site. Soon it would be closing time and the men would leave and he would sit in his office looking busy. He had paperwork left, right and centre and even more sheets requiring his signature for permission's and requests. He did his work diligently and worked on till everyone had been gone for a while, then he was free to be himself again.

He would sit in the office and let his shape change back to the real him and once he was himself again he rested the pen in his hand and pushed aside the papers, clearing a small space on the desk for himself. Now he was alone, he pulled a single file from within the lowest cabinet only he had the key for and he swiftly turned the lock to close it once again. The file he left on the desk, pulling it open to reveal a few papers, all official, signed and sealed waiting for a single signature. He read it to himself. "I, David Smyth hereby sell my company and all it's holdings, shares and assests to .." The name was off some big hotshot company that came into town looking to buy up all it could to set up shop with holdings in a little bit of everything. If he signed this he would be freed of his responsibilities within this company he had taken over. Sign this paper and he would be rich beyond imagination and free to create the future he was so keen to see. Something had stopped him so far, something in the back off his head told him to hold out and wait just a little longer, it was always just a little longer, then a little longer again. He had waited and waited, he called to the voice within him, asking how much longer he would have to wait for his right moment, the waiting was agonizing and his temper grew short. He sat in silence for a long time, lost in thought and time slipped him by.

It was already dark when the voice inside him called out. The voice spoke slowly and softly in a whispered hush tone. It whispered it's approval, that the future was within his hands now and all he need do is simply reach out and take it. With that his paper thin smile crept across his sinister face and he lifted the pen, signing the paper in his neatest hand writing and quickly parcelling the file inside his scruffy jacket and he left. He was ecstatic as all the things he had been building up to were now here. No longer hiding within the skin of others, acting as if he was some kind of business man, a gangster or some simple pawn in the grand scheme of things. He was free, his muscles began to tense and relax rapidly with excitement and he had only one place he needed to go now. He took the form of an elderly gentleman, somewhat regal in his attire and very formal sounding in his tone of voice. He went to the company to finalise the deal, it was late but he knew rightly that the man he needed was still inside the building, he wouldn't be expecting to see him with the paperwork however. He entered the office and the security eyed him quickly up and down and upon seeing he was a frail old man decided to let him speak his bit.

He talked his way past the guards with ease, he simply mentioned his business dealings were with their boss and it was worth millions to all, stopping him would be a bad idea and they were swift in helping him reach the upper levels. He took the elevator and when the doors open the very man he was looking for was waiting for him, clearly the time was very much right. He was admitted instantly into a small corner office out of the way of the cleaning staff that were busy tidying up for the night. He had been met by a small framed man, the usual business man type, big rimmed glasses that sat awkwardly on his nose and that simplistic kind of grin an unintelligent person gives when you dangle something worthwhile in front of them. The two talked and the old man took out the file within his old tweed suit and placed it on the table and slid it to this true business man sitting on the other side whose eyes lit up like Christmas tree's upon seeing the signature and seals on clear display. Soon the whole thing was official and the elderly man left his past company and walked the streets aimlessly. He had no need to hide himself anymore and with that the old man vanished and Viktor was the man who stood in the street. Dishevelled, blood stained, tattered and broken was Viktor but again that sinister smile he wore was ever present on his face.

It was done and tomorrow the plan was going to reach it's next phase when finally he could let loose and begin his new reign over these poor pathetic creatures, scurrying like ants all day long, working to bring home a little money to their pathetic families. He would bring them something new and something better. The night however was his now, what to do with his time he wondered? It had been a while since he had really gotten any challenge in this place, he needed a good kill, something that would fight back, someone who wouldn't go down within the first minute or so. He still had his target to acquire but she wasn't the kind of challenge he wanted right now. Where was the American when you needed him, he could find him a challenge but the true challenge there would be finding the slippery malcontent. He came and went as he pleased for the most part, he was harder to keep in line than most, a man who has stared death in the face really had much to fear from anyone after that point. He had stared at death himself and he knew once he had done it, things weren't the same and fear was no longer a factor. Now he was the fear of others.

In the end he never found the challenge he was seeking and the hours passed by like a flicker, the next day he returned as David Smyth, in truth it was his name that he had placed over the man he killed, people never asked questions and he planned on their ignorance. That day he dismantled his company and the staff were transferred to their new stations. Viktor stood as David again in his little office for the last time. He smiled and went to take the obligatory photo's with his new business partners and sat through an awful press conference. He hated this kind of tedious thing but it was necessary for his greater scheme. To the outside, it would all seem like random events spanning across the city but there was an ideal behind it all, it was all so closely knit together that to stare at the strands on their own would never reveal a thing, that's why it had taken so long for it all to come together and why he had to play some many parts. He wondered why he was always doing all the real work himself but in the end it had paid of brilliantly and within hours this whole farce would end. The business man will have played his part and he would disappear under unknown circumstances.

The Russian Bratva leader had fulfilled his purpose, he need never take that form again either, the operations each of them had set up had already begun to grind into life and they would simply sustain themselves. Money and power were the two things anyone needed. The first had been solved by both men he had "removed", the deal he just signed alone had given him enough money to run on for years, the Bratva would continue all operations as normal and there would be a steady flow of money trickling it's way back in. The power he now had to, men could be bought and sold with ease, people had become cheap and predictable. The others who stood in his way would be off no consequence now as the Bratva had proved most helpful in their little under cover operations to, by infiltrating the infrastructure of all major public sector works he had eyes and ears everywhere. Police officers and fire fighters were in the ranks, he could use them to sniff out trouble, or use them to hide his own affairs, or make them go away entirely if somehow someone did catch wind of what he was doing. It had taken time, it all started when Novum Aurora had been nothing but an empty shell being built from the ground up but as Novum Aurora rose, so too had he.

He had tiptoed around for so long, he knew exactly what he would do for his first free act. He left the meeting when all was said and done, hopped into his chauffeured and had the driver take him across town to the more run down industrial centre of Novum Aurora, exited the car and told the driver to take the rest of the night off. Once he was alone, he changed form once again and he stood as Viktor again. Peace at last, here was were it would begin. He found the most secluded warehouse on the outer edge near the docks, it was still fairly large and would suit his purpose down to the ground, it was once a chemical company that had gone down the tubs when they had accidently spilt some of their product into the ocean and had to use very penny they had to fix the damage they had caused. It had been left empty, no one really wanted large chemical vats, empty storage rooms and the longest walk from any available road within half a mile. Here was perfect and it was within the hour that he had bought the place, desperate for a sale it went down at a bargain price and anything left behind was his. He spent the night, grand visions in his head of what it would become in future.

He woke up in the small office located at the far north western end of the warehouse, he had lay his head down on the desk and had drifted into an uneasy smokey haze of a dream. It started with only a thick grey fog, swirling and churning but eventually he could see through it, he was in the warehouse, though not alone. There was a loud commotion, things were flying everywhere and within the middle of it all was himself but he was not his usual self. He seemed out of control and wild, lunging and attacking forces unseen in the foggy haze off the dream. Several figures were there with him but he never got a clear glimpse of them, figures darted back and forward, driving him through the warehouse as the place blazed with light as fire seemed to engulf all around him. He fought and fought but in the end he ran out of energy and they beat him back till suddenly he felt the sharpest most painful surge of raw energy run through his body and the vision of himself toppled and fell, falling into the vats below off the warehouse beneath and there he died. He lifted his head from the desk to find the first rays of the morning sun begin to rise, his unfocused eye's recoiled behind his eyelids before they readjusted.

He shook the dream off as nothing but a dream but as he thought more and more on the dream he realised he had visualised this place almost perfectly like he had dreamed off making it into. Though who would stand up to him in such a way, as he thought on it one face became clearer, he tried to picture it and concentrated on that one image as a man stood over him as he fell back into the vats, one face lingered in front of him and it haunted him deeply. He was tall and muscular but his eyes saw nothing, a blind man with the power to topple him? Impossible! He stormed out of the office and crossed the main floor and as he got half way across he stopped and called out to no one in particular in a tone that spoke only off discontent with being disturbed and interfered with at such a moment as this. He couldn't stop the anger from rising in his voice as he spoke to nothing in this big empty warehouse.
"I suppose you've been here watching me the whole time, did you complete your task and make sure it found it's target this time? Or do I have to do everything around here myself these days?!" His voice was icy cold and his stare was raised to the roof, into the rafters where nothing dwelt. There was a brief uncomfortable silence before a small, calm and collected voice spoke back with mixed tones of irritation and playful childish delight.
"Ohh, someone is cranky this morning, not had your morning coffee yet or did someone just piss in your cereal? I did as you asked to the letter but there was an unforeseen complication. It attracted the crowd we were looking for but the third party were also involved. The third party took a few casualties from two prospective candidate's, a few from your big beastie and a few more got their just desserts from yours truly, couldn't leave them all the fun?" An unseen voice called back with both malice and joy in it's ever changing tones. The American was a sly customer, he knew were any powered individual was at any given time and he could slip in and out without being noticed, this made him helpful but infernal simultaneously. This new information he gave was both intriguing and disturbing. Viktor had not expected any movement from the third party just yet but it seemed that things were escalating on all fronts.
"Did you draw them out or was it one off our prospects? It wasn't me but in the confusion it could have been either off the two, they both fought the third party and each had interesting talents. Hmm, tell me off their powers and what happened to my Bio-soldier, I seem to recall the report off it having seemed to have slipped your mind? It was defeated, the two are stronger than expected for such a simple demonstration though they did not escape entirely unscathed nor do I doubt the mental shock off meeting your little pet having not taken some sort of effect on them. One is able to copy powers of those around him, almost leech like in fact and the other has the ability to absorb the nearby energy and channel it into anything he needs, his limbs for speed or strength and even advanced healing. Though he is limited, he seems to be unable to do them all at once. I had expected better results but I guess my Soldiers are not yet at full strength, though the individual with the power of energy absorption peaks my interest, he might actually give me a challenge for a match in speed and strength. My previous target seems to be aware off my attempt to make contact, your invisibility might be better suited for the task as for this... Rudraya... Whatever his name is, I believe that is more a task better suited to me, find the girl and leave the other to me. The copycat cannot be allowed to replicate our powers, he is a wild card and he interest's me not... Go, do not return without the girl or I'll have one of my soldiers waiting for you in a dark alley. As you wish... I take my leave."

The American left and Viktor stood alone again. A challenge had been found at last, at his feet was a small file, a photo off a young man and detailed information. Disturbing, annoying, sneaky and prickly that American could be but his usefulness was impossible to deny. The dark grin once again crossed his face and soon he too had left the warehouse and the silent halls never rang to a sound again that day.

New Beginnings

He felt the arm of his enemy snap but that was not enough, he then them onto the ground as they screamed in pain and without remorse he stomped on their spine. Rudraya woke in a cold sweat, his wasn't the first time he had this dream. For the past week he had dreamt. He had never killed anything larger than insect in his life although some part of him was trying to convince him that the thing was a mass f hatred made flesh, he was wracked with guilt, it could have been a person once had he killed someone? He put the thought out of his head while, choosing to ignore it for now. When tall guy had left him in the alley he had lain there for a which healing, his power meant he was able to drag himself to his feet and slowly stumble to his appartment. The wound itself had closed up in half an hour, but the internal healing took another couple of hours.

So there were others with powers, what should he do? what would his teacher have done? And what could he do? He was just another low immigrant working in the library of Novum Aurora? His parents would have said don't think to much son,  just go with what feels right, we know you better than you think. "How will I find people with this shithole of a situation I'm in!?" he shouted out loud.

For the last couple of days he had gone to work as normal, but his mind was constantly drifting. Filing books away in the wrong places, staring into space. It was almost enough to stop the constant pin pricks on his mind of people wanting books found. Today was the same, he drifted into one of his favorite section, the religion and spirituality section, why they grouped the two together was not surprising but not correct in his opinion. He picked a book at random  and opened it and read the first sentence he saw “anyone who wants change has to change in ways yet un-thought of,” he immediately dismissed the book and almost threw it aside in his dark mood. Money was one of the least important things in his life, he valued it less for its hold it had on most people but he had to admit that without it, sometimes you were nothing going nowhere.  As he walked home he saw a sign saying , “want to further your prospects? Attend the University of Novum Aurora, the most prestigious in the world, now offering apprentice ships!!,” it would have been the perfect place for his research he would have access to all sorts of information...but what would he study?  He had a set of A Levels to his name but what if they dug too deep? Found out he was an illegal immigrant? But he had to try, it was his only chance.

As  he entered his front door he pick up the junk mail and sorted through it. “Join the university of Novum Aurora today...” once was probably just coincidence but twice? Well if he had wanted a sign he had just got one. Rudraya believed in life giving you pointers, he wasn't so sure of the concept of fate but he believed in life giving you a message. But it was such a big change for him, if it succeeded, “anyone who wants change has to change in ways yet un-thought of,” what the hell, he had nothing to loose.  He spent the next couple of days trying to decide what he would like to study.  His first thought was psychology or philosophy, they would be of lesser difficuly to register for and hopefully they would be impressed with his knowledge. Maybe religious studies since he had already read a lot on the subject. His aim was to get something that wouldn’t take too much work so he could focus on looking for people. He also had to think about job prospects.....he was thinking too much just get there first. 

To their credit the university architects had done a good job when they constructed the building, they had covered up austere grey blocks with sweeping glass and metal panels. He supposed the main building was a traditional old affair but the student reception area was cool. It was all new to him nothing unfamiliar. After all he worked in the biggest and most prestigious library in the city, yet he had to admit to himself that the system still overwhelmed him and he was more than a bit nervous, almost nervous enough to cover up the now more frequent pin pricks on his psyche as he was now with a large group of people. He tried to stay near the back and be unnoticed. His long hair was almost an advantage as most of the male students milling around also had similar hairstyles. They walked round the various campuses and building for a couple of hours,  it was a clear sunny day and he was just glad to be walking about outside, a gentle breeze was a welcome addition as the sun bathed everything in a golden heat. Everything seemed so vibrant to his eyes. He had never seen buildings with so much glass and open spaces lit by natural light, and he was impressed by the potential for learning at this place. Many millions of people had come and gone here, each would study the subject that would potentially start them on a life long journey. Once the group returned to the students reception it had been set up as a sort of market type stall affair, with a program detailing the different subject to be studied and people you could ask questions to. He drifted towards the arts and humanities area, something that wouldn't take him too much time or effort and something he would be interested in.

He hesitantly made his way to the philosophy stall. "Hello, are you interested in studying philosopy with the university?", "how could you guess!" thought Rudraya as he replied. The man he was talking to had a typlical student look about him, bad hair check, bad breath check and bad clothing. Then again in the clothing department Rudraya couldn't really compete. He briefly talked about all the modules that were on offer, the different philosophers that would be studied in depth. Rudraya cast an eye over the psychology and thanked the man for the information. He went over to the psychology stall and received the same sort of information. He made his way to the finance desk where e would find out if the day had been a complete waste. "Hello, I want to find out if I will be eligible for a student loan" he said, the women at the desk was looked to be in her mid thirties and had a helping air. She gave him a form to fill in asking for his age how long had he been living in Novum Aurora and how long he had been working.She then too,the form from him and input the information into he computer. Rudraya was nervous and had the familiar uneasy feeling in his chest. He hadn't realised how much he was looking for a change in his life,  and how much he was relying on this. He hated being nervous, he hated having to depend on others but he new that everyone depended on someone or something and one point or another in their life. He was fidgeting with his hands when, and hating himself for it when the lady said, "lets see what you are eligible for," he almost was holding his breath at this point "it looks like you will be in good hands Rudraya!, you are eligible for a student loan with an additional grant due to the amount of time you have been working and the fact that you have no guarantors," "guarantors?" he asked? "You have no people you can depend on", a flash of sadness passed across his eyes but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.  

The rest of the day passed in the blink of an eye,  now he was back in his apartment. So little had gone well for him in the past few years. There had been moments, brief flashes of what should have been, when he managed to secure a job and and wasn't homeless. He felt like time had stopped passing for these moments now he looked back, he felt a weight off his shoulders, he couldn't place what it was at first, but as he sat there it came, it was expectation. When he was younger he had always thought his life had been meant for something, not that he was better than everyone but that he was meant for something. The past few years had crushed that notion out of him, at least he thought they had. He had not expected all those old feelings to come up, funny how it had started, all he wanted to do was find others with powers, now he had a government loan and a possibility of making a bit more of himself. He sat there and allowed a small tear to fall. How could a small drop contain so much?   

Face your fear

Suddenly the bouncer Rudraya had followed jerked up into the air in front of tall guy. He was looking right at him, the dry blood still caked over is nose and mouth. He had a mix of mistrust and anger as he fixed Rudraya in his sights, this was definitely not going like he had planned in his head, but then....he didn’t really plan anything after he had started running, so maybe things were going to plan. Suddenly Rudraya’s dazed head was moving on its own as tall guy flexed his outstretched hand, the feeling was sickening, a total loss of control, he felt a spike of fear as he realised tall guy had him like a wolfs jaws clamped over a calf’s neck.

“What do you want?”,  said tall guy, his voice was as imperious as Larsa’s at that moment. All this combined made Rudrayas blood boil, he hated being weak and defenceless against people who thought they could take and control everything. Little did tall guy know, but he had recovered from his stupor and was feigning so as not to scare tall guy off. He could draw in energy and break the hold on himself like a twig and snap tall guy in half in the blink of an eye but he didn’t want to show his powers just yet so he kept calm, on the surface.  

“Wondered…how you…could do…the Harmonic…fist thing…”,  he said carefully slurring and choking out the sentence. “How did you find me?”  What should he say? But tall guy didn’t know he had any powers, he might just think he was slightly deranged follower, so he casually pointed up, “Roof.” Tall guy looked up sceptically at the building with the large gash Rudraya had made in the wall, good he probably didn’t believe him anyway.

With a sense of finality fixed Rudraya with a piercing stare, “Don’t come after me again”, as he raised Rudraya off his feet. He felt the sickening control all over his body like tiny worms working their way through his muscles. Rudraya started to draw in power to break the hold as the conversation was coming to its logical end. He felt the familiar thrum of power as he body started shifting towards the wall then a piercing scream rent the air. It assaulted his ears and he immediately felt the fear rise up his into his chest.

The scream died down and a sniffing sound grew louder and louder. Unbeknownst to Argi the air around them was getting colder and colder as Rudraya was sucking it in. Their new assailant has chosen the terrain well, they were like rats in a trap. The others were similarly rooted to the spot as  a bloody hand tightly gripped the corner of a building with such force that the bricks cracked and shattered. Rudraya felt his energy rise up his spine and over his back as he readied himself about to drop into the meditative state. With one last effort, the hand hauled its owner around the corner and revealed itself to the three.

Rudraya's calm was broken as he took in the sight in front of him, his eyes grasping for meaning as the abomination of a being stood in front of them. It took a lot to disturb him but this ....this thing had managed to. One arm was a thick muscular mass hanging like a a club in front of it, the other was a ‘normal size’, two gnarled hairy legs and a long thin appendage sticking out the back like a tail. Then there was the ...maw. There was a bloody hole in the middle of the thing, where the chest should have been, it was constantly taking sharp inhalations, almost tasting the air. Finally the misshapen head with a single bloodshot eyes flitting between the three as it swayed in a seemingly drunken stupor. It fixed its gaze on tall guy an swayed back. Rudraya had a childish thought that it would just turn around and go away but he was mistaken. It gathered its power and rushed at them with terrifying speed.

Rudraya let out a terrified scream as tall guy hold abruptly stopped, he then turned and ran with the others. If he could avoid a fight he would, he knew nothing of the creatures strength or weaknesses, discretion is the better part of valour. His master would have probably said something meaningful.... but he was he was shit scared. Rudraya hated fear, it may make men do great things but if you kept running it would only follow you, in this case literally. Rudraya saw the suit stumble as the heavy arm of the creature caught  him and dragged him backwards. He let out a scream that only a man facing his death would utter, which was shortly cut off by a bubbling wail as the creature no doubt ripped him apart. He felt a spatter of blood on his hand still warm and he ran faster. The creature let out another wail as it followed them.

As much as he didn’t want to, Rudraya figured that tall guy knew the alleys better than he did, so he followed slightly behind him. The bricks rush past them as their feet stirred the long dead dust in the alleys. Rudraya’s heart was pounding with fear as he ran. Tall guy was a good runner and he was vaulting over rubbish bins and turning corners swiftly, all their previous anomisity was lost as they were joined in one common goal, to survive. Rudraya focused his mind, how could this thing take his life now, he wouldn’t let it, it had no right and if it wanted it, it could try and take it but he would not lay down and die. He would make this monster pay a terrible price it touched him.

They turned right and tall guy looked surprised as there was a metal fence blocking their path. Neither slowed, tall guy found a box and grabbed the fence and vaulted it. At the same time ‘the thing’ let out another piercing scream as it charged round the corner using its massive arm as a counterbalance to turn extremely quickly, and it was definitely gaining on them. Without a second through Rudraya sent speed to his limbs and ran at the wall at an angle. He pressed the side of his foot into the wall and powered up the side as the world tipped sideways. He felt as light as a feather and as heavy as the earth at the same time, for a moment everything was forgotten as he defied gravity and ran clean over the fence and down the other side of the wall, tall guy was too busy running and with a final thought he gouged out a piece of the brick work and held it in his hand. Anything was a weapon it was just an extension of him.

Tall guy turned left and Rudraya followed using the wall to kick off after him. The thing had vaulted over the fence in one clean jump and was only 30 meters away, and in front of them was a brick wall. Tall guy was genuinely panicked, maybe he didn’t know the streets so well after all. The thing stood in the entrance of the passage savouring the kill, or so it thought so, tall guy turned to face the creature with a look of desperate horror he caught Rudraya's eye.....then everything happened in an instant.

The things swayed back drunkenly and charged at tall guy, its single eyes clouded with blood lust and its maw slavering and spewing blood and meat. It was a creature of the basest of natures, made to hunt and to kill, it may have looked like it was put together by a deranged Frankenstein with its seemingly mismatched parts but they all functioned with one deadly intent. Rudraya had pulled in as much energy as he could and bounded with super human speed towards the wall, many people forget that force equals mass times acceleration so greater speed means greater force, and this is what he counted on. He planted his foot onto the wall at the end of the alley and jumped and spun into the air. Tall guy threw out his hand and stood his ground, a brave man is one who can look at death and not flinch and he was not lacking,  the thing stumbled after it took two steps...but it was still struggling to break free of tall guys grasp, straining at the invisible bonds it let out another piercing wail as tall guy went down on one knee, his face covered in sweat. Like a bubble suddenly popping the hold in the thing was lost, it was only 10 feet away from tall guy as Rudraya jumped into the side of the walls defying gravity, there was no rage in his face, only a deathly calm, his eyes looking at everything and nothing as he threw the rock he had been carrying straight at the things disfigured head. It struck it in its putrid eyeball like a arrow from a bow as it reeled back in pain, if a thing like that even felt pain. Rudraya closely followed as he powered off the wall at the side of the alley, all but flying as chopped into the things heavy forearm as he ducked its wild swing. Blind as it was now it was still immensely strong. He sent the energy to his to his muscles as he ducked under and behind the elbow of the things arm and before it could complete a back swing placed one palm on the back of its elbow and the other on the inside of the forearm and ripped the joint apart. Even though it was the size of a small tree the joint was destroyed, the bones pierced through the skin and blood gushed out of the wound. Rudraya prepared to jump onto its back as he kicked out one leg, then a hidden appendage came streaking towards his unprotected back, a slick bone spike of a tooth at least a foot long. Tall guy saw it coming and flung up his hand as it sliced through Rudraya's jacket jacket and into his back, he held it fast stopping it from reaching deeper into Rudraya’s body.

When no is not enough for men

The monstrous spider began to move towards Fayth in a lazily, slow manner. As it did, its form rippled and shifted as its four of its eight legs retracted back into its hideous body. The two front legs pushed and heaved itself upright onto its hind legs, with the long hairs on all four remaining legs growing shorter and revealing paled skin underneath. The same was happening to the body and its shape decreased to half its size as the enormous abdomen and spinnerets shrunk and disappeared into the now naked body. A lump formed around the eyes and swelled up until it vaguely resembled the shape of a human head. Long, brown hair grew from it in a wavy length, as the multiple eyes shifted into two rough bumps, which opened to reveal dark hazel and very human eyes. As the last stages of his transformation were completed, a creepy smile stretched across the person’s face, and the identity of their adversary was finally revealed to Fayth.

Danny Crumpus.

“I don’t like it when you keep me waiting…”, Danny purred as he stopped and stood in front of Fayth in his human form. There were several arachnids and insects upon his naked body, but they stayed there as if they knew that his skin was safe to be on. “I was worried that you weren’t going to show. But I knew you would. You wouldn’t leave your poor friend all alone, would you?” 

Annoyance stirred within as Fayth remained helpless in her frozen and silent state, but it was not enough to loan her the strength to break free. She watched as the little man waffled on about something, and her mind connected it to the other times that Danny had tried to hit upon her at the university library without much success. The same creepy smile, the same egotistical attitude where only he mattered in this life, and the same perseverance of his attempts to impress and woo her. Fayth had at first kindly declined Danny’s offers of dates, but he kept coming back to her, with more unusual endeavours until she had to report him for harassment at work. However, she should have at least suspected that that wouldn’t be the last she would see of him; now he held her and her friends captive, all because he wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

“…and here we are. Let us seal the deal of our new relationship with a kiss…”. Danny leaned forwards and planted his chapped lips onto hers. He tried to force his tongue to part her lips, but thankfully, they were firmly sealed shut from the mental and physical paralysis.

Anger and hatred started to seethe when Danny’s dried lips touched her own and Fayth could do nothing but watch in revolt at the violation of her body. Fiery rage erupted in waves even though he had failed to use his tongue to gain entry into her mouth. But that hot wrath flowed through her and began to melt some of the malicious glee that froze her, and she could feel parts of her mind beginning to thaw.

There were loud stomping sounds coming from behind Danny, who had a pained expression flashing across his face with each stomp. The little man quickly turned his head behind him and Fayth looked past the tiny man to find that her companion was trying to fight back. Despite his height and physical build, the many spiders had started to weave webs around Travis, who was struggling to move or speak freely against it. However, they were not quick enough to completely restrict his every movement, so Travis lashed out at the arachnids and crushed some of them with either his big hands or large feet. Each splatter of several spiders brought about a momentary victory, but the void of space was quickly replaced by a new set of spiders. The arachnids were endless as more and more of them crawled from the weak webbing on the floor, but Travis continued to desperately battle with them.

“YOU! So you are the one who has been hurting my beauties!”, Danny cried out. He turned around completely and sluggishly staggered towards the tall man, and his body began to transform into another monstrous form. With Danny’s focus elsewhere, the malicious glee slowly eroded and Fayth’s own fury aided in dissipating the emotional energy that pinned her down. Her thoughts trickled back and her mind cleared itself as if she had awoken from a groggy naps. External sensations came back to her, and she picked up on something unusual….

By now, Danny had assumed the form of a gigantic praying mantis and he stopped in front of Travis, who continued with his never-ending war against the arachnids. The huge mantis lashed out with its newly formed front legs in a blur and plucked the man from the web bindings, lifting him up to face its head. Sharp spikes dug into the fleshy area between Travis’ chest and arms, who reacted by shaking and letting out a muffled, webbed scream in pain. Spiders continued to wriggle among his body, but they soon started retreating back to Danny via the mantis legs grasping the tall man.

“You are a pain!”, Danny screeched loudly in that unnatural sound again. “I wondered how you managed to bypass the sentries…No matter. You won’t live for much longer!”. It started to bring Travis closer and closer until his head was an inch away from the deadly mandibles parting open.

However, a large cluster of spiders quickly crawled up onto the mandibles and darted into its mouth, while other clusters spun a thin cocoon to bind the jaws together. More clusters moved in on reinforcing the webbing and some had started webbed the rest of Danny, with more spiders on the ground marching their way up his mantis legs to join the binding.

“Huh…what?”, a confused and muffled screech emitted from Danny’s mutated mouth. “What are you doing? My beauties…”

Release him, echoed a powerfully thought within both of their minds. It resonated with an authoritative tone that demanded the attention of both men to turn their heads at the owner. They were met by Fayth and her hand outstretched towards them, while she was on her other hand and knees. She was visibly shaking from the effort, but she kept her eyes intensely fixed upon them. A large cocoon of webs was being dragged towards her by clusters of large spiders, and the face of her unconscious friend poked out through a fragile layer of the webbing. The spiders that had clung to her body had scuttled off and joined the rest of the clusters moving towards Danny.  “I said, release him”.

At that command, the spiders all over Danny simultaneously stopped in motion and began to attack him with their fangs. Their former master cried out in pain as they bit into him in all places, which caused him to release and drop Travis to the ground. Danny began to swat the spiders away from his monstrous mantis body; desperate to end the torment while taking care not to harm any of his “beauties”.

“Ho-how are you doing this?!”, Danny screeched in surprise.

Fayth didn’t answer as she focused upon the psychic link between Danny and his arachnids and insects. It took most of her concentration as her mind was immersed within that mental channel and she sent her own commands to the bugs while warding off Danny’s orders. She was also trying to not lose herself again as the connection itself was driven by that malevolent joy from Danny himself. Though his attention had been distracted with Travis before, Fayth now faced the mad will of Danny Crumpus. It was vastly overpowering and she could barely manage to keep his creepy crawlers at bay from her and her friends.

Danny let out a screeching sound that vaguely imitated a cackle, as he regained control of the insects and once more sent them scurrying towards Fayth and her friends. Fayth gasped as she lost the mental battle, but the fear she felt radiating from Travis and her desire to protect her friends urged her to renew her efforts. Despite her already tired state of mind, she grudgingly sank back into the roaring currents of Danny’s will. Instead of employing the same tactic of building a dam to block off his commands to the bugs, she swam upstream towards his exposed mind. It was tough and Fayth was nearly swept away several times, but the solid force of her own loathing towards Danny made her will relentless and unyielding. When she finally reached Danny’s mental barriers, it only took her a second to plunge through with the intent to lay waste to his pathetic mind.

Let the hunt begin

A wave of mental energy crashed into Argi’s psyche as dreamlike memories surged through his mind; memories that were not his. As the memories filled the gaps, his mind began to recall them and Argi experienced them as if they were his own. He remembered the first discovery of the power, which would later be called the “Harmonic Fists of the Empty Winds”, to defend against a gang member. He remembered playing around with this power, moving arms and legs, manipulating individual fingers, and even lifting people up into the air. He remembered using it in numerous bouts against martial artists and championed fighters to make a name for him and his martial arts business.

However, he also remembered using his power to break and twist their limbs. He also remembered tormenting gang members that continued to pursue him until they stopped after many of them ended up dead or disfigured. He also remembered purposely changing the slightest movement of people that had annoyed him, which resulted in them causing major accidents to themselves. He also remembered forcing others to harm themselves, and finally, he also remembered using his power to overpowering many young women to his advantages…

Argi remembered all of that in the blink of an eye. And the power to control other people’s movements was his to use as his own.

He snapped back to reality as the crowd was disturbed by the fake bouncers approaching him and Larsa. His immediate sight counted seven, but it was likely that more were stationed around the building. The nearest one, a bulky muscled man wearing dark clothing and shades, was almost upon him. A recent memory flashed to his mind of the volunteer frozen mid-run and Argi instinctively lifted his hand, calling upon the power he just replicated, to freeze the bulky bouncer in place. The bouncer tried to move himself, but his face displayed the physical strain in trying to regain control of his limbs again.

Three more bouncers were approaching Argi from the side, but with a flick of his outstretched hand in their direction, the lone bouncer he held with Larsa’s power was sent flying into the three, knocking them all to the ground. The last three were reaching Argi from his other side, but rather than their comrades’ failure of trying to physically apprehend him, these three had decided to use something with a little more shock value.

Each one of the three brought out a taser gun.

Still held in the grasp of his replicated power, Argi brought the first bulky bouncer just in time to intercept the electric hooks of the taser guns. The bulky bouncer convulsed uncontrollably as three times the voltage of a taser gun surged through him. Argi released the bulky bouncer, who collapsed in a smoky meaty heap to the floor by his feet, as the previous three bouncers had recovered themselves and they finally reached him. One of them grabbed Argi by the wrist, but his instincts drove him to use his forgotten skills from his training as a Secret Operations agent rather than Larsa’s power. A low kick was delivered to the bouncer’s knee, which caused a horrible crunching sound and the leg bent awkwardly in the other direction. The bouncer let out a deafening scream as he went down onto the floor like his other comrade, and Argi placed himself in the middle of the two fallen as the other two bouncers circled him. A quick glance revealed to him that the other three bouncers were held frozen by the power of Larsa Weber. It seemed the “Grandmaster” was handling himself well on his own, despite the earlier plead of help to Argi.

Argi caught sight of movement in his peripheral vision and turned to block whatever was aimed at him, but he misjudged the attack as a low punch luckily found a section in the side below his ribcage. He staggered but stood his ground as he swept the blow downwards and moved in close to offer an attack of his own. His elbow lashed out to meet the sternum of the bouncer, but since they had come from similar training backgrounds, the bouncer intercepted this and countered with a shoulder barge. Argi stumbled back and found the other bouncer advancing upon him with a baton. He moved with the force he was stumbling in and regained his position to grab and throw the other bouncer into his comrade. He managed to successfully execute this, but not before the baton had managed to hit him on the nose. Pain flared from there as blood started to gush down his mouth and chin.

A scream directed Argi’s attention to Larsa, who had lasted long enough against the other three bouncers, but the “Grandmaster” had inevitably been overwhelmed by numbers, strategy, and more taser guns. A moment’s hesitation froze Argi as he internally struggled with his next plan of action. His original mission had gone awry as soon as he had been discovered and he lost his replicated illusionary power. To follow the Secret Operations agents undetected after they captured Larsa would be impossible, so Argi was left with one other option that his instincts ordered of him.

He ran.

Argi dashed through the panicked crowd and went to the nearest exit. There were two other Secret Operations “bouncers” waiting for him beyond the exit, but he simply sent them crashing into the walls of the corridor with Larsa’s power. A fire escape granted him access to an alleyway of the outside world and he sprinted deeper into the maze connecting the surrounding nearby buildings. Sounds of other footsteps behind him reached his ears and he realised that he was being pursued. Blood continued to drip off Argi’s face and onto his shirt as he darted through the alleyways, turning into other connecting passages without much direction or thought to where he was going in hopes of losing his pursuers.

However, they relentlessly followed his trail, and Argi was beginning to grow tired from his continuous sprint. A quick glance behind him revealed the two bouncers that had waited for him by the exit. As he passed a large metal dumpster, Argi spun and swept his arm to catch at least one of the bouncers with Larsa’s power. He sent one of them crashing violently into the big bin, which left a large dent and the bouncer was rendered unconscious. The other bouncer had managed to evade the flight of his comrade and he managed to gain additonal speed upon his target, as Argi had slowed to execute his attack.

As he turned another corner, Argi stopped in the middle of the alleyway and spun to await his last pursuer. When the bouncer turned into the alleyway, Argi sent Larsa’s power to lift the bouncer into the air. He was about to send this one straight into the brick wall, when a groan came from behind him. Argi spun around in panic, taking the suspended bouncer with him to be used as a shield for whatever had sparked his attention.

On the floor was a man sat up against the brick wall, with several broken bricks around him. He wore dark clothing, which was different to the ones worn by the fake bouncers, and he was of a smaller physical build than them. He seemed dazed, but his dark eyes were on Argi, and he appeared to be mumbling something that Argi could only barely make out.

“Found him”

Although he didn’t look like a Secret Operations agent, Argi wasn’t going to immediately let his guard down for this stranger, who appeared to have an unusual interest in him. Still using the frozen limbed bouncer as a shield, Argi lifted his other hand to raise the fallen man up to face him.

“What do you want?”, he said coldly, staring into the man’s deep eyes.

“Wondered…how you…could do…the Harmonic…fist thing…”, the man managed to get out as the sentence seemed to be taxing without several breaths of air in between a few words.

Oh great, a fan…, Argi thought annoyingly. But he had been chased through the alleyways, taking random directions and with no apparent destination in mind. “How did you find me?”

The man’s eyes briefly glanced upwards as he answered Argi’s question with a single word. “Roof”

Argi glanced upwards and disbelief crept into his mind. The building was at least 15 feet high and he noticed the cracks and holes in the wall upon closer inspection; the stone debris had fallen directly by where the man had been sitting when Argi found him. He wasn’t sure what to make of this man or his motives, but he had to quickly deal him, along with the bouncer. If this man had managed to find him, then it was possible the other Secret Operations agents may be currently on their way to him.

“Don’t come after me again”, Argi addressed them in that cold-hearted manner again. He lifted both of them in the air and prepared to throw them into the brick wall, until a nearby scream sliced through the tranquillity of the alleyways. It was a sound that chilled everyone’s blood and raised the hairs on the back of their necks. Whoever it was, they sounded distressed and desperate for whatever was happening to them to end. 

The scream lasted for a moment, before it died down. As it did, a sniffing sound could be heard and it grew steadily louder as someone approached them. A bloody hand tightly gripped the corner of a building with such force that the fingers crumbled stone as if it were soft snow. With one last effort, the hand hauled its owner around the corner and revealed itself to the three lingering in the alleyway.

A thing stood and stared at them, just as Argi, the bouncer, and the man stared in wonder back at it. Whatever it was, it was a mess; with one arm bigger than the other and bent in the wrong way, two thick and hairy legs along with a long, thinner leg behind it, an opening and closing bloodied hole in the middle of where its chest should be, and a single, bloodshot eye focused upon them, tilting its oddly shaped head to one side. The stare off felt like an eternity as the three wasn’t sure what to do while the thing kept sniffing the air around with its ‘mouth’ as blood dripped from the opening of it. The eternal observation of each party was interrupted when the bouncer started coughing, which drew that single bloodshot eye to stare intensely at him. The thing staggered backwards as if it was about to lose its balance, but it suddenly rushed with incredible speed towards them, like a predator moving in for the kill.

All three men let out panicked cries and the two men were released from Argi’s power as they all scrambled backwards away from the thing. The bouncer was unfortunately the closest to the thing, which had caught up with him and begun to savagely tear him apart. A similar scream of terror and hopelessness came from the helpless bouncer, as the thing quickly started to devour what it had torn from him. Argi and the other man hurried to escape while they could, but an unearthly screech came from behind them and they turned to find the thing chasing after them. Its single bloodshot eye was fixed upon them, with a red hot fury intent upon bring the same havoc to them as it had done with the now dead bouncer.