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.