Training Begins, Part III (Conclusion)
Posted on Sat Sep 9th, 2023 @ 5:21pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)
Mission:
HYDRA: Another Head Rises
Location: Shaman's Cabin
Timeline: Present Day
All was quiet for a moment before laughter could be heard from just below the surface. A wave of preternatural energy swept quickly past the brawler and the lone boy watching from the sideline. Fear, raw and primal, struck the two humans to their core, as a gigantic hand, obviously inhuman, reached up and planted itself on the closer side of the berm. Followed by a voice, which somehow was both deep and high pitched at the same time, also reminiscent of nails being drawn down a chalkboard, “You broke the rules little girl. We set the rules for your safety.”
A large anthropomorphic salivating cat-demon dragged itself out of the hole. “Now you will have to pay the price.”
As soon as the energy washed over Mattias, he felt terror in the back of his mind. He reacted immediately, pushing up out of his chair and turning to run away. He managed to get a few paces, before his body remembered that it currently couldn’t do what he was willing it to do, and he crumpled to the ground. Without losing much momentum, he started to crawl away.
He then remembered Bethany and he stopped and rolled over onto his back, propping himself up on his hands. As he sat there, the terror in his mind triggered a new self-defense mechanism, causing his alter to start waking up.
While it wasn't a full transformation, his own energy surrounded him and he lifted up off the ground a few inches. His hair turned white, as did his eyes. "What are you?!" There was an echoing power to his voice as he spoke.
Fractal’s entire body stiffened when the weird cat-demon appeared, even after years of dealing with him. She rolled her neck, and stretched her body, trying to shake off that immediate revulsion. He no longer elicited the fight or flight response with her, like he did the first time, but it still wasn’t a pleasant experience.
When she heard the commotion of Matty’s panic, she turned and was standing at his head before it could register that she had moved. “Well, at least we know how far your legs can carry you. Meet Talon, Beast of the Realm of Nightmares,” she said, crouching down, her head motioning towards the monster that had risen up from the ground.
She watched him for a moment, her head tilting to the side as she studied the young man’s response. “Don’t stop it. Let it happen,” she said, her eyes swirling with colors, as he made his partial transformation. “Do you feel that pull at your center? That power that almost feels like you can reach out and grab it?”
It took Mattias a few beats to understand what Bethany was referring to. When he did, he gritted his teeth and growled as his body started to grow. "Need…room…don't want…to hurt….friend!" As he grew, his seemingly lower intelligence started to take over.
Fractal stood up and stepped between Talon and Matty as he tried to transform, giving him space, while still standing watch over him protectively. “You have to claim your power, learn how it feels, in order to control it. Eventually, it won’t take so much work to transform, and it won’t take being scared silly to get there.”
Finally, after several beats, Mattias had fully transformed into his alter. Long white hair and full beard, his eyes were still white, but now they seemed to glow with power. Blue electricity-like energy flickered over his form. Standing nearly eight feet tall, his physique was one that ancient gods would be jealous of.
Unfortunately, as the clothes he was wearing were cut for a much smaller body, he stood there in full nakedness, every part of his exterior anatomy on full display.
When Fractal glanced back at Matty, or, more precisely, his superhuman form, her hair and face went scarlet and she turned away quickly. “Um, we need to do something about that. Can’t have you running around like...that,” she mentioned, motioning over her shoulder in his general direction, her eyes fixed on the cat-demon that was stalking closer.
The cat-demon stopped in mid motion, seemingly frozen in place, a confused look crossed its face and it muttered, “Already? Come on.”
With an audible popping noise the cat was gone and the Indian man returned to this plane wholly unharmed, and the fear effect that was permeating the atmosphere suddenly vanished. “Wow!” he exclaimed, a look of surprise on his face. “I was hoping this would happen but honestly I did not think it would.”
Walking forward he spoke to the newly transformed young man, “Mattias can you hear me? If you can, speak to me, if you cannot speak, nod your head.” Dyami began to speak words of power in Tsalagi. His eyes glowed faintly and his body was sheathed in a wavering blue aura.
Mattias looked down at Dyami and nodded. "Strong," he replied, the power he contained sounded clear in his voice. "Not…deaf." He then turned his gaze to Bethany and his features softened some. "Monster….hurt…friend?"
Bethany sighed slightly and shook her head, the color in her face deepening. “Um, no. You’re not a monster, you’re just...well, naked,” she answered, still not looking at him, chuckling slightly. She looked at Dyami and shrugged. “I told you, it’s kind of like he’s a gigantic toddler. A big toddler that can reach right through a man, mind you.”
Mattias looked at Bethany with a confused look on his face. "Me…I…I..knnnnooow….I'm not…not a …a monster! Monster…" he pointed at Dyami as he finished speaking.
“Dyami isn’t a monster,” Bethany explained, her nano pulling back. Turning to look at the giant, her eyes were fixed on his face and not wandering any lower, her skin still as red as a crayon. “He has powers like we do, and Talon is a beast he controls. You have to get used to him, to that awful aura, because you will fight beside him sometimes. This is the first step towards that,” she explained carefully, trying not to confuse him. The young woman looked a bit guilty when she finished, “If anything, I hurt Dyami when I hit him that hard.”
Mattias listened to Bethany, seemingly unconcerned about his current state of undress. A few beats later, he seemed to comprehend her words and grinned. "Friend?" He asked happily.
“Yes Mattias, we are both your friends. I am going to cast a spell that I hope will help clear the fog from your mind. This should help you, and it will not hurt,” the Indian warrior explained.
The Shaman of the Tribes raised both of his hands and waved them in an intricate pattern, while speaking words of power. This spell was meant to allow the recipient to better focus on tasks and to calm the mind of any stressors. It was a simple spell, one he had used many times. As he felt the effects take hold he asked, “How do you feel young man? Is it easier to think?”
Bethany watched the giant’s face as Dyami spoke to him and cast his spell. She was hoping that it would help. Mattias always overthought everything, while the giant seemed slow and ponderous of thought. She was hoping that it would help the two apparently different minds find some kind of middle ground at the very least.
Several conflicting expressions crossed Mattias's face in rapid succession. He stumbled back a step, and growled like an animal. Gritting his teeth, he swatted at imaginary pests. Finally, his eyes settled on Dyami. He fixed the large shaman with a stare that promised violence. "You….in…my…head!!! Bad…lady…was…in…Mama head! Papa head!!" He then spread his arms wide and roared. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"
In a move that belied his size, Mattias crouched slightly, then leapt straight up. Higher and higher he went…until he reached nearly one hundred feet, he reached the apex of his travels, and started to streak towards the ground, much like a MOAB, launched from an Air Force cargo plane. His target….Dyami.
Dyami was a grown man that could easily defend himself, but Bethany was still feeling kind of guilty for hitting him hard enough that most people would have been reduced into a squishy pink paste. Besides, he was the only man that she considered to be a father figure to her, and her tactical mind simply reacted to the potential threat against him.
The speeds that she displayed were mind boggling, as her nano covered her once again. She grabbed the shaman and flung him about fifteen feet. Then she spun, rising up off of the ground using her photonic manipulation, just high enough to keep upright as Matty’s alter form hit the ground, releasing a gigantic shockwave that would have had her joining the shaman on the ground. As it was, it nearly toppled her in flight, winding up with her hovering protectively over Dyami.
“Matty, stop!” the young light-bearer ordered sharply, turning her rainbow-swirling gaze to the giant, holding a hand out, tendrils of light moving down her arm to her fingertips. “He’s not in your head! He’s trying to help you! You’re acting like a mindless brute!”
Mattias's momentum ended up nearly burying him in the crater he created. For a moment, there was no movement. Then, a few large rocks shifted, and Mattias started to climb out of the hole. "F-friend…" he stuttered softly, as he seemed to collapse from the exertion. "F-F-Forgive…" he then fully collapsed onto the ground.
As his unconscious form lay there in the settling dust, he started to revert back to his teenaged form.
Bethany lowered herself to the ground at Dyami’s feet when the threat passed. She wavered and stumbled, barely managing to keep her feet. Her skin and hair paled drastically, her features drawn, as she began towards Matty. There was a limit to how often she could move, and perform feats at those speeds, as it took an immense amount of power.
The small tendrils of light moving along her arm had been about all that she had left in her, and likely would have done about as much damage as a handful of gas station laser pointers. It had been a lot of posturing on her part, hoping that it would deter the giant from any further attacks.
Dyami chuckled as he rose from the ground. “Thank you Beth. I can see his meta-form does not know how to react to stimuli.” He placed a hand on her back to help steady the young woman. “Go get some rest. Tomorrow, Mattias can help clean up this hole.” He motioned to the pit next to him, laughing.
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FIN
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Bethany Harrison
Fractal
Mutant Underground
Dyami Bentley
Talon
Mutant Underground
Mattias Tonelly
(Recruit)
Mutant Underground