Mattias Tonelly: Rude Awakening (part 3)

Posted on Wed Oct 26th, 2022 @ 3:41pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly

Mission: Tales of the Unawakened
Location: Hydra processing plant
Timeline: Present day

The sickening crack of bone, and stuttering, squelched screams joined with the agonized cries of the critically wounded in the hallway, as Fractal fractured both of the man’s collarbones with a rapid double strike of the electrified batons, driving him to his knees. The young brawler then planted a foot in his face, rocking his head back and knocking him into the legs of the man behind him.

She dipped into a low turn, catching the next man in the side of the knee, the second blow rapidly following the first. The man screamed as electricity pulsed through him, and as his knee cracked and buckled in sideways, sending him sprawling. Her next target was dropped with a graceful, but powerful uppercut to the jaw as she swung up and out of her last attack, as though lost in some strange, combat driven trance.

"You're gonna watch as your girlfriend gets beaten down," the soldier guarding Mattias spat. "Then you both are gonna be strapped down and sedated. No one ever escapes Hydra!"

Fractal managed to beat her way through half of the incoming attackers, but there were only so many angles she could manage to defend at once, at least without burning through the light stores that she had left. As the outnumbered brawler did her best to knock away the incoming attacks, one soldier managed to get in over her swing, the stock of his rifle slamming into the side of her head.

The blow caught her off guard, and while the nano took most of the sting out of the hit, it still rocked her head to the side. A bright burst of color that she hadn’t created exploded in her head, stunning her just long enough for another attack to land and drive her to the ground. As the others closed in and continued raining blow after blow on her, she made no cries of pain or protest.

Mattias was angry that he had been subdued so easily. If only his body responded to his commands!

He was so entrenched in his thoughts of despair, seeing his parents die in front of him in his mind's eye, and feeling completely useless to do anything about it, that when he saw Fractal go down, then hear the guard holding the rifle to his head laugh, something inside finally awoke.

Quickly, the air around them took on an electrically charged feel. Mattias doubled over in pain, as his insides felt like they were both shredding and on fire.

"The hell's wrong with you, punk?" The guard asked as he pressed the barrel harder against the boy's temple.

That motion caused the pain inside Mattias's core to explode outward. His right arm snapped out, grabbing the rifle barrel, the instant he touched it, he bent the barrel up, as easily as if it were made of clay, forcing the guard to drop it out of astonishment.

Mattias tossed the weapon away and, without thinking about it, moved to stand. And did! As he got to his feet, his body started to change. He kept growing, both up and out, ripping through his clothes as he did so. In a matter of seconds, his transformation had completed. No longer was he a somewhat scrawny, paraplegic teenager. Now, he stood tall at nearly seven feet, his body ripped and sculpted like a Roman God, his hair had grown long and white, and he had a full beard to match. His eyes, they were still a bright cerulean blue, but now, they seemed to contain an astounding power.

The guard was transfixed by what he was seeing. He figured the boy was a mutant, however, he had never seen one change like this before. Before he could say anything though, he watched as the boy-turned-god reached towards him in a flash, his strong right hand diving into his chest, then he felt a pain unlike any before, as he watched his heart get ripped from his body. His last thoughts were full of pain as he collapsed to the floor, dead before his body finished moving.

Mattias turned to the pile of Hydra guards that were beating on Fractal and bellowed so loud, the corridor seemed to shake from the power.

“Shit,” Fractal muttered, as the guards turned their attention from her, all of their eyes suddenly on the transformed mutant. The tactically trained young woman didn’t hesitate to use the super-sized distraction to her advantage, though. She grabbed one of the rifles from the ground next to her and spun onto her back, putting two rounds into the closest man to her, before simply spinning, displaying a deadly aim, dropping the remaining soldiers as she went.

Just as she dragged herself back to her feet, one arm bracing her ribs, the sound of the lift started up again, making her heave a bedraggled sigh. Fractal lifted her free arm towards the door, a bright white ball of light forming in her palm. An intense beam of superheated light leapt from that ball, melting the reinforced steel of the lift doors at the seam, sealing it shut.

Then she turned to Mattias, “Up the stairs, big boy,” she said, moving towards the emergency exit. “Three levels. More will come.” The young light bearer shook her head quickly, trying to dismiss the fog that was building in her head as she blasted the door open and took point heading up the stairs as she reached behind her back, pulled a .45 and racked the slide back.

Mattias paused for a moment as he took in his surroundings with new eyes. "Destroy," he said simply, his voice now changed too, sounding like two large chunks of granite being rubbed together.

Hurrying behind Fractal, he squeezed his massive frame through the doorway, bending the doorframe a bit as he moved. Looking up, he growled. He could hear the rapid approach and shouts of the end troops. Reaching out, he grabbed Fractal's right shoulder and pulled her back behind him. "Protect." He said to her, his eyes softening slightly as he looked at her.

The sound of shouts above them, took his attention again as his head snapped back up and he snarled. Taking the stairs three at a time, he practically leapt up the flights,

Two flights up, he encounters the first wave of guards. At first they were shocked by what they saw. Which was enough of a hesitation for him to capitalize on. He tore through the trio of Hydra guards like a buzzsaw, literally ripping them apart with his bare hands.

Fractal stiffened at being grabbed by the giant, having to stifle the flash of rage and terror that rose up like sour bile at being manhandled like that. A glance into his eyes, and then he was gone. “Kid, no!” she shouted, but it was too late to stop him from staining his hands with their blood. “Damn it, stop!” Blood on her hands was one thing, but it turned her stomach to think of the boy having to come to terms with being a killer.

In a flash, she was standing in the gore that was spread in front of Mattias, a couple of stairs above him. She put a hand on his chest, leveling her odd gaze of swirling rainbows. “Don’t do this to yourself, Kid. Heroes don’t kill.”

Then she spun suddenly and put down two more soldiers that were charging towards them. Fractal sighed. This would have been much easier if things had gone according to plan. But then, plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy.

Mattias paused, an odd look on his face as his overestimated brain tried to understand. "You…hero….you….kill?"

Fractal’s shoulders slumped slightly and she sighed heavily. “I’m no hero, Kid. Never claimed to be,” she said as she took aim at another of the HYDRA guards that dared to try to get a better firing position, hitting her target with cold, deadly accuracy. She absolutely hated that she had become some kind of hero figure. That was why she tried to keep well away from the limelight. “I’m just a soldier.”

"Soldier…too!" Mattias jabbed a meaty finger at his chest. He then reached out and ripped an exposed pipe from the ceiling. He then hurled it with great force past Fractal's left ear. It buried itself into the head of the HYDRA agent a few meters behind her, as he was bringing his weapon to bear.

The tactically trained light bearer blinked a bit rapidly as the pipe whizzed past her ear, though she showed little reaction to what happened to the recipient. She began climbing the next set of stairs, putting two more soldiers down as she went. “No, you’re not,” Fractal said, trying to keep ahead of the awakened young man, robbing him of as many targets as she could.

Mattias followed after her, his heavy footfalls echoing in the stairwell. "Yes!" He bellowed in reply. In anger, he swung his right arm wide and hit a sealed door that he was passing. The force of the strike was nearly as powerful as if a battering ram had struck it. The door deformed and was blasted off of its hinges.

"Papa said…me…his soldier!" He shouted, tears starting to streak down his cheeks. "Mama…Papa….AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!" In a blind rage, he leapt up to the opposing landing, past Fractal, and ran full bore into the next group of soldiers. A couple managed to get a shot or two off, little good it did them, as the rounds bounced harmlessly off his bare chest.

He was then among them, beating and tearing each one apart. In seconds, it was over. He stood tall and look of childish pride on his face. "See…me…soldier!!"

As Mattias was celebrating his gory victory over the HYDRA agents, the stairwell that he had bulldozed through creaked, then collapsed, dropping Fractal suddenly. As she flailed to catch hold of the landing in front of her, more rubble fell on top of her, dragging her to the landing below.

"Nooo!!!" He shouted as he leapt forward after her. When he reached the stairwell, he saw that a beam had broken free and was pinning Fractal to the stairs. Mattias moved a bit closer and, taking hold of the massive beam, grunted and was able to lift it a few inches up off of her, allowing Fractal to crawl clear.

Fractal laid there for a moment, stunned, the wind knocked out of her from the fall. She managed to drag herself out from under the beam, and haul herself back up to her feet with a ragged cough.

You’ve taken too many blows to the head. Along with three broken ribs and internal bleeding, Julius reported to Fractal over their connection. We need to end this soon.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Fractal muttered out loud, then coughed again, stifling the pain that came with it as she looked to the landing above. She then looked at Matty shaking her head. “I can’t get you back up there,” she said softly.

Mattias looked up, seeing all they way up to the top of the stairwell, five levels up. Looking back down at Fractal, he gave her the grin of an innocent. "I…carry."

Then, without another word, reached out and scooped her up into his arms like she weighed nothing. "Hold…on." He then turned again, crouched down, and leapt upwards, across the shaft.

They landed on the next level in a thud. Before she could say anything, he turned and repeated the movement, again and again, until finally, they were on the top level of the staircase. Without pausing, Mattias kicked the door in and shouldered his way inside, protecting Fractal in the process.

They found themselves in an office area, the desks showing signs of a hasty evacuation.

Fractal didn’t even have time to stew over being manhandled again, as Mattias was leap-frogging from level to level. Each jarring take-off and landing had her grinding her teeth together. Her adrenaline was wearing off, and the pain was seeping back into her consciousness. As they stepped into the abandoned office, she coughed again, then swallowed thickly.

“Kid, you’re crushing me,” the battered brawler said, her voice soft. “This is the ground floor. Put me down and get out of here. Run towards the setting sun as far and as fast as you can. I’ll be along shortly. That’s...” she groaned, then nearly hissed through clenched teeth, “an order.”

Mattias put Fractal down gently. He then looked out the window that she was pointing through. "Soldier…follows…orders….but…" it was clear that he didn't like leaving her here. "Papa…teach…no…leave…behind!"

“Matty, you need to get away before this place goes up,” Fractal said, pulling herself back under control, pushing the pain down. “I can move a hell of a lot faster than you can, but I can’t carry you at those speeds,” she began explaining as she walked over to one of the computers and set her hand on the interface. “There’s gonna be nothing left here but a big, glass-lined crater very shortly. Ignore them all and run.”

Mattias still seemed a bit unsure. However, when he saw that she was sounding a bit stronger, he finally nodded in agreement. "Friend…come…fast!" He said in almost a pleading tone. He then turned and sprinted towards the far wall of windows.

"What the hell's going on in there?!" The gate guard screamed into his comm unit. He hadn't heard anything from anyone for several minutes. He was about to grab his weapon and head inside, when, as he was stepping from the shack, the wall of the building that he was facing exploded outward. But, instead of fire and smoke, a giant of a man burst free and landed a few feet away, leaving a decent-sized crater where he landed.

"Hold it!" The guard raised his weapon and shouted, fear clearly in his voice. It was only his first week on the job, but he needed the money.

Mattias stood and with a speed that belied his size, he barreled through the guard, tossing him, like a ragdoll, against the side of the shack.

As the guard slid to the ground, he started to wonder why he allowed himself to be talked into joining the company. As he felt his life slowly fading from him, he wished that he could see his mother, one more time. Then, he was gone.

Mattias never gave the guard a second thought. He was highly focused on following the orders he was given. He continued to sprint for another two miles, then stopped and turned around, looking for Fractal.

By the time that Matty made it to the one mile mark, a series of explosions began to rumble underfoot, shaking the mountainous terrain. When he hit the two mile mark and turned, there was a bright, white spark floating above the facility, growing brighter and brighter, flooding the compound with an overwhelming, pulsing light, even as daylight faded. Then a blinding flash overtook the surrounding hills. When the light faded, all that was left was a glowing glass bowl gouged into the mountain.

Mattias was mesmerized by the bright light. So much so that, when it faded away, he took in a deep breath, having stopped breathing for a few beats.

As he waited for Fractal to show herself, he suddenly started feeling very tired and growing weaker. His legs suddenly buckled out from under him, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Slowly, his body started to shift as his muscles shrank and his tendons popped.

In less than ten seconds, he was back to his normal appearance, gasping for air from severe exhaustion. He started to sweat profusely and his undergarments, which had stretched and ripped during his growth, now hung quite loosely around his hips. He was finding it extremely difficult to hold his head up any longer, and he finally collapsed, unconscious.

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TBC
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