Image: Marcus74id / FreeDigitalPhotos.netIt was at least seven feet tall, if not seven and a quarter. Its massive shoulders touched the walls of the sad abandoned warehouse at either side of it. Every vein and muscle in its arms looked to be carved from the finest Greek marble. The gray skin made it look like a living statue to be admired and put in a museum, rather than the hulking beast that stood before him, trying to kill him. He hated to think that the last thing he’d ever see was the sneering face of the behemoth before him, plucked from mythology to end his life, and the life of his world. That sounded dramatic and a bit clich eacute;. Whoever was writing his life was going to get their ass handed to them.
Hoof on cement snapped him back to attention as the monster lunged at him once more. The sounds echoed as it huffed and puffed, charging with a force that would destroy a building. The worn horns on its massive disfigured head scraped along the walls, leaving a trail of gouge marks along the hallway. A hallway that could fit five of him, shoulder to shoulder. This meant it was an unusually wide hallway, and that this was an unusually wide beast. Wait, he was fat, so maybe the hall would only fit three of him, really. Wait, he was big boned, so it would be two of him- with his stomach sucked in. Any way he looked at it, he was going to die.
The stomping shook the ground beneath Nathan, and he tried his best to keep his footing. It felt like the seconds it took for the beast to get to him was taking hours. Nathan just wanted to go home, to jump through the right cooridor that led to the sweet smell of freedom. Instead, it led into another hall, or another room, or worse yet, another storage closet.
That’s how he’d been avoiding this horrific half man, half horse, half bull, half griffon, born from nightmares and ready to end the world. The warehouse was a maze of hallways, all of which lead to empty rooms and rotting furniture. The whole scene was creepy, and it would have shaken Nathan if he were not fending for his life. This once lustrious warehouse was abandoned long ago for a better world, in another country, with cheaper labor, and exploitable laws.
He hopped out of the way once again as the minotaur like animal man sped past him. This game had gone on for two hours, and started all because he answered a call for help. That scream that beckoned him like a light in the shape of a bat amongst a starlit night sky, was just a trap laid by this creature. The beast, who’s roar was that of a scared young girl. Sure it seemed kind of funny, but if you thought about it, it was quite clever. Lure unsuspecting, well mannered prey and feed on their good natured hides.
Nathan did not have time to rest, as he ran a hand through his short, dark hair, styled from sweat. Heavy breathing could be heard around the corner as he heard it lurch its way to the open doorway.
Sunlight poured through the cracks of the dusty windows, some caked with blood. He always noticed the sunlight, and the way the dust danced along it’s rays, especially before he died. It was as if he would spend his remaining moments like those in the movies. Peaceful, painful, but serene. A great final thought before he got mauled to death by the animal.
It’s head peaked around the corner, and saw it’s quarry. It was a smart beast, unable to talk, but well able to know when it was time to eat. And with Nathan, in a room, devoid of any escape, his brown eyes scanning for some kind of deus ex machina to save his life, knew he was done.
A gutteral sound escaped the maw of the towering monster, words like poetry wafting along the warm, stale air. It was a prayer, or mockery, or just some sort of boasting. Either way, it did sound like “Neener, neener, neener. You’re my dinner.” But Natha could not be sure.
It did not charge as it joined him inside the small room. It’s giant lips turned upward into a smile. It was a wicked smile, filled with knowing and blood. It’s stomach growled. It was hungry. Hungry like the wolf.
As if it was only teasing it’s size before, it stood up straighter, taller. The head of the beast nearly touched the ceiling ten feet above.
“I guess this is the end. The end of my story hellip;the end,” he murmured under his breath. Instead of his life flashing before his eyes, Nathan could see the Monty Python crew, doing skit after skit about death all in his head. As if to comfort him in his final seconds. To let him know that he would not be mounted and sold at some pet shop and complimented on his beautiful plumage.
The creature began to mumble something again, it’s words in a language he did not know. The sing song cadence gone, replaced with intend and power. The words grew louder as it placed it’s hooves before it. A ball of swirling yellow light began to spin between it’s hoove hands, lighting the room in a sun like glow. It was beautiful and haunting.
Nathan took out his phone, no bars in sight and put it up to the creature. CLICK! He took a photo, a message to the world who found his body, that he died at the hands of Asterion with a photo shopped Rasengan in it’s hands. Nathan then realized, few would get the reference and a tear rolled down his cheek.
Eyes closed, he prepared for the inevitable, throwing his arms up to his face, to shield him from what was to come.
The yellow ball shot out at him with incredibleforce, ripping through the air with a sonic boom. Windows shattered, and the ground shook, and the warehouse creaked and groaned in agony.
He steeled himself, catching his fall with a foot to keep him baalance. He could feel death ebb through him, his arms feeling the first of the crushing pain. It was warm, and comforting, like a loving, masochistic embrace along his forearms. But death did not come. Just the squeezing on his forearms. “What the hell?”
He wish he never opened his eyes.
The room was charred with bits of wall and concrete cut up by the once yellow, spinning orb. What was left of the sphere was behind the creature now, sizzling and sputtering about against the door frame. It did not take much time before it poofed out of existence.
A humming, much like the sound of the trilithium engines in the NCC 1701D, filled the now quiet room.
Nathan saw that the beast was missing a horn, and part of his bicep, but it did not show pain. It barely even seemed to notice as blood and viscera poured down over it’s eyes. There was rage in them, there eyes. A rage that could only be quelled by blood, or guts.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked aloud to the beast across the way.
“You tell me, asshole!” it replied back. Was that English? “Damnit that hurt!” The voice sounded like Nathan’s, just coming out of the minotaur like being.
“Why didn’t you talk like this before? Why are you talking in English now?”
“I’m not talking in your primitive language!” The monster touched it’s horn. “Son of BITCH, that hurts.” It looked at Nathan. “Look at your arms. It must be the source.”
He looked down at his arms, and before he could think, he heard the buzz of electricity mingling with the humming. “You’re my prey, you’re lower in the food chain. I’m supposed to be able to kill you and eat you, not the other way around. What’s wrong with this world where a Fenoagal can’t eat anymore!?”
The hoof hands began to move in a circular fashion, as a bolts of electricity danced between them, forming a cube. “You’re the first human, I’ve ever met that could control the source. The Source is strong with you.”
“I don’t really know what you’re talking about and what’s going on, but please don’t kill me.” Nathan said, pleading, his arms back up in the defensive. His fear overtook the feeling he had in his body. He knew something had awakened in him.
“I have to kill you now.” The cube of lightning grew larger, “You’re a threat to me, my master, and the good thing we have going here. I’m sorry kid. OUCH!” it said, wincing from the pain of losing parts of it’s body and still trying to talk. “But I’m going to have to stop you here. You were good prey, but I can’t have you getting in touch with the Source.”
Square bolts of lightening in the bluest whites began to sizzle and spurt. He looked down at his arms, which he now realized were still in front of him, blocking his chest, the pressure still on his forearms. A throbbing green glow moved in waves up and down his arms like a second skin, it’s humming in sync with the modulation of “the Source”.
Bolts of electricity licked the walls as it quickly came at him. Nathan did not have time to think. He just braced himself for impact, his growing arms before him. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he felt it singe his skin press up against him. It was strong, and is pushed him along the floor.
Feet digging into the ground, Nathan growled and grunted, twisting his arms back and forth to keep the ball of lightning from killing him. His eyes darted to the monster, as it concentrated, murmuring words and moving it’s hoves in a magic like manner.
The glow from his arms intensified, and the pressure in his forearms seemed ready to break every bone there. Luckily, there were only two. “Sure hellip;you hellip;can hellip;” he growled as he pushed the lightneing back.
The explosion thrust him backward and his body slammed into the wall behind him. Air left his lungs as he fell to the floor. His vision was blurred, and his ears rang. He could feel liquid dripping from his eyes and ear canal. His fingers felt for it and when he could see a little better, he noticed the red along his finger tips. “I’ve never bled there before hellip;”
His vision focused and he could see the desctruction around him. The monster pawed the floor. “No hellip;not like this,” it said. It’s body was charred, like a steak that was ordered a little too well done. When Nathan began to get his bearings, he did have the craving for a little salt and mashed potatos. The hunter, became the huntee, and oddly enough, smelled like an amazing meal.
The glowing and pressure in his arms remained. It threatened to snap his arm in half, but it never did. Instead the light slowly began to wain, it’s haunting grasp loosening itself from his being.
Afraid to move, he began to scan his arm for any damage and as he turned it over, there it was. A rectangular tattoo, that spanned his entire forearm, rested there. It was not made of any ink he knew of, and the design was perfect, with lines so straight you could snort them. Not that he would know anything about that.
At one end was a red button, so real that he reached out to it. His touch made it move and the words “Slide to unlock”, appeared in the center.
He put his thumb to the red button and slid it along the length of the tattoo, and to his surprise, the buttom moved with him. When it reached the end, his arm blinked “Unlocked”.
His hands burst into green light, riding up to his shoulders, enveloping everything. That power that had saved him begged to be unleashed once again. To wreak it’s havok of love and compassion on another creature. What did he get himself into? Why did he have to feel like he had to be the hero and try to save, what he now knew was a girly screaming, minotaur? What was the Source?
He eyed his arms, green with envy, as he tried to will it to do something. But it just stayed there, humming, pulsating, and mysterious. “Fantastic,” he said with facetious intent.
The answers were unclear, and the answers did not matter. Instead, he slid the button back, putting away the green hue of his new found power.
As he headed out of the dank, run down room, he felt something rattling away in his pocket with his keys.
A small, silver charm, in the shape of a cat, had found it’s way to his pocket. The figure had large onyx eyes, and what looked to be a blade in it’s paws, as if to make it look more bad ass. Unfortunately it did not, but instead made it look even cuter. Not that he had a problem with that.
Nathan took one last look at the charred beast and shook his head. “That’s unfortunate.”
The sun slowly faded over the horizon, Nathan sat contemplating on the roof of the abandoned warehouse. Helen stared at him, as the sun highlighted his body in silhouette. Well, that was what he hoped Helen saw. He made sure to position himself in a way that looked like he was preparing for the end credits of an action, adventure movie.
“So you killed him,” she said nonchalantly, tucking strands of her long, dark hair behind her ear.
“Were you the one who put Hello Kitty in my pocket?” Nathan asked, anger lining his words.
“Sorry. Do you think that’s what led you to the Fenoagal?”
“No. I heard a woman scream and I thought I was trying to help. Didn’t realize I was being lured into some weird trap,” he said, taking a toothpick to his teeth. “It was delicious by the way.”
Helen’s eyes widened. “You ate it?”
“What was I supposed to do? It smelled so good,” he said, licking his lips for any remnants of that Fenoagal taste. “You should have been there. It was like eating a giant tortoise hellip;or so I’ve heard. Apparently they’re delicious too. We need to find more of these things.”
Helen waved her hands for him to stop. “Okay, I was hoping this wasn’t how you were going to find out about your powers.”
“You knew?!” he screamed.
“I figured. That’s why I gave you the charm, just in case you turned. I don’t know how it took you so long to find out about it, but I gave you the charm to help you control the Source. So I’m guessing it worked,” she said and pulled at Nathan’s sleeve revealing the tattoo.
Helen plopped down beside him and pulled up the sleeve of her sweater. Not surprisingly, she had the same tattoo. “Welcome to the club, Nathan. Apparently, you’re one of the ‘chosen'” She emphasized the last word with air quotes and the sound of an air guitar.
“Please take that back hellip;I don’t want to think I’m in some kind of video game or Tolkein novel?” he paused, “Chosen? Did you come up with that.”
The hurt look on Helen’s face, made Nathan immediately regret his words. “Sorry.”
“You should have heard what Stuart wanted to call us. ‘The Ministry of Power’ or some bs like that.” Helen tried to hide her pout, but Nathan knew the damage was done.
“Chosen is a fine name, makes,” he tried to wrap his mind around the idea of him being a part of some kind of hidden fraternaty that even his girlfriend was a part of. And his closest, childhood friend, which in itself sounded cliche. “So you’re saying it’s, you, me and Stuart in this club?”
“And April.”
“Little April? Wait. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. You’re saying, four people who happen to be friends somehow wind up with this power call the Source to band together to fight evil as the Chosen? Are you making this up? How is this even possible?”
“I don’t know. April thinks the Source picks and chooses people who are bonded together in some way. Like in our case, we’re all childhood friends.”
“How come I didn’t know about this sooner? Why am I the last one in on all this? How long have you guys been flying around with your powers? Wait hellip;does that mean you’re superheroes?” All the anger was gone from his voice as he thought about the potential of actually having super powers. “Are we like the Justice League or something?”
Helen took Nathan’s hand in her’s, squeezing it lightly. “I hate to tell you, but that’s not how it works. See, Stuart found out about it first, then a few weeks later, April did. They have powers all right, but they kind of, come out in different ways. They didn’t know how to control it, and in a way, they still don’t. They made a mess of things for a bit, if you remember all the ‘tragedies’ happening everywhere. Well, it was those two. Then a couple of our other friends came in, but hellip;they didn’t make it. Then I came into the it somehow, and Stuart was learning how to control our powers, and hellip;that’s how we got this thing.” She touched his arm. “That’s really all I know. We can find out more at Headquarters.
“You guys have a lair?”
“Yeah, it’s nice. All thanks to Stuart. Wait ’til you find out about his powers. There’s even an ancient prophecy. But we’ll talk about it later.” Helen wrapped her arms around his. “Can we go now? I don’t want to be around when another one of those things comes looking for it’s brother.”
“You mean the thing I killed and ate?”
“I can’t believe you ate that thing,” she replied in disgust.
“You’re missing out. It’s so good. Is that the reason we have powers? Because things like that exist?”
Helen nodded, “According to Stuart, those creatures, and all sorts of other baddies are why we exist. We’re like the men in black, or the X-men or that one group from that one TV show.”
“Oh, that one!” he said mockingly.
“Stop it. Look, I don’t know all the details. I just know that they can get pretty ugly, and they don’t just kill to survive. They really do want to take over the world. It’s weird you know, because you read about it or watch it in movies, but when you you’re face to face with something that just wants to actually conquer over you, it’s just scary.” Helen shook herself a bit and looked into his eyes , pleadingly. “Come back to HQ, and we’ll figure stuff out. You’re living a new life Nathan, and we’re the Scott and Jean of the new world.”
“You’re such a nerd,” he said, kissing her briefly. “I almost died back there, you think we could hellip;celebrate my new lease on life with some…?”
“Here?” she asked, without a hint of protest on her voice.
“Why not?” he grinned.
“Well first, you have to see my power!”
Helen let go of Nathan’s less than muscular bicep and stood before him. She got into a stance, where her dark brown hair was glowing in the waning sunlight. With a wink, she brought her hands together as if in prayer.
Her eyes began to get cloudy, and turn white as her body began to shimmer and fade. In an instance her clothing shred into ribbons, revealing the naked body underneath.
Music began to play waft in out of thin air, as dramatic horns and violins announced the transformation. The fanfare rose as each ribbon collapsed onto itself. They covered her body in what looked like a Japanese school girl’s uniform secured by padded armor all along the midsection, her legs and arms fully exposed. It was hot. “Your power is an anime girl?” he paused. “You’re a sexy anime girl?”
Helen punched him in the stomach, taking the wind out of him. “You’re an idiot.” She spun around to show off the uniform, her eyes still white. “Normally it doesn’t take that long to transform and I can add the music when I want to, but I thought you’d appreciate my little show. Didn’t you like it?”
“Yeah, I did. So you mean, every time you turn into Sailor Moon, people see you naked?”
“No! I did that for you. I thought you’d like that,” she giggled. He laughed too, but he stil could not wrap his mind around this new phenomena. She was essentially a cartoon.
“So why can’t I do that? What’s wrong with me?”
“Nathan, it took me a long time to control my power. Transforming is just a part of it. My powers are never the same, because they pretty much mimic whatever anime I become. It’s really fun, but I don’t even know how far this thing goes.”
“What are Stuart and April’s powers?”Nathan asked as he began to play with his own green glow. “And it doesn’t hurt like mine does?”
“No. It feels really good. I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” she said, concern painted on her face. “April can turn into all sorts of different animals, even those that she makes up. You know how she loves all her pets. And Stuart is more or less a super man.”
Nathan blinked, transfixed on her outfit. She almost did not look real, it was almost like she was drawn. “And I have green arms that want to kill me,” he mumbled, trying to control his power, sliding the button back and forth, turning it on and off. No amount of concentrating, thought, manipulation, or poking seemed to change the green glow around his arms. They just stayed the same. “And what’s up with the slider?”
“Oh, that was Stuart’s idea. Thought it would make a great little addition to help us control the Source. I don’t really need mine, but I figured you’d feel better knowing you weren’t alone.” She took a moment to close her eyes and transform back to her “normal” self.
“Nice. Now what?”
Helen smiled big. “Time to celebrate your new lease on life.” She inched towards him, taking off her clothes.
“Oh hellip;” he said, grinning. He slid her powers back on.
