A.D.
September 27th, 2007. 1:24 a.m. Run. Just run. Don’t think about anything. Just. Run. It isn’t my fault. No way in hell is it my fault. Run. Run. Run. Get stronger. I don’t even know what street I’m on. Doesn’t matter. Just gives me more distance to run back. All I know is that the street lights in this area like to flicker a lot… You know, the more I look at this place, this would be a perfect place to have a fight… get some newspaper floating in the wind and a flashy billboard, and this would be a great place to have a fight… But what would the music be? Maybe mysterious… definitely gotta have a saxophone. Maybe a slap bass.
I run across the street and turn the corner just to see two cops looking over a dude lying next to a car outside a convenience store. There’s also a mysterious, sizzling puddle of… something adjacent to them. The poor lighting makes it hard to discern its color or exact shape, but it isn’t hurting anyone… reeks like death though. The poor man looks like he hasn’t been inside in a year. His face and exposed chest are covered in bruises. He’s crying out nonsense. Almost sounds like a dog in pain. I can smell him from here… Smells like piss and tobacco… and… blood? One’s tasering him with an electric Tech for funsies. The other’s cleaning blood off a baton that looks strong enough to demolish a wall. I have a full meter. Let’s go.
I jog up to the officers. “Hey, officers. Whatcha doing there?”
One of them jumps in surprise and immediately draws his gun. No warning. No words. Just a yelp in surprise. His finger’s on the trigger. I’m surprised he hasn’t already fired off a round with that kind of trigger discipline. Before he can point the barrel at me, I’ve already twisted his wrist. The gun flies from his hand and falls towards my feet.
His cohort turns to me and aims his palm at me. Lighting arcs off his fingertips for a moment before a lightning bolt shoots at me. Fortunately for me, it misses me and hits a car behind me, causing the engine to burst into flames. The officer with the lighting Tech looks beyond frantic. Eyes twitching every direction, face caked in sweat, and his right arm is laying limp at his side. Why is he scared? Is this the first time he’s had to face consequences?
I bend down, swoop the falling gun up before it can hit the ground, and shoot at the cohort’s hand. The electricity around the cohort’s fingers melts the bullet, causing liquified lead to spray over the officer’s hand. The cohort flinches backward and grips his sizzling hand. Sweep kick. One of them goes down and almost hits their head on the curb. “Oh, c’mon! Aren’t you at least supposed to give a warning before you shoot?!” I beat my chest. “C’mon! Fight like men!”
The cop on the ground gets up and charges at me with a baton. Looks like he’s winding up a heavy overhead. I dodge backwards then proceed to whiff-punish the hell outta him. Mid punch, light kick, mid punch, roundhouse, heavy uppercut, cancel into ex dive kick. I can hear bones crack under my foot. Good. The cop goes flying onto a nearby car and crashes through the windshield.
Meanwhile, the cohort has been calling into his radio with his electric hand aimed at me. “A-attention all units, we need backup. We are fighting off an assailant cl-” he shoots another bolt of lightning right at me.
Calm down… You’ve been practicing for this. 3. 2. Parry! I hold my hand out and perfectly parry the lightning bolt. Electricity arcs around my hand and up my arm, but I feel nothing. All that time in training mode paid off.
The cohort’s jaw drops in disbelief.
I follow up with a fireball and watch it hit the cohort square in the chest and make him stumble backwards. Light punch, light kick, low punch, Hard punch, mid spin kick. My heel crashes against the cohort’s cheek and sends him tumbling to the ground. I have a full bar now… I stand over the cohort. “Why?! Why would you do this?! What could that man have done?!”
“Stop… Please… We’re trying to do our jobs.” The cohort forges a blade made of electricity, gets up, and lunges at me. “Shut up!”
I instinctively try to roundhouse the hand. The lightning blade knicks my shoe… and sends well over a million volts shooting through my body. “AAAHAHAGAHHHGDFFGFGL!!” My limbs lose all control and begin to flail rapidly, my skin feels like it’s melting, and I fall backwards onto the pothole-infested road. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get my limbs to stop moving. Everything hurts, inside and out.
The cohort stands over me while pointing his blade at my face. He’s holding his radio to his ear with his right shoulder. Why isn’t he using his right arm at all? Is he holding back? How disrespectful… “Calling all available units… We have two hostiles that need subduing. One officer is dead, another is wounded, but breathing.”
… Did he just say an officer is dead…? No no. That can’t be it. There’s only two officers and I made sure not to kill the other one.
The cohort collects his breath. “We’re located at-”
No. No. No time to think. They’re crooked. They were hurting someone innocent. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m not going to get disappeared. Time to wake up super. I leap to my feet, slide behind the cohort, and wrap my arms around his waist, and begin to bend backwards. Lightning envelopes my body, but it’s no use. I have armor during this. Suplex, suplex, then toss him sky high. I watch his trajectory, position myself underneath him, and wait. I see him begin to descend and point at him. “Too careless… WHATATATA!!!” Just as he is about to land on me, I unleash hard punch after hard punch after hard punch. He’s suspended in the air through my punches alone. I can keep going all day… but I have to leave him with one HP. “Time to finish this!” I turn around and deliver a spinning push kick right into his solar plexus. The cohort goes flying onto the street like a broken ragdoll.
I’m shaking. My breath is out of control. My lips won’t stop quivering… but I don’t care. All that matters right now is getting that man the medical attention he needs. I sprint over to the bruised man by the car. He’s motionless. “Sir?” I gently tap his shoulder. “Sir? Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
No response. Electricity scars plague his face and a mysterious purple substance slowly seeps out of his palms.
“No… no no no. C’mon.” I put my fingers to the side of his neck. Nothing. “C’mon…” Nothing…It’s not fair… What the hell… I walk over to the cohort and drag him to the curb. “Hey. Wake up.”
The cohort coughs weakly. “Do what you will with me… Just don’t hurt my brother… Please.”
“If you insist.” I open his lax mouth, put his teeth up against the concrete, and plant my foot into his back.
“No! Stop!” The cohort tries to roll away from the concrete, but my foot keeps him in place. Lightning arcs off his back, but it's too weak to hurt me. Feels like a tingle more than anything else.
“Give me one good reason why.” I lift my other leg high into the air and send it crashing down.
“No!” The cohort screams and lightning explodes off his back like quills on a porcupine.
I manage to parry the first twenty hits, but mess up the timing and get hit by the blast and go flying backwards into the wall of a rundown-looking car repair shop. My body collides with the bricks then slides down unceremoniously onto the pavement. My body’s still twitching and I can’t think. The two officers are still lying facedown on the pavement along with their victim… I cannot stay here. The police will be on the scene soon enough. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you, but I can’t save anyone else behind bars. I need to get back to A.E.G.I.S. now. I manage to make it back after 40 minutes of painful, awkward speed-trudging.
Jimmy
September 27th, 2007. 3:02 a.m. Secret Villain Location. Known only to big villains and bigger heels alike. Boss got back an hour ago while I’ve just been tending to Petra the whole night. Feeding her all the microwave dinners and bacon I could make for her. Despite her size, her appetite’s puny, like beyond puny. Though… maybe she ate a bunch of people before she came here… No… No she’d never do that…
Petra’s just been chewing on a box and whacking her tail lazily against the wall for the past few hours. Wish she coulda been half this docile when I was trying to give her a bath or patch her up… But aw well… At least Junko tied a nice new headband over her eyes. It’s not really my job to order her around regardless. Let’s see here… Scales are polished, food is consumed, Petra is bathed… what am I missin’? Oh yeah. Gotta brush her hair.
I borrow one of Junko’s brushes and head back over to Petra. The brush pulls itself from my hands and floats in front me. “Aw c’mon, Junko. This is the only brush we got. Boss won’t let me use hers.”
The brush draws closer.
“I promise I’ll clean it 100% when I’m done. I’ll even practice dancing for the next full moon. If you let me use it.”
The brush floats back into my hand. I feel two arms wrap around my shoulders from behind me and hug me tight.
“Thank you, Junko… You’re the best.”
I make my way back to Petra and she lets me brush her hair without any contest or fidgeting. Two minutes in, she rests her head on my lap and purrs each time I run the brush across her scalp. “Yeah, yeah. It’s the least I can do…” My lip begins to quiver. Don’t let it set in. True heels never let anything set in. Suddenly I remember every time she brushed my hair… scratched my back… fed me dinner… But… there’s no way that’s coming back, huh? I can’t see Petra’s eyes or recognize her smile anymore, but I can still feel she’s there. I know she still loves me, and that’s enough… “Goodbye, mom.” I get up and leave her containment room.
Will
September 27th, 2007. 6:04 a.m. Dorm room. Just ate breakfast. Gotta shower. As I approach the sink, I see Vivian exit the bathroom and scratch her butt.
“Geez…” Vivian squirms. “Why’s the seat always warm in the morning…?” she turns around to face me, but doesn’t remove her hand from her butt. “Oh, hey Will. Need the shower?”
“Yeah, thanks.” I yawn. “Hey uh… mind if I talk to you for a sec?”
Vivian blinks and she tilts her head to the side a little. “Uh, sure. Why? Is something up?”
“Yeah.” I lower my voice and get closer to her. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah,” She nods with a soft smile. “Why do you ask?”
I don’t know whether to be relieved or horrified at that answer. “Killing someone changes a person. For the worse. You having any... dangerous thoughts?”
Vivian’s eyes and mouth widen just a bit before closing. She takes a deep, yet quiet breath before opening her eyes again. “I wouldn’t call them dangerous, but the kid’s head was exploding on repeat in my dreams last night…”
“Yeah, yeah.” I nod and put my hand on her shoulder. “I know the feeling all too well. I’m here if you ever need to talk about it. Know it wasn’t your fault and it doesn’t make you a bad person. You’re more than a killer. Don’t forget that.”
Vivian rests her hand on top of mine and smiles up at me. “Thank you… I’ll be okay. You know, I could get used to this side of you.” Her smile maintains and radiates this earnest, honest warmth. A warmth that insists nothing is wrong.
Josh
September 27th, 2007. 6:30 a.m. Dorm room. All packed and ready to go back to San Diego… Gotta remember to get Angela some candy on the way back. Maybe get a Shamu plush… yeah. She’d like that. I’m on my way out of my dorm when I see Janelle waiting at the door in a tracksuit.
“The hell are you doing up so early?”
“I’m going out running.” Janelle stretches and touches her toes. “Gotta improve myself.”
“Is it because Will goes out for early morning runs?”
“Is that a problem?” she glares up at me.
“Not at all.” I turn the door open. “Never a bad reason to want to improve yourself.” I see Will right outside the door. “Oh, hi, Will.”
“Uh…” Will looks like he just got caught watching Wholesome Catholic Porn for Good Catholic Boys Volume 3. “Howdy, Josh. Where are you going?”
“Gotta go do some clean up in San Diego. Headmaster’s orders. You?”
“Oh, I was actually on my way there myself. I just volunteered for that.”
“Hey.” Janelle squeezes in between me and Will me. “Mind if I tag along too?”
“Not at all.” Will shakes his head. Dude’s lips look stone cold. Wouldn’t hurt to smile every now and then. “Happy to have you aboard. What would you like to do? Cooking? Cleanup?”
“Nursing. Used to be a med student.”
“Used to?” I grimace. “No offense, but I don’t think they want med school dropouts helping out.”
“Hey. Janelle’s a fine nurse.” Will locks eyes with me. “Didn’t she patch up Sejong nice and tidy?”
“Oh yeah. Got a fair point there.” I turn to Janelle. “How much time you need to get ready? I don’t want Headmaster chewing me out again.”
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes! Just let me pack everything!”
“Pack for at least five days. We don’t know exactly how long it’ll take.”
Vivian
September 27th, 2007. 11:41 a.m. Ugh… Ngh… Don’t want to get up… Wait. I don’t have school. Okay, I can get up. I open my eyes only to see a brochure lying on my face. What the? I pull it off my face and begin to check it out. Huh… it’s a bunch of church food drives. Not enough food to go around and they really need volunteers… The event starts on the 29th… Yeah. I’m doing this. Till then, guess I’ll just check out the career fair. Getting my jamjams on and heading out. Outside I see Sejong, Angela, and Yuko just chilling on the sofa in front of the TV. Yuko’s doing her nails. Angela’s playing… I don’t even know at this point. Sejong’s just flipping through the channels.
“Hey guys.” I yawn and stretch. “Did I miss anything?”
I hear a door open behind me and turn around. It’s A.D. in his usual workout gear.
“Morning, A-”
He crashes his shoulder against me on the way to the door, exits, then slams the door shut behind him.
“That little bastard.” Yuko gets up from the sofa. She looks ready to punch a hole through him.
“Yuko…” I sigh. “Don’t worry about it. If he doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t want to talk.”
“That doesn’t mean he gets to act like a little bitch.”
“Just let him be.” I sit on the kitchen counter. “Fighting’s not going to get us anywhere.”
Sejong quits flipping through the channels and stops on the news. Oh. Goodie. Just what I wanna hear right now.
“Deputies are still investigating a horrific attack last night that resulted in the deaths of a homeless man named Richard Swanson and an officer named Bob Sprouse. The officers were trying to help Richard, who was at the time suffering from an overdose, when a young man clad in a karate gi ran up and assaulted the officers without any words or warnings. Here we have Deputy Johnson giving his account of the sordid encounter.”
An officer wrapped in casts, splints, and bandages appeared on screen. He looks like he was born with glass bones and paper skin. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t see his face… but if you see a guy running around in a karate gi, keep your distance… just please stay safe, citizens.”
The news cut back to the anchorwoman. “The LAPD is currently offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who has information that can help lead to the suspect’s arrest. The two other officers injured in the attacks are in critical condition, but are expected to make a full recovery.”
Sejong turns off the TV. “The news never gets any better, does it?”
Angela closes her DS. “So… is anyone gonna snitch on A.D.?”
Yuko nods. “I’m… considering it.”
Angela glares at Yuko. “Bruh, seriously? You believe that story?”
“I don’t care if it’s real.” Yuko shrugged. “I kinda just want that $10,000.”
I can’t help but rub my chin. Huh…
“Wow. That’s… kinda crappy.” Angela continues. “It’d take at least $50,000 for me to sell a teammate out.”
“So you admit you have a price?” Yuko scoffs.
“Everyone’s got a price.” Angela shrugs. “Some just have higher standards than others.”
“You have a thing for armpits.” Yuko retorts. “You don’t get to pretend you have standards.”
“Oh…” Sejong looks down at the floor in terror. “That suddenly makes way more sense…”
“Hey!” Angela raises her voice. “Th-”
“Everyone shut up for a sec.” I raise my finger, but not my voice. “Why don’t we just ask A.D. about this when he gets back, hm? I doubt he’d do that without a good reason.”
“Sure.” Yuko nods. “But if that bounty hits $60,000, we all split that, deal?”
“Deal.” Sejong and Angela nod.
“Anyway… uh…” Angela turns towards me. “I heard about what happened yesterday. With the whole.'' She starts swinging an invisible bat. “You know… are you doing okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”
“No dreams or nausea?” Sejong asks.
“Nope.” I tap my fingers against the counter. “Should those be happening?”
“Only to some people.” Sejong shrugs. “Just asking.”
“Anyone see any news reports about it?” I ask.
“Oh yeah.” Angela nods. “All the stations are saying the kid was a former A.E.G.I.S. student and that this was some kind of execution by A.E.G.I.S. for vague reasons.”
“But only for the first two minutes.” Sejong nods. “They then all tied this story into some narrative that the government needs to have a monopoly on hero work.”
“Any chance the first half of that’s true?” Yuko asks.
“Nah.” Angela shakes her head. “Dug through all the student records. His face didn’t show up anywhere. Couldn’t find any documents about him in any other registries either. No birth certificates, nothing.”
“Weird… but he definitely spoke with a Californian accent.” I rub my chin. “Did any of them show my face?”
“Thankfully not.” Angela yawns. “But all the stations were reporting the same story word for word like they were sharing the same script. It was kinda creepy.”
“What’s everyone got planned today?” I swerve out of this conversation. “Anyone wanna do anything?”
“I’m going to paint at the park.” Sejong replies.
“I’m chilling here.” Angela lies back on the sofa.
“I’m just not going to do anything.” Yuko yawns. “Might get high later.”
“Anyone wanna play Mario Party right now?” I ask.
“Hell yeah.” all three agree and we get a game going.
We’re halfway through turn nine when I close my eyes and yawn. When I opened them again, I found myself in bed once more with the same volunteer brochure resting on my face. My phone says ‘11:41 a.m. 9/27/2007’.
My door bursts open and I see Yuko standing in the doorway. She looks like she just saw a ghost. And not a hot ghost either. One of those real messed up ghosts with a real long tongue, gross hair and big grabby hands. “You felt that too right?! We were just in the den playing Mario Party? Right?!”
“Yeah. Yeah. You’re not crazy. Time totally reset again.”
“Okay, what the hell, man? Why’s this happening?”
“I dunno… but at least we know for sure that kid wasn’t causing it…”
Yuko rests her forehead against the door frame. “Why can’t this bitch of an earth be normal for five minutes…?
Angela
September 27th, 2007. 11:58 a.m. Lover’s dorm room. Most of my team’s busy cleaning up while I’m just chilling with Yuko and Sejong. The news is on. Yuko’s still making herself all pretty while Sejong’s reading some Korean book. Wish I could read it. The girl on the cover’s pretty hot.
One of the news anchors starts yapping. “And now we bring you the latest development in the City of Industry where a runaway girl was harassed and then brutally assaulted by three masked assailants.”
Yuko shuts the TV off immediately.
“Hey. I was watching that.” I whine.
“No more news.” Yuko sighs.
I decided to read a magazine I found on the coffee table instead. Well, reading’s a bit generous. I’m just skimming through it looking for OC inspiration. Hm… Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Yooooo!
Upon flipping to an advertisement for Kaneko brand clothing, my soul is rejuvenated. There’s this tall, fine looking Japanese woman in a pristine black suit. I’m always a sucker for women in suits, but damn! My naughty bits are starting to rumble just from looking at her. Her eyes are so cold and powerful. Her stance is dominating. Her hair is jet black and demands my full attention. She’s got this badass scar over her right eye and has her hair held up with these stark gold ornaments. She looks like a boss. “Wait sec… Kaneko…”
“Sup?” Yuko asks while painting her nails.
“Kaneko… where have I heard that name before…” I glance up at Yuko then down at the ad, then back at Yuko again, then back to the ad, then back to Yuko.
“You tweakin’ out there?” Yuko looks up at me.
“This you?” I show her the ad.
Yuko shuts her eyes and sighs. “No, that’s my mom.”
“Does your mom run Kaneko Clothing!?”
“Yeah.” Yuko groans. “Can you not tell Vivian?”
“Why not?” I tilt my head. “I don’t think she’d care.”
Yuko’s face bends into a small smile. “You really think so?”
“Have you seen the way she dresses?”
“Fair point…” Yuko chuckles. “Just don’t tell anyone, alright? I don’t want anyone finding out.”
“That why you dyed your hair?”
“Eh, partially. I just like blonde hair.”
“As do I.” I lick my lips and point back to the ad. “Do you have a suit like this?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Can you wear it for me?”
“No.” Yuko shivers. “I hate suits. They’re so restrictive…”
“I will pay you fifty dollars.”
“Hundred.”
I pluck a hundo from my wallet and chuck it at Yuko. “There.”
Yuko stares at the bill for a second before laughing and stuffing it into her shirt. “Aight. Deal’s a deal.” She gets up and heads to her room. “Wait here.”
Vivian
September 27th, 2007. 1:12 p.m. A.E.G.I.S. Park.
Whoa… This career fair’s way bigger than I was expecting. There’s booths for just about every job flooding the park. There’s a little humanitarian section with peacekeeping jobs, tree-planting initiatives, trash collection teams, and food aid gigs. The food aid dude wouldn’t stop pestering me once I showed him my Tech. The collection of booths surrounding the fountain in the center of the park was all corporate stuff. Mascots, acting gigs, TV personalities, fashion companies too. They all just wanted someone to be a living action figure and sell stuff. It’s so… soulless. I’m sure Yuko could land one of those TV hero gigs no problem though. The rest of the booths were pretty normal. Cooking jobs, lots of insurance and law firms, and a whole bunch of research teams and medical schools set up shop here too. I think I even saw the college that Janelle dropped out of. I should hang out with her more. She was nice to me.
I’m almost done here… I just have waaaay more brochures than I know what to do with. Let’s see what cool stuff there is…. Alien hunting, A.E.G.I.S. T.A., plastic surgeon, radio assistant, Alumni sidekick internship program. Alien hunting sounds pretty awesome not gonna lie. Just as I’m about to exit the park, a woman in a crisp black suit and sunglasses approaches me. “Excuse me, miss.”
I look at her and see she’s got a clipboard standing next to a plain looking desk with a little United States Department of Heroes banner stapled onto it. Got a pretty stylin’ ponytail too. “Uh… yeah?”
“I’m with the Department of Heroes.” She smiles and hands another brochure into my arms. “How would you like to make a difference and make this city safer?”
Before I can respond, Suzy’s voice rings in right beside us. “Gloria…” She groans. “How many times do I have to tell you? No poaching my students.”
I turn to my left and see Suzy standing a mere ten feet away from us with her signature coffee mug in hand.
“Oh come on…” Gloria smiles, but retracts the brochure. “I was just letting your students know about our lucrative and prestigious positions.”
“That’s nice.” Suzy takes a sip of coffee. “Get out. Now.”
“I can’t yet.” Gloria scans the area. “Would either of you happen to know where William Cruz is?”
“Will?” I furrow my brow. “What do you want with him?”
“I’m trying to get him ba-”
Suzy snaps her fingers and the table with the Department of Heroes banner neatly folds itself up and collapses onto the grass. “Last warning.”
“Suzy, baby.” Gloria starts putting the desk back up. “C’mon. Can’t we talk this over?”
“OUT. NOW.” Suzy waggles her finger and sends the desk flying across campus and lands it gently on top of the library. I’ve never heard her raise her voice like that before… Her eyes focused like a beast lunging at its prey and her voice alone nearly made my heart stop.
Gloria watches the desk fly then sighs. “I’ll get back to you on that.” She hands me a brochure before levitating off the ground. “Give it some thought, won’t you?” She flashes me a little salute before flying off to the library roof.
I add the brochure to my collection then look at Suzy. “She an ex or something?”
“Nope.” Suzy chugs some coffee. “I just don’t want my students dying in some god-forsaken desert.”
“I can respect-”
A familiar voice echoes through the park. “You bitchasses!”
The very ground shakes and I can see the flagpoles by the parking lot wobble wildly.
“Woo! Yuko! Kick their asses!”
Suzy sighes, but smiles. “Let’s see what trouble she’s gotten herself into.”
Yuko
September 27th, 2007. 1:05 p.m. Flagpoles by the parking lot near the front of the school. I’m heading across the street with Angela and Sejong to get some lunch at the little food court across the street. Just gotta cross over the little bridge connecting campus to the court. Well, I would be doing that if there wasn’t this crowd of people flooding the parking lot bridge, and sidewalks with picket signs chanting obnoxious slogans at the top of their lungs through megaphones they probably rented using their parents’ credit cards. Their voices are hideous and none of them can chant on-key. The slogans on the signs include such creative zingers like: “Aegis kills kids!”, “Accountability now!”, “Regulate teh heroes!”, “No more kid killers!” That’s not a typo. These dense bitches really can’t even spell ‘the’ correctly.
Sejong tries getting onto the bridge, but the mob blocks his way. “Um. Excuse me. Just trying to go to lunch.”
Some bitch turns the megaphone and shrieks right in Sejong’s face. “NO LUNCH FOR VIGILANTES! NO FOOD UNTIL YOU OBEY THE LAW LIKE THE REST OF US!”
Some of Sejong’s skin liquifies as he recoils and covers his ears.
Angela cracks her knuckles and grins at us. “Want me to accuse them of sexul assault?”
“Please don’t…” Sejong pleads. “That’s too much.”
“Listen guys…” I approach one of the protesters holding a megaphone. “Whatever you guys are mad about, I don’t care. I just gotta get to lunch.”
“YOU’RE COMPLYING WITH MURDERERS!” She points the megaphone right in my face and yells at me point blank. “YOUR SILENCE IS VIOLENCE!” My ears start ringing like crazy.
“YOU BITCHASSES!” I smack the megaphone out of her hand, grab her by the collar, and headbutt her.
Bonk
Head hurts even more now, but it was totally worth it. Bitch collapsed backwards onto the concrete and started crying.
“Yuko, are you okay?” Sejong helps me stay standing up.
“Good enough…” I rub my forehead.
“Damn… Hitting protestors is badass!” Angela cheers.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Half of the mob starts surrounding us while the other half keeps their distance.
“Yeah that’s right!” I beckon them. “Try something! I dare you! I’ll blast all you assholes into traffic if I need to!”
“Temper, Yuko… Temper.” Headmaster’s voice pierces the mob.
I look to my right and see a section of the mob part just wide enough for Headmaster and Vivian to approach us.
Headmaster takes a sip from her mug and looks down at the protester I headbutted. “Who did that?”
“Me.” I lock eyes with Headmaster. “What of it?”
Headmaster smiles and wags her finger at me. “I like ya.” She looks back at the crowd. “All of you have until sundown to vacate the premises. Are we clear?”
“WE’RE NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIMES OF YOUR STUDENTS!” A dozen protesters reply through their megaphones.
Headmaster snaps her fingers and all the megaphones collapse in on themselves until they resemble brightly-painted scrap metal then waves her hand and sends a portion of the mob floating safely off the bridge and two blocks over. “Now then.” She looks at Viv, then to me. “Wanna get lunch? My treat.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” I lick my lips and follow Headmaster to the food court.
Josh
September 27th, 2007. 4:05 p.m. The sun sucks. The weather sucks. The smog sucks. Whoever invented heat can suck a fat one right now. My very nice and incredibly sexy hero suit is fused to my back with sweat. The food here sucks, everyone’s crying and depressed, and I’m thirsty as hell. Goddamnit! Why am I being punished for this? Can’t we just all gang up on Faust and have her do this? She’d be way better at helping clean up this trashpit of a street than I would. We’ve been at this for six hours and the place barely looks any better. To hell with all this. I’m going to-
“Mr. Can I have some more water?” A little kid approaches my food and water booth. “I’m super thirsty.”
“Sure thing kiddo.” A smile forces itself across my face as I hand him a water bottle. “Need anything else?”
“Can you unpetrify my mom?”
I feel my soul finally abandon my body, but gotta maintain that smile for the kids. “No… I’m sorry, but you can ask Phoenix over there.” I point to Janelle. “She might be able to help you.”
“Thanks, Mister.” the kid groans and walks off towards Janelle.
This sucks…
Will wheels a massive slab of beef into our booth. The slab looks like half the size of a cow. I feel like I’m gonna get sucked into the meat dimension just by looking at it.
“Jesus Christ!” I flinch backwards just from the skewer’s heat. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“Oh, this little puppy?” Will slaps the beef then licks the sauce off his fingers. “It’s a donation from Pa. He heard about the disaster and thought that the people deserved a little pick me up.”
“That’s… god that smells delicious… Mind if I get first cut?”
“Yes.” Will begins slicing the beef with his hand and distributing plates of steak cubes to the masses. “Volunteers gotta wait till everyone else has had a serving.”
“Goodie two-shoes.”
“Darn right.” Will tips his hat and continues passing out steak.
While he’s feeding everyone, I just look above the masses and into the surrounding area. There’s still rubble everywhere. Some stores lie destroyed. Bits and pieces of buildings jut out of other buildings. Rows upon rows of petrified people line the streets with police lines surrounding them. It’s not exactly a fun place to be right now. I see two figures walking up to some of the statues. One massive, one short. Both of them are clad in trench coats. The short one looks like the coat’s far too big for her while the huge dude looks ready to bust out of his at any sec.
“Uh… Will? Ain’t that that Oso dude you were talking about?”
“Huh?” Will looks up through the crowd, but just shrugs. “I can’t see him. Can you help me pass out plates?”
Janelle
September 27th, 2007. 4:11 p.m. I just had to explain to a child why I couldn’t help their mom… The kid called me a bitch and ran away crying… Now I remember why I dropped out. At least everyone else managed to be somewhat pleasant. I’ve mostly been helping check up on people who were injured yesterday or delayed treatment because they couldn’t afford it. I’m also in charge of patching up anyone who gets injured cleaning up glass or clearing out electrical wires. Fortunately the clean up crew seems to know what they’re doing, so I haven’t had to help anyone in that department.
For the past twenty minutes or so, I have just been sitting on standby watching the army of news vans and reporters drive through here and interview victims and passerbys for any stories they can get. It’d be nice if they actually stopped and helped clean up, but whatever. There’s this duo of trench coats that walks up to one of the statues nearby, so I need to stop them. I get up and put myself between them and the statue. “Ma’am I’m sorry, but you can-”
The short one with a big scarf turns towards me and smiles. Everything about her is just… so warm and inviting. Like my mom when she was younger.
“Please, miss.” She holds my hand and points to the adjacent statue. “This is my daughter. Am I not allowed to mourn?”
“No. No. You are. Please forgive me.” I slide out of the way feeling like a huge idiot.
The woman ducks under the police tape and gently caresses the statue’s shoulder. “You’re going to be okay… I promise. Everything will be just fine.” A green light emits from the woman’s hand and courses throughout the statue’s cracks. Bits and pieces of stone begin to wither away and fall off, revealing hair, cloth, and flesh. Piece by piece, the person once petrified returns to life before my eyes.
As the petrified woman regains her form and consciousness, she feels her face and jumps up and down just to make sure it’s real. “Thank you!” she cries out to the coated woman. “Thank you so much!”
“You are most welcome.” The coated woman smiles back before traveling down the line of statues and touching each and every one. After only five minutes, everyone who had been petrified is restored to life. The streets erupted into cheers, tears, smiles, and hugs. Families were reunited. Bottles were popped. Those cured and their families swarmed around the scarfed woman to thank her and hug her. The swarm swirled and meshed into one massive worship blob around her. I feel like I’m looking at a renaissance painting just looking at it.
GROAAAAAAAAAAAA
In the distance, a familiar shriek tears through the sky and pierces the hearts of the joyful.
“Oh how the hell…?” I get out my sunglasses and shove them on.
Buboom buboom buboom
Petra’s footsteps once again cause the ground to tremble under me. Though that could just be my own legs giving out. The crowd begins to disperse and flee inside in a panic.
“Relax, everyone.” The scarfed woman looks towards a street corner with that warm smile. “Everything will be alright. I shall protect you all.”
Sure enough, Petra once again turns the corner. But something was… off. The top of her face was covered by wraps. She looks clean and well-fed and just… I dunno, just less aggressive? She was still as horrifying as ever, but… just cleaner.
Petra sprints full force at the scarfed woman.
The scarfed woman holds out her arms and takes a wide, sturdy stance. There’s no way… Is she seriously considering catching her? This whole thing stinks…
Petra continues running and running and running. She’s thiiiis close to crashing right into the scarfed woman. I’m just keeping my distance. If I have to light Petra ablaze, so be it. News crews and helicopters are already surrounding the scene like a friggin movie set.
At the last possible second, the scarfed woman stands aside and slides her fingers across Petra’s side. She smiles and adjusts her scarf.
Petra begins to skid to a halt. GROAAAAAAA. She shrieks to the sky. Her abdomen and shoulder begin to bubble and grow to horrifying degrees. Tumors the size of basketballs begin to engulf her body. Her muscles and bones begin to bend and pop under the weight and strain of the tumors. It only takes twenty seconds for me to not even recognize Petra anymore… It’s just a horrible mess of skin and growths. I regret ever looking at it.
And yet, the people rejoice. Petra’s victims and their families once more fill the streets and celebrate. Some begin to cry and give thanks to the scarfed woman. Others tease and kick the corpse once known as Petra. Some line up to take cheeky photos. Some once petrified children sneak up and pluck scales off her tail. All the while, the tall figure never leaves the scarfed woman’s side. Rubble, dried blood, and a new corpse lined the street, and yet people drank, ate, danced, and gave thanks like it was Christmas. Even the sky itself blessed this event as the clouds began to part and shine sunlight unto the woman. Her scarf blew in the wind and shimmered in the sunlight. Children wrapped themselves in her scarf’s warm embrace while adults cried into her shoulders. This looks rehearsed as all hell.
Suzy
September 27th, 2007. 4:15 p.m. My office. Finally… My paperwork is done… No student’s horribly injured… A new episode’s one tonight. glugluglgu aaaaah. Finished my coffee too... Time to head the hell home, get some chocolates, and get snuggled up for the rest of the ni-
The office TV just had to open its whore mouth. “And now we bring you back to San Diego for a new development in the San Diego Monster case.”
“God Damnit!” I slam my coffee mug into my table and manage to break it clean in half. “Sonuvabitch!” I chuck the broken mug into the trash with all the others. There’s gotta be at least twenty in there by now.
“The monster that terrorized and petrified over five hundred people has just been slain by a mysterious woman named Doc. She was curing all the petrification victims, when the monster that ravaged San Diego just yesterday appeared once more and headed straight for a clean up camp. Fortunately, no one new was petrified or harmed during this encounter and all the petrified victims have already made a full recovery. We tried to reach out to Doc for an interview, but she is currently swamped by patients, admirers, and just people who want to thank her for everything she’s done for them. Woohoo. Wow. Just look at them go…” The reporter’s plastic grin slowly wears thin. “It’s been five minutes and they’re still going at it…”
The camera just couldn’t help but focus on Petra’s body throughout the reporter’s entire speech. Zoomed in on the tumors and her teeth… Never once showed her smile…
“Patricia…”
Patricia
November 21st, 1998. 10:30 p.m. Aegis University. My secret lab. There’s a big ‘World’s Best Mom’ mug of fresh tea on my desk. sniff snoff Awwww yeah… That gets the sinuses nice and clear. slorp. I got a nice weighted blanket around my shoulder too. All is optimal. Binders upon binders of my notes are lying about everywhere… I really should clean that up… I forget janitorial staff aren’t allowed in here sometimes. I can’t even see the floor; I’ve gotten so disorganized… Not that that matters really. I got everything stored neat and tidy up in here. In all that squishy, goopy grey matter. Just a few last minute adjustments to the pod… that number needs to go up. That number needs to go down. All the wires are where they should be and the interior of each pod is clean enough to eat off of. I would know. I’ve done it three times this week. Everything is in order… Got the alien DNA, have the machine set up, all the power should be diverted to my device within five minutes. This will work. This has to.
I hear the door behind me slide open. I swivel swivel around 721 degrees and point my laser gun at the intruder. I made it myself from a spoon, a can of chips, some copper wiring, some potato skins, a gun, and a tiny neutron particle engine I made myself. Don’t ask how it works. It just works.
“Whoa! Whoa! Patty!” Suzy drops her cigarette and watches it hit the floor longingly. “Patty. You and I are the only ones with access to this lab. Who did you think was coming in?”
“Ya never know. Could’ve been a Soviet spy.” I stamp out the cigarette and swivel back around
“The USSR broke up seven years ago. Chill.”
“That’s what they want you to think…” I continue adjusting values in the console.
“So… you got everything set up?” Suzy walks up behind me and rests her chin on my head.
“Juuuust about.” I nod and peer into the code. Is that a colon or a semi-colon? I can never tell… better retype the line just to make sure. “What about the test subject? Is he ready?”
“About that… the subject kinda just gave up.”
“Aaaagh damnit…” I rest my forehead against the cold desk. “That’s the fourth one this week… Why do they always have to give up just before we’re gonna fix them?”
Suzy just shrugs and pats my shoulder. “Don’t let it get ya down. I’m sure the government will be happy to supply another batch.”
“No. I’m not waiting a week.” I get outta my desk and head towards the pods. “I gotta get this done now. I’m tired of waiting.”
Suzy holds my arm. “Wait! Are you crazy?! You can’t do that. We can wait a week just fine. There’s no need to rush things.”
“They’re cutting funding Monday.”
“Oh… right…” Suzy lets go of me and sighs. “But where the hell else are they going to get experiments like this?”
“A little bird told me Pavise Academy made a pretty good bid two weeks ago.”
“Goddamnit Pavise…” Suzy rubs her temple. “Can’t let me relax for two minutes, can you?”
“We can get the funding back.” I flip some wall switches and begin putting samples into adjacent pods. “Promise.”
“No. Patty.” Suzy holds my wrist again. “Let me talk to them. I’m sure we can get an extension.”
“Do you want your dream to come true or not?” I look her dead in the eye. I bet I look so cool right now.
Suzy looks at me with her mouth ajar and slowly lowers her hand.
“It’ll be fine, alright?” I reach up to pat her head. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I do… just…”
“Just what?”
“Nothing.” She shakes her head and puts her hand on my shoulder. “You’re right. I’m just being paranoid.”
“There’s the Suzy I know.” I smile and skedaddle over to the big pod in the center of the wall, open it, and get all up in there. I’ve outfitted the interior with lush velvet carpeting and a big poofy pillow. I don’t need my neck getting any more messed up than it already is, alright? Trust me. This is peak science design right here.
“So… uh… what do I do?” Suzy knocks on the pod window.
“Oh, right. Silly me. There’s a drawer on the bottom left side of my desk. Inside there’s a control panel. Flip the lock switch, energy switch, then press the big red button that says ‘Start the Science’. Need me to tell you again?”
“Uh…” Suzy looks over at the desk. “Nah. I’m sure I have it.”
I hear the generator start to spin and the locks on the pod lock. The alarms begin to sound and Suzy steps back. Here we go… No turning back. Yeyeyeye. This is gonna be so cool. No one would dare revoke my license once I’m a sick mutant beast.
Commencing Cellular Fusion in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…
Wait. I forgot to carry the-
1.
Blinding, brilliant light fills the pod… and I feel… weightless, but a good weightless. Nothing hurts. Did it work? Did I get vaporized? Did I accidentally make a billion dollar tanning bed?
CRACK
Nope. That’s my spine extending and my leg bones twisting in directions I didn’t think existed. Oh me oh my that is incredibly painful. Ooooh boy. Ooooh mama. Would not recommend this to anyone except the most hardcore of scientists. Goodie. It seems like my jaw has unhinged. I can feel new teeth piercing the undersides of my old teeth. dink dink dink dink. One by one, my old teeth hit the floor. I reach around my face and feel these badass sharpy boys jutting out of my mouth… There goes four years of orthodontic work. So… I’m not sure if I’m going blind… or if my brain is just getting huge or both or neither… Because… I think I might be seeing sounds, but also be seeing normally at the same time? My eyes feel super heavy… but oooh… no buts… this just hurts like a bitch… I press my palm against my temple only to find that gorgeous claws have replaced my hands. I even saw my nails fall off and my bones grow out of my skin. In fact, a lot of my skin has just kinda flaked off. I’m standing in a pile of my skin and meat. This should hurt a lot more… I think. If your bones are growing out of your skin, shouldn’t you be begging for some deity to just cap you? It only hurt for the first ten seconds of the light… After that it feels juth fine. No. Juth fine. Juth fine. The hell? Oh. My tongue has grown out of my mouth and is dangling down past my neck. It. Looks. So. Cool! It’s this big snake tongue that looks like it belongs to some Cambrian era abomination.
Oh man I bet I look so cool. I-
creak
Huh… It would appear I am too big to be contained in the pod. My new snakey bits are too long, too thick, and much too rough to be contained by this titanium contraption. No matter. I shall break out of here like a badass and just make another pod. A good scientist always has a backup stash of titanium.
buboom
I stretch out my tail and flop out of the pod like a sack of potatoes. “Aaaw no. Suzy can you help me back in? I wanted to burst out all cool.”
Suzy just stands there looking justifiably mortified. “Patty… are you okay? You’re still Patty, right?”
“Yesamundo.” I salute with my new snake tail. “Heck, I feel better than ever. I feel strong… I feel fast. I feel like I’ve eaten breakfast every day this past week.”
“O-okay…” Suzy takes a deep breath and smiles. “That’s a relief… shall we run some tests just to make sure everything’s healthy and functional?”
“Of course. Test me up.”
Patricia
November 27th, 1998. 5:21 p.m. Everything should be in place. Got the banner on the office kitchen wall, big cake and a meat lover’s pizza on the table, got my gift all nice and wrapped up just fine and dandy. Even got my extra pointy superconductor party hat on. The false hands Suzy helped make for me fit perfectly… Fingers move as they should and they look cute to boot.
The door swings open and Suzy is escorting Jimmy with a bag on his head and his arms handcuffed behind him. She pushes him into the room with and follows closely behind him
“Hey!” Jimmy shakes and squirms. “Let go of me! My mom will kick your ass once she hears about this!”
“Oh my god kid, shut up already. It’s me.” Suzy rubs her temple and sucks on an unlit cigarette.
“Wait… Suzy?”
Suzy lifts the bag off his head and unlocks the handcuffs. “Surprise!”
“Surprise!” I shake my tail and wave my arms.
Junko pops out from under the table and begins singing alongside me. Her hair’s an utter mess and even got caught on the side of the table, but she still manages a good performance. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Jimmy! Happy birthday to you!”
All anger in my beautiful boy’s face was immediately replaced with embarrassment. “Mom… You didn’t have to do this… Seriously.”
“I know, but c’mon you only turn nineteen once!” I pop open a bottle of champagne with my tail and begin pouring some glasses. “I’ll let you two drink.”
“Woo!” Junko untangles her hair from the table with a wag of her finger. “Thank you, Patricia!” she waves her arm and the champagne bottle floats out of my arms and begins pouring several glasses all by itself..
A tiny, but significant smile envelopes Jimmy’s face. “Thank you, mom.” He rubs the back of his head and sits down next to me.
Suzy immediately swipes a glass and takes a fat swig.
Junko takes out a canteen and pours coffee into her champagne. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.
Jimmy takes the biggest piece of pizza and begins practically inhaling it.
I take a glass with my tail and begin sipping. “So. 19. Any plans for this year? Any goals before you become a big twenty boy?”
“Uuuh… There’s some wrestling auditions.” Jimmy slurps up a strand of gooey cheese. “Definitely gonna try and beef up a little more beforehand though.”
“Attaboy.” I rub his head with my tail. “Do you wanna be a heel or a face?”
“Well, uh, my Tech revolves around heeling as hard as I can… so…”
“Oh, yeah… Facing would be pretty hard.” I take a bite out of my own pizza. “What about you, Junko? With a Tech like that, you can get into any academy you want.”
A slice of pizza floats beside Junko’s head. She takes a bite and swallows before replying. “That is so good… Um. Haven’t really decided what I want to do. Pavise and Aegis are both giving me free rides, but I don’t even know what I want to do. Mamoru Daigaku and Schild Universitat also sound fun… I’ve always wanted to go abroad.” Junko takes a sip of her coffee champagne cocktail and grimaces. That doesn’t stop her from downing the rest of her glass.
“Take your time, Junko.” Suzy tips her glass to her. “You got your whole life ahead of you. No shame in taking a year off to just relax.”
“That does sound wise.” Junko smiles. “Maybe I’ll get a bio degree like you two. I don’t really think I’m cut out for any of that hero business.
Suzy grimaces a little before drinking the champagne. “This doesn’t bug you at all, Jimmy?”
“Eh?” Jimmy looks up and down at me. “Mom’s done weirder things.” he shrugs before giving me a quick hug. “Plus she’s my mom. Who cares if she’s got a few more scales?”
“Can’t argue with that.” Suzy shrugs before taking another sip.
I can’t wait anymore. “Jimmy. Hey. Hey Jimmy.” I poke Jimmy with the tip of my tail.
“Ye?” He looks up at me with a mouthful of pizza.
“Open your prezzy now.”
“But da pizzah.” he slorps up another piece of cheese goop.
“Dude. Trust me.” I carefully place the present in front of him. “It’ll be worth it.”
“You got it. No way I’m turning down anything free.” he swallows his pizza and washes it down with some champagne. “Thank you again so much for all of this… You really didn’t have to.”
“Would you have preferred I gotten you socks?”
“I mean… I’d be happy to just get anything… Thank you again.” Jimmy smiles again at me before opening up the present the same way he always has since he was four. Just tears it right open with no level of finesse. But it works. No matter how many layers I add, he always gets all the paper off in less than six seconds. I should start a gift unwrapping competition… I’m sure people would watch that.
“Oh… oh my god…” He looks down at the gift and hugs it close to his chest.
“You like it?” I smirk.
“I didn’t even know Ocarina of Time was out yet… how did you get it so quickly?”
Oh my god he’s shaking. He’s so happy. “I just had to pester some employees every day for a month. It was no biggie.”
“What?” Junko tilts her head. “You asked me once and I snuck a copy for you.”
“Ssh.” I put my tail tip to Junko’s mouth.
“Thank you so much…” Jimmy falls into my arms and hugs me profusely. Oh my god he’s crying. Again.
“Are you okay?”
“This is the best gift I ever got…” he sniffles.
“Jimmy, you say that every year.”
“I mean it every year…” He hugs me tight.
“Well, you deserve it kiddo. You’re a good kid.”
“Thanks mom… Thank you so so so so much.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I pat his head. “Want some cake?”
“Heck yeah I do! Corner please.” Jimmy immediately opens up the game box and begins reading through the manual as if it's a revelation from on high.
“You got it. Suzy?”
“Just give me the fattest chunk you got.” Suzy takes another sip.
“And you Junko?” I pick up the knife on the table.
“Hnngh… I shouldn’t… but it looks so good.”
“Junks, chill.” Jimmy says without looking up from the manual. “A little chub never hurt nobody.”
Junko’s pale cheeks glow pink. “One thick slice please.”
“Right away.” I cut out a fat slice and plop it on a plate. “Jimmy, could you pass this over to Suzy?”
“Of course.” Jimmy puts down the manual and begins passing the plate to Suzy. “Yo, Suz. Hey y-”
plop
The cake slides out of his hands and spills all over the floor. Frosting and cake chunks fly to the wall and stain the table cloth.
My tail flings around and smacks Jimmy against the wall. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!”
Jimmy writhes on the floor. “I’m sorry! Mom! Calm down!”
My breathing heightens. Blood rushes through me. My head feels… good… Light even. My mouth begins fidgeting and my tongue begins to salivate. Move. Move. Gotta move. Get going. Eat. EAt. Move. aEReje. Move. “You think it’s okay to just waste cake like that?! THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU LITTLE BITCH?!” I $pring towards the little bastard and prep@re to rend him limb from limb… He l00ks just delic!ous~
“Patricia!” Junko stands tall and points at me. I’m frozen in midair. It hurts so much...
“PATTY! Can you hear me?” Suzy keeps her distance and barks at me.
“W-what…?” My breathing slows down and patches of my skin begin to shrivel up. I blink repeatedly and look down at my hands. My claws had protracted... They were mere millimeters from Jimmy’s neck. My tongue is also hanging out of my mouth… why? “I… Yeah… I can hear you…”
“Patty… It’s just cake.” Suzy lowers her voice.” You know that, right?”
“Y-yeah… I… do…” A horrible tingle violates my spine. I shake my head and look back down at Jimmy. “Jimmy… are you hurt at all?”
“N-nothing I can’t walk off…” he wipes a tear from his eye and gets up by himself. “You didn’t hurt me… It’s cool.”
Suzy nods at Junko.
Junko nods back and lowers her hand.
I feel my body relax and slowly lower to the floor. “Ow… Jimmy…” I hug him tight. “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry… I don’t know what came over me… Sorry. I promise that won’t happen again.”
“You good, mom. It’s okay.” Jimmy hugs me tight…
What was that…?
Patricia
December 3rd, 1998. 1:21 a.m. Looking up at the ceiling of my office… Looking… Looking… Looking… Look...ing… Not much to do till the new subjects come in… Least we got funding for next year… The dudes looked real impressed with me… Or did they? I can’t remember the meeting too well. I was too busy looking at their veins.
The door to my office opens again.
“Yo, don’t shoot me this time.” Suzy yawns.
$%&!
“Oh… hey, Suz.” I turn around and flick my tongue at her. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to do some Aegis paperwork in here for a while.” She rubs her eye. “Is that okay?”
“What’s wrong with your office?”
“Some punkass student wanted to fight me, so I obliged. The janitors have to clean up my office now.”
“Pfft. How long did the fight last?” I slither away from the desk and pull over my swivel chair for Suzy.
“Calling it a fight’s a little generous. More of an ass kicking.” She sits down, opens up some binders and begins looking at a bunch of forms that I can’t make heads or tails of. I’m reading the words, but nothing’s registering.
“I expected no less.” I sit comfortably in my coils and watch her work…
“How’s that new body treating you?” Suzy asks without looking back at me. “Any new outbursts of anger? Any increases in appetite?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Not since the party… Sorry about eating the whole cake by the way.”
“Eh. I got my slice. I ain’t complaining. How’s your son doing? Does he like your gift?”
“Oh he loves it. I haven’t been able to get him pried away for that thing. Darn near had to unplug the thing just so he wouldn’t starve.”
“Hehe… Like mother like son.”
“What you mean?”
“Patty, before your transformation, you would forget to eat breakfast till 5 p.m.”
“I’m not dead, am I?”
“No, but you’d be taller if you bothered to eat.” She yawns and flips a form over.
“Yeah, yeah…” Oh great, now I’m yawning.
No music in the office. No noise except for the scribble of Suzy’s pen. The only light source was a desk lamp illuminating Suzy’s work.
Wait… I… I can hear her heartbeat from here. It’s… so cute. Beat, beat, beat… It’s faint, but I can hear it. It’s so warm and calm… is it always like this? I swallow the spit in my mouth. I wonder what it would sound like if her heart rate increased…
My tail slithers across the floor and knocks over a box of science equipment in the corner of the room.
“BWAH!” Suzy nearly jumps out of her seat and looks around to the source of the noise. She sees my tail coiled around the base of the box. “Patty, come on! You can’t do that to me at this time of night.”
“Hehe… Got ya though.” I wave my claws. “I got my fill. I promise I won’t do that again tonight.”
“You better.” Suzy glares at me before swiveling around and returning to her work.
O-oh my god… her heart… babump babump babump babump… It’s so fast… It’s like its quivering in fear… I can smell her sweat… It’s salty, but sweet… I have to swallow my drool again. Did… did she always smell this good? This raw? Her skin is so clean and plump. I gotta know what it tastes like. Just one little love nibble won’t hurt, right? I mean, friends do that all the time… I would let her take a little bite out of me if she wanted to. Her heat warms me up just by being near me. It’s like sitting next to a perfectly tuned heat lamp. Imagine how good it’d feel if she was inside me…
My body begins slithering up towards her. I coil around the chair, hug her from behind, and rest my chin on her shoulder. Smells. So. Good. I can’t even swallow my own drool anymore. It’s overflowing out my mouth and down my chin.
“Aaw… Thanks Patty.” Suzy relaxes and leans her head back, exposing her succulent neck to me. “I really needed a hug right now. Work’s been real rough…”
I can see each and every one of her veins and arteries. I can hear sweet, tangy blood pulsing through her. “I really need this too~” I open my mouth and plunge my teeth into Suzy’s neck and shoulder. My teeth pierce her soft muscles and her sweet, sweet blood gushes into my mouth and down my throat.
“Patty!” is the only coherent word Suzy can muster before she begins to cry and thrash about like a wounded animal. A delicious wounded animal that can’t stop me. Her and I both know that.
“O-oh god… Yes…” I continue munching into her shoulder as she flinches and squirms like a small puppy. She’s so cute like this… I could just eat her up.
Just as I’m about to pierce through her collar bone, my mouth locks up. I hear the door to the lab open. I can’t move. I can’t even lick her blood off my lips.
Suzy’s neck goes limp and her body grows cold.
My eyes flick over to the doorway and I see Junko holding her arms out towards me. She flicks her finger and I drop Suzy and go flying off into the ceiling.
Suzy lies under me in a puddle of her own blood writhing like a reanimated corpse. Why is she crying? Junko keeps her eyes on me, walks over to the wall, and hits the alarm. EEE EEE EEE EEE A horrible, deafening tone violates my ears as the room becomes engulfed in a horrid red light. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Why is she doing this to me? Does she hate me?
“Patty!” Junko looks at Suzy, nods, then looks back at me. “I… have to do this…” She slowly extends her fingers towards me and closes her eyes.
Something… is moving inside of me. Lots of things. Too, too many things. $%# What’s the word again…? I can’t… I can’t think of the word… Hurts. Yeah, that’s it. I can’t look at my stomach, but part of me is thankful for that… I feel my tail separate from the upper half of my body and see it plop against the ground. I feel… lighter… I… Oh… I guess this was bad… Oops… I slowly lose consciousness. The last thing I see before knocking out is Suzy drowning in her own blood.
Patricia
December 12, 1998. 2:12 p.m. Secret Lab. I wake in lab. Big bars and tough glass surround me. No part of me can leave. Not even my little tail… Oh, nice. My tail grew back. Ceiling has big cans and weird guns. Suzy sit outside cage. She writing something in notebook that say ‘Tech Transfer Procedure’. Can’t make out other tiny words.
“Suzy! Heeeey! Hey, Suzy!” I slither to cage, but bonk head. “Oww… Hurt.. Suzy, why do you have me in this cage? Lemme out.”
Suzy sitting on chair. Looks pale. Big bandage and cast over neck and arm. Small controller in hand too. Want to taste. “No. I’m not letting you out till you explain yourself.”
I tilt head. “What you mean? What do I…” I stare at wall.
Suzy tilts her head and locks eyes with me. “Hey, Patty. Focus.”
“What’s word for talking?”
“Explain?”
“Yeah! Explain! I have nothing to… explain. What do I explain?”
Suzy points to bandage. “This! You damn near bit my head off!”
“I… Really?” I tilt head.
“Yes really! I had to use up all my favors just so that security didn’t just kill you then and there!” her eyeballs wet. “Why did you bite me? Please. I need to know.”
“Uh… your neck looks…” I rub my chin with my tail. “How do describe good food?”
Suzy cover face with free hand. “Do you mean tasty?”
“Yeah! Tasty! Your neck looked super tasty! So I just had to get a taste, ya know?”
“Patty…” Suzy takes a deep breath. “I can’t let you out of here. You’re too dangerous.”
Dangerous…? No. No. I hurt no one. Especially Suzy. Suzy best friend. “I won’t taste you again! Promise!” I bash against cage. “Just let me out! Let me out! Please! Let me make it up to you!”
Suzy look scared. Very, very scared. What is she scared of? “I’m sorry, Patty. I’m leaving you in for your own good.” Suzy shake head and push controller button.
Funny cloud fills box… Body feel heavy… zzz…
Suzy
December 22nd, 1998. 5:12 p.m. Redacted facility. This… this sucks. There’s no better way to say this. This just sucks. I can’t take care of Patty anymore. She’s gotten immune to the sleep gas and I can’t afford all the meat necessary to feed her. Even if I had the money, I can’t focus with her in the office. I’m waiting in the middle of the Mojave Desert behind an abandoned gas station. Patty’s inside a cage strapped to the back of a huge truck. Just ten more minutes, then I never have to worry about her again. I… I don’t care what they use her for, I just can't risk being bit like that again… My left arm still feels numb. I can’t move it. It doesn’t even feel like it’s connected to me. I don’t think I’ll ever move it again. Left arm’s nothing more than a heavy paper weight now. Not that I’m complaining. It’s a miracle I even still have an arm or that I’m even alive.
For some stupid, idiotic reason, I decide to flip open the tarp concealing Patty’s cage. She’s staring right at me. No words. Nothing coherent. Just heavy breathing and slobber looking at me. Her eyes look… different. The shape, color, and size of her pupils have been changing slowly, but they look drastically different here. I can’t even really call her Patty anymore. She doesn’t sound, look, or even feel like her. Different smile. Different voice. Different face. Different body. This is not Patty. This is not Patty. My good arm reaches out and presses against the glass. Patty looks at the hand and looks ready to lunge at it… but doesn’t. She carefully raises her claw and presses it against the glass.
“Su… Zy…” it’s mouth begins to move. A foreign voice escapes its lips. “Where… Jimmy…?”
I close my eyes and swallow before throwing the tarp back on. Something… bad fills my stomach. Don’t let it set in. I spend about five minutes trying not to let it set in before a military convoy rolls up and parks beside me. Some withered, but still fit general comes out and shakes my hand. Not gonna lie, he can get it. Haha… Ha… All remaining air leaves my body.
He shakes hands with me and wishes his sincere condolences before peeking under the tarp. He motions his crew to begin transferring the cage to his armored vehicle then hands me a series of fat checks that will keep me and Aegis well-funded for a good while. The man thanks me for my service and promises me Patty will be put to good use and save a lot of people. I don’t buy that for a second, but… it would be nice if it was true. After everything is in order, the armored convoy packs up and drives away. I wait till I can’t hear their motors anymore before falling against the graffiti and sticker-encrusted gas station wall and crying. I cry and cry and cry. I fall over into the sand and continue to cry. I continue crying until I have no tears left. My body is empty. My mind is tired. My throat is raw. My eyes are swollen. My mouth is cracked and dry. I collapse into the endless sand and hope that it swallows me like it has so many others.
And yet, I know that would do nothing. Patty would spit on me in hell if she saw me like this. I get up, rub the sand out of my hair, and begin the long drive back. I won’t let Patty go to waste… She used herself to help achieve my dream… It would be an insult to give up now.
Patricia
December 22nd, 1998. 5:12 p.m. Truck. I excite. Suzy said we’re finally going outside. I haven’t been outside in forever. Wonder what we do. Shop? Eat pizza? I need pizza. Have not eat pizza in forever. It’s so dark here… but the truck move. She going to let me out now? Wait. Wait. Maybe we go Christmas shopping. I still need to knit Jimmy a sweater this Christmas. He will get cold otherwise. Suzy throws off tarp and look at me. She doesn’t say anything. She look at me… She probably still mad about bite… How do… Um… what’s… what’s word… I… I can’t think… Why is it so hard… Just give me moment. No. Forget moment. I just go and see what I say. I’m sure she understand. Suzy always understand me. “Su… Zy… Where Jimmy?” That sentence right? Before I can ask her if we shopping, she close eyes and close tarp. Allergies must be acting up.
I hear some other engines come up. Are they food trucks? That generous. I eat a lot. Must be expensive… How can I repay? Hm… I make sweater for her. She must be cold helping me do research late night. Suzy the best. I know it hard caring for this body, but she does it anyway.
The cage is moving. Wha. oh. Hm. I must be getting off truck. Good. Oh. I see. Different truck. That’s cool. Uh oh. The truck have started to move. The tarp flap in wind. I peek under it and see Suzy standing. She’s… smiling. She… Oh…
Body feels bad. I… want say more… but I can’t… I want talk, but can’t think of words… Words hard. Talking has gotten hard. I guess being with me has gotten hard.
“Suzy… when I better… let’s hang out again…”