Jack sat cross legged on the dirt floor, eyes closed in a deep state of meditation. He needed to get a better control of this strange power. It seemed so be something related to canceling his own gravity. This was completely outside his scope of understanding. Basic physics and chemistry were all he could figure out on his own.
Slowly he relaxed his control on the strange organ behind his sternum. Without moving in the slightest he managed to keep himself from floating off of the ground. With deliberate and painstaking effort, Jack very VERY slowly returned his gravity to normal, the excess gravity slowly bleeding off as he maintained a slightly increased weight for a prolonged period.
“Huh... that's neat.”
Jack’s face lit up in a smile as he realized why this ability was considered unstable. There was no apparent instinct or natural ease of using it. He’d been practicing keeping himself on the ground for hours now and he still wasn’t certain he had complete control.
For the moment he knew he wouldn’t float off the ground, so he stood up and carefully went outside. Walking to an open area with nothing to impale him if he fell, Jack was determined to get a hold of his new acquisition. He began to practice different things. He tried controlling his gravity with precision first.
Making himself lighter without actually canceling his gravity entirely wasn’t that difficult. As he walked, he hopped around with a grin on his face.
‘This must be what it's like to live on the moon!’
Jack was giddy like a child with a new toy, probably worse if he was being honest. He bounded around for a good half hour before he felt the tightness in his chest. It appeared he was “full” on gravity. Releasing the gravity when he stood firmly on the ground, Jack felt his joints creak from the extra weight. It wasn’t enough to make him struggle, but he’d have to keep in mind that waiting until the last moment when storing gravity would make him immobile for a short time.
Stepping out of the few inches deep holes he made with his feet, Jack was ready to up the ante. This time he crouched preparing to jump, lowering his gravity to only a small fraction of what it was previously, he leaped into the air. His enhanced strength shot him upwards like a rocket, and just before he approached the clouds, Jack let a little of his accumulated gravity out, nearly perfectly canceling his gravity. He floated there in the air, slowly sinking from his inaccurate use of his ability.
Eyes widening in wonder, Jack was lost for words looking at the scene before him. Enormous flying creatures floated in the distance, barely breaking below the clouds. They appeared to be some kind of balloon-ish things. The sheer amount of animateness of the forest around his was shocking. There was movement everywhere. Birds just above the tree canopy, rustling trees from the assorted wildlife, and running herds of 6 legged horned things traveling along the forest paths.
Floating up here in the sky, Jack hadn’t known peace like this in his entire life. The wind whipped his clothes around as he slowly drifted from its subtle pushes. Closing his eyes to enjoy the moment, he was about to drop back to the ground when he heard something. To the left of his vision, he noticed movement. Not the natural movement of the forest like the other creatures, but rapid, violent movement.
Squinting to try to find the source of the noise, Jack saw it. There was a small group of people running. Occasionally they’d change direction abruptly and it wasn’t long before he realized why.
Just behind the group was a monster. If everything he’d seen so far was just a normal occurrence, this thing was horrifying. It was disgustingly muscular and ran on 4 legs. It seemed to be covered in bones, or at least sharp fragments of them. From his current position he couldn’t see much. Just the writhing whip-like tails it used to navigate between the trees at high speeds.
Feeling guilty, Jack felt the need to go help them. Sighing out loud, he dropped to the ground and let his extra gravity bleed off instantly, causing him to collapse to the ground since he wasn’t prepared. Even if he wasn’t going to go help them, he still needed to test something he’d been thinking about since he’d gotten this strange ability. This was the perfect opportunity.
Rolling over and jumping to his feet, Jack looked in the direction he’d seen the people running. Making a guess based on their general direction, he turned slightly and started running. Moderately at first, then he picked up speed. Soon he was running faster than any human on Earth had ever managed. If he had to guess, he was going at least 40 miles an hour. Dropping slightly in preparation to jump, Jack lowered his gravity and leaped.
Soaring through the air, Jack flew. The tops of the trees zoomed below him as he quickly closed the gap between himself and the group of running humans. His clothes slapped against his body and the air roared in his ears from the wind battering at his body. He was nearly there. Just a few more second and he’d drop nearly perfectly by where he wanted.
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Dianne ran with her two partners, the damned monster still on their heels. Randy and Molly seemed to be keeping up, just barely. It was supposed to be a simple mission.
Look around and get back. That was it. They’d been sent out to scout the surrounding area by the leader of their camp. They’d only gotten a few hours into the mission before being ambushed by the creature behind them. It managed to tear apart two of her companions before anyone could react.
When they understood what was going on, they all started running without a second thought.
Looking backwards occasionally, she’d yell out an order to change direction in order to dodge the creature that was adamantly chasing them. Dianne had come up with this strategy after the last of their deceased companions fell to a lightning-fast tail whip, both legs bisected at the knees.
All of them were exhausted, they’d been running for who knows how long and she knew one thing for certain, if she was getting tired then the others wouldn’t last much longer.
Thoughts of abandoning her two companions crossed her mind many times as she ran, but she wouldn’t give into the intrusive thoughts. Gritting her teeth, she ran with a resolute look in her eyes. She wasn’t the kind of person to do something so pathetic. They were on their way to the encampment they’d come from. If they could make it, they’d have a chance of survival.
Dianne had been formulating a plan as they ran. If they could make it near the encampment, she and whoever still had the stamina to keep running could keep the monster busy as the other ran for reinforcements.
Out of breath and puffing with exertion, she yelled out the order “LEFT!” and changed directions about 30 degrees to avoid the sharp whipping tail of the abomination still on their tails. Just as they were turning, Molly stumbled, her legs no longer listening to her. She’d pushed herself so far past her limits that it was a miracle she’d made it this far.
Turning to pull her companion out the way, the world seemed to slow as Dianne saw something impossible.
A man shot from above like a comet, arms ending with wicked metallic claws, a toothy snarl on his face and a cold intensity in his eyes. His claws reached forwards and slammed into the monster with such force that there was an audible crack and following *BOOM!!!* from the collision.
Skidding to a halt, Dianne looked on with an open mouth at the empty air where the monster used to be. Molly collapsed to the ground, pale and completely spent, she struggled there for a moment before passing out. Randy was breathing so heavily; he might as well have been hyperventilating. He wasn’t opposed to stopping any more than Molly was. He collapsed to the ground on his back and began crying as he tried to catch his breath. Dirt and tears smearing across his face as he tried to wipe it with his hand.
Dianne breathed hard as well, but maintained enough vigilance in case she had to run again.
It was quiet. Not knowing if she’d imagined the whole thing; she looked around and kept her sense on alert for an ambush.
*CREAAAAAK*
Dianne whipped to the side where she’d seen the monster disappear to and was shocked to see what it was. A tree shattered near its trunk had managed to stay upright for a moment before starting to fall.
A deep resounding thud marked its fall. Snapping out of it, she took control again.
“Randy! Get yourself together! Stay here with Molly, I’ll be back in a moment.”
Randy tried to sputter an objection, but couldn’t spare the air and just faintly nodded.
Seeing his confirmation, Dianne carefully walked to the trunk of the fallen tree. Eyes wide with shock, she looked to the side and saw a handful of small broken trees and furrows in the ground for quite a distance. She couldn’t clearly see the end with all the foliage.
Following the path of destruction, she eventually found what she was looking for. The corpse of the monster that had terrorized her and her companions for hours lay unmoving on the ground. Two hand sized holes in its back and slash marks leading down its back were a good indicator of how it died.
Dianne looked around for the strange man she thought she’d seen, but couldn’t find a trace of him. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing and if that was the case, she knew there was another predator in the area. Either way, the top priority was to return to camp.
Knowing they wouldn’t get anywhere being half dead, she knew they needed to recuperate for at least a few minutes before hurrying back. As she sat with her companions while they recovered, she replayed the scene she’d seen in her head over and over.
‘There's no way...’
Scoffing at the image she’d conjured, she gathered her companions and left in the direction of their camp.
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Seeing the creature leap at woman at the back of the group, Jack knew what he had to do. Gritting his teeth, he guessed he was about 15 meters above the ground. With a resolute gaze, he dropped like a missile, perfectly aligned to slam into the monster.
Forming his hands into claws, he extended the metallic blade-like nails as he tensed his whole body for impact.
*CRACK* *SNAP* *CRAAAAAACKKK*
Jack slammed into the creature and felt its bones crack before the two shot towards a tree, smashing into it and shattering it with little resistance. Monster and human tumbled for dozens of meters before slowing down. Barely managing to right himself, Jack dug his claws into the ground and slid a short distance, the monster continuing to roll past him.
Watching the monster skid to a stop, he approached its twitching form. Tensed and prepared for any attacks, he carefully approached it. Only moments later it stopped twitching.
Reaching up to wipe the sweat from his brow, Jack stopped just before making contact. His hands were covered with a greenish black ichor. The sticky liquid extended all the way up to the middle of his forearms.
“Holy shit...”
Jack stared in amazement at his hands. The claws managed to pierce the creatures back and come out the front while his feet hit the creatures back and left deep furrows as he slid down it from the impact.
These claws were amazing!
Looking at the still form of the monster, Jack reached out and cut a small piece of muscle from the monster with his claws before getting a running start and leaping into the air.
It’d be embarrassing if he talked to anyone who saw him act like such an idiot.
Who body slams monsters and gets sent flying by their own attack?
Cringing at how he must have looked, Jack promised himself he’d get some more practice.