My throat burns, the saliva feeling like needles as I nervously swallow.
Every inch of my body refuses to move, a deep instinct telling it that should it move, it'll perish. I'm only allowed to breathe as I see the same fear etched into every inch of the boy. When I feel my muscles cramping and bones creaking, the pressure alleviates.
Relieved, my legs almost buckle underneath me but Diann stops my fall, her small enlarged hands easily catching me.
hesitantly, I turn my head around. What faces me is something that doesn't make sense, a creature that appears and disappears out of existence, with the only way to describe it being multiple stripes, or hula hoops, seared into space, blocking the way.
My eyes are pulled back to the boy when I hear his footsteps. At that, a feeling of satisfaction emanates from the creature.
The boy is shaking, sweat runs like a river down his head as he's looking past me, and directly into the creature. He swallows before speaking, "Yo-You need to stop it," He slowly walks towards me, "Use your little robot to distract the creature, and we can run back to the park. It shouldn't follow us," The boy's voice is shaky, his legs seeming ready to give under him at any moment, his eyes seeming to glow.
Swallowing thickly, I'm tempted to look back in the vain hope that the creature left, but I can still sense its presence, its gaze looking down on me like an executioner's blade.
What do I do? I can't run while having a knife on me and I can't just believe in someone who just stabbed me, My heart is ready to burst out of my chest while I'm frozen in indecision, and a headache starts to form as that irritant buzzing starts in my ears and a heat spreads from where the knife is, polluting my already confused mind.
While I'm lost in indecision, the boy dashes with eyes wide in desperation.
Stumbling back, I clumsily raise my arms to defend myself, bringing a new wave of pain from the knife.
Before reaching me, the boy jerked to the side, and a moment later Diann's arm flew past where he was, hitting the wall ten meters away, breaking the glass and leaving a small indent.
Diann's hands start retracting as the boy stumbles back to his feet, throwing himself at me. I'm too slow to react, and we both go the the ground, where he goes for the knife.
Gritting my teeth, I try holding the knife in place while punching him with my free hand, but my strength is shaky at best as my focus is on keeping the knife away from him. I wince with every tug as the knife leaves slightly before being pulled back in, creating even more bleeding and worsening the wound.
Diann's hands whip back, whipping past the boy's head as ducks before throwing himself away from me.
My breath is ragged, my heart is hammering and tears run down my face. My shirt is painted red, and the knife barely fits the widened gap as I shakily pull myself to my feet.
Stepping forward, Diann stands between me and the boy. The world spins around me, my mind muddied and slow as blood runs like an open faucet down my stomach. Glancing back, that strange creature is still blocking the way and I feel that death awaits if I try touching it.
The boy and I are stuck in a staring contest, and now I'm sure, even with my blurry vision that the boy's eyes are glowing.
Our stalemate is broken by Diann's arm shooting at the boy, who ducks before kicking Diann, sending her flying against the wall before giving me a gut punch that knocks the wind out of me.
Wheezing, I throw all my years of regular workouts and occasional training into my legs, imagining my knee going through the boy.
He recoils in agony as my knee meets his crotch, but in return, he gets a firm grip on the knife and pulls it. My whole body is taken by searing pain, my legs threaten to buckle and I can barely move, but I interlock my hands, and bring them on the boy's back.
One blow, two, three, on the fourth hit, the boy jumps back, but not before slashing at me, leaving a shallow cut across my midsection that barely registers against the gushing wound.
The world threatens to dissolve around me as I sway on my feet, keeping an eye on the boy. But before he can dash at me again, his eyes go wide as two spikes pierce his shoulders.
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I don't trust the boy. Mom's, and the boy's mouths, but I can't understand, or hear them, then he starts walking up to us and I see that his hand slowly moves to his pocket.
Like a million ants, my skin moves in anticipation, something tells me he's a danger.
Before I can understand what's happening, he jumps. I'm frozen in rage as something whispers in my ears. Where there should be fear it takes a new form, a burning, seething hatred.
He hurts Mom... He... Hurt. MOM!
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Jumping at him, I swing my arms, and they extend, but the boy jumps and I hit the far wall. Something is spent as I know that my hands broke but were healed.
While I drag my hands back to me he jumps at Mom and tries to hurt her more. I put all my effort into dragging my arms back, they move like a whip as he ducks right before I hit him. I know my arms cracked.
The man stands up and keeps staring at Mom. I punch him again and he ducks below my punch, this time I make an effort to stop my punch and feel my arms cracking again.
His legs bloat my vision as I'm lifted, and thrown back, hitting the wall. Something is spent as my back cracks and closes.
I see that he'll hurt Mom. I want him to stop, I don't want him to hurt Mom anymore.
I can't punch him, I don't want the boy near Mom, I don't want Mom to get hurt.
I want to hurt the boy.
With a numb feeling, my arms break, their pieces scattering as I feel something being spent, and my arms start to reform. but I know I can tell them to do something else.
I want the boy to stay away, I want for him to not hurt anyone else, I want him to stop.
The arms stop reforming, and in a half-finished state, they shoot at the boy, who is finally hit. YES! That same feeling washes over me as a liquid travels over my pointy arms, and into the boy. Invading his body.
His mouth moves as he looks to be screaming. I keep pumping that liquid into him as I see his body becoming rigid. The rigidness starts from his shoulders, traveling quickly down his arms as he tries to run away, but the spikes are too deep.
This is for hurting Mom.
After becoming fully rigid, the arms break from the socket, falling to the ground and scattering. But the boy is still moving, so my arms shoot to his torso to stay pumping.
Something will happen if I keep doing this, I know that I don't have much in me to spend on me, but while his mouth still moves and his chest heaves, I keep pumping, until darkness claims me.
----
The boy fell back, his body breaking into multiple pink pieces.
My stomach lurches and I dry heave at the scene, the sounds of his screams still ringing in my ears as a feeling of approval washes over me and the feeling of impending death disappears.
I stared at the scene in a daze, both not understanding what just happened and the blood loss.
A strong scent of plastic and blood rose as viscera met with that pink material, and I couldn't hold it in anymore and vomited on the ground.
Following the spikes back to Diann, frozen. Her screen is black, lacking any of that strange liquid. Her arms are unmoving, laying beside her like dead snakes, and when I shake her, they disconnect, falling to the ground.
In a haze I look back, finding the way is no longer blocked, "What," I swallow heavily, the heat of blood running down my leg and the taste of bile still vivid in my mouth. "Help. I... I need to find help."
Dizzy from blood loss, I grab Diann, thankful for her near non-existent weight, and start to slowly walk out of the zoo, having to lean on the walls as my legs threaten to buckle, and gravity seems to keep changing with each step I take.
The few minutes of walking feel like hours when I finally see the exit.
----
I jump to my feet as I feel myself waking up from that empty space, ready to attack.
Around me are bread and condiments, we seem to be somewhere that sells hotdogs, the shutter is closed and the Hotdog guy is frozen inside.
Investigating more, I finally see Mom, on the ground sweating and breathing heavily. Something dripped near her stomach having already made a small pool below her.
She shakily lifts her hand, moving it on my head. Her mouth moves.
No, No. That's blood. Mom's face is different, more discolored, and her eyes are barely able to stay open.
I move my hand to her wound, before she taps my hand, mouthing 'No'.
I want to help, what do I do? I try speaking, the words echo in my head, but I know no sound is formed.
Anxiety and fear echo inside me as I move around Mom, trying to help. When I'm bleeding she puts a bandage on the injury.
I frantically search, throwing buns to the ground, and moving my hands in the pockets of the hotdog guy, but I only find money and food. Then an idea forms. I have powers, my arms flew, and I did something to the boy. Maybe it can help Mom, just like heroes.
My chest is filled with hope as I run back to Mom, who seems on the brink of falling asleep. I put my hands firmly around the hole. Mom tries to stop me, but can't lift her arms.
I have powers now, I'm a hero, I can help people, The words echo in my mind as I imagine the hole closing and Mom healthy again.
Wordless words echo in my mind, something that almost seems like someone talking, before I feel something being spent and that liquid travels down my arms again. This time inside of them before flowing out of my palms, covering the hole. I'm frozen by an assault of sensations; the pulsating of muscle and the splashing of blood as the liquid hardens, stopping the bleeding.
She's still hurt but this will hopefully help her.
Getting some strength back, Mom brings her hand back to my head, pulling me into a hug.
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An explosion of sound happens behind me as I turn the corner. My body shook and cracks appeared along the ground, but thankfully it got pitifully weak when it got to me.
"FOR HOW LONG DO YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN RUN? I CAN KEEP TALKING ALL DAY LONG"
The annoying fucker kept talking while jogging towards me. Using the frozen people and alleyways to break the field of view and dampen the impact, I try to get some distance.
Glancing back before turning into another alley, I saw that the smug grin never left his face, the smugness was almost physical around him. I had been running for some time and was finally getting close to where I wanted to, but I ran into him.
"Do you know how to shut up? Or do you die if you stay quiet for one damn second?" This should keep him focused on me as I ran down the alley, breaking the field of view.
Throwing thrash and frozen people at the ground, I make preparations that should give me enough time, my heart is hammering in my chest as I Stop by a dumpster and dive into it.
I kept track of him by the shaking as I concentrated on the foul air around me, paying close attention to the moisture, I took deep breaths and pulled it to me.
After a few moments, I make a ball of water the size of a fist. It floats between my hands as I now concentrate on the hard part, squeezing and concentrating it. My chest vibrates like I'm in a rock show, and my ear drums feel ready to burst when I finally finish.
The ball is now a flat disc as I wait, letting it float over my hand.
If I miss this I'll not see another tax season, Blood trickles down my ears and my blood feels like it's flowing backwards when I finally throw the disc. It soundlessly cuts through the dumpster walls.
My body stops vibrating.
Slowly, I lift myself and look out the dumpster. That fucker was finally quiet, his top half was separated from his legs, my attack having bisected him. Entrails and blood leaked onto the ground as every inch of his face was contorted in fear, the air of smugness finally gone as he gurgled in an attempt to say words.
Satisfaction and relief washed over me, making me fall back into the dumpster, "Not so tough now, are you?" I speak loudly, making sure he can hear me, "Should've listened, fuck face."
Closing my eyes, I let the darkness claim me, hoping that no one will find me.
When I wake up I'm inflicted by a constant buzz, more likely than not a busted ear-drum.
I hope this heals, getting out of the dumpster I see that the body disappeared. Pulling my phone out of my pocket I checked the time, 18 hours had passed.
I started the clock late, and when I started running it said seventeen and no more than twenty minutes, Rationalizing in my mind, I came to the conclusion I should've blacked out for a little over half an hour.
Sighing, I resume my out into the streets. I was lucky that this guy was a dumbass. Things could have been a lot worse, Frustrated, I decide to move my hands on the pockets of the better-looking people I pass by.
If this keeps happening I'm gonna blow all my money on healing again.
When the phone vibrated, I went inside the closest building and looked for somewhere comfortable to sleep.
After darkness claimed me I found myself in that same place, there was that same vortex, constantly absorbing energy before spitting it out into multiple misty shapes that dissipated on the empty air.
In this empty space, I was everywhere, so I observed the vortex. Studying it.
It was at these times I really missed the ability to dream without having to pay someone, but there are a few upsides. I know I'll wake up fresh and relaxed like I slept for a week.
But now I'll have to spend 7-9 hours just thinking about what to do when I wake up. Before I could start planning, my eyes snapped open as the phone vibrated in my pocket. I had to keep moving or risk finding the Enforcers.
I keep a brisk pace, conserving energy as I move in the sea of gray, keeping an open ear and focused eyes on my surroundings. The Theme Park should be close by, and considering it's a Saturday it should be full of people. It should be profitable to spend time there.
Looking in the opposite direction of the park, a pillar of light pierces the skies. It's far enough that no one truly strong should bother me.