Carcass 1.9.1

Jay opened the door of the large condo apartment and slipped inside. The pale moonlight streamed in through the opaque windows, painting the kitchen in a ghostly glow. The lock clicked shut behind him and he tiptoed to his room, careful not to make too much noise.

Jay thought that being able to transform into a humongous serpent would allow for some skill in stealth, but he moved like a drunken bird. He still hadn’t adapted to his new height or weight. His legs were too long, and his center was off balance. Jay felt like an outsider in his own skin. His human skin, the scaly one felt more natural.

Although he had trouble moving around, his steps felt light and his gaze held a spark of joy within. He had talked with Mary for another hour before they parted ways. He wasn’t sure if she would take the money and run, but Jay held some belief in her, despite the short amount of time he had known her.

“Figures my first friend is a woman three times my age,” Jay muttered to himself. The events of the day had been strange. Scratch that. The entire week had been one strange event after the other. Despite it all, Jay could feel a growing excitement in his chest.

He had superpowers! He could transform into a towering leviathan! He could spew acid from his mouth and crush stone into powder. He was seen! People knew he existed! He was a member of the Drowned.

He put the suitcase in his walk-in closet, telling himself that he would hang the clothes up at a later date.

He changed into some cleaner clothes and slipped under the sheets. He didn’t feel tired. If anything, he wanted Madok to call him on his brand new phone to invite him on a mission. He wanted Mary to call him to talk. Jay didn’t want to sleep at all.

At some point, Jay drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. An uncertain amount of time passed.

Jay’s eyes shot open.

The door of his room creaked outwards and Jay froze under the covers of his bed. His brain finally took notice of what his enhanced hearing had been receiving. The metallic clink of a doorknob turning, returning back to its stationary position.

“Please no, not tonight!” Jay screamed mentally inside his head, willing away what he knew was about to happen. He urged his body to move, to do anything, but his coiling flesh was unresponsive to his desperate demands.

A pale blue eye stared at him from within the darkness of the room. Loose, stringy hair floated upwards, propelled by faint breaths. Jay could immediately make out the face that hid in the shadows. Wrinkly skin and sunken eyes framed by deep gray bags.

Soft tapping traveled across the floors. Gentle and deliberate, as if the cause of the sound was trying to avoid making any noise. The noise echoed through the quiet room, bouncing off the bare walls and filling the darkened space with a sense of unease. A chill ran down Jay’s spine as he watched the figure draw closer.

The person hovered over his bed, hunching over his prone form. Jay’s eyes were wide and he urged himself to move, but his body refused to listen. His euphoric mood plummeted. What was the point of his newfound strength if he couldn’t change the things that mattered the most?

His mother stared at him with her dead eyes. Her breath smelled of alcohol. A common tool she used when she couldn’t fall asleep. Jay knew it was a dream but he couldn’t force himself to wake up.

“Every day he looks more and more like you, Harold. Makes me sick. Looking at him and seeing your arrogant face. It was easier when Henry was here, he takes after my side of the family.” Her tone was cold and bitter, the heat in her words was the opposite of her expressionless face.

Jay could do nothing but withstand the verbal abuse. It had started months after his father’s passing after his mother finally returned home from combing the shores for a corpse to eventually appear. She went through life in a daze, took more hours at her job, and stayed away from home more and more. After their original residence had been destroyed in the first beast waves, the mother and sons moved into a ramshackle apartment. It was there that she haunted Jay in his bed. Each morning she would awake with no recollection of what had happened.

When Henry was infected and the compensation checks started coming in each week, his mother started working less and less, until she ended up sitting in front of the TV every day. Her addled mind was hazy with the fog of beer. She gorged herself on cheap food while her son starved. Jay had felt relief when her nightly tormenting visits stopped. Instead, they followed him into his dreams.

Jay’s mother frowned deeply. She scowled, opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She hovered for what felt like hours until she slipped away.

He let the tears flow from his eyes and stained the pillow underneath his head.

The next morning Jay stirred from his slumber, and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He rubbed the crust from the corners with a lethargic hand. He felt disoriented, his body felt unreasonably heavy and unresponsive. As he tried to sit up, a wave of nausea hit him. He paused to take a deep breath and gather his thoughts. His mind felt like it had been left to soak in sludge, it moved at a snail's pace.

“It’s Monday. Not like I’m going to class anyways. Do I even want to? Wouldn’t be much point anymore.” Jay thought. He had made more money than he had ever seen in one single night. Those with superpowers were supposed to earn hundreds of thousands each year, those with corporate sponsorships earned even more doing movies and advertisements.

“I don’t think cowls are the first pick for advertisements…” He groaned like a zombie in a low-budget horror film. Companies usually picked heroes with large fan bases for advertisements. Jay had heard them being compared to celebrities from before the beast waves. Parahumans were stars in their own right, having supernatural powers instantly made someone a topic of attention.

“It all comes down to money, doesn’t it?” Besides the safety joining a gang brought, it also allowed Jay to earn massive amounts of cash by joining in heists and schemes concocted by the villains. He wasn’t too sure about most of what entailed in being a villain, he had always been so focused on wanting to be a hero that he had never paid much attention to them. Besides seeing who had been defeated or captured by which cape.

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Now he was on the other end. Heroes would be the ones trying to put an end to him. He felt a bit queasy at the thought. He hardened his heart, circumstances had chosen this path, and he would be the one to make sure he made the most of it.

He entered the shower and quickly washed off, his body felt cold to the touch as he lathered soap upon his faint muscles. He briefly examined his new frame in the mirror, unsure how to feel about the difference. He was happy that he didn’t look like he was one strong wind from being swept away, but it reminded him about how everything around him was changing. For good and bad.

He left the bathroom and threw on some clothes, he let out a gush of heat to dry his skin and hair. He couldn’t help the small grin that formed upon his pale lips.

He looked around the area but didn’t notice Smog or anyone else. He remembered that Smog was supposedly in Portland dealing with a beast wave. He felt momentarily worried. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself some cereal.

He didn’t want to waste the day away. The walk yesterday had been good for him and he convinced himself to wander around The Docks once more.

Jay finished his meal, left the apartment, and walked down the stairs. He made his way to a nearby bus stop and lingered. The crisp morning air felt good on his face and he let out a breath full of fog.

He wasn’t sure why he was waiting here. Maybe he was just a slave to routine. The thought left a bad taste in his mouth. He had been taking the local bus to his high school for years. It had become rote. He didn’t want to remain stuck in the past, especially now that he had the power to change things.

He looked around the complex, glancing at the group of men and women sitting on the hoods of some cars. They wore dark blue jackets and shirts, a skull flecked with water stitched or pressed upon the back.

The Drowned.

Jay felt warry of them but remembered that they were on the same side. They were a rough-looking bunch. Piercings, tattoos, scars, and frayed clothes. There was no predominant ethnicity that stood out, Asian features were just as common as white and black faces. There was a noticeable absence of southerners. The Maletos had a monopoly on all people south of what had been the border of the United States.

They stuck to their territory religiously. Seeing one of their members in another area usually pointed towards a warning of an attack. Drowned and Maletos supposedly had a treaty not to touch each other’s side, but Jay had learned that such a belief was wrong. The two neighboring gangs were almost friendly, although Jay hesitated to describe them as such.

Jay looked away from the gang clad in blue. The bus eventually came, it slowed to a stop and the few individuals boarded. The inside was made of tattered seats and rusted metal. Exposed foam poked out of the seats. The floor was covered in littered candy wrappers and empty bags. The air was stuffy and smelled like a locker room. Faded ads covered the upper panels.

Jay took a seat, careful not to touch a sticky blotch on the fuzzy material. There were only half a dozen people on the bus, most of them either factory workers or students at this hour. He didn’t recognize any of the faces. He shifted his mask and glasses while pulling his hood down further. He didn’t want to risk having someone report him.

There was supposedly a point where some villains walked around like normal. People would fear them but Central had a policy where as long as they weren’t doing harm then they could go about their activities. Most of the time the cowls in question were more hassle to take down due to the potential collateral damage. Jay had a sudden urge to reach that level, if only to walk around without the strange getup.

Jay jerked a bit as the vehicle started moving forward. The engine let out a screech and the door slammed shut.

A quarter of an hour later Jay was sitting in a cafe outside of his school. The palace of education catered to the low-end side of the community, namely everyone in The Docks and the surrounding areas. It was also close enough to Central that around a fifth of the population was upper caste.

The grants given to run schools were also on the low end, forcing small schools outside the walls to house thousands of students. Most of the buildings still showed damage from the beast waves. Before the outer wall was built, a large portion of the structures in the outer districts had been destroyed. The rich parents of the small portion of students maintained most of the upkeep.

The high school had been named in honor of a cape that had attended the school in his youth. Before the whole world went to shit. The super sent enough money to keep the school running, although apparently, the donations had tapered off in recent years.

He bit into the small pastry on his plate. The glass of orange juice washed down the crumbs. He had removed the mask in order to eat and was facing away from other diners. Someone would have to purposely go out of their way to get a clear look under the hood of his sweatshirt.

His ears twitched, he turned from the window and lowered his head. The whispers in the back of the small diner drifted over to his sensitive hearing.

“-was huge! Easily three hundred feet long. The barbs were bigger than a truck. And that was just one!” An excited voice said to another.

“The hell did you hear that?”

“Morning news. Apparently, it sent Central into a tizzy. Some think it is a sign that another wave is coming.”

“Beast waves don’t come from the ocean. I’ll believe it when I see a fish walk on land.” An exasperated voice responded.

“What if things are changing? There are no walls on the coast, my parents are already asking favors to move in with my uncle and his family in Central. Everyone knows that it's safer the closer you are to Central Pantheon Headquarters. They don’t want to risk it.”

“You’re lucky that you can do that.”

“You wanna come with? You know my parents like you.”

“And leave my family behind? No thanks. I’ll just get eaten by oysters with legs or something,” the voice scoffed.

“I’m just saying, whatever could have done that must have been huge.”

“Think some beast in the ocean Cracked?”

“That’s my current theory.”

“What’d they do with the tentacle?”

“I think some processing plant hauled it off. Maybe squid might be on the market soon.” There were a couple of laughs.

Jay felt a pang of annoyance at someone else profiting off of his prey. “That was mine.” He pushed the predatory mindset away and focused on the treat in front of him. He hadn’t had anything sweet in years. Cafeteria food hardly ever had real sugar in their meals. He ordered another for the road.

Jay was unused to being conscious. For so long he had lived life in a daze, expecting nothing. Yet here he was now, trying to find something to do. He wanted his phone to ring, either Mary or Madok or Shadow Man. It didn’t matter.

He resisted the urge to go visit his brother. While he desperately wanted to check up on him, Smog’s warning of his family being watched was enough of a deterrent. If a fight broke out he didn’t want to be the cause of his brother dying.

Jay fingered the flip phone in his hand. Hesitant to call Madok. The gang leader might have something that he could do, but he also didn’t want to appear too eager. Stardusts smiling face flashed through his mind. He shivered reflexively.

He was doing all this for his brother. He’d ride the Madok wave for as long as he could. If The Drowned leader couldn’t make good on his promise then Jay wouldn’t have qualms about striking him down. He only had to be patient. Lay low and follow orders.

Jay stood up from the wooden chair and left the small cafe. His amber eyes stalked the students as they walked behind the gated school.

“Maybe being the villain could be better after all…”

The teenager returned to his room back at The Drowned compound designated for the junior team. He set a new laptop down on the desk. It had been a pricey purchase and depleted him of the rest of his funds. The salesman behind the counter had recommended the device, quoting that it was durable and could pick up on the city-wide WiFi with ease.

He didn’t have much experience with computers, but forays into the computer lab at the school along with a required class made him adequate. He quickly set up his settings and pulled up the New Seattle Wiki. It listed a host of active capes and cowls, along with deceased powered.

He had spent hours browsing the page when he was younger. His craze for being a superhero had driven him to learn all about different old name capes. Most of the said information was useless now, the capes had long retired or been slain by beast or villain. Luckily for Jay, the wiki was constantly updating as fans of the hundreds of superpowered in New Seattle input new theories, factoids, and conversations. There were other wikis for different cities, each managed by their respective citizens

Curiosity drove Jay to look himself up. Leviathan was a recent discussion and garnered large popularity, which featured a picture of his serpentine form weaving through Central Lane. There was another image of him while he was battling Argo, but it was blurry and out of focus.

Jay clicked on the link and was greeted by a short description of his history so far. There was a disturbing counter off to the side that listed how many deaths were linked to Leviathan. Jay lingered over the information. It took a conscious effort to drag himself away.

He flittered over a few other different names such as Smog, Shadow Man, Fishbait, and Madok. Most of their info was short, only listing their gang affiliation along with their notable accomplishments.

The sound of a lock sliding out of place echoed through his ears. Jay froze. His breath came in curt rapid gasps. His gaze slid across the screen and looked into the living room. The door to the condo opened and a pair of footsteps entered.

Jay only let out a sigh of relief when he noticed Smog’s indifferent face peek out from around the corner.

“Welcome back.”