by C T Scribe
As he neared them the tall man noticed the approach first with a sidelong glance. Martin was sure that look had scared away many annoyances over the years, but he wasn’t scared of the infamous tall man. Martin had won his proving grounds match. He could damn well fight. As a maintenance member, he fought often against varying defenses of the Morphling. Occasional viruses conjured up beast to fight off before completing repairs. He could handle this “legend” the same way he handled every problem. His unique skill to find the weaknesses in things was especially helpful in battle. With no effort he knew where his opponents weak spots were. During his proving grounds he had taken down a much larger favored opponent by targeting his left hip. Such an odd place to attack the crowd thought, until he proved it to be his opponents Achilles heel. Since his proving grounds he had practiced his weakness detection over and over. In fact the maintenance crew had often praised him for this unique skill. As he stood in front of the couple Deb was unreadable, cold. Martin turned his gaze to the tall man instead. “You took her from me. Give her back.” That last sentence is all it took to go beyond the point of no return. Deb cast her eyes down and stepped away. To his surprise the legendary warrior didn’t move. His words had the desired effect. In moments Deb had talked about him, and how dangerous his temper was. That was his weakness. If Martin could get under his skin he could win. Deb called him weak, but after he beat the shit out of her “tall man” she’d see how wrong she was. Now shouting at the tall man, some of the earlier crowd looked his way. Instead of his known title Martin chose to call him the opposite saying, “Yeah I’m talking to you. What do they call you again the, little, bitch?” Again the tall man refused to move. Deb issued a warning to him, but the rage over taking his mind blocked it out. He continued to cuss and degrade the tall man until the crowd returned. He searched through every story in his mind of the tall man to find more ammo to hurl at him. He hadn’t moved for nearly two minutes of insults. There were those in the crowd cheering him on. People he’d worked with over the years. People he’d done repairs for, or drank with at the bar. In the back of the crowd the older immortals were silent as they looked at the scene. A few had smirks. Old bastards he thought as he settled on a story that would set his prey over the edge. “You know I can’t leave Deb with you. You think I’d let you have her so you could kill her like you killed your wife you sadistic fuck.” The words were out. Martin wasn’t mean or nasty like this. This was the weakness he could exploit. His power had never failed him. With his words he could gain the advantage, so he used them as a sniper used a scope. He targeted each nasty word to cut him deeper and deeper. In his right arm he materialized his blood weapon. The long pipe wrench seemed ordinary. He used this tool in repairs over the years. It had grown much heavier and dense as he worked with it. His control over it had improved immensely since his proving grounds. With his last taunt he saw Deb lunge for him, but the man before him stopped her with an outstretched hand. She stormed towards the back of the crowd. He noted she didn’t leave. For all her pretending, she wanted to see who would win this fight. Who would win her. The pipe felt good as he swung it for the man’s face. In a matter of seconds he struck him again and again. His speed had improved greatly over the years. His workouts had paid dividends, and he landed blow after blow against his enemies body to prove it. There was no purple scarring from his attacks. His weapon was in phase two from the start as he splattered the tall man’s blood to the ground beneath them. His supporters cheered. The blood lust of today’s events still lingering in the crowd. The man slumped with each blow. He wasn’t very strong, and he wouldn’t use his famed guns in this fight. To kill him wouldn’t be wise. In this situation Martin had the advantage. He could use his weapon fully, but the tall man had a handicap. He continued his assault blow after blow. An upwards blow knocked the tall man from his feet. Now standing over him with hellish eyes he swung down hard at the fallen target hitting his ribs, arms, and face. Blood splattering with each blow. The tall man’s features mutilated with each strike. He remained frozen in place as the pipe struck him over and over.
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Chapter 44
Thomas, the tall man, had fought many of Deb’s past lovers. This new one was a bit young he thought. He understood the impulse the man must be going through. Impulse is hard to manage as a young immortal. Your senses are constantly overwhelmed, and on a proving grounds day the bloodlust was intense. He had expected violence to spill from the bar after the event, but to be stopped by this man here was laughable. Thomas, who had a particularly fun night with Deb, didn’t have much energy or interest in a fight. He wasn’t sure where this sense of calm came from. He was usually on edge. His senses more heightened than most were limp today. He could have ignored the man completely, had he not mentioned his wife. His dead wife and disfigured son were off limits to anyone. The general, his dearest friend, wouldn’t even bring them up, but this boy dared speak their name. That day would always haunt him. His cursed hands would always keep him in the field. He was happy Deb had her lovers while he was away. He never called for her. If she chose to stay with them when he returned he would accept it. She deserved it. She was nothing like his wife. That’s what he liked about her most. As her ex-lover brought up his wife, a fact she no doubt let slip one day, the tall man saw Deb snap. Her face feral with rage as she approached the fight. Using my aura I sent a wave of power through only her. Pushing her back in a way few in the crowd would notice, the tall man sent her a message to stay out of it.
The tall man- My control slipped as I stopped her. The man began beating me right away with his weapon. The pain didn’t register as I drifted to the night my wife died. My body was bloody. I could feel the blood spill from me as I lay there. That night haunting me. He struck me again and again with his tool. Mercilessly he attacked. He wasn’t dumb. I may have laid there, and took the beating. I may have let him win this fight to not lose control of myself in a crowded area. That delicate balance of control I fought so hard to maintain now teetering on a whim. I heard the low laughter in my head before I saw the face. The face of the thing that killed my wife. The face of that savage tormenting voice in my mind. That dormant face now staring disapprovingly at my choice. Fear took hold of me, but not from any outside attack. The green aura filled the room. A craziness spilling from all directions.
Martin had been staring for minutes at the lifeless man on the ground. He would make sure he won this fight. He didn’t see the green face forming in the sky above him. He didn’t see the crowd step away from him. He couldn’t realize the wounds he’d been inflicting on the man were healing as fast as he created them. As he swung his weapon harder and harder he didn’t realize the fight had long since been over. With a heavy swing Martin struck, the ground. The tall man was gone. With lightning fast movements he vanished from sight. The close by onlookers cheering for Martin were the first to feel his power. With accurate blows to the jaw line of each Martin supporter, he put them down. Standing over his victims he materialized his six shooter pistol, and aimed for their heads. The pipe wrench flung at his gun hand nearly struck, but in a moment Martin couldn’t register the man now faced him. He gave no warning before he shot his leg. He let out shots in his other leg and both feet next. Dropping to the ground the tall man shot each knee cap. Martin screamed in pain. He sobbed in a way unfit for an immortal. He cried to Deb for help, but she didn’t move. He brought this on himself, and she remained cold.
Picking the immobile man up by the neck was easy. Catapulting Martin through the air took little effort. He holstered his weapons with the usual show of wild west style spins. Martin streaming towards the nearest wall collided with a bang to rival the gun blast. Cracks that would not repair immediately spidered across the stone surface. The camouflage fell away revealing the laboring beating beast true hide. The crowd reacted in shock at the site. The tall man stalked over to Martin. Palming his face he raised Martin’s body to the beast hide. Slamming the back of his head into it over and over as if try
ing to break the now alive wall. The impact sent tremors through HQ. The rage Thomas saved for the outside world leaked in. This place was his home. This place was to recover from the weights the outside world placed upon his neck. This place was sanctuary from the brutality of the job he would too soon be sent back into. Martin should not have provoked the tall man. Prodding the beast with such blood lust in the air was foolish enough. To bring up his wife and son however was low, even for a young one. The few Martin supporters left standing knew he deserved this beating. The older wiser immortals in the back showed no surprise at all. This wasn’t the first time someone thought they could take on the legendary tracker. They knew this would not be his last challenge either. They were just relieved he was holding back. Martin, to damaged to notice, would think he lost to the myth at full power. In truth he was only receiving a small taste of his strength. The tell tale aura he emits was missing. The pistols in a restricted state used was quick dull shots. Weakening the attack so Martin the maintenance man wouldn’t miss too much work. If he was serious only the gods knew how lethal he could be.
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Chapter 45
Tonight’s victim was not human. The change of prey was intriguing to the chameleon. She wasn’t sure how to kill him. She had slit his throat and watched the blood pool, but after some time the blood reversed back into his throat. Sealing the wound completely as if it never happened. She snapped his neck, but the wound still proved non fatal. He was much stronger than her human prey. As usual her master had given the command to kill, but what he didn’t tell her was how impossible the task was. She after all was human. A unique human blood sworn to an immortal beast. She sliced off his head. The cut was rough. The dull machete she used in previous killings struggled through the immortals flesh. The healing took several minutes, but eventually the head rolled back to its place and mended. She shrieked in frustration. She was commanded to kill. The command was at times repulsive, but the repetition had numbed her disgust more than she would admit. Today was proof of the darkness creeping over her soul. She spent another day blending into the background in that gods forsaken alley watching that sappy man repair the wall. As she had been doing for weeks now, she eavesdropped in hopes to find the best place to attack the compound for her master. The hatch he came out of always resealed. The place he patched up daily could lead to anywhere. Her master wanted a breach point that would lead to the most carnage. Her master and his friends had been tracking the location of this compound for decades it seemed. With her help they caught some breaks recently. Most of it was thanks to that idiot and his ramblings. She wished he was strapped to this chair being tortured by her instead of this random undying thing before her. It rained today. Her camouflage held, but she was soaking wet when she returned to her master’s home. He made her wear white this morning. His idea of a joke. He knew it was to rain. Rain was so scarce the news made a big deal of it. He knew yet he refused her a jacket or umbrella. Then he made her wear white so he could get a good show out of watching her walk in. He was a twisted prick in that sense. Perverted didn’t quite cover some of the things he made her do and see over the years. When she returned to her master’s home she expected there to be a victim. Someone to take her frustrations out on. She actually welcomed the nightly murder. She could feel the neck snapping in her hands all day. She would enjoy this torment. Somewhere deep down she hated herself for turning into the evil her master worked so hard to put into her. Somewhere deep down she knew this was so so wrong. But that somewhere was deep deep down. Under layers and layers of corpses. The skeletons she’d been compelled to add to those layers over the years was unthinkable. To her it was mere routine to take a life. She would probably do so without the command. The compulsion was her master’s sickness, but the murders were merely the next scheduled event in her life of servitude. No different than brushing her teeth before bed. No different than watching her sister raped for the amusement of the beast in her masters group. There was a time when these things shook her to her core. Perhaps there was a time when she still had a core to shake. After an hour of failed murder her master gave a new command to shift into a beast. This was unexpected. She had made her limbs extend in ways before, but never had she taken on the immortal form of a Fenririan or werewolf. Her gifts were more for hiding auras. After the night she was that boy she had an itch to become something else again. To not be this defeated blood sworn girl, but to be something powerful. The hair spread down her arms thickly covering them. Her hands enlarged as her digits were replaced by claws. Her mouth throbbed as it grew long sharp canines. She could feel patches of hair sprouting from her face. That was all. She didn’t grow in size. Her lower half showed no change. Her torso was still human as well. Ripping the wet clothes from her body her master observed her with a snort. “Is this all you can do human.” The words more an appraisal of an item than a scolding. He repeated the command to kill. The half beast responded sinking its teeth, her teeth, into the man’s throbbing neck. Ripping his throat came easy. She watched him bleed on the floor for over an hour. She waited to see if he would magically reanimate, but nothing happened. The familiar cage was brought into the room beside her. She ignored the cries tonight as she fixated on the dead body in front of her instead. Her caged sister saw her for the monster she had become. She heard her cries and refused to turn her head. Unsatisfied with the immortals death, the half beast feasted on his flesh and bones. With a blood stained mouth it added a howl to the whimpers and groans already filling the room.
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Chapter 46
Back in class, Tye found himself staring at a much smaller group of classmates. It seems like all the losers were removed from class. Well all except the gunman and the female twin he noted. They must have done well enough at the proving grounds to stay. He did well enough. Marco did well enough. He sat beside his opponent as usual, and they didn’t talk as usual. The others stared at him. The questions came next. It seems the others were too busy with their own fight to see the boys duel. The mockery was aimed at Tye and Marco alike. “How did you let him stay, Marco?” One voice sounded off. “With duds for weapons you really couldn’t get rid of him?” Another voice chimed in. “Your lucky you didn’t face meat the proving grounds you weaponless bitch.” That voice belonged to the usually taunting boy in the class. Tye remembered him losing his match. It seemed he too did well enough. “He must of cheated,” he heard someone else say. Tye had never cheated at anything a day in his life. He trained his ass off. He watched the others fight. He was unimpressed with most of them. The only quiet voices in the group belonged to the dark skinned woman with long twin braids flowing down her back and George the gentle giant. Tye still hadn’t learned the woman’s name. He was glad she won her match. The sister twin staring intently at the back of her head gave Tye the impression he missed a good part of their battle. He watched George lose his battle quickly. The twins using some barely legal crossover fighting to give the brother twin the advantage. Tye wondered how that match would have went on even footing. Tye could handle the insults. He realized he wouldn’t have many friends in his second life. He had A&B, and that was enough for him. Tye felt Marco gathering and releasing energy inside his zipped up hoodie. This energy was stronger than his usual. Marco is seemed was more sensitive to the prodding than him. Maybe Marco would take his side after all. The thought dismissed as easily as it came. Marco finally directed that energy. The blast sent Tye flying from his seat. Marco stood atop him with his hoodie unzipped and his twin blades aimed directly at Tye’s neck. Without summoning his own weapon Tye couldn’t resist the smirk. A&B fully materialized behind the pissed off Marco. Even with their blank faces Tye could tell the duo was equally pissed off at the cheap shot. The others in the class watched mouths open. Except the dark skinned woman and George of course. That pair had smirks as well. Tye would have to properly meet them soon he thought.
As Teach entered the class he saw Marco standing atop Tye. He felt the indication of an energy blast. He saw
the burn marks on Tye’s arm. It was not his policy to intervene in such spats. He however was in no mood, and the class had things to do today. Two webbed hands grabbed the boys forcefully shoving them against the nearby wall. Energy flowed into his palms as he instructed them to take their seat. The display of force was enough it seemed as Marco and Tye released their weapons and sat down. Marco shuffling his seat far away from Tye.
Today’s class would be video surveillance of a mission. The tall man was the field operative for the class. The had never met the man, but he heard others talk about him. Apparently he got into a fight after the proving grounds, and this was his punishment. Tye had also seen his name in places at The Dragon’s Head Gym, which he longed to get back to. After the proving grounds he and his classmates awoke in an infirmary. They weren’t in traditional beds, but rather he awoke submerged in a tank. The first thing he noticed was he could breath in the water. He checked himself for gills, but found none. Another immortal ability he supposed. After the tanks he and the others were escorted to bed. Their rooms were locked until this morning when they were escorted to class.