by Kevin Rau
We squatted on top of an office building near the edge of the river district of Metrocity. The buildings here were relatively short, generally three stories in height. It provided a good vantage point of the businesses and streets in the area.
I watched a van with flower logos on the sides pull into the parking space at the rear of the flower shop. The driver hopped out and quickly entered the back entrance.
I glanced at my minions. Fellow mutants following my lead, they would soon earn a rare spot in my army. These were mutants I’d collected the slow way – by tracking them down in the seedier parts of town. The clubs in the darker streets that didn’t care what their clientele looked like.
Kralgon knelt by my side, cautiously peering over the rooftop. He was my lieutenant. A monster by human terms, he was huge at 7’ tall, had four arms, and vicious fangs protruding from his mouth. His eyes were dead black most of the time. The lower two arms ended in blades, practical swords from the elbow on. He had the best traits of a brick and a mutant. The strength, armor, and ability to withstand massive damage of a brick, yet retained a mutant’s weaponry. His shaggy, unkempt hair had a streak of purple in it. Most of us did that. Conforming to societal norms was for the humans.
Two other mutants stood behind and to my left. Vox appeared very human-looking. Sadly so, in my mind - I much preferred the horned look so many of us had. One day, we wouldn’t need to hide amongst the humans, we would rule them via fear. Today was not yet that day, though, and I brought him along to handle the front entrance. We needed the humans alive. Vox’s only real mutant traits were long, dark fingernails and the small spikes on all joints, barring the jaw, and his fangs. He still didn’t fit in perfectly. We all wore black leather, boots and had tattoos. But … other humans wouldn’t run away from him, at least.
Tim was the other pet I’d brought along. Tim … such an odd name. He was one of very few of us who hadn’t taken a new name upon becoming mutants. It was almost as if he clung to his past. Perhaps he did, though he looked so non-human I couldn’t imagine any “normal” human reacting well to him. His arms had become tentacles, and his skin was now purplish, with bumps all over. He was already activating his power, the ability to stretch those tentacles to unusual lengths. I smiled at his eagerness. His eyes glowed a dark purple from inside. I loved that effect.
I ran my long tongue over my fangs as I thought about this endeavor. I was so close to tripling my number of mutant followers, and with them, enough power to overwhelm any heroes foolish enough to try and stop me. We even captured a female mutant from the hospital last night. I hadn’t seen another prior to this. She had better not cause me issues with ruling the group or I’ll happily shrink her head until her body dies, and feed on her.
I ran my finger claws down my palm, scoring them and causing lines of blood to appear due to the unusual sharpness. The cuts almost instantly healed over.
The day was brighter than I’d like, my slit eyes worked better in the shadows of alleys at night. I wished the weather were stormy or otherwise menacing for the beginning of my war.
I looked at Vox. “Go to the front of the flower shop, prevent anyone from entering. Kralgon, you get in the center of the humans and cow them into silence. Tim, you’ll round them up and bring them to me one at a time for reduction. We’ll use their own van to transport them. Vox will drive them back home. I’ll handle the phone line before entering. Oh, and make sure no one uses a cell phone, got it?”
They all nodded their understanding.
Vox jumped down the three stories, landed smoothly and walked around the building toward the front. I gave him a moment and motioned the others forward. The rest of us all leapt down, me smoothly, Kralgon with a heavy crunch as the concrete cracked under his much heavier weight. We moved quickly toward the rear entrance.
I stopped and tried the door of the van. It was unlocked. Opening it showed the keys were not inside. I debated hotwiring it, but knew that the human with the keys had just entered, and they were easily obtainable.
The others entered the door as I stopped by the electrical wiring entering the building. I grabbed the pipe with my right hand, and in a hard jerk of my arm wrenched the electrical and telephone wiring out from the back of the building. Sparks momentarily flew as it separated. Human buildings were so easy to rip apart….
I heard a very brief scream from inside before hearing Kralgon’s guttural warnings of violence, and then silence.
I slid the duffel bag off my shoulder as I entered. It pleased me for a few moments to see all the humans on their knees. Tim wrapped the arms of a man up with his tentacles, picked him up and brought him over to me. He wore a light jacket with the name of the shop embroidered on the front.
I slid my hand in his pocket and pulled out the keys. They were labeled “Fay’s Van.” I nodded sarcastically to him and grinned. Then I grabbed the man by the neck, activated my power and shrunk him down to six inches tall. I quickly slid him into the duffel bag.
One man decided to be a hero. He punched Vox squarely in the jaw as Vox stared at me. Vox’s head moved slightly to the right from the punch, but otherwise he gave no indication of injury. The man clutched his hand, an expression of pain on his face. He looked amazed that Vox wasn’t fazed by the punch. Vox raised an eyebrow at him.
Vox said, “Really? You thought that would hurt me? Pistols hardly hurt me, and I heal that in a minute, human.”
Kralgon said with a guttural tone, “Want me to punch you, Vox?” He laughed at his own crude joke.
Vox glanced at Kralgon. “No thanks, big guy. You’ve got a few dozen tons of force behind your punch.”
“Aww. You heal pretty quick like.”
I said, “Back to it, boys. We aren’t here to wait for a fight with some heroes.”
Kralgon looked at me and grinned. “You got it, lady boss.”
We moved through the rest of the room quickly, shrinking the shoppers and the employees, putting them all in the duffel bag. A few cried, but they all stayed quiet, likely out of shock and fear.
Before we left, I flipped the front door’s sign to ‘Closed,’ grinned again, and walked with my mutants out the back door, laughing all the while. I hopped in the passenger seat while my minions climbed in back, ripping out some of the racking for flower transportation with their strength and claws. I threw the duffel bag of humans on the floor next to me and tossed the keys to Vox. He grinned as he started up the van and we headed back home….
Chapter 26 - Tights
Stephanie's Perspective