Book One: The Legend Begins
Chapter One: The CatalystThis story takes place in the future when space travel between different galaxies and the planets is now possible. All major corporations have spread out to all of the planets in the universe. This story begins on earth with a normal human being who is about to have a very bad day.
The story begins with a man named Jason Powers who is currently at working at his job. Jason is a thirty five year old man who is married and has one son. He is 5'11''inches tall with brown hair and eyes. He works for a company that deals with radioactive chemicals and other type's hazardous materials. He is also teaches martial arts to kids and adults at his own dojo. He is a teacher of ninjitsu a martial art practiced by ninjas. His wives name is Cheryl and she stands 5'9''inches tall. Cheryl has long red hair, blue eyes, and a slender body. She is five years younger than Jason is. Jason's son's name is Max. He is sixteen years old and is a student currently attending Tsushima High School. Max is 6'2''inches tall with slick and spiky brown hair with medium peaks, blue eyes, and slender body with a small muscular body build.
What had started out as a normal routine day suddenly turned dangerous when a careless worker was walking above Jason on a catwalk. The worker was goofing off with a canister of radioactive ooze by tossing it and flipping it in the air. Whistling to himself as he walked. He tossed the canister into the air and as the canister got right over his hand the worker closed his hand too soon and missed.
"OH NO, JASON, WATCH OUT!" The worker shouted out at Jason.
"Huh?" Jason said as he looked up at the catwalk.
The canister had gone over the edge and was now falling towards a large container. The container was round and was made of steel. A round metal cap was on top with wires coming out the top of it. Inside the container was a portal to a different dimension. As to what dimension nobody knew. Jason was standing beside of the large container but he didn't see the canister of ooze until it was too late. The canister shattered and it's contents splattered all over Jason.
BREAK!
"Oh, that's just great!" Jason shouted sarcastically. "Thanks a lot you retarded ass hole!"
"I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to do that." The worker replied in a shocked tone as if he was surprised that Jason had yelled at him.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't been screwing around with that this wouldn't have happened! Would it?"
"Hey man, I said I was sorry."
"Yeah, I bet you are."
Jason went to tell his foreman what had just happened but decided to leave immediately when he started to feel sick. He started out to his truck, got in, and proceeded to go to the hospital, which was five miles down the road from him. He got two miles down the road when he started to feel even worse than before. He got dizzy as well as blurry and double vision. It wasn't very long after that that he hit a pole.
BAAM!
The trucks air bag deployed and Jason hit the bag with a hard jolt. The truck had been completely totaled and was no longer drive able. The pole was hit so hard by the truck that it had been forced half way through the engine. The pole was stuck in the middle of the trucks hood. Jason crawled out of the truck and into a nearby ally. There he curled up into to fetal position and started to quiver in pain and vomit. He was expecting to die pretty soon. However, instead of dying, he began to glow a luminescent black light. Something very strange was beginning to happen to him.
"What in the world is happening to me?" Jason said. He was scared and confused about what was happening to him.
The radiant light was forcing a transformation upon Jason that he couldn't control. The transformation was making all of his ailments to leave him. He noticed that his arms were getting furry and that the fur was turning black. He also noticed that his entire skeletal structure was changing its shape to resemble the skeletal structure of a panther. The bones made a loud and disgusting crunching sound as he transformed. He began to turn into a mutant panther that was half human and half panther. The whole transformation only took a minute and a half but it was an agonizing time span. When it was finished, Jason had the fur, face, head, ears, teeth, eyes, legs, arms, finger and toe tips, and the tail of a panther but he still had ten fingers and toes. His height and body build had changed as well. He now stood 6'3''inches and had a medium muscular body build. He could still stand upright but he was standing like a panther would have to if it stood on its hind legs. His voice was still the same as it was before the transformation. Even his clothes had transformed. He was wearing blue jeans, black leather belt with a dingy gold buckle, white T-shirt, brown suede jacket, white socks, and brown boots. He now didn't have any shoes, socks, jacket, or shirt anymore and instead of blue jeans he had golden brown sweat pants. He still had the black leather belt but with a bright gold buckle instead of the dingy gold buckle.
"WOW! I have never felt this good in my entire life!" He proclaimed as he checked out his new body. "I wonder what I can do in this new body."
Jason decided to test out his new body to see what he could do in it. He first tested his ability to jump by seeing how high he could jump. He leaped into the air so high that he was able to grab onto the top of a two story building.
"Wow! This is amazing!" He said in astonishment. "Now to test out how strong I am."
Jason dropped back down to the ground and was pretty amazed at that not only did he actually try that but also that he didn't get himself hurt when he landed.
"Well, I guess that proves just how tough I am now."
Jason searched the surround area for something heavy to lift. He looked around and couldn't find anything heavier than his truck. So, he decided to see if he could remove the truck from the pole. He went over to the truck and grabbed a hold of its rear bumper. He pulled up on it as hard as he could and not only did he pick up the truck like it was a featherweight but he also tore the pole out of the ground. There was only a small crater left where the pole used to be.
"Damn! Now that's strong!" He said still holding the truck with the pole still in it over his head.
Still astounded by his newfound abilities Jason heard a voice that sounded a woman's screaming out for help.
"The new powers are so amazing! I love them!" He said laughing.
"HELP, SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!" The lady shrieked.
"Huh? Someone's in need of some help. This is a great time to put these new powers and my ninjitsu skills to use." He said as he looked to his right in the direction that the scream had come from. "Now would also be a good time to test my speed and agility."
He started off in the direction that had heard the scream when he heard someone say something to the lady.
"Shut up! No one is going to come to your rescue. I am going to kill you in your own apartment and no one is going to know that it was me."
He then heard a slide and click noise as well as the lady still calling out for help.
CLICK
"NO! PLEASE DON'T! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"
"I have to hurry or that lady is going to be killed!" Jason thought to himself as he ran like a human at what seemed to be superhuman speed before he started to jump off of the faces of nearby buildings. He only appeared as a blur to all of the other humans below him.
It took just a few minutes to reach the lady's apartment. The only thing that he needed to do now was find out what apartment room she was in. He began to sniff the air to try and pick up on a scent.
SNIFF! SNIFF!
"I think that I've got a scent now and it smells like blood! I hope I'm not too late to save her!"
The smell was coming from a room on the backside of the five story apartment building complex. Jason leaped over the small, weed entangled fence and ran around back. He sniffed the air once again to pin point the room.
SNIFF! SNIFF!
"AH HA! I've got it now. She's in the first room at the left on the fifth floor!"
Jason jumped into the air and dug his claws into the brick of the building twenty feet off of the ground. He jumped one more time into the air off of the side of the building and broke through the window of the lady's apartment.
SHATTER!
He saw the criminal and the lady when he entered the room. The criminal had the lady pressed up against a beige colored wall and had a pistol pointed at her. The lady was 5'0''inches tall and had medium length blonde hair. She was wearing a blue ladies blazer with a matching skirt. Underneath the blazer she had on a white T-shirt. She was wearing brown pantyhose and shiny black high heel shoes. She was about to go to work at her office building when the criminal broke down the front door and killed her family. The criminal was wearing a blue jean jacket with blue jean pants. He had a black shirt on under his jacket. He was wearing a black wool ski mask, red tennis shoes and black leather gloves.
The smell of blood came from the lady's murdered husband and daughter. Both bodies were lying in the kitchen around a round cherry wood table and were riddled with bullet holes caused by a semi automatic .50 caliber Desert Eagle. Upon seeing this Jason became enraged and was more determined now to kill the murderer than he was before. He was only going to apprehend the criminal when he got there but seeing what the 4'9''inches killer had done made Jason change his mind.
"How could you?" said Jason in a low serious tone of voice.
"What the hell are you?" asked the killer.
"All you need to know about me is that I'm about to send you to meet your maker! Now answer me! How could you kill this lady's family?"
"Like this." said the killer as he the trigger on his hand canon and shot at Jason.
BANG!
Jason sidestepped to the right so fast that he left an after image of himself. Time and time again the killer shot at Jason but Jason kept sidestepping and leaving after images of himself every time he was shot at. The killer emptied his clip and started to reload when Jason spoke.
"You're pathetic! Now, allow me to show you the same fear that you showed to her family!" Jason said in the same low tone of voice while he was leaning on the broken windows windowpane.
Jason got up and started to slowly walk towards the killer who was now trembling with fear. Suddenly, Jason vanished from sight and reappeared between the lady and the killer without the killer knowing where he had gone.
"Huh? Where the hell did he go? Maybe I scared him off. Yeah that's it. I just scared him off. I guess my skill with this gun was too much for the big pussy. Now, where were we, lady? I think I was just about to do the same thing to you that I did to your family."
The killer turned around and saw that Jason towering over him staring him down in the face. The killer started to lose all of the color in his peach colored skin from being so scared of Jason. The killer turned almost white when Jason knelt down and got up in his face to speak to him.
"Now look at the one who's scared!" Jason said to him with a snarl.
The killer started to run away but was to slow and Jason vanished again. He reappeared in front of the killer and ran his fist through the killer's chest. Then Jason, with his fist still in the killer's chest, threw the killer out of the window that Jason had come through. The killer was finally dead.
"You got exactly what you deserved you heartless criminal!" Jason said as he looked out the window at the lifeless corpse of the criminal lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Jason turned around with blood dripping off his fist. He turned to face the lady and asked her some questions.
"Are you alright, Mrs.?" He asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much for what you've just done." She replied to him.
"You are very welcome, Mrs. I was glad to be a help to you. I'm just sorry that I couldn't have been here any sooner than I was so I could've saved your family as well."
"You don't need to blame yourself for what wasn't your fault. They may be dead and it will take a lot of time to get over the sorrow that I'm feeling but I will move on with my life eventually."
"Yeah, you're right. It will take some time but eventually you will be able to move on. Do you know why that criminal tried to kill you?"
"No. He just busted down my front door and started shooting at us." She said as she pointed towards the splintered door frame and a door that was hanging on by one hinge as Jason looked at it." "I don't know what he wanted or anything. By the way, my name is Linda. If you don't mind, kind sir, could you please tell me what your name is so that I may tell my sister who saved me?"
"Of course. My name is THE PANTHER. Where does your sister live?"
"She lives on the other side of town near a bunch of high rise apartments like this one. Her name is Brittany.
"Would you like me to take you over there?"
"No, but thank you any way. I'll just give her a call have her come to pick me up and take me to her place to stay for a while when I can settle down enough to talk about this to her."
"Ok, if that's how you feel. By the way, what's your sister's address and room number?"
"She lives at 325 Green Street and she lives in apartment number 27 on the second floor. May I ask why you want to know where she lives?"
"Oh, no reason I guess. Just curious."
Linda looked at Jason with skepticism on her face as if she didn't believe a single word that he had just said about just being curious.
"Well, Linda, I must be on my way now. Are you sure that your alright now?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank again for what you did."
"No problem. Bye now."
And with those final words Jason jumped out the broken window and landing on the killers body. Jason's feet went all the way through the killer's chest and hit the ground underneath of the body.
Linda cried loudly over the loss of her family as she watched Jason scale two story buildings with one jump and jump from roof top to roof top until she couldn't see him any more.
On the other side of town, Linda's sister Brittany heard a knock on her door and went to answer it but when she opened the door there wasn't anyone there. There was just a note with her name on it. The note read:
Brittany,
Your sister Linda has been involved in a terrible situation and needs your help right now. Please give her a call and go pick her up at her apartment.
Sincerely,
THE PANTHER.
"A terrible situation? Oh no, I'd better call her and find out what's happened!" She said as she ran to her phone to call Linda.
Brittany called Linda and Linda told her the whole story.
"Oh, Brittany, it was so scary!" Linda began to sob. "Charles, Rachel, and I were going about our normal morning routine. They were having breakfast and I was about to leave for work when this masked man broke down our door and shot Charles and Rachel several times with a pistol. He killed them both and then he came after me. I started screaming for help and the criminal pointed the gun at me. He told me to shut up because no one was going to come to my rescue and that he was going to kill me in my own apartment and that no one was going to know it was him. Then he slid the slide back on his pistol to cock the trigger because he had to reload. So I started to scream again and that's when this big cat person broke through my window. The big cat person called himself the Panther. The criminal shot at him several times but the Panther moved so fast from side to side that it looked like the was two of him. The criminal stopped to reload again and the Panther called the criminal pathetic. Then the Panther moved between the criminal and me so fast that it appeared to the criminal that the Panther had left the building. The criminal turned around and saw that the Panther was standing between us. He tried to run away but the Panther was to fast for him and moved in front of him. Then the Panther punched the criminal in the chest and threw him out the window, which killed off the criminal. The Panther asked me if I was alright and I told him that I was. I also told him that I would call you as soon as I was calmed down enough to talk to you. Could you come and pick me up so I can stay with you for a while?"
"Sure thing, Linda, I'll be right there. Hey, did you say that guy called himself The Panther?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well, he left me a note at my front door saying to call you and then to come and pick you up because you had been involved in a terrible situation."
"That guy is a true hero." Linda said in a happier tone of voice.
"He sure is, sis. I'll be right over to pick you up so hang tight. Ok?"
"Ok. Bye sis."
"Bye."
Brittany left to go and pick her sister up right after she hung her phone up and grabbed her keys off of the end table that was sitting off to the right of the door as she left her apartment.
After Jason had left the apartment building that Brittany lived at it started to get dark and he decided to go home. The stars were coming out and the moon was rising.
"I should probably go ahead and go home to my own family now. But first, I want to see if I can change myself back into my human form."
Jason concentrated as hard as he could on changing back into human form. His face scrunched up and he started to sweat profusely. Sweat started to drip off of his whiskers because he was sweating so much. He tried for several minutes and was about to give up when he finally started to change back into his human form.
"PHEW! It's about time." He said exhaustedly. "Wow! That was a lot harder than I thought that it would be. That was pretty amazing though. I'm even wearing the same clothes that I had on when I first changed into The Panther. Well, now that I know that I can change back into my human form, I wonder if I can change into my panther form as well."
Jason started the whole concentration business all over again but this time was different. He found that it was a lot easier to change into his panther form rather than it was to turn back into his human form.
"Well, that was a lot easier than I thought that it was going to be. I think I will stay in this form until I get home because I don't have any other way to get home since my truck is totaled. This form is also a hell of a lot faster than my human form is so I should be home in no time."
Jason was right. It only took him a few minutes to roof jump back to his house. When he got to his front door he decided to change back into his human form so as to not frighten Cheryl or Max.
"Ok, time to change back into human form now."
He started the transformation process and noticed that it was a lot easier to do it this time than it was the first time.
"Hmm, maybe it gets easier to change between human and panther forms the more times that I actually switch between them. If that's the case, then that's a great thing. That means that I'll have more energy to use whenever I need it."
Off in the distance, Jason could here the sirens of police cars and wondered what could've happened or what could be happening right now.
"I wonder what's going on. I hope it's something that the police can handle because I won't have the energy to fight anyone if I transform again. I only have enough energy to transform two more times. Once to change into my panther form to show Cheryl and Max, and once to change back into my human form."
He opened the front door and went inside of his house to see where his wife and son were so that he could show them what had happened to him today at work.
"Cheryl, Max, I'm home. Where are you guys at?" Jason called out.
"We're in the living room dad." Max replied to his father.
"Yeah, come on in here, Hun. There's a special news report on TV about the body of a serial killer that was laying in the back yard of an apartment building." Cheryl told Jason.
Jason went to the fridge and grabbed a can of Pepsi. He cracked the can open with a pop as he walked through the kitchen and went to join his family in the living room. The TV was turned onto the Channel 12 news. They were doing a news bulletin on the killer that Jason had killed earlier that day. Linda was on the news as well. She was giving the reporters the story on what had happened that day.
"The killer broke down my door and killed my husband and daughter. Then he said that he was going to kill me next and that no one would ever know that it was him. I screamed and screamed for help and he told me to shut up because no one would come to my rescue. That's when this big cat person jumped through my window and started to ask the killer how he could kill my family. The criminal started to shoot at him too but The Panther was too fast for him and dodged all of the killers' shots so fast that it looked like there was two of The Panther. The Panther is the name of the big cat person. The Panther punched the killer in the chest and threw him out the window."
"Can you describe what The Panther looked like for us?" The reporter asked Linda.
"I can try to describe him. He had the head, fur, arms, legs, eyes, ears, teeth, fingertips, and toe tips of a black panther. He had the voice and upper body of a man and had a medium muscular body build. He sounded like a normal human as well. He didn't were a shirt but he did have on a pair of golden brown sweat pants and a black belt with a shiny gold buckle. He didn't have any shoes on but he still stood on two legs like a human would. He was a very kind person and I am so very thankful that he showed up. If you are watching this news broadcast then I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope we meet again one day, The Panther."
"And there you have it. The cops have released the name of the killer. His name is Alexander Smith. He was wanted in ten states for the murder of thirty five people. The law enforcement agents that were on his trail can finally stop looking for this person now and start on finding other people now that somebody has already dealt with him. That's all we have from the crime scene at this moment, back to you guys in the studio."
CLICK!
Cheryl turned the TV off and started discussing what they had just seen what was on the news.
"It's a good thing that killer is no longer around." She said.
"Yeah really, that's a lot of people that he killed." Said Max.
"Well, no one will ever have to worry about him again." Jason said to Max and Cheryl.
"I don't buy that whole THE PANTHER thing though." Max stated.
"Why not?" His father asked him.
"Because it would be impossible for something like that to exist. I think that she did it and just doesn't know that she did it. I think that The Panther is another personality that she has. She's probably a schizophrenic."
"Why don't you think that something like The Panther could exist, son?"
"I don't think it exists because a panther can't stand on it's hind legs like a human and talk like one either. That's why I don't think that The Panther exists."
"Well, I hate to burst your bubble son, but it does exist."
"And how do you know, dad?"
"I know that it exists because I am THE PANTHER!"
"No your not dad quit joking around like that."
"I'm not. Here I'll show you!"
"Ok. Show us."
"Alright, here we go!"
Jason started the transformation into his panther form. It took him just a few seconds to transform this time. When he started to transform this time something new happened. A wind swirled around him. The closer he got to being finished with the transformation the faster the winds got. The winds knocked some papers off of the coffee table in the middle of the living room. When Jason finished transforming into his panther form the winds died out. His wife and son were awe struck when they saw that he actually was The Panther.
"Holy crap! You really are The Panther!" A stunned Max said.
"I don't believe it! I am married to the man that single handedly killed Alexander Smith! I am so proud of you! This is magnificent!" Said Cheryl in a shocked tone. "How long have you been able to turn into The Panther, Jason?"
"For about six hours now. A canister of radioactive ooze broke beside me today and I got splashed with the ooze. That is what gave me these powers."
"Dad, you are the coolest person that I have ever known."
"Thanks, son, hey don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Oh yeah, I guess I'd better go to bed now. Good night."
"Good night, son." His parents said to him as he went upstairs to go to bed.
"I think I'm going to go to bed as well, Jason. We'll have to talk about your new powers in the morning so more. Ok?"
"Ok, Cheryl. We'll talk about them some more in the morning."
"Good night dear."
"Good night. I'll be up in a little while."
"Ok. Good night."
"Good night."
Jason stayed up just long enough to turn back into human form, get something to eat, and watch some TV as he ate his dinner. When he was finished with his dinner he went to bed.
"Ah! Now that feels better. Now it's time to get some well earned sleep."
Chapter 2: A New Foe is Born
The next morning, everybody met each other in the kitchen at the table for breakfast. The kitchen table was made out of solid oak that had been stained and treated. Cheryl was frying some bacon and eggs on the stove when Jason and Max came into the kitchen. The smell of the food woke them up and lured them into the kitchen.
"That food smells great, Mom."
"Thank you, son."
"Yeah, Cheryl, You're making us hungry."
"Well, these eggs will be done soon but you can help yourselves to some bacon."
"I think I will. Son, would you like to have some?"
"I'll just grab some and eat it on my way to school thanks."
"Alright. Sounds like a plan to me."
"Here you go, boys. The eggs are nice and fresh."
"Thanks mom."
"Thank you, sweaty."
"You're welcome, boys."
As Max, Jason, and Cheryl were enjoying their breakfast together something had happened at the plant were Jason worked. A demon had entered the portal inside of the metal container. It didn't escape the container instead it decided to remain dormant for a while because it heard people talking to each other as the came into work that day. It waited for the voices to get louder before it finally escaped the container. It punched a whole through the steel wall and tour the container open. It was a colossal monster standing
10 feet tall. It's skin was as blue as the ocean. The demon bent backwards, flexed its chest muscles, and roared at the employee that was standing in front of it to terrified to even make a squeak. The demon went on a blood thirsty rampage. Killing all the employees that got in its way. Dismembering and disemboweling them one by one. A few of the employees had their faces bit in half. Soon after the monsters escape all of the employees were dead. Sensing that there was nobody else around the demon left and headed towards town.
Max was about to exit the back door in the kitchen when he remembered that he had forgotten to get his backpack out of his room.
"Oops. I forgot to get my backpack. I guess I'd better go and get it."
"Alright, son. You go get your backpack and I'll get you that bacon that you said you'd eat on your way to school." His mom told him.
"Thanks mom."
"No problem."
It only took Max a few minutes to get his backpack out of his room and get back downstairs into the kitchen to get his bacon. When he got his bacon he left for school.
"Bye mom and dad."
"Bye, son." Said his mom.
"Have a good day, Max." His dad told him.
"Thanks. I will. You have a good day, too. I love you guys. Bye."
"Bye, Max. We love you, too." His parents told him.
"Well, I suppose I should be heading off to work now." Jason said to Cheryl.
"Yeah, I guess. You don't want to be late anymore. You what your boss said that if you were late one more time that he was going to fire you."
"I know, I know. If I wanted someone to repeat that to me I would've bought us a parrot and told it that information instead of you." Jason said with a smile on his face.
"Ha ha, that was very funny dear." Cheryl replied to Jason in a sarcastically humorous way.
They kissed each other and Jason went out the front door. Cheryl followed him out and stood in the doorway of the front door. Jason got in his car and left the drive way. Cheryl smiled at him and waved goodbye. Jason smiled and waved back at her. The plant was twenty miles away from Jason's home and it usually takes him about thirty minutes to get there. He was only a few miles down the road when he began to hear the sirens of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks coming from behind him. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw a police car speeding to some emergency. Jason pulled over to the side of the road to let the speeding officer by. As the officer passed, Jason looked in his side mirror before getting back onto the road and saw an ambulance and fire truck going just as fast as the police officer.
"I wonder what's going on. I better call Cheryl and tell her to turn the TV on to the news to see if she can find out what's going on."
Still at the side of the road Jason picked up the cell phone and called Cheryl at their home.
RING. RING
"Hello." Cheryl answered.
"Cheryl. This is Jason. I was wondering if you could do a favor for me please."
"Sure. What is it Jason?"
"I need you turn the TV on to the news and call me back if they report on anything that would require a police car, ambulance, and a fire truck to be called out anywhere in the area."
"Ok, I will do that."
"Thank you, Cheryl. I've got to go now."
"Alright, bye dear."
"Bye, honey."
Cheryl turned the TV to the news to see a reporter reporting from the brutal scene at the plant where Jason works.
"I'm standing here at the scene of a very violent disaster. The cause of this bloody catastrophe is still unknown. The only items that the inspectors have been able to find were a large, broken, glass container and a small broken canister. All employees that were here at the time of the massive homicide have been killed. The only surviving employee was Jason Powers. This is a very tragic scene indeed. For Channel 57 News this is Sherry Montoya reporting."
"Oh my god that's terrible! I must call Jason and let him know what's happened at the plant!"
RING. RING
"Hello."
"Jason, this is Cheryl. Those rescue vehicles that you wanted me to watch the news about went the plant."
"What? Why?"
"There has been a terrible accident. All the people that came into work on time have been killed by something. Nobody knows what committed the killings yet. The only things that were found at the plant besides the dead bodies were a large, broken, glass container and a small broken canister."
"Oh no! It looks like being late actually saved my life for once."
"Yeah, it's a good thing that you weren't there."
"I guess."
Jason thought to himself for a minute before speaking to Cheryl again.
"Cheryl."
"Yes, Jason."
"Don't wait up for me tonight. I'm going to conduct my own investigation at the plant."
"Ok. But be careful, Jason, whatever killed all those people might still be there hiding somewhere in the plant."
"Don't worry, Cheryl, I will be. Be sure to inform Max of what's going on."
"Ok. I will. Bye. I love you."
"I love you too, honey. I'll see you and Max tonight."
"Ok. Bye."
"Bye."
Jason hung the phone up and continued to go to the plant. He thought about what could've been in that large container. He already knew what the small container held but couldn't exactly remember what was in the large container.
"Hmm. Now what was in that large glass container? I'm fairly certain that the small container was the container that held the mutagenic ooze that transformed me into the Panther. I guess I'll just have to figure out the rest of this puzzle when I get to the plant."
It wasn't any longer than twenty minutes after Jason received Cheryl's call that he arrived at the plant. The rescue vehicles had already left. He got out of the car and went through the entrance. The floor and walls were covered with blood.
"Yuck! What a disgusting mess this is."
Jason followed the trail of blood to the large container. There was a metal plate attached to the cap of the container with an inscription on it.
"Wow. That must have been one hell of a monster to have busted out the entire front of this container. Hey, what's this metal plate? It appears to be some sort of label. It reads "Portal". Hmmm. A portal huh.
Jason did a complete walk around of the plant. He covered every square inch of the plant to see if he could find the monster and destroy it.
"That thing is nowhere in this plant."
Jason looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 5:30 p.m.
"I guess I should probably go home. Cheryl and Max will be expecting me for dinner even though I told her not to wait for me. I know how they are. They'd wait on me even if I was to go out of town for a week. I'll go and look for that creature tomorrow."
Chapter 3: A Look Into the Future
Jason left the plant and went home. On his way home he passed some woods where he caught a brief glimpse of something with burning yellow eyes glaring at him. He slammed on his breaks and the car skidded for a few feet. The car came to stop with a jolt.
"What in the hell was that? I'd better go back and see what that thing was. It could've been the creature that escaped from the plant."
He spun his car around doing a 180 and went back to investigate what had stared at him with those ominous glowing, yellow eyes that had stared at him. He returned to the spot where he had caught the glimpse of the creature and got out of his car. He saw something in the woods that appeared to be a demon of some sort with its back turned towards Jason. It looked like it was eating something on the ground.
"That looks like a demon . I'd better transform before I continue advancing any further towards that thing."
Jason began his transformation into the Panther. The black light that came from him lit up the area of the woods that he was in. The sudden appearance of a bright light startled the demon and it spun around with a vicious growl. The demon had a human hand in its mouth. Venom coursing down the remains of the wrist on the hand as the hand lay between the green teeth of the demon. The hand was punctured in some areas by the grotesque teeth. The disgusting creature stared at Jason with a menacing stare and a foaming mouth as if it had rabbis.
"So you're the one who killed all of my co-workers. I will make you pay with your life for what you have done." Jason said in a calm but angry tone of voice. His were narrow and his face was contorted with anger bearing his sharp white teeth.
Jason lunged towards the demon with his right fist drawn back ready to strike the demon. Jason threw a punch at the demon. The punch connected with the demon's face sending the demon sailing through the air crashing through a tree and snapping it in half. The demon staggered back to its feet shook its head and ran away.
"You're not getting away from me, you son of a bitch."
Jason gave chase but the demon was too fast for him and escaped.
"Damn! He got away from me this time but I won't let it happen again. The next time I see the thing I will kill it!"
Jason transformed back into his human form and went back to his car. He got in his car and went home to his family. He opened the door to his house and called out to Max and Cheryl.
"Max, Cheryl, I'm home."
"Hi honey. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
"Ok Cheryl."
"Hi dad, did you catch the creature?"
"Hey son, no I didn't catch the creature yet but I'll get him the next I see it."
"The next time, does that mean that you saw it?" Cheryl asked.
"Yes, it does. I already had a fight with it but it got away."
"Yeah, you'll get it next time like you said dad."
"I'm sure that I will son. Come on, let's go eat dinner. I'm starving."
"Sounds good to me, come on boys it's time to eat."
"Right behind you mom."
Elsewhere in the city the demon continued its savage rampage. The voracious monster stopped behind a family's one story house, climbed up a tree in their yard, and hid in the branches of the tree waiting for an unsuspecting target to become its prey. The back porch light on the house came on and the back door opened. The man of the house walked outside with a bag of trash in his hand. The demon spotted him and quietly climbed back down the tree. The man walked over to the two trash cans sitting next to his grill that sat along a wooden fence that stretched the entire length of the family's yard that was thirty feet in length. One trash can was black and the other was red with a blue lid that just barely fit on it. The man opened the blue trash can lid and put the trash bag in the red trash can. The man didn't notice the demon sneaking up behind him. The demon waited for the man to turn around. The man turned around and saw the demon staring him in the face. The demon let out a tremendously loud roar as the man let out a terrified scream and tried to back away from the demon, but it was to no avail. The demon struck out with one of its claws and dug its nails into the man's chest. The demon pulled down on the man's chest and tore the entire front of the man's torso off spilling all of his organs in his torso all over the ground. The man's heart laid on his rib cage which was laying on the ground. The heart was still beating. The man's wife heard his scream and looked through their back window just in time to see her husband get killed. She screamed and grabbed the phone next to her. She dialed 911 to call the police and have them come to kill the demon. She watched the demon devour her husband piece by piece through the kitchen window while she called for help. The demon noticed that it was being watched and left the sight of the woman. The woman let out a sigh of relief seeing that the demon had left. She then began to cry because of her husband getting killed by the creature. She had been standing at the window crying for a few minutes when the demon broke down the back door. The woman let out an ear piercing scream as the demon jumped at her and tore off her lower jaw with its left claw. The beast quickly killed the woman and ate her as well before it left to find its next kill.
The time was now eleven thirty at night and Jason, Cheryl, and Max had all gone to bed for the night. Jason began to dream about himself in a desert somewhere on the planet. In his dream he was in his human form. It was night time in his dream and he was sitting around a small camp fire on a cliff of a large mountain that was full of rocks and had no vegetation. There was another person with him sitting by the campfire. The other person was a middle aged Indian man who was smoking on a peace pipe. The Indian was wearing a brown buffalo hide vest and a pair of pants made out of the same material. He told Jason to take a hit on the pipe.
"Here, smoke this." The Indian said as held out the pipe towards Jason.
"Oh no thanks, I don't smoke."
"This pipe will force a vision onto you, a vision that must see."
Jason hesitated for a moment and thought about what he should do. He eventually decided to do as the Indian said and smoke the pipe. He took the pipe out of the Indian's hand and took in a deep breath. The smoke of the substance in the pipe filled his lungs and caused his vision to go blurry. It wasn't very long after he started to smoke that Jason passed out. A vision came to him of the demon on a savage killing spree. The second thing that the vision showed him was a hand holding a black crystal with a golden spark in the middle of hit. The hand had little streams of blood running down it and persons arm. The hand handed the crystal over to someone but the vision didn't reveal who that person was. The third thing the vision showed him was another panther like the one that he was only this one was a golden panther. The golden panther was fighting what seemed to be an alien. The last thing that the vision showed him was about the same panther only this time he was facing off against the king of evil, Lucifer. Jason slowly woke back up from his vision and looked at the Indian.
"What did those visions mean and who was that other panther I saw?"
"All the answers to your questions revealed in time."
The Indian reached into his vests pocket and pulled out a black crystal. He then handed the crystal to Jason.
"This crystal belongs to you." The Indian said as he put the crystal in Jason's hand.
"This is the crystal that was in my vision."
"You are correct. It is the exact same crystal that you saw in your vision."
"But why are you giving this to me?"
"Jason, you are what is known as a catalyst."
"A catalyst, what do you mean by that?"
"Jason, you are a great warrior. However, there is one other person that is even more powerful than you are but he needs your help to release his powers. The crystal that that you now hold in your hands is called a conversion crystal. You need to channel all of energy that you have during a critical moment in your life into the crystal. This will cause the golden spark in the center of the crystal to glow brighter and turn the black crystal into a golden crystal. You must then hand this crystal over to the one that needs your help. The crystal will release a golden light and transform the young warrior into a golden hero. Unfortunately, you will die after you transfer the rest of your powers into the crystal."
Jason took the crystal and put it into his pocket. He had a look of understanding on his face. He nodded to the Indian, got up and walked away from the camp fire. He awoke from his dream a short while later. It was now morning and the smell of breakfast in the air made him hungry.
"Mmm. Smells like sausage."
Jason got up out of bed and went into the bathroom that was in his and Cheryl's bedroom. He took of the pair of boxers that he wore as pajamas and got in the shower. It only took him twenty minutes to take his shower. When he got out he grabbed a green towel off of the towel rack that was right beside the shower. The bathroom was filled with steam from the hot water of the shower. Jason got dressed and got ready to go down stairs for breakfast. He patted his right pocket and felt something hard.
"Huh, I wonder what this is."
Jason reached into his pocket and felt a pointy object. He wrapped his hand around it and pulled it out. What he saw in his hand shocked him. It was the conversion crystal that he put in his pocket in his dream.
"But, how can this be here? It was in my dream. You can't bring stuff back with you out of a dream. I must be imagining this."
Jason grabbed the crystal as hard as he could and threw it to the ground trying to break it, but he was not successful in his attempt to destroy the crystal. The crystal bounced off of the floor and back into his hand.
"This is no imaginary object. It is a very real thing. That means that the visions that I saw in my dream are going to come true and I'm going to die soon. Possibly before this day is over with, but I know now what must be done and there is no way I can avoid it. It is my destiny." He thought to himself.
Jason grasped the crystal and looked at it with a look of discontent on his face as he thought to himself. He understood what was going to happen to him and what he must do regardless of how much he disliked the idea of him dying. He knew that if the hero in his visions was to ever come to life then he must forfeit his remaining powers before he dies. He hoped that that time would not come for a long while. He put the crystal back into his pocket and went down stairs to join his family for breakfast before Max headed off for school.
Chapter 4: A New Hero is Born
News of the vicious attack spread like a wild fire. It didn't take long for the news medias to start covering the story of the man and his wife that had been devoured at there own home by an unknown creature. Scenes of the attack were posted on the front page of several newspapers and local TV news shows had live coverage at the home of the man and wife. The news was usually the first thing that Cheryl and Jason watched of a morning after Max had gone off to school. They had just turned the TV on when a news report from the house of the man and wife came on.
"Experts say that the only kind of animal that could even come close to causing this kind of devastation would be a large bear. However, the experts all say that they have never seen a bear of any size cause this much damage. As you can see here behind me, the back door has been completely destroyed and now lies in splinters on the floor of the kitchen. The Mayor has issued a state wide emergency until the creature is killed. The Mayor wants all residents to stay indoors as much as possible until further notice. He also advises that all windows and doors should be locked at all times. That is all that we have at this current moment please stay tuned for further updates on this tragic story throughout the day."
"Well, duty calls. I'd better go to that house and collect any type of information that might lead me to where next attack will be." Jason said to Cheryl as he walked towards their front door.
"Alright, but please, be careful Jason."
"Don't worry I will be. Bye."
"Bye."
Jason gave his wife a kiss and headed for the dead couples house. He got in his car instead of transforming and running there he decided it would be best not to cause anymore panic. People who have never seen him transformed before would with out a doubt be frightened by the sight of a mutant panther standing on its hind legs looking them in the face. Besides, it wasn't a very long drive to the couple's house from his house.
Jason parked his car in the driveway at the house since there wasn't anybody there except for a coroner. The house was taped off with the yellow police tape that officers use to mark off crime scenes. Jason thought he would ask the coroner if he could examine the bodies before they were taken to the morgue.
"Excuse me, sir." Jason said as he waved his hand at the coroner to get his attention.
"Yes, sir, how can I help you?"
"I was wondering if you could let me take a look at those bodies before you take them away. I'm conducting an investigation to find out what's been going on around this town with all of these mysterious and brutal murders."
"Well, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to let you see them. Follow me if you'd please."
The coroner took Jason to a couple of blue body bags in the back yard.
"Well, here they are. I don't know why there even in those body bags there was barely enough left of those poor people to put in a small trash bag." The coroner told Jason as he unzipped the body bags.
The smell that came out of the bags was so foul that the coroner puked off to the side of them. Jason, on the other hand, just stared at the bodies with a stone cold stare. He really could see very many details about the bodies with his current eye sight. He would have to become the Panther in order to conduct a thorough investigation.
"Excuse me, sir." Jason said.
"Yes?"
"Could you do me a favor and go down the road and get me a couple of cheeseburgers? I'll watch over the bodies for you and pay for the food."
"I don't think that I should but I suppose I could."
"Thanks. Here's twenty dollars."
"Alright I'll be back in fifteen minutes."
"Ok."
The coroner left and Jason watched him walk down the street until he was out of sight before he began his transformation. A bright light flashed and Jason was transformed. He began to analyze the bodies in even greater detail than he ever could with his normal human eyes. He noticed that the markings on the remains of both people were an exact match to the markings that were on the bodies at the plant.
"Well now, it looks like my demon pal caught some more prey. I guess I'd better transform back before that guy gets back with my food."
Jason transformed back into his human form just in time. The coroner was walking back up the street with a bag of cheeseburgers.
"Here are your burgers." The coroner said as he handed the bag to Jason.
"Thanks. I'll be leaving you now so you can get back to work."
"Ok. Bye."
Jason got back in his car and headed down the road towards Max's high school.