The force vibrated through my body, my head slamming into the stone wall, before I crashed to the ground.
My form ached with a phantom pain. Then I felt it. The spike, the pulse of magic rippling through the metal. It urged me to take on my other form, the form that was the original design for my body.
I had learned, not long after I awoke with no memories other than my name and the vision of fire and panic, that this body's current design was an afterthought. This living chunk of metal and magic that was me was meant to be something else. A weapon, perhaps, based on what I had learned from roaming and encountering far too many cruel people.
That man, the one I often saw in my dreams and saw when I first woke up, was the one who had made that weapon, that tool, and eventually, me. That man with green skin much darker than mine, short emerald hair peppered with grey, those sad grey eyes, and the first signs of old age and stress on his face had made me; that man had looked at me with such sadness, such guilt and grief, and a soft warmth in his eyes that I did not understand.
This form remembered that original design well, especially when I was in trouble. Now, the magic that sustained me was demanding that I let it take that other form so I could be safe. So I could teach these people a lesson.
I ignored the pounding and tingling sensations that came with the demands of the magic that coursed through me. I slowly lifted my head to see who or what my attacker was.
"Oh, look. The freak's already awake," a male voice said. A middle aged man. Deep orange skin, short crimson hair, and age lining his face. Another person stood close by; I recognized their shape to vaguely be the figure that leapt from the trash. Reptilian with a pointed face, yellow scales, and a shell on their back. A Koopa Troopa some corner of my mind helpfully supplied. Another, far smaller, form was situated close to my head. Wait, did this group lure me in here with kitten noises?!
"Hey, little girl, we don't know what you were thinking coming here," the orange-faced man said, "but we don't appreciate whatever in the Underwhere you're supposed to be coming into our town." He gestured at my metal limbs, as if to explain what he meant; of course, I had forgotten. I had forgotten that I did not fit in their world. The man then crouched down to my level, a sick grin slowly forming on his face. It revealed yellowing, rotting teeth that I most certainly did not want any closer to me.
"Good news is, though, you can make it up to us. Give us all your money," the Koopa said, a snarl curling on her face. "Do that, and maybe you'll make it outta here with all ya pieces."
My core was pulsing in my chest, magic sparking though my limbs even as a lay still. I slowly try to shake my head.
"I don't have much money left," I admitted, hating how pathetic I sounded as I lay before these people. Ignoring the shocks of magic running through my body was getting harder and harder to do.
"Pff, that's a lie. You think we didn't see you? You were chatting up bakery boy back there and paid for your cute little pastries," the third form said. I glance at them to see they are squatty, with big feet, no arms, and teeth protruding from their mouth. Goomba my mind supplied again. "Unless, of course, you ripped him off. And if you ripped off the baker, I bet you might have stolen some things when people weren't looking. The boy saw you, so you couldn't just snatch something and leave."
I tried harder to shake my head now. "No, no, that's not what happen-."
"Liar," the Koopa hissed. "Cut the bullshit. Beggin' for mercy and feedin' us lies ain't gonna make this easier on ya. You are worthless and pathetic and you don't belong here, dollie. Got it? So give us your money, and get the heck out. Or do you want us to beat it outta ya?"
At my lack of response, beyond my eyes widening, the three before me grinned. The middle aged man stood to his full height, reared his leg back, and kicked me hard in the stomach. The bang echoed through my body as the man cursed.
"What are you made out of?" he snarled. He hauled me up by the collar of my dress, forcing me to face him.
I didn't hear anything else that was said; the roar in my head, from the power coursing through me, drowned it out. I vaguely registered the fists and feet that hit my face, my stomach, my chest. My head might have slammed against the wall once, though I no longer cared.
They were cruel. Cruel, cruel, cruel. And they will pay.
The beckoning of the magic in my core could no longer be ignored.
My lips slowly curled in a sinister smile that stretched across my face. I couldn't help the laugh in my voice as I spoke.
"You dummies have made a very, very big mistake," I declared. I pulled on the magic in my core before jerking my head sharply to the right.
I knew that my eyes were now entirely black. A few worlds ago, I'd changed forms in front of a smooth lake, able to see my reflection change before whirling on my enemy.
I vaguely heard the gasps from the three as I was released. Then my world began to spin, my head twirling on my neck, unlocking the mechanisms that allowed me to achieve my other, my first, and my true form.
My magic spread out, reaching beyond my body and sensing the energy around me. I wanted, someday, to properly learn to use this magic. I always felt like I could do more with it, was meant to do more with it, that use it to switch between two forms, sense my opponents, and very rarely, travel between worlds. For now, however, I was more than happy with using it for only the first two reasons.
My head stopped, resting at an awkward angle only a machine could survive. I felt the panels split open at last and felt those six, long spider-like legs shoot out from the back of my neck and my upper back. I set them on the ground and slowly lifted the rest of my body into the air. I closed my eyes; with the magic sensing for me, I hardly needed them.
My three attackers had begun to flee, screaming of monsters, but the grin stayed on my face.
I then spoke again with a sing-song tone, my voice now something sinister and mechanical. I chanted the words, the name, that I hoped would one day haunt every one of their dreams.
"Mimimimimimimimimimimi."
And then, I gave chase.
The spider-like legs carried me farther than I could have gone on my usual two feet. As a result, even as they ran, I caught up to my three attackers. I chased them through the streets, just a few blocks over from the marketplace that I had been in not too long ago. I paid it no mind, as those people no longer mattered. All that mattered were the three I was chasing.
They cut a corner in an attempt to lose me, but it hardly hindered me. They weaved in and out of streets, through the narrow spaces between buildings.
I did not care to play games with them.
They were cruel, and they will pay for it.
I briefly stopped, gingerly testing my ability to climb onto the roof of a low building before clambering onto it. I opened my eyes and allowed my magic to spread, searching for them.
Just a street over, trying to weave between stone buildings.
The smile does not leave my face as I leap from this roof to another, the tips of my spider legs hitting the roof with loud thuds. I skittered over the rooftops, leaping over gaps to reach my targets again.
Then I feel something slam into my back. Hard. Phantom pain sparked over my back. It felt as if, somehow, I had been sliced open and the wound had then been set on fire.
I whirl on this new attacker, a snarl on my face and my eyes still open. I saw several of the town's citizens grouped together, watching me with terror in their eyes. I leapt down from the roof, slowly approaching the group.
I searched for any sign of the attacker, probing to find who had struck me and with what.
They were a threat, whoever or whatever they were. My magic had probed, searching for the attacker, only to find ripples. Ripples of magic, both similar and very much unlike my own. It was a power not of this world.
I was about to focus my magic, so that I could find this attacker. I paid dearly for my distraction.
My metal spider legs were knocked out from under me. The three original attackers and a few braver civilians had managed to knock my feet out from under me, one using a baseball bat, a few others yanking them out from under me, while the rest ran into them.
I had paid dearly for that distraction.
I fell back, my body crashing into the building I had been standing on top of before I had been hit. A sharp ache burned through my form, making me hiss through my teeth.
I tried to pull myself to my feet, opening the eyes I had not realized that I had closed. The legs of my true form strained as I desperately tried to stand again. The citizens approached me, many with weapons in hand. I could not help shrinking back, fear clouding my thoughts. I couldn't stand, I was outnumbered, and I was in such pain it was possible I was injured and leaking magic.
A citizen ran toward me.
I didn't think twice before flinging a hand up, my magic wild before focusing in my desperation. A wave of ruby red and dark pink magic arched from my motion, flinging back the townspeople.
I then doubled over, my hands and knees braced against the cobblestone streets. My magic was frantic, trying to mend the wounds in my form, despite it being metal and machine. I felt my spider-like legs shoot up before folding themselves back into their compartment, through the panels in my neck and back. The panels close and I feel my head right itself. I grimace as my magic dances along my metal exterior.
I look up to see fear etched into the faces of the townspeople. They did not see that some of their own had attacked me, tried to brutally beat me and rob me. No, they saw only me. I was the monster.
They believed I was the monster.
Just like all the others, in the worlds before this one.
They would not want me here. They will hunt me to the very fringes of their world, just to ensure I was destroyed. I needed to leave, now. They were distracted, afraid, and shocked. They would not stay that way long. I knew that all too well.
So much for my plans of staying here a while.
I slowly rose to my feet, the townspeople staring at me as I stared back.
Then I ran. My feet pounded against the ground, the sound of metal hitting stone echoing throughout the streets. It mixed with the clamor of the marketplace that was just a street over. It now felt like years ago that I had sat on that street and watched the sunrise, watched the market slowly come to life.
It would be nice to, just once, find a world where the pretty things did not hide all that was ugly.
I heard a yell of "Get her!" behind me and whatever else was said, I tuned out. I needed to get out. I needed to escape.
So I ran, street after street, desperate to find a safe place where I could concentrate and escape this world entirely.
It was a shame, really. I had seen so little of this world, done so little. Now, I had to leave.
So much for seeing Terrance again.
Not like he'd want to, anyway, if he saw me in my true form or heard about the incident later.
Ultimately, I did not matter. I knew that.
But it would be nice, to find a place I belonged.
Because no matter where I went and how many people I told my name too, it was always the same. I was no one, nothing, and I belonged nowhere.
I continued to run, the buildings growing further apart the signs of a thriving town vanished. Soon, all signs of that town vanished.
Just as I would soon.
The cobblestone streets gave way to gravel and eventually dirt. At that point, I strayed from the road to step on grass. I slowed to a jog and then a walk, making my way towards the woods. At first, it was simply scattered trees. I saw, however, that the deeper I went, the darker the forest became. Eventually, I came to a stop, deeming it safe enough to survey the damage done to my body. I slid a hand into my hair, carefully prodding at the back of my head. Then I checked along my neck and back, taking extra care as sparks of pain flared where I had been hit. Just what had I been hit by? Someone had been there, with a magic that was both familiar to me as well as incredibly bizarre.
I checked the front of my torso as well, probing for dents or splits in the surface. It seemed, thankfully, that the most of the hits had only damaged the surface. My head, neck, and torso were covered in a material that was malleable, and remarkably similar to organic skin. It meant that my magic also knew what to do with it. It could mend it and it would be good as knew. The injury on my back would take some time, of course, but there wasn't any lasting damage. Part of me wondered if that was intentional.
There wasn't any leaking, either, of that red and pink magic. That was very, very good. Nothing was damaged internally. My core and its energy was perfectly intact and undamaged. It did seem, however, that it was a little depleted.
No doubt by that stunt I pulled, however unintentional it had been. I had, somehow, managed to focus my magic, however weakly, to throw the townspeople away from me. If I could do that, there was no telling what I would be able to do with full control over it and practice. For now, however, I would barely be able to use it. It would be busy mending what it could and trying to replenish itself after being used. Which meant I wouldn't be able to leave this world today, or perhaps even any time soon. I was stuck here until my magic was back to full power.
I sighed before tentatively touching the back of my head again. I winced as phantom pain arched from my head and down my back. While most of the hits hadn't been bad, there was definitely caving on the back of my head. It didn't seem deep, but I'd have to see someone capable of working on it, on me, for it to be fixed. I'd have to be mindful of it for a while, it seemed.
Ultimately, I was alright. Minimal damage and my magic was nearly depleted. I'd have to wait and heal, as well as try to find someone that could work on reversing the dent in the back of my head.
I started to walk again.
I'd have to find a place to wait and rest. I needed to keep away from danger as much as possible while my body recovered. With any luck, the townspeople wouldn't follow me into the woods. Perhaps after seeing me run, it was unnecessary to come after me now. I could hope that was the case anyway.
I carefully treaded over the ground, though the soft dirt and grass muffled my steps as it was. I still walked gingerly, as a force of habit. If there was someone out here, I'd need to be quiet anyway.
Quiet, as it turned out, was the last thing I needed. Quiet led to my mind wandering, wondering what in all the worlds had happened to me. Why couldn't I remember who I was? That man, the one that made me and looked at me with such sadness and soft warmth; who was he? What had happened to me? I knew, faintly, that I had not always been like this. I had not always been made of metal and magic. I did not know what specifically I had been, though. I simply knew that it was not this.
And what was that magic that I sensed? It was not of this world, I knew that. I couldn't put my finger on it.
I was snapped from my thoughts as movement caught my eye.
I quickly hid behind the nearest tree, peering around it to see where the creator of such movement had gone. I scanned over the trees and bushes, searching.
There it was.
I silently watched as a woman strolled through the woods, weaving between trees. Her long skirt brushed over the ground, the blue fabric decorated with white, grey, and black details billowing as she walked. Her steps hardly disturbed the forest around her, despite the skirt trailing behind her as she walked. Her simple smoky grey blouse was tucked into her skirt, the sleeves loose before tightening at her wrists. A thin light brown cord was tied around her waist and the ends dangled at the front of her skirt. A faded black cloak was flung over her shoulders and the hood raised over her head, obscuring any finer details of her appearance. It gently flapped behind her in the light breeze.
I gently pulled at the magic at my core before using it to probe, cautiously using it to investigate.
I physically flinched and jerked back my magic, softly hissing through my teeth at what I found.
She was a deep, deep well of raw, ancient power. Also not quite of this world, I noticed. But her own power far dwarfed mine, and it had been honed with time as well, it seemed. I was a weak child both in comparison when it came to our magic, and likely physically as well.
I had ducked behind the tree, trying to steel my nerves. I had escaped the townspeople only to find myself in a forest with a very powerful being. Of course, I'd have to stay a little longer so that my magic could replenish itself. I had to stay in this world with this powerful sorceress and a town of hostile people.
My luck seemed to have turned bad.
I slowly peered around the tree again, searching for any sign of the woman, only to find nothing.
Where was she? She was gone. I looked around again. Nothing. A tight knot formed in my stomach. Where had she gone? I was in a forest with a potentially hostile, very powerful sorceress, and I couldn't find her! Where had she gone?
I slowly moved out from behind the tree, my head jerking back and forth as I searched for the woman. Then I felt it. The well of power.
Right behind me.
"Looking for something, dear?"
