Chapter 1: Prisoner of Your Eye
4:30 a.m. in the slums of Berlin, a young man of twenty two eyes the few people still up and about for a good mark. Small for a man, he stands at exactly five foot four inches, with a matching body frame that nonetheless is well toned with strong muscle. His blue eyes scan discriminately for the next target of his skilled pickpocketing, or witty guile. His white tanned skin blended well into the shadows, matched by his beard scruff and shaggy black hair. A nearby street light illuminated his black motorcycle leathers, in particular his black jacket with a broken pink heart emblazoned on the back. His belt buckle matched the symbol on his jacket, contrasting nicely with the white belt. He smiled slyly to himself, lifting a wallet from an obnoxious pimp unfortunate enough to wander by. Once he had cleared the mark, the man checked inside the wallet, peeling it open with hands covered in dark blue fingerless gloves. He had to chuckle. The fifty euros showed that the obnoxious man wasn't nearly as much of a big deal as he wanted to look.
This man had spent his life growing on the streets, dodging criminals, scavenging to survive, refining his wits and reflexes. A conman through and through, but he prided himself on never cheating the good and innocent. There was no honor in stealing from good people. This is the man who makes a living stealing from the cruel, cheating the cheaters, dodging criminals, and his name is Jonas Johan Priester.
As Jonas pocketed the change he had picked up and tossed the wallet into a nearby rubbish bin, his discerning eyes picked up on the man who would be his next target. Strolling down from the other direction of the sidewalk was a man significantly bigger than Jonas, six foot two inches in fact. Tall as he was, his build was average at best, and his outfit just screamed, "I'm an overcompensating fop!" Regal blonde hair as well kept as hair could be, milky white skin, blue eyes, he was an Aryan's wet dream. Black slacks contrasted with the man's pink button up shirt, octopus shaped tie, white trainers, and gold plated monocle over his left eye. For reasons only he would truly know, the man wore at least six different leather belts, each one overlapping the last. Perhaps most peculiar of all he carried a bow slung over one shoulder, and a strange ornate gold-colored arrow held in his left hand. Fantastisch! Jonas thought to himself.
Hands in his pocket, Jonas began heading toward the man in question. As they closed the distance between each other, he held his cool, keeping his head down but making certain to pay attention to their relative positioning with one another. Once close enough, Jonas stumbled forward, forcibly bumping into the man's shoulder. In the process he threw out his arms to catch himself on the pavement, and in doing so scattered a number of coins around. So far so good.
"Hey, what where you're going! The hell is wrong with you?!" the man shouted, raising a foot ready to kick Jonas as he was doubled over on the sidewalk.
"Shawry-hic!" he lazily apologized, swaying a bit. He scratched the back of his head and put on a goofy as hell smile, breathing heavily to make sure the smell of alcohol really permeated the air around them.
"Ugh. Filthy drunk! You're not worth my time." The man carrying the bow and arrow turned to leave, but Jonas called out for him first.
"Hey, shawry, but can yoush help me pickupsh? Hic!" Making sure his arms shook enough to remain convincing, Jonas began to pick up the coins bit by bit, intentionally missing a few as he did so.
Hm. This fool might just be worth my time anyway, thought the man. This is a perfect opportunity to make some extra pocket change. And maybe have a meal while I'm at it. He nodded to Jonas, then set down on his knees. Setting the arrow down to free up both hands, he began picking up the coins, but pocketed them rather than handing them back to Jonas. Surely this drunk wouldn't notice that his pocket was a bit lighter than it had been before, right?
Perfect. This elitist took the bait, exactly as planned. After a second or two when he was certain the man had dropped his guard, Jonas put the rest of his plan into action! Throwing all his weight into the motion, Jonas headbutt his target square in the face! Keeping the momentum going, he simultaneously grabbed the arrow placed on the ground, and flipped over the man with the agility and skill of an olympic athlete.
"Ugh! What the he-" the now arrowless man turned, his nose bloodied by the impact.
"See ya, Fickfehler!" Jonas called back, taking an early lead. Further displaying his athleticism, Jonas turned into the alleyway he had originated from, used his momentum to kick off the wall, and reach a fire escape significantly higher than any normal man could reach with a regular jump. His right hand latched onto the bottom of the escape while he clutched the ornate arrow in his left. Timing it perfectly, Jonas threw himself up higher on the backswing, heading up the different floors of the fire escape this way with every motion.
The young man reached the rooftop, tumbling over it. He took a second to catch his breath. Very few people could have caught up with him at this point, but he knew to keep moving if he wanted to truly escape his pursuer-Boom!
Dust and bits of stone shrapnel flew past Jonas, harmlessly bouncing off of his leather jacket. He spun around, taken aback by the sudden sound of an explosion, only to see that the corner of the building had been blown apart! A small section, about a meter long, was just gone without explanation! He didn't have much time to think the situation over either, as a long, slimy tentacle grabbed the ledge created by the sudden explosion. With a mighty heave the tentacle pulled up none other than the very man Jonas had just scammed. The man landed with grace and poise, the tentacle retracting into the man's right sleeve.
"What the hell?!" Jonas cried out. Once again he was on the run. Rather than dodge around a nearby chimney, he opted to vault over it entirely. As soon as his legs had cleared the stack of bricks, it too was blown apart right beneath him! What the hell is this guy?! It's like he can bomb things from a distance! And I don't even want to think about what he does with that tentacle! Mustering his lifetime of parkour, Jonas ducked into a roll under the cover of dust kicked up by the exploding chimney. By the time the dust cleared, Jonas was already jumping to the next rooftop.
"Urgh!" His momentum was cut short and the air knocked from his lungs as a long, powerful tentacle wrapped itself around his gut. Tumbling down he spun around to see the man standing near the edge of the building. Damn, he had to be unbelievably fast in order to catch up like that! Jonas thought for a moment that if he could stab into the man's tentacle with the arrow that he'd be released, but dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came up. The thing looked too valuable to risk damaging like that, and life or death situation or not Jonas needed that payday.
Instead the young man ran his feet along the wall of the building in order to swing up to a window, and crashed through it. Glass shards burst around randomly, cutting into his skin. Some wounds were deep, others were light, but it had the intended effect. The tentacle released him as it ran along the window, nearly getting sliced off entirely.
Having learned his lesson before, Jonas didn't stop to catch his breath. This pursuer was nothing short of inhuman and he needed to get away. He dodged his way through a family's living room right into the front door. That was definitely gonna leave some bruising, but it was a hell of a lot better than death by exploding octopus man!
"The fuck is going on in my flat?!" Jonas heard a guttural growling of some middle-aged man as he descended the stairwell. "Get the fuck out!"
Scheisse! He's already in the flat?! He stepped up his sprinting, dropping between stairwells to cut down on time. In only a handful of seconds Jonas had reached the front door.
"It's no use running!" called out the man, clearly enjoying himself. "I can smell your blood!"
Time for an old reliable! Thought Jonas, pulling out a large bundle of marbles. He tossed them behind blindly and heard the children's toys scattering in front of the doorway to the flats. Nary a second later and he heard the grunts of a man stumbling around. That bought some time, but it wouldn't be enough to lose this freak!
"Urk!" Jonas tumbled forward as an intense pressure struck his back, like a powerful punch. From a bodybuilder. On steroids. As he fell forward and rolled along the ground, he could see the monster of a man still chasing from some distance away. Now he had tentacles sprouting up from both sleeves and his pant legs too! They were carrying him along the ground, avoiding the marbles while he held the bow in front of him, string outstretched but with no arrow. Jonas fought through the pain to get back up and keep running. Before he could turn back around the man released the bowstring, and Jonas felt another invisible punch striking him this time in the gut. He toppled back over, face down this time.
"You have caused me enough trouble!" Again Jonas attempted to stand, but the monster man had caught up. Tentacles wrapped around the young man's neck and wrists, pinning him to the wall. Foppish as the man seemed at first, Jonas couldn't deny that messing with him was a tremendous mistake, at least from a health perspective. But from a perspective of sheer joy? It was thrilling!
"You like smiling so much, boy?" the octopus man questioned, bringing his face in close enough that Jonas could practically taste his breath. "I'll make sure that you get to smile for eternity, as a corpse!"
Just then Jonas felt an inexplicable pressure where the tentacles had made contact with his body. He couldn't turn his face far enough to get an idea of what all was going on, but the sensation reminded him of when he had given blood, only on a much bigger scale. This was incredible! He couldn't help but muster a weak laugh.
"What's so funny, hm? Do you have a death wish? I'm happy to oblige." Keeping Jonas pinned in place with the tentacles, the man held up his bow and pulled the string back, aimed directly for Jonas's face.
"Heh. I thought I was… Prepared for anything on these streets." Jonas lifted his eyes enough to meet with his attacker's, showing his steely glare. "Thank you for showing me I have more to learn!"
Jonas tapped his right heel against the wall, activating the spring loaded knife. A single blade jut from the bottom of his foot, and he kicked with all his strength right into the man's groin. Jonas didn't stop there. He showed off his acrobatic flexibility, lifting his leg up to a clean 170 degree angle, slicing the man's flesh all along as he did so.
"GAAAAAAAGH-URK!" the man cried out in pain until his neck was slashed open by the motion. With all the air escaping his lungs, that put an end to the screaming. Pulling back and writhing in pain, Jonas was released. The young man collapsed onto the ground, feeling a sudden sharp aching pain. He looked down to find the arrow had been lodged into his gut in the tumble, and damn was it deep.
"Scheisse…" he mumbled. Well, if he had to bleed out on the street, at least he took that flachwischer with him. Speaking of, he spared a second to look up at that freak who… Was putting himself back together?! "Scheisse!"
The octopus man let out a deep sigh, then turned to look back at Jonas with a grin. He… He didn't have a scratch on him! His clothing had been torn to pieces, but there were no signs of injury on the man himself! What is this monster?!
"You've wasted enough of my time, punk. Time to-" he stopped short, seeing the arrow lodged in Jonas's body. The grin turned into a frown, then the face of pure rage. "NO! I've got to kill you, now! Under Pressure!"
Jonas had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Something else emerged from this guy's body! His vision was blurred and hazy, but it definitely looked like something actually came out of him! Another mass of tentacles he'd wager, but everything was going red. The other thing was coming toward him, lifting its tentacles up for a killing blow. No. No no. NO!
"LEBEN!" Just as this other thing was about to touch Jonas, he heard something shriek in tune with his own mental protests. Another thing materialized, but this time it came from him! Some sort of clawed arm covered in metallic feathers shot out from Jonas's body, punching the tentacle creature right in the center of mass. The thing flew back several meters, and for some reason the octopus man was also tossed backward!
"Ugh! No! Nononono! I wasn't fast enough, DAMMIT!" He looked up to the sky as it began to change from dark blue into orange. After a second he spat on the ground. "You're lucky tonight. Savor your last day alive, punk!"
Before Jonas knew what had happened, the man retreated into the darkness of the nearby alley. Summoning all his remaining strength, Jonas stood up to fight against the pain. He had to get as far away from that freak as possible. He needed a hospital. Crap, which was was the nearest hospital? He could barely see past the haze of blurry vision, so he focused on the only thing he could: a lone stop sign at the intersection up ahead. Jonas stumbled his first couple steps, but kept a laser focus. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the sign. That was odd. He had only take a couple steps, hadn't he? He looked around again, this time seeing a street light up ahead. There, that was his next checkpoint. Against he began working toward it.
Again Jonas found himself at the destination before he even realized he had gotten halfway. What was this? Was he blacking out? That was not a good sign. Ok, ok, next checkpoint. Jonas looked around and was able to spot a bus stop, and it even had a bus! He'd never be able to make it before the bus took off, but he could try. Jonas once more focused on that one spot hard as he could and stumbled forward… And found himself at the bus stop.
"Oh my god, someone call an ambulance!" screamed once of the bus's clients. Wait, the bus was still here? Jonas looked around to find a few citizens coming to comfort him. Had he… Had he blacked out again, long enough for the next bus to come by? But they'd have seen him pulling up to the stop, wouldn't they? What was going on?
Jonas breathed deeply against the pain to calm down while an ambulance came around and picked him up. A wonderful older woman stayed with him until they had him loaded up into the vehicle, comforting him with stories. Once loaded inside they put him on an IV drip to replenish the lost fluids, and he felt his senses slowly but surely coming back to him.
"We've got an injured man inbound for Berlin Central," spoke an EMT through a transceiver. "Looks like he's been through a meat grinder, and got some kind of rod stuck in his midsection."
Jonas smiled once again. He didn't know how he got where he was, but he was glad. He needed some rest pretty badly, so he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep. Until he got to the hospital, that is.
Prisoner of Your Eye
User: Jonas Johan Priester
Power - B
Speed - A
Range - E
Durability - B
Precision - C
Potential - C
