Then He Left - Part 3
Part 3: Not So Tough
The City:
The remaining three attackers and Jesse stood, the old woman's broken body on the ground between them, the crippled or dead attackers lying behind Jesse. The two men and a woman looked at the deadly image cut by Jesse, blood from the ground and the crushed gunman covering his clothes, his eyes were both ice and fire at the same time, a calmness only achieved in moments of extreme rage evident.
The three spread out, trying to surround him, for his part Jesse stood there, their movements not affecting his demeanour, together or apart, they would pay from what they had done. His conscience was screaming at the back of his mind, attempting to be heard over his anger, but it screamed in vain, the anger was too great, Jesse was unable to calm down. The attackers drew weapons from various locations on their bodies, the largest man drew a metal pipe from somewhere inside his long coat, the other two people had revealed wicked looking knifes, curved blades about six inches in length, dull metal with a serrated inside edge.
"Lets see how you do now, tough guy?" the man with the pipe said, "lets see how you do against us with the playing field levelled out."
Jesse stood, statue-like, his massed out form impassive, no emotion in his body save his eyes now.
"Yeah, come on, freak", the other man taunted, "lets see what you've got"
Freak, Jesse turned towards the man, his face contorted into a bizarre grin, how he hated that word, how it conjured up images of his past, his abilities always separated him from the life he had wanted, the life his family had planned for him. Freak, who could walk through walls or knock them down, Freak, who was taunted as his abilities emerged. Freak, a plaything for the others, a punching bag in training for Brennan and Shalimar, always coming up short with Adam and a mere toy for Emma to mess with. 'Yes, Freak, I hate that word' he thought, his emotions coming even more pronounced.
The man who had said this started to open his mouth, but no sound emerged as Jesse drove his fist into the man's head, as the man saw the punch coming, he attempted to brace himself for the pain. He was shocked as the fist made no impact, then screamed as Jesse remassed his fist inside pulling it back, dragging the man's eyes out with it. The man's hands flew to his face, no longer a face, where once there were eyes, now a large hole was left, the eyes dangling from Jesse's hand, the hole in the man's face a mockery of the Cyclops of Greek legends. The man collapsed to the ground.
The sight of this spurred the man's comrades into action, the pipe swung into Jesse's back, not moving the massed form of the mutant. The knife did not even knick the surface of his skin, its curved blade sliding off its target. The two attackers did not pause to realise the ineffectiveness of their attack, but kept attempting to bring the young man down.
Although Jesse was unhurt by the attacks, the number of hits coming down on him now began to force him towards a nearby wall. As the three combatants moved closer to it, Jesse had turned to face them, his arms warding off all of their attacks, never attacking back, drawing them closer and closer to him. Letting them force him back towards the wall, he phased in and out, massed in and out, confusing his attackers as sometimes their weapons would reverberate on impact, other times they would hit thin air. Frustration with the situation made their attacks more and more erratic, no longer caring where they hit as long as they hit.
Jesse's face never lost the evil smirk it had gained, he was toying with them, he knew he could stop this at anytime, but he choose to let them continue, his rage making him confident in his abilities.
Now they were at the wall, a smile grew on his attackers faces, the sweat pouring off them as they began to tire from their exertions. They had him trapped now.
"Nowhere to run, whelp" the woman gasped.
The man laughed, "Guess its time to pay the piper, freak"
Jesse smiled, as he reached out and grabbed the collars of their coats, phasing the wall behind him, he stepped backwards straight through dragging them halfway, then the wall became solid again. The two attackers were frozen in shock, the upper halves of their bodies were through the wall, their legs outside. That was how they died with shock on their faces as the now solid wall corrupted their internal organs, and crushed their spines. Their weapons fell to the floor, the only noise to be heard was the dull clunk as they hit the ground.
Sanctuary:
Shalimar watched as Brennan and Adam managed to rouse Emma to consciousness. She flinched as the girl began to scream again. Curse, her ears, the high pitch Emma managed to reach, driving Shalimar out of the lounge, seeking respite from the noise.
Inside the lounge, Adam and Brennan were trying to calm Emma down. Adam was trying to get her to raise her mental shields, but nothing was working. She continued to scream, the fire in her mind burning so brightly, so heated. It threatened to overwhelm her sense of self.
"Emma" Adam shouted over her screaming, "Emma, you must force it back, block it out"
Brennan looked on, unsure how to act, what to do in this situation. He had seen how Emma could be affected by the emotions and thoughts of others but this was beyond anything he had seen. The sheer terror in her eyes, what could be causing it, her hands were clenched so tightly into fists, her nails were drawing blood as they cut into her palms. Unable to turn away, he watched in morbid fascination and horror as his young friend, almost baby sister was tearing herself apart, unable to help and unable to calm her he stepped back to let Adam attempt to help.
Adam could be heard trying to get Emma to calm down, she could faintly hear him somewhere in mind. She could feel his emotions, but they were faint not like the fire, the fire was a pure emotion the strongest she had ever felt, she was disgusted and fearful of it, its constant attempts to overwhelm her totally but at the same time it was so pure, so unadulterated that it held a type of beauty.
The fire began to intensify once more, knowing she had to turn away before it overwhelmed her, Emma tried to force it back, tried to shut it out. As she did so the fire began to recede, her mind slowly becoming her own again.
To the men in the lounge, it was apparent she was starting to come back, her body relaxed slightly, the screams abated, and then suddenly her body tensed again, the screams returning.
The fire blazed again, harder and harder, Emma being pushed further back into her own mind. She was afraid, she tried so hard to push it back, in one final attempt she unleashed all of her strength, all of her power into one last attempt to force back the fire. In her mind, the strength manifested itself like a tidal wave, smashing anything in its path, in all directions it flooded through her mind. As the wave expanded, the fire receded. The fire was now in full retreat. Her body began to relax, her screams once again fell silent.
She opened her eyes slowly, seeing the worried faces of Brennan and Adam before her, "Its gone" was all she could whisper as she lapsed into unconsciousness, exhausted from her efforts. In her mind, the fire was gone, the wave extinguishing it, the energy travelling through her, attempting to fix the damage wrought by the flames.
The City:
Jesse screamed once, then collapsed on the ground, his body convulsing, different parts phasing in and out. Then it stopped, the scene was silent apart from the moans of the crippled man outside and Jesse's near silent breathing as he lay unconscious in the middle of the warehouse, two bodies stuck in the wall looking in fear and shock towards him. Outside, the crippled man attempted to hide from the bodies of his dead friends and the old woman, the gruesomeness of the scene too much for his mind to take in, the wide eyed open stare of the woman and the gaping hole in his friends head, sights that would haunt him forever.
Part 3: Not So Tough
The City:
The remaining three attackers and Jesse stood, the old woman's broken body on the ground between them, the crippled or dead attackers lying behind Jesse. The two men and a woman looked at the deadly image cut by Jesse, blood from the ground and the crushed gunman covering his clothes, his eyes were both ice and fire at the same time, a calmness only achieved in moments of extreme rage evident.
The three spread out, trying to surround him, for his part Jesse stood there, their movements not affecting his demeanour, together or apart, they would pay from what they had done. His conscience was screaming at the back of his mind, attempting to be heard over his anger, but it screamed in vain, the anger was too great, Jesse was unable to calm down. The attackers drew weapons from various locations on their bodies, the largest man drew a metal pipe from somewhere inside his long coat, the other two people had revealed wicked looking knifes, curved blades about six inches in length, dull metal with a serrated inside edge.
"Lets see how you do now, tough guy?" the man with the pipe said, "lets see how you do against us with the playing field levelled out."
Jesse stood, statue-like, his massed out form impassive, no emotion in his body save his eyes now.
"Yeah, come on, freak", the other man taunted, "lets see what you've got"
Freak, Jesse turned towards the man, his face contorted into a bizarre grin, how he hated that word, how it conjured up images of his past, his abilities always separated him from the life he had wanted, the life his family had planned for him. Freak, who could walk through walls or knock them down, Freak, who was taunted as his abilities emerged. Freak, a plaything for the others, a punching bag in training for Brennan and Shalimar, always coming up short with Adam and a mere toy for Emma to mess with. 'Yes, Freak, I hate that word' he thought, his emotions coming even more pronounced.
The man who had said this started to open his mouth, but no sound emerged as Jesse drove his fist into the man's head, as the man saw the punch coming, he attempted to brace himself for the pain. He was shocked as the fist made no impact, then screamed as Jesse remassed his fist inside pulling it back, dragging the man's eyes out with it. The man's hands flew to his face, no longer a face, where once there were eyes, now a large hole was left, the eyes dangling from Jesse's hand, the hole in the man's face a mockery of the Cyclops of Greek legends. The man collapsed to the ground.
The sight of this spurred the man's comrades into action, the pipe swung into Jesse's back, not moving the massed form of the mutant. The knife did not even knick the surface of his skin, its curved blade sliding off its target. The two attackers did not pause to realise the ineffectiveness of their attack, but kept attempting to bring the young man down.
Although Jesse was unhurt by the attacks, the number of hits coming down on him now began to force him towards a nearby wall. As the three combatants moved closer to it, Jesse had turned to face them, his arms warding off all of their attacks, never attacking back, drawing them closer and closer to him. Letting them force him back towards the wall, he phased in and out, massed in and out, confusing his attackers as sometimes their weapons would reverberate on impact, other times they would hit thin air. Frustration with the situation made their attacks more and more erratic, no longer caring where they hit as long as they hit.
Jesse's face never lost the evil smirk it had gained, he was toying with them, he knew he could stop this at anytime, but he choose to let them continue, his rage making him confident in his abilities.
Now they were at the wall, a smile grew on his attackers faces, the sweat pouring off them as they began to tire from their exertions. They had him trapped now.
"Nowhere to run, whelp" the woman gasped.
The man laughed, "Guess its time to pay the piper, freak"
Jesse smiled, as he reached out and grabbed the collars of their coats, phasing the wall behind him, he stepped backwards straight through dragging them halfway, then the wall became solid again. The two attackers were frozen in shock, the upper halves of their bodies were through the wall, their legs outside. That was how they died with shock on their faces as the now solid wall corrupted their internal organs, and crushed their spines. Their weapons fell to the floor, the only noise to be heard was the dull clunk as they hit the ground.
Sanctuary:
Shalimar watched as Brennan and Adam managed to rouse Emma to consciousness. She flinched as the girl began to scream again. Curse, her ears, the high pitch Emma managed to reach, driving Shalimar out of the lounge, seeking respite from the noise.
Inside the lounge, Adam and Brennan were trying to calm Emma down. Adam was trying to get her to raise her mental shields, but nothing was working. She continued to scream, the fire in her mind burning so brightly, so heated. It threatened to overwhelm her sense of self.
"Emma" Adam shouted over her screaming, "Emma, you must force it back, block it out"
Brennan looked on, unsure how to act, what to do in this situation. He had seen how Emma could be affected by the emotions and thoughts of others but this was beyond anything he had seen. The sheer terror in her eyes, what could be causing it, her hands were clenched so tightly into fists, her nails were drawing blood as they cut into her palms. Unable to turn away, he watched in morbid fascination and horror as his young friend, almost baby sister was tearing herself apart, unable to help and unable to calm her he stepped back to let Adam attempt to help.
Adam could be heard trying to get Emma to calm down, she could faintly hear him somewhere in mind. She could feel his emotions, but they were faint not like the fire, the fire was a pure emotion the strongest she had ever felt, she was disgusted and fearful of it, its constant attempts to overwhelm her totally but at the same time it was so pure, so unadulterated that it held a type of beauty.
The fire began to intensify once more, knowing she had to turn away before it overwhelmed her, Emma tried to force it back, tried to shut it out. As she did so the fire began to recede, her mind slowly becoming her own again.
To the men in the lounge, it was apparent she was starting to come back, her body relaxed slightly, the screams abated, and then suddenly her body tensed again, the screams returning.
The fire blazed again, harder and harder, Emma being pushed further back into her own mind. She was afraid, she tried so hard to push it back, in one final attempt she unleashed all of her strength, all of her power into one last attempt to force back the fire. In her mind, the strength manifested itself like a tidal wave, smashing anything in its path, in all directions it flooded through her mind. As the wave expanded, the fire receded. The fire was now in full retreat. Her body began to relax, her screams once again fell silent.
She opened her eyes slowly, seeing the worried faces of Brennan and Adam before her, "Its gone" was all she could whisper as she lapsed into unconsciousness, exhausted from her efforts. In her mind, the fire was gone, the wave extinguishing it, the energy travelling through her, attempting to fix the damage wrought by the flames.
The City:
Jesse screamed once, then collapsed on the ground, his body convulsing, different parts phasing in and out. Then it stopped, the scene was silent apart from the moans of the crippled man outside and Jesse's near silent breathing as he lay unconscious in the middle of the warehouse, two bodies stuck in the wall looking in fear and shock towards him. Outside, the crippled man attempted to hide from the bodies of his dead friends and the old woman, the gruesomeness of the scene too much for his mind to take in, the wide eyed open stare of the woman and the gaping hole in his friends head, sights that would haunt him forever.