A.N. Wow, i struggled with this chapter. It fought me every step of the way and i'm still not completely happy with it. Especially, I feel like i just didn't connect with Ranger Smith as a character and it shows.
The thoughts and opinions of Ranger Smith are not the thoughts or opinions of the author.
Chapter 17
Ranger Smith was not a complicated man. He woke with the sun and he went to bed early. He didn't drink or gamble or subscribe to any vice other than a pleasant morning cup of coffee. And that's coffee-coffee not that sugar filled faggot juice that the city boys drink. He didn't ask for much out of life other than a stable job, filling food and a chance of some peace and quiet.
He, like most of his fellow Park Rangers, held a degree in ecology and zoology and he was quietly building up a research paper on bear behaviours within and outside of captivity in the hopes of going for his Doctorate. Obviously, he was focused on the large Brown Bear population with a side observation of the smaller black bear population of his local forests. His observation targets in the local zoo were slim, the zoo only having four Brown Bears and three Black Bears in captivity. Because of this he had expanded his observation to the three Giant Panda and the sole Polar bear. Neither was exactly relevant but he might be able to edge out a few general bear observations. Additionally, Polar Bears were not unknow to breed with Brown Bears where their natural territories met in Alaska, producing the delightfully names Prizzly hybrid.
What this means is that Ranger Smith had access to video surveillance of the Zoo Bear's habitats with permission from the Zoo's owners and staff. Which is why he caught the moment that the Polar bear simply disappeared from his captivity in a flash of white light. This obviously caused a stir in the small community and Ranger Smith had made it his mission to find out how the Polar bear escaped and subsequently: where it went.
His armature sleuthing of the local area quickly unearthed a particularly interesting report of strange bears in a local forest acting in the most peculiar ways and supposedly in possession of supernatural abilities. He was easily able to track down the drunk that was the origin of the tale and get a more detailed account.
The story of giant Grizzlies with the ability to telekinetically throw stones, fell trees and toss a hunter a dozen feet in the air were, quite frankly, preposterous. And yet… Ranger Smith could not forget the image of a Polar bear vanishing in a stream of light. Additionally, Polar bears were subjectively bigger than Brown Bears and while Grizzlies were arguably stronger, Polar bears were not weak and could easily knock a man off his feet.
Armed with his new information, Ranger Smith entered the forest on the hunt of answers and hopefully a lost white bear.
His first indication that something was not quite right was two hours into his search he reached a clearing only a few minutes' walk from the road and a well know barn house popular as a party location for local teens. Unseen in the foliage, Ranger Smith watched as a handful of military personnel shovelled dirt into an apparent sinkhole under the direction of a team of scientists in full hazmat gear. Nearby, a similarly dressed scientist was arranging what looked to be large dirty crystals into padded creates while another stood nearby waving a Geiger counter over just about everything.
The snap of a twig nearby alerted Ranger Smith to a fully armed solider coming his way. Using his experience of stalking through the trees, Ranger Smith quietly backed away from the guard and the strange military operation.
He had to circle the area by a large margin to avoid similar armed men walking the perimeter but he managed to reach the far side of the small and shallow valley which housed the clearing. His knowledge of the area told him that there was a collection of rocky mounds which housed a number of abandoned and occupied bear dens.
His anxiety peaked as he found tracks that were far larger than any regular Grizzley or Polar Bear and yet he pressed on, an inexplicable drive to find and contain the lost Polar Bear urging him towards recklessness.
The small cave he ventured into with torch in hand was closer to a burrow than a proper cave. The walls, while tight, were still much larger than would be expected for regular Brown Bear's den and much deeper too. Even treading carefully as he was, Ranger Smith was completely unprepared as the floor dropped away into a sudden steep ramp and he fell, skidding and scraping his way deep into the earth. His breath was knocked out of him as he came to a sudden and painful stop at the bottom. He had lost his torch at some point during his fall and yet as he groaned and uncurled from the tangled mess he was in, he was surprised to find that the cave glowed softly with a dirty yellow light coming from broken spars of crystal that almost seemed to have grown like vines through the walls.
The light was enough to illuminate the hungry snarl of yellowed teeth as not one but five large Grizzlies growled at him for entering their domain.
Smith gulped as his eyes flicked from each oversized ursine. He knew he was completely and utterly fucked. This was doubly confirmed when an unseen forced picked him up and tossed him harshly into the wall of the cave. As if he was on one of those spinning carnival rides that pressed you against the wall with centrifugal force; Smith found himself pinned to the rough stone and packed dirt by some unseen force.
As the largest bear edged closer, a small logical part of Ranger Smith was making rational observations over the blubbering fear that was the rest of his mind. It pointed out that the bears where too big; unhealthily so given the unevenness of their form. Shoulders bulged painfully with muscles and legs and paws were not even in length. It also noticed that their fangs were not reflecting the strange crystal light but seemed to actually be coated in thin yet sharp crystal growths that emitted a faint light of their own.
Smith screamed as the large bear tore into his shoulder but the scream didn't last long. Under the pain, under the fear of death was something else. A presence, faint yet needle-like was burrowing into his mind as the bear crushed his clavicle with its jaws. It pierced into his psyche and tried to subsume him into something incredibly large and wholly alien.
Ranger Smith could not fight the bear that was already feasting on his flesh but he could fight the presence that was invading his mind. He pushed back in a way he didn't even know he was capable of, as if the pressure against him had revealed wall within his head that he in turn could reinforce. Despite the pain of now having his arm torn off and the second bear starting to ravage his leg, despite the blood loss, Smith was able to mentally brace himself against this new mental barrier and lunge at the aggressive presence. His mind collided with the weakened shell of the other and surprisingly shattered it.
All at once Ranger Smith found himself in a vast void with a dying echo of the other presence. Somehow, he already knew that it had been dead for days before attacking Smith through the bears that were connected to it. The presence that had been controlling the bears was no longer alive and only something fading, much like the residual heat from the cooling carcass, was directing the bears on their current actions. The complete lack of the mind of something much greater than he could comprehend meant that this was an opportunity that Smith instinctually grasped onto in order to save himself. He flooded the void with himself, painfully stretching his mind to fill the cavernous hypothetical space. His mind tore and fractured as it filled the crystalline crevices that were never meant to hold a purely organic consciousness. His reach flowed into the minds of the bears and commanded them to stop feasting on his ruined flesh.
Seeing through the eyes of the bears, Smith could tell that his body did not have long and even though he was acting within and through this strange dead crystal matrix, it could not support him naturally. Using knowledge that was not his own, Smith directed crystal fingers to grow from the cave walls and into and through his failing body. With a though he ordered the four smaller bears to attack the unresisting largest.
It took what felt like hours but must have only have been a dozen or more minutes to grow and combine the crystals through and with his organic body and the body of the largest bear. It wasn't pretty but Smith needed the biomass and the blood of the bear to repair himself. Though in reality it was less a repairing and more of a grafting of his own body into that of the largest bear.
Smith didn't even notice that in the process of preventing his own death he had lost so much of himself. Little pieces had been lost or used as he stretched his psyche to the fullest to command the crystal and the bears. As the crystal grew and merged with his new flesh form he changed in unexpected and unchanged ways. Gone was Ranger Smith, gone was the slightly racist, homophobic outdoorsman, gone was the nature loving ecologist. In its place was a being who had wholly different yet similar needs and desires. Food and growth, expansion was coupled with a protective instinct of nature and the environment. Distain for the city was stitched together with a bear's territorial aggressiveness. Much of what made Smith 'Human' was surprisingly kept yet twisted in unnatural ways or paired with the simple nature of an animal. Perhaps it was random chance that kept one simple directive alive in Smiths mind, more likely though it was the Jump-fiat that was twisting probability, but one thing remained constant and demanding: Find the polar bear. Find Snowball McBearface.
⦖⋄⦕
Alex wiped the sweat off his brow and grinned happily at the strange plush toy he had spent the last few weeks creating. It looked closest to a Boo ghost from the Mario worlds as it was round and white and cutely ghost shaped. While the face still had it tongue sticking out; instead of the silly scary grin the features more closely matched an Ahegao tongue out messy orgasm face. Alex wasn't actually sure how that happened but suspected it was from his desire for the new ghost to somewhat enjoy the action of giving birth to mindless empowered spirits.
It wasn't complete yet. The doll needed some time to develop the ecto-energies and the purpose of its creation. This was the key he had found to making a ghost that suited a purpose. First, he found an appropriate base and then he enchanted it with the purpose he desired it to fulfil. In this case he wanted a ghost that could sexually reproduce at an astounding rate but would give no essence of itself to anything born of it except for its ghostly form. Then he started converting the object to a lifeform using his Gem Creation ability. This solidified the enchantment at the core of the being's purpose of existing. Finally, he stopped the Gem Creation ability before it actualised into an actual lifeform and instead pumped it full of ectoplasm to create a ghost-lifeform as that would be much more subservient and had less individuality.
The result, when the ectoplasm within the doll finally cured and sunk in, would be a loyal ghost with the appearance of the selected doll that would happily birth any power possessing spirits that he or the girls wanted to share around. These birthed spirits would have no individuality, no soul, no life, no personality at all. They would be simple ectoplasm drones that would follow simple directions and hold an ability that can be passed to another via the ghost Fusion ability. In fact, if he had done this right, then the fused ghost would simply cease to be once fused. Dissolving into ecto-energy under the stronger personality and presence of the host and leaving only the powersets behind thus permanently granting the power or ability to another.
Honestly, without the Supernatural Savant perk, the Field Research advantage of using his own customised laboratory and boost from his periodic use of Vegetarian, he doubted he would have been able to create the Zodiac Mascots let alone this procreative-purposed ghost.
Alex stretched and gleefully left the room to find the girls. They should be here when the ghost doll finally develops and they can finally share all of their perks between themselves. What Alex didn't notice was little Alice quietly watching as he focused so intently on the creation of the doll. Little Alice who took his leaving as a sign that her requested plushie of her own was finally complete. With a happy skip in her steps, she reached out to the cutest ghost doll she had ever seen. So happy that her master had created this for her.
"What did you do?!" Lyn screamed at Alex when they returned to his workshop only to find a drastically changed Alice kneeling on the floor.
"I didn't do anything! I didn't even know she was here. I made a doll and left it on the workbench," Alex gestured to the now empty spot on the table.
"He he~ Master made me a doll of my own. But now it's inside me." Alice chuckled from the floor.
Everyone froze as Alice spoke for the first time since her creation.
When Alice had first been created, she was small skeleton in a French maid outfit. Alex's attempts to improve her had given her crystalline flesh and a pulsing gemstone heart. Now though, Alice appeared to be fully organic. Her long-limbed form was alabaster white and delicately curved. Her hair was pure white with hints of colour not where the light hit it but where it didn't. Giving the depths of her hair a subtle glow of blue and pink and purple. Her eyes were a balance between clear crystal aquamarine and a pale stormy grey. She was incredibly beautiful with an appearance of a young teen just beginning to blossom. Which really didn't fit given that she was usually so serious and demure and technically only a year and change old.
Alice's maid outfit faded in and out of existence as she stretched forward her hands and twisted this way and that to inspect her new form. The lack of clothing showed small perky breasts with incredibly pale pink nipples and a heathy and, despite her apparent youth, delightfully sinful body.
Alex crouched down and met Alice's eyes. "Alice. Did you take the doll I was making?"
Alice grinned and nodded her head. "You promised Alice a doll and that one looked fun and useful."
Alex frowned and tried to work out what to do. "Alice, can I have a look at you?"
At Alice's nod he reached out and touched her forehead. Extending his senses, he prodded at her ecto-core with his Exorcism ability.
"Well… it looks like Alice has permanently fused with the ghost breeding doll I created."
Lapis crossed her arms. "Ghost breeding doll?"
Feeling the judgemental weight of each of the girls Alex hurriedly explained the purpose of the doll he had created.
"So, it would have let us share all of our abilities?" Morrigan asked for confirmation.
"That's right. But I guess we'll have to hold off until I make another."
"No! Alice can do it." Alice exclaimed. "Alice wanted to be useful and now Alice can be!"
Alex was definitely not use to this new and verbal Alice but still had a soft spot for his first creation and maid. "Alice. You were always useful. You've been helping all of us and you keep the whole place clean and wonderful."
The girls were quick to agree and appreciate Alice.
"But now Alice can do more. Alice can make spirit babies for everyone. Alice can have fun with Master like you all have fun with Master."
Alex looked at the girls for help but they just traitorously shrugged and nodded.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked uncertainly.
"Can I please try?" Alice asked with actual tears in her eyes
"Alright. Fine." Alex gave in.
"Yay!" Alice pounced and wrapped Alex in a hug. Alex already knew he had made a horrible and likely incredibly enjoyable mistake.
"So how does this work?" Lyn asked while smiling at the two. Say what you want about the strangeness of the situation but a hot naked girl hugging a hot guy was still easy on the eyes.
"It just takes a touch." Alex said and kissed the small maid on the forehead while tapping into his unused Breeding Program Perk and selecting Honey to pass on.
Alice shivered at the kiss and clung to Alex tightly as she surrendered herself completely to the otherworldly power coursing through her veins, she felt every nerve ending in her body igniting simultaneously. A wave of heat engulfed her, causing goosebumps to rise all over her skin and a soft moan to escape her lips. She could feel the moisture gathering between her legs, coating her with a dewy sheen and her breathing quickened, becoming shallow and rapid, mirroring the rhythm of her thundering heartbeat.
The group watched Alice tense and pant in Alex's arms as with each passing moment her senses heightened until they were almost unbearable. Colours seemed brighter, smells stronger, and sounds louder than ever before. She became aware of every inch of her body, every muscle contracting and relaxing in perfect harmony and especially where Alex's hands cradled her soft flesh spreading heat and pleasure from the touch.
Suddenly, Alice let out a low groan, signalling the beginning of the birth process. She squeezed her thighs together tightly, trying to contain the overwhelming surge within her. Cutely she bit her bottom lip between her teeth and shivered in pleasure. But it was futile; the spirit was already writhing inside her, eager to break free.
Without warning, Alice's body convulsed violently, sending shockwaves through her limbs and causing Alex to pull her tightly to his chest. She bit down hard on her lip to stifle the scream building inside her throat. Sweat dripped off her forehead, mixing with tears streaming down her face. Each contraction lasted longer than the previous one, threatening to consume her completely.
And then, finally, Alice saw it – a flicker of light in the darkness. Slowly, slowly, it began to grow larger and larger, revealing itself to be a shimmering boo-like orb of extoplasm. Its form was indescribably cute, bathed in a soft silver light that illuminated everything around it but slowly shrunk into the smiling Chibi face of Alice which adorned the little ghost.
The spirit emerged completely from Alice's womb though her abdomen with a with a gentle ripple of light, filling the room with a soft glow. At the same time Alice release a low guttural moan of pleasure as she came hard, her thighs and Alex's pants becoming soaked in her fluids. Not the fluids of birth but those of passion and pleasure. Alice, almost lazily watched as the little spirit floated silently in midair, hovering above her trembling frame, a content grin of pleasure of on her face. The small ghost emanated a sense of joy and sweetness, of innocence and curiosity that just made you want to shout how cute it was and gobble it up.
Which is what Lyn immediately did. With a small squeal she jumped to hug the little ghost only to accidently consume it as it slipped into her form with a gentle ripple of silver light. Lyn gasped and moaned, her eyes fluttering slightly as the spirit entered her but she quickly recovered.
Everyone was quite except for the soft panting of Alice in Alex's arms.
"Are you ok?" Alex asked the little maid.
Alice smiled lazily up at Alex. "I'm wonderful. That was… that was very, very enjoyable."
"Right… well, until we can be sure there were no negative side effects, I'm limiting you to only one 'birth' a day."
Alice pouted but agreed. "Ok Master."
Alex turned to look at Lyn. "Are you ok?"
Lyn grinned. "Oh, hell yeah, I am. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as our little maid girl but that felt good. Also," Lyn held out her hand and a small ceramic pot of honey appeared in her palm, "I think it worked completely as advertised.
Lapis stuck a finger into the pot and licked off the thick golden honey. "Sweet."
⦖⋄⦕
"I'm a fucking magical girl." Avery still couldn't believe how quickly her life had changed and had found herself often repeating that simple fact.
Currently she was flying over the city simply enjoying the wind in her hair and the stars overhead. She kept low and weaved between the buildings enjoying the lazy glide she had going. If she had to pick just one thing about the magical girl experience that she loved most, it would be flight. She didn't have to worry about being seen by those below as the she was currently invisible, visible only to herself as a ghostly silhouette.
Yeah, that's right: flight and invisibility were both powers she had access to. The full set was flight, invisibility, super strength, ridiculous dexterity, the ability to summon her cestus (or her 'fuck-you gloves' as she liked to call them), manipulate and produce fire and heal quickly. Was she fucking awesome or what?
"HELP!"
The cry came from one of the alleyways off Aurora Avenue. The street was positively dripping with prostitutes, pimps, johns and dealers and braced with diners, short term motels and run down businesses.
Avery landed lightly on the roof of an abandoned factory and peered down to where a scantiliy clad young black teen girl was pressed against a chain fence by a larger black man in black and red hoodie with a star of David stitched on the back of all things. Avery seriously doubted the man was overly religious given that he suddenly backhanded the girl and shouted at her something about money.
Another man kept watch on the empty street. This one had his hood down and casually smoked a cigarette as his friend beat the girl. Avery's eyes must have been improved by the transformation as well because she could easily see the poorly done tattoo of another six-pointed star and a pair of raised crossed sabres on his neck.
Avery sighed. Another streetwalker and her abusive pimp. That the men were also members of the 'Disciples,' a fairly new offshoot gang that had been in trouble recently because of a spate of violent crime was just icing on this particularly shitty cake. The sobbing girl couldn't have been much older than Avery herself which, while sick, was also curious as the younger girls were usually peddled southside rather than on Aurora. Hopefully this wasn't a sign of increased gang activity or something as that was a shitshow and a half for everyone. Still, Avery had already seen enough.
Avery smirked. This was the bit she enjoyed even more than flying.
Taking to the air once more, Avery gained height before spinning around and launching herself at the gangster abusing the girl. She came at him from the side. Her cestus wrapped fist, while not yet covered in flame, drilled into the man's ribs and sent him tumbling ass over designer shoes almost ten feet down the street, where his face ground into the footpath as he slid to a stop.
The invisibility was awesome but it did have one major flaw that Avery was told could be only overcome with continued training and time: it didn't work when fighting. Physical contact of her punch caused her invisibility to dissolve away like a bad PowerPoint transition revealing Avery lightly touching down, her wings of light fading as her bare feet touched the stained concrete. Avery smirked and thrust her fist out provocatively as she stood in front of the teen girl.
"What the fuck is this shit?" The man second gangster spluttered and backed off in surprise.
"A fiery angel that descends in the night! A young maiden that fights for those without power! A knight that stands against the evils of man! I am the First Star and the Last! Starlight Princess Knight: Aries!" Avery punctuated her ridiculous pronouncement by igniting her fists and causing the fire to swirl around her.
Look, don't judge. Being a magical girl grandiose pronouncements and introductions were expected.
"What the fuck was in that joint?" The gangster grumbled. "Nah, ye know what? Fuck this shit!"
The man made to pull a gun from where he had one tucked into his belt but Avery didn't give him a chance. Her form was incredibly strong and her skin was tougher than would be expected which was why she had no qualms about being bare foot in the shitty part of town. But she hadn't had the opportunity to test her new durability against a gun and wasn't keen to try.
Avery dashed forward with an inhuman speed, easily ducking under the upward swing of the handgun as the gangster attempted to aim in her direction. An upper jab as she passed under his arm saw his elbow shattered and the weapon clattering from his now numb fingers. Before the idiot could even scream, Avery had slammed her other fist into his sternum which crunched under the blow. Her fires seared the flesh where she touched and scorched a hole straight through the fucker's hoodie. He collapsed gasping for air.
Avery didn't think she had caused enough damage to kill him or his friend but at the same time she wasn't entirely sure she cared. Gang violence was reported on the evening news near daily and she had little fucks to give. Additionally, the proverb 'Live by the sword, die by the sword' was one she had found resonated with the burning desire for action that had developed after she became a magical girl. These fuckers were happy to shoot kids and beat women. So she was happy to break their fucking pelvises and fuck them with their own severed dicks… Avery was starting to wonder is she might be a tad too worked up.
Turning to the stunned and awestruck (read scared shitless) teen girl, Avery gave a victorious (savage) smile. "Worry not! He won't hurt you again!"
The girl just nodded a tear-streaked face. Her eyes darting up and down the street seeking a path of escape from the scary, horned, fire-bending angel of war.
"I would suggest calling the cops and then making your way home." Avery said as if life was that fucking simple. "Until next time!"
With a burst of flame and a gust of wind, Avery took to the air once more and flew into the night. He invisibility returned as she gained altitude and was able to relax the drive for conflict that rushed through her every time she fought.
"I can't believe I said those corny lines." Avery groaned to herself, her face burning with shame. It wasn't her fault! Really. She just got caught up in the… well, everything.
Her self-shaming was interrupted by the pearl on her wrist alerting her of an incoming transmission.
"Avery? Where are you right now?" Heather's voice came from the Pearl Communicator.
Heather was the second magical girl recruited to join the Starlight Princess Knights. She was recruited by the Virgo mascot to become the Starlight Princess Knight: Virgo. Even though the girl wasn't as excited about direct conflict as Avery, they had become fast friends in the few months since they had both become magical girls.
"Somethings happening at the Space Needle. It's beyond belief. If it wasn't all over the News and I didn't have a direct visual of the situation using the Observation Orb, I would say people were having a mass hallucination."
"Heather. Just tell me what's happening." Avery asked with a hint of exasperation. She loved the introspective nerd but seriously just get to the point.
"Telekinetic bears are terrorising the city."
Avery just stared at her comm as if it had just said something incredibly stupid, then a vicious grin spread across her face. "Oh, fuck yeah! I've got to see this!"
As Avery adjusted her flight and speed in the direction of the distant needle, Heather responded.
"I'm contacting Jade and Christie to head to your location. They'll be at least ten minutes as they're not near any warp pads."
"Understood. You're staying at the Temple."
"But-"
"No. You're the only one of us with the power to heal others. You're staying at base until we I can evaluate the situation."
Heather grumbled but eventually agreed.
"I'm nearing the location." Avery said as she started to hear the sounds of explosions and screaming.
"I'll be watching. Stay safe and use your Bubble if you have to."
"…"
"Avery." Heather ground out dangerously.
"FINE!" Avery shouted. She hated the fucking Bubbles.