46 Changes
Starting with what I know, I pull out my faithful ribbons, enjoying the ease in which they manifest, now numbered six. Then I move lower and start to pull again. This time the feeling is slightly unfamiliar, but just as natural as a tail as thick as my waist sprouts out of my back, forcing me to stand up from the sofa to accommodate it.
With that done, I move up this time and focus on the 'source' between my shoulder blades, except this one doesn't so much as pull out as it 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘴 out.
Not stopping, I move to the final 'source' and repeat the process, feeling a weight grow and spread down my arms until it touches the floor, then it grows some more, making my arms about as long as my body.
At the same time, almost unconsciously, I feel as 'fuel', for lack of a better word, from each of the 'sources' spreads out until it envelops my whole body in a warm embrace that makes me feel safe on an instinctual level.
Only when I feel it starting to crawl it's way up my face do I open my eyes to be greeted to the sight of Jinx and mini James staring at me with dropped jaws and awe in their eyes.
I feel myself preening under their stares as the hard, blood-like material covers my face, leaving me completely blind.
Well that sucks.
Understanding that I haven't been making proper use out of my power, I try something that I never even bothered to think was possible before.
I try to change my power.
I focus on my face, on the hardened blood that masks it, and I will myself to be able to see, focusing entirely on that single desire.
Then, suddenly and without warning, light streams in as I can see again.
No, even better than that, I can see with clarity that I have never experienced. I can see all the tiny little details of Jinx's face, every pigmentation in his eyes.
I also notice that my field of view has sharpened incredibly, like everything in front of me is crystal clear.
But as I am thinking about my field of view, I suddenly stumble as the strange feeling of having multiple perspectives suddenly assails me as I find myself even able to see things by my side and focus on multiple objects at the same time.
It only takes me a moment to get used to the feeling before I am moving all of my new eyes around with a familiarity I can only attest to instinct.
With my newfound clarity of sight, I put my attention back on the pair in front of me, looking at them with three side eyes each, with my main, larger eye on Jinx.
Both of them are still staring at me with their mouths agape, though while Jinx merely looks impressed, I can practically see the stars in mini James' eyes.
I open my mouth to speak, only to be halted by the fact that I don't have a mouth, but like with my sight, that problem soon solves itself.
I feel the hardened mask of white flesh that covers my face crack open, forming a large mouth, one that runs from one side of my face to the other, making it far too long, lined with a row of sharp serrated teeth.
With that done, I can finally speak.
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤?" I ask, surprising myself with the strange distorted effect layering my voice.
"You! Look! AWESOME!!!!" Mini James once again shouts out, leaning forward to admire whatever I look like, but hesitant to actually touch me.
"It's certainly scarier in person." Jinx agrees with a nod, holding his chin between his thumb and forefinger as he looks contemplatively at me.
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫? 𝐎𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨.~" I say, trying not to sound impatient, but I really would like to get a proper look at myself.
Jinx quickly complies, even as little James just keeps staring at me, by getting out his phone and flipping it around to face me in selfie mode, allowing me to properly examine my new look.
Funnily enough, the first thing that I actually notice is that the gross sickly white that my hair has become is starting to show again at the roots, but I quickly focus on the much more distinctive changes my body seems to have gone through.
For one, my body is covered in some kind of segmented, chitinous-esque armour that is at first glance pure black, btu a closer look shows that it is decorated by veins of super dark violet that almost blend in completely.
The armour itself is also pretty big, making me stand at what must be about seven feet tall, nearly two whole feet taller than my normal height.
However, even with that, my arms are longer still, dragging on the ground like a gorilla's, thick and powerful in a way that reminds me of Jason.
Heh, that's funny.
It also pisses me off a little.
So I try to change things again.
I focus on my arms alone this time, from the tips of the claws all the way to the 'source' at the top of my back, and I will it to change, to shape it to my desires.
Once more, my body, my power, obeys and I start changing yet again.
My arms grow thinner and shorter, the excess mass extending out from the back of my elbow like a reverse sword. The mass covering my arms keeps changing slightly, morphing and condensing, becoming more streamlined as time passes and I get lost in the modifications until I feel that I am done.
My arms, once massive and unwieldy, now more resemble a thick muscular, skinless arm, sharing the same colour palate as the armour covering my body.
They are still wide, probably about half of my waist wide, but now they only extend a little bit further than normal arms, with the wicked retractable claws adding further length.
But the most notable feature is still the giant blade of flesh sticking out from the elbows back, reaching as far as my ears when I stand with my arms straight down at my sides.
With that distraction out of the way, I continue my earlier inspection, my eyes being drawn to the most visually apparent addition to my body, the pair of giant plumes of crimson purple energy in the snape of wings, sparking with electricity.
A simple flex of will is enough to cause the 'wings' to flap, and following an instinctual feeling, I take aim at the wall across the room, and I 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩.
The next instant, with a thrum of electricity a spike of bone is launched through the air almost faster than my eyes can see as it buries itself into the wall.
Huh, guess I can do that now.
With giddiness driving me, I move on to the final new addition, and turn my focus towards my new tail.
The thick appendage swings itself around my body and into view, it's pulsing, flesh like form not matching my body armours colours, instead simply looking like a tentacle of mulched flesh.
It is disgusting to look at, like a nightmare manifested in reality.
Yet, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳.
Then somehow it get's even 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 as it splits itself into a hundred pieces, like a jellyfish, only far more homicidal.
Lastly are my ribbons, hovering around me like an extended ribcage, but they look mostly the same, just a bit bigger and tougher looking, not to mention there are six of them now, which is pretty cool.
"𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧" Is all I can say after properly admiring my new look.
Yet there is only so long one can stare at something cool before wanting to do other things, so after spending an appropriate amount of time admiring myself, I eventually disperse the transformation as I start to notice just how hungry I am.
No, not just hungry, I am practically 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.
Holy shit, the more I think about it the hungrier I feel.
I need to get some food in me before I go crazy again.
But I don't want to snub my friends, so I walk over to the fridge and grab the emergency rations and quickly devour them, my hunger not abating even in the slightest.
However I can hold myself together for a while yet, so I turn back to Jinx.
"So, how are people reacting to my show? What's the word on the street?" I ask, simply wanting to know what's going on in the city.
My question causes a malicious grin to grow on his face as he retakes his seat on the couch, where I join him after preparing three cups of coffee.
"Well, I'd say that the main reaction is a mix of panic and fear. You've got to understand something here Tear. Before you came to Columbus, there were 47 capes operating in the city. Since you have arrived, that number has gone down by 18, or 19 if Excalibur doesn't pull through." He explains, making a lightbulb go off in my head.
"Oh shit! I totally forgot, but who even died? I don't really know the casualties." I exclaim, mildly embarrassed that I forgot to even think about who survived.
Jinx favours me with a wry smile and a roll of the eyes, but he answers nonetheless.
"Well, from the Heroes side things weren't too bad comparatively, at least in terms of numbers, as the Protectorate only lost four members in Bungee, Epic and most importantly, Tiamat. That last one will probably be what has the biggest effect overall out of the whole game, since she was known nationally.
"Then with the Argonauts, they only lost one, Asclepius, though Atalanta also lost an arm, which sucks for her since she uses a bow as her main choice of weapon. My guess is that she's going to go crossbow from now on, that or her leader, Argus, is going to make her some kind of robo-arm."
Before Jinx can continue his explanation, he is interrupted by mini James.
"I want a robo-arm! Can I get one!? Please!?" He yells excitedly.
"Jesus Christ, how much sugar did you feed the brat", I say to Jinx before turning to answer mini James, "sure, you can have a robo-arm, just let me rip your arm of first, or it won't work."
As expected, he pulls away when I reach for his arm, his face showing sudden hesitancy.
"Why would I want a robo-arm, that'd be stupid." He says, blatantly forgetting his earlier words.
But I just smile and focus back on Jinx, who gets the hint and resumes explaining.
"On the villains side, Street Saints lost Dynamite and Uncle Tom as well as their leader Eraser while Red Branch only lost Hermes before you ended Merlin and Cath, making all three major gangs in the city now about even in terms of parahuman membership. Not to mention, most of the capes left are the weaker ones, so your presence here has single-handedly decimated most of the cities parahuman combat power."
Ahh, if that sentence didn't send shivers up my spine then nothing would.
"Man,~ you really know what to say to make a woman happy.~" I mutter, the joy in my voice evident as I bask in the sheer amount of death I have caused and the chaos that will follow it.
"Only the insane ones," He responds, "though I do gotta ask, what exactly are you going to do now?"
That is the question isn't it.
This city is pretty much done for in terms of entertainment, what with most of the impressive capes dying.
Besides, it feels like it would be wrong of me to hang around after putting on such a show.
It's like rotational farming, you've got to let an area recover before you can use it again.
So with that, my decision seems pretty clear.
"I'm probably going to hit the road again." I answer, my voice firm but contemplative as I wonder about where I shall go.
"We're leaving?" Mini James suddenly asks, his head tilted to the side in a manner I am sure he got from the TV.
However, the truth is often cruel.
Sorry to break your little heart kid.
"No. 𝘐'𝘮 leaving. You're staying here."
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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
The problem is that I am easily distracted, so I never get any writing done during the day, then when all I want it to go to sleep, that is the only time I can actually focus on writing, as I can't just click a single button on my favourites tab to be doing something else so I can't get so easily distracted as all I want is to sleep, but I won't do that if it means fucking up my schedule.
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