Shining Example (WORM ORIGIN QUEST)

You feel the urge to take a step back, or forward, or up. You know what, you don't know where to go. You're jaw just fumbles over itself as words fail to come out. Rebecca has to put a hand over her mouth to stop a laugh from coming out. The sound freezes you in place and forcibly rips through any resistance it comes across to put a smile on your face as well. You don't do a thing, you just watch Rebecca slowly get over your awkwardness. She's laughing at you, at your failure, at your inability. And yet, you don't mind at all.

She can laugh her heart out for all you care.

The moment stretched on as Rebecca slowly makes her way back to normality. Which unfortunately, only leaves you right back where you started. There's an air of silence between you. Both of you shuffling your feet, waiting for the other to speak first. Rebecca looks to the sky and fidgets nervously to herself while you try to force some words out of your mouth.

"Hey, Rebecca."

"Yes?" She asks, her attention immediately turning to you.

You scratch a sore spot on your arm as you try to keep your balance "Be honest with me, are we supposed to be here?"

Rebecca looks at you skeptically for a second, then her eyes sparkle in realization. "Contessa?"

You nod and give a nervous chuckle, "I mean, if I was in charge I would be, you know."

"She hasn't called." Rebecca says.

You open your mouth but Rebecca rolls her eyes "Alex, Contessa can create the perfect path to victory. There's no way she doesn't know we're here."

You blink, you had honestly forgotten about that. "Oh, right."

"You forgot didn't you?"

"No!"

Rebecca gives you a flat stare.

"...yes."

She rolls her eyes and mutters something to herself. Rubbing a now growing itch on your arm you continue, "So if it's ok to be here," Rebecca's eyes widen as her jaw trembles slightly but you continue, "Do you want to?"

"Yes." Rebecca says slowly, leaning in, egging you on.

"Take a walk around? I haven't had the chance since... you know."

Rebecca stares at you wide eyed as the corners of her mouth start to tremble slightly. Oh crap "I mean, if you want to. We can head back to Cauldron right now if you don't want to waste anymore time with-"

"No!"

You give Rebecca a sideways glance, and she tucks a bit of hair behind her ear as she tries her best not to look directly at you. "It's," she hesitates for a second, flashing you a nervous smile, "I would love to just, um, hang out."

"Great," you say, a little too quickly for your liking. Coughing into your hand you turn away "I mean, what I'm trying to," you sigh and hang your head in defeat "God can I start over?"

Rebecca tilts her head and shoots a playful smile. She walks over and gives a soft rap on your shoulder as she walks past "We can start over, but we're still going to end up nervous wrecks."

You shrug and walk up next to her. "Yeah, it was easier for me to talk to you when you didn't have hair."

Your comment causes her to stumble slightly and start to shake, making your face pale. You throw up a hand in defence "I didn't mean it like that! I mean I'm getting distracted."

Your voice trails off as it slowly dawns on you: She's laughing, but she's trying to hold it in, leaving her face red and her entire posture screaming for release. You feel your shoulders slump which only makes Rebecca put a comforting hand on your shoulder before gently shoving you away. "Oh stop! I'm just having a laugh," she chokes out between breaths.

"At my expense." You point out.

Rebecca flashes a smile that is too delighted for it's own good. You roll your eyes, but it takes most of your self control to keep the smile on your face. Rebecca knows you're trying to hide it, but she says nothing, letting the silence and her smile signal her victory. She takes a step closer, and you let her lead the way through the city that raised you. The city lights illuminate every step, letting you remember every corner in perfect clarity.

You pass Cyclone Style, a cheap, barely functioning, barber shop that had the horror of hosting the Everett family once in a blue moon. Your father would watch in amusement as Danah found yet another topic to utterly drown poor the poor barbers daughter in in. All the while, Clint would be finishing some textbook for some light reading. You? You would just sit there in the chair hoping things would go faster than last time. But alas, everything would take far longer than it should, and yet you still left with a good cut and a laugh.

Next door, Rebecca sighs and smiles wistfully as she reads the sign of Beggars Bagels. Between work, school and studying, the store was one of the few places cheap enough to get a somewhat healthy meal for a teen trying to do everything she could. The owner was a kind old lady who was willing to let one or two orders slip her mind a few times a week for when things started to get to hard for her most recurring customer. The next attraction that draws any attention isn't even a building. You feel Rebecca start walking a little faster after she catches sight of a particular set of houses.

Or, more accurately, the alleyway behind them.

You felt the confusion slowly creep in. You don't remember Rebecca ever saying anything about it, but she moves faster all the same. Looking in, you catch the dent in the side of the building. You tear your gaze away, but you don't think Rebecca even gives it a sideways glance. It nearly stops you, right then and there. No matter what might have happened, Rebecca would tell you about it in time. So you say nothing and take your place next to her; she looks as grateful as you've ever seen.

Soon, the buildings and businesses start blending together as you get deeper into the city. The skyscrapers slowly grow in your vision as you approach them. Seeing them again feels almost surprising. You look up at them, but you don't feel small. If anything, it feels like you should be the one looking down on those monumental achievements of engineering. Dozens of skyscrapers, hundreds homes nestled within a hundred apartment buildings, and in each of them, there's someone trying to make a life work: There are families who want to send their children to college; newlyweds hoping beyond hope that the choice they made was the right one; elderly men and woman looking out of their windows with smiles and scowls at how the world has changed. For a second, you feel the waves underneath you push up and suddenly you can barely feel the pavement underneath you.

You don't, you're still firmly on the ground. Despite the sights, the feelings, there was a message louder than any other.

"You're not Atlas, you can't hold up the world."

Clint wasn't doubting you, he was just scared. He didn't want you to get hurt, he was being a concerned brother. You know that, you can feel that.

So why can't you get it out of your head?

You feel Rebecca bump into your shoulder, breaking you out of your thoughts. She looks at you, concern written all over her face, as she gingerly reaches for you but stops halfway. She tries to hide a scowl of disappointment, but you doubt that she's aiming it at you. Quickly, she returns to the role of concerned friend. "You ok?" she asks.

You shake your head. "Not really."

Rebecca looks around, at the buildings and streets that made up your home, "Is it the walk?"

"No no no! This is, amazing actually. It's just," you trail off and Rebecca seems to come to a realization.

"Did you and Clint get into a fight?"

You shake your head "No, he was just scared."

"He's a smart guy," Rebecca says, "most brothers would probably say something stupid like 'that's awesome! Kick some ass!'" She says the last part in the most godawful impression of your brother you've ever heard in your life. It honestly makes you snort at the absurdity of it. As the sound comes out, Rebecca pumps her hands in the air and points at you accusingly "See? You're not the only funny one here!"

"That wasn't funny," you say, but your defense kind of falls apart when you have to force it between breaths.

"But you laughed." Rebecca counters.

"Because you sounded like Clint if he was a drunk robot!"

"Hey!" Rebecca says accusingly, "It got you to laugh, I win here."

You hold your hands up in surrender. "Yes, I admit it. You win. I bow to the... hell I don't know what to call that voice." A thought strikes you from nowhere, giving you a nice big grin "I'll call it the Rebecca voice."

Rebecca shoves you to the side, nearly throwing you off your feet and into the street. You throw your hand backward, sending waves in the opposite direction. Dread rushes through you as the number of waves goes far beyond what you expected. Something comes out of the corner of your vision so fast you can barely make out the waves before it hits you. You hear a crack as your head hits, and everything goes black for a second.

Someone groans, but it sounds hazy and far away. The sound gets closer as time goes on. It gets so close that, wait, that's you isn't it? Something on your head bites into your skull, making you wince. You blindly reach a hand for it, but someone grabs your hand and sets it back down, using their hand to rub it for you. It stings, shooting the feeling through you, but slowly receding as the message continues.

"Does it hurt?"

Rebecca? Oh, that's good, she's here. You crack open an eye, and the sight you see is enough to remove all feeling of pain or fatigue. You're in an alleyway, from what you can guess, leaning against a building, with Rebecca next to you. She looks utterly relieved, but that doesn't stop you from noticing that your head was conveniently placed in the crook of her neck. She's smiling, but you feel-

"I swear I didn't plan this," you say.

Stupid apparently.

She has to bite her lip to force back a laugh, "Clearly."

You get your head up straight, and the pain comes back. It lasts for a second, but it's enough to force another groan out of you. Shaking it off, you glance back at Rebecca, "Did you get the number of what hit me?"

Rebecca hugs herself and shuffles away. That answers that question. "Sorry," she whispers.

"No, it's fine. I still don't know how to control," you pause for a second to glance at your hand, "most things really."

"I still hit you pretty hard."

"I'm tough, I'll get over it."

Rebecca rolls her eyes. "Can you go one day without trying to impress me?"

Your face heats up and you don't have an answer. You look to Rebecca, and wait for something else in you to get lodged in your throat. Something does, but it's a lot colder than you wanted it to be. From the wall, a black hand reaches out of the brickwork. You shove Rebecca out of the way. Waves explode into life from your hands and when you touch Rebecca, and everything happens at once. The air cracks as she's blown away to the other end of the alleyway,and you feel your arm burn as the hand grabs ahold of you. Your wrist screams as the hand pulls you into the brickwork. You close your eyes and brace for the impact of the wall. Something does hit your face, but it sure as hell isn't a wall. It puts a dark spot in your vision and makes your shoulder hit the ground. You barely feel the impact, but you're head still shakes.

Visions of David in the training ground flood into you, shutting away any pain that might have come from the impact as adrenaline works its magic. Getting to your feet feels effortless, and with only your head screaming, this is still an improvement from what you've had to deal with today.

You're in a blank, deserted construction room. Ladders, paint rollers, wooden beams and drills litter the ground. There's only one door, which is closed, and no windows. The only light coming through the holes in the ceiling leading to the night sky. Ignoring them, you take a long look at the rooms only other occupant. Black gloves, shoes and a pitch black suit with a matching undersuit and tie. Black fabric with a design of a hand highlighted in red is stretched taut over his face. Just looking at him in that getup makes your skin crawl. He's too still, too poised to be normal.

You can't read his expression behind his mask as he tilts his head, "Impressive reactions." His voice is muffled by his mask, making it sound rough and raspy.

"Sorry I didn't stay on the ground," you say.

He keeps his head tilted, and a broken chuckle makes its way from behind his mask. "Sorry? No my dear pet, I should be thanking you."

He takes a step forward , his foot connecting with a shadow cast by a ladder. From the ground, several black hands begin clawing out of the ground. That right there is all the evidence you need. He's like you, different, special.

Superhuman.

One by one, the fingers sharppen into beastial claws. One blurs into motion, and you feel a single droplet of blood make its way down your arm. You glance down, on the plus side, your arm is still there. The downside is, you don't see the arm that he attacks you with. All you can see is the gash in your arm. You cover it with your other hand as he takes another step forward, another appendage growing out of the shadows. Three more hands take their place beside him, joining the rest and forming an entire ensemble of twitching appendages. You focus and see nothing on the hands, but the man, the room, the waves are blinding.

The man chuckles as he steps closer. "Do try to fight, they love it when their play things think they can live."

[] This guy is insane. Forget holding back, throw everything you can at this guy before he has a chance to fight back.
[] Try and force him down, but don't kill him. Use rocks, waves, anything.
[] Keep talking to him, don't crazy killers like it when their victims make them laugh? Talk about whatever, just try and keep him distracted until Rebecca gets here.
[] Break the wall behind you, and get out of here as fast as the waves can carry you. You don't want to hurt him, but you sure as hell don't want to fight him either.
[] No fighting, no chances, bring the roof down on this guy and try to fly out of here. You're not the best at control, but flying randomly beats dealing with this guy.