Chapter 4
"...Do I have permission to heal you?" I lay there, in the PRT slash hospital room.
"No." I said. My tongue flicked a little bit. Panacea, who sat down next to the bed I was in reeled back in surprise. I could taste the antiseptics in the air.
"...Are you certain? I might be able to return your body to normal…"
"This is my power, and it's
awesome. You'd just reverse it when I want to see what it can do." I didn't even look at her face. I tried looking away, honestly. But every time people entered and left places I could tell by now. Breathing with an open mouth brought more chemicals with each breath..
"-And besides, my power is
creative. Yours just restores bodies. This-"
-I threw my leg up, showing my extended foot/leg/ankle thing- Nozzles in the ceiling angled towards me.
"is
creative. I mean, look at it. Lost a bit of rotational range, but I bet I can fucking
book it down the street. The claws, the freaking claws coming out of my toes are
awesome." I gave my now longer toes a wiggle. They didn't seem to have much meat to them, but I bet that, just like my hands, they'd be just as functional as before.
She was looking me in the eyes, it was kind of creepy. After a second of silence, she spoke up. "I'm not going to heal you then." She got up to leave.
"Come back for a second-"
She paused.
"I saw that look on your face. You want to see what I'm like, don't you?"
She turned around with a look on her face.
"Wha-No! Not like that! I mean, come here-" I held out my hand. "I don't want you to
heal me, but I am interested in knowing what's going on as much as you do, if not more so."
A nurse came in with some food and protein- the third time since Sophia took me in. The section for capes- I didn't care whether or not my identity was known- At this rate I would probably end up unrecognizable before I even hit the scene. Even if I
was recognizable, I would probably end up looking like my Dad.
"You can do that, can't you?"
"Yes, I can…" she trailed off, sounding unsure.
"You'll get a better understanding of what's going on than any doctor will. And plus, i bet I'm going to be the most interesting thing you've looked at in a while…"
I was smiling.
"How about it?"
A faint smile back at me. "I am pretty curious about what's going on with your power and body…"
She came back in the room.
"You're here, right? I mean, why not? The most powerful striker in the world, stuck in hospitals all day, doesn't that get kind of, you know, boring?"
"It can, i'll admit. But what can I do?
Not heal people?" she responded, sitting back down next to me.
"That's.... Actually a good point, Panacea. I'll think about it while you see what's going on." I held out my hand. She reached out and grabbed my hand. I reflexively pulled back. "-Oh, uhhh, might want to grip my wrist."
"Okay. This might take a while. I'm just going to look and see what's going on. Usually I ask you to be still, but you're not changing anything. Eating the food the nurse brought shouldn't cause any problems."
She closed her eyes. In the meantime, I just downed some of the protein and other food while Panacea sat with her eyes closed, holding my left wrist as I ate with my right hand.
The food was gone in about five bites. I could taste the antiseptics in the air with each mouthful, ugh. I was pretty full by the end, but I knew better than that at this point. I'd probably be hungry again in the next ten minutes. Not completely or permanently filling, but each meal I felt a little bit better and it took longer to get hungry. The pain had gone away by now at least.
My left wrist had been put into a sling- doctors had considered putting it into a cast, but I told them they could fuck off unless Panacea here was willing to look at me first… My power had been just fine restoring me up to this point- wanted to ensure it would continue to work… A full cast would probably mess it up somehow.
A couple minutes went by as the pain in my left arm from the break and concussion subsided. She was still sitting there, holding my wrist.
Another minute.
The boredom. The hunger. I was honestly getting kind of tired from the boredom. Nothing to do here. Kind of wanted to leave.
Another long minute.
Oh, right, she talked about what she could do? Hmm. Well, I mean,
not healing people? She's not limited to it isn't she? Like, I bet she can do more than that…. If she can, she could just, like work out other solutions right? I mean, even surgeons can only do so much. Isn't she like the most powerful and capable surgeon in the world?
Was she asleep?
Hmm. Actually, the most powerful surgeon part is a good point. Some of the most important doctors and scientists aren't the ones on the front lines. Why not angle yourself differently? It'd be more interesting, at least, I think.
The minutes kept passing by and I kept going, that line of reasoning.
Food came again, for the fourth time. I ate some more. Also, getting bored and ready to leave the house, er, I mean hospital. The pain had gone a long time ago, and I had been growing in energy.
Glory Girl even came in, looking for her sister. She looked at me, as I waved with my right arm.
"Whoa.
What happened to you?" She said. Panacea jumped in surprise.
"Hi Glory Girl!" I said, giving her a smile as only I could.
"You can talk?" she said, looking at me.
"Glory Girl!" Panacea said, looking at her in disdain.
"Well, uh, yeah. That's not the only thing I can do. Look at this!" Stuck my absurdly long tongue at her. Then touched it to the bridge of my nose. Got a decent taste of the scales now growing in that area. The middle finger on my right hand conveniently popped up as well.
Glory Girl frowned. Panacea did too.
"You know the rules Glory Girl, I'm with a patient, I'll be out in five minutes!" She got up and shut the door, leaving her sister on the other side.
"I can probably take her down, too." I muttered. Panacea looked at me in horror.
Ugh, not again.
"No, I mean, I'm not a villain or anything. And that's not a threat either. I'm just
a little competitive. What do you think? What's going on?" I asked her.
She took a breath, sitting back down in the chair. "You're probably the most fascinating case I've ever seen, honestly. Oh, and about the last comment about taking my sister on? No, I was worried she'd
hear you and force a challenge- she takes those kinds of comments seriously! Also, sorry that took so long. Your biology is absolutely fascinating. Your body was actively changing, growing, and repairing all at the same time! It was slow enough for me to see what was going on, but it was
fascinating. So interesting to observe and just watch what was going on, honestly."
"Uh- huh." I said. "So, can you tell me what that means?"
"Sure. So, here's an example. Your left arm was broken right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, and?"
"Well your whole left arm is kind of splitting, at the break- but it's still connected at your wrist- there's your circulatory system is weaving itself around the bones, and it's creating minor structurally weak sections along the way… Your lungs, your whole body… It's absolutely fascinating, honestly, the claws in your hand, the whole mechanism for retracting, there's little pipes that lead from your lungs to your claws… Your lungs- they're more like internal tanks filled with water and gills. When you breathe it forces the water inside to froth a bit, and that's how you're getting oxygen."
This was a bit more than I was ready to take in at the moment.
"Your digestive system, it's incredibly efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if you only needed to excrete waste once a week at this rate, if it weren't for your massive caloric needs. Your blood, oh your blood is ridiculously thick. Your heart is probably twice as strong Your brain-"
"You're losing me there, hunny." She glanced away from me. Her cheeks a little rosy. "Okay, Pan, let's slow down before we get too ahead of ourselves here. I know I'm eating a lot, and even now I'm starting to feel hungry again… Let's take this from the top, starting with my diet..."
She refocused and looked back at me as I trailed off. "Your body is reorganizing itself it seems, and it's using a lot of mass as its increases your efficiency, but at this rate of change, your increased heart rate, pockets of adrenaline next to major blood vessels…"
She must have saw the look on my face as she dialed back a bit.
"You will need a higher daily calorie intake. Given the body profile you gave the doctor earlier I'd bet you only needed about 1700 calories a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle before you gained powers. That's obviously false now. Your body has consumed three thousand at least in the last hour alone, but from what I could tell I bet you will only need about 2300 calories per day once it's done. You expend more energy, but your body is also a lot more efficient too.."
"Can you tell me where those calories are going?"
"I can. I saw how your body was using them as you ate."
"And?"
"It's complicated, but to keep it simple, your food is being digested the moment it enters your mouth, even as you chew. Then, when it gets put down your esoph- I mean throat, it kind of breaks it down even mo-"
"Sorry, let's dial it back again. That's over my head. What's
happening to those calories? Going straight to fat?"
"Right, right. Your heart is consuming a lot, your brain, which was harder to get a read on, is too. There's a secondary, compressed mass along your spine behind your right lung, similar to your brain which is also consuming a smaller but still significant portion of calories. Not a tumor. Too much variety in the cells. That's probably about a quarter of your passive calorie burn."
The thought of having a second brain sounded pretty interesting, if not really creepy. Keeping her on track though, as I
did not have knowledge of human biology or biochemistry, I asked:
"But that's not where all these calories right now are going to, are they?"
"Actually, they
were going to those regions. The secondary brain-mass seems to have stabilized and requires less caloric mass than before. No, I think your body is responding to the damage you've received and not just repairing it, but actively devising counters for the damage that happened."
My front teeth were coming loose as I chewed. I looked at the clock- been in the PRT wing of the hospital about two hours now, probably thirty minutes with Panacea I'm guessing. The sun in the window had been setting.
"Yeah, I figured something like that." I looked at my hands and played with my fingers a bit.
"I think my power is responding to problems proactively. Is that true?"
"Yes, I think it is. It's cold outside, so your blood has a certain type of protein floating around. One that i've only ever heard about in bugs and some kinds of reptiles. I wonder why your body decided to do that..."
"Probably when I got my powers, rather not talk about it right now." I said.
"Sorry. Don't mean to bring up any negative feelings or memories. Just assumed you were always in a coat or something. Anyway, you're right. I think your power tries to not just respond to the damage by making it harder for you to take it, but it seems to be giving you tools along the way."
"That explains my sprained and unsprained ankle changing into this. But what's going on with my arm?"
"I think it's turning into some kind of retractable wing."
"...huh?"
"Take it out of the sling, I'll show you what I mean."
We did so. The arm looked mostly fine- didn't see anything too wrong with it, really.
"See it?" she asked.
"Not really?"
"Here, let me show you."
She reached the base of my elbow and pressed down. Clack!
"Holy SHIT!"
"Yeah, pretty awesome, huh?"
I felt like I had a normal hand and arm, but apparently I had a wing now too.
"That's fucking amazing Panacea!" She was beaming.
"You are the coolest thing I've worked with in so long… uh.."
"Call me Beast for now. I'll figure out a real name later."
"Beast, I'll remember that. So refreshing to see something new that's
actually biological and not from Bonesaw or another twisted tinker.."
More food had arrived, and I was scarfing it down. It had been twenty minutes since I had last eaten. Body must have been slowing down I guess.
"Uh-huh. So do you think I can fly?"
She shook her head "Not really. Your arm didn't change, among other problems. Might be able to glide with forward momentum, but I don't know how you'd control yourself while in the air."
"Awww…" But then a thought came to me, a grin that spread across my face, looking at her mischievously.
"What? No- No no. I just fix people. I'm just a healer, that's all." She said.
The grin went away, slightly at least.
"Buuut-"
"No, no no. no no no." She said, sitting there. "I can't make it so you can fly, sorry."
"No, I'm not asking you for that, Panacea. You said you're a healer, Right?"
"I am a healer, but exotic body parts aren't healing either!"
"When a kid comes to you with a gimpy arm do you let them just run around with only a gimpy arm?" -She gave me a look- "That's what I'm asking here, Panacea- Think of it like a gimpy arm..."
She sighed at me. In return, I smiled to give her some comfort. She was a soft girl, who I'm willing to bet, responded best to hugging and positivity. I could probably own her in a fight before I had any powers. There'd be no meaning or point to it in either case.
"Fine, I'll do it!" She said, exasperated "Wouldn't want
Miss Scaleface here to look weird."
I giggled a bit, "Hey! It's not about looking good!" I told her in my now high-pitched and rhaspy voice. "... It's about
function."
This time, she giggled. "Watch out, we're going to have a flying Beast over Brockton soon!"
"Oh jeeze, it won't be that bad. I'll just look like a Pterodactyl or something."
After some more banter and laughing, we calmed down and she put her hand on my wrist again.
"Okay, this is going to take a bit more concentration in usual, so just close your eyelets and relax."
I think she was smirking at me. Whatever, I had a new friend. One I couldn't rough around with like Sophia but a friend nonetheless.
After about ten minutes she opened her eyes. I was hungry again. We continued to chat about nothing, like school and whatnot.
"Well, it was fun to meet you, Beast. I should probably have been gone about two hours ago."
"You two, Panacea."
She was looking around sheepishly.
"Yes?"
"I… I was wondering if you'd be willing to join New Wave. You're kind of recognizable. And you could probably do more with us than with the Wards."
That… Actually seemed pretty appealing. But, something was off. If I joined a Hero Organization at all, I probably wouldn't have as much fun.
"Thanks for the invite. I'll think about it, Panacea. I like getting into fights a bit too much. Probably wouldn't do well in either New Wave or the PRT. If you think we could make it work with your family, I'm willing to hear you out."
I hadn't been hungry in a while. Huh.
"Okay. Yeah, I'll talk to my family about it. Though Glory Girl does like to get rough and I bet you'd get along with her in that regard."
Hmmm…. "Do you think she'd be interested in a fight?"
She had a "Well, I bet she would..." She had a look of concern on her face.
"Are you worried about me hurting her?"
"No! I'm worried about you, Beast! I don't think she'd hold back, and she's
really strong."
This, now this was a challenge. I flexed my muscles. I was much larger than Glory Girl was… Though, I did know of her feats.
"
No way. And even if she could, I doubt she'd be willing to do any actual harm." She was looking out the window, frowning
"Oh, sorry. You're probably wanting to go home. Can I go with you?"
So we did. Glory Girl was waiting downstairs. The PRT wanted me to stay for more screenings and whatnot, but I told them they could eat a chode. I was fine.
While we were walking, Glory Girl asked me, "So Beast, why don't you wear a mask?"
I thought a bit more about it then shrugged. "Probably for a couple of reasons. The biggest, because I don't
care that much about it. The second, is that if my power continues, I probably won't even look human much longer."
Glory Girl glanced at me, then at Panacea. "I mean, if you go too out of the way, and you joined New Wave, we could probably take care of that." she said, volunteering Panacea's assistance.
Oooh, this was an opportunity for me. Let's see where I can go from here. Emma was better at this stuff than I was, but her skill had rubbed off on me quite a bit. I was a blend of both Sophia
and Emma at this. Moreso Sophia, but I think I could get her a bit up and going.
"I don't want to take advantage of Panacea. That should be something
she should decide on her own. Right, Panacea?" She was frowning.
Glory Girl looked at me with anger in her eyes. "Panacea is a member on her own free and helps people because she wants to!"
She took the bait! This was going to be
fun.
"Right, Pan?"
Panacea was doing her best to look very small. She didn't even look up at her sister. Glory Girl put her hand on Panacea's shoulder, holding her.
"Look, Glory Girl. I don't think Panacea even
wants to be a hero. Look at her. She's tired, and instead of spending the rest of her time helping others, she spent it with me, hanging out and chatting! She. Doesn't. Want. To. Do. It."
I was a bit taller than Glory Girl right now, and looked down at her. "No. You did this to Panacea. What have you done?"
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything to her. All I did was talk to her!"
"Stop it, both of you! Vicky! Turn down your Aura, it hurts!" Huh. I hadn't felt it. Weird.
"You can feel it, Ames?" Glory said, surprised.
"Yes! And it's hurting me!"
Glory Girl looked sad, then glanced at Panacea. "I'm sorry Ames. Let's just get you home- we can talk about all this later." Ames just nodded. Her blonde-haired sister turned to me.
"You can walk yourself home, bitch." she said to me. Panacea just nodded as she grabbed her sister. I smiled as they rose into the air.
I had Panacea's phone number. With the seeds set, Glory Girl was going to be
really fun.
Next chapter is GG vs Beast
Need a better name. Also, we have agitated a
very strong opponent, and have decided that while we are finishing repairs, it may be wise to break physics in some way in order to give host higher chances for survival.
Current host stats (Not exhaustive, see past plans for full list):
- Full body regeneration will take two days from being left with just a core.
- Host requires 2500 calories a day to remain functional.
- Legs are extremely stable, can run faster than most Olympic runners. Testing required for exact speeds.
- Host is currently about 5' 10"
- Resistant to significant human-based blunt force (primarily fists)
- 180 lbs body fat percentage w/ about 12% to account for cold weather and provide some passive energy storage.
- Host can hold approximately 1200 calories (variant upon type of food) at any one time in their body on top of extra body fat.
- Arms are not fast-twitch muscles. Fast enough for a boxing match, not faster than human.
- Three extendable claws in each hand.
- Extendable and retractable limb which pops out and turns the arm into a small wing. Not enough mass of flesh in the wings to do more than soften the blow as they crash into the earth. Wings must be manually folded after being extended. Also must be manually extended. Latching mechanism holding them together.
Vote #1 PHYSICS BREAK! - PICK ONE
[] Create pocket storage dimension for near-instantaneous regeneration. Can hold about five lbs of repurposeable mass for the body at any given time.
COST: About 8000 calorie intake required per day for about one weeks' time. Host may begin to consider other beings food.
[] Hyper-Dense Bones: More dense than lead.
COST: Bone breaks takes full day to regenerate individually, limb regeneration takes full week to regenerate on average.
[] Time Slow - When host is threatened and senses are heightened, they are able to react with fine control 50% faster than any other human being.
COST: Burn a pound of body fat per five seconds while Time Slow is active.
[] Drop passive caloric requirements by 1/3.
NO COST
[] WRITE-IN (INCLUDE SOME KIND OF COST) -
Must be a direct counter to some type of damage which Glory Girl can inflict.
Vote #2
[] Write-in: Give Beast a new cape name!
Edit: This is a proposal period for discussion. Votes will open Saturday with separate post.
