Minute
Shrinking: standard (rank 1)
Heckle and Jeckle hooted and hollered as they ran through the alleyway of the Bottoms. Their metal baseball bats sliding along chain link fences to fill the air with that tin chime as they laughed and screamed. Donning their clown make up the two brothers were nothing more than mindless trouble makers who were looking for bigger wasps nest to kick.
“Frayed we know you’ve been hanging around here” Heckle whispered out in his creepy tone.
“You can’t hide the dead bums from us, we wanted to kill them first” Jeckle added as he swung his bat into a brick wall.
“Fraaayyyeeeddd, we know you’re real and not some boogieman used to scare kids straight.”
“Fraaaaayyyyyeeeedddd, we know you get your rocks off killing people. Don’t worry we do too!”
“But there’s only room for one monster in this world.”
“And that monster is us.”
“And when everyone hears Heckle and Jeckle killed you.”
“They’ll be scared shitless of us.”
“So come out bitch.”
“We know you’re a girl.
“So we can rape you.”
“And torture you.”
“Make you cry.”
“And kill you!”
That terrible scratching filled the night air again as the brothers followed it to a dead end alley way. As the scratching grew louder they heard Frayed’s terrible laughs. “You idiots, I’ve been here the whole time.”
“Then why hide?”
“Why run?”
“No, I’ve been WITH you, like right behind you.”
The brothers turned around as they scanned the open alley behind them. All they saw was steam leaving a sewer grate.
“Look down morons.”
As the brothers scanned the asphalt they saw it; a tiny round white ball no bigger than a plum with small pointy feet, a pointed head and a row of large sharp teeth.
“Boo!”
Gigantic
Growth: standard (rank 1)
Suddenly the tiny white ball expanded in a matter of seconds, growing to almost two stories high as its pointed feet grew to the length of a mid size car. Crashing down the brothers never saw it coming as they were impaled by the massive spikes, leaving few fully intact remains behind.
Stretch
Elongation: standard (rank 1)
Johnny had it all planned out. He was going to take Helen to the woods and they would get “lost” only to end up at the clearing he had gone to since he was a kid. There they would kiss for the first time as they watch the night sky slowly fill with stars. He had been working on this for weeks. He figured he’d be seen as some great romantic.
He never thought he’d be running for his life.
“Johnny I can’t keep up stop running so fast!” Helen had long lost her flip flops and even intentionally tore up the side of her tight skirt as she tried to find her way through the trees at night. Johnny spent his childhood here but she was a city girl and wasn’t accustomed to every branch and fallen over log in her path. She screamed as she felt the weak branches of new saplings hit her before forcefully running through them and snapping them off.
“We can’t just stop Helen keep…” his words were cut off by Helens scream as a long tendril shot straight in-between them before being forced to be recoiled back towards the thing that was chasing them.
“I can’t, not when it can do THAT!” Helen was huffing and puffing as her heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest. The two of them ducked and covered behind a pair of trees as five more tendrils shot straight this time, some hitting the trunks of the trees they ducked behind before being pulled back yet again.
“Come on Helen we can do this. We HAVE to do this we can make it!” Johnny stepped out from behind his tree to try and grab Helen’s when he saw it too late, the long tendril shooting right at his head as it knocked him out and sent him slumping to the ground.
Maleable
Energy Body: standard (rank 1)
Helen stood over her boyfriend’s prone body as she reached down and picked up a large wooden log. She gripped it tight as tears fell from her eyes and down on the floor as she looked around. Nothing, not a single sight of the thing that was chasing them, only that horrible scratching sound as she constantly turned and looked around the woods.
“What do you want from us?”
“To amuse me.”
“You find this fun? Scaring the crap out of people? Killing people? Is this fun to you?”
“You do what you’re built for sweetie. You were given the gift of beauty, so it’s only natural for you to fuck hard body boys in the woods. Me, well, they decided to make me a monster. Why fight who you are I say. Why not relish in the fact that this is what you’re made for.”
“I’m not afraid of you sick freak. Show yourself.”
Helen kept looking around to see any sign of her monster.
“You’re thinking too on the nose sweetie, look at the ground.”
Helen watched as shimmering pools of liquid flesh started to crawl towards her feet. They gathered more and more until she saw it again, the towering white headed monster with the row of razor sharp teeth as it laughed it diabolical laugh. Helen screamed out as she swung with the tree trunk, her lack of energy sapping away her fear as she watched it slam into the beast’s side, at first happy that it had sunk in only to watch it continue to go through the gooey white flesh and then come out clean the other side of her body.
The monster shook its head and growled as it spoke, “I’d be lying to you if I said that didn’t hurt. Of course now I’m pissed.” The beast’s body turned back into liquid flesh as it cascaded down onto Helen. The poor girl screamed as the flesh reformed full once again, the sight of Helen’s hands and legs kicking at the flesh, bending and pushing it outwards as her muffled screams escaped into the night. The struggling slowed down, the screams became softer until Helen finally gave in, suffocating inside the monster’s body.
Husks
Duplication: standard (rank 1)
“Say your prayers monster!” Svetlana was use to fighting Werewolves and Vampires but not beasts like this. Still as she crushed the head of the white beasts underneath her heavy combat boots she pulled out her wrist mounted cross bow and aimed right for its eye, firing a bolt that caused it to scream and eventually squirm before dying underneath her.
Svetlana leaned against the tombstone as she took a look at her broken sunglasses, the right lens broken off, as she muttered to herself. “Wish I could get monster to pay back for…”
She was startled when she heard that scratching again. That eerie cue that caused her skin to crawl and she brought her crossbow back up again. She gritted her teeth as she swung around, seeing a white figure coming to rush at her from the left she fired her bolt quickly, catching the beast right in its open maw as it fell to the ground right away.
The scratching still filled the evening air as she turned to see another beast coming right for her. She jumped on the headstone and leapt off, firing right into the top of the monster’s head as it fell to the ground. Scanning the field she fired bolt after bolt at incoming monsters, all falling with ease as she backed up into something warm.
“Having fun fighting these empty husks?”
Svetlana looked up and saw those rows of horrible razor sharp teeth again dripping blood onto her face.
Change
Transformation: standard (rank 1)
Svetlana spun around as she pulled out her sword from her back. Swinging it with all she had she aimed for the left hand of the beast only for it to turn into a shield that blocked her attack.
“Don’t think you as the only one with toys here little slayer.” Frayed screamed out as her right hand turned into a large hammer, smashing into the ground as Svetlana performed a back flip to dodge it. Keeping her sword up she countered with a strong thrust only for Frayed’s left hand to turn into its own sword, slashing and parrying Svetlana’s attacks while her hammer hand tried to knock the slayer down.
“Unholy beast! You will burn in hell this evening!”
“Unlikely!” Frayed grinned, spikes formed all over her body before she simply leaned forward and dropped her body onto the ground in Svetlana’s direction. The slayer rolled away at the last second onto to see the monster shatter on impact, the spikes swirling about her, cutting her up like a thousand razor blades were floating in the air before reforming the gruesome beast in front of her.
“Had enough?” asked Frayed as her two hands formed into a pair of swords.
“We just started monster.”
Svetlana was clearly the better swords woman, even with two weapons Frayed was having a hard time dodging and blocking her opponent’s constant slashes and thrusts while Svetlana deftly parried most of the monsters attacks.
“I have you beast!”
“Are you sure of that?”
“Of course I am…” silence. Svetlana tried to speak but instead wad of blood came out of her mouth. She looked down as she saw the piercing of a sword through her from behind. Looking around she had seen the monster used its elongated tail to stab her in the back.
Predator
Hyper-Senses: standard (rank 1)
Frayed sat on her perch, her flesh now resembling the bubbling contents of a scientists beaker as it beaded into the air and dissipated back onto her form. She watched from above as she tried to follow the path of her prey. Hunting was now an intuition, an almost sixth sense as she licked the night air. His sweat still lingered as she dropped down into the streets. Her tongue sloshed as his flavor became more pronounce. She felt a longing to consume him whole soon.
Sadistic
Environmental Awareness: standard (rank 1)
He wasn’t an idiot. In fact if seemed like he’d be in one of these chases before. He grabbed garbage cans and turned them over, ducked and weaved between alcoves and crevices. Ducked underneath overhangs and quickly double backed. However this was her home, the urban jungle. For every turn he made she leapt to the roofs to survey his path. For every obstacle she overcame, grabbing onto fire escapes and sling shot herself with her extended limbs. The man tires, he thinks he’s safe but little does he know that the underpass he’s hidden under has a surprise.
Stalk
Wall Crawling: standard (rank 1)
Above him she hangs, discreetly, clinging to the ceiling as the rain begins to pour all around them. What he thinks is thunder is actually the thud of the monster dropping behind him.
Chase
Super Speed: standard (rank 1)
She gives chase again as the man splashes through puddles. He’s no longer trying to clutch his coat close. He simply runs without thinking of where to go or what to do. He runs past people who watch in disbelief. However he’s not making any progress. He takes a moment to look back at the ashen white face with the terrible row of teeth. He concentrates and digs deep only to turn back and see those blood soaked teeth closer than before. He feels his body giving in and that’s when she acts.
Pounce
Leaping: standard (rank 1)
The sound of splashing water can barely heard through the crashing heavy rain as the man tumbles, his skin scrapping along the asphalt. Even though he could see it coming there was little he could do to stop it. The beast leaps through the falling rain, clearing over parked cars as howled with excitement over her impending kill. For such a grotesque being she was oddly graceful in the air, her leap an almost perfect arch as she came crashing down on her prey. His screams of pain chilled the very air around them as she feasted on his flesh.
Recover
Regeneration: standard (rank 1)
Frayed slithered her way underneath the crack of the door to the apartment she called home. It had been a long night, one with a number of fresh kills and new encounters. She dropped onto the plush carpet of her old apartment as she concentrated. It was getting harder and harder for her to remember how to do it but she forced herself to as she screamed out. The former anonymous mass of flesh and limbs began to become a cohesive form; a slender figure with alabaster white skin raven dark hair that was now crawling on its hands and knees towards the closet. Frayed gave out one final scream before she completed her transformation.
Her legs wobbled when she tried to stand up in front of the mirror. Numerous cuts and scratches covered her fair skin. She even suffered a few nasty stab and gunshot wounds that oozed black blood. Frayed rubbed her sores, felt the thickness of the oozing liquid as she did every night. The wounds slowly began to close, the bleeding slowly stopped. For now there would be scars but by morning she will look fine. All it will take is one painful and agonizing night in her bed and she would be fine.
Frayed hated coming home for it is here is where she realizes that she was born normal. There was nothing extraordinary about her when she came screaming out of the womb and into the world. She looked normal, she sounded normal and she behaved normally. For her what she does every night is twofold. One she is able to show herself, her real self, the monster that she tried to kill before she was allowed to be it. Second was the fact that she felt she was doing a service of ending the mundane and ordinary lives of the unexceptional. What’s the point of living if you weren’t the pinnacle of anything? What’s the point of continuing in the world if you lacked the power to break the rules?
As she looked at her face in the mirror she views the face she was born with. Soon it disfigures into the pointed head ashen visage of the monster, the beast, what Frayed has always felt was her true face.
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