Evolution

[Thorn Hawk]

Prologue

Present day: 27 May 2008

"Yo Mike!" A light tenor voice rang from over a small green hill in Hutchinson Park. I looked up from my seat on one of the park benches to see Sean Flannery, an old friend from back when I went to a normal school who I've stayed on good terms with...even after I grew wings and learned how to throw needle-like spines. A smile crept to my face as I slid over a bit, giving him room to sit down.
"Hey Sean, what's up?" I asked him in a normal conversational tone. The short but stocky red-haired teen gave me a look of annoyance and sat down.
"Man, where were you this weekend?! I thought you were going to go join us for some rock climbing!" Ah...us..he, of course, was referring to his group of friends that he normally hung out with. The majority of whom either feared or despised me. I can understand his reasoning behind why he wanted me to go and hang out with them, but...it just wasn't my thing. Still...it wasn't my fault I wasn't there this weekend. With a smile, I placed a gloved hand behind my head and scratched it.
"Sorry Sean. I couldn't be anywhere this weekend actually...something came up." He gave me a flat look which turned into a raised brow.
"Hearing that from you tells me you went off and did something stupid again..."
"Well..." Damn...he knew me well. "Yeah."
"Right, so what was it this time? Going Hero again to try to get a kickstart on that dream of yours?" I shook my head.
"Actually, I wanted this weekend clear. I was even planning on going to the movies." Sean's eyes widened.
"The movies? With who? Oh, I got it...now that you've started going to Saint Joe's you've probably met some girl who's just like you huh?" I kept the blush down to a minimum and covered it up with a scowl.
"Yeah, like you would know. How many girls have you gone out with?" Sean faltered and looked down at his feet for a moment.
"Touche." I chuckled in response and leaned forward, flexing my wings which hung behind the backrest of the bench. Don't ask how it all worked out without crushing them, it just did. Leave mysteries to be mysterious. Sean looked back up to me. "So what did happen this weekend? Why were you indisposed?"
"Well.." I said, clearing my throat. "It's a long story..."

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Friday: 23 May 2008

A perfect day for flying...the sun was high, the breeze was light and the temperature...perfect. Angling my wings to catch the wind, I arced myself upwards over a rise in one of the buildings of the Gaspee within Founder's Falls. The cold stone passed beneath my body by only a foot or so as I rocketed into the air. Man do I love having wings. Spreading the wings out, I glided for a bit until I caught a thermal over one of the canals in the city, which pushed me upwards along with a pleasurable waft of warm air which passed over my chest and arms. I continued gliding, angling myself towards Hutchinson Park until I crossed the last of the canals and came to the memorial statues by the warwall in the southeastern corner of the sector. Letting the air out from the wings I fell about three feet and hit the ground with a light skip. A few people were here looking at the memorial, while others were enjoying the park. It was nice...but it was an illusion. The illusion that everything was okay in the world and that people could mill about as peacefully as this. There were rips forming in dimensional walls that bordered our own, criminals and corrupt organizations like Crey were getting away with crimes scott free, and the Devouring Earth was busy trying to tear down all civilization...and there was an Algebra test Tuesday... But still...it was a nice illusion.

Now really....I should've been studying...or maybe even just hanging out with my friends from SJS or the Falls in general, but nope. Today was going to be a different day. Today was a perfect flying day...a perfect day to train up and get faster in the air, build more speed, and get stronger as a hero. As I remembered the last flying race I was in, my blood began to pump faster and I could feel the slight hint of adrenaline. I needed to get faster...I needed to beat him. I needed to prove myself.

Now normally, I would practice weaving through the canals of the Gaspee, which helped my reflexes, reaction time, and agility, but now...I just needed to practice an all out long distance sprint of a flight. Founder's was not the best place for that...but...my eyes wandered over towards the warwall in which a nearby section of it was replaced with a gateway. Eden...or so it was called. The real battle line of the Devouring Earth in their push to eliminate humanity. I had snuck in before and now seemed like a good time to sneak in again. The distance lengthwise from warwall to warwall was over a mile...maybe a mile and a half if he was lucky. A perfect training spot. Now the only hard part was getting in...and no...I'm not gonna tell you how because then everyone would want to sneak in and then I'd lose my failsafe way into a hazard zone. Besides...I like having mysteries about me.

Once through the wall I looked upon the beautified destruction that was Eden. Maybe a fifth of it was still a city...as it was before the Devouring Earth set upon its crusade. Now, it was an overgrown jungle of trees, rocks, and probably ten dozens of different types of Earth-based monsters that would want to rip any human into little tiny human snacks. In all honesty, the forest would be a peaceful, maybe even a nice place to be if it wasn't for the fact that the trees themselves would tear you apart. Best to stay high in the air then. The air was just as nice here as it was in the Falls which bore me up a couple hundred feet in the air, above the ruined city and sprawling, slow advancing edge of the forest. Well...time to start the training.

I pushed my wings as hard as they could go and I began to rocket through the air like a little thorny missile. I pinned my arms to my sides to reduce as much drag as I could while angling my body and wings to best hit the air to increase speed. I wasn't a pro at it yet, but I was getting better and better with each attempt. Trees passed below me in a blur and gave rise to large spire-like rocks. I had no idea as to their purpose, but there was a freakin' huge one on the far side of Eden. It seemed to serve some purpose to the Devouring Earth...I wondered why no one had thought of tearing it down. Reaching the warwall, I slowed down and drifted to a stop on the edge near the actual force field, being careful not to touch the wall of energy. Bad juju if I did. Checking my watch I frowned.

"I can do better than that..." I said, disappointed with my time. Maybe I just need to get lower to the ground? There were crosswinds up in the air. Well...I won't have anything to worry about from the creatures below if I stay right above the tree line...right? Sounded like a good idea at the time. With an eager grin and a few moments to catch my breath, I leaped from the edge of the warwall and plummeted a couple dozen feet before unfurling my wings and catching the air, soaring back up to the sky, skimming the tree tops. Things were going well...no rock monsters wanting to crush me into Thorn Powder and no crystal monsters wanting to turn me into chop suey. Nope, things were perfect and I had made it halfway across Eden much faster on the way back than I did on the way in. But still....I need more speed...Gritting my teeth I went lower, just to the tops of the treeline. Hell, I could reach out and touch the leaves if I wanted to. And there it was, the edge of the forest, just a few seconds away. I was definately going to beat my tim- My thoughts were halted abruptly as my foot got snagged on a branch. Damn! I had let my feet fall while I was daydreaming. But no..something was different. It wasn't a branch that was staying still...at the speeds I was going at, it would have broken a top branch from a tree. This...this branch had wrapped around my ankle and started to pull. The difference in strength was too great and the tree had the advantage of bracing itself in the earth. I was hurled out of the air backwards and flung to the ground. I don't even remember hitting the ground...I must have blacked out from the G-force of the sudden change in direction and the impact. What I do remember is that when I woke up, I could barely see, my left arm couldn't respond and I heard a very loud bee in my ears that wouldn't go away. Oh, that and there was a humanoid that looked really really similar to a tree looming over me.

And that's when I blacked out again.

[Thorn Hawk]

Friday Night/Saturday Morning: 23-24 May 2008

When I woke up again, I noticed three major things right away. The first was that it was dark, but I could see cutting silver moonbeams filtering through the thick foilage of the trees above. This meant that I could see. That's always a good thing. The second thing that came to me was that I was bound to something by what seemed to be tree roots or vines or something by the feel of it. I didn't quite know how tight...okay they were very tight and I couldn't move. This led to the third realization. My arm was most likely broken. I shut my eyes and winced as the lightning sharp pain ran up my arm and jostled the back of my head as if someone decided it'd be funny to sick a gnome on me and told it to kick me in the base of the skull. I kept the reflex scream stifled in my throat by a sheer act of will alone. Funny thing you know...the human mind can, when trained enough, be made to ignore or look past a lot of the things of the physical world. Pain, cold, etc. Don't believe me? Ask any psychic or Hero with mental powers. They'll agree with me. The fact that I've been training my mind to ignore physical pain since I was young helped out drastically here because I was able to bury the red-hot pain under a blanket of stubborn pride and will which allowed me to better assist the situation.

Okay, so what did I have? I had myself...my clothes thankfully, my wits and that was about it. I couldn't feel my wings which was probably a bad sign, but at least they weren't as painful as the arm was. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I took in the scene around me. I was still in Eden, because the giant monolithic pillar of stone could be seen through the trees, illuminated by the moon. Slowly moving my head around, I saw that I was still in the forest, a small stream ran about twenty feet from where I was bound and I was tied to one of those rocky pillars that dotted the area in the rear of Eden. Well, it seemed as if I was carried, or dragged...I don't think the Devouring Earth had a care for my personal comfort in transportation. Yeah, that had to be it...the only thing that could have a living tree and want to kill me..or anyone for that matter. The Hamidon's eco-supremist warriors.

Well this was just perfect. Here I was crippled, in pain, disoriented and about to become a salad's version of irony. Now how-That's when a dreading realization came over me. The tree...I think called a Blackrose by the people who liked to name all of the nastiness that they find in the world...it didn't kill me straight away. That could mean all of a few things I guess...it was saving me for later...wanted to kill me in front of a bunch of other plant monsters...or...which was most likely...

They wanted to assimilate me into the Devouring Earth.

A very, very cold shiver went down my spine...worse than the time when Tamesis froze my hair into a freaky-spiked hairdo at the hot tub or when Stasi gave me the evil eye. I had heard rumors that the large, animalistic members of the Devouring Earth used to be humans. Hell, there was even a rumor that the Hamidon itself was human at one point.

Still, no amount of willpower can save one from a sense of helplessness in the face of impending doom and possible destruction of the very thing that made me me. Adrenaline spiked in my veins, which dulled the pain in the arm a bit and my breathing increased drastically. Okay...I was panicking. Now was not the time to panic. Definately not the time to panic.

"So the Disease has awoken..." A dry voice rasped from my left. A hulking mass of a creature shambled out of the shadows. It was easily 10 feet in height, vaguely humanoid with no visible eyes, a mass of tentacles where the mouth should be and arms that ended in three wickedly sharp and curved talons with either suction cups on the palms or some sort of mouth like something out of Stargate Atlantis. It was a Devoured...the strong arm of the Devouring Earth.

Time to panic.

[Thorn Hawk]

Friday Night/Saturday Morning 23-24 May 2008

I stayed quiet, staring at the Devoured, which probably could have taken my head off with one swipe of it's claws at this point. No need to aggrevate the thing. "Such...defiant eyes..." The beast said, leaning forward and placing its face near mine. Now, I'm not a religious person but there's no other way to sum up the smell of this thing other than "OhdearsweetJesusChristthat'srank." My mind was telling me to not make this thing angry enough to kill me, but my mouth had other plans.

"Great, I'm being complimented by a walking pile of shit, my life's complete." I spat, turning my face away from monster. I couldn't make out anything that served as eyes, so I couldn't tell how it took the comment, but its tentacles did shake kinda like a flare of the nostrils. "I mean, fine hate humans as much as you want, but if you're going to try to take us over at least keep air freshener around." Much to my dismay, the monster pushed its face closer to mine.

"I was once like you...human filth." The Devoured said, its mouth tentacles waving with each word. Its voice was odd, as if hearing a dry voice through a dense filter with a deep echo. I tried to stay as calm as I could. "I once felt that the humans were in the right...that we had the right, the freedom, the ability to rape and pillage the Earth, to bend Her to our will and make Her our slave." The hulking beast turned away from me, moving away and placing one of it's hands gently on the trunk of a nearby tree. It was eerie seeing such a fearsome monster look...kinda serene. "But I know better now...My eyes were opened to the TRUTH!" Its thick head turned back to "look" at me. "And soon....you will too."

Great. Impending sense of doom. I grit my teet and watched the monster carefully. C'mon Mike...think of a way out of this one. I tried moving my arm again only to be reminded that it was firmly lashed to this rock and that it was probably broken. The lance of pain blossomed in my head like an explosion and the arm turned to fire. Shutting my eyes to try to block the pain and stop from screaming, I turned my attention from the Devoured. Probably a bad idea. I felt the pain from the arm get pushed back to the rear of my mind, dulled a bit. It allowed me to open my eyes and see the Devoured directly in front of me with one arm cocked back like it was going to punch me. Yeah, bad idea to take my eyes off him. The beast's arm came forward but didnt' strike me. Instead, the palm of its hand rested on my chest. The skin was rough, scaly and dry which reminded me of an alligator for some reason. Then the pain came. It felt like the first time my spikes came through my skin. Just as fresh, just as painful. A large stinger or spike or something shot out from that cup on the palm of the Devoured's hand and pierced my chest. I couldn't keep the shock buried and I screamed in pain, my back arching against the rock and sparks flying in my vision. That wasn't all though...you know the feeling you have when someone sticks you with an IV? That feeling that some foreign fluid is entering your bloodstream? Yeah, multiply that by about 20. Something that was cold, yet burning flooded my chest. A poison? Maybe...

"This time tomorrow...your eyes will be opened...you will join us in our crusade." The Devoured sneered at me and stalked away back into the darkness. So yeah....it was worse than poison. It was a mutanogen. This was very...very bad. I tried to call out again in despair but my voice failed me and came out in a croak. Heat washed over my body like I was in a bad fever and my vision clouded. I felt my consciousness hang dangerously on the edge of a pit of blackness in my mind...and then....

There was nothing.

[Thorn Hawk]

Saturday Evening 24 May 2008

When I came to, I could faintly feel light striking my skin. It hurt my eyes to open them but I was able to grab a quick glimpse of the area while they adjusted to the blinding light. The sun was setting...meaning that I had been unconscious for most of the day. The Devoured was gone, but in place were a few trees that I swear hadn't been there before.

I didn't have that much time left. The dawning realization washed over me in a flood of panic and fear. No one expected me to be anywhere until Sunday, which meant that my chances of rescue went from slim to none. Nausea hit me like a wave, blurring my vision and making my stomach do things that really wasn't good for my well-being. Maybe one of those killer trees had a Pepto somewhere? Okay...new plan..

Closing my eyes, I tried my best to concentrate through the fever-thoughts that clouded the front of my mind. It was difficult, but I did manage to start growing a spine right beneath one of the root-like bonds which held me. The root held fast and pushed against the growing spine underneath, and eventually won. Well that sucks....my spines weren't sharp enough to pierce through wooden roots. Either that or I was too weak to make sharp enough ones. I exhaled again in frustration and tried to muscle my way through the bonds again. No go. What the hell were these roots made out o-....wait a minute. I tried moving my arm again to find that it a) moved and b) didn't hurt. Okay...that was odd. So the DE mutate must have healed his broken arm...which was good I guess...too bad I still can't use it...or have real control over it for very long.

It was hope though. If my arm was healed, maybe I had a chance to get out of this yet...especially if, after my talk with Yuki about Martial arts, my new plan worked. I drew in a deep breath and pushed out more spikes than I ever have in my entire life. Now, normally my clothes have little slits in them to allow my spines to grow out without tearing the shirt and pants to shreds. This time, however, I made about twice as many spikes as I had slits for and tore the clothes to itty bitty pieces. But, the force of the growing spikes over a large area pushed the roots out...just a little bit...but enough for me to exhale sharply and withdraw my spikes, taking no time to fall straight to the ground and out of the root cage. It worked...the same principles used of getting out of a bear hug in most martial arts circles; make yourself as big as possible when they grab you then exhale and drop. The sudden change in volume gives you that wiggle room.

Sweet...I was out of the freakin' roots....but now the trees were coming alive so that they could come kill me. Wonderful. The tree-like DE shook off their leaves and uprooted, focusing their heads on me with what I could only guess to be rage. Time to get the hell out of here. Sprinting as best I could, I made a beeline away from the DE monsters, ignoring the shifting and rolling terrain that the fever presented me and jumped up to take flight. But instead of feeling a cooling breeze on my sweaty skin, I felt the hard packed dirt of the earth smack me in my chest. Great...I can't fly yet. Awesome...I didn't think I could fight either given my weakened state from the mutate and my Houdini impression earlier.

Now all I had to do was make it a couple of miles through man-eating forests and ruined skyscrapers, full of nice things that want to kill me, on foot to get back to the Falls...and then find a cure for the mutagen in me...and I had to do all of this within the next few hours...judging by the setting sun...and with a high-grade fever. Oh yeah, and two of the DE's tree beasties are still right freakin' behind me.

Yeah...no pressure.

[Thorn Hawk]

Saturday Evening 24 May 2008

Ducking under a low branch, I continued to flee from the pursuing tree-beasts. I could feel my strength waning as quickly as the fading light above and could hear the DE thugs getting closer with each step. Now, I've said this before, but I'm not a religious person. I've got nothing against people believing in God, but me and Him have never really gotten off on the same foot you know? That being said, I normally don't reflect on the idea; especially in life-threatening situations. But this time, my mind wandered back to a discussion I had had with Alex Dutchman a little while back about God. The actual details escape me, but I remember the big crux of the conversation...faith. Faith and deliverance.

Well, if anything was going to get me out of this jam, it would be nothing short of a miracle; and even though I'm too proud to admit it openly to anyone at the school, I may have tried my hand at a last desperate prayer before my time ran out.

It was at that moment, however, that the ground itself opened up beneath me and I tumbled down, end over end in a painful ball of flesh bones and spines down a sharp cliffside and into a pool of water below. I had seen this chain of waterfalls and ponds near the giant DE monolith in Eden before, but I didn't know I was this close to it. The shock of the freezing cold water seized my muscles, keeping them from moving as the air in my lungs burned. My wings were still not working and for a moment, I was afraid of drowning in the pool of ice cold water. Not to mention being grabbed and hauled away by the tree-beasts perched on the edge of the cliff. The surface of the water came closer with agonizing slowness as my body floated to the top, just enough to allow me to see a large explosion rip the shoulder off of one of the Razorvines. As my mind clouded and my vision narrowed, I spied on the opposite cliff, a Nemesis Fullisar, kneeling with his rifle primed and aimed directly at the other Razorvine's head. I didn't see what happened, but I heard the roar of the rifle from under the surface of the water just as everything went back to black.

Man I'm getting real tired of passing out.

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Watch log: Cpl. Jeremy Sands, 8th Squad, 15th Platoon, 2nd Eden Regiment, Nemesis Army

-As of 1946 hours, a distrubance in sector Whiskey-2, the Waterfalls, was encountered by this soldier. After relaying the call to Squad Leader Sgt. Timothy Walter, this soldier engaged two Tango class Delta-Echo hostiles and eliminated both.

-As of 1948 hours, this soldier surveyed the scene, noticing that the Delta-Echo hostiles had been pursuing what appears to be a Hero. Hero had blueish-white hair, dressed in a black leather jacket, gloves and boots with tan cargo pants with black lightning bolts on the sides. Protrusions which appeared to be wings were seen on his back. Hero appeared to be dead and floating down the river towards a Delta-Echo nest. This soldier did not pursue as, should the Hero not be dead yet, he will be dead soon.

-As of 2000 hours, this soldier was relieved of his station by Cpl. Samuel Smiddley.

-As of 2014 hours, this soldier returned to Headquarters for rest before next watch at 0200 hours.

[Thorn Hawk]

Saturday Evening/Sunday Morning 24-25 May 2008

The first thing I was aware of when I came to was that I could breathe. The second thing I was aware of was that each breath was like inhaling a cloud of tiny pieces of glass. Instinct took over, rolling me on my stomach and falling into a fit of coughs which devolved into my stomach retching and spilling out over the riverbank where I had washed up. It took a few moments, but I finally got control of myself enough to somwhat straighten the turning world about me and realize that the insides of my stomach smelled something awful. Trying to sit up was an ordeal which made my head split open in a flash of non-existant light and pain, but I did have to count my blessings that there wasn't any real blinding light to sear my eyes.

Wait.

My cold, shuddering body somehow managed to grow even colder. How long had I been out? Thirty minutes? An hour? More? The sun was just falling when I fell over the cliff...Straining my neck, I tried to look for the moon in the sky, but the tree canopy and the overcast clouds made it impossible. Staying as close to the ground as I could, I gradually moved over to a nearby tree, or what I hoped was a normal tree. Luckily, it wasn't anything that wanted to kill me and by using the rough bark of the old oak tree, I was able to make it shakily to my feet. My body felt numb and I shook uncontrollably, whether from the cold or the Devoured's mutanogen, I didn't know, but it wasn't good in any sense. I didn't need a doctor to tell me what deep shit I was in now.

Looking back at the river, I tried to see how far I had drifted in the stream, but couldn't see the waterfalls due to the twisting river and thick forest; but I could hear the thunder of the falls in the distance. My vision steadied enough for me to see where I had washed up in the faint light...don't ask me where the light came from, but it seemed like the trees shone. I didn't realize until later that small crystals dotted the trunks of some of the trees, which emitted a soft glow. Probably put there by a Quartz or something like it. What I did realize was that from where I had woken up on the riverbank, was a good two to three feet away from the edge of the water. No way in hell I could've washed up that far. The only way I could have been up that far is if...something hauled me out of the water.

Fear lanced through my spine again as my body began to heat up from the lower pit of my stomach and right behind my eyes. Great, now I was having hot flashes. Maybe Dutchman slipped me some of her gender-bending potion she keeps talking about before I left...But still....I was defenseless, I was weak, I was a goner.

"Welcome back son." A familiar raspy voice grated out from my left. My head spun more than it should have while I looked over to the Devoured that somehow melted into view from the forest. The familiar voice, stench, and a very unique scar in the shape of the astrologial symbol of Saturn, across where a right eye should have been (that I don't remember seeing until now) all belonged to the Devoured that had caught him...the one that had poisoned him, the one that wanted to bring him into the Happy Tree Friends League.

"I....ain't your "boy"....yet...." I wheezed out, using all my strength just to stay standing. The Devoured laughed, which sounded more like a boulder shashing against a metal house.

"Oh you will be soon. Of that there is no doubt." The Devoured made his way closer to me, but staying outside a four foot radius. "I'm surprised you're standing at all...most just succumb and waste away within the first five hours."

A touch of pride hit my chest despite the situation. "I'm no...ordinary kid you walking pile of...compost." The Devoured chuckled again.

"Please...if you wish to identify me, I shall give you a name to do so. Call me Iapetus. I have a feeling you will be calling me by that with admiration in your voice in the next few minutes. The change is not far off....I can feel it." I spat on the ground...or tried to. I ended up with spittle hanging from my chin in a very uncivilized manner. I was about to shoot him with another quip, my only weapon at this point, when a lance of heat and pain took my body in a seizure, throwing me to the ground. I could feel pressure and heat build up within me like boiling water in a closed enviornment. I shut my eyes and clenched my teeth as best I could to keep from biting my tongue as my muscles tightened up painfully. This was it.

Nuts.

[Thorn Hawk]

Sunday Morning, 25 May 2008

For a long while, my world consisted of heat and pain. It wasn't a pain like, "oh, ow, that sunburn hurts"; or "Ow! I just stubbed my toe". No, this was a pain unlike any other I had ever felt. It was as if my skin was liquifying underneath the top layer, like my veins and heart were pumping molten lava and that each bone in my body was being put through a wood chipper. Iapetus spat something out above me that I couldn't understand, and I could only see very faintly, but he seemed to be gloating. Damnit.

Rolling to my stomach, I tried to get my arms and legs underneath me, but I failed miserably, falling into another spasm of pain and heat which did interesting things to my muscles. The pain and heat continued to increase, continued to build up until at one final moment, everything exploded in a flash of scarlet. I don't really remember the exact details of what happened, but I remember suddenly being on my knees, leaning back slightly with a loud ringing in my ears. My body felt a lot better, as if all the pain had instantly been washed away from my body. Spikes were jutting out of my body. I don't remember calling them, but then again, they sometimes came out when I didn't want them to anyways. The spikes seemed to be sleeker and darker in color. Also, I could've sworn my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I could see red lightning arcing every so often from one spike to another like one of those lightning ball things you see at the science museum.

I stood shakily, surprised that I had the energy to move and that I could put pressure on my legs. I felt much better, much better. I tried to move my wings, but they didn't respond. No pain, but no response. My head swam as I stumbled out of the small crater I found myself in, and leaned against a nearby tree for support. It was then that I noticed the area around me.

It was scorched. Trees were blackened, grass was burnt and blasted away from heat and force. The glade looked like it was the epicenter of a bomb blast. Iapetus was still there, however, his arms up in front of his face in a sterotypical blocking pose, although the scales had been ripped from his forearms and a sickly black-red ichor dripped from the wounds in them. There was no discernable expression from the beast, but from its posture and its stillness, I could only guess that it was shocked.

The energy that coursed through my body, which pushed the pain and weariness away, was only a temporary high at best. I had to get away from him, and I needed to do it fast. Desperation and anger filled my body, causing my eyesight to flash with scarlet light. What shocked me wasn't the sudden flare of energy within my body, but that the flash of scarlet had lanced two beams of pinpoint energy into Iapetus' torso, which happened to be in the direct center of my vision. The energy hit the Devoured like a hammer, doubling him over and nearly dropping him to his knees.

"No!" Iapetus roared, standing up and looking more enraged than injured. The head cocked back and a dart of venomous liquid lanced out of the swarm of tentacles that made up the face of the monster. Throwing myself to the side, I narrowly avoided the dart and spun. Red lightning shot from spine to spine along my arm from shoulder to wrist. Instinctually, I raised it, pointing the arm at him. Suddenly, a torrent of scarlet energy rushed at the Devoured like a freight train. As the energy rushed out of me, I could feel that powerful high of energy drain away, letting the pressure of my previous aches and pains drift back into the forefront of my mind. The crimson cone of energy took Iapetus by surprise, knocking the Devoured off of his feet and back into and through a tree trunk before tossing him back on the ground. Now that it was disoriented, I had a chance.

I didn't bother to look back. I ran. As hard as I could, using as much of my power as the temporary boost would allow. The forest exploded behind me in a roar of fury and bestial strength. Rocks crashed to the ground and tree trunks splintered, showering me with splinters. Ahead of me, more trees uprooted themselves, turning into Blackroses and other horrible DE monsters.

I really wanted to fly. I've never missed the sky more than I did at that moment.

"YOU CANNOT RUN FROM ME BOY!" Iapetus thundered from behind me. He was a ways back, being so much more massive, the monster had a harder time moving through the thick forest than I did, but he was still way too close for comfort.

My legs were about to give out and my lungs were on fire, yet I continued to run. There was no way I could outrun them. I was nearly out of gas from the second wind and there was no end to the forest in sight.

So, I had to do something drastic. Spines erupted out of my right arm again and crackled with energy. There was enough juice in me for maybe one more shot, and if it actually worked, I'd finally have the few seconds of uninterrupted peace that I needed.

The stone pillar in front of me, a little uphill and towering in the night sky stood like a beacon. Man, I hope this works.

The energy flooded out of my arm, making me feel ten times heavier than I did before. Scarlet energy snaked through the sky and slammed into lower portion of the pillar, chewing away and blasting the rock at the base. The weight of the stone pillar worked against itself as gravity pulled on the heavy mass, splintering it at the base and causing the monolith to begin a slow fall to the ground. I now had to race the falling stone. So help me, if I make this, I'm trying out as a running back for the football team.

My lungs were bursting and my legs were jello, but fear and desperation made me press on, and with a dramatic dive, I narrowly made it far enough so that the stone pillar crashed down about ten feet behind me rather than on top of me. The force of the fall shook the earth and threw me even further. Landing roughly on my shoulder spines, I rolled and pitched over the rocks until I finally came to a rest on my back.

I didn't have much time. Iapetus and the rest of them would be through in a matter of moments. Quickly, my hand went to my belt and I quickly keyed in the keycode to the Pocket D QuickPass I had. It would take the machine a couple of seconds to make the rift in space that would allow me entry to the D, but hopefully, my little wall would keep the Devoured at bay long enough for it to work. It was a gamble I had to take.

As the machine began to whine and emit small beams of white and violet light, I looked, in horror, to see Iapetus hauling himself on top of the rock wall I had made. The beast roared in triumph atop the wall.

"It ends now boy!" He called, leaping down from the wall and charging me. The wickedly curved talons on his hands gleamed in the faint light, thirsty for blood. I was sure of it. I was a goner. Fear gripped me like a powerful fist, squeezing the air out of my burning lungs, seizing my fatigued muscles. The light from the Pocket D QuickPass shone on the enraged Devoured, lighting him up like a horrible spectre. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get away fast enough. I couldn't buy enough time. The powerful fist of the Devoured rose, spreading the claws wide and I saw them descend.

I screamed.

[Thorn Hawk]

Sunday Morning 25 May 2008

For a moment that seemed like eternity, I couldn't breathe. I had a bizzare feeling of weightlessness and a mixture of hot and cold washing over the fringes of my body. It was a darkness broken only by the flashes of color in my eyes from behind my closed eyelids...probably from shutting them so hard. Yet, for as long as this bizzare limbo lasted, it ended with such a sudden screeching halt that it startled me into another scream.

My eyes opened to see a world awash with color. Figures swam in my vision, a canvas of pastels with no defined lines. This must be the afterlife...well, it was good while it lasted I guess...Fatigue still ate at me, dragging me down. Hell, I thought that would go away once I died, but hey, if I needed to lie down and rest it off, then who'd care right? Closing my eyes again I tried to find rest and get comfortable. It wasn't hard except for the rock that kept digging into my left shoulder. I tried to roll over, but it didn't work. I was about to just say the hell with it when a stinging sensation rose from the side of my face and my eyes fluttered open. Sam the bartender was staring down at me, looking like a reflection in a House of Mirrors.

"-ou okay kid?" He asked, his voice distant and obscured by the sounds of a kajillion bees. His head turned to look over his shoulder. "Get an ambulance!" He called, turning his attention back to me. I didn't see what all the fuss was about. Hell, I just needed some rest and move on. "Stay with me kid. God, you look like hell." Despite Sam's attempts to keep me awake, I drifted into black unconsciousness at that moment.

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Monday evening 26 May 2008

When I next awoke, I was in a hospital bed, tilted a little, and laying on my stomach, my wings spread out behind me and held up by straps from the ceiling. "Don't try to move." A soft female voice said from my side. I couldn't see her, but I knew the voice.

"Well...I'm not dead then...hi mom....miss me?" I said blearily. They must have me on painkillers. "How long was I out?"

"Around 38 hours." She said softly, placing a soothing hand on my back. So I was shirtless it seems. In any case, the touch of a mother on a wounded son was a lot more medicine than any amount of acetominophin or morphine can provide. "Tell me what happened." Her voice, while strained a bit with worry, was gentle. I was expecting her to be raving mad, but hey, I'm not complaining. After a large breath, I started telling the story of what happened, going over each detail as well as I could remember it. I made mention of everything, even Iapetus and the strange behavior he showed. Mei Pechna stayed silent throughout the entire story aside from small questions here and there, ranging from details of Iapetus to details of the bizarre new power I exhibited. For a long moment, she was silent, and if it wasn't for the soft, gentle stroking of her hand along my back and shoulder, I would've thought that she left.

"You're very lucky to be alive." She said after a few minutes had passed. Her voice seemed more strained now. I could see the tears in her eyes even though I couldn't look at her from my position.

"I know mom."

"You're in a lot of trouble."

"I know mom."

"But I'm glad you're safe. Promise me you won't take risks like that again. Stay out of the hazard zones. I don't care what your security level is."

"Yes mom...I promise." For another long moment, she was quiet. I could hear her moving her hands slightly but she stayed put, now stroking my hair. "Mom?" I asked hesitantly. "What happened to me?"

She sniffed quickly and then spoke again in a calm, controlled voice. "Your body is not done growing yet Michael. Just like when those wings sprouted three years ago, your body is still changing. This is another change. The Devoured mutation that was injected into you would have changed you, but, due to your body's unique genetic makeup, it catalyzed your mutation as well as its own. The two mutations essentially competed against one another and yours won out due to the nature of the new mutation."

I understood about half of that. "So what does that mean?"

"It means that this Iapetus won't use the same mutation on you again. He'll have adapted it to work on your genetic code should he ever get a hold of you again." She said softly. There was something in her voice, some emotion I couldn't place.

"But, how did my new mutation stop it? What is it?" I asked quickly, relieved and scared at the same time about this revelation. My mother almost didn't miss a beat.

"Your new mutation has to do with free roaming positrons that are naturally produced in your body. A positron is a positively charged electron, a subparticle of anti-matter. For one reason or another, they are existing in your body in a form of homeostasis. When you build up enough of these positrons in your body, you can, through your new mutation, cause a reaction which will instantly flip not only the spin of the positrons, but their magnetic charge as well. Because this change is thermodynamically favored, it releases an enormous amount of energy. That energy can be used by your body in place of adenosine triphosphate or can be redirected as raw energy leaving the body. From the sound of your story, your cornea can focus the energy into beams as well."

I didn't ask her how she knew all of that. She was a doctor of biochemistry after all, she must have done testing on me while I was out. Or something.

"Get some rest dear." She said, kissing me on the top of the head. "I'm taking you home tomorrow morning."

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Present Day, 27 May 2008

"So that's the whole story." I said, finishing and leaning back on the bench. Sean gave a low whistle and sat back.

"Dude...that's intense." I gave him a slight nod and laughed. "What're you so happy for? Aren't you...like...still injured?"

I shook my head slowly. "Mostly it was fatigue, exhaustion, dehydration and a few hairline fractures on my wings. I've been taking it easy on them lately, but they're healing nicely. That's one good thing about being a quick healer."

"Man, I still can't believe you can shoot lasers out of your eyes." He said in awe. "That's some Superman shit right there."

I laughed again and leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees. "Yeah, maybe. But hey, it helps me whump some baddies so I'm not complaining."

"So how much trouble were you in?"

"Tons. I'll be doing community service until the end of summer." I said with a sad ring in my voice. I was glad, however, that this escapade wasn't brought up to the school. Mom seemed fine with keeping it within the house. Well, I guess that's to be expected...It was on the weekend, and I was off school grounds. Not only that, but I'm a day student, so the school isn't responsible for me all the time. Although I do wonder why mom was so...odd during our conversation...

Cutting my inner monologue short, I stood up and looked over to Sean, keeping my wings nice and relaxed across my back. "C'mon. Let's grab some food. I know this great pizza place now..."

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Epilogue

Somewhere in Eden

Iapetus, one of the largest of the Greater Devoureds within Eden's outer patrol, looked upon the fallen stone pillar that Michael Pechna had caused. A new one had already risen to take its place, but the old remained on the ground, despite others wants to remove the obstacle to make room for more seeds. Iapetus stared at it, feeling brief hints and figments of emotions from the human that he had used to be. The Devoured did not understand the emotions, nor did it much care for them, but it felt them regardless. A sense of anger, frustration, and the most curious of all, pride. The mutation hadn't worked, but he did have a helping of the boy's DNA from the initial injection of the mutanogen. It would work next time, and then, he'd join the fold. It was that human spectre within him, that ghostly figment of a previous life that seemed to compell him to turn the boy rather than kill him. Now, the rationally thinking mind of the Devoured somewhat agreed. The boy was resourceful, stubborn, and strong willed. He would make an excellent agent, despite what the other leaders amongst Hamidon's faithful told him. The punishment he recieved for not killing the boy...he could live with. It was the end result that mattered. He didn't care about the middle.

As Iapetus turned from the downed pillar, he made his way back towards the Monolith Hive pillar, to enter the catacombs and maze of giant tunnels that spidewebbed underneath the surface of the earth. Right before he entered, he gave one last look, back across the miles of Eden, towards the gate to Founder's Falls. He would have him again, even if he had to leave and hunt the boy down. The desire was too strong, and even though the Devoured's mentality was all encompassing of the creature, that small bit of humanity that drifted within the beast's core had enough passion in this endeavor to speak. Within Iapetus' mind, he watched as Michael Pechna would change into the Hamidon's newest loyal servant, taking his place next to Iapetus as it should be. If the creature could grin, it would, as the human shade within it whispered. Just like one big....happy....family.