H.E.R.O. - Metamorphosis Read online

I'm having a wild dream. I know it's a dream because guys with guns are shooting like they are trying to win a record for most shots fired in a movie. The dream keeps shifting focus to various gunman's viewpoints.

  I'm getting a horror film confused in the mix, because a woman in a hospital is watching this gunfight, all the while these guys with fangs, claws, spikes and whatnot are fighting in a melee. What a dumb location for such an outpouring of firepower. A hospital? Come on, why would so many security be at a hospital?

  I even get the image of one of the monster men greeting the wall up close and personal with his face. That's a strange image to dream up.

  The hero monster's viewpoint is interesting, if sad. The bad guy's got him in a bad spot; the so-called good guards are shooting him along with the bad monster. He seems to be losing.

  Should be interesting seeing someone crazy show up to save the day. Perhaps this was an Arnold movie?

  I felt a sharp, stabbing sensation in my chest. My eyes flew open as my back arched and I tried to scream and suck in air at the same time. My heart kicked into overdrive, and thumped like it wanted to leap out of my chest. My blood pounded in my veins.

  Images flashed before my eyes of some guys fighting halfway through a wall, and security guards shot their weapons in many of the images as they flickered in and out of my vision. I shook my head to try to clear it of these images, but they continued appearing and disappearing.

  Standing over me was a nurse. She pulled a big needle out of my chest. I tried to reach for it, but my hands were restrained at my sides.

  Gunfire went off near me, and I heard something or someone growling or yelling something. A bunch of people were screaming “Shoot the mutant, we need more men!”

  The nurse grabbed my face with both of her hands and yelled, “We can't fight the mutant. Rael is dying. You need to do your thing and stop the mutant!”

  What? Rael? What mutant? Where are all the people yelling? They sound like they are right next to me, but I only see the nurse. Why am I tied down? Wait, isn't this my dream? What the hell is going on with my eyesight? What are these flickering images?

  She slapped my face. “Focus! Help Rael!” She pointed across the room, and sure enough Rael laid half out of the wall, and he had blood on his chest. It stood out against the drywall dust nicely.

  The nurse unbuckled the straps on my wrists. Why is Rael in such bad shape? He's one of the best fighters I know of.

  She shook my leg briskly as she unbuckled my ankle. “Come ON! You're a super; you aren't a mutant or a brick, so you must be a blaster or a psychic. Focus on the bad mutant and HURT HIM!”

  Wait, that's right. We were at the mall. The guy exploded. Lance was there. Where's Lance now? He somehow crushed my shoulder, and now I'm waking up here. Oh, he brought me to the hospital. The nightmare hospital. Thanks, Lance! I rolled my eyes.

  She got the last restraint off, and I slid off the bed and rushed over to Rael. A hand had forced its way through the hole in the wall and grabbed him by the neck. He choked out “Come on Steph, either run, or hurt the bad guy, I'm seeing spots.”

  His right shoulder jerked forward a little, and then the hand around his neck dragged him back through the hole completely. I opened the door just in time to see Rael be thrown across the hallway to smash into the other wall. None of the guards moved their mouths, yet I clearly heard them shouting to shoot the mutant, kill the mutant.

  I got the strangest image in my mind of wanting to punch my spikes into the guards. Kill the threat. Kill them all. These damn annoying images kept appearing. I mentally screamed. Stop appearing, damn it all! Two guards near me grabbed their heads, blood ran from their noses and ears, and they fell over.

  The image that wanted to kill everyone stayed overlapped on my vision of the mutant, as he leapt on a guard and punched him hard. Blood sprayed out from the massive head wound. Oh my god. I'm seeing what he's thinking. What was the movie Rael and I watched with all the psychics? Scanners. Crud, what do I think of to attack him?

  I can't think of anything, and he's hurt or killed three guards. The nurse said to blast them? I know I’m a super, so fine, I’ll blast.

  I screamed, “Stop attacking anyone!” I really focused on the thought, and felt that tingling wave through my body that I felt in the food court. My skin, even my hair tingled and I got goose bumps.

  Endorphins rushed through my body, down my neck and back. This happened several times, and all of the guards in the area lowered their guns and clubs. Nooo! Not you guys!

  The big guy with spikes stopped with his arm cocked back. He was about to punch a guard, but looked momentarily confused.

  It's working! “Lie down and stop everything! You will give up now!” The rush of endorphins happened again, and yet again. The tingling waves that crossed over my skin were very odd.

  Mass confusion erupted as guards, the nurse, and the big super all attempted to get one another to cuff them. A few of the guards lay down and just cowered on the floor. The flickering images steadied, and separated into a dozen floating TVs showing what they were thinking about or looking at. Others I 'heard' thinking that they wanted to be arrested and taken into custody. The nurse and two of the guards wanted me to cuff them. It felt like an entire room full of people shouting at me at once.

  I ignored them. I noticed on several of the images that Rael crawled up out of a prone position. Blood dripped from his mouth. I could barely see on my own with all of the images floating around. He gave the super a hostile, but tired look. Rael moved very slowly. He's thinking that he needs to knock out the mutant while he still can, before the bullet wounds knock him out. Everyone needs to stop doing anything, just lie down and stop!

  This guy hurt my friend, along with many others quite badly. Some people in the hall appeared dead. He really pissed me off. The mutant, as Rael called him, looked at me, and the image overlapping my vision warped and distorted.

  Everything got darker. He saw me with a strange light behind me. My image shimmered, golden hair shining, and my eyes had a horrible, terrifying glow about them. The darkness encompassed everything, and I grew and became more frightening. His chest clenched from the fear. There was nothing left, his life was over; this dark goddess commanded me to give up. Her visage was beautiful, yet unbelievably horrifying. She could command my death with a word.

  That's right, you asshole, feel the fear. You hurt Rael, but I don't want you to die, fear me … grovel.

  The tingling happened again. I heard several horrified screams from other men, most of the images looked at me, and I progressively looked more and more frightening. That works. I slowly stepped toward the problem mutant, wanting him to feel so much fear he would be a quivering mass on the floor. Every time I thought it, a new wave of goose bumps spread across my body, and the images of myself all became larger and darker.

  I looked like some kind of unearthly goddess. A cold white light shone behind me, and everything else was dark. My skin had become very pale, and my eyes had grown larger, glowing gold from within to match my backlit hair. I had a nimbus of light around me. It looked like a really neat horror flick.

  I barely heard the footsteps behind me, or felt the power behind the slap on the side of my head, and everything went dark.

  Chapter 11 – I Think I’ll Just Bleed Here

  Rael's Viewpoint