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Marvelous Man - Chapter 10


EcchiMultiverse

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All comments and critiques are welcomed here and on my Google Docs(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xp3Efz4F7g0cC_7KjwckI1X-FG-NtstAQEEniShWM8k)

For other chapters, I will post them on here later. But you can find the archives on my FA and Tumblr with pics included.

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ecchimultiverse/

Tumblr: http://ecchimultiverse.tumblr.com/

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Chapter 10: The Teratoma

A soft patter echoed in the chamber of the empty subway tunnel. It was a slow sound that beaten to the rhythm of a person taking small steps in the black space. What was not swallowed by the darkness was ebbed away by the dim light bulbs embedded in the tunnel walls.

In the passing glow, a form began to reconstitute into visibility. Pale feet with barely a sinew underneath the chapped skin appeared; moving in tandem with the pattering sound. Underneath the next dim light, a section of a red cloak materialized and draped over the feet. The cloak fully reformed underneath the next light with the hood bulging from the equine skull underneath.

The Skeleton Lord’s movement slowed down. His body wobbled for a moment before the villain braced himself against the wall. His breath raspy as if he were in need of an oxygen tank for a man of his antiquity.

“Not yet,” he muttered, “That invisibility should have held out longer.”

The Skeleton Lord hissed, “Silence! I should have had more than enough energy to do anything. I slaughtered all those gypsies! It should not have taken much to reform me. Silence, the lot of you!”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“You are right. You always are. We will get more. We must educate these sows and hedge-borns on who we truly are. Poxes on adventurers and their crusades,” rasped the Skeleton Lord.

Seconds ticked by as he said nothing. A wail escaped his lips as his body became limp against the wall. The Skeleton Lord cried.

A suave Latino voice echoed in the darkness, “Wow, and I thought I was fucked up after getting stuck in limbo for a little while.”

Turning around, the Skeleton Lord spotted Sugar Skull in the yellow-tinted glow. The purple-suited ghoul was leaned against the wall next to the Skeleton Lord. The spinning cartoon flowers stared out towards the vast darkness of the subway tunnel.

“You are...the peculiar ghoul I met not too long ago,” he recalled, “Tell me, do you remember your name?”

Sugar Skull nodded, “I do. But I’ve decided to go by a new name. And for bad guys like you…”

The ghoul took a step towards the Skeleton Lord and squatted down. His yellow flower eyes gazed into the villain’s shadow-veiled face. The spinning flowers in his sockets began to wilt into a blackened shrivel. Its husk crumbled into bits that dissolved in the emptiness of the ghoul’s eye sockets.

“You can call me, Deathshade,” said the skulled man.

Deathshade’s face twisted like an owl’s; trying to look upside down without moving its body. The bones in his neck clicked, as his chin swung up in a clockwise motion. Upon reaching the axis of his neck snapping, the ghoul relaxed his neck and unleashed the kinetic energy stored in those muscles. His skull rattled with a multitude of bone clicking sounds; reverberating in the air and through his own body.

Yellowish green spores exploded from Deathshade’s fleshy neck and decorated skull. The spores spread themselves a small distance before completely dissipating. With Deathshade’s face peering close to the Skeleton Lord’s, it was an expected outcome for the Skeleton Lord’s exposed exterior to be coated in the deathly spores.

The Skeleton Lord coughed and lurched over. His skinny pale hands braced against the ground as the supervillain heaved.

Black sludge erupted from the Skeleton Lord’s mouth. It splattered against the pavement as he continued to vomit. The volume he emitted was enough to fill a medium-sized can of tomato soup. During his regurgitation, the pigments of the supervillain’s pure white skin began to change. Speckles of a peach color appeared in scattered areas before collecting in a mass and spreading up his arms upon every upheaval.

Deathshade stood up, “I was not expecting this to happen. But whatever.”

The Skeleton Lord’s black emissions came to a slow; dribbling out the sides of his mouth. He wiped his lips with his arms and paused. The supervillain stared at his arm; turning it to observe the living pigments in his limbs.

“Wh-what have you done to me, ghoul?!” he gasped.

Deathshade shrugged, “Eh, guess I have time to do some, uh, exposition. You see, I’m a very special ghoul. I have three powers. The first is that I can regenerate. So all those mortal wounds won’t cause me to, umm...atomize. I can keep on fighting instead of respawning at a later time.”

The ghoul leaned forward and pulled his leg back into the air to build up power for a second. Immediately after, he swung it with full force. The tip of Deathshade’s long boot toe rammed into the Skeleton Lord’s torso.

The impact caused the supervillain to be flung away a small distance and landing on their back. Bit of red liquid sprayed from the cloaked man’s mouth. He moaned in pain.

“My second power is my poisonous spores. They usually spray out like that, but it’s also contained in my blood. Now, as for what they can do, well,” Deathshade giggled, “I honestly don’t know. The effects are always random. But I do know they even the playing field for me. One time, I saw a man cough up his own lung. Like he got hit with that, uh, what’s that thing called again? Oh right!”

He delivered another swift kick into the Skeleton Lord’s side. More red liquid escaped from the supervillain’s painful gasp.

“Mustard gas. But as for what happened to you, I’d say...welcome back to the living. Hahaha! That’s actually a first. To make an immortal mortal. Bet you’re allergic to lead now, huh?,” said the ghoul.

Deathshade reached into his sleeve, “Which brings up my third power…”

The ghoul pulls out his black pistol from the purple sleeve. Planting his foot on the dazed Skeleton Lord’s chest, he bent down and aimed his weapon into the supervillain’s face.

“GUN,” he chattered.

A pillar of bone arose from the darkness beyond the dull light’s rim and speared into illuminated area. Its pointed end thrusted into Deathshade’s chest; puncturing through. The pale bone pillar continued to extend with abundant speed and began lifting Deathshade into the air. Upon piercing into the concrete wall with its sharp tip, the pillar of bone ceased its growth.

The ghoul’s torso was held in place against the wall by the bony spike. His eye sockets’ vast emptiness transformed into pixilated television static. Deathshade held onto his firearm during the brief attack and held it up; undeterred by the attack. He took aim at the Skeleton Lord.

A bone spike the size of an arrow shot from the darkness. It briefly whistled as it penetrated the ghoul’s gun-holding wrist. Steadfast with the same force it used to lodge into ghoul flesh, the bony spike continued its propulsion. The impaling barb flew overhead and penetrated the wall; leaving Deathshade’s arm to hang limply with his wrist pinned.

In the process, the ghoul became unable to have a steady grip on his black gun. The glock fell onto the ground with a metal clang. Deathshade stared down at the supervillain, while dark blood dripped through his purple teeth.

An insect-like limb made of bone extended itself from the bottom of the Skeleton Lord’s robe. Angling itself, it pushed against the concrete floor as a means of propping up its master. The Skeleton Lord accepted the assistance and stood up.

As if ignoring the ghoul’s existence, the Skeleton Lord faced the original direction he was taking before the ghoulish interference. The supervillain hobbled forward as the bony limb repositioned itself to act as a stabilizer and maintain its master’s balance. The remaining rows of wall-embedded subway lights in the Skeleton Lord’s path flickered off. Starting with the furthest, it slowly dominoed its way until reaching the villain.

Deathshade saw the Skeleton Lord wading further into the darkness until completely enveloped. The soft pattering noise the supervillain’s footsteps made slowly echoed until mute emptiness filled the tunnel.

The ghoul sighed, “That’s what I get for talking too long…”

Pulling out his smartphone, Deathshade opened the messenger app and selected “Bruja”. The ghoul coughed without warning; spurting blood onto the screen. Deathshade wiped his phone’s screen against his purple suit in an attempt to clean off his blood. He began texting in Spanish:

MjI2MDUw.jpg

Deathshade frowned. Using his thumb to swipe, he opened a puzzle game app. It seemed that much time was going to pass before help arrived for him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The sloshing of raw flesh grew louder as Marvelous Man spotted a bulky object making its way into the clearing the three heroes stood in. Sliding through the entrance the Skeleton Lord came through, the mysterious being’s true form became revealed by the ground’s imbued illumination.

It was a mass of exposed sinew tissue with patches of skin and hair strewn about itself; sloshing like liquid mercury. Scattered around the monstrosity were human limbs struggling to grasp and kick itself forward, while the exposed sinew lurched and rolled. It seemed as if hordes of every part of the human body were stuck together with no purposeful intent; leaving the organism’s anatomical structure to be a pure mess. Eyes of different colors attached to the abomination’s body and even at the end of some fingertips. Mouth orifices dispersed all over the monster that moaned and gurgled with a mixture of saliva and bile. The teeth were missing from the gums and were instead scattered in rows on the monster’s limbs and mass. Brain matter and internal organs surfaced in some areas; pulsating with undead determination to keep on living.

Marvelous Man gagged at the sight of it as the abomination slowed to a stop upon its hideous reveal. It reminded Marvelous Man of a cancerous tumor he discovered on a medical mystery show he watched with his father, Apollo.

“What the hell is that?!” exclaimed Octomentist.

Marvelous Man answered, “Some sort of...human-sized teratoma…”

“Marvelous Man…” called out Gene.

Marvelous Man turned to his partner. He could see a saddened expression on Gene’s face.

Gene Lightfoot spoke, “I can feel the agony of that creature. They are in an immeasurable amount of pain.  Marvelous Man, can you heal them?”

Marvelous Man stared back at the Teratoma monster. He could see parts of itself pulsating and small green smog emitting from its many mouths.

“I...I don’t know. Maybe if I supercharge it, it could work,” he guessed.

“You want to what?” said Octomentist, “Well, as long as they’re not lashing out, I guess we should try something.”

Gene nodded, “I request that you please hurry. They are already quite agitated. If you tarry any longer, it is likely they will become volatile.”

Taking a step forward, Marvelous Man then stopped for a moment upon spotting the Teratoma’s green exhales. He remembered the Skeleton Lord’s warning and briefly reached into his pocket. Upon pulling it out again, he revealed in his grasp the jewel-encrusted golden athletic cup.

Marvelous Man resumed forward motion, as he applied the athletic cup to his face. The athletic cup suctioned itself over the shining superhero’s mouth and nose. It’s black rubber lining and silky insides felt like the gold-plated cup was softly kissing his face. Other than the soft suctions around his face, Marvelous Man felt like he was breathing without a cup on it; due to no warm backdraft of his own breath. His shaky nerves became calm, as he could smell a light fragrance of sugar cookies within his magical breathing apparatus.

Within a few steps of the Teratoma, its eyes turned to Marvelous Man. One of its arms reached out to grasp him. The arm gestured at the muscular superhero with the body language of curiosity rather than maliciousness.

Marvelous Man reciprocated and clasped the monster’s hand with both of his own. It chilled him to see all those eyes staring out at him. But he could not help but sense a sort of sadness, confusion, and pleading with each one he briefly looked into. Marvelous Man closed his eyes and hummed; calling out the light within him with his full concentration.

His light within obeyed and expanded outward. The light made contact with the Teratoma’s hand and imbued itself onto its surface. Marvelous Man was hit with an immediate medical feedback as the light spread itself further down the arm.

The light analyzed the Teratoma’s tissue to be made of many different human beings that were forced together. The monster should have immediately fallen apart and necrotized. What seemed to be holding the Teratoma together appeared to be the bone ingredients, collagen and calcium, acting as a bonding agent. Marvelous Man knew such a thing is an impossibility and figured this could only occur due to magic or whatever the Skeleton Lord’s weird bone ability was.

Instinctually, Marvelous Man realized that supercharging the Teratoma with his light would most likely do nothing. The monster was a new being that was created from dead parts. There was nothing to heal. But...he was not sure if it was the light or maybe sudden insight, but he could feel that it was possible for him to undo what has made the creature into what it currently is. The light would need something else from him to do it. Something that was not a positive expression or memory.

“I’m sorry, Gene. There’s nothing I can do,” said Marvelous Man.

Gene protested, “But what about-?!”

“Supercharging it won’t work. It’s not wounded. Just...mutated. I know I can’t do any of that gene therapy stuff with my powers. But...I think I can unmake it,” explained Marvelous Man.

Gene frowned, “But would that not kill it?”

Marvelous Man looked at the creature’s eyes.

“It’s better than what it is right now,” remarked Marvelous Man.

Gene shook his head, “No. We cannot kill them! They...they can still be saved! If we bring them to the D.A.B. then the magical researchers can try to find the cure to restore them.”

“Back to what? Corpses? Those people were already dead before they got turned into a Frankenstein’s monster. You think your company can help that thing? If anything, your magical researchers would just poke at it until there isn’t enough IV and shock paddles to keep it alive. No different than any other scientist,” spoke Octomentist.

She turned her attention to Marvelous Man, “I think you should go for it, Naked Justice. Put them out of their misery. They shouldn’t exist like this.”

“No!” exclaimed Gene.

Marvelous Man did not have to see Gene’s eyes tearing up. He could feel himself being whirlpooled in Gene’s sadness of anguish and disapproval. It was crushing, and Marvelous Man could feel his tear ducts beginning to activate. He did not want to hurt Gene. But what else could he do?

Gene pleaded, “Fairuza, I beg of you to tell me that they are wrong!”

Silence held in the air before Fairuza replied. Her voice echoed softly in Gene and Marvelous Man’s head.

“I wish I could, Gene. I’ve been doing magical scans on that creature, but...nothing in the archives can assist with that level of transmogrification. Not even our best medical practitioners can help. I’m sorry, Gene. The people that were made into that monster were already dead. Nothing legal can remove death’s hand on them,” clarified Fairuza.

Gene’s lips trembled, “Marvelous Man?”

“I can...I can try to bring them back. But I’d have to unmake it first,” swallowed Marvelous Man.

Gene turned away, “Do what you must.”

Marvelous Man sighed, as he opened his eyes. He gazed at the Teratoma before he closed his eyes again.

“I’m sorry,” he thought.

He spoke softly, "It's alright. Everything will be okay."

Marvelous Man mentally surrendered himself to his light; letting it feed on any part of him to fuel its other ability. From the depths of his memories, thoughts about seeing Sugar Skull getting impaled from the first encounter with the Skeleton Lord bubbled into his mind. He could feel the terror he tried to bury within himself become freshly undug. This memory then connected to a similar one he had when he became Marvelous Man on his first transformation. Seeing that chicken being broken and poisoned by his own fathers. It felt as if it had just happened a moment ago.

The light that fed on these memories began to darken into a shining blackness. It no longer seemed warm and friendly as it illuminated the Teratoma and extended itself to completely blanket the abomination. It appeared to be cold and whisping about like a dark aura. It almost seemed to whisper dark secrets in a hushed voice.

Spitefulness awakened within Marvelous Man. The betrayal and hurt he felt about his parents secrets felt as if it were maximized by a magnifying lens. Negative emotions swirled like a tornado within him. All those years of lies. All those years of loneliness without a real person to talk to outside of his parents. The times he felt the impulse to commit violent acts throughout his entire life began to stack up in one place. It was all too much. It hurt so much.

He wanted somebody to feel that pain. To know the same level of emotional pain he endured and even more. To cast this burden of negativity on another person. Anybody.

Marvelous Man commanded his dark light to attack the Teratoma. His dark light analyzed the pitiful monster and gave the superhero new insight. He could see into the mutant’s brief medical history.

Though the Teratoma had not recovered from any wounds nor endured any, its undying cells experienced a sort of acidic breakdown before being magically reconstituted as the newly-born abomination. Other than trauma to the tissues that could no longer divide, the medical history of the victims themselves could not be found.

The spiteful Marvelous Man did not care about the last fact and focused his attention on the acidic breakdown. Without having to command, the dark light proceeded on Marvelous Man’s intentions.

The whisping aura of darkness seeped into the Teratoma; traveling into every cell. It whispered to every tissue one final secret before it became silent. Vanishing like smoke, the dark light disappeared with its task done.

The collagen and calcium bonds that once held the Teratoma’s cells together began to erode. Acid bled through every part of the monster; slowly dissolving it. What anatomy that had existed for those few minutes fell apart into a mix of acid and biotic goop.

Amidst his attack, Marvelous Man felt good. His mind was covered in a numbness of euphoria as he used his own negativity to melt a being. It felt good to lash out. To hurt someone else in order to ease his own pain. He had never tried to maliciously hurt somebody until this moment. It did not matter if this new ability was losing its intention of helping someone. And it was intoxicating.

Feeling death’s approach, the agonized creature reached out to Marvelous Man with its limbs. It pulled the muscle-bound hero in a disorganized embrace with arms and legs wrapping around him. Its many mouths hyperventilated; trying to last as long as its melting body could.

“Marvelous Man!” shouted Octomentist.

Marvelous Man was shaken out of his mindset upon being grappled by the slimy limbs and the overwhelming feeling of extreme distress. He realized this was not the emotion he was actually emitting. Rather, it was Gene’s.

Within the Teratoma’s embrace, he could feel the monster’s heartbeat as he sunk deeper within the melting horror. Marvelous Man had his body curled in a fetal position. He could hear it beat erratically before it began to slow down. His skin became irritated from the acid as if he were covered in aftershave lotion. Unknown to him, the acid destroying the Teratoma was eating away his clothing; leaving him naked with only the golden wreath on his head and the jewel-encrusted athletic cup on his face.

Marvelous Man tried to command his light to begin the healing process; mustering what goodness he had left in him. The light within him weakly reached out and analyzed what it could. There was nothing to heal except the Teratoma itself, because it was the only thing the cells took shape of. It was not able to reverse the hands of time to go back to how things were. It could only mend things together that existed in the present to keep the wounded living on in the future. No amount of singing, melancholy, or happy memories could bring back those dead people.

The last heartbeat thumped through the Teratoma’s body, as its mouths exhaled their last poisonous breaths. The monster lost complete physical structure and began to flatten. The now mixed acidic biotic goop that bled onto the ground immediately evaporated. As it deflated, it uncovered the naked superhero; laying on the ground like a giant, muscular newborn.

With the last bits of the monster finally vaporized, Gene and Octomentist ran to their teammate’s side. Marvelous Man slowly turned his head up to Gene. Gene kneeled down and placed his hand on his partner’s bulging shoulder.

Marvelous Man was overwhelmed by the concerning emotions Gene emitted and felt the motivation to move. With carefulness, he slowly stood up; his body no longer emitting smoke from the evaporating acid. He stared down at the bunny demigod, as he took off the gold-plated athletic cup off his face. Marvelous Man could still see a sliver of hope in Gene’s eyes.

He hesitated, “...I’m sorry, Gene. I couldn’t...I couldn’t bring them back. Their cells were so corrupted, I...couldn’t find the...shape to restore them to…”

Marvelous Man saw the sliver of hope dissolve in Gene’s eyes like the Teratoma. He wish he could say more. Something to bring back that hope. But the memories of what he had just done came rushing back.

He unmade a monster that needed help, and he liked it. No, it was not “unmade”. It was more like he poisoned the creature to have its past eat away at him. That euphoric feeling he felt during that poisoning now came with an aftertaste. One that was fouler than bile and ate away at him. The person that enjoyed hurting someone was not who Marvelous Man was. Not who Justice was. But it was him.

Marvelous Man threw up.

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