The Vespidian

Arc 10 Brooding

Chapter 7

Where to test out my powers? Ah… hmm, it had been a long time since I last visited my thinking spot. I walked along, branches breaking on my thick exoskeleton. The familiar path curled around until finally there sat the old tree. Fond memories began to flood into the back of my mind as I smiled. This old, half-dead tree. The fungus had spread once more. Infesting the tree. The worm-eaten wood displaying the intricate tunnels that they had devoured through the bark. I ran a finger down the trunk listening to the claw scratching through the old wood. It is only natural.

I sat down on the stump that had fallen long ago. It groaned under my weight. I closed all of my eyes taking a long deep breath. The wet scent of the forest filled my feelers. They wiggled about taking in all the small chirps and sounds of insects scuttling about. I could hear the worms slithering through the damp soil beneath me. Xava, Ichigo, and Boris stood to the side quietly as I drank in this place. It was calming. Yes, this was where it all began huh?

My antennae flicked as a scent tingled along the lengthy feels. Hmm… where have I smelled this before? I stood, all of my eyes opening at once. This was… I walked along the path. Pushing trees out of my way. They shuddered, uprooting as I blazed along the trail. Pushing, shoving, ripping anything that got in my way. A memory had awoken in my mind. Something I should have checked long ago. I had overlooked it.

We stood gazing down at the quagmired lands below. The fire from that night filling my eyes. After a moment it dimmed and there was the blackened ground. My feelers writhed as they canvassed the mushy crater. Bits and pieces from the crashed ship still dotted the landscape. It had been cleaned up, but not everything had been removed.

“Vesper?” asked Xava tilting her head.

“This is where it happened. Where my life changed.”

“What brings you back here?”

I held up a tentacle for a moment to silence her. My memories overlapping with my vision. Flames and the wreckage smoldering in the darkness. The tubes, canisters of green glowing goo filling my eyes as I looked over the carnage of that night. Slowly I looked over to the side. A small trail leading off into the thicket. I bent low picking up a small fragment of metal. The scent was faint, no, none existent and yet I could smell it. I followed the overgrown path. Every step, making me more sure that I had missed something when I first came to this place. I had thought the transport had caused this debris field when it went down, but it had crashed coming from the south and this was directly to the east.

My eyes started to see the signs of something having come through here. Old bent and snapped branches. Metal and pieces getting more and more frequent until we arrived at another clearing… or rather a crater. It wasn’t just one either there were several of them. Trees smashed and shattered. The ground, freshly grown over and yet the blackened glass-like substance remained as I scooped up the soil. Slowly I pulled a canister from the ground. It was intact… B.A.I. emblazoned upon the side. Cracking it open the familiar green glow filled my eyes.

Slowly I dipped a finger in it, spreading it as the warm goo fumed hotly against the cold air. I tasted it, giving it a little lick. The taste was foul. No real surprise there. Xava stretched out her hand to take a look and I handed it over. She spent a few seconds scanning the viscous liquid.

She looked up, “This is Mutigene. I wonder how it got here?”

“Boris, what do you think of this?”

“It appears to be a fight. Scorch marks are from some sort of weapon.”

“Do you know what kind?”

He looked it over puzzled, “I do not know. It must have been powerful, though. The ground has been glassed.”

The more I looked the more details became apparent. I slowed when I saw a depression in the glass. It was not alone I could see a few of them sporadically on the incline. It was a footprint. Two thick claws on the front and a talon in the back of the large print. It looked familiar. I looked between my claws and the tracks. I overlapped my foot with the track and my claws sunk into it. A perfect fit, well a little big but it was definitely my footprint.

“Strange,” said Xava leaning over and scanning the foot, “Vesper, have you been here before?”

“I have not since I changed.”

“These are a perfect match. Vesper these are your claw prints. But that can’t be, they match the adult you so how could they be here?”

“Could it have been Astrea?” I asked.

“Perhaps. Though it seems odd. You were not cloned until months after your initial exposure and yet these tracks and the fight appear to have happened shortly after the crash.”

“Did Molotov get into a fight that night?” I asked

Boris shook his head, “No, she pulled back after obtaining samples and you.”

My antennae flicked about when a slight stench caught my attention. I followed it to one of the far craters. A steep cliff side rose and there was an impact lodged into the side of it. Something had been thrown against this spot. Staring at it a vaguely human depression took shape, however, it was much too big to be a human. The smell was strong here. Rotting flesh and yet it smelled familiar, like me, like Astrea. Leaning into the gouge in the mountainside there was something lodged in the rock. My fingers curled around it and slowly dragged out a… well, a hand. It was thick like my own and covered in an exoskeleton. The inside was rotten and foul, clearly, it had been here a long time and yet it was still gooey. Nasty, gross.

“Interesting,” said Xava with her hand out ready to receive it.

Disgusted, I handed it to Xava to run some tests. We had samples of myself and Astrea so if it was us then we would know. The real issue was if it wasn’t one of us… then who the hell is it? Am I not alone? Is it another clone on the loose? No, but the timing doesn’t line up. This was something running around before I transformed.

We scoured the area, but nothing else turned up besides more of the strange craters. I was perplexed and the ramifications were vast. Perhaps Dr. Tesla would know more? After all he was the one who attacked the transport, or so he said.

Ichigo had been quiet this whole time thinking it over, she shrugged, “Whelp, no use worrying about it. Whatever happened already happened. It is in the past.”

Hmm. I think it has been too long to figure out what happened here. I sighed as crossed my arms. Seems to be another mystery. Well, no use thinking about it. We would have to pick at it later.

I rolled my shoulders, cracking my neck as it stiffened into position, “I wonder how strong I have gotten? Care to help me feel it out Boris?”

“Oh?” He said looking up at me before grinning, “Sounds like fun.”

Well, first thing is first. I grabbed one of my arms and yanked ripping it cleanly off. Blood drizzled as a euphoric searing coursed through my body. My eyes nearly rolled as I shivered. Already I could feel my flesh growing. I observed the spiraling membrane spreading out. It seemed slow, but it was growing.

“Xava, burn me,” I said, looking at her over my shoulder.

“Such a maso,” said Ichigo amused.

“Hey! I can’t help it my main power is regen.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t get off on it like that before.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think your brain might have rewired pain receptors into pleasure receptors,” said Ichigo offhandedly.

I looked between her and Xava, “Is that true?”

She jabbed me with a needle and I squirmed, “Hmm. I think it is a mild side effect of the power. It is not nearly at the point regenerator junkies are usually at. It is mostly just extra endorphins. It is not like having morphine pumping through your veins like most of them.”

“Morphine?” I asked

Xava nodded, “Remember? Most Regenerators are pain addicts as it activates their powers and their brains get drugged as a by-product.”

“Oh, right.”

She nodded, raising her hand to the wound and plasma flared from her fingertips for a moment searing the flesh black after only a moment. Like a seedling sprouting after a wildfire my carapace began to emerge shedding off the blackened and destroyed flesh. I tore off the new growth and set my arm back into place. It instantly sealed up and was usable once more. Flexing the fingers and feeling the tingling rush of blood returning I clenched it into a fist.

“Likely rank 7.” Said Xava with a smile.

“Sorry about the wait Boris, shall we?”

He nodded, stomping on the ground and taking on a stance with his fists out. It was an imposing figure. Just looking at it made me wonder how to attack. I took a deep breath and flapped my massive wings sending a strong gust of wind sweeping at him. He chopped the air and the wind attack was cut in half. I see. I nodded tensing my legs and flapped again. This time lunging forward. After two steps I had closed the distance and my leg swung across sweeping at him.

Boris grunted taking the blow head on. His forearm tensed against my claw as it clenched shut. He grappled onto my leg, squeezing it so hard the carapace shattered. My yellow blood oozed between his fingers, but my claw dug deeper into his skin breaking through and he yanked pulling me off of my foot and spinning around. He went faster and faster swinging me around until finally letting go. The momentum sent me careening away. Trees shattering against my back and I shook my head slamming my arms into the ground, grinding me to a halt.

I dropped to all sixes bolting back at him. The chitinous limbs bristling as I covered the ground between us in mere seconds. My wings slashed the air pushing me to the side as I dodge his fist. Swinging down with my own fist with a train of bug woman behind it, he grunted taking the hit as he caught my hand in his own. He pivoted and threw me over his shoulder or at least, tried to. Instead, my arm popped off. He spun, having exerted too much power and lost his balance. I swung down with the left. A shock wave went out as he met me head on, literally. Instead of dodging he head-butted the fist.

My hand gave out first, crumpling up and splintering, but he staggered back dazed from the hit. I did not waste this opportunity and retook my arm, slamming it back into place. Oddly enough, there was close to no pain. Just a dull throbbing sensation. Boris was up again bearing down on me. He reached back swinging a solid jab and I jumped, dodging it even as the wind rushed below me from the force of the hit. My clawed foot snatched at him and he ducked, bobbing out of the trajectory, having missed I slammed back down spinning to face him. Already he was coming, charging full force. I braced and received him, catching both of his hands. The ground cracked as it absorbed the raw kinetic energy.

Our fingers locked as it turned into a shoving match. We were stuck in a near even tug of war. I grit my mandibles looming over him and throwing all of my power into it. He grunted, holding me back though he was straining to do so. Oh, so we were evenly matched. Or so I foolishly thought. It was at this moment I realized exactly how much he had been holding back that one time he man muscled with Chief.

Then he got serious. The sheer pressure exerted from his muscles shattered the ground below us. My hands cracked and then broke as his fingers crushed mine. Yellow spouting like fountains from my twisted hands. Gripping me, he put his shoulder into it and I lifted off of the ground before slamming back down into it. Stunned for a moment I didn’t even see when he had let go, until his thundering elbow crashed into me like a meteor. The depressed ground shuddered and then exploded from the immense power. My eyes spun as I lay at the bottom of the crater. My carapace had been dented in, cracked and gushing yellow for a moment before it buffered out and the cracks resealed.

Ooof that was rough. I shook my head as my tentacles pushed me back up. Yeah, I would definitely be dead if I was not this strong. That would have turned the previous me into paste. I looked over the damage, wiggling my claws and moving my limbs. Though my back was shattered, it was already fixing itself. With a crack my spine realigned. My fingers were mangled, but they were cracking back into the correct positions. Seems that so long as I have the part it regenerates extremely quickly. There was a hole or rather shattered part of my chest… muh Booby!

Slowly I stood up fully. “Well, that it good to know.”

“You are not hurt are you?” asked Boris concerned.

I shook my head, “Nothing serious. Was that your hardest hit?”

He shook his head, “Nyet. Can still do harder.”

I pat my chest as the exoskeleton solidified, “Hit me your best shot.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I wanna see my limits,” I nodded.

“Very well.”

Boris took that stance again, sliding his feet into a sturdy foundation. The image of a snow-covered mountain came to mind. He brought his fist back and it came like a rocket. My danger sense went off and I braced. The wind pressure alone ripped the ground up around me and the trees to my sides were obliterated. It connected and the shock wave shattered through my core. My stomach ruptured and Blood gushed out of my mouth and then I fell over. My legs wobbled a moment longer before they flopped away from me. It took a moment to realize that I had been sheared in half. I must be in shock over that. The pain took a long while to register before it hit me like a truck.

“Ooowe! Fuck that hurt.” I groaned.

Ichigo stared down at me, “Pain junkie… maso pervert.”

“Hey! Am not. That hurt you know!”

“Well, I seen much worse. At least you not begging to be tortured and ripped apart,” said Boris.

“People do that?!” I asked.

Ichigo nodded, “Yes, though you are somewhat resistant to the chemicals in your brain. I wonder if it is all that bug stuff?”

Boris stretched taking a few deep breathes and wiped his forehead clean of sweat. “That was good work out.”

Xava dragged my legs over and connected them to my body as it quickly grasped onto them and went about regenerating the damaged tissue. Luckily, it was just my tummy and not a bunch of important organs that got thrashed. Well, that is not to say my stomach is not important. I mean I can’t really eat without it. I lay there for a few minutes letting my body regrow the things that had been lost. Or at least it grew around where they should be and set to work rebuilding them.

“Definitely Rank 7 Regeneration.” Said Xava petting me.

“So that is full power huh? Shit is fucking scary man. Wait, then Molotov is like ten times that?” I said wiggling my toes.

Boris gave me a hand and helped me to my feet. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I just got up after something that should have decimated me. I am pretty strong, well at taking a beating anyway. Still, that is good. It means I can wear my opponent down and beat them into submission once they are exhausted.

“Molotov is more like that times seventy.” Replied Boris.

I gulped, “You, you serious?”

Boris nodded, “Maybe even more. Molotov is very strong.”

“Well, I figured, but to think it was to such a degree.”

“Molotov is almost a Rank 9 after all.”

I wobbled a little, “Hmm, so if you are this strong and lost to Hubris, then is he stronger than Molotov?”

He thought it over, “Depends. If powers are close, then technique matters much more. So long as your opponent is not overwhelmingly powerful, using technique can make a big difference. I noticed that you were trying to brute force it.”

“Ah, yeah. Being a little dumb there.” I rubbed my head. “Just trying to figure out my limits.”

He nodded, “You are very sturdy. That sort of hit can crumple tanks like soda cans.”

“I am strong, but it is still kinda depressing that I get beat up.” I sighed.

“Doesn’t matter how strong you are. If you can outlast your opponent, then you will win in then end. If you worked on deflecting, dodging, and defensive attacks then you will definitely wear out attack types. After all, if the damage is not lasting then the attacks are more or less useless.”

I nodded as we walked, “But can’t they just spam out their super attack moves? Like that punch you just did.”

“Nyet, such a punch requires preparation and a lot of energy. I can only do that, maybe ten times before I run out of steam completely. So if someone dodged it over and over I would be wearing myself out. That sort of thing is best if they are stunned or unable to escape. In other words, it is a finisher move.”

“I see.”

“For instance Nitro it is useless to punch her. It makes her stronger.”

“Huh? Makes her stronger?”

Boris nodded, “Nitro is Rank 8 Endurance Super. When she gets hit her body converts it into a volatile explosive substance that has replaced her blood.”

“So she like a sandbag kinda? No a kinetic power converter?”

“Oh, surprised you knew her subset. Da, Molotov would even have problems against her. That being said they have already fought and Molotov won.”

“How did she win?”

“She overwhelmed the amount of blood that Nitro could produce and she self-destructed to vent it all out. Which is quite the feat. You will meet her soon enough.”

“She didn’t die from suicide bombing?” I asked confused.

“She immune to her own explosive power.”

“Then how did Molotov win?”

“Just because you absorb damage doesn’t mean you don’t feel pain.”

Pain? Hmm… come to think of it. I think I am definitely growing a pain tolerance. That being said, it feels really nice feeling my body regrow.

“Is it possible to grow immunities to damage after receiving them?”

“You mean your regeneration, improving your endurance? I would have to ask. But that sound like something a Rank 9 might be able to do. Though there has never been a Rank 9 Regenerate.”

“Why is that?”

“High Ranked Regenerators are very formidable so there is no such thing as excessive force for subduing or terminating them.”

“Has there been a Rank 8 before?”

“There was, but he was dealt with extreme measures. They dropped a nuclear warhead on him. It vaporized his body so that he could not regenerate.”

“Seems a bit overkill.”

“Not really. Anything short of that he could regrow within a matter of a few seconds to a minute.”

“That does sound troubling.”

“Yes, Stem was one of us which is why Chimera took him out.”

“Stem huh? What was he like?”

Boris rubbed his chin, “Pain addict. Would go around picking fights just to see if he could be hurt.”

“I take that as he wanted to be nuked?” I said thinking it over.

“Well, he did antagonize them a lot. Man was like human cockroach, almost nothing could keep him down.”

“Bit off more than he could chew.”

Boris nodded.

I looked up at the setting sun and stretched, hearing my body cracking and groaning as the flesh solidified, “That was a good exercise. We should be getting back soon, huh?”

“Molotov will likely have job for you when we return.”

I sighed, “Huu, well, I figured as much.”

“Before that, how about dinner?” Smiled Boris.

I waved my hand, “Hard pass on that. My stomach is still regrowing. Maybe later though, just not hungry at the moment.”

Well, there was one major advantage of being so big. Everybody fit on my back so I could carry them while flying. What is that in the sky? It is a bird, a plane, a bee, no it is me!