Chapter 2: Don't Feed the Animals

"More than happy to leave!" James answered the voice, noting the intercom. "Just figured I should see the guy got home safe and sound. I'm gonna assume you run the place?" By the looks of things, the place was in a mild state of disrepair. The big metal doors looked new but the inside looked like it was in need of a major scrubbing.

Zeru opened up the door for them"get in quick."he said waiting for them to get in.

"You have to open a door......to open a door," James said in disbelief. "What is this, Get Smart?" He hesitated, standing on the sidewalk by the door as he casst a glance from the inside to the out. "Uh.....listen, Shadow's safe--I hope--so there's no reason for me to come in. I need to head out anyway, so will you be alright from here man?"

"Rev if your gonna leave then please find Shifter. I don't want to lose another sister." Marcus asked Rev as he limped inside to Zeru. "So. Whats for dinner." He asked once again, a rumble coming though his stomach.

"hotdish"zeru replied to shadow while looking the one called revenant over before he starting talking to him"so your the so called armor clad hero my friend here keeps running into"

"Another sister?" James muttered. Looking to the new guy, he said "Yeah. Not too often, but yeah. Look, I need to go." Shaking his head, he walked away from the door and let it--presumably--close behind him. That left him walking the cold snowy streets of Brooklyn alone at night, which was typically a dangerous thing to do. Even with the clear night sky and the bright moon lighting the area up, he felt uneasy. There were few cars driving in the area, the sound of the city his only sign of life. Snow would crunch underfoot as he walked, a gently rhythm which he was able to grow used to. More than anything he wanted to call Chris or Amy, let them know where he was or that he was okay. The media was no doubt churning out the story that Revenant and Shadow had murdered innocent people. Not that he ever had a sterling reputation, but it was tonight he felt that it had reached the lowest point he thought possible. To the world, he was a murderer. Hell, maybe I as good as killed those people, he wondered. If I......if people like me, would have just stuck to being normal and not going out and being vigilantes, maybe we wouldn't be provoking animals like those two into butchering people. We're supposed to be protecting them.......but fat lot of good we've done.

James do you really think that the presence of......well, superheroes, led to the birth of crime as you see it? No. It opened your eyes to the world around you. Before I arrived, before we bonded and you gained control of me, you were just a delinquent child with authority issues and yet somehow stayed in the good graces of people many would suggest you didn't deserve in the first place.

Well don't sugar coat it Gestalt. Come on, tell me what you really think.

Okay then. When you first went out as 'Revenant,' you saw the world as it really was. Crime, violent crime, happening on the same streets you used to run over from rooftops. You got a taste of what your law enforcement officials deal with on a daily basis. And at the same time, you managed to handle threats they could not possibly have dealt with. The Chemist and his Berserkers for example, would have been a real threat with or without your existence.

Yeah but Goliath.......I created him. Thomas Finley was just another bank robber before my own fuck up left him paralyzed, and he came back in a suit of weaponized armor.

Do you view yourself as perfect?

No. Ony human after all.

Only human.......that term is used so often in human writing. Literature, movies, games. You say it like it denotes weakness, inability to be better or rise above mistakes. That you are the sum of your mistakes and not successes. But more than you are defines by mistakes, you humans seem to be defined by how you overcome mistakes. Flaws. Weakness.

Your point?

The point is that you've made mistakes. No one disputes that, not even you. But you have the chance to overcome them and instead you're currently wallowing over how all the terrible events in the past few days, if not months, are your fault. Not all of them are. So stop acting like they are. As I'm sure Chris would say, unnail yourself from your Cross and do something more productive.

"Sear. Lets eat. I'm starved." Marcus said to Zeru as he passed him and entered the bunker he called home.

Zeru shut the door and sealed it before fallowing him"where is bella"' he said sternly keeping pace behind him

Avaelli gave a rude interrupting cough.

"Don't want to interrupt your little.... Speech there. But he's still a murderer and a liar. Lying to himself. Lying to you, whatever the fuck you are."

She was done trawling through his memories now, having learnt what she needed to despite his poor attempts to stop her.

"Bella is arr.. Alive but on her own. As her cougar form." Marcus informed him as he took a turn to his room

A liar yes, but I am no murderer, James mentally growled at the voice. I didn't kill those people, that was you and all so you could frame me.

Uhm.....to be fair James, you did kill some people before. The fight with the Chemists' henchmen, specifically his enhanced Berserkers. You were forced to kill them. And before that you made a choice to kill the first Berserkers.

Don't remind me. It's not like I look back fondly on those moments. But Gestalt we both knew that the effects of the Berserker stuff was permanent. Those people.....they weren't coming back, not in body or mind.

Of course and I'm not arguing that point. It was a piece of mercy for them, as I'm sure many humans would have agreed. But as for his henchmen, they were still themselves. Still alive, despite the drugs. And you killed them.

Please stop saying that, James pleaded, his chest feeling tight. He wanted to be back in his armor, back somewhere safe. Instead he was out on the street in the cold at night, practically naked save for his clothes. And to top it all of, even if he was in his armor, it couldn't protect him from the voice in his head. His chest only grew tighter, heart rate accelerating as he stumbled off the sidewalk and into an alley. There was a near constant fog before his face, his panting growing faster as he knelt behind a dumpster. Stomach churning, he heaved though nothing came out since after all, he hadn't eaten. It didn't stop him from dry heaving, trying to puke something out onto the alley floor.

"Oooh, look at the mess you've gone and made now. Tut tut."

Avaelli had to give some credit to the machine in here too.

"So, you are a murderer. And a liar. Can you prove you didn't kill those people? Seems your memories show you did it"

"SHUT UP!" James screamed then, his anger and frustration boiling over. Hands clenching into fists, he began pounding away at the brick wall before him, screaming with each blow "SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" The right hand, made up of nanites and morphed to look like his prosthetic, crumpled and dented in places as it was rammed into the brickwork, while his left hand fared worse. The skin of his knuckles tore, blood seeping down and dribbling into the snow, a crimson stain on the perfect white. And he kept punching, right until the small, fragile bones in his fingers were broken and Gestalt stepped in.

That's enough James. Enough!

With one last punch, James did so. Losing balance, he fell into a small spin, back hitting the side of the building as he slid down against it. Choking sobs could be faintly heard, his pride doing its best to reign in his tears even if he was in private. "I didn't kill those people you cunt," he said, swearing at the voice in his head. "You're just trying to mess with my head. Break me. I killed the Berserkers because it was a mercy for the people the Chemist turned. And as for his enhanced henchmen.....it was them, or me and the people they would have killed. So I won't deny that yes, their blood is on my hands, but that does not make me a cold blooded murderer who kills because they like it. So why don't you give it a rest and go find someone else to torment."

Avaelli waved James hands in a 'yeah yeah' fashion.

"You. Machine boy. Whatever your name is. Why are you with this guy?"

My name is Gestalt. And as for why I am with him, it is because I was bonded to him when I arrived on this world.

While the conversation went on, the nanites of James' right hand reformed, putting it back in order. As for the left, they coated it like a glove, pulling the skin back together, bones reset and held by the nanomachines. His breathing slowed, eyes closed as he let his ally go at it with the voice.

"So you're more just a slave than an actual being"

Avaelli chewed on that thought for a while

"Except you're bound to him, and he can do whatever he wants..."

Avaelli was curious about this thing though

Avaelli laughed through James's body.

"You're like a superhero duo. Is that what you think this is? A superhero film or comic? This is real life. You will die if you keep this up. And your little slave here, he'll be taken and locked away or killed, if you can even kill whatever he is."

I am not his slave! Gestalt said indignantly.
He is not my slave! James said at the same time. It came out clearly in damn near the same tone of voice, it would have made someone wonder who it was that decided to speak.

And if I happen to die.......then I die, no point whining about it, James said. What matters isn't the ending, but what leads up to it. If I can help people, do something meaningful.....then it's a life well spent and lived. So don't bother judging me, because it'll fall on deaf ears.

When did you get poetic?

Oh I started reading some of those books my sister wanted me to read. They're not too bad......though still prefer sci-fi novels.

"You're a slave, you just refuse to accept it. And you want to help people? That's why you killed all those civilians?"

Avaelli mixed her memories of killing the civilians with James memories of using the nanites, making up a new memory from James's perspective as he killed the civilians.

Closing his eyes and grimacing, James fought to push the memory away. When are you gonna get it though your thick head, that you can't fool me into thinking that was real. I may not have.....whatever powers you have. But I know what's real, and that memory isn't. Besides even if it did, I have Gestalt, someone you can't affect and he'll always steer me true.

Flatterer.

Well come on man, would you just stand by and let someone else mess around in my head?

That's a rhetorical question, right?

Anyway, point remains, just give up on that. I will never fall for it.

"You really think I can't get to him just because he's a machine?"

Avaelli caused James to laugh aloud again.

"I've not even scratched the surface of what I can accomplish in here."

Clamping a hand over his mouth, James kept his eyes closed. What's the point? Make me go crazy? Kill me or have me kill myself? You don't own me bitch, I do. And even if I have to have Gestalt cut out where your hiding, you are going to get out of my head.

Well the brain biopsy would either kill or severely impede your mental capabilities.

Hey if it kills me maybe I can drag her down along with the ship. But at the end of the day all I want is for her to leave me alone. I want you, whatever your name is, to get out and leave me alone.

"Not happening. You owe me a body. And seeing as how I can't have my original. This one'll do. Different gender, but lithe enough for what I need."

Avaelli chewed on her thoughts a little more.

"Oh, and you don't own anything. This body doesn't belong to you. You gave that up when you let your slave in here."

"Your very comments prove how little you understand this whole situation."

Avaelli shrugged with James's body.

"No. Your body or nothing. You ruined it, you have to pay"

Gestalt, can you differentiate commands between her brain waves and my own?

Yes. We've proven that already.

See what you can do about cutting off her access, making me in control again. Even as James said he, he already moved his hands, opening his eyes. He knew he was in control. And failing that.......destroy my brain. Every cell. At least in a few days anyway, if this doesn't get fixed.

Suicide? James if the host dies I die with it.

I know and I'm sorry, but she does not get to have my body. Even if in the end she can move and get a new one after I'm gone......she will not have me. And we can both agree I think, that you don't want to work for her?

Obviously not.

Great. Slowly standing up, James pictured a wall. A lot of walls, made of brick, stone, iron and steel. He doubted it would work but he was going to do whatever it took to keep her from getting control. Maybe I will pay. But my body isn't the price. So deal with it sister.

Avaelli just giggled to herself as the conversation exchanged between the two.

"As if I'd want the slave anyway. Unlike you, I don't need a machine to fight."

Ignoring her, James began walking out of the alleyway. Back on the sidewalk, he checked his watch; damn, it was getting late at almost half past eight. Michael was gonna be pissed and Chris and Amy were gonna be worried something fierce. He'd have to go home eventually, even if he didn't like the idea of going there with Charles Manson in his head.

Avaelli watched the scene through his eyes, waited until a car came. Stepped out in the road infront of it. She closed off the pain receptors in his brain as the car was about to hit.

The car horn blared. James screamed "Christ!" He dove to the side, rolling out of the way as the car swerved to avoid him, hitting a car that was parked to the side. His roll took him into the snow, puffs of white powder flying up as he went, shoulder hitting the curb and no doubt getting bruised. Oh you fucking petty bitch.....

Avaelli giggled through James's body

"Might wanna watch your step there. Gotta look both ways. Your mum never teach you road safety?"

She giggled some more

"She's dead," James mumbled, standing up on shaky legs. The driver of the car got out, half-way between angry and worried as they came walking over. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" they shouted at James, even as he did his best to apologize. "I'm sorry, my foot slipped while I was walking. Are you okay man?" Not losing any of their ire, the driver said "Enough I can teach you to walk straight! Dammit my insurance better be able to cover 'Dumb Ass Kids.'"

Gee, isn't he taking this personally.

Not like I can blame the voice in my head and expect to stay out of an institution. "Look man I'm sorry, but that car doesn't look too banged up. Insurance should be able to cover it just fine." He hoped anyway. James had no idea how insurance really worked.

"Apologise to the man more. Grovel a bit. Hey, go down on your knees and beg. OR WHY DON'T HOU GROW SOME FUCKING BALLS AND STAND UP FOR YOURSELF."

This was too easy for her. She wondered how Ashaara was getting along.

Across town, Ashaara was still waiting. Waiting for the night shift staff.

I'm not gonna grovel. And stand up for myself? You sent me into his path sure, but I can't just say 'Oh it wasn't me, it was the crazy lady in my head!' "That's not the point!" the guy yelled. "Your fuck up made me go into the car so I'm holding you responsible!" He advanced towards James, making the younger kid worry and begin to back-peddle. "Dude, get the fuck away from me it was just an accident!" James said, though he didn't want to come off as a coward. If the guy pushed him to it he would fight back, but honestly......it was all an accident. You don't start fights over accidents.

Of course that's assuming those involved aren't people who as a rule seem to be easily butt-hurt over anything.

Avaelli took James forward instead, bringing a punch to the guy across the face.

"Fine. If you won't stand up. I will"

Dammit no! James mentally roared, pulling back and away from the man. The look in the drivers eyes was downright murderous, a small mist gathering from his mouth as he breathed slowly. "Alright," he whispered, "so I do get to take it out of your ass." James turned and ran, while the guy gave chase.

"Run, Forrest, run."

Avaelli forced his voice to hurl abuse at the guy.

Keeping his mouth shut was a hassle for James, since the bitch was trying to make him say things. He clamped one hand over his mouth while still running away though that was proving to be a problem since the ground was still covered in snow. Doing his best not to run too fast, James moved back into the alley, not even trying to go for the fire escape for roof access. Because he figured what better way for the crazy lady to kill him, than trying to mess up the climb and send him falling to the street below. No thank you.

Trudging though the snow, a Large cat was. The Cougar had been stalking round alleyways and hiding in snow for quite some time now. Waiting for the scent of prey to appear and finally it had in the form of a boy running. He seemed like an easy prey the the larger man behind him would be the main coarse. She made a quick move into the snow and layed prone, waiting for him to get closer.

"Get back here you little shit!" the man roared as he chased James. For his part, James kept running until he neared the other end of the alley. He'd have to make a sharp turn and see if the guy would give up if it meant going too far.

The Cougar let the smaller one pass, silent and hidden in the snow. It waited until the larger man came close before pouncing with a roar and landing on top of the man.

"we need to look for her shadow before something happens"

It was so fast the poor guy didn't even have time to scream as the cat landed on him. James turned at the sound of the roar, seeing the guy about to be mauled by the freakishly large cat. At first he thought it was another mutant like the one in Central Park, so without pause he changed into his Revenant form, the nanites congealing back out over his skin. "Get off of him!" he yelled in challenge, moving to charge the thing off the man.

"I can't in this state. You go. I need to rest." Marcus said this and left him to go to his room. To recover in darkness.

The cat turned to the armored boy, slightly confusing the creature. It just screeched at him before leaving the man and stalking towards Revanant. Blending with the snow as it did.

"Come on," Revenant said in a low tone. "Nice and slow pussy cat." The words belied his true intentions; James' tone was slow and calm, like easing a spooked animal. Slowly taking a step back, he made to lead the cat away from the civilian. "Come and get your nice and shiny chew toy."

"fine but we're having a talk when i get back"zeru said sternly before heading to his room grabbing some his gear before heading out the door and taking off to search for bella.

The Cougar stopped when whiten a couple of meters to the metal man. He was.. familiar, interesting but looked uneatable. Maybe the boy was under the metal? It wouldn't know until it ripped the pieces off. But then their was the plump man from before. It turned it's head to see that the man was running now and slightly growled in anger before turning back to the Revanant.