I am tumultuous - Takuma AKA Qualm Short story contest 2

Character in use - Qualm

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God save the sorry souls tasked with partaking in my exhausted relentless assault of the written language.



Softly jostled awake from a rogue pothole miraculously nearly avoided by the bus driver but instead finding itself just in the crosshairs of the tires, Takuma snapped awake as all his senses explosively flared and gathered an orange pulse reverberating all around him. Eye’s wide seeking the answer to what just afflicted him with the immediate arousal, they drifted back to closed as he could not muster the mental motivation to keep himself together and awake. Resting his eyes left him with peaceful blissful rests, and right now he couldn’t ask for anything better.

Roughed up comfortable seats with sunlight streaking through the windows shamelessly peddling a new product over their sides brought on just enough energy to warm up his body into a comfortable state, his head pressed into his bag with just enough clothing stuffed within that it softened the weathered exterior, the earplugs he brought on board were doing wonders too, it was just a low hum of passive static sound around him. Everything was perfect for his mind to stop humming with information and instead get a deep cleaning done. He started to smile a bit as his whole body yearned for that deep sleep again, and he could feel himself entering it again drifting off to respite.

---

Another quick smack to the forehead against the back of the seat in front of him, and another exasperated groan from the person ahead of him. Dreary dark surfaces and deep navy blue seats with corpse-like lighting shining through, faded white steel holding the chairs together and once again being the main contact site for Takuma’s forehead. The roads here were god awful and he didn’t know what was making them like this but he went from being excited to sleep to being desperate for a world deprived of everything. Shoving himself up he leaned backward and tried to stretch, feeling another quick snap to the top of his head he ducked forward and down recalling the fatal mistake he performed a second time, making himself the fool.

“Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice though, I suppose…”

Rubbing the top of his head he knew who exactly did that, an older lady bundled in heavy clothing who had enough of a long-haired delinquent having his head lean back on the seat, she drew her hand up and supplied a flick to the back of his head to stop him from doing that anymore. He recalled how she berated him a moment the second time, or more so just pointed out how she wanted him to stop but at this point, he didn’t really care too much to differentiate the two scenarios. Then how she flicked him the first time, although still faint this second time was much harsher, and he feared she would decide to provide a slap if he did it a third time.

Hand reaching gingerly to tap a button on the side of a pole running to the ceiling, he wanted off this thing on the next stop which he hoped was only moments away, he needed to walk around and try to drive off his sleep deprivation. The weather has been incredibly rough these past few days but today was supposed to be good after just one more shower at noon, which he supposed was going to happen any moment from now.
Hands fiddling with everything he was wearing and his bag being patted down again to make sure everything was there, he could feel the anticipated stop ahead without needing to look up, and deciding his head remaining low was helpful he stayed that way.

As soon as the bus stopped Takuma stood up mechanically, steps taken in a very long gait and carefully twisting his toes around to send himself stumbling out into the street, contacting concrete he could sense the pulse of kinetic energy shooting out around when he landed, fiery orange blooms repeating over a short distance and reverberated slightly on a sign and a bench set right beside the bus stop. Well he was heading down the steps he was already twisting himself in mid-air so once he contacted the ground he was already walking away and down the street without having to turn and face the other side.
He could already detect people taking steps to join the others on the bus, some of them a bit more rushed than others trying to make it to places either to work or to do errands, very few of them probably had nothing to do like.

Work seemed nice, having something to rely on to be somewhat contained in itself and a source of income, maybe having a community to learn about the inside of it, develop its own kind of culture and its own process. Picking up a job someplace would be excellent, Takuma thought, although he was a high school dropout and quite bad with people, so maybe finding a common starting job in fast food working in the kitchen would be best. He was systematic and the ability to detect energy could be honed to become the best burger flipper there ever was, although that would be a deviation from his plans to become a superhero he did need the funds.
As he considered these ideas he could detect that something was going to occur, slight drops of rain settling on the ground amongst a swarm of others, not wanting himself and all of his stuff to get soaked, he quickly detoured right on a street corner and looked towards his destination with a steady glance. A sort of small restaurant, ‘Mitt’s’ it was called, had a bowl filled with soup being held by brown gloved hands as its logo.
Takuma accelerated his placid pace to a light jog as he passed other local shops with their carefully done signage, the whole environment had a  similar aesthetic short of a single clothing shop that wanted to appear a bit more prestigious, but overall places held soft stonework with simple light-up signs or at the very least bold font names of shops placed against the windows. In a slow, cozy, and calm atmosphere overall, a few people still walked the streets but mainly stayed contained to the inside of the separate establishments.

Takuma was quick to make his way right into Mitt’s, a sudden swing of his leg sent him into the establishment, the ring of the steel bell located above the doorframe announcing his presence with simple panel flooring and rough-looking wooden furniture to announce themselves to him. Spotting a sign that presented its daily specials and a statement that he would need to find his own seating, he veered left all in the same motion that he was walking in, momentum slowing once he spotted the place he wanted to sit he found himself shooting glances all over the area. With warm light glass bulbs and dark faux-leather seating, this place may have been going almost too far into a singular theme, now all it needed was a campfire and a disheveled hipster and it would be complete.
Takuma would look out into the world starting to get pelted in rain, soaking and darkening surfaces from all the stonework, the only thing unchanging being the clothing store designed to be ‘super-modern’ with sleek white surfaces.

“Well isn't that something, wonder what they have here, I hope they have good reviews.”
Twisting his right foot against the floor, quickly stopping he would look down and that same foot was lacking a sock.

“Ah, it’s going to be one of those days.”




Tick-tock, time beats bickering, a clock striking 1:00 PM letting a ring out just in time with another ring of the steel bells above the doorframe identifying a new person to host in the restaurant, and at the same time, somebody else finished their lunch break and announced this when they quickly rushed to greet the new person.

Rapid steps stopped before a slower heavier pace took the lead, Takuma who was about halfway done with a grilled cheese sandwich turned from being hunched over his plate a ways to look to the side with a low-effort glance. His energy detection was picking up them both that was a given, although his curiosity piqued him, it wasn’t often somebody ran in a restaurant, especially someone who worked there.
Only spotting a much older man walk past, at first Takuma presumed the one person who ran from the back didn’t even work there, but then quickly presuming that was a preposterous idea he would shake his head and go in to take another bite from his sandwich. Chewing slowly he still kept his eyes occasionally poking up to glance at the older man sitting down, all grumpy and soaking wet from the rain he looked more closely to a macho bobcat with the sideburns and dark grey clothing.
Several bites in, and before Takuma would have grown bored making goofy comparisons to this annoyed man in his mind, although his adjective was about to adjust. Feet quickly making their way down towards the table Takuma presumed a waiter of sorts, another signifying agent in this all being the expression of the relieved man, now raising his hand in a half-done wave it seemed he recognized who this was.
Still keeping his eyes up, now his interest being picked up by who this person was he did finally catch a glimpse as they walked toward where he was facing, a menu in hand as they gave a friendly wave to the elated man already asking how the recently available waitress was doing. Takuma started to lean down a bit, although his eye’s stayed locked on blonde-brown locks of softly curling hair making it down to mid-way of her bake.

Turning his gaze towards the windows on his left side he would watch as the rain continued to pour out over the walls and windows. He wanted to see something that caught his energy sensing, he saw glimmers of little specks like starlight somewhere over that way, although now he couldn’t get a read on it something else began firing up.
The chorus sang to him in its own way, they more begged and asked and screamed at him, but the abundant voices that could barely be heard by him did end up sounding like a slight roar, their own song. Either way the emotionally charged chant and cry started to get noticed by the only person in the stands capable of listening, and trying to decipher the meaning behind the tune he turned back to the working woman, now walking back and away from the man she was talking to it seemed she was getting his order down in her mind, a single industrial ring resounding from a snap of her fingers as she looked up and ahead, still seemingly unaware that Takuma was watching her walk from the sides gazing upon light blue signals flickering like fireflies around her.
She appeared to be about his age, she put on in his own opinion too much makeup, as it became quite apparent she had some on, and every subtle move she made caused another song to be sung.

“Hey.” Takuma plainly stated, only taking seconds before a short realization hit and he shuffled in his seat, readjusting and looking straight into the empty booth in front of him, empty for the next second at most.
“Oh! Is everything alright here now?” She asked, sliding into the seat and leaning against the table leaning forward.
An alarm went off inside of Takuma’s mind as she did this, now he was hoping that she wouldn’t have heard him, and now it was even worse that she got this close so soon. Immediately senses flared and he gathered everything he needed to try and deflect this. Reading the nametag she had pinned to her work uniform he even had a chance to appear like he was attentive. Attentive to details like how much work she put into her appearance but she seemed overwork from the way her brown eyes looked, although he clearly stated to himself mentally that this wasn’t to impress her or anything like that.

“Oh this is actually very good, I was just saying hi was all.”
And he couldn’t even say her name.
She seemed shocked herself, giving a quick nod and a small polite wave.
“Well sorry to bother you, ‘hi’ back…
Say, that wouldn’t happen to be an All S.S. shirt?” Feiffer confidently asked, pointing towards Takuma’s chest where the image of a pier with a silhouette of a person standing in the water and on the dock covered the majority of the worn-out shirt.
Takuma was surprised, All S.S? Looking down he did notice the shirt and could see what was going on. All S.S AKA All the Sides are Smooth was a dimension-hopping story about a six-sided world with tunnels between each one like a railway, it had a lot of odd elements that made it popular with people their age when it came out three years ago. Although sadly, it was actually from another show around that time, Peer Pier, which was a classic coming-of-age tv show about a clairvoyant who starts to reenact the legends of King Arthur in a modern setting with a touch of alternate dimension shenanigans.
Takuma has not seen either of them.
“No, this is a Peer Pier one.”
“Aw fuck.” Feiffer stated bluntly to Takuma’s surprise.
It was an awkward silence for a moment before Feiffer eventually shook off the awkwardness and stood up quickly, without saying another word she walked to the back, supposedly to get that mans order in. Something did pulse from her after she made it a few steps, Takuma just shook his head, planting his forehead into the palms of his hands. His heart was beating quick and the whole thing although brief was quite stressful for him. He felt his head pounding from an incoming headache, although now quickly composing himself and starting to take slow bites of his food.
He couldn’t help but slowly drift into feeling like he was an asshole in that scenario, how he was maybe a bit too sudden with his words there and he could have possibly used some finesse to make her feel at least a bit better about her answer being incorrect, or maybe he could have rolled off of that by saying something about All S.S himself to keep up the interest, maybe she was a fan? But maybe, she wasn’t and was just trying to get a conversation going and he was being oblivious to it, she may not know a thing about shows around that time and she was trying to just talk about what interests him to get somewhere.
Then that was leaving the fact out that she was working, now would she ask about that if she was off work and didn’t have to be all friendly? Although what was collected about swearing after getting a guess wrong like that, she must have been quite confident about her answer or did she just feel embarrassed about being incorrect?

Takuma realized he stopped chewing well he was stuck in his own mind, resuming the first task he shook his head, this meal was going to be a while. At least it gave him time to stay out of the rain and an excuse to come up with an apology.

---

Steps were taken to carefully maneuver under rooftop eavestroughs, outside of what he anticipated the rain continued to pour steadily. Spotting his destination ahead, a small box capable of blocking this bad weather without a soul to bother him, he felt like he couldn’t upkeep anything worthwhile in a conversation anyways. He never got a chance to apologize and was quick to leave after paying a separate waiter, now he was here marching under the rain with his jacket held over his head as it lacked a hood he could utilize.

The sound of him starting to quicken his pace through the splashes of shallow puddles with his dirty white sneakers breaking the surface, traction catching, and his whole body propelling itself the four exposed meters into the bus stop shelter, dashing along the side before dropping sideways and onto the bench. The seat was a little wet from slight drops jumping upwards but otherwise, it was much more comfortable than staying out there so he had no qualms about this. Only a few minutes passed, and he finally started to feel quite relaxed as he looked up and down the road, the bus wasn’t supposed to come for another fifteen minutes but he felt it was better to wait out here and away from wherever he could run into another awkward meetup.
Of course, Takuma was still missing his sock.

His energy detection picked her up first, there was something unique about her signature that he didn’t pick up in other people, a unique sort of sparkle that occasionally blipped in her brain. Takuma leaned on his knees well sitting, jacket draped over his shoulders as he heard her make the exact same small dash to the stop before she moved in further down to sit, away from the edge and just to the right of Takuma about a meter and a half away. Hoping she didn’t notice him, he was getting energy readings that showed exactly how she was sitting. What embarrassed him was her looking over his way, it was becoming clear she still recognized him and he was going to be stuck here for another fifteen minutes and it was going to be horrible unless one of them did something.
Takuma attempted to be the first for that.

“Sorry, I wish I would have been able to say a bit more beforehand, didn’t want to give you a harder time than before.” Sitting up a bit, Takuma already felt that this was a gamble, he worriedly looked to his right to get a better look at her. Before he thought the overdone heat signature around her face was because she just ran, but she seemed to not be doing so well and something was bothering her as well. Although she would meet his gaze and give a slight nod, trying to muster up a smile that did have a warm welcoming nature, looking her in the eyes said something else.

“T-That wasn’t a problem! No, it’s all good I was just too busy to come over again, that wasn’t bad at all.”
Takuma gave back his own subtle nod, although he was rather still-faced, as he was basically stuck like that almost all the time. Adjusting himself so he was sitting a bit straighter up that’s when his face broke a more gentle expression.
“It was a rough day, wasn’t it? I mean, sucks to be out in the rain…
Also, I was meaning to say, I haven’t seen a lot of All S.S, but I heard good things, are you a fan?”
Something seemed to click in Feiffer, she sat back a bit and for a brief moment a veil was withdrawn, she looked exhausted but excited to be talking about something that she liked, it wasn’t this simulated joyous expression that he was seeing throughout the day, it was quite a bit sadder but it was also much more honest. Her voice lacked a sunny showcase, but it was crystal clear.
“Yeah, seen it three times over, it’s a definite favorite, but not the top of my list.”

“Oh? Well, I would assume with its popularity it would be around the best-”
Feiffer was about to say something, starting but barely going as she became quickly hesitant on saying anything else, apologizing quickly for the interruption.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I wouldn’t want you to lose track of what you are saying.”
“I can’t so don’t worry.”
“Well, alright, sorry. I mean, it’s good production wise but I like smaller stuff.”
“Yeah? Like music, with smaller bands having that unique charm to them it’s like that for shows?”
“Yeah, that’s about it, I got some favorite foreign ones, nothing special.”
“Like an anime?”
“Nothing that mainstream either, it’s so niched I don’t think anyone really likes them.”
“Well, I like supernatural weather.”
“Oh..?”
“Yeah, so I bet whatever you got, I may have something even further out with interests, so tell me more so I can maybe watch this show, it seems like it could be cool if you hold it so high in regards.”

They both talked for the next half-hour about this show, an eighty episode five minute long each student stop-motion animation project from the Netherlands that had rumors of getting a movie, it was a compelling story about a robot trekking across a medieval landscape and uncovering what happened to lead up to this timeline called ‘Terug Bij Af’ or ’Back to square one'. Takuma found this very interesting and the conversation ran long as it started to change tracks and went into Takuma’s fascination with weird weather, then to Feiffer’s job at the Mitt’s.
The bus never showed up but the rain started to clear, and the two of them agreed to keep talking and just walk around town, Takuma explained how he was quite new here so getting a very slow tour around some more quiet locations he slowly forgot about the awkward encounter earlier.

Eventually, it came to about the time that Feiffer was supposed to be home, so well she walked just past she gave the last offer for Takuma to put in a resume at Mitt’s if he needs a job and to come to say hi whenever, and the slight awkward leap of Takuma not being able to share a phone number because his broke and he didn’t have enough money to replace it. Waving one last time Takuma departed down the road.
Finding the park he was shown earlier, he saw some spots along roofs that he could easily climb up and sleep in, assuming there would be a lack of other homeless people to bother him and a lack of enforcement to remove him from the area if they pulled a loitering thing like they did a while back.
Carefully crawling up the side of a brick building he would make his way under an awning atop the roof and unpack some of his supplies, setting himself up before looking over the sky. He kicked off his shoes and finally getting a look he could see some blisters showing on his ankle from walking barefoot in wet shoes for so long. It was easily worth it, they could amputate it and he wouldn’t mind. Grinning and looking up into the night sky he decided long ago he wasn’t going to get out of town like he intended, maybe give a brief shot at being someone normal. Right now it looked like he had a shot at getting a place to stay, a job, and maybe even a girlfriend if things kept going smoothly.
It would be a while before he could get his mind to quiet down, but he did sleep, and the whole while a smile would have been subtly spread across his face.




A little over five weeks.
Cut, thirty-eight days.
Cut, eight hundred forty hours.
Cut, fifty thousand four hundred minutes.
Cut, three million twenty-four thousand seconds and counting.
Takuma had several members of his internal mental chorus keep track of how long ago it was since he first met Feiffer, she was becoming more and more important to his life as the days went on, and his time spent thinking about heroics and the supernatural diminished over these few days, they only ever reemerged when he was in the middle of a feverishly fantastic discussion, getting lost with what he was saying and letting just about anything pass his lips regarding the topics he knows.
He recounted every one of these moments as he worked on chopping some potatoes into french fries, they had to rely on pre-cut stuff within this restaurant but within the past week, they swapped to fresher ingredients now that Takuma was in the kitchen. He got the position of cook despite the alarming lack of experience, mainly from the recommendation of Mitt’s most renowned server. He worked alongside four other people who were quite a bit older than him, but as soon as they did something in the kitchen he effortlessly repeated the task, keeping the secret of energy detection, the flawless memory, and absolutely controlled physical manipulation they just presumed he was a protege cook waiting to showcase his talents and that he must have cooked lots at home, which was untrue, Takuma was a nightmare back at home in the kitchen before Qualm and all that insanity occurred.
Either way, he was off work any minute now and he was just getting more fries prepared, thinking back on something that could be occurring, slightly bothering him since the lunch shift. Feiffer barely talked to him all day, usually, they would be watching episodes from that show they talked about when they first met, discussing points from it whenever there was a slow moment in the kitchen and out on the main floor of the restaurant, then after that, he would walk back towards Feiffer’s place talking about whatever came in mind and then more than likely hanging out afterward.
Last Friday Takuma wasn’t interacting with her a whole lot, he had plans for that Saturday to go out and do some things like a bit of a date, planning to go to all these places she brought up as her favorites. He knew she was quite tight on money and seemingly did not have enough to go to these places whenever she wanted, he got it all figured out shortly after gaining his first paycheck and getting a bank account sorted out for himself how much it would cost and how easily he could get it all figured out.
His chopping became a bit slower as his eyes squinted a bit, he recalled what he would consider a highlight of this past few months if not the past few years.

Eyes closed and mouth slightly opened as if he was going to sing a song, his mind drifted into a wormhole of his own thoughts, dark blue deep clouds with glimmers of green blazes burning pyres of ferociously well-documented feelings and memories all alight with passionate crimson red sparks and the crash of heavy machinery reminding him where he needed to go.

He knew she didn’t feel like she was worth much, it was just over a week when Takuma found her working late, offering everyone to go home and she would close up shop for them, and although everyone else was fine to just head out, Takuma decided he would stay late too and work alongside her. It all appeared to be quite normal overall, but then Feiffer continued to bring up how there were some things she had in mind or there was a job she needed to get done even later, Takuma wouldn’t move until she brought up how she really just needed to be left alone. Confused but compliant, Takuma left to go out back, getting himself out of his uniform and back into his normal raggedy clothes inside of the bathroom.
It was like a flicker before Takuma heard a crash followed by crass words, the lights flickered in the bathroom as he was shocked to see himself facing the left tiled wall that lacked anything on it, although he started to notice small alien symbols indented with a fork in his right hand scratched into the pieces barely visible from the flickering light.



Takuma stopped chopping, finished up the potatoes, and now he couldn’t remember what those symbols looked like. Getting frustrated over this he went over to start up another order, heading into the fridge to grab a carton of eggs for some lunch omelet. The light inside welcomed him with a flash as he drifted back in again, the symbols were not that important he defiantly forced them out of his thought process, what was next was very important to him.



The door swung open, creaking at the hinges he heard some quick shuffling occur before he stormed up front. He couldn’t detect Feiffer's energy signature but he could hear her breathing become labored, small sharp words being thrown out into what she must have previously assumed was an empty building.
Finally, a violent flash appeared in Takuma’s senses as she re-emerged in his senses, quickly displaying she was in the kitchen by the dishwashing basin, sitting on a chair with her arms covering above her head as she stuck, shaking her head and mumbling.
Stepping in and now able to see with his own eyes at the scene, the quickly brightening kitchen rapidly inclining in vibrancy showed that likely a mug shattered, he wasn’t sure over what but it was all over the countertop and the floor, presumably hitting the edge.
“Hey, I heard something break a-”
“Why are you still here, fuckin hell can’t you leave me alone for a minute.”

Takuma recoiled a bit, she sounded rather distraught about this all, and his immediate reaction was to get mad about this, he was just trying to make sure she was all right but now she was being snappy, so obviously she didn’t need help and she could manage herself here. The chorus did sing though, they wanted to see something other than a passive-aggressive comment get shot back in a form of return fire.
Takuma took a step back, seeing her slowly get up and head into the further part of the kitchen to go towards the supply cabinet, he made his way back into the room, and getting on his knees he started to pick out the glass on the floor.
Briefly, he heard some loud thuds take place, a very loud ‘fuck!’ shouted in an exasperated tone, Takuma turned his head to look towards the supply cabinet, seeing Fei walk out, quickly she caught a glimpse at Takuma and the expression of absolute and utter defeat coming across her face was like being shot in the head. She flashed a bright smile, her eyes continued to truly show what was going on, tears welling up. Fei laughed briskly and in a passively stressed manner, talking quietly and more toxic than a green stream.
“Ah ha hahaha… Oh man, I can’t stop myself from breaking things when I get angry and I’m so useless I can’t even find a broom to sweep up, and here you are cleaning it with your bare hands, woooow. You are so talented, so special. Reminds me just how awful I am.”
Shaking her head she could barely continue, bringing both hands to her face she looked like she was trying to disappear into her palms.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry that you even have to talk to me...”

Takuma looked up, his face was starting to twitch a bit, he felt awful about this all and he didn’t know what he had to do here, and in a quick action, he allowed a piece of the chorus to become the director.
“I said hey first when we met, so I started this whole having to talk to you thing.
Could you get me a rag?”

It was quiet for a minute, objects seemingly fading as the room cooled down a bit. Neither of them talked before Takuma went back to picking ceramic pieces off the floor. He heard Feiffer leave, but she did come back with a small tablecloth that was going to be tossed due to some small holes in the edges. Takuma held his hands up to place the glass inside of the rag.
“I think I got it all, would you be able to dry up the dishes if I wash them?”
“... Y-yeah, I can.”

They both stood side by side, washing some of the glasses that still needed to be wiped down. They really did build up, considering everyone was super busy that day they were left for the last bit.
They both were silent for the next few minutes, one washing and the other drying.
Takuma then heard something else whisper to him, and he complied, starting to speak well looking focused on the dishes, Fei was almost dazed as she was now just going through the flow of work.
“If you ever have a really bad day, just tell me and we can talk it through, even if you need someone to just listen I can do that really well.”
Silence followed for a few seconds, then he heard her quiet voice heavily whisper her thoughts.
“I never feel good, good enough.”
She sighed, it seemed that was going to be all, but something sparked within her, and she carried on. Well, it either sparked or broke.
“Everyone is so happy and they seem to love what they do, but I hate everything. I used to have so much fun when I was younger.
I-I wasn’t good even but man I loved what I did.
Then people who always say your ‘doing good’ and ‘it’s getting so much better’. Well, they finally say what they really mean, ‘your wasting your time’ and ‘get good at something you can actually do’.
So here I am.
You better speak up your mind now.
Tell me, what do you think is the worst thing about me here? I’m lazy, I lie a lot, I can’t do anything without fucking it up, take your pick, what's your least favorite part about me? I know there is at least one.”

She was getting very aggressive in tone, she wanted to force him to say something and get an honest answer, and Takuma had one ready.

“You have no respect for yourself and it sucks. You actually are so much cooler than you think you are, and you're a very good worker, even if things go wrong you can get yourself to smile and keep going, of course, you get low moments but I’m sure you're going to be alright, you just need to rest up. Keep improving, just a little bit each day, maybe chase back after what you love, nobody needs to have a say in what you spend your free time on, especially if it doesnt involve killing people.”
Taking a step to his right toward Feiffer, Takuma would reach a hand up and bring it to her shoulder, they were close enough friends now he thought she wouldn’t mind this. Giving her a quick side hug he would go back to cleaning, passing some things over with Fei not moving.

“Alright, I think you are wrong, but I can maybe work on that.
Thanks Takuma.”
Takuma would nod abruptly.
“You're welcome Feiffer.”


That felt like it just happened yesterday.
Flipping the omelet one more time, it was cooked just to the perfect amount, picking a small pinch of pepper and salt in the same hand Takuma would allow another sprinkle of seasoning to cover the fried lunch, setting it up on a plate with some tomatoes and bits of meats for the lunch omelet, placing it atop the serving counter he would ring the bell to signify it was done. Ducking below when he detected the signature, Takuma glanced up and gave a small wave to Feiffer, who was just coming in to grab the plate and get it to the customer. Giving a small wave and whispering hi she would do the same, an occasional greeting to one another over a busy day. Takuma stood back up and shook his head grinning, gripping the handle of a new frying pan and tossing in another egg mixture for a separate order of the lunch omelet, already starting to recall that good day done after the lowest point.
His steel spatula clicked down against the rim of the frying pan again lost in a trance of eyes glazed over just recalling that day.




It was just last weekend, Friday he barely talked to her the whole time and now on this lovely Saturday morning, he needed to get his plans in action. Like clockwork waking up at 7 AM Takuma would sit up from his bed underneath the rooftop awning, crawling out and standing up allowing himself to stretch out, getting a satisfying crack out of his back with his arms raised above his head. His body disagreed with him sleeping on a hard roof with only a light inflatable mat to keep him off the ground, but his wallet very much appreciated the price of this place.
Gazing over at the cloud in the distance, hands dropping to his hips he couldn’t help but smile, it was exactly as he was predicting it was going to be, as long as everything went together well he would be able to execute this plan perfectly. So he spent his morning going about the roof and running through his notebook, documenting smaller things and getting all his furious eccentric energy out on the paper with colored gel pens.

Climbing his way off the side down the fire escape short ways like he did all those other mornings once it got to around 9 AM, Takuma once again avoided getting spotted by reading the signals presented by those around him, noting where they had their heads turned to determine when it was safe to make it down the last bit.
Dropping below he would swiftly stride down the street before making a run towards the shop, planning to get there half an hour early as he always tried to do.
Entering through the front, he waved to the manager of the shop who was just getting the last bits put together before finally flipping the sign to signify their opening. Getting dressed and quickly washing with the half-operative shower they had in the back, he made sure to be in and out within ten minutes, just in time for Feiffer to show up, supply a small wave, and head in herself to get ready for the day. Takuma always liked to see her before and after work, it was when she was most honest and something felt much less gross when she was like that.

The rest of the day followed as normal for a Saturday, it got busy at 12 when it opened, before slowing down again until a small rise at 5 before they closed at 6 PM, being a weekend they shut down an hour early and started two hours later.
Takuma was quick to approach Feiffer after work, strutting right up and swinging on his heels, it was getting easier to start talking to her.
“Hey, what's up?”
“Well remember when you said you were free for the rest of today.”
“Oh, yeah that. Well sure, you said you wanted to go some places?”
“Yup, I have just a few.”
“Well sounds cool, wish you gave me more time to set up but I mean, I can make it work. Give me a bit and I will be ready to go.”

Takuma nodded before sitting down on one of the chairs left to the side, he double-checked the other night and got one of the cooks to cover closing up shop tonight, plus the manager would be staying even later to look over some recent shipping issues that popped up so he was all set for tonight.
Taking a step into the supplies closet he shut the door and got to work, placing a flashlight that he had packed in a bag the other night he was incredibly fast to work, he pulled out a cleaner than usual navy blue dress shirt and jeans that were lacking any dirt stains and got himself completely done up inside, he still looked quite casual but much better than his usual self.
Normally he didn’t care about wearing nice clothes, but this was special. He still had a goofy t-shirt on underneath his dress shirt, an All S.S one that he found in a thrift store.

Quickly stepping out he timed it to be walking just out when Fei started to exit the washroom and expecting he would be the one surprising her, in a  turn of events he found himself to be the one more surprised. She was wearing a fairly nice pair of jeans and a white shirt, and she left some makeup still on afterward when normally she would completely clean up.
“Dang, looks like you clean up well.”
“Well nice, you do too.”
Takuma would be quick to give a light smile, motioning for her to join him as they walked out onto the street. He made presumptions either one of the cooks told her or she figured it herself, and he was getting ideas it was likely the latter.
They went about a seemingly normal day at the start, maybe a bit quieter as they both didn’t seem to be able to acknowledge that this was most likely the first official date they went on, although nothing was said yet about that, people did start talking about them like they were an ‘item’ but neither of them said too much about it, at least to each other.

So they embarked on their journey, Takuma gave a basic run-through of the plans, that he heard of some fantastic place to go eat located in the next town over and it was only a half-hour bus trip over, he was open to paying for the trip there since this was his idea.
Then he presented that they could get a cool chance to spot a storm showing up that evening, in that same town there was an artificial lake that stretched to some fields, making the outskirts super flat and a fantastic place to watch. Fei was a fan of storms like Takuma, and proposing the idea as a casual hangout like they usually did but with a nicer view seemed to be an interest of hers too.
The bus ride was mostly uneventful, they did end up having to pull over twice for ambulances.
“That’s bad, I hope whoever is inside will be alright.” Feiffer finally got to say after the second one passed.
“Yeah, not sure what’s up, yesterday there were another two, and the day before that I think four.”
“... Yeah. Sucks.”
They sunk back into being quiet, each one trying to figure out exactly what to say, and they did find a few topics going in and out but overall it was fairly average.
Takuma was quick when they got off the bus finally, moving half-possessed with motive and mechanical motion he made his way right onto the streets and was speed-walking his way to the place he had in mind.
“What’s the rush about?” Feiffer inquired, mostly curious why he was so dead motivated to get there so soon when they had plenty of time to kill seemingly.
“Well if we don’t hurry we can’t make it to that ‘Nine Scoops’ place in time.” He explained quickly, already revealing another trick of his. He heard her talk about this place a lot, how they had this incredible dessert they made regarding cooking some dense cake batter around ice cream in such a flash that it leaves the outside cooked and warm well a thin metallic sheet placed inside stops the ice cream from melting.
“It’s not a big deal Tak, there really expensive and I had to pay a loan I owed so I don’t even have enough to go spending it on all this, maybe just this restaurant but they charge almost entree price for there stuff.”
“No worries.” Takuma explained, “I measured everything out and I got something in mind for there.”
The first stop was a fusion Asian restaurant that exploded in popularity recently, famous for bizarre experimental menu items. Like a fruit noodle bowl using coconut jelly strings and some light lychee juice, plus some soft and slightly firm fruits and berries with several variations, all sprinkled with lemon juice to create a snappy-sour fruit salad meant to be eaten with chopsticks. Trying those out, although a novelty both agreed that wasn’t a favorite. Continuing on to the centerpiece, katsu, the most popular item, and this one both agreed it was incredible. Takuma who chose beef this time around considered if he ever went to eat here again he would need to try the pork, which Feiffer taking the chicken option also wished the same after seeing someone else order it.
When it came time to pay, Takuma quickly swept it in and took it first. Feiffer, who knew he was short on money was a bit defensive about this.
“Wait, no we can pay two separate ones, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Well, it is, because would you have enough money for Nine Scoops if you paid for this as well?”
Feiffer opened her mouth to agree, but she drew a more confused expression.
“It’s just ice cream though, I don’t need it.”
“Well c’mon, are you going to actually head out this far to stop by and grab something from there anytime soon?”
“Well yeah, around my birthday maybe. It’s like that kind of a treat Tak, not just something you can go out and do.”
“Shush, your birthday is still months away.” Takuma jokingly retorted, a new smile growing.
“Plus you're making the waiter feel embarrassed.”
Feiffer would turn back in a snap and see the young waiter standing behind her, she looked about as red in the face as he did nervously chuckling at being pointed out to like that, Feiffer without even a clue he was standing there the whole time.


[CONT.]

[CONT.]




Nine Scoops went about as well as that previous restaurant did. Takuma recalled her expression to stepping up front, figuring she was going to order something the young lady on the other side of the counter asked her name first, getting it back she would have handed over a tinfoil pie plate with a cardboard cover overtop, a cursive ‘Fifar’ written atop the lid. Takuma in the back unable to stop from snorting at the horribly misspelled plate top combined with the bewildered Fiffer.
“Noooooo…”
“Surprise! It’s all ready!”
“You ordered this ahead of time, when?!?”
“At lunch, it was why I was ‘busy’ at the start of it.”
“Did you tell them to write it like this?”
“Nope!”
Stopping a moment to look down at the plate, Feiffer started to chuckle at the name too.

Nine Scoops easily outdid the fusion restaurant. Both individuals enjoyed their separate desserts, Takuma grabbing a small overpriced sunday dessert mentioning how he was just a bit too full, although he was forcednegotiated into taking about a quarter of the cake.

Now finally exactly what Takuma anticipated, not far from them was that artificial lake with a gazebo that overlooked the entire thing, and it was just in time for something that seemed to be the main draw of this location for the two of them, the thunderstorm.
Takuma had a jacket hidden away in his bag woven from a more water-resistant fabric that he threw on when before they left, but Fei only brought her hoodie which sadly started soaking up rainwater like it was nobody's business.
Although when the rain was still falling light, they strode with fleet feet, Feiffer passively mentioning the evening with a quick twist question stabbing like a knife.
“That was really good.”
“Yeah, it really was.”
“So… Now what do you want?”
“Hm?”
“Well, you don’t just take someone out to all these places and pay for it, what are you expecting to get out of this.”
Takuma still stayed with his eyes gazing forward, muttering a little bit to himself Takuma was getting a bit nervous about these questions, worrying that he would slip up and sound like he didn’t really care or he was hiding something when he wasn’t.
“... Well, to show you some stuff.”
Pausing herself to think about it, she acted quizzically, like she expected some kind of embarrassing or way too confident answer to come from him.
“... Like what?”
“Like how special you are to me, I really liked getting you that stuff because you seemed to enjoy it lots. So I wanted to really make sure you know that I would put you above myself any day.”
“Oh, really?”
Takuma nodded. “Yep.

Are you good?”
Looking over, Fei was bringing her wet sleeve up to her eyes, little beads appearing over the rims of the lids, she smiled and shook her head a bit.
“Haha, uh, yeah, sorry. I’m just tired.”

---

When they made it to their destination, not a single person in sight they were quick to sit down, Feiffer took her hoodie off it was clear it even soaked to her shirt as she sat and genuinely laughed a bit at the absurdity of it all.
Neither of them said a word, but Takuma sensed small abrupt vibrating sensations of kinetic energy from Fei as her body shivered from the cold. Takuma wasn’t considering it much, but he did remove his own jacket and handed it to Feiffer, she seemed to act hesitant, but she did eventually take it and draped it over herself.
“T-Thanks, I'm going to need this for just a bit.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome.”
“In which I mean I’m keeping this.”
“W-wait a minute now, let’s not get that going on, I don’t own much more than that.”
“Well then I will help get you another, it’s either a tradition or a bad cliche that a lady keeps her boyfriend's clothes, especially jackets and shirts.”
Takuma of course could not tell this was a joke, and thus he was defeated, it would appear he needed to go get himself one later on and that was all. Although he quickly considered what she just said and noticed he caught the keyword, now it felt much more official and unsure what to do with this information, his face becoming quite red Takuma would mutter what came right to mind, the chorus going into chaos leading him astray.
“Oh, alright then.”
Fei laughed aloud, she couldn’t believe that was all it took for that joke and confession to run its course and she was satisfied with the conclusion. They watched the lightning streak across the sky and the thunder rattle above, somewhat silent with occasional mentions of things they enjoyed about the day or random topics that came to mind.
They enjoyed the sweet cool breeze, the light rain, and the fantastic natural percussion and light show for a strong hour.
Fei stood up after a long quiet phase, it was getting late and dark out with the sun setting in the distance illuminating the stormy clouds above with a light blue light and hints of energetic green.
Leaving Takuma’s jacket on the table, he didn’t think much when he leaned over and picked that and her hoodie up.
“Put those down and let’s go take a walk.”
Takuma looked up at her, she looked dead serious about this, and so he wanted to oblige, he knew they would be back for these in a bit and so he did what he was told, setting them down and making quick steps toward her. She would be leading the way, Takuma following right close beside her as she made a beeline for the dock. Standing against the edge they both overlooked the slightly disturbed surface, watching another lightning strike land ahead of them and the explosive boom of thunder followed, Takuma jumped a bit when he heard a howl followed by a laugh coming beside him. Looking to his right he noticed the absolute expression of excitement and wonder she had, when she did this a second time, he joined in too.

“Aarrrrrroooooooohhoooooo!!!”

“Ahahaha, oh my god we sound ridiculous, do you think we might freak someone out though?”
“But isn’t it so good? And who cares, nobodies out here anyways.”

This carried on maybe two more times before the last one Feiffer left Takuma just hanging to shout and laugh by himself, he awkwardly stopped when he noticed she didn’t join in either.
Instead, she jumped off the edge, crashing into the water just at the edge splashing the freezing water over Takuma, surprised he stepped right towards the edge, looking down at her.

“Whoah hey, what are you doing?!? there's lightning flashing all over the place!”

Swimming on her back she would look up and motion for him to join.
“I’m not concerned about people, or lightning right about now. Just trust me this place is effectively lightning-proof with how it’s built, people do this all the time!”

Takuma mulled over this a bit, he didn’t know how it could be possible someplace could be lightning proof, especially a large body of water. Although Fei lived here basically her whole life, so instead of using his mechanical judgment he followed what she said and was quick to kick off his shoes beside hers and jump in as well.
The water was like ice, it was so cold that an immediate jolt ran over his muscles, only able to function by using the manipulation of his muscles to keep moving he swam up and took in a sharp, sudden gasp of air.

“A-arent you cold at all, f-from this? Shit, I can’t feel my fingers.”

Although calm as ever Feiffer would swim over, and when she did the water seemed to become less harsh as she motioned for him to come closer to the edge of the dock, which he did and found she would be standing with her toes just barely on a concrete block underneath.
Moving slightly she would reach a hand over and place it atop his opposite shoulder, pulling herself in for the same kind of side hug he did that one time a while ago. Immediately Takuma’s body started to warm up, his eye’s widening as he didn’t anticipate her to be this warm.
“I can’t quite touch here, could I just hang out by you for a bit?”
“S-sure, it’s not as bad that way for me either, haha, agh.”

For a while, she stayed by his side, but slowly, over the next twenty minutes, she would adjust closer in a slow inching.
The last minutes were the physical closest Takuma was to anybody in his life. Pressed against each other, Fei resting her chin on Takumas slightly exposed shoulder, legs kicking lightly in the water, and arms up and around his neck, which she would have earlier directed his hands to her back as the slightly moving water brushed her hair against his hands.
They never said a word to each other for most of it, a few times Takuma would start to say something about this, he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable about this all when he recalled she was the one initiating this part of the whole ordeal. That and she consistently shushed him if he tried to say something. Although it was apparently fine when she was starting to get this all to a close.

“Alright, made up my mind about you.”
“Oh?”
“Your pretty alright, you're a bit too literal, and you're a bit weird.”
“Oh…”
“But that’s fine for me, your quiet when you need to be, you stay focused on everything you work on, and you're a great listener. You really seem to care about what other people think, even if you try to avoid showing it or just have a hard time.
I love you, like lots.”
“Well, I love you too, lots too.”
“That’s too many ‘too’s’.”
“Ha, well don’t add to it.”
“Hahaha, alright…
I’m getting cold, let’s head back.”
“Yeah, that sounds excellent.”

They really should have thought about that more, they both lacked towels and completely forgot about their hoodie and jacket.
Takuma grabbed them the following day, still soaked sitting atop that park bench table.




The shift ended sharply, the sudden closing of the shop starting to rapidly dwindle and cool off. Takuma got himself cleaned up, washing his hands near the area where they washed dishes and loosening up the apron he had stuck on for the whole day, it was Feiffer’s turn to present her idea for the evening as she quickly pranced her way over.
“Hey Takuma, remember Taylor and Lance?”
“Oh uh…”
“Taytor and Deerman, because-”
“Because of the french fry incident and that lawyer, yeah alright got it for sure.”
“Nice. Well, we used to go to this thing every weekend, but I have been so tired and busy from work I haven’t gone for the last month, wondering if you would join me for it.”
“Well absolutely, I never got plans so that works well.”
“Oh, sweet, I’m sure you will enjoy it.”

They met up with Taylor and Lance around Seven PM, going back to their respective places and meeting in front of Feiffer’s apartment complex. Takuma liked to hang out with Lance, probably the person he spent the second longest amount of quality time with, although the difference between the time spent with Lance versus Feiffer was astronomical.
Sitting in the back, Takuma was given a basic rundown of how these things usually went and some precautionary tips. They were going to be heading out to these campgrounds owned by the parents of the best friend of the guy who hosted these things. The guy in charge was a mid-twenties rich kid named Raymond Altruite, although he always went by Ray and was apparently a major partier who worked for his big-tech corporate owner father as a sort of general laborer on the factory floor to learn the life of a proper worker before he would take on a job in the office as some higher up.
Now Ray liked to do things loud and interesting, armed with a megaphone and a larger then life presentation he would often hold these insane challenges and competitions, the most infamous being one where he offered a cash prize to whoever could cut their hair the shortest, resulting in a small clash between several now bald woman and about a dozen now bald men.
These things were big and loud, but because of the general community, they seemed to be for the most part safe.

They were correct.
Takuma couldn’t help but follow behind Feiffer in a bizarre twisted step as he spun around to look at everything going on around him, explosions of kinetic bursts from people moving about in excited bursts of momentum, neon flashes of energetic sonic stimulation machined to be both manic and satisfying, light chemical trails making themselves apparent with all the potential reactions they could cause.
Very big with a swarm of easily over a hundred individuals, very loud with a well-set up bunch of speakers that he still couldn’t understand how they were afforded or even transported, and he hasn’t seen anyone bleeding out yet. Looks like the others got the mark right on the dot about these events and he wasn’t disappointed.
The amount of strain on his senses was starting to cause weird things to happen though, and he did need to start walking a bit more carefully, his vision was getting a ton of light blue speckles ‘popping’ and fizzling like sparklers all over the place.
Takuma was starting to find it hard to stay in one place without feeling light-headed. He tapped Feiffer on her shoulder, who turned to look and see what he needed to say.

“Want me to grab you a bottle of water or something? I think I’m getting a bit dehydrated.”
“Well sure, that would be great. Thanks.”

Already off and making his way to this huge tub of ice and water bottles, Takuma pulled out two and set them on the table right beside, covered in half-full solo cups and some large plastic coolers full of cheap beer. Leaning against it he was even starting to lose his balance now with all the flickering, all around him it just started to get more blinding and now it was becoming less of an annoyance and more a detriment. Grabbing the waters again he would stumble over to some plastic foldout chairs that have been tossed out in a random assortment with plastic foldout tables to accompany them.
Takuma tossed the bottles neatly onto the table as he spun and dropped into the chair, closing his eyes and rubbing his face, eyes shut tight.
‘Oh man what the hell, am I getting sick?’
His hand reached to retrieve one of the waters, tipping one off the table and the other being shakily gathered into his hand. Cap quickly broke off in a rough twist he was sudden to guzzle down the cool fluid that he believed would remove this sensation, and although the dots persisted they were slowly dimming. Flickering subsisting, a pulse permitted passage and Takuma stood to turn to whatever this was, the sound of a young man on a loudspeaker, announcing himself and a massive crate on the back of a pickup truck.
People started to make their way closer to this truck, ceasing conversation and forcing footsteps, Takuma started to look among them, a concerning fixture finding its way across his face.
All those dots and sparks were centering around people, and he still couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, all he had for any kind of consolidation was the voice ahead and so he did listen carefully.
“Well, it’s amazing to see you all once again!
Recently I turned twenty-seven, for quite a while I have known you all and it’s been a blast!
Two years of absolutely amazing events, some fun times, and wild rides!

Alright, enough of that. This here…”
Peeling back the mass dark curtain over this large dark metallic container strapped down to the back of the truck, and starting to unseal the sides Ray would continue talking, but as soon as a single seal was broke Takuma blacked out.
Nobody seemed to notice, but his hands pushed against his body as he was coming to again, looking about in a panicked state watching people step over and around him as they got closer, the muffled voice of the announcer portraying something, and whatever he had in there was awful.
Traceries of fine flowing tendrils, deep roaring hums of toxic corrupting sources being pumped into blood cells before soaking into brain cells, and nervous system interruptions. Trails of this energy source pulsating from that crate, his vision gathering a quick dispersal of small focused pieces of this source being sent across the crowd.
Unable to detect among the multitude he got to touch one of these, a loud physical pop and a painful shock sent across his hand as he recoiled, sitting up and pulling himself further away from this noxious wave of fine rot.
Looking over to his hand as he crawled away, more people gathering ahead and running into this swarm he saw the damage done, cut open forearm, a large puncture wound that he recognized quickly.
Based on the half-destroyed container and the many other whole ones being thrown to a crowd of those anticipating, they were all batteries. Many battery cells were half the length of a thumb, and one of them touched Takuma against his arm, seeing how nobody else seemed to be dealing with what he was, this was triggered only by his energy locked up in his body.
Getting to his feet and still on a retreat, he was shocked when he felt someone grip his shoulder, spinning in a hurry he met the gaze of Lance, looking at him quite concerned.
“Hey, are you good man, your bleeding pretty bad… Oh my god, what happened?”
“What the hell are those.” Takuma choked out, barely able to speak with the sudden sorts of immense panic overtaking him.
“It-It’s just these eco-friendly batteries, they are totally safe. Ray gets these defective ones from his dad to go take to a recycling plant, but he ends up snagging a few from the top of the barrel and brings them here. Like dude, you need to relax, this is the last stock he has left and he’s already giving some up.”
“Ecofriendly!?! That stuff in them is in you!”
“Yeah, look!”
Angry with how Takuma was unable to actually articulate himself with any sense of respect or chill, he thrust one in front of Takuma, held in his hand the blue plastic casing with a small nodule showing the lightly blue cap atop it, and on the side it was true.
Biodegradable casing. Nothing about what was packed into these things.
“Then all you do is stick it to your tongue, let it sit a moment, and man, you're going to be thinking sharper than a tack! It’s got some neuro-boosting properties to it when you intake it. It’s beneficial, not harmful.”
Takuma had enough, he pivoted on his heel and started making a beeline for the truck, rushing past people still scouring the ground for this stuff.
It was all becoming more clear, everyone here came to these parties for alternative medication and a bit of fun, but this stuff was NOT as safe as they all assumed and how could they know, this stuff was obviously being labeled in a tricky way to avoid having to suggest how toxic whatever they stuff into them.
Eco-friendly, his mind started to recall all those ambulance trips from before, and he now was having the pieces fill in, starlight blue dots filling craniums like constellations all spinning out of control. Veiled before, his senses could allow him to do extraordinary things like this although it required a large exposition of the energy before it will decide to start including it, if he could see everything clearly at the start he theorized he would go braindead from the amount of information.

Batteries were being handed around, dropped, and tossed to people, making this whole area a minefield. Takuma gripped his injured arm and continued to jog ahead, occasionally he would start hopping on one foot to prep his body for a more acrobatic maneuver, bouncing strides and somersaults. A flurry of limbs made fluid and springy it wasn’t going to be long before he made it to the truck, although the deeper he went into this the more prominent batteries became.
He knew if they just touched his clothing they wouldn’t go off, but he wasn’t wearing a ton today, just some jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt. The risk of having it go off was too high and so it was much better to avoid them completely.
Duck, lunge, swing, lift, leap, adjust and run. Another toss of batteries was made toward the crowd as he entered only a dozen feet away from the vehicle, maneuvered barely through as a few rolled across his back, thankfully nothing going wrong.
Takuma rushed the truck, sensing some movement coming to intercept he stopped from looking up at Ray, still all smiles but recently getting sight of Takuma he seemed to be holding himself defensively, unsure what was going to happen he looked at this new threat and saw a rather bigger guy there, likely in his thirties he really stood apart from the rest of the group.

Being stuck between the new guy and Ray, Takuma, leaned over still with a wild expression as he was trying to get his attention.

“HEY! HEY! H-”
“Quiet, I can hear you, and my name is Ray, so what’s this-”
“It’s killing people! The batteries are incredibly toxic and it’s all stuck inside of people a... Wait.”
Ray was clean, and so were his security guards. Takuma wasn’t able to articulate anymore as he was genuinely shocked.
So this was intentional.
“I don’t pay you boys to allow this to carry on for so long, clearly he’s just being some work, try and get him to leave and if not on his own, you can just throw him in one of the extra trucks and escort him yourself a good way out along the road.”
Arms grasped and being dragged away, Takuma tried to definitely hold his ground but his body was not that physically strong, he was stuck wondering now how professional this all was, these guys seemed to be a bit more than hired friends. The larger man still unmoving just yanked Takuma off his feet and continued to pull him aside, motioning to another to help him drag away the incredibly furious Asian-Frenchman. Knowing he was being overpowered by both men, now one on either shoulder, Takuma became compliant and started to walk along with them, his plan to escape couldn’t be enacted when there were a lot of witnesses.
Easily over fifty meters away, Takuma was noticing they didn’t seem to plan on stopping for a while and thus allowed the light show to begin.
Sounds like radio static crackling as a wave of pink electricity gathered around him and appeared to strike just around his body, arcing its way to the two men beside him. Stunned one of them let go well the other tossed him forwards, giving him a bit of time to start sprinting deeper into the woodlands, a bit too sparse to make himself disappear right away he kept running.
His power was useless in an actual fight, but it was great for tiny diversions.
He kept going, a full minute passing before he sharply dived right behind a tree, catching his breath as he crashed into a pile of broken branches and leaves. Five breaths passed and he peeked down to where he was, it all looked like they turned and started heading back, sometimes checking behind them but it was still unclear if they saw him afterward, although he could take bets that they did not.
Slowly standing and pressing himself against the tree, Takuma still had to try and quiet down his breathing.
‘Not a chance I’m going to let this slide.’ He stated to himself, slinking into the brush.




‘Fifteen meters away, and no openings.’
True to it, Takuma was lying prone in a thick thorny bush, about three guys split all around, all carrying batons. They seemed to still be on the alert twenty minutes after that scuffle out in the woods with the energy projections.
Even more difficult was how they got the group to disperse so far from the trucks, thirty meters at least which would give them plenty of time to deal with anyone approaching.
Stuck below and fabricated a multitude of stratagems to deal with these guys, but nothing seemed like an effective route, let alone any safe ones. Still calculating Takuma would rest his forehead against the palm of his hand, this quickly becoming something already so much bigger than he was and it seemed unresolvable.
Perking up to another loudspeaker announcement, he would lean in forward and stare like a predatory feline waiting to strike at the right moment.

“Apologies for the more vigilant security, but we had a rather recent run-in with a metahuman guy who figured to take more than I was gratefully offering, he ran off though, and shouldn’t be a problem, but just in case!
We now reach the last of my famous stockpile, it’s true, it’s all here and this is the last I will be grabbing. But no worries! My prices will not be unfairly raised, a markup has been made for this limited stock but I am sure you all understand! It could be a lot worse but I’m feeling quite generous today!
So come on in, let's get two lines going so we can keep an eye out for anyone who plans to mistreat this beautiful finale.”

He carried on but at this point, Takuma was barely listening, it was all a bunch of empty ‘thank yous’ for selling poison to them and them all revering him as some Robinhood-like figure who utilized what was considered trash in his fathers eyes as a way to help people, at $30 apiece.
Now if any time was the best time to strike, it was now or never.
Getting up slowly and cautiously as the entourage of guards focused on the back of the truck, a quickly forming line found residence at the back and so cycled several people, spending money for a chance at a seizure.
Feet found focus and force were applied throughout, an explosive and controlled sprint as he made his way barreling towards the truck and with all security noticing only once he made it to the hood, Takuma deftly slid atop the vehicle and stood, looking down at Ray with a pistol pointed right at Takuma.
Resolute, yes, the king of fools dropped low and tackled Ray, the gun firing a single shot through Takuma’s shoulder as both men crashed into the back of the pickup. Ray struck Takuma on the side of his head as he tried to shake him off, but with the help of the chorus and adrenaline, Takuma accepted the blows for the greatest tool at hand, a single pistol. Jumping up and dextrously wielding the gun in his right unhurt arm, pointing directly at Ray as he could now detect three guns were being drawn on him.
Most people started to run and panic, making an escape well those dazed few stood still like statues watching this chaos unfold.
Ray looked up dazed at Takuma, surprised he missed an apparently direct shot at him, the fog of confusion lifted when Takuma started to bark out his intents.
“THIS STUFF IS TOXIC! AND THIS MAN IS SELLING YOU HEAVY METALS CHARGED WITH SOME SHIT, I CAN SEE IT, AND IT’S ROTTING YOUR BRAINS AND NERVES! THAT'S THIS STUFF! AND I’M-I’M GOING TO-TO BLOW IT UP!
SO RUN! RUN AS FAR AS YOU CAN BECAUSE THIS STUFF IS ABOUT TO GO AIRBORNE!”
Sweating from exhilaration, bleeding heavily from his shoulder, Takuma looked into the crowd of people who did certainly scatter for the most part. He knew what his power did, this stuff was going to become an inert substance once he touched just one, the reaction linking to them all and detonating the whole bin, likely vaporizing the whole thing. His plan was to use some wire he snagged from a broken fence out in the bush, as long as he damaged the car enough that it couldn’t move he could use Ray as a hostage and get him to help set up a connection to the case and Takuma a safe distance away.

Chaotic screams still rained but dead silence hit Takuma worse than the gunshot as he looked into the crowd.
Feiffer stood in disbelief and dread out in the crowd, looking at her boyfriend suddenly go full insane demolitionist, she looked disgusted even at Takuma and this is where he knew this was a one-way trip. If he was going to do this then he would need to go back to running like mad all over the place, and he would probably have several reports of being labeled a terrorist, easily people had a video of him or something to use. Then all that he built up here over the past five weeks was down the drain, his job and the person who made his life feel actually complete were gone.
Takuma went to bring his wounded arm up to his face, wiping off sweat and a pained expression as he considered how awful this all was. Would it have been better if he didn’t intervene? Well probably, but he couldn’t go back now. Looking back to Feiffer, she still stayed and stared back, he couldn’t tell now if she was starting to tear up over there over him or herself, but either way, he felt awful about it. One nod, followed by one thud.
Gun ripped and tossed from his hand Roy leaped up and grappled Takuma, pulling him around and trying to fight him Takuma was caught in the middle of a trip, he could have corrected himself if he didn’t have Ray grappling him, but now he was going headfirst into the plastic container.
It wasn’t like he could do much more, but silent prayers left him as he plummeted down in a last desperate struggle to try and get himself out of this, his head touching down and the bright blue light erupting around himself and Ray.


Cacophony.
Virulent, violent, wrathful, tearing, tumultuous and explosive.
The roar of an engine like he never heard before rang in Takuma as he felt his body being thrust outside of the truck, leg catching the edge he was sent sprawling out into the grass, Ray landing nearby in a similarly awkward fashion.
He couldn’t hear, not physically, but he was able to read the sonic energy being produced and it was truly deafening. Roaring rumbling with the occasional metallic click and snap, churchbells being rung in the presence of a terrifying visual.
It looked like a detonated mass of alien metals and bits of hyper-advanced electronic components taking on the guise of an organic human monstrosity standing just under five meters tall.
Looking up he saw the explosion, but it was being torn to pieces by two outstretched slender limbs ending in furiously rotating blades, it was chewing up and distorting the area around the explosion until all that was left was a spherical section roughly torn out of the back of the truck without the hands even coming within three feet of a surface.
Immense back arching before straightening giving a full powerful display of all the sleek components working in unison to manipulate the chassis of this thing, it turned and started facing towards Takuma, at least that's the best he could make of an assumption. The large canine head, seemingly welded together from several layers of pipes and dark metallic plating and draped in fine loose fibers and wires, began to lower with the ears folding back emanating a loud screech, lips curling back made from plates groaned with steel shearing and a snarl that revved a mechanism in the jaw mixing an organic voice with a metallic overlay of operation.

Simply turning and taking a step off the truck like it was an inconvenient interruption the sudden force of the entity approaching sent a reverberation through the ground from its heavy form. Dropping down and taking steps towards Takuma, dirt being displaced from steps scraping away at the floor of the forest.
Struggling to get himself to stand Takuma was still under the influence of adrenaline, not noticing any of the minor damage to his body he would have taken from getting thrown, the only thing stopping him from running being a genuine concern if he was already dead or something.

“T̸a̵k̵u̵m̶a̴.̴.̵.̴ ̴W̶h̸y̸ ̶w̶o̷u̶l̵d̷ ̸y̸o̷u̷ ̵f̴o̷r̷s̴a̶k̶e̵ ̴m̸e̵?̴”

“Ooh shit… Uh, hi Feiffer?"
The energy pouring off of her was connecting to a prior event, when he couldn’t detect her back in the cafe when that mug broke, afterward well he still wasn’t able to see her she blinked out of his energy detection, but that as only because he still couldn’t register it. This new form was absolutely charged however and it was all pieced together.

An immediate right hook came from Feiffer, disconnecting Takuma’s head from his body in an explosive outburst.
Takuma however seemed to snap back together as if nothing happened, but he clearly remembers being decapitated painlessly. Too stunned to even move from that experience was like.
“W̴H̸A̶T̸ ̶W̶A̷S̶ ̷T̵H̸A̴T̸!̴?̸!̵ ̵L̴O̷O̴K̶ ̴W̴H̶A̵T̶ ̶Y̴O̵U̷ ̶D̸I̷D̴!̷”
Feiffer gestured to her whole metallic body, frustratedly motioning to some of the components all around her. Her voice was hard to depict with the energy sense, as every time she spoke another piece of machinery roared or whirred, drills, buzzsaws, engines, fans, everything about her was so loud.
“T̴h̵e̷y̶ ̶h̸a̸v̴e̴ ̸b̵e̶e̸n̵ ̶l̷o̸o̵k̷i̷n̸g̸ ̸f̶o̵r̴ ̵m̸e̵ ̵f̵o̶r̸ ̴a̴ ̵w̵h̵i̵l̵e̴ ̶n̸o̵w̵ ̴a̸n̸d̴ ̸I̴ ̵w̷a̸s̸ ̶s̶u̸r̸e̶ ̴i̴f̷ ̴I̸ ̸j̴u̸s̶t̶ ̷s̶t̵a̶y̸e̵d̶ ̴q̵u̷i̴e̵t̷ ̴n̸o̶t̸h̴i̶n̶g̸ ̸w̷o̸u̴l̷d̶ ̶h̵a̶p̶p̶e̷n̵!̴ ̷B̸u̴t̶ ̶o̵h̶,̶ ̷l̸e̴t̴’̴s̸ ̸s̵a̸y̸ ̷t̵h̴e̶y̵ ̷n̵e̴v̴e̴r̴ ̵s̴h̶o̷w̸ ̶u̸p̵,̶ ̵I̶ ̷s̴t̵i̷l̷l̸ ̴h̵a̶d̷ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̵a̴v̸e̴ ̸y̷o̸u̵r̵ ̶f̴u̶c̸k̸i̸n̵g̷ ̶d̸u̷m̶b̶a̵s̶s̸ ̸f̷r̸o̷m̵ ̵e̴x̷p̷l̶o̴d̶i̶n̴g̷ ̶a̸n̴d̷ ̸n̷o̴w̷ ̶w̶e̸'̵r̸e̴ ̸b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̵i̷n̶ ̶a̵ ̸w̴h̸o̸l̶e̴ ̷l̵o̴t̴ ̸o̵f̸ ̶t̵r̵o̵u̸b̵l̶e̷ ̸A̵N̸D̵ ̵i̸t̸’̵s̸ ̴p̸u̸b̵l̴i̷c̸ ̵I̶’̸m̵ ̷t̴h̵i̸s̸ ̴m̶o̴n̴s̶t̷e̷r̷!̸
̴M̸y̶ ̷l̸i̸f̴e̶ ̶i̴s̴ ̴o̶v̶e̶r̸”

Takuma had no idea what to say as he recoiled a bit from her, she was clearly incredibly angry, that was a given, but now he had no idea how to diffuse this himself, although his emotions started to peak up and he let words sling loose.

“Well, what the fuck were you doing!?! Buying that shit from that dude and your this whole thing, didn’t you know it was bad for you?!?”
“I̷t̶’̷s̶ ̸n̴o̶t̷ ̶b̴a̴d̸ ̷f̶o̵r̵ ̸m̵e̴!̷ ̷L̵o̸o̷k̴ ̵a̵t̶ ̶m̶e̵,̴ ̶y̶o̵u̷ ̶t̴h̸i̷n̷k̵ ̵s̶o̵m̶e̴ ̸b̶a̶t̴t̸e̶r̴i̴e̷s̸ ̴l̵i̷k̷e̴ ̴t̸h̴a̷t̶ ̸w̷o̴u̷l̸d̴ ̸h̴a̸v̴e̷ ̸e̷n̷o̴u̴g̵h̷ ̶j̷u̵i̸c̵e̵ ̵t̵o̶ ̴f̵r̷y̷ ̶m̸e̸!̷?̷!̶”
“Well, why are you taking it then!?!”
“B̸e̵c̴a̶u̸s̴e̷ ̴I̸ ̴n̶e̵e̵d̴ ̸i̵t̶!̴ ̸I̸t̸’̸s̴ ̴t̶h̸e̴ ̷o̴n̶l̵y̵ ̵s̸t̴u̸f̶f̴ ̵s̷t̶r̸o̷n̵g̶ ̶e̷n̴o̵u̷g̴h̵ ̸t̴o̷ ̷m̷a̴k̸e̵ ̵m̴e̸ ̶f̸e̷e̴l̷ ̷h̴a̶l̵f̶-̷d̴e̸c̵e̴n̷t̴,̷ ̴h̴u̸m̷a̵n̴ ̴m̸e̴d̷i̵c̶a̴t̵i̷o̵n̸ ̸d̶o̸e̶s̶ ̶s̴h̷i̵t̶-̴a̵l̵l̸ ̵t̷o̶ ̷t̸h̸i̴s̸ ̶t̵h̷i̸n̵g̷!̴”
“Then what about all those other people, what's up with this sel-”
“S̴H̵U̴T̸ ̴I̴T̴!̷ ̵I̷’̶m̸ ̴f̵u̴c̶k̴i̴n̵g̸ ̶l̸o̵s̷i̶n̵g̷ ̶m̶y̸ ̸m̴i̴n̸d̵ ̷a̷n̶d̶ ̶y̴o̶u̴ ̵w̶a̴n̷t̴ ̴t̵o̶ ̵p̷u̵l̵l̴ ̶s̷h̵i̴t̴ ̴l̵i̷k̴e̶ ̷t̴h̷i̵s̷!̸ ̸I̷ ̴s̷h̴o̸u̴l̷d̵ ̶k̸i̷l̷l̵ ̵y̵o̶u̶ ̸f̶o̷r̸ ̶t̴h̵a̶t̵!̶ ̴Y̷o̵u̴ ̶d̷e̷s̶t̴r̸o̸y̸e̵d̴ ̵t̸h̴e̴ ̸o̸n̸e̴ ̸t̷h̵i̶n̴g̸ ̵l̴e̵v̷e̴l̶i̷n̵g̷ ̶m̸e̸ ̵o̸u̵t̷,̴ ̷y̷o̷u̸ ̶d̶e̴s̷t̴r̶o̶y̷e̵d̴ ̷m̸y̶ ̵j̵o̸b̷,̸ ̴m̷y̸ ̴l̸i̸f̷e̴,̶ ̸a̷n̸d̵ ̸y̸o̸u̸'̷r̵e̵ ̴s̴t̵i̸l̵l̶ ̴f̴u̷c̴k̸i̶n̷g̸ ̷w̸i̸t̶h̴ ̶m̷e̸ ̶n̷o̴w̸ ̸o̸v̴e̶r̴ ̴s̵o̵m̶e̶ ̵s̴t̴u̷p̶i̴d̸ ̷j̸u̷s̸t̵i̸c̶e̵ ̵s̴t̷u̸n̵t̵ ̴y̸o̶u̶ ̸t̸r̸i̷e̶d̸ ̶t̷o̸ ̵p̸u̸l̵l̶ ̶t̷h̷e̸r̸e̸ ̶w̷i̵t̶h̴ ̴w̴h̷a̴t̴e̵v̴e̸r̶ ̸w̴e̷i̷r̵d̶ ̴f̷u̷c̴k̶e̷d̴ ̷t̵h̴i̴n̸g̷ ̸y̷o̵u̶ ̶d̵i̸d̷!̴” The whirring of the machinery climaxing into a violent buzz was broken when everything went absolutely silent for Takuma, even his sensory ability was quieting down leaving him stuck with the chorus. Feiffer would have noticed too, as she stopped looking at him and turned to face where the majority of the crowd was running out too, but they got turned around as something else started to approach.
Sounds started to return to Takuma, his ears still ringing he was catching what Feiffer was saying all still mixed with the sound of metal pieces being jangled together with sharp pleas of fear.
“O̶h̶ ̷m̸y̸ ̸g̶o̵d̴,̸ ̴t̴h̴e̵r̸e̴ ̸a̸c̷t̸u̸a̷l̶l̴y̶ ̵s̶h̶o̷w̸i̸n̶g̸ ̶u̴p̶,̸ ̷n̵o̴ ̸n̶o̶ ̸N̶o̴ ̸N̶O̵!̵ ̶S̸T̶O̵P̸!̶ ̸P̸L̴E̶A̷S̷E̸ ̵N̷O̶T̷ ̸T̴H̸I̴S̴!̸”
Takuma was incredibly worried now, whatever was making something like Feiffer panic in her state was clearly a big deal. Even worse, now the chorus started to respond in a single scream rising from a quiet murmur, and nothing made it work so much in unison as the presence of whatever this thing was being operated by.
A big deal was an apt description.


Immense bulbous green eye of glass peering from behind the tallest trees in the distance, a massive oval mechanical monster was crawling through the treeline, crackling as it was moving through trees without disturbing them. It had eight massive black tentacles, two that seemed to have coiled behind the forty-meter tall behemoth, springing with green energy sparking between it.
Takuma felt something push through him as he was sent sprawling on the ground, trying to push himself up he was instead lifted and stuck dangling to Feiffer’s mechanical back, looking down and reaching with his hands he saw massive bloody hooks impaled through him.
Painless and not feeling any kind of hindrance like he would anticipate cold hard metal penetrating his lungs would normally have he tried to make a dispute against this, some kind of reaction to all of the insanity that was going on but he had another thing now. The ground was abandoning him as he felt like he was being propelled through the air, clearly, Feiffer was making a run for it.
Hard impact, and now this actually hurt as he felt his body slide further along the hooks embedded into him and slam against the back armored platings Feiffer had, he saw small metallic pieces spring free as they both started to approach the ground just as fast as they came.
His energy detection already gathered the interruption, a light green hexagonal field of energy was physically preventing them from leaving.
His body being torn off of her back, Feiffer would have thrown a basic ragdoll Takuma into the ground below.
Presumably, this would kill someone, but when again Takuma opened his eyes and found himself not dead, he wasn’t even injured from the prior hooks. Nothing she did actually was damaging him, or at least unless it was actively being done in which case as soon as it stopped everything was reverted.
Starting to slowly get up from the dirt a wave of pain washed over Takuma as he crumpled down to the earth again in the crater that formed around his impact. He still felt all the injuries she didn’t inflict, from the gunshot, the small explosion, even when he lurched forward and slammed into her back when they crashed into that energy field. Now what he also wasn’t understanding was how clear he was thinking, but far from his main concern right now he looked above to see what was taking place.

The mechanical cephalopod was nimble despite its bloated size. It was projecting from a loudspeaker this foreign language, although it sounded like something from earth he wasn’t familiar with what language it was. The voice was clear, thorough, and calm, it was just like an airport announcement being made over and over.
Lifting one of its massive limbs upwards, the tip of it would produce this cone-shaped device with a small rotating dark sphere in the middle, causing any remaining batteries and even some of the blue-glowing toxic metals to all be harvested from the panicking people below.
Once seemingly everything had been gathered, the cone would seal up and a second tentacle would emerge with now four holding this thing about six meters above the ground, two generating this forcefield, and the last two impacting and absorbing people into fluid metal circles that ran across its joints about a meter across each.
These arms started sweeping at the people around it, swimming through the air before getting close to those around it and once it found someone suitable, it slammed them with the tentacle which would cause them to disappear.

Feiffer on the other hand was quick to give her own thoughts on this, cornered and without the ability to run away she resorted to her next option, which was to fight this thing.
Impacting the ground and starting to sprint, metallic rods projected from her waist and started connecting to her legs and upper back with hydraulic hoses snaking from her back and connecting to certain joints in her legs. Immediately these underlying hoses and pseudo-muscles started to swell in size, and in doing so her speed and impact against the ground increased by an easy triple from the already impressive speeds she was going. Left arm stuck out several hydraulics hisses emitted and a gush of steam, the forearm unfolding into a hydraulic machine resembling an alligator's jaw with round drill bits fitted for teeth.
The gigantic octopi responded to her attempt of violence by sending out swarms of these green and black tendrils about as thick as a normal arm coming from ports all across the main body.
Several of these started to already whistle through the air and attempt to impale her but instead Feiffer fought with a feint, kicking against the dirt and forcing herself into a drifting halt the tendrils simply stabbed into the earth ahead digging through the topsoil and upturning patches of grass before they even attempted moving around. Legs propelling her with the same velocity as a rocket Feiffer launched towards the thing, attempting to recoil its tentacles in defense.
Arm punching into it and lashing like a snapping jaw when it pierced the outside hull, a strong tug allowed her to cleave a massive gash into the side of this thing before a blast of green translucent energy propelled her through the air.
Small armor plates opened up and operated as air brakes allowing her to land still standing with spearing tendrils quick to follow being. Snaking black hydraulic hoses disconnected from the legs and reconnected around the elbows, the left arm retracting and shuffling into a much more traditional form before both arms snapped apart and generated two massive buzzsaw blades, already whirring away as the tendrils came in and Feiffer charged forward. Sparks ran across the air and lit up the clash, all the mechanical components of the larger mech being hurled off in an array of directions, eventually when half of them have been fired they started to snake below and sneakily string up a way to send her tumbling into the ground, gopher holes permitting access to the tendrils to rise and start strangling Feiffer.
Starting to lurch lively forward the machine anticipated an easy arrest of another valuable entity to be taken apart and understood, and Feiffer knew this was going to be the case with these people.
Arms struggling and reaching up, her whole body violently thrusting to attempt and get a way to break from these tentacles she resorted to pulling a small clip connected to her neck.
Thundering and bright, the explosion generated would have immediately shot and killed several bystanders, although when they landed on the ground again it was just like they were placed down gently, all dazed and confused about what put them there like that.
And to the distress of the massive vehicle, it noticed several of its tendrils had been severed in the quick escape attempt, and a massive hole was visible.
It wasn’t even several seconds before the loud chewing sound, metal against metal could be heard underneath one of the tentacles causing the entire gigantic machine to tilt as it tipped and slammed into the soil.
Sharklike jaws projecting several thin serrated chains, wrapping around the limb and attempting to tear it to pieces. Progressively pulling harder, the long chains wrapped around the tentacle started to distort its metallic frame and caused a bunch of dents to form throughout as it become more like a crumpled piece of paper than the advanced tech it really was.
Feiffer held into the ground, arms widening and forming a bunch of scoops across like an accretive set of tank treads before they were working to pull her further into the hole and attempt to destroy one of the tentacles.
The machine of immense proportions was still capable of uprooting her, however, and once it did it started to press her into the ground away from the formerly generated tunnel. Finding footing amidst the area though wasn’t going to be an easy task for either. Feiffer moved the hydraulics back to her legs and back and began fighting against the machine by pushing against it, hoping to be able to outlast whatever mechanism was allowing it to put this much pressure out.
A defiant roar followed almost turning into a scream of pain, several massive components on her body cracking and sent flying like shards of shrapnel narrowly missing people still caught within this horrific event. Slowly even more damage was being sustained and she was stuck in this position or faced being crushed to death, some of her hydraulic musculatures started to break apart and open sending a spray of oily blood all around her and dripping all in her chassis.
Although nothing that was in such an obvious predicament would last, as one of the main tentacles for attacking swept to the side and nailed Feiffer in the ribs, sending her monstrous form collapsing to the ground.
The giant octopod shook off Feiffer from its one damaged foot moving back and to the side and still purring calm words to those in the area in its alien language, the damaged foot creaked open to show several smaller robotic arms open in, small torches glowing bright with cutting tools as it went to go and swallow up Feiffer.

“BANG!” Takuma shouted, charging in and jabbing an energy-covered finger into one of the metal circles that ran along the damaged limb.
And when it did, the green light died from it, a loud explosion occurring at the joint where this connected to the main body, dying out and falling to the ground with an immense rumble.
All the main actors stayed still, Feiffer being barely able to operate with the amount of strain her whole body just faced as it was all trying to repair itself, the giant machine because they thought that limb should still have had enough power in it to keep functioning but apparently it broke after dealing with Feiffer, and Takuma was just really surprised that worked.

Holding his hand out like it was a gun he pointed it at the eye of the machine staring back at him in an unblinking glass gaze, unable to stop himself from shaking his opposite hand pulled in and he continued to threaten this thing with himself.
Another tentacle started to lurch forward, slowly making its way back to Feiffer it was just going to ignore Takuma, who made sure that wasn’t going to happen still.

“BANG!” He shouted again, more confidently this time but still terrified at the prospect of this not working and jabbing it again with his hand towards the pools of dark ferrofluid.
Again its lights died out and the tentacle fell off with a booming thud, and now it was starting to understand what was going on.
Immediately believing it was dealing with a threat that could reliably and easily destroy full individually-powered batteries, started to lumber backward a bit, Takuma was overwhelmed with a confident combative rush as he charged at the thing shouting at it.




The whole machine started to quickly snap with a green spark and violent vibrations, a distressed siren wailing as it was going into an alert after dealing with something like Takuma, still completely unaware that all they needed to do was smack him and he would vanish like a fly.
It started to become more and more transparent, finally vanishing from view, and Takuma was no longer able to detect its energy he assumed this thing couldn’t cloak unless it totally shut off that source of power.
Exhausted and defeated, Takuma slowly lowered his arms to his sides as he looked at the destroyed terrain and the people throughout all seemingly affected by this thing disappearing, all lowering in energy until they collapsed on the floor.
Mechanical gears shifted and rusty pistons pushed, he could tell Feiffer was approaching behind.
Turning to greet her he saw the amount of bloody oil leaking down her carapace meant she was likely in critical condition. Staring up for a moment, Takuma wasn’t able to even articulate what just happened and from his hesitance, he was struck.
Landing to her knees, her large hydraulic arms wrapped around Takuma and pulled him into her grasp, her chest slid a bit as he was pressed against the interior, multiple plates of steel pushing in with a springy mechanism underneath, the edges folding in like a bear trap, teeth digging in and locking him in place in this grip.
Takuma forcibly exhaled, the air from his lungs pushed out from the deathly squeeze of destructive hydraulic limbs, although it seemed whatever Feiffer did he would be alright, that and he wasn’t even sure if she could control this.
The low purr of a blender ran quietly, words were whispered from the wulverthing to Takuma as they were brought in close to one another.
“I̶’̷m̵ ̶s̵o̸ ̵s̸o̸r̴r̶y̸,̶ ̵n̵o̵w̴ ̴t̵h̶e̴y̷ ̵a̴r̷e̴ ̶g̶o̶i̵n̸g̴ ̶t̵o̴ ̷b̵e̴ ̷l̴o̶o̷k̴i̵n̸g̶ ̵f̵o̷r̴ ̴y̶o̷u̵ ̸t̸o̴o̸.̷”

Takuma, slightly awkwardly returned the grasp as close as he could, but everything around Feiffer was like a razorblade pressing against him, and this time it started to hurt anytime he pushed further, it appeared she had to be the one to decide if it was meant to be lethal or not.
“I just wish I could have done more. What will we do about you now, I-I think you are bleeding, are you? You're going to be alright right?”

Feiffer didn’t respond, instead, she started to hold Takuma and pull him from her grasp, now free from that she leaned in down and forward, pressing the knifelike fangs exposed across a cold steel face against his own, which he instinctively responded by doing the same and pressed against her. He couldn’t tell if she felt it, but he could and he couldn’t understand what to describe this as, if the electrical stimulation was a byproduct of the rush in his head, an electrical field from Feiffer, his own energy interacting with hers. He just knew he didn’t mind it.
Separating from each other after just a moment, the dark surrounding them and the havoc produced, Feiffer gave Takuma a solid nod, crackling voice with the groan of bending steel produced.
“H̴e̴y̵.̵”
Gripped in a firm right hand, the whole arm swelled to more than double its size as she gripped and stood tall, arm stil hanging low as Takuma looked up, Feiffer drawing a massive clawed hand to point out in the distance, gauging something before she seemed to be satisfied with what she was sensing.
“H-hey, is everything alright?!?”
Takuma gripped at the hand, attempting to pry it apart and get himself free before anything hasty was done that would be tricky to reverse, starting to get more desperate as he found nothing could even budge her fingers.
“O̵h̴,̸ ̶I̷ ̴w̴a̸s̴ ̷j̶u̴s̵t̷ ̵w̷a̶n̵t̸i̶n̵g̷ ̵t̴o̷ ̸s̸a̷y̷ ̶I̸ ̴l̶o̷v̷e̸ ̷y̵o̴u̷ ̶i̶s̸ ̷a̵l̷l̴.̴”
With the snap of the release being triggered with a satisfying whistling 'ping', the body of Takuma was sent hurtling out of the area, quickly leaving sight like a bullet shot from a railgun.


As long as he got far enough from here, those freakshows wouldn’t be able to track him down so easily, it was obvious that he confounded their sensors already. Feiffer had a rough estimate of where he would end up and hoped she would maybe get a second chance to meet him someday, and maybe that time they could pretend to be normal again.

A slow squeal of steel disks rotating giving her face a monstrous sinister grin.

Wouldn’t it be nice.

---

Another news story about bizarre circumstances.
Apparently, in some rather isolated campground in Oklahoma, a mass amount of young adults who were there happened to have zero knowledge of what happened the previous evening, among them it was found they owned a massive amount of defective batteries that inside contained several components that made it incredibly toxic when any of it was ingested, presumably they used it to get high after licking the positive end of the battery. The company responsible and the main supplier of the batteries are currently to be tried for false advertising and drug trade among other things.
When they brought up an eco-friendly battery, they performed a bit of a trick where the casing was safe, but the interior of the cell was not.
A certain radius of the campsite has been placed under metahuman activity investigation regarding the terrain being massively torn apart, and a similar incident of a field twenty miles northwest of the area had something crash and leave a hole in the ground, around 4 meters across on either side and a meter deep.
Some sneaker prints showed somebody must have ran through the area at least, but it appeared they didn’t report the oddity, probably someone who was unsure about it.

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Summarized details and images to be posted soon(ish)