Growing Pains (Sim and Chelle)

The wind was brutal. It whipped around the tall buildings at an alarming rate and made something of a whistling noise the whole while. People scurrying to where they were needed as they clung to whatever might get caught by the breeze. All Travis could do was sit and watch for the time being. He was in the windy city of Chicago because he had yet another appointment with some rising star scientist that wanted to take a crack at fixing him. Travis could not help but feel the man was only interested in him because he wanted some level of fame and fortune.

It was at times like these that Travis felt like nothing more than a science experiment to these people that claimed they wanted what was best for him. It was all very disconcerting. So, for the time being he just sat on a bench next to a fountain, wearing his hooded shirt low to hide his inhuman features, and waited for it to be time for his appointment. For the most part, people ignored or did not care about him being there although some did make it a point to walk around and away from where he sat.

Then a scream broke out shattering the chorus of noise from before. Travis, like everyone in the area, looked for the source of the scream but no one seemed to know where it had come from. It did not take long however for someone to find the source. A woman was hanging from a window. How she had gotten there was anyone’s guess but how she would get down had a much more narrow selection. Travis felt almost completely helpless.

What could he do to help?

Sirens broke out, the fire department was already there but the people in the street and cars halted kept them from getting any closer. The woman would not be able to rely on them. The woman was still screaming, begging for anyone to help her she did not care who human, super or God. It made no difference. Then she dropped falling faster than anyone had truly imagined.

Running as fast as he could, Travis made his way through the crowd of people. With every step he could feel himself growing in size soon ripping the clothing that he had once been using as camouflage from those around him. It did not take him long to reach his maximum height and for him the people that had gathered parted like the red sea. Once the woman was within his reach he put his hand under her and dropped it at a rate that would reduce the force of impact. He tried to give the woman a softer landing than if he had just caught her in his hand. Putting the girl down, Travis looked to the people around him who returned his look with a combination of fear and awe.

The echo of a gunshot rang out and Travis fell back. The bullet had done little to him but it had shocked him enough to recoil into the building, crashing into glass and concrete. Screaming broke out in greater volume than before as debris rained down to the crowded street below.

“He’s one of those supers that destroyed New York!” someone far below screamed out.

“Run for your life,” others yelled.

“Open fire,” was the last thing that Travis heard the police officers yell before he began his desperate departure. He jumped over some cars and he tried to be as careful as possible to not step on anybody but it was harder than expected with all the commotion. As he ran only one thing came to mind; he could not stop asking himself how this happened to him.

((627 Words))

"I thought this was how everyone in Chicago dressed."

The heavily accented voice belonged to an Asian man speaking with a young blonde. He wore a black suit and white dress shirt, with a thin black tie falling neatly down. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, and his long straight black hair fell from underneath a black trilby hat. Interestingly, rather than a pair of wingtips the man wore black kung fu shoes. The man happily chatted the girl up, who assumed he was an odd tourist. Just before he was able to "seal the deal" The woman ran off screaming through no fault of Ryo's. Rather it had been the strange quakes and the sound of sirens. Indeed, everyone seemed to be either running as fast as they could or frozen in place. Since everyone was running one direction, Ryo looked to see what was in the other. What he saw was a man who's choice in apparel made him stand out even more than Ryo. The fact that he was giant also did little to help him blend in. The creature would surely make a mighty warrior with its size alone, though it certainly didn't carry itself like one. It looked more like it was running, the destruction and terror it caused simply an unfortunate side effect of being much larger a man than the city had been built to accommodate.

Ryo was honorbound to protect the civilians in danger, however he did not want to rashly end the mysterious humanoid's life. He wished to ascertain its motives first but its size presented a few... complications. It was running down the street directly towards Ryo, and he could he see from here that he could not keep pace with it. Though he had no lack of stamina, as he had just been telling the young blonde, he simply could not move his legs fast enough to keep up with the giant's mighty stride. Luckily he could think quicker than he could run. Ryo reached behind him and fiddled with something under his black suit jacket that caused his black-sheathed sword to fall down to it's normal position at his waist. He ran into a nearby alley, and jumped towards a wall. He kicked off of it, sending him towards the opposite wall. He kicked off of it in midair to send him towards the other wall, and managed to scale the entire building this way. He ran across the rooftops to a suitably high point. If nothing could move as quickly as a giant, then Ryo had to ride a giant. As the gargantuan man passed by he jumped, attempting to land on his shoulder. He shouted as he flew through the air. "Do you speak, creature? Why do you terrorize this poor city?"