Baramon

Episode 6 – Rubble

After spending a week at the Earth Gym and now being back in Liberty University, things were a little surreal. He and the rest of Baramon had become celebrities overnight. Manifestos and their Psyches would come up to them and ask for their autograph. People in his classes that he barely ever spoke to revealed themselves to be Manifestos and claiming that he had inspired them. The surge in popularity wasn't the only change, however.

Unlike Howl, he had a way to switch on or off his Focus Ability though it wasn't so much as a switch as just forcing himself to direct his attention elsewhere. Instead of watching that grinning child with the huge lollipop looking dazedly up at the sun and wondering what was going through his head, he would just look to the store clerk that was bored out of her skull but still grinning and chatting animatedly towards the customer. His natural curiosity tended to get the better of him and often times, he would find himself delving into the mysteries of the people he was observing. Of course, that prompted him to remind himself that such things were not his business so he had to switch focus to something else.

“I do believe we'll make a voyeur out of you yet," Howl taunted.

I'm not being a voyeur and you know it.

“No. You're still in denial again. Just admit it, Hiro. You're curious about what these guys get up to when they're in bed. What turns them on."

Rolling his eyes, Hiro tried to focus on English lecture he was receiving. Thanks to the fact that he now had a laptop, he could easily take notes without leaving pieces of paper everywhere or constantly running the risk of losing his book. It also made good practice for his ability. He found that the longer he stared at a person, the more he delved into their past and history. However, if he looked away and then looked back, he would have to start with square one. Of course that meant he could jump past several strands of useless information to get back to where he was previously but any break in his concentration or his 'Focus' would delay him.

Still, it was somewhat difficult as his ability stretched to more than just his sight. The tonal shifts in the lecturer's words spoke of weariness of the subject because he had recently picked up a saucy romance novel that he was eager to get back to. The slight drop in temperature came from an air conditioning unit that was a little overworked because someone forgot to switch it off overnight. The sweet scent of the girl's perfume in front of him was applied too gratuitously because it was one that her boyfriend had gotten her and though she hated it, she had to make sure that he smelled it.

Hiro quickly worked out a pattern. His eyes drifted past the shoulder of one of his classmates, watching the guy's arms move and from there discerning what he was scribbling. He then would listen in on the lecturer to get snippets of knowledge on the text they were studying and then move on to the soft whispers of another classmate who was discussing counter arguments. All of it gave him rather unique perspectives on the lecture; one from an eager student, another from the knowledgeable source and a third from the doubtful critic.

When the lecturer finished up, he was still typing notes and was the last to leave the theatre. His stomach grumbled at him. Thankfully, the others of Baramon had realised just how bad his tunnel-vision could get and had purposefully set up 'breaks' during the days to drag him away from whatever he was doing. As he got up, his phone buzzed at him.

It was from Gabriel. They were meant to have lunch together.

Wow… it's already lunch. Where does the time go?

“Wherever it goes this time every week, genius. You just lose track of it."

He ignored Howl and headed to the second level food court of the Liberty Mall. Although 'lunch' was a bit of a generous term for him considering it was already past two in the afternoon. By the time he made it to the table Gabe was already there, wearing his trench coat despite the heat and already messing with his phone. That was the routine with Hiro. First was the text message, then there would be a call. If he still didn't appear after half an hour, the guy allocated to looking after him would proceed to chase him down and drag him away from wherever he was hiding.

Every member of the team had their own way of doing it. Taser – who usually took control when it was his turn – would physically pick him up and haul him away over his shoulder. Brodie had magical spells that he could apply while Buck would threaten him jovially with an 'ass kicking'. Considering the might of Buck's kicks, Hiro had no intention of seeing him through that threat. He had yet to see what Galahad or Gabriel would do as he had learned his lesson by them.

“Hey there," he greeted, sliding in opposite to Gabriel. “Already thinking of calling me?"

“Nein." Gabe was frowning. “We have a visitor."

That caught his attention and just a second into looking at Gabe, he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. “A visitor?"

“Matthew Polanzi. He's come down here from Maine."

“What? Why?" That wasn't so clear to him. A lot of thoughts were going through Gabe's mind and his teammate had been poring over something about 'Confuse Bolt' and rogue Psyche sightings.

“Ah, well a Psyche has left ze Earth Gym unauthorised," answered the German student. He was frowning deeply now. “Name of Eustache Green. Inmate of Medusa's Garden."

Hiro tried to look into what this 'Garden' was but Gabe's mind was racing so fast that he could barely catch up and interpret what he was thinking. “Erm… What's this 'Medusa's Garden'?"

Gabe looked up at him, seemingly caught off guard. Clearly he was distracted. “Ah, sorry friend." He leaned back, settling against his chair but still clinging onto his phone tightly. “It is being ze prison in the Earth Gym. Even we need correctional facilities, ja?"

Heh, trouble in paradise.

“Don't think it was ever a paradise. Remember, a Psyche could completely take over a Manifesto and they can go nuts. I imagine some people could be a little… overzealous with their power as well."

That was a fair point so he withdrew his mental snide remark.

“Is a Psyche prison just like any normal one?"

“Is different," Gabe said with a short nod. “Every Gym has its own version. Medusa's Garden has each of the inmates encased rock as if they were petrified. They still can move but it is extremely difficult. Is like wearing a suit made of rocks. Makes escaping very hard."

Yikes. So it's like having a boulder permanently grafted to your skin.

“I wonder if that's really a problem for those who go nuts after obtaining the Earth Gym's power."

“So how did this guy escape?"

Gabe offered him a helpless shrug. “Not sure. Polanzi will be at ze Professor's office shortly. We should meet up with him. Weed says he will need our help to look for this guy."

“Why us? Surely there's other guys that can help? Guys in the law enforcement department?"

Gabe gave him a curious look then that expression turned to one of understanding. “Ah. You still do not know, ja?" He set down his phone and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Trainers are much like enforcers. There are those Psyches in law enforcement, ja, but imagine if a Psyche were to have an incredible ability or the power of a Gym. Even skilled Psyches would never be able to hold a candle up against them. Is why ze Trainers step in. Even if they inherited the same power from ze same Gym, Trainers still inherit more power from ze Sensei than anyone else."

Sort of a weird class system. No matter how strong you get, you'll never be as strong as a Sensei or a Trainer. Unless you're one of them that went rogue.

Howl gave him a mental slap to the head. “Stop being so cynical."

“Polanzi wishes for our help because we know ze area," said Gabe, picking up his phone to leave. “Plus, since we have inherited ze Earth Gym's powers, we will be able to help against Green."

“Is he dangerous?"

“Am not too sure," answered the German with another shrug. “Got little from ze Professor's text. We should –"

Suddenly, a scream core through the usual hustle and bustle of the food court. There was a Mexican store loudly touting their nachos with the aid of a massive, plastic mascot in the shape of an anthropomorphic armadillo with a moustache. Amongst the patrons lining up a woman screamed and pointed at a nearby man.

“M – M – Monster!" she screeched.

The accused individual was taken aback. He was a tall Asian man with bleached blonde hair and styled in a rather ridiculous way that defied gravity. The man, probably just a teenager or another student, opened his mouth to protest when the woman staggered back into the arms of another girl. She spun and screamed again.

“Monsters! Beasts! I'm surrounded by monsters!"

“Okay… so she's not racist. What's going on?"

Hiro rose to his feet and could see the woman's panic reaching peak levels. She grabbed the straw dispenser off the counter and flung it at the crowd. It struck the blonde Asian's forehead and he went down causing others to immediately back away and scream for help.

“What is happening?" Gabe muttered.

The woman's hysterics were rising and she began grabbing whatever was close by and hurling at the people around her. The staff behind the counter were not spared her wrath. She grabbed a plate of hot nachos and flung it straight at the closest employee. Luckily, he ducked before he got pointy, crisp triangles coated in molten, melted cheese in his eye. She screeched, clawing out with manicured nails and swinging her shoestring purse like it was a mace.

“Get back! All of you beasts! Get back! Monsters!"

Hiro shook his head. “She's going completely postal!" He narrowed his eyes at her, poring over all the countless bits of information that was flooding through her mind. The further he dug, the more she stacked atop the hole he was digging.

She had three kids and was hoping that she would not die here and now mauled by these monsters that were encroaching upon her. Though her husband was a bastard and cheating on her, she prayed to God that he would get off his fat ass and look after them. It was all meant to just be a day at the mall now this happened. The main goal was to get quarterly eye examination and get a few bits of shopping done while she was her. All the shopping was done. She had been a little late due to her having to drop off her students at school. By the time she had finished, it was well past noon and she was starved. It was just meant to be a simple plate of nachos and a drink to tide her over. She was just going to eat it in the car and then drive off back home.

But now this…

“I can't get anything from her," he muttered with a shake of his head. “Her mind is racing!"

Gabe rested a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. “Don't worry. Ze mall cops are here."

True to his word, the mall cops came racing towards the disturbance. They were already flashing their stun guns and demanding the woman calm down. She just kept screaming the same mantra over and over again about monsters before the cops were forced to shoot her with a couple of volts, enough to send her crashing the ground in a twitching mess.

911 was called as the mall personnel really couldn't do much apart from sedate the clearly insane woman.

Gabe tugged at Hiro's shoulder. “Come on. We must go see ze Professor and Polanzi. Just another day in the mall."

Hiro brushed off his friend's hand lightly. “One second."

Now without the woman constantly bombarding him with useless facts or paranoid fantasies, he got a good look at her.

There was something strange he noticed.

******

“She only freaked out as soon as she got to the counter of the Mexican place," Hiro said. “She was in line the entire time, she went through her routine, bought groceries, got a new pair of glasses, but all of the sudden, she went nuts."

They strode towards the psychology department to Weed's office. Gabe was only partially listening, still scrolling through his phone and picking up information about Eustache Green while Hiro went through his theories.

“Something about that place just triggered this response in her. It doesn't make sense. She just began seeing monsters everywhere!"

Gabe nodded absently. While Hiro's Focus ability was quite handy, he didn't want to rely on it. Seeing into people's pasts and taking hints from their activities was useful but it was a little too unreliable. Besides, in court – even the court of the Gyms or the Battle Circle – Hiro's testimony would only be that, just another testimony. Against solid evidence, it would be nothing.

This was a time for true detective work.

Well, not so much 'detective work' as 'manhunting'. It was something he was good at given that he had chased a criminal halfway across the world.

“Let's not ferget th' shit Weed is pullin'."

Ja-ja. Him.

But Gabe had to put those thoughts out of his mind for the moment. The threat of Eustache Green was far more pressing. As he scrolled through the news articles on his special phone connected to the Circlenet – the version of the internet only available on special Psyche/Manifesto devices – he noticed that Green was known as a sort of D-level criminal. If an A-level was the likes of the king of the Wolf Clan back in the day, D was on par petty theft.

And that was what Green did. The bear had grown up in the Earth Gym. Though he never had the ambition to join the Season and didn't obtain any of the Gym's powers, he grew up in a world of magic. That was what made him dangerous.

It's not your ability but how you use it, Gabe reminded himself.

Green had been focused on a rather abstract version of Earth Magic known as Glass Manipulation. The theory goes that the first Glass Manipulator took to merging all four Foundation Elements together with earth as the dominating element. The philosophy was that earth supplied the sand, fire melted the sand into glass, wind was used to shape the molten glass and lastly water was used to cool it. This gave form to the art of Glass Manipulation which, over the centuries, became just as dangerous as it was beautiful.

As an experienced Glass Manipulator, Green began his career as an artist and created enchanting glass sculptures that enthralled many. The problem was, because he didn't obtain the Gym's powers, there were former-challengers who had obtained the power and specialised in Glass. Their level of control over the element was far more intricate and he was constantly being overshadowed by them. While his works were exhibited in local galleries, he never made it out to other Gyms or even into the world of humans unlike his rivals.

That left him embittered.

Classic tale. Man works hard for his art. Man grows jealous of other's work. Man opts for criminal life.

They approached Weed's office and Gabe knocked. Hiro was still chatting away, likely more focused on his own theories than what Gabe was doing. That was fine. Gabe opened the door. As always, there was the broad 'research area' which consisted of many tables with the walls lined with books. Weed's actual office sat on the far corner of the room in its own enclosed space. Here in the main area, they trained and studied the arts of being a Psyche and Manifesto, often generating their own Battlegrounds when they could to practice in peace.

Weed was sitting on the edge of one of the table with his ever-present lab coat, a cigarette in his mouth and leaning forward towards a tall dark-haired young man with curly locks wearing little more than a tank top and a pair of jeans torn in artistic places to make it look rough and rugged. Gabe instantly recognised the newcomer as Matthew Polanzi based on the man's profile.

“Whoa! Who are you?" Hiro demanded.

Polanzi's green eyes turned to the newest member of Baramon with a look of surprise. “I'm surprised you don't recognise me, pup."

“Polanzi?" Hiro gestured at his head. “But aren't you a red head?"

The titan of a man was cleanly shaven so it was easy to see his amused smile. “Magnum is a red head. I'm brunette."

“So your hair turns red when you transform?"

Suddenly, Howl took charge as could be seen by Hiro's blue eyes turning red. “Fuck that's hot."

Hiro wrested control again. “Shut up, Howl!" He grinned sheepishly at Polanzi. “Sorry. Me and him are still defining our boundaries. He tends to say things out of turn when he wants to voice his opinion."

Then Howl was back. “'My opinion' my big fat furry behind. That was what you were thinking! You're the one that gets turned on by transformation sequences!"

“What!? No I don't!"

It was clear from the young man's blush what the truth of the matter was. It was curious that Hiro was aroused by transformations. As Gabe thought about it, the idea was not so preposterous. Hiro was always seeking to improve himself and 'transform' himself in a way. Perhaps with Howl's emergence, that idea had become sexualised.

Polanzi laughed softly and gestured at his body. “Well, seeing as we're past just simple introductions since you sucked off my cock, let me just reaffirm that this is what Magnum and I look like as humans."

He then turned back towards Weed. “I was just speaking to your Sponsor here. I could use your help against Eustache Green."

“Why us though?" Hiro asked, once again in control and seemingly keeping it. “Surely there are other teams out there. I think last I checked, there are at least a few teams that have won against at least one Gym in the state."

“Because you're the guys in close vicinity of where Eustache was last seen going," answered Polanzi. He picked up an old fashioned manila folder and handed it to Hiro. “We have reason to believe that he may be heading here."

Hiro got that look in his eye where he was focusing intently on someone. “You didn't purposefully lead him here, did you?"

“Of course I did."

The young blonde balked. Clearly he hadn't been expecting such an answer so Gabe stepped in.

“Is common tactic against rogue Psyches, friend." He nodded towards the Trainer. “In all likelihood, Green is still some distance away and other Trainers are hunting him here. Mr. Polanzi is just heading him off."

“Are you sure he's not already here?" Hiro chimed in.

Polanzi gave him a faint smirk. “Unless he somehow found a way to cross hundreds of miles on foot, no. Last we checked, he was still some distance away and running through the wilderness. If we're lucky, my guys will catch him before they get here."

Gabe headed over to Hiro and peered over the young man's shoulder as he leafed through the pages there.

“What is his abilities?" asked the German. Of course he already knew. That was the first thing he noticed when he looked at the profile.

“Confuse Bolt an' Dizzyin' Touch?" Galahad asked. “Sounds like this bloke is a real goober."

“Green and his Psyche, Eulogy, are both masters at disorientation," answered Polanzi, his tone going grim. “Eulogy's power, Confuse Bolt, allows him to throw a blast of energy at someone that completely rewires their sense of coordination. If you want to take a step forward, you'll end up punching yourself in the face. Want to turn your head, you'll end up punching yourself in the face. Try blinking, punch to the face."

Gabe inclined his head to the side slightly. “You sound like you speak from experience."

Polanzi grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “When Green first escaped Medusa's Garden, he and I tussled a bit with a few of the other trainers. Used his Confuse Bolt on us and suddenly we were hitting each other and ourselves instead of him. It was kind of… embarrassing."

“I'd say so! Damn. A whole group of Trainers befuddled by a D-list criminal!"

Be nice, Galahad. Is not their fault. It sounds like this man is very dangerous.

“Conversely, Eustache's ability is Dizzying Touch where he can inflict a sort of vertigo or nausea on anyone he comes into physical contact with."

“That will make Howl's Hysteria ability difficult to pull off then," Hiro said glumly. “On one side, he has a long-ranged attack that can make you literally hurt yourself and one the other, punching him in the face will make your stomach turn." He leafed through the pages in front of him. Gabe noticed the most recent mugshot of Eustache.

Unlike human prisons, Psyche/Manifesto prisons were a little more towards rehabilitation instead of just throwing undesirables into a cell and letting them rot. Knowing full well that the very core of their existence rested on a traumatic experience, it was essential that the penal system actually try to help people. That was why there was always a need for psychologists and Trainers.

However, that also meant that most of the people that entered the penal system were fit and often very well off. Eustache, as a Glass Manipulator, was taught how to focus his power more and he was employed under the Gym with a glass-making company. Of course, he still wore the heavy stone suits beneath his shirt to keep him from escaping but that had its drawbacks.

That made Eustache even stronger.

The man in the mugshot had a neck so thick that tree trunks would've looked like twigs. After knowing how mousy Brodie could be, Gabe had this impression that Asians could never be thick or muscled but Green quickly put that stereotype to rest. His shaven head only gave his features a more menacing look especially since he was fairly sure he could trace a big, throbbing vein running down from the side of the man's dome all the way down to his neck. Crisp, bright green eyes stared back at them with ferocity.

Eulogy was an Asian Black Bear. That thick neck of his was made even thicker by the little 'mane' of silken black fur around his neck. Instead of the V-shaped crest on his chest, it was shaped instead as a spiral. The eyes on the bear were completely black, almost devoid of emotion. Based on the statistics, Eulogy stood at an intimidating nine feet tall.

“What makes the pair really dangerous though is their Glass Manipulation," said Polanzi, continuing his briefing. “Over the course of his stay at the Garden, he's gotten stronger with it. He can manifest glass out of the air now and last time one of our bands encountered him, he seems to have gotten a tattoo of the runes to use his Glass Magic to his arms."

Weed let out a thoughtful noise and blew some smoke out into the air. “That's incredibly risky. Physical manifestations of magical runes are used up the moment they are cast. Making hand gestures or conjuring spells from memory is fine and easy but when you graft a rune onto a surface, the moment to activate the spell, the rune itself is used up." He stuck the cigarette back into his mouth. “Tattooing isn't unheard of but the process of using it over and over again causes irritation, scarring and even permanent damage with extensive use."

“I've heard it's like someone drawing a blunt rock over your skin."

Hiro frowned at that. “I don't get it. Wouldn't the ink just be used up and the tattoo fade?"

“Tattoos are basically coloured scars," said Weed. “The symbol itself becomes embedded in your skin and when it is used in a spell, it's like removing the skin from the inside." He let out a soft puff of smoke. “Back in ancient times before the Battle Circle, it was common amongst some clans to use this sort of thing. These days it can be done but most people avoid it for obvious health reasons."

Tattooing runes to his skin. That made little sense. As an accomplished Glass Manipulator, Green should have memorised the spells. He wouldn't need physical forms of them on his flesh. So why do it at all?

Unless those spells were for something else?

“Dun suppose we got a picture of 'em do we?"

Gabe echoed Galahad's question but Polanzi just shook his head sadly.

“Sorry. No such luck. The tattoos are recent. Like after the breakout recent. Last time one of the Trainers caught sight of him, they noticed the tattoos. He didn't use them but they were still alarming." The Trainer crossed his arms grimly. “We don't know where Green has been getting these enhancements but we can only assume that he's only growing in power the longer he's out there. I was dispatched here because it's a highly populated area and he's likely to get followers or perhaps even create Malformed if he's not restrained. I need to defend this place from him as much as catch him."

Hiro raised a hand though given his red eyes, it was actually Howl in control now. “Question. I've heard this term 'Malformed' thrown about a bit here and there. What are they exactly?"

Polanzi regarded Weed who just shrugged. There were still gaps in the duo's knowledge despite rising to celebrityhood.

“Psyches and Manifestos are very powerful compared to the average human," explained Weed. “War has a way of spiralling out of control and conflict is infectious. People will get angry over something because someone else is angry. A leader could point a finger at someone and accuse them of some crime and there will be people who will believe it. The media spins stories to provoke reactions and direct fury. It happens."

He snuffed out his cigarette in the ashtray beside him. “Now the problem rests with this happening with a Manifesto or Psyche. If one of us pulls others into our beef, our powers bleed into them. We 'infect' them and turn them into Malformed. Creatures that reflect us but are completely consumed by our hatred. They are mindless, single-purpose creatures. Back in the days of the Clan Wars, Malformed were used as cannon fodder. These days, their formation is considered heresy especially since you're involving innocent humans our world. Armistice, for instance, would greatly frown upon it and likely take action."

“But Malformed can be turned back into humans and their memories wiped," Polanzi offered. “I've come equipped with a few spells that will do that should the need arise. The good thing is that a Malformed can't cause a Psyche to emerge so we wouldn't be breaking any of Armistice's pretty little treaties if Green did go out of his way to try and create an army. Worst case, we'd just be fucking a few guys."

“That's a very flippant way of saying you'd be ruining people's lives," Hiro – once again in control – snarled.

“No. I mean we'd literally be fucking them. The 'manual' way of changing a Malformed back into a human is literally fucking the corruptive influence that turned them into a Malformed out of them.

“And here again is one of the reasons I think this entire society is actively conspiring against me to have sex." He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Okay. So what's the chances that Green will actually make it here?"

A soft beeping hit their ears and Polanzi reached for his phone, holding up a finger as he checked the message. Just by watching his face go pallid, Gabe knew that something had gone wrong.

“Well… it's about 99.99% now," sighed the Trainer. “The team up north just lost him. He's probably here by now. My team says the tracks are about a week old."

Gabe went rigid. “A week? How could they have lost him for so long?"

Weed let out a soft, thoughtful hum. “Likely a result of Green's abilities. Probably had your team under some spell or confused to the point that they didn't really know what was what until it was too late. He could be here for longer or he may have doubled back to Maine."

“Maine would be a mistake," grunted Gabe. “It would be incredibly ballsy. Hide in plain sight and that. But Grounds is still up there and ze Gym Season is still in full swing. That will mean that there are many Psyches and Manifestos still in the area. His chances of getting caught are higher." Gabe shook his head grimly. “No. He is here."

Polanzi let out a resigned sigh. “And here I thought I could bum a trip to Manhattan from you guys." With a shaky grin, he placed his hands on his hips. “Well, could you point me in the direction of that expert spellcaster of yours? Brodie, was it? I could use his help setting up some tracking wards." He glanced towards Weed. “We'll need something to go out to the others of our kind to make sure they know to be on the lookout for Green."

Hiro lifted his hand and gave it a little wave. “Brodie is my roommate. He should be back in the dorm. I'll take you to him."

“I will get the word out," Gabe said, turning towards the door. “If Green is indeed around here, his ability could be potentially dangerous."

******

The moment the members of his team and their guest was gone, Weed immediately reached for his phone and dialled a number he absolutely despised calling. It barely got into the second ring before someone answered.

“You know, I expected you to call a lot sooner," came the calm, almost bored droll. At least he wasn't yelling this time.

“You sent Eustache Green here, didn't you?" Weed scowled.

“Dear lord no. That dangerous criminal? Now why would I send him to the same school as my son who just happens to have manifested a power from the Earth Gym that is painfully similar to Green's own mastery over Glass?"

Weed slapped his own forehead with a palm.

Fucker… This is some sort of bizarre training for Howl and Hiro!

“Don't you care about the welfare of your son!?"

“Only as long as he is an asset. Honestly, I had him written off years ago. That he has come back is a… fringe benefit."

Primal roared in fury. “That asshole!"

Weed was glad he hadn't let his Psyche take over. “Green is a dangerous criminal!"

“Please. An artist who focused solely on glass and was imprisoned for going postal at one art gallery or two? Hardly a criminal mastermind. It isn't like someone purposefully trained him behind Medusa's walls, transforming him into the hulk of a man that he is now while also giving him the resources not only to evade the Trainers but also to equip him with what he needs to be a free man."

“You asshole!" Weed sneered, this time aloud. “Why would you do that?"

There was a sigh from the other end. “Weed, were you not listening? I never said I did that."

“But you didn't confirm it either," he sneered.

“Now you're learning. Good little monkey."

Primal fumed. “When I get my hands around his neck…"

Easy, Primal. One day at a time.

“Just tell me where Green is now."

“Why?" came the smug counter. “You already know."

The line went dead.

Weed squeezed his eyes shut, his hands turning into fists and shaking with fury. He could not wait for the day when he would end this all. It was a long time coming but he was a very patient man. However, he would not sit idly by and wait for Green to come out of hiding. He charged into his office, shutting the door and locking it.

“For every ability, there is always a counter," he muttered to himself. He sat behind the computer and began tapping away. “There has to be a way around Confuse Bolt and Dizzying Touch. I know it."

“I'll sift through our memories. I'm sure we've encountered something like it before."

Thanks, Primal.

Weed's eyes narrowed.

So he can't confirm or deny his involvement with Green, huh? Well, he never said I can't help Hiro or Howl to defeat the inmate either.

******

The moment Hiro stepped into their dorm he stopped when he noticed that there was someone lying sprawled onto the bottom bunk of his bed. That same someone was just wearing a white tank top that contrasted against his chocolate skin and a red jockstrap. Taser, based on the bright yellow eyes of the ebony Adonis in front of him, grinned at him broadly.

“Took you long enough to get here, pup," he growled in that deep, gravelly voice that Howl loved. Already, Hiro could feel Howl pawing at the door of his subconscious.

“Uh Taser, now's not the best time. We've –"

But Taser didn't listen to him. Taser never listened to him. Ever since he had urged Howl into the master/slave relationship, Taser had been taking to the role of a dominant master quite well. Of course, Howl had taken to the slave role equally as well. Howl seemed to like being told what to do while Hiro was a more an independent thinker.

“Shut up," growled the dominant Psyche. He slid off the bottom bunk with cat-like grace and stalked over to Hiro. “You. Howl. Now."

“Taser, we –"

“Fine. But I know how to coax him out of you." He began flexing his large, square pectorals. “I know how you love it when someone bursts out of their clothing. Seeing a man change in front of you really turns you on."

Hiro paled possibly because blood was rushing towards his crotch. “Taser!" he shouted quickly. “There's a bear in the room!"

For a second, Taser looked confused. “You need to work on your sexy talk, pup."

Glad for the reprieve, Hiro gestured towards the other side of the door. “No. Really. There's a bear in the room."

Polanzi waved. “Hi. I'm the bear."

Taser let out a soft, but adorable 'eep' and took a step back, covering his semi-erect dick. “Who the hell are you!?"

“I'm the Trainer sent here by Grounds to look into a potential criminal that very likely entered this area."

Realising that Polanzi was standing out in the open, Hiro quickly pulled him inside and shut the door, locking it. He quickly explained why Polanzi was here. Surprisingly, Taser's normally indominable libido faded and his face grew grim. Tim took over and Hiro hoped that neither he nor Howl would have to suffer Taser's wrath when they eventually got some time together again.

“I've been following the news on Green," Tim said gravely. “It was weird how there was a breakout at the Garden and he was the only one to escape even with his restraints. His powers also seem to have been really advanced…"

“That's the thing about the penal system wherever you go," Hiro rumbled miserably. “If you're not careful, all you're doing is arming criminals with the means to hurt others."

Polanzi took a step away from him. “Okay… Setting aside the cynicism, Green is still a danger. I was actually hoping to grab that spellcaster of yours, Broderick. I was going to ask him to set up a few wards around the campus."

“I can actually do that," Tim offered. “Brodie teaches the rest of us. Besides, he's off with a study group for his class. Won't be back until later tonight."

Polanzi nodded. “Alright. I've got some of my own wards I want to use but you guys know the area better than I do so I needed your expertise. We basically need places that won't see a lot of public traffic, has a high vantage point and won't be easily seen even if someone does come across it."

Tim considered the options, rubbing his chin as he thought it through. Hiro, on the other hand, glanced out the window and began thinking.

“I think I have a few places in mind," he said. “There's the radio tower for the college broadcasts. There are forests out to the north that no one really goes through. Some other places too."

“Go ahead and take Mr. Polanzi out to those place," said Tim, still mostly deep in thought. “I'm going to dig around about Green. Do you have a recent photo?"

Polanzi nodded and handed him the mugshot from the folder.

“I'll check with campus security. Distribute his mugshot around the place. We've got guys in the security team that can at least keep an eye out. If Green pops up somewhere on campus or the mall, we'll know."

“Would that be enough, though?" Howl asked quietly.

What do you mean?

“What if Green doesn't come to Liberty? There's still a huge town around campus. Plus the whole stretch of forest outside of campus. Can we really track that far out?"

Hiro decided to ask that as they left the dorm room. Polanzi explained that other Trainers were out in the surrounding area placing their own wards with contacts they knew. Manifestos were everywhere after all and that meant that they could easily get a network of observational wards sent up.

“Once Green makes a move, we'll be able to detect him," said the Trainer as they stepped out back into the mall. His expression darkened however. “At least that's my hope."

“What's with that look?" Hiro asked though he already got a glimpse of the answer.

“I don't know." Polanzi rubbed the back of his neck, dropping his voice slightly as he was conscious of the crowds around them. “We set up similar grids all over Maine and up and down the east coast. But he's always somehow managed to elude us. I've heard it's been happening elsewhere as well. Certain low-level criminals escape some prison or another and somehow just disappear." He shook his head grimly. “I don't want Green to get away."

That was extremely worrying.

“Guys like Green have been escaping?"

As it turns out, prison breaks were common enough that some of the Sensei were getting worried. Given most of the prisoners were Psyches and had some degree of power, one would think that it would cause some concern. However, all of the escapees were never bestowed powers from the Sensei. They were all what the establishment called 'D-level' criminals. When D-levels got out, if they remained within the Gyms, they were high priority just like any escaped convict. However, when they got out they dropped down the list.

“Why?" Hiro asked.

“Because there are other organisations out there that are far better equipped to deal with them."

Armistice for instance. The Federal government also had standing agreements with the Battle Circle. The moment a D-level stepped foot outside a Gym, Sensei and the Circle would inform their allies and give them all the details. Trainers would be dispatched but it wouldn't be like a whole army would be sent out after them.

“That seems really irresponsible," Hiro murmured as they stepped out of the mall.

“It's how the agreements were drafted," said Polanzi with a shrug. “On some level I think Armistice just likes the idea of catching one of us and neutering us with their 'anti-psychotic drugs'. There's rumours as well that the feds recruit escaped felons with promises of asylum and a new identity if they serve as their own little supersoldier."

Hiro frowned at that. “Please tell me you're not going to be spouting something about the government doing some sort of supersoldier program."

“It's been theorised but creating Psyches and Manifestos forcibly or even artificially is really frowned upon. Each one needs to be registered with the Battle Circle like a census." Polanzi held up three fingers. “It's a delicate balancing act between the three factions. The Circle wants freedom for all of our kind. Armistice doesn't want us existing at all. The White House wants us under their control. You can't do something without pissing off the other two."

World politics just a whole lot more complicated.

“Let's not forget that this is America_. Who knows what the other countries are like?"_

And from what I recall, Armistice is a single global entity. Each country has their own set of Gyms and while they're under the same Battle Circle, the same can't be said for the governments of the world.

“Shit… Sounds like we've got to tread lightly here."

Together, they stepped out into the edges of the campus near the forests. Liberty College was on the edge of dense woodland and many students liked to camp out amongst the underbrush on weekends to avoid the loitering and drinking laws enforced on campus grounds. Naturally, the College couldn't stop them and clearly posted that they weren't responsible for anything that happened outside of their grounds. Rangers patrolled the woods and there were a few stations here and there just to keep out for fires or anyone getting into trouble but they were mostly undisturbed and untouched by wildlife due to the proximity of so many humans.

It was the perfect place to place a spell to track Green.

They hiked some distance away from the campus where human interference was thinnest. Polanzi asked if there were any manmade structures here and there and Hiro pointed out local places like some old farm that was now abandoned and overrun with foliage, a lumberyard that had fallen into disrepair and an old 'ghost town' that became a sort of hang out for campus kids just at the end of the year to celebrate another year gone. The Trainer took it all in with some thought and they continued to hike further and further away from civilisation.

“So how does the tracking spell actually work?" he asked.

Polanzi reached down his shirt and pulled out a small vial that hung on a silver chain around his neck. It was filled with a bit of white liquid that Hiro didn't even take a second to guess what it was. “We create a sort of web made from magical leylines. Each rune that we make is a crossroads between those marks. If Green crosses any line made from the runes, then we'll know."

“And the runes are made from his cum?"

“What?" exclaimed the Trainer, looking aghast but there was a sly edge to his lips, almost the shadow of a smile. “Of course not. We just drop a bit of his cum inside the rune so that it doesn't trip after anyone crosses it." He shook the vial. “This actually contains a mixture of my semen and his. That way, when he triggers the trap, he and I get pulled into a Battleground where everyone else stays safe."

“Uh-huh," answered Hiro sceptical. “So what? You fucked Green every day so that he could provide you with some of his cum just so you can hunt him down later?"

“Not every day. And he wasn't fucked… at least by anyone organic. He had to be hooked up to a machine that stimulated him into –"

“Okay! Okay!" Hiro exclaimed, holding up his hands. “I've heard enough. Thank you." Another reminder that the world within the Gym's Battleground was vastly different from the rest of the world. Any such act would be seen as a violation of basic human rights.

Then again, it's not like we're 'human'.

“Would you rather be human?"

Hiro lifted his left hand, palm facing up. For the briefest of moments, he imagined reaching that same hand into the depths of the dark ocean. Within the depths, Howl swam to the stained-glass platform that had been formed there from his time inheriting Grounds' power. That sole platform was like a beacon in the darkness; a blistering green pillar that cut through the murk. Howl touched the platform and reached up, gripping his hand. Together, they manifested a small crystal in his hand. It was thin, like a pencil, but the points were sharp.

The strain hadn't been as extensive as when he first practiced it. Howl was far more adept at manifesting the crystals. Perhaps because he was driven more instinctually and Hiro, when focusing on the crystal, often caught flashes of his time with Grounds and Clay within their own world that distracted him from creating the gem. Still, now to conjure such a small shard just left him slightly breathless when before he would've been sweating profusely and breathing hard.

“How's your training with the new power by the way?" Polanzi asked.

Hiro gripped the shard and skilfully flipped it between his fingers. “It's coming along. Still can't make anything more than talc though Howl has moved up to gypsum. Still, we can throw it around with enough force to cause damage so that's something." He glanced up at Polanzi who was examining a nearby tree. “Hey, is it true about the Diamond Disaster?"

The Trainer snickered. “Oh right. That thing. Yeah. It's true."

“So someone with Crystal Manifestation actually created a lot of diamonds, flooded the market with them and nearly destabilised the jewellery industry by devaluing diamonds?"

“Pretty much." Polanzi ran his hand over the bark before shaking his head. “Too noticeable here. Even a common hiker will see it." His gaze turned upwards. He glanced around, making sure no one else was watching. A stone platform rose up from the ground beneath him, slowly lifting him up several feet into the air. “Crystal Manifestation is really rare but a lot of people, given the choice, would rather not focus on it. I know a few people who have beaten the Earth Gym, got Crystal Manifestation and didn't really use it."

“I heard," Hiro rumbled with a roll of his eyes. “Takes a lot of time to master the various compositions of the different types of crystal to create. Everyone will always go for diamond but only few people have reached that far because it's so damn hard." He quickly corrected himself. “The process of getting to that level, I mean. Not the diamond. Well, the diamond too because it is one of the strongest substances on the planet."

“Yep," Polanzi said, drawing something on the trunk. “When someone gets up to the higher ranking types of crystals, they can do some real damage. Imagine fighting someone who can summon a huge-ass wall of fucking diamond right in front of you. I saw this recording once of someone creating a crystal lens that he could use to focus the sun's rays. Kind of like a huge magnifying glass and we're the ants that it's going to burn."

“Considering all the varied powers we have, it's a surprise that we don't have superheroes or villains," Hiro muttered.

The Trainer came hovering back down. “Agreements with Armistice and federal governments put a stopper on that. We've got memory wiping spells as well so if there are any incidents, we can wipe them from memories. Not to mention that since our fights tend to occur inside localised pocket dimensions, most of our conflicts aren't seen in the public eye."

Hiro inclined his head to the side. “Huh. Okay. So I just realised that if Green is here and he gets caught in your trap, you're the only one that's going to fight him, aren't you?"

“Pretty much." Polanzi eyed Hiro with a grave expression. “And don't even think about asking to sign up. This is a dangerous guy and a business of the Earth Gym." He ruffled Hiro's blonde hair. “And besides, can't have our most recent celebrity doing the dirty work, right?"

Hiro grumbled and pushed away the Trainer's hand. “Yeah, yeah. I get it."

“Great. Now is there anything that way that is uninhabited or where no one really goes?" Polanzi pointed to the east.

“Just more forest. Come on. I'll show you."

Howl tapped him mentally on the shoulder.

“You have no intention of just letting this go, do you?"

From what we heard, Green is way more dangerous than we first thought. Polanzi will need backup. If entire teams can be duped by him, what chance does he have? We need to help.

“No arguments here. Got a plan?"

Hell yeah.

******

“Whoa, hold up bro," Buck said, holding up his hands.

The stag had fully emerged and was lounging around in Brodie's bed, his legs partially dangling over the edge. His partner was sleeping off an all-nighter that he pulled studying for some assignment. It was a unique condition that Hiro noticed about being a Psyche and a Manifesto. The two individuals shared the same sort of space but they effectively had two different bodies. The damage inflicted on one did not reflect on the other. So while Brodie was mentally and physically exhausted, Buck was still raring to go.

“You want my lil' buddy to collect all of our cum and then go to each of the runes that Polanzi set up and mess with it so that we're all dragged into the fight if Green is here?" asked the stag.

“That's the gist of it," Hiro said. He sat on the edge of his own bed, feet dangling from the edge and with his arms crossed. “Polanzi wants to take care of Green by himself but from the reports, an entire team of Trainers was duped by this asshole. How can you expect him to fight the guy by himself?"

Tim, who seemed to like to occupy the bottom – and thus far unclaimed – bunk of Hiro's bed, poked his head out from underneath. “Well Matthew was one of the Trainers that fought alongside Grounds during the tournament. Not just any Trainer gets that honour, you know. He's stronger than the rest."

“Das is moot," Gabe said from where he stood with his back pressed up against the door. This was to prevent anyone from abruptly barging into their room. “Green is even more dangerous ze stronger you are. He can turn your own powers against you." He lifted his gaze towards Hiro. “But your plan has a flaw, friend Hiro. Ze more of us there are, the greater our chances of hurting one another. He could confuse us all and we could turn on one another."

“'xactly!" Buck exclaimed. “It ain't a good idea, bro. Bad, bad idea. I say we leave this to the professionals."

Hiro shook his head in frustration. “Look, doesn't anyone find it weird that Polanzi is here on his own? There were entire teams after this Green guy and Grounds sends one guy to us? Why?"

The rest of Baramon exchanged glances.

“That did strike me as odd," answered Tim. “Even with all his strength, I sincerely doubt that Matthew would approach this without any sort of backup."

“Maybe the other teams are just going to get here soon?" offered Buck.

Hiro made a slicing gesture with his right hand. “No. That's not it." He paused a second to consider his words. Howl instead asked to take over and he slipped back into the dark ocean while Howl's red eyes shone through his irises.

“Back at the Gym," said his Psyche. “When Hiro and I were sucking off Polanzi…"

You were sucking off Polanzi, Hiro corrected.

“Don't lie to yourself. You were in there too and you loved it."

“Hiro figured out that Polanzi was really after Grounds' approval," Howl continued. “We used that to make him cum really hard. Enough to turn him back into his human form and take him out of the game. He became a Trainer later than everyone else, he came from outside of the Gym and he was teased for being older than the other starting Trainers. He squealed like a little girl when Grounds chose to do some one-on-one sessions with him."

No he didn't.

“I'm exaggerating. Sue me."

Howl waved his hands through the air in circles. “We think this is just him trying to prove himself to Grounds. Go after Green by himself. No backup. Solo. I mean, don't you think Grounds or someone would've contact us well ahead of time to tell us we've got a potentially dangerous criminal in our midst? Instead, we get Polanzi showing up on our doorstep on the day that Green supposedly gives everyone else the slip!"

Buck winced loudly and glanced over to Gabriel. “Damn… Sorry Gabe. He makes a lot of sense. It was a bit of a bombshell you know…"

“Ja… It is suspect," muttered their team tactician. The German's eyes lifted to meet Howl's. “So you think this is just a bit of machismo? Polanzi flexing his muscles to convince Grounds to notice him?"

“Basically," Howl said with a shrug. “I don't know. Call it a hunch."

Gabe nodded gravely. “Now that you have pointed it out, it does make some sense. But I would rather not make any moves without ze Professor's advice."

As if reading his mind, a knock came to the door and Weed's voice asked them if he could enter. Gabe stepped aside and the professor, looking a little haggard, stepped inside. It looked like he too hadn't gotten any sleep.

“I was looking for all of you," Weed said wearily. “Why weren't you answering your phones?"

Gabe shut the door behind him. “Hiro called us into a meeting here because he suspects that our visiting Trainer had ulterior motives to hunting down Eustache Green."

Weed shut his eyes as if to say 'Not another thing on my shit-list'. He let out a soft sigh and reached for a cigarette but paused when he remembered he was in a college dorm and smoking was not allowed. “Damn…" he grumbled. “Well, what's this new development?"

Howl explained the theory both he and Hiro had come up with and Weed took it in stride.

“I was wondering that myself," rumbled their Sponsor. He was chewing on the edge of the cigarette without having it lit. “While Green's escape has been on the news, his trajectory was never made clear. It's also incredibly suspicious that an entire team was under his power for a whole week or that he managed to evade them for a week. Though I don't think it's really anything as sinister as Green and Polanzi working together."

“I never considered that…" muttered Howl.

“Could Polanzi be purposefully setting up weakened traps for Green to pass through?"

Maybe. He could be setting up these runes so that only he will be alerted to Green's presence when in reality, Green can just stroll right through the Battleground under everyone's noses!

“It's not that, trust me," said Weed with a shake of his head. “Polanzi is a good kid. I had coffee with him the other day."

Howl noticed all the smirks the others had. “What's so important about coffee?"

“It's the Prof's ability," snickered Brodie. “Interrogate. If he asks you a question in a private room with no one else looking, you will be forced to answer any question he asks truthfully. Can't lie to him that way, bro."

“Wow. That's handier than Hiro's Focus."

Hey!

The professor gave him a smirk. “Not really. Remember, no one is allowed to watch while I work so while the person I am interrogating cannot lie, it doesn't mean that I must tell the truth." Then his smile turned to a frown. “But I need to ask the right questions as well. If I don't ask, they don't have to volunteer information. I never asked about his true motivations behind chasing Green alone."

“Also ways around Interrogate," said Gabe. “Like if you believe a lie you are told. It is a lie in truth but to you it is true."

“Or you can give partial truths," rumbled Weed with increasing agitation. “Don't have to give me everything unless I ask." He shook his head. “Polanzi probably has me on file as well so he knew how to navigate past my ability. Damn… Stupid kid. He's going to get us all hurt." He looked to Howl. “Did you have some sort of plan to deal with this? I hope you weren't going to confront him?"

Howl shook his head. “Polanzi is too proud to admit anything and if we confront him, he'll just find another way to prove himself. I was going to ask Brodie to secretly sabotage the runes that we set up around campus. Get it to infuse it with all of our cum. That way, if Green triggers it, we're all dragged into the fight and we can be Polanzi's backup."

Weed nodded. “Good plan. I approve." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out what appeared to be six trading cards of some sort. “Here, each of you take one of these. They're Seals of True Sight. I only managed to make six due to the lack of time."

Howl leapt off the top bunk and headed over with the rest of his team. He picked one of the Seals. It appeared like any regular trading card. The back was a plain black with the emblem of the Battle Circle on it. The front had countless runes scribbled on it.

“What do they do?" he asked.

“Seals are basically one-shot spells that have been pre-recorded and just need to be fired off," said Weed. “All you need to do is just break them. Snap them in half or bite into them. Whatever. Just damage them and the spell will trigger. Once a Seal is broken, the spell within is released. These use the True Sight spell. It will ensure that any illusionary spells or abilities cast upon you are instantly negated."

“Problem," said Gabe. “We have to know that we're under the illusion."

Weed grinned savagely at him. “That's the best part about Green's powers. Confuse Bolt will make your body's commands rewire itself. It will be hard to break the Seal but it can still be done." He lifted a finger. “See, if you get hit by it, there will be a single pattern to how your body is rewired. If you want to move your right arm and move your left leg instead, it will stay like that until you are hit by Confuse Bolt again."

Tim's features brightened. “I get it! So we can figure out a pattern on how to move our bodies then!"

“Exactly. Dizzying Touch will be a little harder as you'll be hit by a sense of nausea but again, breaking the Seal shouldn't be too difficult."

Gabe regarded the Seals with narrowed eyes. “So Green's powers are illusionary in a sense."

“They would have to be or they would be far more dangerous." Weed pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and blew as if he was smoking. “Imagine, if you will, that Green had the power to rewire your entire nervous system. That would be disastrous. Your stomach is being told to pump blood through your veins while your heart is being told to filter your piss." He shook his head. “No. Green's power is entirely illusionary. He's just tricking your body to move things that it doesn't mean to when you decide to move."

Howl grinned and tucked the Seal into his wallet. “Thanks Prof. This'll come in handy."

“Not a problem. I'll see if I can make some more." He handed the spare card to Howl. “Give that one to Polanzi." Then he turned to Buck. “Wake Brodie and get him working on the runes. I expect you all to jack off and get your cum collected for the process. Howl, Hiro, run interference with Polanzi so he doesn't see what we're doing. Everyone clear?"

Howl saluted lazily. “Yessir."

*******

Hiro met Polanzi back at Weed's office the following day. The big Trainer was poring over the large map of the campus and the surrounding area on a desk in front of him. Large, big, red dots were placed all over the map and lines made that connected each of them. A vaguely hexagonal web was drawn from the dots and their connecting lines.

“That's the grid we drew yesterday?" he asked.

“It is," Polanzi grunted. “Still no catch."

He regarded the display. They had placed twelve runes. Six on the outer edges of the area and another six around the campus grounds. With if every point on the map had to be connected to every other point, it was a rather extensive web.

“Are you sure Green is even here?"

“He has to be." Polanzi slammed a fist into the table, causing it to shake and splinter slightly. “Where else would he go? His path led him directly here."

“Well… he does have the power to mess with people. Maybe he just tricked them?"

“No. I'm sure he's here."

Just from that brief exchange of words, Hiro knew his suspicions were right. Polanzi had tried to hide his true feelings and goals on capturing Green with activities during the morning but right now, they were shining through.

He really craves for Grounds' approval.

“Like a puppy doing tricks for his master for a treat."

I wonder who's fault that is. Polanzi or Grounds?

Remembering his purpose here, Hiro placed a hand against Polanzi's broad, thick shoulder. “Hey. Why don't we go for a hike? Maybe some fresh air will do you good?"

The Trainer sighed heavily and straightened. “Yeah. That does sound good. We can check on the wards as well."

“Sure. Make sure no one has tampered with them."

Everything was going to plan. As they headed out of the college and back into the wilderness, he gave Brodie and the others a quick text. The rest of Baramon would go to the wards a few minutes later, hitting the wards that Hiro and Polanzi had inspected a second later so that their tampering would go unnoticed.

Just like the previous day, Hiro followed the Trainer from one ward location to the other.

“You didn't have to come with me, you know," Polanzi said after he inspected one of the wards. “I'm a big boy. Magnum and I both remember where the wards were."

“Yeah but what if Green messed with your runes while you weren't looking? What if he set a trap? You wouldn't have any backup and you could've fallen into a trap of his."

The brunette Trainer laughed softly and when he directed his eyes back at Hiro, they were a golden brown. “We ain't some dainty princess that needs to be protected, kid. We can handle ourselves."

“Magnum?" Hiro asked. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Sorry, we haven't really had an opportunity to formally introduce ourselves. Hiro West." Howl momentarily came out to introduce himself as Magnum shook his hand.

“Mattie wasn't really able to sleep last night. Too busy stressing over where Green was. He would've said something snappy over that comment of yours so I took over to keep him from doing something shitty."

“Wow…" Hiro was a little moved by Polanzi's obsession. It was much like his own Focus ability. The Trainer wanted to catch Green so much that it came at the exclusion of all else. “He really wants to find Green, huh? Is this personal?"

“You could say that," rumbled Magnum as they moved towards the next rune. “Green offers an opportunity. You know that there have been other D-level criminals that've gone missing, right?"

“Right."

“They all follow sort of the same pattern. They get out, somehow have their powers enhanced and elude the Trainers, Armistice or government stooges that are send after them. If anyone else is helping them, we don't know about it. If we catch Green, we can learn who's been helping him. Plus, Mattie really wants to get fucked by Grounds again."

Hiro balked in shock. “W – What!?"

Magnum turned back to him with a sheepish grin. “Aw, I'm sure you already knew that with your ability, kid. Mattie still wants to get into the Sensei's good graces and he figures that by catching Green, he's at least get a good week or so of fucking in. At least once the Gym Season is over."

The Psyche's openness about the topic disarmed Hiro and he was left stammering, trying to find the right words. “I… Uh… erm… well… ah…"

Howl quickly took over. “Dude, is that really healthy? Grounds clearly doesn't want to be attached to anyone and sounds to me like you two really want something more than a casual relationship."

“You wouldn't understand," Magnum said with a shake of his head.

“Understand what? That you've felt all your life that you've needed to prove yourself? That you've convinced yourself that you don't need the approval of anyone else except for the guy that's at the top of the food chain?" Howl took a step forward and gently gripped Polanzi's arm. “Look, I get it. You've had to deal with the bullshit from others about how older you are than everyone else and the expectations that come with that. I get that. So you've told yourself that you don't care what they think as long as the big guy is the one that praises you. But you want to know what kind of person that breeds?"

“What?" growled the Psyche dangerously.

“Terrorists."

Even Hiro reeled at that announcement.

Howl! What the hell!?

“Let me finish."

Even Mangum was shocked at his statement and he took that moment to pounce.

“The kind of terrorist who doesn't care what everyone else thinks of them so long as 'God' approves. They convince themselves that what they're doing is right and will hurt anyone who gets in their way. They'll rush head long into some stupid act, possibly killing themselves and others around them all in an attempt to please the guy sitting on the goddamn golden throne."

Magnum snarled at him and stepped forward. They stood nose to nose. “I am not a goddamn terrorist."

“Explain to me how you're different?" countered Howl. “Here you are sneaking into our home, planting traps all over the place. How do we know you aren't in cahoots with Green? How do we know that you're here by yourself without any other backup just to pave the path for Green? I mean, you said it yourself, right? The moment that Green trips one of these traps, you and he get sucked into a Battleground. No one else will know what'll happen in there. You could just as easily meet up with him, laugh at the asshats you tricked into letting you wander in and then pretend you were beaten up while Green gets to put another few days ahead of the search party."

The Trainer scowled but his features softened and his eyes reverted to their natural brown colour. Matthew Polanzi was in control again. “You really think that?"

“You're not giving me any other reason not to."

Except, you know, Weed coaxed it out of him.

“He doesn't know that we know that."

Polanzi sighed and turned away, taking a few strides deeper into the forest. “Okay. I admit that it's a little… stupid. I just thought that this was my chance, you know?" He lifted a fist and shook it slightly. “Capture Green. Get some accolades from the Sensei. Get to hold him in my arms for a week or so."

“And then what?" Howl demanded. “You go back to being the puppy that desperately begs for his approval? I hate to bad mouth Con and Clay behind their backs but a relationship like that isn't healthy!"

“Then what would you do!?" bellowed the bear, spinning around and swinging his arm. Howl had to leap back to avoid being knocked over by the flailing appendage. “You don't understand! None of you competitors understand!" He pressed his hands against his chest. “This is as good as it gets for me! I'm a Trainer! If this were a fucking Pokemon game, I'd be one of those douches that stand out in the middle of the goddamn forest filled with bugs the size of your goddamn forearm that can shoot poison at your face smiling wanly and challenging you once because you just so happen to cross my line of sight. Then for the rest of the fucking game I'm just standing there!"

He grabbed the sides of his head and let out a frustrated cry. “You all get to progress. You get to grow stronger and become better but me? I'll still be standing in that same fucking spot while you beat the Elite Four over and over again and reach level 100!"

Hiro tapped in. “Technically it's the Pokemon that reach level 100. Their trainers…"

Both Howl and Polanzi gave him a foul look.

“I get it," Hiro said, holding up his hands. “You feel like you've plateaued. The only way you're ever going to get ahead is if Grounds goes down on one knee and asks you to marry him. But the chances of that happening are slim to none and you know it. So think of the future, Polanzi. Think about what will happen once Grounds fucks you for a week straight. What then? Will you go back to pining for his affections? End up exactly where you are right now?"

He shook his head grimly. “You're only plateauing because you're telling yourself that this is as good as it gets." He stepped forward and poked Polanzi's chest. “I'm going to tell you that isn't true. You're a Manifesto, goddamnit, and you've got a Psyche living within you. You've got these powers people could only dream of! Not only that, but you're a Trainer. I'm sure there are people all over the world that would want to be where you are right now."

Polanzi scoffed at him. “If only those very same people realised and understood exactly what that meant."

“Look, are you the best Trainer? No. We beat you. Guys who were barely a week old. There's no use beating your head against the same wall over and over again if you know you're not going to get anywhere with it. That's… that's insanity!"

“We're all a little insane." Polanzi turned his back to Hiro. “I left my family here on this side of the Battleground to be a Trainer. I've alienated myself from my fellow Trainers as I try to be the best. Every night, I go back to a lonely, empty house. I'm not even that fucking interesting! There's nothing I do as a hobby. All I do every day is train and lift weights! I keep trying to better myself as a Trainer!"

“Wow. It's kind of sad. He's aware of his failings but doesn't have the strength or the imagination to change himself to fix them."

I think it's because he's been this guy for so long. He's been craving Grounds' approval for so long that everything he's done has all been to please him. Whether or not it worked is debatable.

“We need to get him out of this funk."

Why, though? Aren't we being nosy? We're messing with someone's heart. We're only here to distract him enough so the others can mess with his runes. Speaking of which…

Hiro placed a hand on Polanzi's shoulder. “Look, maybe we should discuss this somewhere else? I'm kind of hungry and I think all this soul searching has made me a little peckish."

Polanzi dismissively agreed and they wandered back towards the mall. The Trainer's mood only soured with every step until it almost seemed like he was sleepwalking. When they got down to the food court, he didn't order anything while Hiro bough himself a sandwich. Any attempts at engagement only got the Trainer to mumble a reply that was barely audible or translatable.

The mood was bringing Hiro down as well who could not help but feel that it was his fault Polanzi was in such a state. Howl suggested an alternative and Hiro eagerly texted the one person he knew would be able to bring the Trainer back on track.

Ten minutes later, Pythagoras Weed pulled up a chair and sat beside them.

“What's with the long faces?" asked the professor. “Something happen?"

Polanzi shrugged his massive shoulders. “Just an existential crisis. Questioning my motivations and my future."

“Ah, so a typical Wednesday for me," chuckled Weed. “What's got you down?"

The bear mumbled something unintelligible so Weed had to turn to Hiro. After a short explanation, the professor in psychology nodded sagely.

“Ah the tried and true 'where am I going' conundrum. My bread and butter." He looked towards Polanzi with a smile. “I have just the solution for you. Sleep with Hiro."

Hiro instead recoiled in shock and choked on his sandwich. “W – what!?"

Weed leaned forward with a malicious grin on his face. His eyes were fixed on Polanzi alone. “My guess is that you've never once sucked off another guy. All your development has been EXP-exclusive. Which is quite admirable. You've taken the idea of using your power instead of just pumping it full of steroids. Am I right?"

Polanzi blushed and turned away slightly. “I've had a few scuffles but yeah, you'd be right there. Not as much EXP as you'd believe."

“And yet you got to fight in the Season alongside your Sensei. That's impressive." Weed nodded. “So that tells me that you're savouring your time with Grounds and saving yourself for that one brilliant moment again." He hiked a thumb at Hiro. “So you should sleep with Hiro here. Or rather, Howl. He can make your emotions run wild. But at the some time, once you come down from that sexual high, you'll know exactly where you want to be, who you want to be."

“Hang on!" Hiro exclaimed. “Don't I get a say in this?"

“What about me? He's the one whoring me out!"

“And Howl is opposed to this too!" Hiro continued.

“Well… not really. We just need to ask Taser. Oooh! Maybe we can get into a threeway!"

Hiro flinched.

“Wait, wait. That's not right. There's technically six of us. So it's a six-way!"

He groaned and plugged his ears with his hands. “Oh God…"

Weed laughed heartily. “Come now, Hiro. It's for therapeutic purposes."

“Therapeutic sex. Lovely."

His Sponsor chuckled softly and waved a hand absently through the air. “There's this old saying. When you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up. But at the same time, the higher you get, the farther you have to fall. The same can be said here." He clasped a hand against Polanzi's shoulder. “Our friend here needs to feel that sexual high, the overstimulation, that outrageous euphoria again. Then, when he comes down, he'll find himself with a rather uncanny clear perspective of where he wants to go. But this time without you two egging him on towards a certain direction."

“So this is my fault!?" Hiro exclaimed.

Weed gave him a pointed look. “Were you not the one who manipulated his emotions so that he would have the most mind-blowingly amazing orgasm he had ever experienced?"

The accusation was a powerful stab with a serrate knife right into Hiro's chest. The young man shrank back into his seat, clutching his chest bitterly. It seemed that the repercussions of using Howl's ability were quite evident now.

“Now hang on there," Polanzi said, holding up his hands. “This wasn't Howl's fault. I made my decisions well before he used his brain bending on me."

“Heh. Brain bending. That's cute."

Hey! You don't get off that easily!

“Wasn't it your idea to make Polanzi believe that he was going to make Daddy Grounds proud by fucking his 'golden child'?"

As much as Polanzi denied it, Hiro could sense how his influence had driven the Trainer a little further over the edge from adoration to obsession. To think that Polanzi had that victory stolen from him, that moment in Grounds' arms by the very wolf that had driven him mad with desire.

“I'm not sure that's such a good idea," mumbled the Trainer.

Hiro sighed. “I don't think there's any other way." Those words shocked Polanzi. “Look, Howl's power amplifies your emotions whatever they may be. Though they go away after you cum, the memories of those feelings don't. I think what you need right now is a bit of closure. Let yourself go a bit. Live out your fantasies even if it's only in fantasy and then see where we go from there."

Polanzi shook his head, visibly pulling away from Hiro. “I appreciate the sentiment, kid but –"

A loud scream erupted from one of the nearby stands. A grey-haired, bespectacled man appearing to be in his late sixties shoved past others in a line, screaming and flailing his limbs madly. He was babbling incoherently, clutching his head with both hands and his eyes wide. Without warning, he seized a free chair and swung it madly around him, showing surprising strength for someone with arms like a twig. Patrons of the mall scrambled away from him as he viciously frothed in the mouth.

“You're all fucking bastards!" he screamed. “Jealous of my talent! Locked me up! None of you appreciate me! What I've done!"

“Well isn't that convenient."

“Seriously?" Hiro snapped. “Another guy going nuts in the middle of the food court? What the hell?"

Weed suddenly went rigid. “What do you mean 'another guy'?"

“Yesterday just before we met with you. Some lady went nuts screaming about monsters."

“Monster?" Weed suddenly exchanged glances with Polanzi and both men's faces fell. “Women can't be turned into Psyches. Even when hit by the presence of a Psyche and infected with the power of a Malformed…"

“At most they will go insane," whispered Polanzi. “My wards haven't caught Green because he's already here!" He spun towards the raging lunatic.

Much to Hiro's confusion, the old man was flailing about madly, hands clawed. At the same time, the high-strung pants around his abdomen was showing a distinct lump around his crotch and the tip starting to darken with the flood of seed.

“Holy shit…" Hiro gasped. “Is he emerging? Is a Psyche coming?"

“No," Weed growled, immediately rising to his feet. “He's becoming a Malformed." He snapped his gaze towards Polanzi. The casual, laidback mirth was gone and his eyes burned with a laser-like intensity. “Can you set up a Battleground?"

“I barely know the guy!" Polanzi exclaimed. His cries were drowned by the screams of everyone around him as the older man wrenched a bolted down table and tossed it halfway across the circular food court. “And I never learned how to generate a Battleground on a whim!"

Weed plucked a cigarette from his pocket and quickly lit it. “I guess I'll have to do it then." He quickly shut his eyes.

Then he opened only his left one.

Hiro felt his heart skip a beat. The world around them instantly became a wash with a grey filter, muting colours and drowning all other sounds. Civilians vanished instantly and all that was left was the three of them and the raging, transforming man.

“Whoa… Weed just did that thing that Grounds did back at the Gym…"

Yeah… I didn't know anyone else apart from a Sensei could do that.

Weed rolled his shoulders. “I need a lot of concentration to keep this up. You two will have to subdue him without my help."

“Okay…" Hiro murmured, pulling off his black, leather jacket. “I guess we can do that. I mean he's just a frail old man, right?"

“Why did you have to say that?"

The man let out another scream, hands to his head. The cry echoed with three distinct voices all shouting at once. A loud ripping noise filled the Battleground. A big, throbbing, pink dick came bursting out of the man's shorts, as thick as his arm and pulsing with an angry red that it could've been mistaken for a rocket. Blasts of cum came pouring out of the member like a geyser but instead of pour straight down his throat, it splattered all over him. The white goo almost seemed sentient as it actively clung to his body, collecting in places and spreading.

A furious cry erupted from the man's lips as the goo rushed towards his right harm. The white substance bubbled and grew, spreading over his shoulders and seemingly inflating. Large, ripped muscles caressed by pulsating veins spread over his clothes, all made of the same opaque, white goo. From the shoulders, biceps spread out, consuming his fleshy upper arm in their mass and spreading larger, bigger over even his forearms. Huge muscles bulged out from the all-consuming limb until knuckles bashed against the tiled floor. Vicious claws tipped the ends of paws that were bigger than the man's head. The white substance turned a deep, black but still had the odd sheen of goo.

The partially formed Malformed roared and ripped another table right off its hinges on the ground and tossed it right at Weed. Before Hiro could react, a huge, brown bear was suddenly stepping in front of the professor and sweeping his paws up into the air. A wall of earth sprang up from the ground and intercepted the flying furniture.

“Whoa! You changed fast!" Hiro exclaimed.

“We got to when out in the field, kid," growled Magnum. “Howl, get your ass out here."

“Not a problem. Hiro. Watch the old man transform and become a hulky beast. You know you like it."

Hiro blushed as he reluctantly but excitedly turned his gaze back to the victim. He could not help but grow aroused as the goo continued to pump out of the man's dick, spreading more and more strange shiny 'suit' all over his frail body. He tried to focus on the man himself and swam through the guy's recent history from when he stood in line for some food, when he scowled at a few teenagers running through the hallways giggling, when he got his new glasses from the optometrist and even when his granddaughter dropped him off at the mall before leaving for her pedicure. But it was difficult as he his eyes watched the dark liquid gravitated towards the formed arm, adding more and more to its mass and allowing it to spread across the elder's body. As more mass was added, the black flesh grew. It spread from the man's shoulder across his chest, consuming the horrible white and pink striped shirt to reveal two massive shelves of pectorals that consumed his entire torso with their width alone.

Perhaps realising that it could not support itself further, the goo spread downwards. What should have been the man's thighs was consumed entirely by a row of rock-hard abdominals. His constantly pounding dick, growing to more than a foot in length, was shifted lower with a loud squishing noise. His remaining legs became the template for his limbs. Calves were consumed by the encroaching white goo, shifting to become a pair of muscled thighs with heavy grapefruit-sized balls swinging between them and a throbbing dick constantly pumping more and more to encourage the transformation.

From those thighs, the growth continued. The Malformed rose higher into the air, breaking the man's original 5'9'' height to become a towering 9 feet tall as its torso and legs became fully formed. A frail, human arm thrashed against the massive, black-coloured torso before it was hungrily consumed. Its fingers stretched out as if trying to reach for help or escape but soon it was consumed by a forearm alone. New fingers burst out from the black nub to be topped off by vicious claws that glimmered in the duller light of the Battleground.

The man threw his head back screaming with rage. The black goo launched from his broadened traps, seeping up his neck before launching upwards from all directions. It smothered the man's features, drowning out his cries and leaving his head with a bulbous, featureless sphere. More bubbling could be heard emanating from the creature's head. Suddenly, a wide, toothy grin split across the face and it quickly burst outwards into a broad ursine muzzle. The head broadened with a pair of circular ears topping the head. Two, huge, pure-white eyes spread open just above the muzzle which was split into an unnaturally wide grin with similarly unnatural white teeth.

White marking spread across the Malformed's chest appearing to be a bizarre spiral but with hardened, rough edges like a low polygon drawing of an ammonite shell.

Hiro realised that he was staring at a sort of clone of Eustache Green.

Holy shit!

“Damn that's disturbing," Howl muttered. “Oddly hot but disturbing."

Hiro realised that he had been so focused on the Malformed's transformation that he had completely missed his own transformation. Back in the dark ocean, he was looking through Howl's red eyes as the golden wolf wiped his own cum from his muzzle. Knowing that he would soon be needed, he dove further into the darkness, making for the green beacon of light that was the monolith to Grounds' power within them.

Howl crouched slightly, hunching his shoulders and ready to spring at a moment's notice. The Malformed screeched. The sound of three voices rang with its voice. Despite its overall bear-like appearance, it looked more like a silhouette or a shadow of a bear. Its flesh was smooth. Where there should have been individual strands of fur, there was just a smooth layer almost like latex wrapped around a fleshy, muscular body. Its skin gleamed and glistened with every movement and its bizarre, sadistic smile did not fade. As it opened its muzzle to reveal its pearly white teeth, a long, flexible tongue slipped out, lashing back and forth. It was unnaturally long, far longer than even its muzzle could contain and incredibly flexible.

“You all don't appreciate us! No one appreciates what we do!"

Howl snickered and glanced over to Magnum. “Wow. He sounds a little like you."

“You take that back!" sneered the bear.

The Malformed thrust its arms forward. The appendages stretched with lightning speed, lancing towards the duo. Howl leapt to the side while Magnum seized the paw and caught it.

“So his ability is to stretch his limbs," Howl said with a grin. “Good to know."

Magnum grunted and slammed the arm to the ground. Upon impact, the black limb exploded into a puddle of dark goo. “Actually, that's just something common with all Malformed." As he spoke, the liquid snaked back towards the body of the corrupted bear, quickly reforming the limb. “As Psyches and Manifestos, we have some degree of control over our physical forms. We change shape based on our personalities. But a Malformed isn't like that. It's a parasite. A symbiotic creature grown from the infectious emotions of one of us that latches onto a human, stimulates the growth of those very same emotions and then feeds off it to grow even stronger. But its shape is ultimately incomplete. Halfway between emerging fully as a Psyche and remaining trapped forever and unable to take form because the emotions, the traumatic experience is not his own."

A black arm thrust again towards Howl and the golden wolf ducked the blow. “So we're dealing with a goo monster!?"

Magnum snarled and thrust his paws into the air. Sharp spikes of earth erupted from the ground, piercing the Malformed's chest. The creature just chuckled and liquefied around the spike. The black fluid shuffled two feet to the left before its gooey form rose from the puddle and reformed back into its grinning, dark features.

“A goo monster we've got to fuck!"

Magnum roared and threw his fists forward. Boulders of earth the size of his head erupted from the ground and shot straight towards the goo-shaped bear. The creature became a wave of black fluid, shooting left and right, dodging the projectiles with an uncanny speed like watching a dark blur weave between a professional boxer's bunches. It immediately stopped in front of Magnum, reforming its features where it stood as a large, wall of darkness with a grinning ursine face right in front of the Trainer.

“I will show you our value!" roared the beast.

Its tongue snaked out like a viper, shoving itself directly into Magnum's muzzle. The stunned Trainer let out a choking noise and tried to push the Malformed away. With no discernible solid mass to speak of, Magnum's paws only sunk into the creature like he was battling tar.

“Where the hell is the guy's physical body!?" Howl roared. “Wasn't he a crazy old man just a moment ago? Don't tell me the Malformed liquefied him!"

Weed flailed in his direction. “Stop questioning the laws of reality and help him!"

“How!? If I hit the guy I'll just get stuck!"

Then try slicing instead of hitting.

On queue, Howl felt Hiro reach deep within their inner world for the power inherited from Grounds. A slight wave of weariness hit him as crystal shards formed around his palm. The clear, white crystals coalesced together like pieces of a puzzle. They formed a long, thin dagger with a crested wolf's head as the hilt.

“Wow. Why can't I ever make something this intricate?"

Because you're an unfocused, sex-crazed moron with the attention span of a goldfish?

“This coming from a guy with a transformation fetish."

Hey! My arousal comes from the idea of bettering myself and becoming bigger and stronger. You just want to fuck.

“So who is the better person here? The one who's happy with their body and is confident enough to use it to fuck other people or the guy who gets off only once he's become someone else?"

In his mind, he envisioned fireworks and a congratulatory parade trumpeting down the streets with the words 'Howl Wins' emblazoned on banners. Hiro was sitting in the corner looking grumpy.

He pushed aside the momentary distraction and charged at the Malformed. He swung the crystal dagger. The blade sliced cleanly through the intruding tongue, freeing Magnum who spat the remaining appendage onto the ground. Earthen spikes erupted from the ground around him, piercing the dark goo creature and pushing it back while freeing Magnum's arms.

Howl placed himself beside the bear as he pawed at the liquid that clung to his fur.

“You're not infected now, are you?" he asked. “Not going to go all 'no one appreciates me' and get covered in black goo?"

“Not how Malformed work," snarled Magnum. “Besides, established Psyches and Manifestos can't become Malformed. We're already fucked up as is."

The gooey monster slithered across the floor, reforming a sort distance away still with that terrifying grin on its face.

“How exactly are we meant to fuck that thing?" Howl demanded. “It's made of goo. If I stick my dick in there, it's just going to reform or reshape itself."

“The point isn't to stick your dick in it. The point is that you fuck the Malformed out of the person that it's infecting. Without a host, it will die." The both took a step back, positioning their bodies in front of Weed to protect the professor from the rampaging creature. “Malformed are singular beings formed from one emotion," Magnum continued. “If we pump more complex emotions into it, the person inside will be filled with other emotions that it cannot feed upon. And remember, we transfer EXP through our cum; EXP which is the culmination of the energies built from our conflict that is maintained under a Battleground."

Just sounds like another excuse to have sex.

“Are you seriously complaining about that?"

Howl reached for his crotch and massaged his balls. “So basically, I just gotta cum into it. Gottcha."

“Just try not to get smothered by it, okay?"

The Malformed screeched, charging forward recklessly. Its arms lashed out wildly like long black whips splattering blackened goo in all directions. Howl ducked one such swipe and dove for a nearby table. Using the furniture as cover, he flung the dagger in his paw at the Malformed. The black, shapeshifting creature didn't even flinch as its form visibly opened itself up to the flying projectile, forming a hole in its chest to let the blade just fly through.

Why did you think that was a good idea? Hiro accused.

“Bite me."

Magnum flung his arms into the air. Spears of rock and earth erupted from the ground trying to skewer the Malformed but it continued to slip and slide around each blow without a hint of slowing down. With that perpetual toothy grin on its face, it felt like the beast was mocking them.

“How the hell are we meant to pin that thing?" Howl cried.

“I don't know!" Magnum admitted.

Both Howl and even Weed from where he stood, turned towards the bear in surprise.

“You don't!?" he cried in unison.

Realising he had been caught with his paw in the cookie jar, Magnum glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “I've never fought a Malformed before."

That moment of distraction was when the Malformed pounced. It shot forward with the might and speed of a tsunami, slamming right into Magnum and driving the bear to the ground. Its gooey mass undulated all over the bear, pinning him. Even though its form was everchanging, it still weighed as much as a truck. Magnum struggled but could do little as the warped features of the grinning, black bear formed over his muzzle, long, flexible pink tongue sliding over his features and dripping saliva across his face.

“You will appreciate us! You will see us for what we are!"

“Magnum!" Howl cried.

Weed gnashed his teeth together and waved towards the wolf. “Howl. Hiro. Listen to me. Malformed are drive by a single emotion." He glanced to where Magnum was struggling not to drown under the mass of the Malformed. “This thing seems to be consumed by the thought of being underappreciated. You get what I'm saying?"

“No…" Howl admitted.

I do, Hiro said gravely. I'm taking control.

Hiro was back in the driver's seat, the golden wolf's eyes turning blue. He held his breath for a second, considering what he was going to do. He watched as Polanzi struggled, the black goo sliding into his muzzle and cutting off his air supply.

There was no room for doubt anymore.

“Hey! Ugly!" he shouted, placing his paws over his muzzle.

The Malformed stopped, turning to him with that vicious grin of his.

“You feel underappreciated, right? Well tell you what. Suck my dick and I'll worship you like a fucking god."

“Hiro! What the fuck are you doing!?"

Seducing a guy.

“Yeah, nothing gets a man to really appreciate another guy when he's willing to put aside his pride and suck off another guy."

The Malformed sneered at him.

Uh… that should've worked.

“Wait, wait. I think I get what you're trying to do. Let me take over."

I can handle this.

“No you can't. Your pillow talk and foreplay needs work. I'm taking control."

Howl once again regained control and cleared his throat. “I mean who wouldn't want you all over them? You're huge, bro! The light catches every inch of your muscles perfectly! You're a fucking sculpture come to life! What's best, you can make yourself bigger and better looking anytime you want!"

The grin on the black beast's face seemed to grow bigger and its salivations grew thicker. It slithered off Polanzi, leaving the Trainer gasping for breath and spluttering out blots of black goo. The corrupted monstrosity reformed a short distance away, rising to its full height and keeping every inch of its form sculpted into its bear-like shape.

“Yes," it hissed. “We are perfect. We are amazing. We are fucking sexy!"

Howl wavered a little but Hiro was right there to back him up. “Yeah. I'd love to have that sexy muzzle around my dick."

The Malformed lumbered forward. It's long, serpentine tongue slithered out, smearing its hot saliva all over Howl's sheathed dick. Electric passion burst from the contact and Howl moaned softly. Blood began rushing towards his dick and it seemed that even the Malformed was growing aroused. A large bulb appeared around the crotch of the gooey creature, one that was rapidly growing and rising into a thick, long shaft that quickly rivalled Howl's own. It held its shape just like the rest of the Malformed so that every vein, every pulsation and every inch was perfectly crafted and caught the light in such a way that it was deliciously enticing.

Howl had to fight the urge to bend down and lap up that delicious looking dick. He couldn't help but be a little curious what the length tasted like but he instead focused directly on the Malformed's features. It was a difficult task, however as that impossibly long pink tongue tumbled out of the drooling muzzle and led directly down towards his erect member, twisting and curling, tantalising his own sensitive flesh. He could feel that flexible member wrap around his dick like a constrictor, pulling and tugging as if to call him into that inviting abyss.

Hiro pulled him back, though, and kept him from bucking his hips. The Malformed, too instinctual to care, leaned down. Its hot breath wafted down onto Howl's cock. A splash of precum spurted out of the golden wolf's muzzle and splattered into the creature's gooey features. The clear fluids were readily absorbed into the black flesh, rippling across the surface like droplets on an oily surface.

“Did we do good?" crooned the Malformed. “Do we please?"

The words snapped Howl back to the present. He showed no hesitation as he reached forward and cupped the back of the monstrosity's head and pulled it towards his cock. “Yes. The cub did good. But you're not done yet. Suck my dick. Please me."

The wide grin only grew broader and heavy panting emerged from that wide muzzle. “We will please. We will be rewarded."

“Yeah. Nothing better than my cum in you. That's your ultimate reward."

Howl's Hysteria took maddening hold on the Malformed as it dove straight for the wolf's pointed dick and slurped and licked it all over. Knowing that had to keep up the illusion of being pleasured, Howl moaned and grunted. The level of acting was at a minimum, however, as the warm muzzle wrapped around his dick moved and twisted in ways no ordinary muzzle could. Despite the Malformed's head being smaller than his member, due to its malleable form, the creature was able to take every inch of him, its muzzle stretching until its nose was pressed up against his crotch. It slipped and slid up his length, sucking constantly as if his cock was placed within a pump.

He could feel more and more of his precum pouring out of his cock which was eagerly sucked up into the form of the creature. A wince escaped him as he could feel his balls eagerly churning ecstatically. That long, slick tongue slipped out from the creature's muzzle, lapping up at the base of his balls as if they sensed just how eager he was. He gasped at their warm touch. It slipped behind his heavy sack, curling behind his thighs and sliding between his butt cheeks.

For a moment survival instincts took over and he clenched his ass to prevent the creature's access. But as his iron-like glutes squashed the slick length, he could feel its warm length wiggle around towards his hole. As it brushed up against his pucker, he felt a shiver of desire run through his body. The Malformed sucked at his cock and that instinctively got him to relax. That gave the long tongue the opportunity to slide into him. A gasp left him and he thrust his hips into the jaws of the gooey Malformed while the warm, writhing length inside of him stimulated his insides.

Assaulted from two sides by overwhelming stimulus, Howl could only growl and grunt. He had to use both paws to grip that Malformed's muzzle and keep himself steady and the beast pinned there. Eyes squeezed shut, Howl's balls began to churn wildly, begging him to let go. As much as he wanted the experience to last, he knew time was of the essence. There was no telling how long Weed could maintain the Battleground.

He tilted his head back and gnashed his teeth together. A soft hiss left his muzzle just like his cum spilled forth from his cock. He as the Malformed eagerly gulped everything he could give. A sense of warmth and drowsiness washed over him, weakness overtaking his limbs. He whimpered softly as the slick tongue slipped out between his cheeks and the strong paws holding him up subsided. Molten hot splashes of some form of liquid smacked against his thighs. A glance down and he noticed that black seed was splashing out of the Malformed's huge dick in contrast to the white cum that he was pouring into it.

Strangely, the bestial creature was shrinking before him. As more and more inky black cum poured out of its dick, its form squeezed towards its dick. Thick veins crawled all over the dusky flesh, gravitating solely towards the rod springing from the hairless crotch. They seemed to suck out the mass all around them and pump them visibly towards the throbbing meat only to have it expelled outwards violently. Huge, bowling-ball sized muscles shrank down. An imposing height bubbled away and the long, toothy muzzle around Howl's dick slipped away from the base of his crotch inch by inch.

Strong, muscled arms as dark as midnight fell limply to the sides of the Malformed. As they shrank away, they gave way to pale, human flesh. The inky goo peeled away, leaving the form of the man beneath. The muzzle wrapped around Howl's dick did the same; just as it reached the tip of his dick, the yawning darkness peeled away to reveal the supple lips of the man beneath. In short order, a torso was revealed and those huge legs that had supported such an immense weight gurgled towards the enormous crotch where it constantly pumped out more and more of the black seed.

With the last of the Malformed shooting out of the long, black dick, all was left was the member itself. Howl fell down to one knee and regarded the cock with a look of longing as it too began to shrink. With every shot, the titanic length shrank an inch. The man beneath the Malformed stood there much like a zombie, his hips bucking madly and his eyes rolled into the back of his head while his body was assaulted by wild spasms with each orgasm. When the member came down to a respectable eight inches, the tip of the dick peeled away to reveal an uncut length that quickly shrank back towards the base where the last of the veins sucked the black flesh into the member and then shot it out as one final burst.

The poor man let out one last, unconscious gasp before crumbling to the ground.

Howl regarded the black pool beside him, watching it for any movement.

“Well done," Weed rumbled, striding forward. He had a cigarette in his mouth again. “That was one hell of a way to purify a human from a Malformed. Little slow but I'm sure it felt good."

“Slow?" Howl repeated. “How would you have done it?"

Weed shrugged. “Encased it in crystal for a minute and then jacked off. The Malformed only needs to come in contact with EXP purified down into cum form. You don't actually have to actively stick your dick in it."

“But Polanzi said –"

The Professor glanced over his shoulder to where the big bear was rubbing the back of his neck and gazing down sullenly. “Yes. Matthew Polanzi. The Trainer who came here alone without any backup under suspicious circumstances who had never dealt with a Malformed before and seems ill-equipped to handle this sort of situation." His eyes narrowed dangerously. “We'll need to have a talk, Mr. Polanzi." He pulled the cigarette from his lips and blew out a cloud of smoke. “In the meantime, we'll need to clean this mess up."

Howl glanced around. “Shouldn't the Battleground collapse soon?" Then he recalled he was still very much in wolf form. “Oh shit! I've got to change back or –"

“Easy there," Weed said, holding up his hand. “This is a specialised Battleground created by me not between the conflict between two Psyches and triggered by their Eyes of Ruin. It will collapse when I say it'll collapse. We can make our way to my office before then." He nodded towards the black gunk on the ground. “That'll vanish as well once I collapse it."

Howl inched away from the enormous puddle. The way the light played along the inky surface made it almost seem like it was moving. “Is it… alive…?"

“It's nothing more now than really concentrated EXP," grumbled Magnum. “It's way more potent than what you'd get from your normal battles. Feel free to lick it up. You earned it."

He instead inched away from it. His mind was filled with the terrible nightmare of lapping up the cum only to wake up in the middle of the night with black goo bursting out of every orifice to take over him like a black, corrupted suit. Strangely, Hiro found that arousing.

“I… uh… No thanks. I'm good," he muttered.

Weed nodded. “Probably for the best. You're still fairly young and that sort of power boost can seriously disorient you." His eyes turned towards the unconscious man lying a few feet away. “Magnum, kindly pick up our victim. I'll need to run an Amnesiac Spell on him. But not here. We'll need him clothed as well."

Howl glanced towards the man and frowned.

“Huh… Was he always…?"

Sexy? Provided Hiro.

“Uhm… Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this guy… old before?"

The man lying before them had a full head of crisp, blonde hair with only a few flecks of grey around his temples. There were some signs of crow's feet at the edges of his eyes but otherwise, every muscle on his body was taut, lean and quite well defined. At most, he looked to be in his early forties and one that had gone to the gym religiously since he was in his twenties.

“Side-effect of being inflicted with a Malformed," Magnum muttered. The big bear leaned down and hoisted the man over his massive shoulder. “Humans can't process EXP. Some EXP still remained within this guy even after you forced it out of him. Regardless, his body has to metabolise it somehow. He clearly isn't traumatised enough to emerge so instead, the EXP was spent rejuvenating him. Something that'll need to be explained."

“A reason why Malformed are outlawed and their creators punished severely," scowled Weed. “Green is either desperate… or crazy."

Hiro let out a soft, thoughtful hum deep within the Dark Ocean.

“Something wrong, bud?" Howl asked.

His looked towards the unconscious man through the broken surface of the ocean.

I don't know. But I think I know where Green is. Give me some time to mull it over.

*******

All of Baramon were gathered in Weed's office. It had not been simple to fix the recent victim's mind and history now that he looked thirty years younger. Ordinarily, such a case would be handed over to Battle Circle officials and members of the government or maybe even Armistice if the person in question was a very important public official. Thankfully, the man had been a grandfather with an ailing heart condition.

It was frightening how easily Weed made the call to his contacts to pronounce the man dead and to fabricate some story about a heart attack followed by a fire. One of his friends knew some body-replacement spells and they could easily create a duplicate that would fool and DNA or medical records. They could manifest that, place it in a morgue and inform the family.

As for the man…

“Take this second chance at life as a blessing," Weed said in his most sagely tone. He tried to act serene despite the turmoil and storm raging within his mind. “Your identity awaits. Try not to waste it."

“Yessir!" exclaimed the man. “Thank you so much!" He bowed respectfully towards Weed, pressing his hands together in a typical sign of prayer before bounding off out of the office.

Once the man was gone, Gabe turned towards Weed with one raised coppery eyebrow. “You posed as God, ja?"

“I call it the 'Second Lease Play'," Weed sighed, taking out another cigarette. “It's one of the most basic things done to victims of the Malformed especially when they have such a drastic change. Only way we can convince him that there's a werewolf and a werebear standing in the same room as the rest of us without going nuts. The Help employ it easily enough."

“The Help?" repeated Howl asked, still in his lupine form. “Isn't that a little derogatory?"

Weed had to keep reminding himself that Howl and Hiro were still very new to this world so they were unaware of the terminology.

“Not really. The Help are the enforcers of the Battle Circle. Think of them like the Men In Black for the Circle. They go around and 'clean house'. If they find something off, they'll do what they have to do to preserve the integrity of the Circle and the secrecy of our society. Speaking of which…"

He locked gazes with Polanzi.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call them right now?"

“I –" Magnum began.

“Save your words very carefully," growled Weed, nearly biting off the end of his cigarette. “I have little patience for someone who recklessly endangers my team and my domain."

“But –"

“Oh no. I'm not done." Weed crossed his arms furiously. “You came here by yourself, knowing full well the an escaped convict capable of creating Malformed and is a danger to everyone – Psyche, Manifesto and human alike – without backup, likely misleading the rest of your team all for the sake of personal glory. You've put my team in danger and aren't even fully equipped or trained to take on this kind of mission!"

He stormed over to the big bear. Despite being shorter, he jammed a finger into Polanzi's chest and drove the bear back.

“You're going to let me rant. You're going to sit there and take it." He pointed over his shoulder at Howl. “No, that was not a lewd comment, Howl. Not a word." Turning that finger towards Polanzi, he said, “And then you're going to tell me why I shouldn't turn you in and get you both chemically neutered by Armistice!"

“Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Primal asked gently.

His Psyche always had a way of calming him even if it was just with a few words.

He's a kid, Mal. He need to learn.

“Rant away. Just leave some of him intact so he can grow back."

“Let's start with the lying…" said Weed. “I admire that you actually came to me first and told me of the situation. If you had gone behind my back and tried to find Green without approaching me, I would probably have already ripped your head off! But you did come to me. I don't know if that was stupid or a sign of guilt. Either way, you still lied to me about the situation."

Polanzi didn't even get a chance to open his muzzle before Weed shot him such a terrifying look that he was fairly sure that the bear's balls dove up inside of him in fear.

“You told us that you had a team chasing him down. Is that the truth? Were you really sent as an advance team?"

It was his turn to talk so Polanzi ducked his head and let out a soft sigh. “There was a team chasing Green. I was part of that team. I tracked him here though the rest of my team said he was elsewhere. I recognised the illusion that Green had erected so I came here instead because that's where I thought he was. I thought it was my chance to prove to my Sensei that I'm above the rest."

“And let's go to the motivation behind this stunt, shall we?" Weed said. “You did all this. Put my team and countless others at risk all so that Grounds can stick his cock up your ass."

Howl stepped forward. “Now that's not fair, Prof –"

He held up a finger at the wolf, silencing him. “You do not want to get in the middle of this, Howl. Trust me." He never took his eyes off Polanzi. “When will you realise that Grounds is a Sensei. The only reason he turned his focus to you is because you were lagging behind. It wasn't because you were special. You were failing as a Trainer so he gave you extra attention so you can be motivated to get stronger and improve."

“That's not true!" Polanzi roared, his eyes blazing.

“Oh no?" Weed narrowed his gaze. “Think about it, cub. Really think about it. Why would a Sensei reward his best student with more training? Why would a sensible, responsible person spend more time on his strongest assets when there are clear weaknesses elsewhere? Tell me that."

The bear's features fell.

“I have no doubt that Grounds cares for you like his own son but you are one son out of thousands. Don't think for one moment that you're that special because of your relationship to him. I mean, let's deconstruct this for a moment." He lifted a finger. “Let's take away your desperation for Grounds' approval. Who are you left with, Polanzi? When was the last time you contacted your biological parents? Your uncle who took you in? Who are you?"

If he wasn't fuming, he would've felt the entire room go cold with the silence that followed. Polanzi's eyes fell and he could not answer.

“I thought so." Weed crossed his arms and took a step back. “Now, you have fifty words. Tell me why I shouldn't turn you into the Help."

“What reason do you think he'll give?" whispered Primal.

The best reason there is.

Polanzi's eyes flicked upwards, full of fire.

“Green is still a problem. I can help you catch him."

“There are five of us here," Weed countered. “All of us received the power from the Earth Gym. On top of that are the other Psyches and Manifestos living within the area. Green won't escape for long."

“But you need to minimise damage, right?" said Polanzi. “We've already set up the web. We can catch him. We know he's here because of that guy that got turned into a Malformed. Please. Let me help. I can't let all this just be for nothing."

Weed scoffed. “That's more than fifty words." His eyes narrowed. “So that's your plea? Please let me catch him so that all this deception, all this effort, wasn't for nothing?"

The big bear nodded.

“Good enough?"

Good enough.

“Alright. Fine." Weed visibly relaxed and leaned against his desk.

Baramon exchanged confused glances.

“Wait… That's it?" Taser asked. “You're just gonna let this fucker off? After all he did?"

Weed put out his cigarette in the nearby ashtray. He was already reaching for another one as he was starting to speak. “The paperwork will be a nightmare but I've got contacts that'll keep this under the radar. If it were more than one Malformed, then we'd be in trouble as that'd be very hard to track but just one person especially a formerly geriatric? Not too much trouble. Besides, Armistice isn't heartless. They'll see that the old man was given a new lease on life and won't argue so long as Green is caught. The government will bitch and moan because of the 'breach of protocol' but it'll be two on one and they won't be able to do anything.

“This all falls under the condition that we catch Green." He levelled his gaze once more at Polanzi. “So from this point on, full disclosure. Got it? No more secrets."

The bear held up his paw. “No more secrets," he agreed.

“Good. Now the issue is finding him…"

Howl cleared his throat though by the blue eyes he bore, it was actually Hiro. “I think I may know where he's at," said the golden wolf.

“You do?"

Hiro nodded. “Yeah. I think I do…"

******

Both victims were wearing glasses and both of them had recently been to an optometrist just outside of the mall before anything happened. Hiro couldn't pinpoint exactly what happened but that was the only similarity between them apart from the fact that they both went crazy at the food court. But it was something about the first victim that keyed him in to the issue.

The first victim was a woman. She began seeing 'monsters' everywhere.

Green was an expert with Glass Manipulation.

Armed with this knowledge, Hiro and Polanzi both headed into 'Eye C U' Eye Clinic just a few blocks away from the mall. Both were back to being human. They decided to approach just before closing time to avoid getting anyone caught in the crossfire should Green really be in the building.

“Huh… That's a little on the nose," Hiro muttered.

The building was a double storey structure with the clinic on the first floor and the second being what appeared to be an apartment complex. It explained how Green likely managed to avoid detection over the past few days from their web. The entire structure was painted a horrible lime green.

“Thanks, by the way," Polanzi muttered.

“For what?"

“For standing up for me against Weed."

“I didn't say anything."

“But you meant to. That's enough." The big man sighed softly and nodded towards the building. “Let's go in."

Hiro grabbed Polanzi's shoulder. “One thing." The Trainer stopped. “This shop isn't new. It's been here a while. If Green is here…"

Polanzi's features darkened. “That means he's got someone that helped him get into this place. Or he muscled his way in. Hostages?"

“I don't know. Just don't do anything rash."

Nodding, Polanzi turned and pushed open the door. A soft bell rang over them as they stepped into the air-conditioned shop. There were pillars filled with differing eyewear. The walls were decorated with pictures of people smiling and posing, all of them wearing glasses or in the cases where contacts were advertised, just plain smiling. The green colouration spread well into the interior as well. The carpets were an off-olive green. The walls were a bright, almost fluorescent green and the ceiling was a deep, emerald.

Given that it was so close to closing time, there was only one person behind the large, circular counter at the far end of the room. A tall, powerfully built man with dark hair of Asian descent with a closely trimmed beard. Though he wore a set of thick glasses, his dark eyes were sharp and fully alert. A strong, angular jaw poked out beneath his beard. Though he stood only about 5'9'', he possessed an enormous chest with black hairs poking out from the open collar of his striped shirt. The sleeves of said shirt were rolled up to reveal thick, corded arms that were coated in a thick layer of hair. Tattoos that looked like arcane runes were drawn beneath his hair, barely noticeable unless someone actively looked for them. The friendly smile he turned towards them seemed pleasant enough until they approached.

His smile wavered.

“Can I help you gentlemen?"

There was no hiding who this man was, not to Hiro's gaze. He reached for his phone and quickly hit the 'send' button to the message he had prepared just for this occasion.

“Yeah," Polanzi growled. His eyes roved the building to make sure there was no one else around. With it being so late, all civilians were just heading home and no one was poking around their little area. “How about you surrender peacefully and come back with us to Maine? I've got a cell waiting for you in the Garden."

Green's features hardened though his smile remained. The softness and welcoming nature of his voice faded, replaced by scorn. He straightened and placed his hands on his hips. “You know a whole group of guys just like you two chased me down once. I left them in a ditch flailing about like they were newborn babies. What makes you think that a Trainer and a new 'celebrity' could catch a master criminal like myself."

“Master criminal?" scoffed Polanzi. “You attacked a competing glass artist at their gallery showing with not tactics or subtly. You just charged in there, wailed about not being appreciated and stabbed the guy in the eye with a salad fork!"

Hiro jerked his head towards Polanzi. “Really? A salad fork?"

“He brought it all the way from home. Just to stab someone in the eye." See Hiro's look of disbelief, Polanzi just shrugged and said, “Yes. That's how it went down."

Green scowled and slammed his massive hands on the table. “My works were superior. That pompous ass' 'art' just consisted of glass made into geometric shapes stacked on top of one another! I created sculptures! My proportions were perfect! I played with light! Shape! The beautiful male figure! He just stacked a pyramid on top of another pyramid and made it look like an hourglass!" He placed his hand on his chest. “And he had the balls to tell me to try again!?"

Hiro shook his head in disgust. “So you're telling me you got jealous of someone else's success just because they use the same medium as you but took it in another direction. You're comparing yourself to someone else when you should celebrate someone else's success and improve your own."

“So you're saying I'm not good enough!?" barked the 'optometrist'.

“I'm saying that there's no point in shooting for a goal when you can't even be satisfied with your own achievements." He waved a hand in a broad gesture around himself. “There's only one person that you should aim to appease and that's yourself. What's that old saying? You're your own harshest critic? Seems to me you were unsatisfied with your own achievements so you took it out on someone else."

“Dude," Howl hissed softly. “Harsh."

It's the truth! He grew jealous of someone else's work and attention despite his own achievements and stabbed them!

“No, dude. I'm talking about the big bear standing right next to you."

Realising that his tunnel vision had once again gotten the better of him, Hiro glanced towards Polanzi whose furious expression had become solemn and introspective.

Green, however, was growing angrier and angrier. “You think I'm that shallow? You don't know me!"

Eyes once more at the escaped convict, Hiro plucked away at the layers of day-to-day work and pieced together Green's story. “You think so? Well let me give this a shot." He struck a confident stance, one hand on his hip and shifting all his weight to one leg. “Art is about capturing the real world into some form of medium. It isn't about abstract concepts and leaving things to the viewer's imagination. It's about telling them dead on exactly what they're meant to be seeing with no room for interpretation. You don't draw a dot on a blank canvas and let people make up their own theories on it based on your life or what you were going through at the time. A dot is a dot. That's all it is. That's why you chose to make your glass artworks anatomically correct, perfect representations of the male form. You told a story clearly with no doubt left. You worked hard for each sculpture.

“And you became popular. You got paid, you had some success. But more success was given to another guy. A guy who made very basic glass shapes and arranged them in different ways. One set of instillations of his was just a pyramid, a cube and a sphere all arranged differently. That was it. And yet he got way more coverage, more popularity and more success than you. It hurt that every artist gathering you went to, someone would always bring up his name first over yours. And it sucked."

Green's features softened slightly. “You understand…" Then they hardened again and he shook his head. “Damnit… You must be able to read my mind!"

“No. I can just focus on the minute details on your body that tell your story," said Hiro. He pointed towards Green's hands. “Callused hands. You worked really hard on your works. The images of people around this store. None of them are warped or abstract. They're people. Every time I mention that other guy, your lip curls upwards to the left in a snarl and I can see your eyes darting to the left towards that sculpture" – he pointed to a stack of glass pyramids that almost resembled a tree – “as if they remind you of his work."

Hiro lowered his gaze, looking up at Green from beneath his brows with a deep, menacing frown. “So you got jealous. You compared yourself to that guy and hurt him. All because he was more successful than you."

“He was no artist!" bellowed Green, slamming his fists into the table. The force of the blow caused two little craters in the lime green surface.

“Maybe to you." Hiro scowled and lifted his head. “But answer me this: Who's the one that's going to be remembered for their sculptures? The guy who was stabbed by a rival that thought his works were perceived to be better? Or the guy that's going around escaping from prisons and turning people into Malformed?"

The convict's eyes widened in shock as if coming to the same realisation. “Your words…" A cruel smile crossed his features almost akin to the same one the Malformed had worn. “… they were the same that he told me when he helped me get here."

That confirms it. Green had help.

“I'm never going to go back to being an artist." The rogue Manifesto took a step back away from the counter. This prompted both Polanzi and Hiro to advance a step forward as well. A bitter laugh left the man's lips. “Optometry. Fitting, don't you think? I've always been a master at Glass Manipulation. Knowing I can never return to the art scene without being spotted, I went into optometry. Perhaps it's racist but my parents would be proud. Asian parents always love it when their kids can tack on 'doctor' to their names."

Green straightened, spreading his arms. “But you know what? I'm something more than just an artist. More than an optometrist."

“You're a criminal," Polanzi sneered.

“I'm even more than that," chuckled the man. “I'm the guy that's going to fuck up your day. And your town." His grin grew broader. “You've probably got backup coming, right? Well tell them to stop."

Hiro gently tapped his pocket where his phone rested. “Why should we? You've got all the Psyches and Manifestos in Liberty onto you now. You maybe the criminal but you can't overpower us all."

“I wouldn't be concerned about them." Green smirked. “In the week since I've been here, I've seen a lot of business but my prices are cheap. Running a place next to a college and a mall means I get a few walk-ins. I've sold a few sunglasses, a few corrective lenses and even more 'ironic glasses'."

“Liberty does have an annoyingly large hipster population…"

Comes from being built atop a mall.

“Your point?"

Green rolled his eyes at him. “Come on. You managed to pick apart my history. Tell me. How did that lady go crazy? How did that old man become a Malformed?"

Hiro narrowed his gaze at Green, sifting through the muck and mire until he found…

“Oh shit…" he gasped.

“What?" Polanzi demanded. “What is it?"

“It's the glasses," he answered. “He's somehow infused his emotion into those glasses. On his command, people who are wearing those glasses will have his hatred and jealousy pour into them. They'll be 'infected' with his desire to be appreciated! It'll be enough to turn them all into Malformed!"

The Trainer beside him froze in terror. “How many…?"

“More than enough," chuckled Green with a smirk. “Sure, I've got a few women as clients as well and they can't turn into Malformed but they'll at least go crazy just like that mom that I tested my powers on. Those that do become Malformed will cause enough chaos that you boys will be cleaning up the mess for weeks."

He lifted a finger, waggling it at them. “So unless you want your entire campus to become a battleground, you'll let me walk."

“No way!" snapped Polanzi with a sneer.

Hiro raised a hand and placed it against the Trainer's chest. “No. He's right. He can activate those glasses remotely. But only from within a certain range. If we let him go, the only time the people will be at risk is if he comes within ten miles of them. At least that's what…" He inclined his head curiously. “… Vigilante told him_._"

“Vigilante?" repeated Polanzi. “Who's he?"

“He's the guy that organised for Green to set up his practice here. He's also the guy that got the prison inmates to give him books on optometry and organised it so that he could get officiall classes on the subject. He was rewarded with Ichor."

The Trainer shook his head in confusion. “What now?"

Green scoffed. “It's the antithesis to your precious Aether." He flexed a bicep. Fabric tore as his enormous muscle burst from the seams of his shirt. “Ichor makes us stronger. Stronger than even your precious contestants who've won against the Gym. Stronger than even your Sensei."

Polanzi made a slashing gesture through the air. “That's impossible!"

“Want to try it out, cub?"

Before Polanzi could say anything, Green suddenly vanished and the entire shop rattled. Hiro flinched and jerked to his left where the Trainer stood. There was a finger placed an inch from his forehead and Green held Polanzi's cheeks, pushing them together to squeeze his lips together, forcing them to pucker.

“What the hell!?"

Shit! He's fast!

Green was smirking cockily. “Bet you thought my growth was all because of my link with my Psyche, right? Nope. All the Ichor." Even with the tenuous grip, he flung Polanzi to the ground, sending the Trainer crashing into several stands for corrective lenses. “You should see when I go full on Psyche. We're huge."

His hand free, he flicked Hiro's forehead. The impact was immense and Hiro could've sworn his skull caved in a little. Just the small strike sent him hurtling back and crashing into the nearby wall. Stars flashed before his eyes and the pain was momentarily stalled by the sheer shock. Then it all came rushing in one blow and even Howl reeled from the onslaught. It was like being swept up in a tsunami of pain.

“I can see you're a dangerous kid," Green said, looking directly towards Hiro. “The longer I'm around you, the more you'll figure out some things you really shouldn't know about. So I'm going to head out now. Your friends aren't going to follow me. None of you are. Do and your entire town will either be swarming with Malformed and crazies or you're going to have a lot of emergences." He turned his back to the duo with a smirk. “And I'm sure Armistice and the government would just love to step in were that to happen."

“Damnit, Hiro!" bellowed Howl. “We can't let him get away!"

Hiro regained his senses and found himself buried halfway into a wooden cabinet. Heavy wooden spikes tore into his skin and the pain was unbearable. He could barely move. With the blood flowing out of his body instead of his cock, he couldn't find any way for his lupine form to emerge. Even Howl was fighting hard to emerge against the relentless currents of pain.

Polanzi grumbled and struggled to his feet. “Hold it right there, Green!"

“No!" Hiro shouted, lifting his head. “Polanzi, let it go!"

Green didn't stop moving towards the door.

“No!" the Trainer took a staggering step forward.

“Polanzi!" Hiro bellowed, catching the Trainer's attention. “Don't be like him. You're better than that. Think about what you're going to do instead of just rushing head long seeking approval!" When Polanzi started to turn away, he shouted, “Put aside your fucking emotions and think about it! You don't know what this Ichor has done to him! You don't know who this Vigilante is! You don't know how many people are infected! You strike him down now, you're going down exactly the same path that Weed told you to avoid!"

There… the Earth Trainer froze.

Green threw his head back and laughed. “Smart boy." He smirked towards Polanzi. “You could stand to learn from him, cub." Shrugging, he pushed open the door to the store, that soft ringing filing their ears again. “Oh and about your little web meant to trap me. Forget about it. It won't hold me." He cast one last cocky smirk over his shoulder. “Not everything can be won on a Battleground."

With those words, Green left the store, whistling a little tune.

Hiro found movement in his arms again and struggled for his phone. He quickly dialled the number. Brodie picked up.

“Don't follow him," he grimaced. “He's got hostages. The whole fucking town…"

“Shit Hiro… You sound terrible. We're coming to get you."

Polanzi stood shaking in fury. A few moments later, the rest of Baramon came rushing in. Weed looked the most horrified of them all as he rushed immediately towards Hiro and quickly checked him for injuries.

“Hold still," said their Sponsor softly. “Brodie, I'll need your help with healing Hiro." He whispered a few words under his breath and soft golden light flittered from his fingertips and into Hiro's injured body. The pain subsided like someone was applying a warm, wet cloth over his wounds. Brodie did the same only the light emanating from his fingertips was a soft green.

“What happened?" Gabe demanded.

Hiro gave a short summary of the events that transpired between sharp gasps and winces.

“You did ze right thing," said the German. “Good decision."

“But now Green is going to get away again!" Polanzi shouted. “Fuck!"

There, Hiro smirked. “No he's not." As strength began to return to him, he lifted his head. “I know exactly where he's going."

Stunned, Polanzi said, “Where?"

Hiro's voice turned grave and he regarded the rest of his team.

“Back to Maine."

*******

Weed could not have been prouder of Hiro. There was a degree of heroism that was building in the young wolf especially as he recognised the threat that Eustache Green posed. That he willingly put aside his studies to chase down the convict only further impressed Weed. Or perhaps it was because Hiro's target was now the escaped Glass Manipulator and just like the stubborn dog that he was, he was not going to give up the fight under any circumstances.

So now they were flying back to Maine. Polanzi had given warning to Grounds. Green was coming back their way for some reason that Hiro couldn't fully identify and the convict was juice dup on Ichor.

Ichor, he thought bitterly. That asshole actually started distributing it.

“We knew he'd do that eventually," Primal consoled. “I just never thought he'd do it so soon."

It wasn't soon. He's had this planned for a while. Green was incarcerated for almost a decade. He was trained in optometry for at least that long and the assets required to buy that plot of land to set up the home was there for a while.

“Green was a target for Ichor from the very start."

Ichor… the antithesis to Aether or so it was touted. Where Aether focused on controlled, personal growth, Ichor was an instantaneous burst of power that was both addictive and potentially damaging. As Weed saw it, the difference between the two was like the difference between taking the time to admire the scenery down a road and someone teleporting right to the finish line – a real Tortoise and the Hare scenario.

The plane shook slightly as they started their descent into Maine. He quickly pored over his notes on the comparison between Aether and Ichor. He was sure to take a seat away from the rest of his team. They couldn't see this. Not yet.

Aether prompted Psyche and Manifestos to follow a path of slow growth that allowed them to hone their skills and adapt a variety of elements and skills. Ichor on the other hand just had someone jump to optimum levels of strength for their current build. There was no room for growth or branching developments in Ichor. What you were currently is what was enhanced. Deviation was not possible.

It's the reason why we never released it to the Sensei as opposed to Aether…

“Good thing Ambrosia was lost or this'd be even more complicated. Imagine Ambrosia plus Ichor…"

Imagine all three of them together, Weed shuddered. Roach…

They lapsed into contemplative silence. A silence that was interrupted when his phone let out a soft ding. He reached for it and was surprised to find a text from none other than the Vigilante.

“I'm rather disappointed with his performance, you know," it read.

Weed texted back, scowling as he did so. “I think he did well. He assessed the situation and made the best of the situation given what little he knew. He even knew that Green is headed back to Maine."

“Which is where you're going now, isn't it? How long did you think you could hide that little bit of information from me?"

Weed had to fight to maintain his composure. The temptation was there to write something snarky and to accost the Vigilante for what he had done.

“Green is a risk. A risk to everything. He's letting his emotions get the better of him and putting everyone, the entire operation, in danger."

“True. It says a lot of my faith in you that I haven't mobilised anyone else to intercept him."

He wasn't sure if he should feel grateful or insulted.

“We'll bring him down," Weed tapped furiously. “With or without your help."

“You'll do it without. I set the stage. It's your show, Weed. Prove to me you're not a waste of my assets."

He almost crushed his phone in his hand even as his mind raced.

“You're not the only one with resources, West," he scowled softly. _ _

The flight attendant passed by and told him to switch off his phone and laptop. He gave her a clearly forced smile and did as she said. The next few minutes before landing and coming to a complete stop were agonising. He wanted to punch something. More, he wanted to find Green, fuck him until his cock was dry and then drag him by his shrivelled balls to the Vigilante.

But he had to keep his cool.

His team didn't know any of this. And they wouldn't know if he had anything to say about it.

When at last the seatbelt sign went off, he packed his belongings and rushed out of the plane alongside his team. With the Gym Season still in full swing in Maine, there was a lot of people that could get hurt once Green came back and that was an incredible risk. People were still filtering in to have their shot at the Earth Gym or to watch their favourite teams compete. It wasn't too late to sign up as a late entry, after all. Everyone in Maine was in danger of falling prey to Green. Considering the convict had no qualms with whom he turned into a Malformed, he was a danger to everyone, Psyche, Manifesto or human.

But as Weed said to the Vigilante, he was not without resources.

As he headed up to the baggage carousel alongside his team, he caught of Tim's back. He told his student and Tim headed over to fetch it. Given his immense arm strength, he hoisted it off the carousel and swung it around like one would a baseball bat. Unfortunately, there was a huge young man standing right next to him that caught the brunt of the blow.

“Hey! What the fuck, bro!?" shouted the titan. The towering human had a clear bodybuilder build and quite a few piercings. There was one silver ring in each ear, one in each eyebrow and one on his lower lip. Clearly showing pride in his body despite the general cool weather of Maine, the man was dressed in long olive pants that covered his thick, muscled legs that looked more like packaged hams about to burst from their wrapping. A black and red muscle shirt hung around his massive torso with the words 'Big Tits' drawn across his pectorals which were so huge that gap between the words was about as wide as Weed's arm was long. Red bands hung from the waistband of his pants with the name 'Willard' drawn in white.

Weed flinched when he noticed Tim's eyes switch to their orangey colour as Taser took over. “Thought I saw a fly. Turns out it was just your fat ass."

There was a loud smacking noise. It was Hiro facepalming himself.

“Jesus Christ… not five minutes off the plane…" muttered the blonde-haired student.

“Whatchoo say!?" barked the goliath.

Two other individuals came rushing out of the crowd as people began giving the two a wide berth. These two newcomers couldn't be more different. One was lean, athletic and dressed rather smartly in a pair of blue-grey slacks, a dark blue vest that did nothing to hide every inch of his sculpted body and beneath that was a white, long sleeve shirt. A pair of glasses sat on his sharp, nose with keen ocean-blue eyes shining through. The other was a big, burly powerlifter with immense arms and a bit of a gut. Despite this, it was clear to see the outline of his abdominals and pectorals through the orange sleeveless hoodie he wore. A white shirt wrapped around his beefy arms and though his features were a little rounder, the resemblance between all three men was clear as they all shared the same dark brown hair and ocean-blue eyes.

“What's going on here, Willard?" asked the leaner of the three.

“This asshole just flung his fucking bag at my face!" shouted Willard, gesturing at Tim. He grinned savagely and crossed his huge arms.

“What? Can't face little old me just by yourself?" scowled Tim. “Got to bring in your pep squad?"

“I never fight without my brothers. This is Walter" – he gestured to his right where the bespectacled man stood – “and Willis." He nodded towards the stockier of the brothers.

“Willard? Walter? Willis? Aren't they –?" began Primal.

Hush, Primal. I want to see how this turns out.

Gabe came striding in, flanking Taser with his trench coat fluttering behind him an almost heroic fashion. Buck was there a moment later as well, taking over Brodie's body and sporting a cocky grin.

“Looks like a three-on-three thing going on here," said the disguised Stag. “Unless you wanna join us, Hiro?"

Suddenly, all three men started in surprise and followed Buck's gaze to where Hiro was standing.

Ever-focused, Hiro shook his head and waved absently at them. “No thanks. I'll let your testosterone poison your brains." He hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “I'm going to focus on the real reason we're here, thanks."

There was a sudden wash of cold and all the people around them vanished. Every colour became muted, a grey film falling upon them all. Weed smiled inwardly to himself.

“The hunt and capture of one Eustache Green," came a booming rumble. All eyes turned to an enormous, furry beast that came padding over with every footstep from his huge, furry paws echoing in the sudden appearance of the Battleground. A broad smile came across the masculine, lupine muzzle covered in a thick, brown beard. Ice-blue eyes fell upon Weed and shimmered with recognition and familiarity.

“Nice to see you again, Avery."

Weed turned to the gargantuan hulk that towered over them all at an incredible 10 feet tall. Built even bigger than the average bodybuilder, the massive Psyche was covered in soft Peru Brown fur with a more beige colouration over his torso that only served to highlight his mountainous abdominals and pectorals. Dark brown hair sprang from his armpits to match the colouration of his beard. An enormous dick, fresh from having been used in the Psyche's emergence, did nothing to hide the tower of similarly brown fur that sprang from his crotch. Perhaps to match his son's glasses, William Canem had a pair of square glasses sitting atop his muzzle.

The huge wolf with the unusually long, dark brown ears held out a paw in a sign of peace and familiarity. Given his side, Weed could only grab one finger and shake it. Even then, the roadmap that were the veins all over the titan's arms flexed and pumped with the simple motion.

“Good to see you too, William. Or am I talking to Wolfie?"

“Wolfie for now, Avery. Though William says 'hi' too."

“Emerging to reel in your sons?"

“Just Willard and Wulfsige." The wolf threw a pointed look at the biggest of his sons. “Boys, these are the guys that I said we were here to pick up. I'm sure you know them. Or at least Hiro and Howl West."

Willard let out a startled cry. “Holy fucking shit! You're really Hiro West?" He came bounding over straight towards Hiro who flinched upon the giant's approach. “Thank you man! You're such an inspiration!" Even without asking, he seized Hiro's hand and shook it wildly.

“Uh… okay… Your welcome?"

Walter strode over, adjusting his glasses smartly. “No one of the Wolf Clan has ever taken up the Gym Season… since… well, ever due to the Wolf Clan Uprising. But seeing you out there, winning against Cornelius Grounds." He beamed brightly and placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder, likely to check if Willard's vigorous greeting had ripped it out of its socket. “You inspired us to finally take the plunge and compete ourselves!"

“You're all Wolf Clan?" Hiro asked, stunned. “And you competed?"

“Yeah! And fucking won too!" Willard exclaimed loudly, his voice shaking the entire Battleground. “I mean, we always register every year, you know, but never actually compete." His mood fell and he glanced ashamedly away. “But seeing how we're all Wolf Clan and dad is both our Sponsor and fourth member…"

“Hey!" Taser shouted. “Is that even legal?"

“Ja, it is," Gabe answered with a shrug. “Nowhere in ze rules says that a Sponsor can't both be a competitor and a Sponsor. Is why Sponsors also receive the Gym Power if ze team wins. Just in case they wish to join later on."

The hidden tiger scowled at the German. “Don't make me look bad in front of these guys."

“Oh man!" Willard exclaimed. “Can't believe we're actually picking you guys up! I mean, we saw your fight but we didn't know what you guys looked like in human form! Sorry if we messed you up."

“Messed us up!?" hollered Taser. It seemed that the two were competing on who could be the loudest. Weed honestly expected much worse with two overly macho men in the room. “As if!"

Glancing towards Wolfie, Weed dropped his voice only slightly. His words were masked by Willard and Taser's shouting competition.

“Thanks for understanding," he said softly. “Eustache Green is jacked up…"

“On Ichor," Wolfie answered, his features growing serious. “I know. You're lucky that my boys and I were still around."

He smiled at his friend. “I know you. You don't leave until the closing ceremony. Don't know how you manage to run your company and attend all these competitions."

Wolfie grinned at him slyly. “We've got offices in every state a Gym opens up in. Get to travel to other offices every month, check up on things, watch hot guys fuck each other in front of thousands of crowd. It's all the same." He puffed out his broad chest proudly. “Though I like to say that this year was very different. We finally competed."

“And Hiro and Howl really helped?"

“You bet!" Wolfie chuckled, each rumble sounding like a rolling thunderstorm. “The moment Willard saw a wolf out there fighting alongside Grounds and winning. Well, you know he can get fired up."

“Indeed." Weed glanced over to where Taser and Willard were practically nose to nose, shouting challenges at one another. Walter was trying to pull his brother away while Willis, ever the shy one, stood off to the side, toying with his phone. “I'm sorry for dragging you into this though…"

Wolfie's features similarly darkened. “You play a dangerous game, Avery. You know I never approved of this."

“I know. I'm putting you at risk for helping out. But Vigilante would have known about you the moment you won against Grounds. You've got nothing to lose."

The big wolf puffed out his cheeks and let out a breath slowly, his beard rustling with the sudden exhalation. “I suppose you're right. So any idea what we're up against?"

“Hiro has the details and Gabe the battle analysis. Let's go meet Grounds first. Then let's –"

Suddenly, the ground itself heaved. The grey field around them cracked like glass and abruptly shattered like glass. Colour returned to normalcy. The people around the terminal reappeared… and suddenly became aware that the group of boys that had been so close to fighting one another had moved… and then there was a ten foot wolf standing amongst them with a huge, dripping dick longer than most of them were tall.

“What the hell!?" Primal cried.

Weed didn't get a second to reply as the earth shook again. A terrible rumbling filled the air. Tiles beneath him cracked and shattered. The ceiling groaned in protest. The ground undulated, visibly producing waves that knocked people off their feet. Weed stumbled as he was hurled into the air. Wolfie immediately caught him in those huge arms of his.

“My Battleground was cancelled…" Wolfie gasped. “That's…"

He locked gazes with Weed and they both shared the same though.

“Grounds is in trouble."