Metas Chp.2 First Forays into Fights
#2 of Metas
Second part, I feel like I've rushed into the action a bit but therer is a long story planned out for this and I didn't want to drag it out. However, tell me if this is going too fast, if the chapters are too short and what's wrong with my writing style etc. Also, just a pre-emptive warning that whilst this seems very Wilbur and Terrence centric, new characters will be introduced gradually, worry not.
A thousand mammals saw themselves transcend the laws of physics, wrapped in ethereal silks a new seed of understanding etched into each mind. Every scrap of knowledge pertinent to the person. Then they all woke up. The sun was rising, a new dawn; a new age.
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The small credit union bank clerk was calculating how much money to call in from the HQ to ensure sufficient funds for any withdrawals that will inevitably follow payday. There weren't many customers around, credit unions didn't rely so much on lending out of finance but more so on having a portfolio of investments and offering transaction services for their customers and their firm's associates. This however, didn't mean that there was no money in the vault. But the vault was secure and its titanium doors were just behind the clerks for all to see, to demonstrate the safety of their honourable establishment. A couple of alpacas and an elderly buffalo were milling around to be attended to. The automatic doors opened, she saw with the corner of her eye, and a cheetah dressed in... some sort of eccentric costume waltzed in. It was akin to tightly wrapped robes, quite monkish barring their intricate wavy patterns. His face was covered by a glistening red scarf, obscuring his visage which set off many alarms in the clerk's head. The cheetah unabashedly approached.
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"A peculiar scene met the officers investigating a distress call cut-short from an ice cream parlour. Now at the humble ma and pa locale our reporters and a sizable crowd of onlookers are staring baffled by what they are seeing. A you can see, the whole store is covered in ice on the inside. Each and every customer is encased in an icy cacoon. Yes, viewers, as unbelievable as it is, you can see on both our live feed as well as on a myriad posts on social media that thi-"
*click*
"-ore interestingly, a power outage has left 20th to 23rd districts without any lighting or communications that didn't have a battery charged and ready, and many testimonies in and around the neighbourhood attest having witnessed several lightning bolts arcing from the sky, yes a clear sky, and dancings aroun-"
*click*
"-ach and every Furrari at the dealer's is missing, though no one is bothering to ask how that's possible given the vast sinkhole and a tunnel leading from the very display room under to the sewers which have been paved with a fresh-"
"What the actualy hell is happening?" Wilbur muttered to himself. He was standing in front of his TV trying to absorb what the various news were communicating. Still partly dressed in his work clothes
*click*
"-t was unlike anything I've ever seen before," said a teenage boy, "those two were fighting with increadible powers! One was flinging fire and the other kept slithering away whilst changing shape and turning into a dragon to return the fire!" That at least explained the buildings with singed bricks behind him. "The little ermine started tearing into that morphing mofo when that croc threatened to mutilate us if we didn't hand over our valuables. Now, I don't know where they flew off to but I hope it-"
*click*
With the TV off, Wilbur could sit down on his somewhat worn down armchair, wanting to comprehend what is happening but his mind would not let him focus on any single scrap of info. Instead, his attention kept turning back to his morning experience. Holding up his paw, he focused on his newfound inner energy reserves and a gentle tingling encompassed his arm, followed by a soft yet firm cloth materialising atop him fur. Grey and turqoise in colour, it replaced his mundane clothing with a one piece uniform with a comfy necktight collar. It reached to his paws but left his digits free and clung to his skin so seemlessly he'd fail to notice it was on him if he couldn't see it. A mask spanned the whole length of his muzzle and reached as high up as his ears, keeping his identity somewhat more secure. His whole body was oozing this thin layer of luminescent turqoise mist that drifted off of him when his limbs moved only to fade away, leaving a short lived trail of radience behind him. He'd done this just this morning, instinctively, and it was on his mind for the past several hours. Looking out of the window deep in thought, an idea lurked into his head and he quickly pulled up the most popular live feeds on social media.
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Annabelle, was just minding her own business like any other fur would as she was walking down the street towards her favourite spa, yoga and meditation centre. The antelope's hooves clapped on the pavement quietly as she walked. Dressed in somewhat old-fashioned hippie clothing, a loose cotton top under a brown faux-leather vest with dangling strips, bell bottomed jeans and an impressive collection of beaded necklaces. She was uncharacteristically worried, her typically blasé attitude replaced by a sense of foreboding with regards to her... gift...
It was one thing to feel an ever greater connection with her true metaphysical avatar, quite another to-
A screech of tyres brought her out of her reveries back to reality. Swirving around to catch what was happening, her eyes glazed over the street and found a toppled car with a family of foxes trapped inside. Running over, she used her hooves to break the window -with suprising ease- and helped each one crawl out. Before she could ask however what happened, more noises indicating crashes resounded behind her, accompanied by terrified screams. People started running away from the centre of the event. But a sense of an immense aural presence drew her towards the source of the commotion. She could sense all the emotions in the vacinity, mostly panic, almost overwhelming if not for her ability to gradually ignore it more and more but just behind the corner she saw something that made her pause. A zebra garbed in a tacky black and white costume, oh the irony, floated in mid air a solid 20 feet above ground surrounded by similarly floating boxes of cargo. Those in turn seemed to be flying out of an overturned truck of their own volition, but it was not difficult to guess that he was behind it. A couple of cops exited their automobile and opened fire immediately. Not in accordance with procedure but in all fairness this situation may have been beyond the scope of current laws. But not only did the bullets cause minimal harm, merely making the perp flinch and grab at where he was shot, he quickly formed a translucent bubble around himself which the bullets hit with a ring only to bounce off and fall to the ground.
More concerningly, the zebra stretched out his arm and flicked his wrist causing the law enforcment vehicle to roll onto the side, falling onto the legs of the tiger officer who didn't quite jump out of the way on time. His pain permeated the air around Annabelle whose new senses could induce great sympathy in her. She would stand this no longer, and before the psychic zebra could assault the officers further, a golden glow erupted around her, bathing her in warmth and tranquility, when the light faded, the onlookers, many of whom were also filming and streaming this paranormal event, could see not only that her clothing had merged with her now paler vest, but that it had expanded down to her shins like a gown and that Annabelle herself was encased inside a materialised, glittering white and translucent spiritual avatar a good two and a half times her size. Without a second thought she levitated herself, with again suprising ease, to the zebra. His concentration broken, the forcefield disappeared for a second and Annabelle could swing her fist, her avatar acting in sync with her and the zebra was smacked right into a nearby building side. All the cargo boxes fell to the ground, no longer suspended by his mind. Yet despite the force of the impact, just as before with the bullets, the zebra shook it off and his ire turned towards Annabelle. Three boxes were launched in her direction and slammed into her (or rather her avatar) and sent her tumbling down tot he ground. Of course, she wasn't hurt; she was just as resistant to damage as her foe. They went toe to toe for several minutes, but neither could get the upper hand in a fair fight, And so, the zebra decided to fight dirty, he flung debris, collateral damage of their fight, at the civilians. Acting out on pure altruistic instinct, Annabelle dove to take the hit, protecting the remaining gaping innocents. This gave most of them the idea to start fleeing. But the zebra was persistent, he raised half a car and sent it flying on one direction, only to shortly pick up scattered chairs and tables from an outdoor cafe and attack citizens on the other side of the street. Even as Annabelle could catch or block most of these underhanded plays, whilst she was trying to stop a car that was about to slam into some teenagers, that maniac picked up the tipped truck he was initially robbing, though that took some time and effort and concentration on his part, and heaved it down the opposite end of the street. Annabelle could only look on helplessly as the truck was going to slam into a blocked junction where an impromptu news team had set up, with the driver still inside the truck.
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Terrence was also watching apprehensively as the news network presented a live feed of a 'super fight' in a distant part of the city. It was inconcieveable for both him and his parents, although for differing reasons. Unlike Amanda and James whom could not fathom that beings with literal super powers were terrorising their city, Terrence was baffled that there were others like him and mighty displeased that so many would immediately turn to perpetrating acts of evil.
"The two unidentified individuals seem to be evenly matched but from what we have been able to gather, it is the zebra male who is the initiator of this violence." the snow leopardess reported, as a zebra and an antelope were duking it out behind her further down the street. The neighbourhood was a mess; all the cars were upturned and each building bore damages. "Even as I speak, he is as you can see trying to gain the upper hand by putting the nearby citizenry at risk! He's willing to- OH LORD NO!" A truck was flung in thier direction, and it was clear to any observer that the reporting team were going to get crushed by the projectile. But much to everyone's confucion and relief, the struck stopped mid air. It was supported by two massive disconnected, opaque turqoise paws that held it suspended. A lean but unimpressive figure of a wolf dressed in a tight 'uniform-onesie' was levitating beside the truck. He seemed to be engrossed in a loud conversation with the driver. The polar bear inside the truck opened the door before falling out, though that appeared to have been planned as the wolf did not panic when his attention shifted from the truck to the falling ursine. The truck being discarded to the side, where it hurt no one, the wolf dove to catch the portly man, and gently brought him down to the ground. Turning to the crowd, he ordered, "Everyone, stay back!". He sounded quite young.
And then he was off. Terrence was mesmerised by the newcomer's radiant lights as a short aquamarine trail followed curtly behind the wolf. His flight being faster than mere levitation had him cross the distence in no time. He raised his hand and thanks to the camera's zoom all could see it eminate a teal miasma and a massive hammer materialised above his head. It was of the same sea-blue shade as the paws that had caught the truck; it was opaque, made of an alien solid material and gave of an infinitesimal sheen of light. The wolf swung his arm and the hammer followed suit, smashing into the zebra's forcefield. But it pushed the striped man back a little. Seeing this, the wolf raised both his arms and the hammer got larger so that when he swung it, the zebra was pushed down to the ground; yet the protective bubble held. In the bat of an eye, the zebra held out his hoof and the wolf was smashed into a nearby wall. The zebra swung his arm sideways and the wolf followed suit into an opposing building, each time causing a crack in the brick façade. The zebra tried doing that repeatedly, but soon, the wolf conjured an egg-shaped cacoon around himself which protected him from harm. Sensing an opportunity when the zebra stopped, the wolf threw a punch -literaly- and a head-sized fist flew to meet the zebra, who again had enough reflexes to block even as the audience could barely keep up. Still, in that brief moment, the wolf took an airborne position above the zebra and constructed four support beams around his foe atop of which a huge slab rested with a conical point facing down. This creations soon plumetted down and struck the zebra's forcefield with immense power. It quickly rose and repeated its course. Each strike required concetration on the zebra's part and did not allow him enough time to counter whilst the wolf seemed to have been warming up, for the massive pneumatic hammer increased its pace continuously draining the villain. Finally, the hammer's point started glowing brightly before dropping once more. This time, when it hit its mark, a burst of light made everyone cover their eyes and dozens of blue-green shard fell around their feet before disintegrating and a short-lived mist enveloped the area surrounding the zebra. When it cleared up, the psychopath was down on his knees breathing heavily but the wolf would not give him the benefit of the doubt; he bound the zebra in chains of his own making.
Terrence was in awe of the display of power that he had just witnessed (albeit via TV, not in first person) and could not unglue his eyes away from the screen. The wolf who wielded those magical constructs and the spiritual antelope flew up to a police vehicle where a buffalo in uniform was helping his tiger partner. Unfortunately, the tiger's leg was bust, bent at a sickening angle and bleeding where a portion of a bone was protruding. The shaking of the camera and the fact that the image was getting closer to the scene indicated that the news crew was walking up to the... heroes? 'Is that what they are now?' thought Terrence.
As they approached, the equipment, and hence the audience, could start picking up on what was being said. "-him to the hospital and do relieve his pain if you can as you say," the wolf ordered the antelope, "I'll stay here with Officer Meadows and handle the situation." The antelope's avatar picked up the tiger and encompassed him in a warm glow, which made the injured officer quiet down his whimpers of agony before flying off.
"Excuse me, sir, would you mind sharing a few words of how-" the reporter wanted to ask before the wolf cut her off.
"Not now. Officer, you'll need to call up your back up and have them bring strong sedatives or tranquilizers with them. This is the only way I can think of to keep this bastard contained other than my powers." The buffalo looked like he was about to argue but one look at the zebra in question and he decided to trust the judgment of his and Jeremy's saviour. Wilbur in turn took to the air and started moving aside all the debris that accumulated on the streets, making it more passable.
To any observer, his face was full of concentration and determination. Yet none knew that inside his head, a thousand questions were clambering for answers. His mind was working on overdrive to sort out all the possibilities. Despite the fact that he had several blueprints of what steps to take he, like everyone else, had no clue of just how much the world was about to change.