[6] Void Beasts? Now What’s That?
Chapter 6: Void Beasts? Now What's That?
—
Despite his seemingly slow demeanor, The Blob was incredibly strong. His skin and the fat beneath rendered almost every physical attack below a certain level useless. He could take cannonballs to his face without flinching. His immense size only made matters worse for Enrique.
Behind Enrique, the train passengers trembled in fear. The massive Blob was barreling towards him, and if Enrique dodged, the larger man would simply crush the civilians like paste. Even if Enrique confronted him head-on, the Blob's massive form would likely push him back, endangering the civilians under his tough suit.
A helicopter's blades fluttered above, and glancing up, Enrique saw a news chopper with a large camera pointed down at the fight. Right, he couldn't let civilians die here; it would tarnish his heroic image.
As the charging Blob reached him, Enrique leaped into the air and used his flight to spin rapidly before slamming his head, protected by the invisible helmet, against the Blob's face.
A concussion was one of the few things that could knock out the Blob, Enrique knew. However, even though a loud slam resonated through the train, it seemed Enrique's blow wasn't strong enough.
"Gahrr..." The Blob glared at him. At least he had stopped. "You bug!"
He grabbed Enrique by the shoulders, pulling his head back before slamming it forward at the smaller man.
– Bang!
Just as their heads collided, Enrique smirked and released a wave of electricity through his invisible helmet. The Blob, already shaken from the slam, stiffened further. Enrique slammed his head again, and again, and again.
The fat man, now with his skin charred, rolled his eyes upward before his huge body slumped to the floor.
Enrique stood on the soft body of the Blob, rolling his shoulders as he surveyed the battle. Just then, Spidey finished Toad with a punch.
Now, only Sabretooth and the big man, Magneto, remained. Magneto glared coldly at Enrique, his eyes briefly locking on Enrique's belt, which was made of pure gold and thus beyond his control.
"You came prepared," Magneto said, smirking. "I heard about you; you defeated my beast." He glanced at Sabretooth, who had just landed a blow on Wolverine, making him stumble before losing consciousness. Enrique knew Wolverine only lost because of his twisted claws, courtesy of Magneto. But Sabretooth, unaware or uncaring, gave Enrique a victorious grin. "Looks like he wants round two. Unfortunately, we don't have time to waste."
Magneto raised his hand, and instantly, the metal pipes inside the chamber snapped apart and surged at Enrique. One pole slammed into Enrique's face, but was blocked by his helmet. Another sharpened pole tried to pierce Enrique's chest, but couldn't scratch the suit. Though Enrique tried to close the distance and dodge the projectiles, three poles bent and wrapped around him, immobilizing him.
Magneto's smirk was as unmoving as Enrique's body. "Powerful suit you have there. But that's all that's special about yo-"
Enrique's body flashed brightly.
An aura of electricity erupted from within him, raw power surging through his veins. He flexed his arms, and the metal pipes around him turned bright red from the heat of the electricity as he shook them off.
Truly, the [Lightning Cloak] was strong.
Magneto's smirk vanished, and Sabretooth stared in awe. Enrique didn't humor either of them and rushed at Magneto with blinding speed, his arms pulled back to punch. Magneto yelled an order, snapping Sabretooth out of his daze. The beastly mutant growled and charged at Enrique.
However, Storm moved between them.
The sky crackled with dark clouds, and lightning descended through the hole in the roof, striking Storm. She floated midair, her eyes crackling with white lightning. Sabretooth rushed at her, but she shot a surge of lightning from her hands, sending him flying backward into a wall.
"I'll take care of him," she said, and Enrique nodded.
"What about me?!" Spider-Man yelled from the side.
"Either of these two are too dangerous for you. One shot and you're dead. Stay with the civilians; they trust you," Enrique commanded, and Peter protested.
"But-"
"A hero's true goal is to protect," Enrique interrupted. Peter paused, then nodded, jumping from the battle site and landing in front of the civilians.
"Thanks," Enrique said to Ororo, who blocked an incoming Sabretooth again, before moving forward.
"Welcome." She yelled, a bolt of lightning striking the bear-sized tiger-man
The closer Enrique got to Magneto, the harder it became to move. Seats in the train flew at him, but he slammed them away with his fists or leaped over them. Magneto used his magnetism to pull metal poles from the rail track and shoot them at Enrique, testing the limits of his abilities. Enrique was surprised at how well he fared, punching the poles faster than bullets, causing them to fly back. Releasing waves of lightning to freeze them in mid-air, he used one pole to bat the others away like a baseball game.
Honestly, if this wasn't a train, Enrique would have lost. But because it was, Magneto didn't have much metal to work with, despite being surrounded by it. This unlucky scenario was the doom of Magneto's game. Enrique noted Magneto forcing a handwatch on Anna's wrist, perhaps to threaten him by breaking her wrist if he approached—but it was too late for that.
It had been 55 seconds, so 5 seconds till his [Lightning Cloak] would end. Luckily, he had reached Magneto already.
"This ends here," Enrique said, his punch aiming at Magneto's face, but it never connected.
The handwatch on Anna's wrist shone softly, firing a pristine white beam.
"Aahhhh!" Anna screamed in pain. Spider-Man and Storm turned to her, but with a gesture, Magneto wrapped Spidey in metal pipes, and Storm was kept busy by Sabretooth.
Enrique couldn't dodge the beam, but he wasn't worried; it shouldn't penetrate his suit—but it did. It wasn't a beam; it was a highly visible electromagnetic wavelength.
Enrique froze, pain shooting through his body as he staggered backward. He felt as if his entire molecular structure was being overwritten.
He wasn't wrong.
Enrique realized, though his mind barely functioned, what the machine was. Shit. If he guessed correctly, he was going to die. The Mutant Conversion Machine wasn't properly made, and though it turned normal people into mutants, it also killed them soon after.
[Not good. My child, quickly… you… should… no…!]
He heard a distant voice in his head, growing unclear, and soon his vision went blank—
"Roarrr!"
In an instant, 'his' vision was filled with color.
****
Anna watched in horror as her superhero groaned in pain. The lightning aura around him dissipated as he trembled on his knees. In the fright of the moment, she didn't notice the front of her brown hair turning white; she couldn't, as something dark and sinister began to leak from Enrique.
A dark aura seeped out of his body, swirling around him like a living shadow. Magneto frowned, worried if it was another attack the man could be readying. So he glanced at Sabretooth, who immediately leaped at the lying Enrique, swiping his claw at his neck.
Last time Sabretooth lost, but this time he was fairly confident he'd succeed. After all, his target looked unconscious, trembling on the floor. However, when his claws reached too close, tendrils of void shot out from Enrique's unconscious form.
The tendrils, resembling tentacles, wrapped around Sabretooth's arm, and then spread over his entire body, squeezing tightly. The beast let out a growl, feeling the grip of death, feeling his blood flow stop, unable to breathe, as his eyes grew red. Magneto frowned, about to step in, but the tendrils dropped him to the floor before he could die.
Goddess Mut was sending divinity into Enrique's body in a desperate attempt to wake him up, and the void in him savored the divinity like a delicious dish. It wasn't helping at all.
I should at least see what's going on with his body, Goddess Mut decided. She willed her divine essence in the same manner she had done a writer, causing a game-like message to play before Enrique's unconscious eyes. It was not coming from some silly System, but caused by Mut's divinity.
A vision he didn't see but instinctively reacted to played before his eyes.
[Rebor Smilodon DNA collected. (1) Void Beast Transformation added.]
[Void Beast - Sabertooth White Tiger - is available.]
What's that—? The Goddess wondered, just as a sneer filled the train. Enrique's base instincts kicked in, he tapped into the power, and transformed into the beast in his arsenal. The only one for now.
His body convulsed, dark tendrils wrapping around him and morphing his shape. His muscles grew larger, his visible skin turned pale white, and black stripes appeared around his face. Fangs extended from his mouth like those of a Siberian tiger, and his silver eyes shone with a feral intensity. His nails sharpened into claws, and spiky black bones erupted from his elbows. A single black claw grew from each hand.
"Roarrr!"
His painful grunts turned into a beastly roar. He had become a beast, intent on killing anything in front of him.
The man-tiger leaped at Magneto and Anna, claws bared.
With no choice left, Anna put her foot on the unconscious Cyclops' face. Her bare foot touched Cyclops' skin, and his power flowed into her like a wave.
Then she released that wave through her eyes.
– Vhhhm~
The world turned bright red as the beam hit her superhero's chest. She was sure he'd be fine, wearing his indestructible suit.
****
– Bang!
Enrique's back hit the wall, snapping his senses back into place.
"Oh..." he blinked, looking at his hands where a big black claw extended. "Looks familiar…" He looked like Sabretooth, although more beastly. What, had he gained a power similar to him? Or did he… copy and enhance his genes?
"Dude?" Spider-Man whispered, wrapped in pipes. "Are you back?"
"...I am," Enrique said, standing shakily and nodding at Spider-Man. He noticed Sabretooth huffing on the side, with an unconscious Storm nearby.
"Congratulations. You are one of us now, boy," Magneto said, smirking. "Why fight any longer? What's the point in fighting between brothers?"
Enrique ignored him, looking at Anna, strapped by metal pipes, facing the window to avoid opening her eyes.
Enrique was pissed. This bastard dared.
Enrique growled. "Anna, don't open your eyes and just hang on. I am back."
Anna nodded rapidly, smiling in relief and squeezing her eyes shut. Magneto looked at Enrique dryly. "Do you really plan on continuing? Why?"
"Shut up," Enrique said, noting how his voice sounded cooler, deeper, and crispier – like a tiger's growl. Looking at a broken piece of glass, seeing his pale face covered with black stripes and claws, he realized he had undergone a bestial transformation. That looked good, and he was thankful that he lacked fur.
His appearance was more similar to Wolverine and Sabretooth, except a bit scarier thanks to the stripes and claws. He felt powerful but couldn't feel happy, knowing he might die soon.
"Enough of your metal magic. We end this now," Enrique said, deciding to end this quickly and find a way to save himself.
Magneto growled, gesturing to Sabretooth. The man-beast roared and charged, but Enrique's growl was louder. He saw through Sabretooth's movements, grabbing the other man's hand mid-air and shoving his black claw into his chest.
"—Kaugh!"
Sabretooth grunted as the claw pierced his heart. Enrique channeled electricity through his claw, making the bigger man shudder and fall to the ground.
Enrique turned to Magneto, whose face had gone pale. "You really hurt your own kind… I suppose you can never relate to us innate mutants."
"Fuck off," Enrique replied, watching Magneto frown as he raised his hand. Enrique had had enough of that gesture. He raised his own hand, trying something new, and fired the claw from above his hand.
– Chip!
The claw sliced through the air, cutting Magneto's hand. The old man's eyes widened as he fell to his knees, yelling in pain.
With a gesture, the claw flew back to Enrique.
"Neat," Enrique said, slicing through the metal pipes binding Anna. He hugged her as she kept her eyes shut. "How long until you can open your eyes?"
"No idea..." she whispered. "The duration depends on how long I touch my target. I'm not sure of the exact duration."
Right. She needed tests for her powers. Enrique searched Cyclops' body, finding a small box strapped to his belt. Inside, he found a pair of sunglasses. Enrique swiftly put them on Anna.
"You can open your eyes now," he said, and she did, slowly. "Good. Now let's go. It's unwise to stay here."
He wanted to kill Magneto but wasn't prepared for Magneto's bald girlfriend to come after him. Also, Magneto was a big face for mutants; killing him on live television might turn the entire faction against him. The reporting helicopter was even getting closer now that the battle had died down.
"Alright," Anna nodded, hugging him tightly. "Thank you."
"So, uh," Spider-Man said from the side. "Maybe I'll be a third wheel in your flight? Do I leave on my own then?"
Enrique chuckled, gesturing for the teenager to jump on his shoulders. Spider-Man did so with a laugh, and Enrique took off with the two superhumans on his back and chest.
He just hoped he would survive and that this white-washed transformation wasn't permanent but had an on-off switch.
X-x-X
[...Good. Now let's go, it's unwise to spend any more time here…]
Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., watched the end of the video from the super-fight that had occurred yesterday.
He didn't like it at all.
Mutants had largely been in hiding before the 2000s, but with the emergence of other "Supers," they were revealing themselves to the public more frequently. One of the faces of mutants was Magneto, and for him to be defeated in such a way – by an unknown, amateur superhero no less – meant that New York was not going to be peaceful. The city would become a hotspot with all the people coming after this so-called "Enrique Nova."
Fury said "so-called" because, as it turned out, there was zero information on him. His past, his background, his family – none of it existed. This guy shouldn't exist. He didn't exist until a week ago when he was first spotted.
Also, he was the owner of a mobile game company. How? Where did he get the papers necessary?
"Motherfucker." Fury groaned in frustration.
First, a man in iron battle armor fighting against terrorists. Next, America's greatest legend crawled out of the ice. Then the fucking God of Thunder descended on Earth.
Now this?
The previous three had information available on his background. Heck, Thor's even had stories about him spread around the world for thousands of years. But this guy had nothing. Perhaps he was a Skrull? No, that wouldn't make sense since Skrulls didn't create new identities; they used pre-existing ones. Then perhaps… another alien race?
The universe was vast, so that wouldn't be too weird. Some too many aliens looked like humans. Whatever the truth was, something fishy was going on here.
"Uhm, sir," from the side, Agent Maria Hill released a defeated sigh as she stopped breezing through papers related to Enrique. She suggested, "Perhaps he is a government experiment?" She immediately realized how dumb that question was.
"We are the government, Hill." Fury let his assistant know. "We are the first who'd know about these experiments."
Agent Hill's back straightened in embarrassment and she quickly looked for another question to change the topic. "Or from another country? It does say he's half French and half Egyptian, in the bare information he has about himself. No, forgetting all that, do you think he's dangerous, sir?"
"Can't say." Fury shook his head. "He made sure to keep the civilians out of harm. He also seemingly saved the little mutant girl. That's all good, but unlike Spider-Man, he didn't mind doing permanent damage to his enemies. Just look at the hole in Magneto's hand. Ten bucks say he's what you'd call an anti-hero."
Hill took in his words and nodded slowly. Impressive. Guess the title of Best Spy wasn't just for show. After a short silence, Fury spoke again. "What is his superhero name? We at least know that much, right?"
Hill nodded quickly. "There are two, sir. Some called him Pharoah, but Spider-Man was heard calling him Super-Nova, sir."
Fury hummed, looking at the screen in front of him where comments were flashing under the live report of J. Jonah Jameson. "Well, looks to me that the first name's a goner now."
Interested, Hill leaned over to look at the screen and blinked at the name people were calling him. "Super Nova? Looks like that's his final name."
Fury liked this one more, anyway. In any case, he should observe the man for a while before approaching him at all.
****
By the time Enrique reached Brooklyn, he was already famous. Not hiding his face made it easier for people to find his identity, even if he had no personal social media yet.
His house was surrounded by a small crowd. Annoying. He couldn't live here anymore. Both Anna and Spider-Man looked at the scene from the sky. Spider-Man hesitated briefly before opening his mouth.
"Uh, if you want, you can crash at my place for today?" Spider-Man said, half suggesting and half questioning himself.
"Are you sure?" Enrique asked in his new gruff voice. But he quickly shook his head. "A beast and a girl who shoots lasers when she blinks? No, I am not taking that offer."
"Oh…"
He liked Peter and was even planning to invite him to his super team in the future. It would be a bummer to make things weird by accidentally killing his aunt or something. "I will visit you someday. You should leave, for now, it's getting late."
Spidey didn't protest and shortly took off, leaving Enrique alone in the sky with Anna hanging from his neck.
Now that Peter was gone, Anna got more comfortable with the hug, and Enrique was too.
She looked up at his face and smiled. "So what now? Do we spend the night above the clouds?"
"Let's see," he ignored her suggestion, raising a finger in the air, and shot a beam of lightning at the ground. It fell right in front of the crowd and they scattered in fear immediately. "There. That was easy."
Anna giggled as she watched the exchange unfold. "Sometimes you feel like a villain."
"I might be, you never know," Enrique replied as he started to fly downwards, trying to hide from prying eyes.
"Hmmm…" Anna took his words surprisingly seriously before hugging him tighter. "Doesn't matter. I prayed for you to come, and you did – even after my phone failed to work. I don't know, nor care about others, but to me, you'll always be a superhero. My superhero."
Aww, that was sweet. Enrique felt touched even though he planned all of this himself. He wouldn't mind having a sweeter relationship with her, tools could always get upgraded to better ranks. Dying in his last life for being too cold, he learned to change at least a little.
Anyhow, the girl was back to where she belonged. Though there were some deviations, now the girl had returned to where she was supposed to be. To his arms, to his home. Enrique led Anna through the window of his room, and the girl let out a gasp of surprise.
"Oh, there are so many more things than a week ago!" she said as she looked around the room filled with so many new items.
Enrique was forced to ignore her remark since his Goddess spoke in his mind at the same time.
[On a side note, if you noticed – she said she prayed for you to come. It's more literal than you two realize. I can sense faith from her, but since she prayed to you, rather than me or any God for that matter, the faith is directed towards you.] Mut said. [But as my prophet, my pharaoh, any faith, and believers you gather is technically mine. Ours, to be precise. So sometimes even if people don't believe – or have faith in this benevolent me, just having faith in you works as well. Mhm, the faith of a Super is delicious.] She almost moaned in his ears.
Generally, from what Mut had informed him of before, there were three ways a God could gain faith points:
If a person prayed to a God. He is considered a 'Believer' of that particular God, a Devoted one. A deity earned the most faith from its Devoted Believers and receives their faith every day.If a person simply believed in a particular God but didn't pray daily. He is considered a 'Believer' too, but a Normal one. This was the type of believer Enrique was supposed to gather.If a person prays to a 'God' figure without any actual targeted God in mind. They weren't considered a believer, but they could send faith points to certain Gods depending on the situation. For example, since Anna had prayed to an empty image of 'God' to have Enrique save her, her faith points went to Mut since she was Enrique's God. A variation of this rule was how Enrique's game gathered faith points, though not exactly.
"So she's one of your believers now?" Enrique asked in a whisper.
[Anna Marie here truly believes in you as her 'Savior'. It's not the same as believing in a God, but it works. Many famous heroes from old times do become Gods if they meet the requirements. Anna's faith isn't a one-time thing, she legitimately believes in you like a proper believer. So yes, she is a believer now.]
There were a few other unconventional ways to gain believers too – with this case of Enrique being one of them. If a person prayed to a God's Avatar – that person was considered a Believer of that God as well. That's the case with Anna here.
That was good. But…
"Anna, stay here for a minute," Enrique said, gesturing to Anna to sit down on the bed before he walked out of the room, closed the door, and went in front of the mirror.
It was good and all that he was now more powerful and Anna was a believer, but there was something more pressing. He was a mutant now and he was about to die.
Standing in front of the mirror, he called back his suit and observed his naked form. Pale white skin, accompanied by dancing black stripes. Sharp fangs inside his mouth, and a pair of sabertooths pointing downwards. Oh, and a very sensitive nose.
Black bone spikes came out of both his elbows and two large black claws protruded from above his hands. They didn't look like normal bones. His hands themselves had claws in his fingers, and though they were smaller, they were sharp as well.
A White Sabertooth Tiger, a humanoid variant of it. Though he lacked a tail or ears, that's pretty much what he was now. Also, he seemed to be 7'3" now. A whole foot taller than before, also broader. Not as huge as the Hulk, but still very big. Luckily his suit was magical and changed shape accordingly.
He wondered how he gained this exact power, so similar to Sabretooth.
Regardless, it was a good look, he felt strong as hell. Just that… he probably wouldn't survive long enough to enjoy this.
The person Magneto used that machine on in the movies lasted for, what, two days? Yes, around that before he died. Storm was the person who saw the man die with her own two eyes.
Shit, is there even a solution to this? I don't even feel sick, so it'll probably come out of the blue and kill me. Enrique needed a plan.
After a moment's thinking, he came up with one. "Hey Goddess," Enrique sighed. "Sorry, but it looks like you will have to look for a new Avatar."
There was silence at first before his Goddess' worried voice came crashing into his head. [What? Why? No, no, you are a smart human so you know that's impossible with our contract in place. It can't end unless you die- wait, wait, are you about to die?]
She caught on fast. Enrique sighed and nodded sadly. He was acting. To make her come up with a way to save him. She was a Goddess, after all, she probably had some way. He explained the problem – how he knew about a machine like this from his timeline and that he might die soon, and she went silent.
After a minute, she spoke slowly.
[About that… I did a magical scan just now. You appear perfectly fine. I actually did quite a few scans when you first woke up, so it would be weird if I missed anything big that'd kill you. I theorize that the mutant girl's 'Power Absorption' ability affected the beam somehow, which in turn was affected by the hunger of your 'Void Powers', two similar affinities that clashed and merged, making the beam sustainable enough for you to properly absorb it. Oh, and I guess you don't remember since you were unconscious, your body let out black tendrils that wrapped around Sabretooth, and seemed to scan something from him.]
Then, she went into further details, telling him exactly what happened. Hearing her out, he would say it was a situation not too absurd in this comic-book-based world. But if her theory was true, he did get lucky this time. Very much so. Not only would he not die, but he also received a pretty big power boost.
"Aha, so that's how it is," it made sense. Anna's power, after all, was Absorption, which happened to be the prominent trait of anything void.
[Yes. I doubt you'd die or this power would be randomly gone. Lucky, very lucky. But anyway, congratulations, you are a mutant now. Although I'm unsure if your ability is Sabretooth Transformation, or something greater…]
"Hmm," Enrique scratched his chin, frowning and wondering. "Actually, can't you do what you did earlier? Show me a game-like description of my ability?"
[Ah right, should be possible,] she said, tapping into her divinity. [In fact, I've done the same thing earlier and saw a message. I was confused, but it made some sense. I'll be showing you now.]
Enrique nodded, "Sure-" and a short page popped in front of him.
===
Name: Void Beast Transformation
Type: Mutant || X-Gene
Available Void Beasts Slots (1/4) :
1. Sabertooth White Tiger
2. [None]
3. [None]
4. [None]
===
"Oh." It didn't have a detailed description, since in the end, the Goddess wasn't actually a Game Admin or something who could see everything in his body. However, the bit it showed was enough to get an idea.
So he could copy other people's powers? Namely, ones who were beast-like, such as Sabretooth. At least he guessed as much, based on the 'beast' part of the ability's name. Also, when he copied someone, he made that ability even stronger, because obviously he was a grade higher than whatever Sabretooth was. His black claws seemed to be touched by Void too.
He had just earned his own power, independent from the Goddess. That made him feel a sense of security. After all, while the contract made it so that she couldn't take his powers away, what if she died? Or if she got sealed? He'd have been powerless.
I can already imagine other beasts I can copy from, Enrique noted. Can some of the Gods be considered beasts? Khonsu, for example, had a falcon's head. Did that count?
Could he really just copy a beast-like God's powers and become a God…? And what of the slots? Could he increase it? Or replace an existing DNA? If not, he had to be careful when choosing to fill the other slots. He had to go forward assuming only 3 other slots remained, for now, until he'd figure out more things about this power.
Those were questions for later. Now he just had to figure out a way to re-transform. This transformation wasn't the worst one possible – as he was still in control of his body and didn't even become a furry – but he would still like it if there was an on-off switch for this.
Though if he couldn't return back, he wouldn't waste time on this topic. This wasn't that bad. Being 7"3 was good. He closed his eyes and started to calm his breathing. Meditation should help. It even helped the Hulk. While standing, he went into a meditative state and stayed like that for an unknown time, but his body didn't change.
It wasn't working.
Shit.
Why wasn't it working?
Fuck, no, did I jinx it? I actually don't want to be stuck at 7"3.
– Vhhhm~
He snapped back to his senses at the sound of Anna's heat vision and the scent of burning metal. Turning back, he found her room's door handle melting from the other side.
"Fuuuh…" Enrique sighed and called back his suit – in the form of a t-shirt and pants. The beam soon stopped, and the door opened. "You could have just called me, Anna."
"I did," she said. "You… weren't answering. I got worried since it's been twenty minutes."
"Oh," Enrique blinked. He was too immersed. "Sorry, I was meditating."
Anna looked at his hands, at his claws, and lowered her head. "I should be the one apologizing… it's all my fault you became this way."
"That's not true."
"You don't have to say that to make me feel better… I know what I did… you are just too kind to be angry at me!" She looked up at him with sad eyes. Why was she acting like that? Was she sulking in the room after he walked out? "I… I am sorr-"
He sighed, "Okay, this is getting annoying, shut up. Just pay me back later if you really feel responsible, stop saying sorry again and again," Enrique rubbed his temple. "Also, look, your hair is white now. You look like an old woman, so you suffered too, right? Don't sweat over this."
Anna blinked and looked at her image in the mirror. Her sad face became surprised as she looked at her hair. So she hadn't noticed it until now…
"Ah…" her tears began to well up. "No, my hair…"
Enrique was startled. "W-what? Don't cry. Didn't you want to feel responsible?" What was up with this girl, for real? He gently grabbed her shoulders. "It looks good, honestly. Rather exotic. I like exotic girls."
"Oh."
Enrique grabbed a hair comb and walked over to her. He leaned over and combed her hair gently, watching her emerald eyes stare at him while he made sure his huge 11-inch claws didn't accidentally cut her. "There. You look beautiful."
He wasn't lying, she looked gorgeous. Props to her comic-book body and face, Anna with her hourglass figure and cute face looked better than the models from Enrique's previous world. It sounded cliché, but it was the truth.
"Mm…" Anna looked at the mirror and looked away with a small blush. "Thanks."
Enrique smiled and patted her shoulder. "Alright. I have a room prepared for you. It's getting late, you should sleep."
"It's only 9."
"And you should sleep."
Anna narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not a little girl, you know?"
"Right." He pointed his finger at a room to the side. "That's your room. Go, sleep."
"...," She looked in that direction, a paper saying "Anna" hanging on the door made her narrow her eyes.
He… he was waiting for me to come back. Anna's heart raced and she had to gulp down a clog in her throat. How could she have chosen to leave this man behind? She threw herself into a hug.
"Fine, I will go. But… you have to… come with me," she demanded slowly. "To my room."
Enrique raised an eyebrow. "Girl, you aren't legal enough for me to touch."
"I-I didn't mean it that way!" she snapped at him with a flustered face. "You know, just- I will feel scared if I sleep alone tonight. Just accompany me for tonight… okay?"
In the end, Enrique agreed with a sigh… though, he doubted it would be a one-night thing. Not that he minded sharing a bed with her, she was honestly… cute.
….
The next day, when Enrique woke up, to his surprise – he was back to normal again.
Geez, that gave him a scare.
**
**
**
Author Note: That's kind of a Major Change I guess. Since many of you didn't like the tiger transformation in the original, I just upped it into an Omega Level type of ability. It's more Ben-10 now than before, although without the Wristwatch. I think most of you like it now, I hope? Don't forget to vote if you like it. (And no, it's NOT a system if that wasn't clear enough.)
Ah and, unlike Rath from before, now he looks more like Sabretooth, except with claws coming out of his elbow and above the back of his hand too. Like Doomsday.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone