“It’s alright, I won’t tell on you guys.” Danny said.
“Is something going on out there?” The boy asked. He seemed to genuinely want to help but the girl held him close, not wanting to let go.
“Some animals got out, it’s crazy out there. Stay here; wait for someone to come help you.”
“Can’t you help us?” the girl asked.
“Already doing my best, kid.” Danny said, giving her a smile. Somehow even smiling made his bruises ache and his cuts bleed. He regretted taking off the extra layers in the Skyfari but he’d been so hot he’d felt like he was on fire. Now he was cold and getting chills and he knew that was not a good sign. He looked around, admiring the modern look of the Zoo. There was a wall mural featuring many different kinds of lizards, snakes and frogs. Wiping the blood of his hands onto his pants, he forced himself up closer to the mural.
The young couple was talking quietly to each other and Danny couldn’t help but smile when he heard the girl chastise her boyfriend.
“This was a stupid idea. We should have just gone to my place to make out.” He remembered Helen and felt a deep, cold chill. He pushed the thoughts away and focused on the mural. He glanced at the entrance, knowing the monster could walk in at any moment, it had lived as a human for long enough that all it needed to do was remember the door and it could change its shape to enter. Danny leaned against a mural as the pain screamed through his back.
“Son of a bitch. Of course,” Danny said through gritted teeth. He’d already regenerated once before, in the hospital when he borrowed the abilities of insects.
He pushed outward with his powers and borrowed the abilities of every reptile in the building. The power naturally selected and used what he needed, including the regenerative abilities of the lizards. The wound on his back began to itch like mad, but he ignored it, pushing his knuckles into the wall to focus. It took only a few minutes for the wound to close. His bruises were still there and he still felt drained, but at least he wasn’t going to bleed out.
“Find a staff room inside this place or a washroom and stay there, okay?” Danny ordered.
The two teens nodded and headed deeper into the Reptile House, the boy wrapping his arm protectively over his girl. She looked over her shoulder and gave Danny a sad, weak smile of support, the best she could offer. More than enough, the simple act of compassion pushed Danny on.
Danny felt much better with the new reptile abilities. Reptiles, perhaps more than any other species on the planet, had so many diverse and adaptive traits that Danny was able to find a variety of useful abilities he was eager to try out. His back still itched and he took a few seconds to rub it against the corner of the wall near the entrance.
Once he was sure the teenagers were out of sight he used the chameleon’s abilities of camouflage. At first he thought perhaps it would not work, he could not imagine a way his clothes could actually change color. Then his skin began to flash red and he realized that his power did not give him the animals traits, it simply created an energy equivalent. He did not, for example, gain a dog nose; his powers simply changed the flow of energy so he could duplicate the nose of a dog. A red bubble of light formed around him and then in the blink of an eye he was gone. The air around him vibrated as he blended in completely with the objects behind him. The bubble replicated the skin of a chameleon and as long as he moved slowly enough, he could not be seen. Danny slipped out of the building and stood very still, looking up toward the roof of the building for the Second. The bubble bent the light around him and from above he was just a heat shimmer off the cement. Moving slowly, however, was difficult for him. His body was wounded and full of adrenaline but he took his time, gently placing one foot in front of the other.
Danny caught the scent of the creature as it tentatively stepped over the roof edge into view. The alien skittered off the roof and landed on the ground softly. It knew he was there but not being able to see him confused it. Pulling as much power as he could into himself, Danny let it build like an electrical current. The alien whipped from side to side, trying to pinpoint his location. When it finally caught his scent it looked right at him and through him at the same time; it knew he was there even if it could not see him. The camouflage was not going to hold up so Danny let the bubble burst and as the creature roared he released the power he’d been building up in him, letting it flow through his hands and out into the monster. Following up with a right hook, he caught the creature in the ribs and its spider legs went limp. Then it seemed to come at him with an all new determination and Danny stood his ground. Like ancient gladiators they stood toe to toe, knowing this was to be their final battle.
Helen felt miserable and she could not think of a single reason why. Both her kids were safe at school, as safe as they could be anywhere. Finally she had the peace and quiet she’d been wanting for months. With the money they had and Danny’s new determination, she should have felt better than she had in years. With the sudden wealth and all the crazy things that had happened they’d all pretty much forgotten Christmas, even though the country was covered in snow and the lights were up everywhere. Somehow the entire holiday had snuck right up on them while Danny had been fighting monsters. Helen headed to the computer and pulled up a playlist of Christmas songs she had filed away from last year. She’d always been a huge fan of the holiday season and she was determined to lift herself out of the funk she felt stuck in. The crooning voice of Bing Crosby helped a little, but even the Christmas carols couldn’t cover up the feeling of anger welling up inside her. That she did not want to face, because she could not handle where it was coming from. That anger was directed at Danny and if she opened that door, a thousand more doors would fly open in a rage.
After Danny’s explanation of events, Helen hadn’t even tried to understand what had been happening the last few months. How could she begin to fathom a living planet? For her it was all distant worries, things that didn’t affect her everyday life. She spent her days taking care of bills and kids and groceries, she didn’t even have time for church anymore, never mind trying to wrap her head around the New Age, Wiccan type of stuff Danny seemed to have experienced. The monsters weren’t real enough to her. They hadn’t touched her yet, she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes. Like sharks present in the water, she knew danger was all around her, she could feel the weight of it in her stomach. Even though she hadn’t been to church since before the children were born, she found herself thinking more and more about God. She had prayed for her husband more times since his accident than she ever had in her life. Not the devout prayers, on her knees like when she was a little girl, talking to God before going to bed. Her prayers were the desperate ones she said to herself, inside her head, pleading with whatever cosmic force might listen to keep Danny and her children safe and healthy.
She called Danny’s cell phone again and it was still off, so she tossed the phone aside in frustration. He could fly back and forth to the United States but somehow he couldn’t find time to answer the phone. She was about to dial again but she put the phone back down instead. She dumped out her coffee and swore out her frustration. The coffee had been making her jittery and her mood was not improving, so she made up her mind it was time for her to make some changes. It was time for something more drastic, more therapeutic. Helen was a woman who liked to make things, to build things with her hands. If needed, she was also quite good at taking things apart. Grabbing the keys to the car, she headed for the door. It was time to go Christmas shopping. Helen had never frivolously shopped in her entire life, but she couldn’t sit at home with the nagging worry in her gut either. She was worried about Danny and until she knew he was safe, the worry wasn’t going to pass. The worry felt deeper, darker and Helen knew if she dwelt on it too long it was going to pull her in. As the door shut behind her, she said the last prayer she would ever say; asking the Lord to bring Danny home safe.
Using his feet and his flying ability, Danny had managed to keep the creature at bay. He flew a
t it foot first, sending the monster backwards as he landed softly on the ground. The waves of red energy poured up and over him, cascading out from around his head. As the massive monster righted itself, Danny borrowed and duplicated as much armour as he could think of. The tough leathery skin of elephants and rhinos, turtle shells, the bumpy hide of alligators and crocodiles, whatever he could think of Danny duplicated and created a new variation of armour composed of all of them. Inside it he glowed like a red lamp. The Second pressed down on him but this time Danny pushed back. He caught the creature’s arms and flung them backwards. Then he surprised it with punches in the abdomen, the part of the where the human body merged with the insect-like legs. As it pulled away in pain, Danny grabbed one of the large legs with both arms. Bending the leg he suddenly stomped down on it while yanking with his arms, tearing the limb completely off. The creature kicked at him with its other legs but he covered his face and let the armour protect and shield him.
“Piece by piece if I have to!” Danny shouted at the Second.
The alien managed to stand on three legs and balance awkwardly. It swung its claws at Danny but he blocked it with his forearms. The alien began to retreat back but Danny pressed on, swinging back at it.
As the alien fell backwards onto the ground, the three legs merged into one large mass. The snake-like body whipped out its tail as Danny approached, hitting him hard in the knee. His leg suddenly gave out and he dropped on all fours. The wings had also been reabsorbed, pulled back into the creature so it could be smaller, more deadly. The tail whipped out again, crushing a garbage can. Danny rolled aside as the tail swept past him. It came back at him as he stood up, but he kicked the tail aside and leaped over it, ducking behind a coffee kiosk. The Second smashed into the bar, tossing the espresso machine through the air, smashing the flimsy wood into splinters. The alien was still armoured and moving faster than him; he could barely stay ahead of it. Danny picked up a large part of the wooden counter off the ground and cracked it across the alien’s head. It lashed out at him, unaffected by the blow and when he tried to stab it with the wooden shard in his hand, it shattered on the monster’s hard alien carapace.
The alien’s claws weren’t a problem for Danny, but the tail was low to the ground and he had no way to protect himself or his legs from it. The alien suddenly pushed itself forward using the tail as a spring and grabbed Danny by the shoulders, its claws sinking into the leather. This time Danny had planned ahead with a secret weapon he’d borrowed from one of the reptiles. Danny’s skin began to ooze a clear, toxic liquid. The Second held him off the ground, its mouth stretching wide.
“No more playing. It ends now, human.”The alien rasped.
The creature sunk its teeth into Danny’s shoulder, savouring the gush of blood as its teeth tore the leather and flesh. Danny roared in pain, kicking at the creature with all his might. His hands were pinned to his sides and he could not protect himself. The alien’s mouth stretched even wider and a third row of sharp teeth formed inside its black gaping maw. The liquid excreted from Danny’s skin covered the monsters hands and lips and it licked at the substance with a strange curiosity. As Danny stopped screaming the Second suddenly released him and though he landed on his feet, he collapsed immediately. As he tried to lift himself up with his uninjured arm, he smiled as the alien began rubbing its lips frantically.
“What have you done now?” The Second shouted.
It began to spit on the ground, rubbing its mouth with the back of its monstrous hands. It saw the poison thick between its fingers and it began to roar. Danny groaned and straightened his back as the creature came at him. With all the strength and power he could manage Danny hit the creature directly in the nose so hard pain shot up his forearm. Something in the monster’s face broke and it toppled back. All Danny could do was groan as he tried to stop the sudden sharp pain in his wrist.
As the monster swayed back and forth, Danny kept on it. The creature shifted into the same smaller, more human form it had worn in the Chem-X building but there was no pink flesh left. The creature was all black and glistened like a fish. Looking like a pair of drunks, they stumbled along, both in pain and agony, shoving and attacking each other. Danny stayed on top of it, hitting it with everything he had. Its nose was an oozing mess and its eyes seethed with hatred. It looked at Danny with an almost human expression, it looked betrayed and offended by what he had done to it, it didn’t understand how he’d weakened it.
Danny was tired but he caught hold of the creature, gripping it with his hands that dripped with the deadly toxin.
“Don’t like that, do you?” Danny spat at the monster.
The alien still had a semblance of a tail and it thudded against Danny’s hip, pushing him away. The tail was quickly absorbed and Danny bounced back fast.
“That’s the thing with Earth animals,” he said, kicking the monster in the chest, “the little ones are the most fucking dangerous!”
The alien was beginning to twitch and jerk, losing control of the muscles it had stolen from its victims.
“I bet it hurts like hell, doesn’t it?” Danny screamed at it.
He caught the creature on the temple with the bottom of his dirty boot and they both fell over, but Danny got up quickly. The creature writhed on the ground with its hands over its face, wailing in frustration. Danny felt his borrowed powers beginning to fade away and the alien began to kick its legs out in rage and he was forced to back off.
Earlier in the Reptile House Danny had seen a promotional poster for a special exhibit at the Zoo. On it there had been a cute little frog with beautiful yellow skin and big black eyes. He had used his powers to duplicate the frog’s natural ability to produce an alkaloid poison, changing and supercharging it with the power coursing through him. The little creature was called a Golden Poison Frog and was no bigger than a peach pit. The Growth was fighting itself, confused why the body it controlled was not responding, why it felt fire coursing through it. Danny enjoyed watching the poison torture the alien but he didn’t have the juice for another attempt. He leaned over, desperately trying to catch his breath while the monster thrashed in pain. There was enough poison in the alien to have easily killed a thousand people and there was no way for it to purge the parts that were contaminated. Parts of the monster began to stick and merge together, the lines of the limbs become less noticeable, the mouth continuing to grow in size. Finally it stopped twitched and laid flat on its back, staring up at the sky. All the extra armour it had grown melted back into its body and its distorted face sagged as the muscles relaxed. Danny’s body armour faded away too. With his power weakening he was no longer able to sustain it.
“I see. . .” it gasped, “why humans are the dominant species on this planet.”
It began to laugh raggedly, the sound rattling out of it like a cough.
“Your adaptability is . . .astonishing.” The monster let out a gurgling laugh, a sick, wet noise that had no trace of humanity in it.
The Second suddenly got to its feet, looking right at Danny. He raised his hands to defend himself, ready for another round, but he was dead on his feet. Only willpower was keeping him going and he used it to open the flood gates and let the power race into him. Like a sponge he drained the energy from the planet up into himself, letting it build inside him.
In the instant the alien moved at him Danny released the energy as a pure beam of heat, straight out of his new arm and right into the Second’s chest. The monster looked down in shock at the smoking hole the size of a golf ball burned straight though its chest. It swung its arms at him but he ducked under them both, but he wasn’t expecting the creature to anticipate his move. It raised its knee and caught him as he ducked, hitting him square in the head. It was fighting him like a man and he was not prepared for it. The blow had knocked him on his ass and the creature kicked at him repeatedly. He kept his hands up to protect his face but the monster stomped on his exposed body with its bare feet. It moved so fast he didn’t know where the blow
s were coming from, striking him in the front and back unexpectedly. All he could do was cover up as he fell to the ground concentrating enough remaining power to form a protective red shell around him.
The bubble folded and popped after the first couple blows and Danny could only cover his head with his arms as the blows rained down on him. Instinctively he reached out desperately with his powers, looking for anything he could use. A nearby garbage can was ripe in the sun and Danny grabbed the abilities of the flies swarming around it. As he rolled along the ground to escape the monster’s feet he found his vision changing, turning red and blinking like a camera. The Second always seemed to be stronger and faster than him but the vision of the fly made the alien appear to be moving in slow motion, each action a still photograph. With the matching speed and reflexes Danny managed to roll out of the way and fly to his feet. It was as if he could see an image of what the monster was going to do just a sliver of a second before the creature did it, letting him move before the attack came.
Both of them began to move superhumanly fast, throwing punches and blocking their opponents attack in the blink of an eye. Blow after blow they pushed each other to the limit, blood and alien fluid spread across the ground. Finally the creature tried to kick him and he did not dodge, instead he grabbed the Second’s foot and shoved the monster back hard. The alien fell back hard on its back and immediately bounced back, lunging at him. Danny simply flew above it, letting it stumble and fall, his arms crossed like he was Superman. He flew at it with a big right hook and continued to throw combinations of punches at it. His hands began to feel like they weighed a hundred pounds and yet he kept raising them and striking the Growth, over and over, using his whole body and every last bit of strength within him. Although his heart felt like it was going to burst and his lungs burned, he felt great; he was sure he could feel victory within his reach. Danny felt like all the heroes he’d grown up watching; he felt like Rocky or Spider-Man, overcoming his nemesis once at for all. Danny continued to strike the monster with skinned, bloody knuckles, pushed on by pure will and courage. The alien seemed about to collapse but it stayed standing, dazed by the damage it was taking. The vision powers were making his head throb and finally Danny had to stop, squinting to try to regain his vision as the pain in his head burned red hot. The creature looked as if it was about to recover and he hit it with a huge punch to the side of the creature’s head and then he fell over, completely exhausted. Energy poured into him as he hit the ground, pulsing up and around him like a bright flame. Struggling to stand, Danny looked down at his hands. His fingers were glowing from the inside like glow sticks and his vision did not go back to normal; everything he saw was a glowing shade of red.
Earth Man Page 20
