Excursion 7: New Plans

Doc had Weeping Sam tied up to a wooden chair. The strings were reinforced and nearly unbreakable, an artifact of Fyky's new powers.

Sam was surrounded by the dark. All he could smell was butter from the popcorn machine. It was seven in the evening, and all Sam could see was the giant green rock he saw earlier that afternoon. He could see the face up close, it's stiched mouth and pitch-black eyes.

Doc's rock was called Death's Door Anaestheseologist. It represented the fading consciousness induced by death, and its sucker could fully disable nerve responses from any part in the body, stopping the twitching of muscles, or even the beating of the heart.

"Don't even think about breaking out of here. The rock in front of you is my third gift, and if you remember what it did to your arm, imagine what it could do to your heart," said Doc as he walked towards Sam.

The smell of scotch began to mix in with the butter. His heart starts pounding, he could feel the pressure inside his chest.

"What do you want Hunter scum?" Asked Sam with faux anger.

"I want to know more about you little miscreants. How many of you are there? What are there powers? Where are they?" Said Doc, "I'm going to get my answers one way or another," he says as he pulls out a single scalpel, touching the tip of its blade to Sam's throat.

Sam, feeling his sweat zooming down the sides of his face, declares, "I'm not telling you squat!"

From left field, Sam no longer felt the cables wrapped around his arm. He looked at it to see the sucker had lodged its way into his elbow. He screamed painfully.

*** In the Backyard of the house ***

Fyky had realized some interesting things about the Devil's String. He could shoot the string from his fingertips, as well as detach parts of his hand, so long as they were connected to the string. He also discovered how he could manipulate the string, creating steel cables or even catgut. The biggest oddity was that he could do the exact same thing on both of his hands, not just the one he had replaced.

Fyky though of a new technique, something that could be useful in his fights. He mulled over it after a while, and moved onto further experimenting.

Beyond attacking, he wondered how he could use the strings for mobility. He asked the question how far can I stretch the strings?

He stretched his hand forward, detaching the whole thing away from his body, towards the roof of the house…

*** Front Door of the house ***

Black Hawk arrives, carrying the two he's defeated on his shoulders.

He lights a cigarette in his mouth. The tabacco taste helps distract him from the soreness of his bruises. He takes out the keys to the front door, and opens it.

Doc in the basement hears the door open. Suddenly, the eyes of the green rock turn blank-white with a small dot serving as the pupil.

"I'll be back he tells Sam," as he makes his way to the back of the room, preparing another glass of scotch and walking up the staircase.

He meets Black Hawk at the door. "So you've recaptured our good friends, we can set up some additional set ups in the basement for your little toys," he says as he hands Black Hawk the scotch he prepared.

"You sent the kid home yet?" Asked Black Hawk.

"Change of plans, I ended up giving him some gifts, he wants to join us."

"What!" Yelled Black Hawk in shock, "he's just a kid, how could you give him those gifts!"

"I accepted them." Said Fyky calmly, standing , leaning on the side of the door frame to the kitchen. "I want to fight these battles, and become more powerful than everybody. Most of all, I want to atone for my delinquency, causing everybody too much distress."

Black Hawk mulled it over for a few seconds. "I'll get back to you when I'm done."

*** 10 minutes later ***

Black Hawk walks into the backyard while Fyky is training and discovering his power.

"Hey kid, I'm not going to stop you from joining us, but I'm going to tell you one thing." Said Black Hawk, "we hunters aren't the nicest people. I'll be your main mentor, but you're going to have to deal with all types of people, and the training's going to be more painful because of that. Are you still open to joining?" He explained as he looked out into the forest behind the backyard.

Fyky looking at Black Hawk said while trying to hide his excitement, "thank you so much sir! You definitely won't regret it!"

"Now, here, take a glass," Black Hawk tries to hand a glass of scotch he had prepared in the basement to Fyky.

"Thanks sir!" Fyky takes the glass and chugs the scotch down.

"Swigs, I think I like that name for you," said Black Hawk.

"Why do you and Doc go by fake names?"

"Because some people have the power to act on certain people based on their names, it's a super easy defense against that."

"Oh ok."

The conversation died down. Neither knowing what to talk about. They spent half an hour just looking at the Forest, exchanging questions here and there.

Bzzzzt…

Black Hawk's phone begins to vibrate as Doc informs them that the three are ready to talk.

"Finally, you ready to learn about our enemies?"

"Yes sir!"

And the two made their way to the basement.

*** At the basement ***

"So, Sam, how many of you guys are there?" Asked Black Hawk.

"A-about f-f-five, not i-i-i-including the l-leader," replied Sam nervous behind the edge whilst sat on the chair he was tied to.

"Now, Flick, who's the leader of your little group?"

"We call him Weaponsmith, he leads the Green Gang," Flick says, more calm than Sam, who was a crying mess by the end of the preparation, despite being tied in the same way he was.

"Now, Jasper, I like you, I think you have potential. How about you join our side?" Said Black Hawk, with a sly grin on his face.

"Mmm-mmmf mmmhmm-mfff" said Jasper has his mouth was taped over, and tied to the ceiling via steel cable.

"Hahahha oh sorry I forgot you got your hands tied," Black Hawk said as he giggled, "thank you losers for your contributions, a friend of mine is gonna come by to deliver you to our special prison. In three months, after some nerds run tests on your gifts, you'll be stripped of them and sent to regular prison, buh-bye." And he waved his hands at them bending his fingers down, smiling.

Black Hawk walked up to Jasper and whispered, "I really meant what I said though, reach out to me when you're out on the street, we can work something out," into his ear.

And the three then left the basement, ready to discuss their new plans.

… To be continued.