The beast twisted its head around like a coiling snake and continued to mock Boa. Whose skin lost all shade of color. I opened my mouth to say something, but what was I supposed to do? Can I command that thing? Or will it just make it more angry?
"Hey! You get off Aunt Boa!" Casey yelled and marched over to Face Changer.
The beast abruptly stopped talking and turned its face toward Casey. It tried to hide behind its bright pink hair, but I still managed to tell it was flipping through faces. Casey put her hands on her hips and Cupcake stood right by her side. That's when the pink hair started to retract and disappeared into the seams of the monster's face. It's face flipped through a couple times and eventually stopped on a man's face. His skin was tan and his face laced with a rough aftershave look. A poof of pepper black hair came through and he finally opened and revealed his amber eyes.
"¡Lo siento, Firecracker! ¡Lo siento! ¡Necesitábamos el dinero! Dinero, dinero, dinero." Face Changer croaked in a deep whining voice.
Casey's entire body trembled and her arms fell to her side. A wave of guilt swallowed her whole.
"P-padre?" She mumbled.
"Para ti. ¡Todo por ti! Para ti." Face Changer suddenly stopped talking and started laughing and I could feel the dread pouring off from Casey.
"Enough Face-!"
Before I could even finish, Nick dashed in and kicked Face Changer in the jaw. It's head bashed against the ground again and immediately changed. It went back to the mask and his mouth opened wide. Then spikes shot out from Face Changers body like a porcupine. I moved Casey behind me and went to take the attack.
A black blur dashed in front of me and shielded me from the spikes. With a simple turn of his head, I noticed it was Scar. Panic set in and I ran to check the damage. That's when I saw Boa was in front of him. However, Boa didn't look like Boa. Her skin was purple and lined with scales. The spikes Face Changer shot were broken to pieces on the ground before her.
I turned back to Casey and she dropped down onto her butt. The panic inside her was at it's peak, I was surprised she wasn't screaming.
"Casey, you okay?" I asked.
"Y-yeah, just. Didn't see that coming, thanks." She mumbled.
"Don't thank me…" I said and stepped to the side.
And again, I was rendered speechless. Face Changer came from the sky and dove at Nick. Who looked a lot like Boa with dark red scales over his body. As Face Changer came in, Nick's arm doubled in size and turned a dark green shade. Then he bashed his fist into Face Changer, who crashed against the ground. A funnel of fire erupted from Face Changers mouth and came at Nick, who ran head first into the flame. Once Nick got to the other side, Face Changer shot up and buried its teeth into Nick's Leg. Then my heart sank as he ripped it off from Nick's body and started to eat it.
"Nick!" I yelled and ran in.
However, Boa moved in front of me. Her arm held out and blocked my path.
"What are you doing!? He's gonna die!" I yelled.
Boa turned toward me, a shiver ran down my spine as I peered into her snake eyes.
"He'll just attack you two if you get in his way." She mumbled.
"Well, can't you help him!? You're all lizard person now, right?"
"Just watch, Nick isn't, normal."
I looked back toward Nick and watched him launch at Face Changer. He head butted him and made him stumble to his feet. Nick flung his hand at the beast and Ice consumed its legs. Then Nick leaped again and tackled it's neck, putting it in a choke hold. Face Changer started to panic, flipping through faces. First a young blonde woman, then an older woman with raven locks. It was at that moment, I saw Nick's smile fade and his grip tightened, which made Face Changer croak and his whole body spasm. Nick held him down and eventually, Face Changer just stopped moving. That's when I finally felt Face Changers emotions. It was only a flicker, but it was true fear.
That's when Nick started to laugh.
"Thanks for that buddy. I Haven't had fun like that in months!" Nick said and leaned on it.
He slowly pushed himself up and I almost vomited as I saw his missing leg start to leak. The nub started to shake and grow longer and longer, reshaping itself until it was a brand new leg.
Did..did he just regenerate his leg!? What!?
"What the hell?" I mumbled.
"That was really icky.." Casey added.
I turned toward Scar and saw Thomas suddenly hanging on to his shoulder. So now the gangs all here. Thomas, Scar, and Face Changer. Boas skin started to shift back to normal and she took a heavy breath.
"What the hell is that thing?" Boa mumbled.
Nick walked over to us nonchalantly and scratched the back of his head. Stretching a bit and stopping at Boa.
"I see you weren't kidding before when you said you needed me. You're a more impressive soul connector than I thought." Nick said.
I stepped forward.
"Nick, what, what just happened?" I asked.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Casey called out and ran to my side. " The human immune system would attack any foreign tissues! Even with Ichthyosis there's no way you could develop actual scales! And Nick! How did you grow your leg back!? Rapid cell division is limited in the human body! So how- how-"
I looked over and it was like Casey's brain was about to explode. Then she suddenly stopped and chewed on her lip. A wave of guilt washed away the confusion in her mind.
"And, and how did that thing mimic my Padre..?"
The same guilt beckoned at Boa and she looked away from us.
"I don't know.." Boa mumbled.
"Who knows and who cares." Nick huffed.
"Hey, can't you be more sensitive!?" Boa snapped.
"Shut up, what is knowing that gonna change? What's it gonna do for you? Absolutely nothing. The only thing that matters to discuss right now, is if Nyx can keep it in line."
I jumped as the attention turned back on me.
"I umm, I don't know honestly." I looked at Boa. "Is there something I can do?"
She blinked a few times.
"I umm." She looked back to Face Changer. "Some creatures need to be dominated. Know that they're not in charge, but you're also one in the same. So it's a matter of making that connection anyway you can, I suppose."
"I see." Nick huffed. "Well if you gotta fight it, I guess learning about it would be helpful."
"Wait what!? You want me to fight that thing!?"
"Don't be a pussy." Nick said.
I grumbled."He ate your leg!"
Nick shrugged.
"If I couldn't regenerate, I would've been more careful." Nick said.
"Can you teach Nyx?" Casey asked.
"No, see, I'm not normal. You'll have to find your own way to fight." He said and turned back toward Face Changer.
"You're serious?" I asked.
"He's a wild animal Nyx, and now he's connected to you. I don't think you want this thing flying around your city with no leash." Boa added.
"What!?" Casey and I Shrieked.
"Get over it already." Nick sighed. "I'll admit, I've never seen this thing before. I know a guy whose hunted practically everything. He might have some notes."
"Okay, sure. Why not." I said.
"Hey, don't look at me. That thing is a reflection of your soul after all." Nick said.
I looked over at the slump fur dragon. That thing was a reflection of my soul? I stared at him for a moment and the fight in me faded.
"I guess, that's not much of a surprise." I mumbled.
There was a warm embrace against my fingers. I turned and met Casey's forced smile. There was still guilt and fear all over her. Yet she still tried to meet me with a smile.
"Hey, that just means that deep down on the inside. That things gotta a big heart, just like you." She said and squeezed my hand.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"Yeah, of course. You think the demons gotta a big heart."
"Enough mushy crap, let's get going. Boa, can you restrain Face Changer somewhere?" Nick asked.
"What!? Me? By myself, seriously!?" Boa shrieked.
"Yeah, weren't you just bragging about having five familiar's?"
"Well I umm.."
He turned back to her.
"I know you're not weak. Someone like you can definitely solo this guy easy."
That's when I felt it. The warmth that overflowed from inside her was almost sickening.
"O-oh, well of course I can! It be totally easy." She said,
"Good, so I'll leave it to you then." Nick ran his fingers through his hair and pulled it back. "Well come on, let's check his camp. Today's his day off. So we're lucky."
"Oooh! Another quest! Let's check it out, Nyx!" Casey cheered.
That uneasy feeling was still heavy in her. I guess she wanted to take her mind off things now.
"Yeah sure, let's go."
…
We followed behind Nick for a bit. My mind swirled with questions and he refused to answer any of them. Not to mention none of my research into the paranormal knew what the hell Face Changer was. I had theories of course, but none of them really fit. Well, unless he was the face stealer Koh from Avatar, which would add some concern on how he got Casey's dad face. Not to mention whoever Aunt Boa saw, they had to have been important to her. Then there was Nick, I wonder if Face Changer changed to trick Nick, or changed out of panic. Either way Nick obviously got triggered by one of those faces.
This really bites. Not only do I have so little information to work with, but I also have to figure out how to boss that thing around. Why the hell is my soul so twisted!?
"Yo, Nova." Nick called out.
I jumped and looked ahead. We had arrived it seemed. There was a boy who sat down at a roaring fire. He had ebony skin and long wild hair that went down to his lower back. He stood up and turned around and I saw him more clearly. He was shirtless and only wearing a pair of ripped jeans, with a necklace of three claws around his neck. Scars lined all over his body and he had a very distinct scar across his face. However, there was something about him that I couldn't put my finger on. He just seemed familiar.
"Ni-"
Nova choked on his words and stared wide eyed at us. A sense of grief wrapped itself around him. While a heavy feeling of nostalgia followed. I noticed his golden eyes were frozen on Scar.
"No way, where did you?" Nova started.
"I thought it was more than just a coincidence. I mean, how many one eyed pterodactyls can there be?" Nick chuckled.
Suddenly a hard pressure of excitement and lust just crashed into me. I turned back and looked at Casey. Who was almost literally drooling at the sight of him.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Oh my gosh he's so hot." Casey mumbled.
I see, this is definitely gonna get weird...