Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27857924-20160321054104

In the early hours of the night, an elderly woman screamed and ran into an alleyway. Behind her, three men casually followed. They knew these streets better than anyone, and certainly better than the woman they had their eyes on. It wasn't long before the woman realized that she had run into a dead end. Her only exit was now blocked off by the three men that had tried to steal her purse only a minute ago. Now, it seemed they would have it, along anything else they felt like taking.

The man in the middle, Jones, was tall and wore a tattered but clean suit. He confidently strode towards her, grinning sadistically. He was rough and had an even rougher past. He always blamed his misfortunes for his sick behavior. Perhaps he was somewhat reasonable as a young boy, but now, he was beyond feeling and was relentless in his villainy, even when most in his trade had given up the crime business a long time ago. In fact, the men he was currently with were all that was left of a once powerful mafia ring. At his sides, two stocky, tough looking thugs followed behind him. They held broken planks of wood haphazardly in their hands as they approached the woman.

“Now listen. This doesn’t have to get messy.” Jones said. “Just give us your purse, nice and easy like, and we’ll be out o’ yo’ business.”

The woman looked up in surprise. “You only want my purse?”

Jones nodded. “Yep. Just fork it over, and nobody has to get hurt. Com’ere.”

The woman paused a moment before slowly walking towards them with her purse held in front of her in outstretched hands.

One of the thugs looked confused. “But boss. I thought we were going to take the dame, not her money.”

The woman stopped abruptly as Jones, apparently their boss, shook his head and held his face in his hand.

“You Idiot.” He said. “When are you gunna learn to keep your stupid trap shut?”

He shifted his eyes back to the woman, who was now stepping back, a look of horror on her face.

“It’s true.” The man said. “You’ll be living with us for a while. But don't worry, somebody is sure to pay a pretty penny to get you free. Wont they boys?”

The thugs nodded and closed in on their victim who was now helplessly sitting against the wall with tears in her eyes. More out of despair than fear, she screamed once more as the towering bodies of the thugs blotted out the street light and covered her in shadow.

One of the thugs reached a meaty hand towards her, but stopped when he heard something coming from behind.

“Not so fast!” A triumphant voice, full of energy and power, echoed through the ally way. “If you are thinking of harming that woman, then you will have to deal with me first.”

The men turned around to face the source of the voice. As the woman brushed away her tears, she could make out a figure standing at the other end of the ally. He wore a bright red and green suit and wore a dark mask over his eyes. A cape fluttered gently behind him.

It was Stupeno Man! The woman smiled in relief. He must have heard the commotion with his superhuman hearing. He had been the only real hero the city had ever known. He showed up less than a year ago and had been fighting crime ever since. In no time, crime had plummeted and criminals began disappearing off the streets. When asked about how he got his incredible powers, he revealed that he was actually an alien and that he had decided to help earth by fighting crime. Out of all the people of the city, the woman felt lucky and honored that he had come to her aid. Stupendo man eyed the thugs confidently.

“Boss. It’s him.” One of the thugs said in a wavering voice. Nervously, the other one chimed in as well. “How we spost’ ta beat em? We should just scram.”

“Scram? Scram where? He’s blocking the exit you dolts!” Jones yelled, obviously distressed. He ran a trembling hand through his greasy hair before turning his attention back to the hero.

“Well, we’re not goin’ down without a fight. Get’m boys.”

The two thugs charged at Stupendo man with their weapons raised above their heads, but they underestimated his superhuman speed. In a flash, the hero delivered two powerful blows to each of the thugs, sending them tumbling to the ground. Jones gritted his teeth. Now, his best chance of escape lay motionless on the ground. Fear and anger flared in his chest as he glared at the caped figure.

“Why cant ya just mind ya own business?” He said. “Because a you, I lost my whole gang. Whoever hadn’t a ditched me ended up being taken away by you. Well, ya’ ant taken me.”

He lunged for the opening to street beyond, desperate to escape. In a swift motion that Jones could barely follow, Stupendo man snatched him up by the collar of his suit.

With a shriek, he lashed out with a switchblade, but before the blade could make contact, it was effortlessly knocked away.

“Your villainous deeds end today.” The hero said before turning to face the woman. “You wont have to worry about these troublemakers again mam.”

With breathtaking speed, Stupendo man scooped up the two thugs and shifted his grasp on Jones to secure all three of them snugly within his arms.

“Thank you. Oh, thank you.” The woman said as Stupendo man flew into the air.

“All in a day’s work, mam.” He shouted before taking off into the night.

As he flew in the direction of the police department, Jones, the only one of the goons who was still conscious, realized that any struggle he made was in vain. The arm that was around him was so immovable, it might as well have been made of iron. Despite this, he continued to claw and bite out of desperation.

Despite how many criminals Stipendo man caught, the prisons never seemed to grow. After he had thwarted a bank robbery involving ten perpetrators and had refused to give them to the authorities, people began to wonder what he did with his defeated enemies. When questioned, Stupendo man would get defensive and threaten to stop crimefighting if his work was impeded in any way. The government, enjoying unprecedented civil obedience, turned a blind eye to the secret punishments he prepared for the villains he caught.

As Stupendo man flew past the police department and the urban landscape below faded into the empty forest of the countryside, Jones realized that he would not be spending the night in a cell. He had heard that Stupendo man lived in the country, so perhaps he was taking them to his home. But why?

“Hey. Where you taken me?” He yelled. “Are you gunna show me what you did to the rest of my men you took?”

Stupendo man looked onward, stone faced as if he hadn't heard him, although he surely had. It was hard to make out in the darkness of night, but something about is face seemed off.

But that thought was shattered when Stupendo man abruptly stopped, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, causing Jones to break several ribs as he slammed against the arm that had held him secure. He screamed in pain as Stupendo man descended to the ground faster than gravity. At last, on the ground, Jones was released. He gripped his chest and knelt in agony. As adrenaline rushed through his body, he eventually found the strength to lift his head and discover that the thugs had been piled together with their faces in the dirt. They should have regained consciousness by now. Stupendo man stood a few feet away with his back turned. He made a few high pitched whistle noises before remaining as silent as the forest surrounding them.

After several minutes, Jones began to feel the full extent of his injuries once again. “What’ve ya brought us ‘ere for. I need a doctor.” Pain was evident in his panicked voice, but only silence responded. Everything remained still.

Then, in the far distance, he heard a crash. It was followed by another, as if something very far away was slamming into trees and snapping branches with all its weight. He heard the sounds get closer, but Stupendo man didn't move at all. Soon, he could see the tree tops reverberate in sync with each crash as the thing making the noises got closer. Terror gripped Jones and, pushing through his pain and stifling a yelp, he retreated behind a tree.

Under the shadow of the foliage, with only the moonlight to illuminate the horror that was now revealing itself, Jones witnessed as a grey, decrepit figure emerged from the overgrowth. It looked somewhat like a tall, bald man, but calling it human would be an insult to all humanity. Its eyes were pale and emanated an unquenchable hunger. Its arms and legs were long and spindly, tipped with curved fingers that more closely resembled sharp hooks. Somehow, its gut was bloated, yet its ribs poked through its chest as if it had been starved for weeks. It shifted its weight unnaturally as it walked past Stupendo man and approached the motionless bodies of the two thugs.

With surprising strength, it effortlessly lifted one of them in the air and slashed him open like a fish. A long, wormlike tongue extended from its mouth and began scooping up the insides and stuffing them into its mouth. As it ate, jagged teeth it must have been born with had begun to fall out, making way for more humanlike ones.

“The more he eats, the more he grows.” Stupendo man said, his back still turned to Jones. “It wont be long before the world meets my new sidekick.” He gestured to the creature who was in the process of swallowing an arm, its teeth pulling the meat in like fingers. “I know he’s a messy eater, but he is only three months old.” The thing exchanged a quick glance a Jones. “I brought him here from my home planet not too long ago. He’s not used to having so much food available.”

Jones couldn't believe what he was seeing. Throughout his entire criminal career of murder and kidnaping, he had never seen anything so twisted or savage. Lips trembling, he couldn't help but ask, “Why? Why human?”

“You are what you eat, they say. That may not apply to you humans as much as it does to us however. If people saw me as I truly am, no one would trust me, let alone resist the urge to scream.” Stupendo man turned to face Jones. Part of his face had become grey and disfigured. His teeth were sharp and he looked ravenous. He violently yanked an arm off one of the thugs. For a brief moment, his head contorted into that of a hideous monstrosity. It quickly scarfed the arm down and, within seconds, Stupendo man had fully resumed his deceitfully human appearance. “The best way for us to appear human, is to eat human.”

As Stupendo man continued to eat, Jones looked back at the creature, who was now gorging itself on the second thug. It had indeed taken on more human characteristics. Its skin was slightly pinker and hair began growing on its scalp. Its eyes appeared more controlled and thoughtful and its hands looked more human, though they looked more like the hands of a witch.

When they had finally finished eating, all that was left of the two thugs was a few bones and some clumps of flesh on the ground.

“You’re done, right?” Jones said, hopping that he could somehow get away before they got hungry again.

Stupendo man nodded, fresh blood dripping from his mouth. “We can’t eat anymore.”

Jones slowly backed away from them. “Well, I’ll just be goin’ then. You’ll see no more mischief from me. I’ll promise you that.”

As he stepped back however, he felt a sharp pain in the bottom of his foot. He looked down, only to see the tail end of a grey, pulsating worm. He screamed and fell down, desperately trying to remove his shoe. By the time he got it off, the worm was gone, leaving only a deep hole in the sole of his foot. As blood began to gush from the fresh wound, he felt a sickly movement from within his lower leg. “Get it off me. Get it off me. What in hell is this?” Pain surged through his body as he felt something scratch at him from the inside.

“I see you've met my other offspring.” Stupendo man said. “He’s less than a week old and still in his larval state.”

Jones watched in horror as the muscle in his leg was slowly replaced with a glutinous worm that had become larger than his head. It gnawed at his bone and wriggled comfortably under his skin. Jones grabbed a nearby rock an desperately tried to crush it. He groaned in agony with each strike, but the horror of having a flesh-eating alien inside his leg pushed him to keep smashing. Despite his attempts, and with tears welling up from a combination of pain, frustration and desperation, the worm appeared unfazed.

“Have you forgotten that he’s from my planet?” Stupendo man asked. “He has my abilities and my invulnerabilities.”

Dropping the rock, Jones ignored him and tore part of his leg away, leaving a gaping hole. He shoved his hand in, grabbed the slimy parasite and tried yanking its bloated form with all the frantic energy of a madman. The worm was slippery however, and when he finally got a good grip on the thing, it clamped down on the bone and resisted his tugs. In cold despair, Jones realized that it wouldn't budge.

For the first time that night, Stupendo man looked slightly troubled. “I actually feel sorry for you. Your pain will be excruciating. You see, the creature inside you enjoys his food fresh and alive. He will devour you as slowly as possible to preserve your tenderness.”

“Well, I presume that you wont be going anywhere anytime soon. Consider you final moments to be redeeming in a way. You're feeding the next generation of superheroes.” He crossed his arms and a heroic smirk returned to his flawless face. “Now then, we have work to do.” He exchanged a glance with his sidekick, who was now calmly dawning a brightly colored suit of his own, and the two of them lifted into the air and soared back to their city. The quest to hunt down villainy had resumed. While criminals still existed, their city counted on them, and they were always happy to oblige. 