One Weird Day

It was a warm day in the Vastimian country side and it was also another day of rebuilding after the events that had occurred weeks prior with the attack at the hands of Monsuta. With the attack fresh in people's minds, border security had been increased, and so had the security overall to protect not only the citizenry, but to insure that Monsuta could not infiltrate or rile up conflict within the country a second time. Things had been returning to normal rather slowly, as the conflicts that had burst out over the nation had done a number on the community, the structures that housed that community, and the businesses that called Vastime home. Yet, normality was returning, and in the process every day people were beginning to return to their homes and business looking to press the refresh button on what had been a horrible ordeal. Yet, Vastime would be stronger than ever, that much was certain, and an event like what had occurred would only strengthen the nationality and bond between the common people that lived in the nation. It was on this day that a man would stagger into town, covered in drying black blood, and stumbling about without much of a will or thought as to where he was going. The people of Vastime watched him, eyeing him up as a possible threat to their safety, but none the less concerned as to what had happened to him.

He looked dazed and confused, but showed no sign of injury though he did look malnourished, and appeared to be exhausted for some reason or another. He reeked of sweat, blood, and what was probably bile so people parted away from him, allowing them to pass on the road without so much as a single bit of opposition. They though perhaps he was a refugee from some land that had been attacked and he had just barely made his way here, but due to recent events they dare not approach him. They were concerned for their safety first and they had every right to be that way and as the man reached a particular intersection he stopped, pushing a mix of red and mahogany hair from his aqua blue eyes to look around at his surroundings. He looked even more confused than he had been when he arrived. "How did we...I mean I get back here?", the man said to no in particular in a dry voice from not having drank any water in a day. He looked down at himself, as if realizing he was now absolutely filthy, and staggered back into a nearby alley with a look of concern on his face. "Why am I covered in Hollow blood...and why am I dressed like I am?", the man said looking at his tattered rags that had once been a nice suit, he could remember that.

He remembered clashing with a metal man with some allies, he remembered getting hurt, he remembered almost dying, and then everything else was blank. Like pages had been forcibly removed from a textbook with the most important details, he scrunched his face up as he tried to remember what had happened, and in frustration kicked a trash can over when none of those memories came back to him. "Shit!", the man cursed loudly as he began to walk over to pick up the trash clan to at least clean up his mess, after all it was the right thing to do. As he touched the trash can, a sudden surge of power blasted through the man, and in a look of confusion the man watched the trash can transform before his very eyes. The trash can, which had once been an old, rusted, and run down thing to carry trash now shone bright as if it were brand new. All the blemishes on the can, even the smudge of black blood on his boots from where he had kicked it, were gone as if they had never been there to begin with, but they had been. He knew that, he had seen that. "What the hell just happened, we must be seeing things.", the man spoke as if there were two people there and shook his head again, clearing his thoughts and trying to put himself back together. He closed his eyes to focus himself, letting all outside noise drown itself out as he dug deep down into himself, but as he dug deeper the noises around him only escalated further.

It was if his sense of hearing had been augmented while he had deprived himself of sight. He could hear a conversation about Vastimian authorities, a couple of stall keepers trying to make a sale a street down, and the declaration of love from a young couple on the top floor of the building he was standing underneath. His confusion began to escalate as he began to hear more: a man crying at a graveyard a few blocks down, a child telling a man to stop beating his mother, an elderly woman breathing her last breaths. He was becoming consumed by this enhanced hearing, letting himself go further, and deeper into this intense euphoria of being able to sense things without sight, but just through hearing. He barely noticed that he had staggered out back into the street, stumbling around with his hands on his head, as if he was asking for the sounds to stop, and in truth he didn't know if he could stop it. He couldn't open his eyes, he kept trying, but it was as if he was too deep into the sense of hearing to pull out, and that he didn't know if he even could if he truly wanted to. He could hear the sounds of cars honking their horns, people screaming at him to move out the way, and he could hear the sound of concern in their voices. "Make it stop...", the man groaned in pain as he staggered on to what he hoped was a walkway on the other side of the street, the sound of footstep hurriedly following him from behind. He could hear the sound of the air being parted by a hand reaching out for his shoulder and as his hand reached out, something inside of him snapped, and his eyes opened wide his irises flickering gold for a few seconds as he turned around to face the man reaching for him. And what he saw was no man at all.

It looked almost demonic in nature, a monster of some sorts, and as he gazed at the hand reaching for him he saw only a clawed appendage looking to penetrate his flesh and end him. His body spazzed out, he could feel something moving underneath the flesh of his left arm, and before he knew it he had the monster on its' knees. A punch to the throat and a quick sweep to the legs bringing it crashing down, but the man had not done that. In fact it felt like he was merely observing his body on auto pilot and try as he might he couldn't get his body to do what he wanted it to, he felt more movement under his flesh as he felt himself walking over to a nearby metal rod, and his body picked it up. The metal rod, probably a material component to help in the reconstruction, upon contact with the man's hand glimmered, and hardened. It became a perfect metal rod in every sense of the word, it was flawless, and more so it felt right in the man's hand as if the rod itself had been crafted to be wielded by him. The man's body turned to look at the monster as the monster tried to crawl away. "Justice will be served...", the man's body voiced in a mixture of his voice and something else as he walked toward the creature.

His body held the metal rod in hand, as his body reared up to go through a powerful downward swing, and in that moment the man willed himself to stop. The body blinked and when it reopened its' eyes the man was in control once more, but more than that the monster had been replaced by a man covered in tattoos who was holding a knife. The man with tattoos looked up pleadingly at the man covered in Hollow Blood, he dropped the metal rod, and upon leaving his hand the rod began to deteriorate into rust and dust until it shattered on the floor. A security officer turned the corner, Vastimian police coming to lock him up perhaps, and at this time the man knew that was where he belonged he had accosted a person. His body had done that, but they wouldn't believe that, no they would blame him no doubt, and in the back of his mind the man was fine with that. No one was above the law, after all. But instead of doing anything to him, they instead cuffed the man laying on the floor clutching his throat, and looked with concern at the man standing in front of them in rags, and covered in Hollow Blood. "Thanks for the help, this guy stabbed an elderly woman a few blocks down, and had been outrunning us up to this point.", the officer in charge said as he looked over the man with Hollow Blood all over himself. The man offered no words, he stood there almost in a catatonic state as he looked at the arm which had touched the metal rod, watching something squirm under the flesh, and then retreat. "Are you alright...you look like you have been through hell. Hey, Mike....lets get this guy to the station. He can get a shower and some clothes there.", the officer said to his partner who was already escorting the convict away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A Few Hours Later, At the Station*

"We've tried everything...he just sits there, quietly, and doesn't say anything. He is barely moving and I'm concerned he might be ill.", the officer said to his partner Mike who was looking in at the man who was now dressed in a nice pair of clothes, and was cleaned up rather nicely from what he had been a few hours ago. "Did you get a hit on the database of who he might be?", Mike said as he sipped his coffee with a concerned glance on his face. "That's the thing, Mike. It says he is Steiner Franz, a former Vanguard soldier, but there are several variances that just don't occur naturally genetically. It is like he is two people, Steiner Franz, and whatever the hell is providing this other strand of genetic code. To me its over my pay grade, I've already called the higher ups. They said they are sending someone to pick him up and help him out...the guy is a veteran after all and he deserves at least that.", the officer said turning away from the glass and leaving with Mike to head out to get something to eat. Meanwhile, Steiner sat alone in what he guessed was an interrogation room. He had heard their conversation by drowning out his sense of sight and wondered who was coming to get him, he needed answers, and he couldn't get them here. In truth he didn't know what was wrong with him or what him being two people instead of one meant, but whatever it was, the police didn't have an answer. That was concerning, he just hoped the person coming to get him would have more answers than that.