"It's no use, kid," Cheetah's modulated voice rasped, the sound like grinding metal. He pressed his foot down harder on XLR8's tail, the pressure immense. "Look at you, still thrashing. It's cute. But that little tail of yours is caught fast. Rank One muscle can't break a Rank Two grip, especially one of ours."
Seeing the man's smug, tilted head, Ethan didn't feel anger. He felt a cold, terrifying clarity. This was a predator toying with its food. "You talk a big game. What level are you?"
"Nothing special," Cheetah gloated. "Just a mere Rank Two, Level Two. A little bit higher than you."
"Rank Two, Level Two," Ethan's whirring voice repeated, a plan—a desperate, insane plan—forming in the space between heartbeats. "Your body has been enhanced, but it hasn't reached an unbreakable level yet, has it?"
"Kid, don't try any funny business. My physique is far beyond that of an ordinary Rank Two. Your strength cannot possibly be greater than mine!"
"No, no," Ethan chirped, his tone suddenly light, almost conversational. "I wouldn't dream of competing with you in strength. But since you've confirmed your body isn't made of solid Taydenite… then I'm relieved."
"What?"
Ethan grinned, a terrifyingly sharp expression for his current form. He shot his right clawed hand forward, not to attack, but to grab Cheetah's shoulder in a surprisingly strong grip. "Now it's me who has caught you."
Cheetah scoffed—and in that half-second of confusion, Ethan acted. He slammed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Before the man could process the brilliant green flash, he was no longer holding down a wiry blue creature. He was being lifted bodily into the air by four massive, powerful red arms.
"Four Arms!"
The change was instantaneous, brutal. Ethan held the man's struggling body horizontally, using his four powerful arms to grip his head, his legs, his torso. With a primal roar born of terror and adrenaline, he exerted all his strength. There was a sickening, wet tearing sound.
Aurora, the light-bullet user, let out a choked gasp. Her professional calm shattered, replaced by a momentary mask of horrified disbelief as she watched her comrade get ripped in half. Then, the horror was replaced by a cold, incandescent fury. "You… specimen!!!" She raised her hands, and a giant, searing ball of light erupted into existence, thrown at Ethan with murderous intent.
Ethan leaped, his massive new body surprisingly agile. The light-ball scorched the ground where he'd stood. That was a trick, he thought, his mind racing. A desperate gamble. His rank was higher, his strength greater, but his body was still just flesh and bone. He wasn't unbreakable. Now a new reality crashed down on him. One was dead, but four remained. He couldn't fight them head-on.
"Ghostfreak~~" He switched forms again, his massive red body dissolving into a spectral, gray wisp. He turned intangible just as another volley of light bullets passed harmlessly through him.
"You actually have another form!" Aurora screamed, her rage mixing with a fanatical excitement. "Good! The more forms you possess, the greater your value! Obediently become an experimental subject for the cause!"
What subject? Not a chance! He saw her preparing another attack. "Aurora Prison!" A cage of brilliant, solid light snapped into existence, trapping him inside. It was useless. Ethan just floated through the bars as if they were smoke.
He didn't waste another second. He flew directly into her body.
For a moment, there was only the disorienting feeling of passing through flesh and psionic energy. He used his possession ability. He felt a brief, weak struggle from her consciousness, a flicker of will against his own, but her mind was focused on combat, not psychic defense. He pushed, and her defenses crumbled. He was in control.
"Let me see what you people really want to do to me…" he thought, about to probe her memories. But then he heard footsteps, and voices calling out.
"Aurora, what happened?" The other three cultists had finally caught up.
Ethan instantly adjusted his plan. Speaking with Aurora's voice, he made it sound strained, panicked. "He got Cheetah! The specimen… it's stronger than we thought! It has another form! A ghost!"
"Impossible! Cheetah was a Rank Two!" one of them exclaimed.
"What's the plan?" another demanded. "The Deacon will have our heads if we fail!"
Ethan (as Aurora) pointed. "It's too slippery! We need to coordinate! Surround it! You two, on the flanks! I'll hit it from the center when it's distracted! NOW!"
They didn't hesitate. They trusted their teammate. As they moved to flank his position, Ethan made Aurora turn, gather her power, and unleash it not at him, but at them. Three powerful, concentrated light bullets blasted into their backs.
"What's going on!"
"Aurora, what are you doing!"
"Betrayal!" the three yelled, looking at their teammate in utter disbelief.
Ethan, speaking through her, just laughed, the sound chillingly distorted. "Go to hell, and you'll find out!" A spear of pure light condensed in Aurora's hands and pierced one of the men through the chest. "Kill this traitor!" the remaining two roared.
The bear-type activated his beastification while the last member unleashed a volley of flying knives. Ethan, with cold, detached pragmatism, let the knives slam into Aurora's body. Not my body, not my problem. He used her Light Spear skill to engage the bear-man. The bear was powerful, but Aurora was a Rank Two, Level Three psionicist, and her attacks left deep, searing wounds.
Then, with ruthless efficiency, he made Aurora's body charge forward and grapple the bear-man in a close embrace. At the moment of contact, he activated Ghostfreak's true power, devouring the bear-man's struggling soul. He then instantly abandoned Aurora's now-empty vessel and possessed the bear-man's body. Aurora's corpse collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
The final cultist, the knife-thrower, saw his hulking companion suddenly triumph. He walked over. "Is she dead?"
The Bear-man (now controlled by Ethan) turned its massive head. A new, terrifyingly intelligent light burned in its eyes. "She's dead. And you're next!"
"What?!" Slap!
The bear-man's giant paw swatted the man's head like a fly. The knife-thrower's skull caved in. He fell to the ground, all signs of life gone. Within the dead form, Ethan, as Ghostfreak, devoured the final soul and then floated out, a wisp of gray smoke in the sudden, bloody silence.
A surge of raw energy flooded his being. Devouring souls… it can be converted into psionic energy. He could feel it, a vast new reservoir of power. The two souls I just absorbed, plus the Aura Core I won… it will be enough for me to break through to Rank Two. It was a sure thing after all~~
In the distance, the wail of police sirens began to grow louder. The 911 call had been answered.
There are surveillance cameras everywhere here, he thought. I probably can't hide the secret of my powers anymore. So be it. Anyway, these guys were from the Evolution Cult. Killing them… killing them should be fine, too.
He transformed back into his human form. He stood amidst the five mangled corpses, the smell of blood thick in the air. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, the adrenaline from the desperate fight for survival began to fade. The cold, tactical part of his mind receded, and the horrified, teenage part took over. The delayed realization hit him like a physical blow, stealing the air from his lungs.
He had killed people. Five of them. He had torn one apart with his own hands.
He slapped his own face, hard, the sound sharp and lonely in the sudden, quiet night.