005 - The Beast Within [Open]

[thebeastwithout]

WHO: Beast Boy, Open
WHERE: Various, also Dreams
WHEN: July 18th
WHAT: What's cooler than being a T. Rex? (The answer is nothing)
WARNINGS: Death mentions

[1: menagerie]
[This month has been tame. ...Weird, but tame. With the exception of one person claiming that this is a different world from what he remembers, the only things bothering them this time around are some dreams.

He can handle dreams. It's reality that's the trouble.

Over the month, Gar takes to practicing using his powers as often as he can. He's sixteen, he's on summer vacation, and he's bored. In the most isolated corner of a park he can find, he spreads out an enormous reference book from the library listing a good half of the animal species known to mankind in excruciating detail, accompanied by exceedingly boring anatomical drawings. He thumbs through the pages.]

...Pinworm? Gross. ...Wombat. Kakapo? Pink... Fairy Armadillo.

[At any time, someone might stumble into the somewhat horrific sight of a green teenager screwing up his eyes and slowly melting his cells down into a collection of strange and bizarre things.

Please don't scream.]

[2: jurassic park]
Tyrannosaurus Rex...

[Gar stares with reverent fascination as he flips through another reference book - a paleontology textbook. Right smack dab in the center is a beautiful illustration of a modern interpretation of the great beast... still impressive even if it does have a few feathers now (lame).

Gar takes a breath.]

OK. Don't freak out. You can do this. You know you can. You can. ...You can.

[He steps back and closes his eyes.

If anyone were to observe... nothing immediately interesting happens. For a good half minute, the seconds tick by without incident, and Gar sways gently in place, focusing on the rhythm of his own breathing.

And then................ a ripple runs across his skin and he shudders.

He doesn't expand so much as he explodes outwards all at once, his body bursting past its limits as his limbs push outwards and the change overwhelms him. He opens his mouth to cry out in astonishment, but a deep, guttural roar emerges, instead, as his jaws expand and his teeth lengthen and sharpen. In the blink of an eye, a 40 foot behemoth emerges from thin air and crashes heavily on the ground. With a single step, the weight of its tail topples a tree with a colossal crack!

This sensation...
This power...
This sheer... everything.

Everything is overwhelming.... It's amazing...

Everything is overwhelming and he can see the birds and the squirrels and the animals fleeing from this beast and he can feel its hunger and its thirst and its rage and its drive.......]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!

[Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
He's got to get this under control.
He can get this under control.
It's just like anything else he's ever been.

But it feels... so incredible.

He wrestles - he struggles - he feels... almost faint, and it is in a strained stupor that he stumbles away from the park, upending more trees as he goes, and begins to lurch in a random direction towards the city...]

[3: nightmare]
[Separate from the live action real time filming of Jurassic World 3, Gar's nights are far from dull as well. He dreams of a million things... of a million times and places, some of which are familiar, some of which are totally bizarre.

If you're dream-hopping, you might just find yourself dropping into a lively, colorful city... just as an almighty explosion sounds in the distance and an enormous shockwave reduces the whole thing to rubble.

Everything... in pieces. As far as the eye can see. And a crimson red sky hanging above you...]

No!

[Gar is on his knees in the middle of the street, his jaw slack.]

This can't be happening...!

Comments

2

[maidofmistakes]

[Kara Lina comes running up the second that she hears screaming and stomping. ...Never mind that she's wearing a looseleaf S taped onto her shirt, okay, this was short notice.]

Stop right th-- Gar?

[thebeastwithout]

...?

[The familiar voice clears his head a little, and he stops lurching so erratically, swiveling his head back and forth for a few seconds. ...He can't really... see anyone at first, and it takes him a moment before he bothers to look down.

The baleful eyes focus on the small figure standing before him.]

.................Lina?

[Unfortunately, he can't really talk right now, so all she gets is a muted, unpleasant, growling noise.]

[maidofmistakes]

Uh... hi?

[She waves and gives a nervous laugh.]

Sorry. Thought someone was wrecking stuff. But you finally became a dinosaur, huh? That's pretty cool. Man, I hope you can understand me.

[thebeastwithout]

Augh...... I've got the biggest headache...

[Again, this is interpreted as 'growl roar grr rawr' but Gar straightens back up and stumbles backwards a little bit.

Oops there goes another of the smaller trees.]

[maidofmistakes]

[She zips over to catch the tree and awkwardly hold it up, broken as it is. Awkward smile.]

Okay, so you still can't talk as an animal. I always thought you could... Then again, I guess I don't have all my powers back, either. I still can't fly. Which would proooobably be pretty useful right now. Okay, try to, uh, not break anything?

[thebeastwithout]

[Unfortunately, this will never be something Gar will retain as, for some reason, his medium sticks to a rigid version of reality where animals don't have the vocal cords capable of making speech.

...Except when he becomes a cell.

But that's a super bizarre case.

The T. Rex turns around in a circle a few times as if trying to find a way to not break anything before it settles on falling over sideways.

This isn't a great decision. Gar's tail settles down and half of it ends up sprawled across a road.]

[maidofmistakes]

[Blink... stare.]

Uh. If I could fly yet, I'd carry you. What were you trying to do?

2

[flametheif40]

[Considering the strange changes he has noticed with his older brother, he decided that maybe he should hit the books and possibly science his way out...however when he notices an explosion and a T-Rex is suddenly there, he ends up screaming, wanting to run but his legs don't get the memo]

OH FUCK ME! COME ON! WHO AM I PISSING OFF!?

[thebeastwithout]

[A small screaming... thing certainly attracts the dinosaur's attention, and T. Rex Boy tosses its head and hunches closer to the ground to stare at whatever it is that's making the ruckus.

It snorts out a huge puff of fetid, hot air.]

[flametheif40]

[He Remember the old cartoon cliche about T Rex's vision is based on sight...wait is that even true? He closes his eyes and tries to remain as still as possible, after taking a few steps back and clinging onto a post to try to stabilize himself, his heart beating hard like a pounding war drum,then mutters to himself]

Reeaaalll Smart AL...scream so God could hear you...what could possible go wrong...

[thebeastwithout]

[unfortunately, Jurassic Park is not a terribly reliable source of information
not only are his eyes hyper keen... he can hear the movement of practically everything in a 50 foot radius - and smell them, too.

It's all a bit overwhelming...

But at the moment, he's focused on this tiny morsel. Gar's head pushes further forward and now he inhales, drawing in the scent of this delectable portion of meat..........

Probably tastes like chicken.......]

[flametheif40]

Al opens his eyes to see the T-Rex's head gets closer, his head spins trying to think of anything he can do to get out of this, he digs into his jacket and while it inhales he throws whatever he happens to grab, which consists of:
A handful of smarties
few pieces of lint
Hoping that it would go up it's nose...and something would happen

[thebeastwithout]

[The smarties go up his nose.]

...Knhk.

[It is terribly unpleasant.
The dinosaur makes a few pained snorting sounds. ...A few more. Then.......]

...KAGRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOR!

[He sneezes! and an enormous amount of dino snot flies out!]

3

[invocate]

[Li-Na doesn't have enough time to register that the city isn't Recolle before she hears the explosion, followed a second later by the shock wave. With a terrified scream she's thrown several meters down the street, luckily tumbling to a stop on her own, instead of being thrown against the wall of a building.

She lays there amid the debris and broken glass for a moment, just reassuring herself that she's still alive. And then she sees the sky. Red, like in Lenalee's nightmare. She winces as she slowly sits up and brushes dirt from her face and clothes. There's a long cut on one leg, from knee to ankle, bleeding sluggishly. She'll need first aid soon, but not right away.

And then she hears a familiar voice cry out. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Li-Na pushes herself to her feet. She spots Gar a short distance away and staggers toward him.]

Gar!

[thebeastwithout]

...Li-Na?!

[The voice is familiar enough that he whirls around in shock, even as, off in the distance, there is an enormous cry. ...Something red and enormous is rising up from the middle of the city...]

Yo, get out of here, dude!

You're gonna get killed!

[...Why is he talking like this? He isn't sure... but it feels right, somehow.]

It's Trigon.

[And that name... He'd forgotten he knew that name, but he does, and it sends a shiver of terror up his spine.]

[invocate]

[She winces at the sound of some...thing bellowing. That... did not sound good.]

Me? What about you?

[Like, you can't just tell her to leave as if you're planning to stay, Gar.]

And what's a Trigon?

[thebeastwithout]

That's

[He points.]

...a Trigon.

[The demon continues to grow as dark clouds swirl around it.]

You gotta go, man. You can't fight that thing.

[invocate]

[Li-Na shakes her head stubbornly. The Trigon is big, but she's fought big things before. Maybe not this big though.]

No. I am not leaving. I have my Innocence. We won't know if it affects a Trigon or not until we try.

[thebeastwithout]

W-What does that mean?

[He's sure Li-Na is very innocent but he doesn't have the slightest idea how that will help.]

Look, he's some kind of... magical... demon lord, I really think you need to --

[It lets loose with another bellowing roar of rage. A second shockwave rings out and runs through the city -- Gar is thrown back to the ground.

And now, on the street all around them... The people of this city appear. Their faces frozen in screams and their bodies... petrified and crumbling.]

Oh my god.

2

[wordcarvings]

[ Koutarou doesn't know what's going on, he was just going to find a nice place to do some pencil sketching before doing grocery shopping whatever he'd need for supper and... This is a sight. ]

...Well... I'll say this is new.

[ He should probably be scared, considering he's just come across a dinosaur. He should probably also be quiet. But nothing beats the Taints he's seen in the other Koutarou's memories, or getting stabbed last month (and that's healed, thanks to the ink deal he's got going for him). ]

You don't look so .. steady?

[thebeastwithout]

[As he lurches around in his faint confusion, his eyes lock onto a face that instantly stuns him into sanity.

Things you don't want your dad to catch you doing:
-looking at naughty pictures
-drinking
-skipping school
-turning into a rampaging dinosaur

Gar stares in horror for a few seconds before a guilty-looking T. Rex kind of hunches in on itself and whines faintly.]

[wordcarvings]

[ So is this the worst thing you don't want your dad to see? Because it should probably be either skipping school or drinking, with this particular dad. He is a teacher and all.

And he stares up and up a little longer, back at the dino. It looks very sad.

Tentatively, Koutarou reaches out and sympathetically pats it where he can reach. Which is hopefully something like the snout or hand or something but it's a big dino. ]

There there, it's alright. What's wrong?

[thebeastwithout]

[Koutarou will manage to pat it a few times on the snout, whereupon it looks even more perturbed. It staggers back a step or two.]

C'mon... focus!

[And then...
rapidly shrinks back down to a familiar looking green person with a popping noise.]

Ha...

Hey...

Mr. Koutarou..........

[wordcarvings]

[ His hand ends up on Gar's head. This is not awkward at all, really.

A little peculiar and surprising, though. ]

Oh, hello! Have you picked up a new skill?

[thebeastwithout]

Y.......e -- nooo, it's been... a few months I just didn't really... tell you since turning green was already weird enough...

[sorry]