iyashikei psl >> alien puberty

[chaoscontrol]

It had been the Go-away-inator's effects that had stirred Shadow's Black Arms genes from their slumber. Of all things... that nonsense ray gun that had a myriad of effects on people. But for Shadow, it had made him grow wings. Wings that were identical, in miniature, to the ones Black Doom had "gifted" him years ago in White Space.

That had been weeks ago. Those wings had shriveled and fallen off in a mere seven days. Since then, he could feel those dark powers starting to stir. Over time, they came back, one by one -- his enhanced spears and combat, the manta construct for surfing over water, the enveloping squid-like morph form, and finally the wings -- at full size and power.

And for a few months, that was all. Shadow felt more complete. Whole. These powers were cursed, but they were his. He would master them to protect Maria, and everyone. It was an ironic twist for powers granted by a conquering monster.

But then, he started to notice something new -- a sort of pit in his stomach, feeling ill at ease. He rarely got sick, and when he did, it was usually only for a day or so. It had been a week or more and this unsettled feeling hadn't gone away. He had also started to notice that the vestiges of Black Doom's power would linger after he used his powers. The etheral black gunk stayed longer on his hands, his wings were harder to dismiss, it was more difficult to switch between hedgehog and doom morph form and back, and there was a whispering in his mind. A whispering he couldn't make out -- it didn't seem to be speaking any language he could understand. In his dreams, he visited a world he had never seen before. It was a dark and barren place with no sun and huge networks of what looked like gigantic blood vessels, filled and flowing with Chaos only knew what.

He had a suspicion of what it could mean, but Shadow the Hedgehog was the ultimate life form. His heritage didn't determine his destiny -- only he did. He does what he can to keep Maria from worrying about him. He maintains their routine, keeping the apartment clean and making sure he and Maria were always fed.

There's nothing wrong. He's just tired, is all.

The changes start slowly, so subtle that he could mostly ignore them, or write them off as a trick of the light. Shadow's pupils grow ever so slightly thinner, more slit-like. The sclera of his eyes take on a barely noticable yellow hue. Tiny buds of cartilage form next to his ears, but stayed hidden in his quills. The pinky fingers on each hand start to shrivel, wither away, and the claws on his remaining hands no longer retract. He hides them by stuffing the fingers of his gloves with cotton to keep a more normal shape. When hunks of his fur start falling out when he bathes and grooms, revealing leathery and scaley purpleish-black skin beneath, he has a harder time hiding what's happening. He can feel a dull panic rising in his gut, and he stays away from his and Maria's apartment for longer and longer.

It's fine. He's fine. He has to be fine. He has to be fine.

The whispering is getting louder. It's still in a strange language, but he realizes he's heard it before. And he is starting to understand it. He doesn't like what the voices are saying.

He was "saving up stardust", he said. Doing lots of requests and odd jobs, to make sure Maria had enough to keep going with school for as long as she wished. He would be gone for days at a time, but always made sure to check in with his Glimmer.

"I'm fine," he would lie. "Just very busy. I'm sorry. I'll be home for a few nights soon, I promise. I love you."

And he does eventually return, but not because he really wants to. No, he's plagued by a fatigue that is bone deep, a low-grade fever, and a dull, throbbing headache. He tells Maria to keep her distance, and wears a face-mask, in case whatever he has is infectious. He knows it isn't, but he can't take any chances.

His dreams have become more vivid and more confusing. That night, he dreams of walking from the barren dark place into a familiar bright white void, filled with architecture from his past and future, and overseen by a dark, many-eyed moon. He walks -- no, he's floating -- through the void. His body feels strange and light. Something is wrong... He catches sight of his reflection in the water and its...

It's not right.

He approaches the water and peers at his reflection in the ripples. But it wasn't him staring back -- it was the face of an all too familiar monster with three eyes and enormous horns, dressed in rags and heavy, bejeweled chains. The face that looks back at him is Black Doom's. Panic -- real, sharp, cold panic -- rises in his chest, and he looks down at his body to see the reflection isn't just an illusion.

Black Doom's voice echoes in his dream, in his mind, in his blood, all around him.

Ĭ̴̡̓͠ ̵̧͚͓̦̘͠A̸̢̗̓̌̏͜M̸̛̪͍̓̓̓͝ ̵͇͈͇̚͜͜͝I̷̼͆N̶̪̙̣̗̠̆̂́͒͘S̸̯͐̓̾I̵̡̛̓̈́̐͑D̸̹̳̤̖̣̕E̶̜̔̐͗ ̸̲̙͌̈́̈́̅̅Ö̴̧̬̫́͌̾̀̕͜F̵̧̛̿̿̊̕ ̸̭͇͕̏̓Y̴̘̔̂̔̔͝Ȏ̷̪̬̰̼̆̎ͅȖ̸̡̫̻,̴̼͈̃ ̴̩͒̑S̴̭̠̒͋̀͝͝H̵̺͗A̵̱̝̝͚̎̍̽͘D̵̢̫̹́O̷͔͛W̶̛̰͒̔̈́̑.̴̤̙̄͗̓̉̚ ̴̙͔̽I̷͚̿̈́̏̈́̆ ̸̧͔͇̓̽̀̇H̸̜̩͍̽͊̈́̓̆ͅAV̴͎̯̈́͊̈́E̷̤͉͉͕̓̏͐̂̈́ ̷̬̱̥̌͌̉͜B̷̯̈́͝E̶͖̥̳̣̭̍̀̉̚Ȩ̸̡̯̺̊͗͑̚͠ͅN̷͕̞̝̑̉́ ̴̧̨͖̔̑͌̚ͅH̶̩̻͚͔͊́̆̓Ḙ̶̊R̸̠̬͌E̵̥͎͒̐̿ ̵͕̱͍̔̾͐Å̶͖̾L̶̫̫̾̎͗L̸̲̼̮̂̏ ̶̛̼͔͚̏͒͘A̶͔̰̱̹̾̇̚L̶̡̗͙͙̄́̇̄͝Ó̴̼͍̳̞͛Ņ̴͌G̷͖͌̽.̴̱͆̏̊̃ ̸̢̫͖̬̐̈́̌W̸̲̖̩̺̓̕Ȩ̵͉͎̈͌̕ ̶̺̍̇̿͐̚A̴̛̝͒̂͝R̶̘͇̦͈̖̿̂͛̃͆E̶̳̍ ̸̙̩̋͌̄͘Ṯ̵͛H̶͚̽͂̍Ê̵̥̖̠̤͌̽ ̵̱͂̐͑S̷̱̥̐͛̎̇̐͜A̵̟̠̦̝̋M̶̰͉̬͉̩͑͋̎͝E̷̛̥̭̎͊̀͆͜.̶̭̖̀́

Then, his dull headache suddenly becomes a splitting one, like someone had just put an axe through his skull.

He sits straight up in bed, in a cold sweat and his head feeling like it was about to explode. He has to clap his hand over his mouth to keep himself from screaming, and uses his other hand to squeeze his temples in an attempt to relieve the pressure. He jumps out of bed, leaving behind more tufts of fur and quills and a few drops of green blood, and he stumbles blindly into the bathroom, flicks on the light switch, and closes and locks the door. Gritting his teeth and leaning heavily on the sink, he can barely open his eyes -- the light is too bright. It hurts. But he has to see. He has to make sure--

A brief moment of relief. The blurry face in the mirror is, indeed, his own. So it had been just a dream after all. But as his eyes adjust to the light, he can now see the source of his headache. A small fissure over a swelling, forming on his forehead. Like someone had hit him, hard, on the head while he slept. It drips a steady stream of green blood into his now very yellowed eyes, rolling off his muzzle and into the sink and onto his white chest fur.

"w.... wha...t..."

He touches the fissure, gently, with a hand that now only has four fingers.

And then it opens, wide, revealing a brilliant golden eye.

This time, he can't stifle his scream.

Comments

lmk if brackets are okay. if not, I will switch to prose. u_ub

[lilyoftheark]

[Maria knew something was wrong. It wasn't hard to tell after a while, and though she's young, Maria is an extremely bright young child. Perceptive as she is, and as much as Shadow tried to hide it, she knew there was something going on with him and his health the more time continued. She hated that he wasn't just telling her, causing her to worry more about her brother the more he avoided her, refused to tell her what was wrong, and denied that it was something serious they should look into sooner rather than later. She hated it, and yet couldn't bring herself to press, or even really get truly angry, because Maria's love for Shadow would always win out in the end. Frustrated, yes, but never truly angry. All she wanted, deep down, was for him to be okay...and whatever was happening to her dear hedgehog would pass quickly.

Unfortunately, those hopes would be dashed. Sleeping alone again, marking the next of many days that he would keep her at arm's length in terms of physical contact, Maria woke with a gasp when she heard a scream echo through their home. With no one else in the house but herself and Shadow, and knowing the days leading up to this meant something was going to happen, she flings her blankets off and hurries out of bed, fighting the vertigo that overcomes her suddenly, stumbling to the floor but getting up right away. Her knees and palms are going to be sore tomorrow, but it's fine, it doesn't matter right now.]

Shadow?! Shadow, what's wrong?! What's happening?! [Down the hall she races, flicking on the lights as she does, eyes squinting as they adjust. Maria hurries toward her brother's voice, reaching the bathroom and trying in vain to open the door, her breathing in sharp, quick gasps as she rattles the locked doorknob.] Please, let me in!! Whatever is happening, you can tell me! I can...I-I can help you!

brackets are fine!! I just wanted to prose up the starter lmao

[chaoscontrol]

[It was just Shadow's way. He couldn't bear to saddle Maria, or anyone else, with more problems if he felt he could handle them himself. And he thought he could handle everything. Of course, that belief had bitten him in the ass more than once, but he had yet to learn his lesson.

Succumbing to the zombot infection had been the worst example of his martyrdom and arrogance up until now. But this might take the cake.

The door remains locked and the screams continue, changing from scared to agonized, becoming garbled and distorted, then muffled.

Thankfully for Maria, there's a skeleton key that unlocks every door in the apartment hanging from a hook in the kitchen]