THE MOMENT
"THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!!" the voices bellowed behind Vivi.
She ran through the forest with a smile on her face. She spent so much time at school and at work that it was rare she had a chance to spend any time outside. She loved the forest and was enjoying every minute, even if she was being chased.
She could hear the men behind her getting further away and turned back to check how close they were. She could only see two of them now, the leaner two of the group. Vivi only took her eyes off the path for a moment, but it was enough of a distraction. She did not see the bear trap; but, she heard it snap shut on her foot.
"Woops," Vivi commented as she kept running. The trap snapped her foot off at the shin, but she felt no pain. Black slime flowed out of her leg and regrew the missing limb by the time she needed to put weight on it again. The foot that was left behind became a small black ball of ooze and rolled off the trap to catch up to the rest of her.
"Am I cheating?" she wondered aloud and even slowed to a light jog to give her pursuers a chance to catch up. The black ball caught up and merged into her heel. "I might be cheating...," she grumbled.
Vivi was raised in an underground bunker until she was her current age of 14. It was a small community where everyone pulled their weight and everyone tried to be fair while dealing with each other. It was somewhat of a shock to learn the rest of the universe didn't always work that way; but, Vivi always tried to be fair. She stopped in a wide clearing and decided to wait. She could have evaded capture indefinitely by using her abilities; but, escape wasn't an option. She needed to put an end to this properly.
"You didn't make it very far...," a voice spoke up from behind her. She whirled around to see one of the hunters with his shotgun pointed at her. "Last month we had a big ol boy...," he said as he took cautious steps towards her. His eyes darted to the trees around them to keep an eye out for traps. "...had to be at least three times wider'n you; even that fat ass made it to the dock."
"I'm not trying to escape," Vivi smiled at the hunter.
"Don't worry, that's your last mistake," the hunter replied. He pulled the trigger without hesitation. A spray of buckshot hit Vivi in the chest and went through her.
"I doubt it," Vivi giggled. She was still standing and the hunter's eyes grew wider. Vivi's chest had become a black mass of slime that was slowly pulling itself together again.
"What the hell are you?" the hunter asked. Fear showed in his eyes but he managed to stand his ground and keep his gun pointed at her.
"A slime...," Vivi replied. She extended her hand forward with the palm facing up. Then, her hand seemed to fall off her wrist. But, it didn't hit the ground right away, it hung by a single thin strand of black slime. When it landed the hand turned into a ball and merged into her foot while a new hand grew out of her wrist. "And, Unique Soul #33, La Arana," she added with a smirk.
"The hell does that mean?" The hunter asked.
"It means I can do this," Vivi said. She pointed up to direct his attention; but, he wasn't going to take his eyes off of her. Luckily, he did not have to. Several spiders descended into his view and some landed on his gun.
"WHAT?" He looked up and saw hundreds of spiders falling toward him. Brown, black, red, big and small. He immediately dropped his gun and began to dance around swatting them off. But, for each one he managed to knock off, three more took its place. In less than a minute he was reduced to sobbing and rolling on the floor. Soon, he was encased in webbing and unable to move. Vivi walked over and looked down at him.
"Give up," she said. The hunter realized that he was still alive. Despite the disturbing feeling of possibly thousands of needles skittering over him, he did not feel any pain.
"Never!" he yelled. "If I don't get you one of my brothers will!" Vivi sighed.
"But, you can't move!" she said. "I won!"
"I'm still alive...," he grumbled.
[He won't surrender! -Vivi] She sent a Whisper to ask her friend for advice. Riot was the reason she was there to begin with; it was her idea.
[Change anything? -Riot] she felt the reply on her wrist and heard Riot's voice in her mind.
[No Escape mode. -Vivi] she said.
[He won't. Death only. -Riot]
[Oh. Thx. - Vivi] she replied and shook her head. As she did, the spiders swarming on the hunter left him and returned to the trees.
"What the hell is this?" the hunter asked once he realized what was happening. "We brought you here to kill you, don't think letting me go is going to save you."
"I don't want to kill you," Vivi said. She flicked her hand upward and summoned her slate. It was a large, translucent piece of grey glass that hovered in front of her. She started tapping and swiping on it.
"What are you doing?" the hunter asked. He was on his feet again with the shotgun in hand. He was still mostly covered in webbing, but it loosened up enough to give him some freedom of movement.
"Enjoying my day off," Vivi replied with a wink. Then, she touched the slate one more time and the hunter vanished. Several seconds later, she heard a commotion behind her and she started running again, at a moderate pace.
"YOU'LL NEVER REACH THE DOCK!!" the voices bellowed behind Vivi.