FrozenDeath

The church was dark inside, with no sign of Dr. Proxy. They turned on a few lights and checked the offices for any sign of his presence.

"What does the eight ball say?"
"It's dead. See for yourself." Recursive tossed it to FD. He shook it repeatedly but no words came to the surface.
"Figures, piece of crap." He tossed it on Proxy's desk. Soft entered the room, scowling.
"Where proxy man mmm put put my enhancement mmm must have?"
"Did you look in the storeroom in back?"
"Yes yes broke down door many boxes no see see no."
"I'll help you look."

The storeroom door lay flat in the middle of the ransacked room. Recursive stepped around it, looking over all the overturned crates and the books, knick knacks, and odd pieces of equipment littering the floor. She looked at Soft.

"Did he tell you it was going to be in a crate?"
"Mmmm mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm....." Soft slowly shook her head.
"I think it's probably somewhere else in the building."

Recursive slid past Soft and turned the corner in the hallway, heading towards another back room. She flipped on the light to what appeared to be a small library/break room. The sofa on the far wall held a beige duffelbag with the word "Soft" scrawled on the side in black marker ink. Recursive laughed.

"Oooopsy ooops oooop oppps bad so bad Soft." Recursive patted her on the head.
"It's ok. I'll clean up the mess for you. It's no big deal." Soft grinned.
"Thank you so fancy magic so girl fancy."
"Go see what the goodies are in the bag!"

Soft ran to the bag and ripped it open, pulling out a large roll of clear shiny material. She instantly started ingesting it, cramming the sheet into her mouth and sucking it inside. The roll fell on the ground and kept spinning as the material flew into her mouth.

"Is that clear latex?"
Soft nodded. There was a hissing sound and a strong chemical odor as she guzzled the material. Her skin started to darken and change color,turning rust red. Yard after yard flowed down her throat until the cardboard roll was bare and bounced away across the floor.

The surface of Soft's body glistened and shifted. She reached inside the duffel again an pulled out a shiny metal discus-like object with a hole that went through the center. She crammed it into her mouth and quickly pulled out more metal pieces, balls and cylinders of various sizes, quickly ingesting them all.
Soft, removed Proxy's lab coat and tossed it aside. Her transformation continued as the reddness deepened and gathered, forming a tight red catsuit with a deep v cutaway down the front from the throat to abdomen. He right arm and left leg took on an armored appearance, the material thick and plate like, with articulated joints. There were circular cutaways exposing the green flesh beneath as well as areas with protruding metal tubes and spikes. In contrast, the left arm and right leg had much less coverage. The leg had the appearance of a shiny latex stocking, held up be an assymetrical garter belt. The boot was much smaller with a higher,sharper heel. The left arm had a line of large, dot-like openings down the sleeve that ended in a latex fingerless glove.

Recursive looked her up and down, marveling at the change. "Wow, you look really impressive."
Soft waved the clawed fingers of her right hand. "Mmmm good good upgrades battle soft mmm good. Armor central nervous system upgrade mmm yes yes." She turned to the rooms single window and slid the glass sash open.

"Fancy girl watch facy now watch watch." Soft stepped back and they stared out of the small opening, the sound of wind and traffic permeating the break room. There was a moment while nothing happened, then a small cluster of birds flew across the sky in the distance. There was a short, crisp "POP", then the screen had a hole in it and one of those birds fell lifeless through the air. Two more staccato reports and two more birds died like the first. Soft bounced up and down clapping her hands.

"Very nice!" Recursive noticed one more object peeking out of the duffel. She went the couch and pulled a small black journal out of the bag. "What's this?"

"Mmm memory book mmm memory mmm before Soft memory."
"Can I look at it?" Soft did a strange, full body shrug but said nothing. Recursive flipped it open to the first page.

The journal of Christine Larsen
research project SUSTAIN (terminated): bioengineered spore colony X-79
June 5th, 1998

She looked at Soft. "Soft, who is Christine Larsen?"
"Mmmmm...mmmm...mmmm...mmm..."
"Is she a relative? Friend?"
"mmmmm...mmmmm.mmmmmm.....mmmotherrr..but..me...al so...mmmeee am Chhhrissstine amm mmmmooother.."
"You are Christine or...she is your mother?"
"Mmm...mother...me...mother...me...killed...mother ...killed...me...killed..."
"Umm I'm sorry Soft is this upse.."

Soft stepped forward, the claw hand seizing Recursive's arm and lifting her up until her toes barely touched the floor.

"KILL TO LIVE LIVE TO KILL KILL TO LIVE LIVE TO KILL."
"Unngh..OW..um just um pardon me a sec Soft....FFFFFDD! FD NEED SOME HELP IN HERE PLEEEASSSE!!!!"

"Surrender now!"

The voice boomed in their minds. FD raised his arms and summoned a circle of darkness around himself. His form turned to shadow, one of many silhouttes circling around in the pit. The concussive blasts punctured the miasma but connected with no physical presence. Bulb rose to one knee and pulled another pistol out of a shoulder holster. He fired into the air. There was a shimmer as the bullets connected with an invisible force. Another bolt of energy was thrown and it caught him square in the chest, tossing his body like a rag doll.

"FD we can't let these heroes fight him!" Recursive yelled at the shadowy mass. "You've got to finish it!"

Two figures materialized above her. A man and a woman in white uniforms with a black diamond in the middle of the chest area. They were young, both early twenties with brown hair. Similar facial features, possibly siblings. The woman generated a bubble of force around them. Recursive could tell she held them aloft through some gravitational power. The man's eyes flashed with light as he looked at Recursive. She stepped back as he dropped in front of her, his fists glowing with energy.

"You two are coming with us. Any resistance and I will..." Soft suddenly rolled forward. As the man turned to blast her, she sprang up, landing for a moment with her feet on his shoulders. He grunted as she jumped off, leaving a cluster of bloody dots where spikes from the bottom of her feet had penetrated the uniform. She flew through the air towards the woman, her motion suddenly slowed as she hit the bubble of force. The woman's eyes widened in fear as Soft's body began to ripple and flow through the energy. She raised her hands, glowing particles flowing out of her fingertips. Soft suddenly opened her mouth wide, blowing out a jet of green vapour that hit the woman in the face. She screamed and clutched her eyes, the surface of her head instantly turning beet red as the flesh sizzled. The power dropped and she fell to the ground, snapping her left arm beneath her body as she landed.

"Mary!" Soft flipped and ran to the side as the man fired bolts of blue force at her. He seized Recursive by the hair as she moved towards his partner.
"If you want her to live, you let me go!" She broke away and rushed to the dieing hero, placing both hands on her head. The flesh of her face reformed, regaining its color. The eyes darted around spastically, the lids gone, the whites completely red. Recursive concentrated and they returned. The blue came back in the pupils, glassy with tears as the focused on her. The woman gasped and then squeeled with pain as she shifted on the ruined arm. Recursive rolled the woman on her back and took the arm in her hands, setting the bone.

"Why...why are you..doing this..."
"You have to stop interfering."

There was a gunshot. The blaster growled as Bulb's bullet grazed his side. He turned, energy swirling in his hands and eyes. Before he could fire, tendrils of darkness rushed forward and seized Bulb. They dragged him back into the pit of shadow beneath the trees. The darkness coalesced into a human form. FD reappeared behind the bound creature and hit its head with both hands, crushing it between his palms. There was an explosing of sound, like the windows of a building all shattering at once. Bulb's body broke apart and disintegrated as the pieces spun to the ground like dry leaves.

The blaster fired on FD, but the shot was knocked wide as Soft kicked him in the back.

"Mmmm stupid to attack yes stupid mmm yes yes?"

The blaster swung at soft. She laughed shifting her torso as his punches sailed by. He threw different angles and combinations but she dodged them with ease, his reflexes unable to keep up with the blur of motion in front of him. Finally, Soft lifted her arm and blocked his punch. He gasped as his forearm was impaled on spikes emerging from hers. He threw his other hand up to try to pry himself free but she grabbed it. Holding both of his arms apart, she dipped her torso forward and lifted ber back leg up in a semicircle, bring the heel crashing down on his collarbone and breaking it. He dropped to his knees and she yanked him back up to his feet, the surface of her body rippled as hundreds of poisonous needle-like spines peppered his neck and torso. He grimaced and began to turn blue, his nervous system locking up and failing. She dropped him and began fingering the holes she'd made in Proxie's lab coat.

The other hero clutched Recursive's shirt. "My brother..please.."
"Only if you'll leave after."
"Yes..yes we'll go."

Recursive stood over the blaster. The needles worked their way out and then toppled over on his body, dissolving. The man heaved and gasped, his body jerking. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Go help your sister. Get out of here."

Soft Assassin moved directly in front of them both.
"Why fancy girl she stop my kill so no kill so no?" Recursive took Soft's hand, rubbing it between her palms.
"It's fishing Soft."
"Mmmm fishy fishy mm mmm?"
"You want to catch a big fish. So if you catch a small fish, you send the fish back so that it can become big later. Catch and release. Big fish are better."
"mmmmm big fish tasty more tasty mmm yes yes?"
"Yes more tasty."

Recursive waved at the lab coat. The fabric refromed and closed all the holes. Soft grinned.
"Thank you so magic girl so magic thank you thank you."

The blaster staggered toward the prone figure of his sister. Another man in a white uniform arrived near the road at the edge of the park. He stood there uncertainly, particles of rock and earth begining to swirl around his body as he watched them. FD appeared next to the woman and lifted her to her feet. He studied her features for a moment, then took a cloth out of his pocket and rubbed some dirt off the side of her face.

"You better think twice about sneak attackin me baby, cuz you know half my dates start that way and if you keep it up we'll end up back in the crib bumpin uglies. Just sayin, cuz it wouldn't be the first time you know." He smacked her a** and nudged her towards the blaster before rejoining Recursive and Soft.

"Stupid kids. And you too, healing people that try to attack us. We shoulda just killed them. Now they'll be getting all up in my grill any chance they get." Recursive laughed.
"Sorry, wanna head back to the church?"
"Yeah, let's split before cops show up."

I'm talking about free art. If you click on the art and commission inf in my sig, you can see my deviantart gallery. This is the last cox related thing I did.

Here is a picture of the super-adaptoid fighting the avengers. You can see how his body is made out of Captain America's chest, Hawkeye's mask, etc. So I would do a version of the adaptoid based on a group of Protector characters. So if you have a character you'd like to see used, go ahead and suggest it.

[ QUOTE ]
Nope. Posi is good peoples. Always up for a fight and a gg afterward win or lose.


[/ QUOTE ]

There's something sad about a great blaster playing an mm tho. Makes me nostalgic for the old days.

My deviant gallery passed 10k views around the same time as the 5th year cox celebration,so I was toying with the idea of doing something that would mark both occasions.

My favorite supervillain as a kid was the super-adaptoid, especially when it was fighting a group of heroes like the avengers and had a variety of costume pieces. So an idea I had would be to do a super-adaptoid piece based on characters from the Protector community, preferably very recognizable characters.

I would be looking for 5 or 6 characters, either all male or all female (not really interested in mixing gender). If people are interested, post your list of characters you'd like to see included and at the end of the week I'll tally the list and see what the concensus is.

The flames writhed over the wreck of the car and an amorphous shadow that shifted within. The passenger side rear door blasted off its hinges and FD climbed out, singed with large gashes across his chest and arms that leaked a black, tarry liquid. His left arm was encased in darkness that extended back into the wreck. He wrenched his hand forward and a black shape was yanked out of the car and deposited on the grass in front of him, still connected to his arm via the tentacle of darkness. The shape jerked like a human body, the silhouette of arms and legs jutting out for a moment before the darkness began to shrink back into FD's body. A feral light pulsed behind his sunglasses for a moment as his wounds closed and healed completely.
Recursive shifted her clothing, her shirt and skirt in disarray after being tossed around by Soft.

"Was that the driver?"
"That was lunch."
"You ate him?"
"No he got fed to the goddess."
"You mean your.."

Recursive was throw violently to the ground, scraping both knees. The wet pop of an impact resonated over her head. She was jerked to the side as a bullet whistled by her head. And another as she was lifted into the air. Soft's left arm held her aloft. There was a bullet hole in the middle of the lab coat. A shell grazed Soft's right hand and took off two fingers. The surface flowed and immediatley formed two new fingers. She turned to the side slightly in anticipation of the next shot. As the gun's report registered on their nerves, her arm flashed and she held the smoking shell casing in the palm of her hand. She lowered Recursive behind her.

"no no stupid glass head man no kill soft with low velocity firearm you die soon now maybe yes yes."

Bulb stood in front of a tree, maybe a hundred feet away. He was casually loading bullets into a snub-nosed revolver, The vague patterns inside his glass head swirled. His gloved hands moved smoothly. Recursive clutched her bag, stiffling the urge to run. Beyond the immediate threat of being shot, something wasn't right. After two indirect attempts, he was trying to gun her down in the open, when she was with FD and Soft. She dug into the bag and grabbed the eight ball.

Bulb lifted the revolver. Soft moved her arm in a wide arc. Three large spikes penetrated his forearm and pinned it to the tree. The darkness in the glass cleared a bit and momentarily revealed a large mouth. A large human mouth which opened a bit, allowing a lizard-like tongue to emerge and run over the lips. Recursive shook the eight ball. FD made his way towards the tree.

DO NOT USE ATTACK POWERS
DO NOT ATTACK BULB WITH YOUR POWERS
DO NOT

"Wait..FD..."
"This the thing trying to kill you? This freak?"
"Wait....don't attack it...."
"What are you nuts?!"

Bulb wrenched his arm free of the tree trunk and opened fire once again. FD gestured and a curtain of darkness rose in front of the women. The bullets richocheted off, skimming across the surface as if it were water. Recursive shook the ball again.

IN DEFEAT IT WILL STEAL
DO NOT USE POWERS
DO NOT

She looked up. The creature turned slightly and opened fire on some pedestrians in the distance. A shot winged a woman and sent her sprawling into a trash can. Her children screamed.

"Give me that damn thing!" FD shook the ball furiously. "Speak bish!"

NO ATTACK POWERS
NO BUFFS
OLDSCHOOL

He shook it again. The letters slowly turned into place.

FITEKLUB

FD tossed it back to Recursive. "When I see that [censored] Proxy again I'm gonna punch him in the head." He shifted his sunglasses and looked at Bulb. The latter dropped the guns and flipped him off, pressing his gloved middle fingers forward. Then he shook his arms and two weapons slid out of the sleeves, a knife in the right hand and a cattle prod in the left. FD smiled at Recursive.

"How are you going to handle him?"
"This loser? I'm gonna knock his azz out." He slammed his fist into his palm. "It's just like the playground back home."

FD walked up casually and lifted his hands into a left lead boxing stance. Bulb lunged forward and thrust with the knife. FD parried it lightly with his left hand. As the creature followed up, swinging the cattle prod overhead, he scooped it with the same hand and passed the strike to his left. When the weapon cleared, he followed up with a right cross, stepping in and hooking Bulb with his left as the assassin was driven back by the initial punch. Bulb tried a backhand with the cattle prod but FD caught his wrist and struck his elbow joint hard. There was a crackling glass sound as FD broke the joint. FD threw three quick shots to Bulb's head and then slammed a punishing knee to his midsection. Pok-Pok-Pok-- Bulb flew back and slammed into the tree, cracks appearing in the suface of his glassy "head".

The creature shook its left arm. The forearm realigned with the elbow joint. Bulb bent it a couple times, flexing and turning its wrist. He then lifted and tossed his knife hand, still holding the knife, at the ground at FD's feet. The hand and knife sank into the ground. Then he rushed forward, thrusting the cattle prod at FD's face. FD sidestepped the blow and threw a hook at Bulb's midsection. His fist passed through the image of the creature as the illusion faded. He spun around as the knife missed his right kidney and grazed the meat on the side of his torso.

"DAMMIT ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP!" FD seized Bulb's arm and lapel and threw him hard to the ground, kicking the glassy head and driving it across the playgound and into a metal merry-go-round. FD darted after the body, leaping through the air and landing his foot square on Bulb's chest, pinning him to the ground. As Bulb thrust the knife into his calf, FD slammed his other foot onto the head, breaking the glass further as it started to leak a grey smoke. Shouting a stream of Spanish profanity, FD kicked the knife away and leaned down, grabbing the metal disk of the merry-go-round. The metal creaked and groaned as he tore it away from it's axle. He lifted it over Bulb's head.

"OPEN WIDE YOU MOTHER F.."
A bolt of force caught FD in the back and sent him and the disc sprawling across the grass. He rolled to the side as another one blasted a hole in the ground where his body had been.

Recursive scanned the area frantically but couldn't locate the source of the energy. She focused her powers on Soft, a reddish aura encasing the latter's body.

"Can you see them Soft?"
"Sneak attack in sky now hunka break glass man soft kill back stabber."

Happy BDay dood!

What are you using to do the picture? It is digital?

The parking lot was empty when they left the office building. Recursive shielded her eyes against the light and looked up and down the street. There was no sign of the van. It had been towed or stolen or somehow removed by the Crey agents. She took the magic eight ball out of her bag and shook it, waiting for the words to float to the surface.

WALK BACK TO THE CHURCH

"What does that thing say?"
"It says to walk back to the church."
"What? Awww hell no....screw that..." FD stepped into the street looking at the parked cars on either side. "Ok here we go..." An orange cab drove up and he flagged it down.

Recursive frowned. "It says to walk..."
"For real? Can you walk that fast? If you can't move fast its gonna take us all day to get there. Come on." He opened the door and got in. Recursive started moving towards car. Soft brushed past her and slipped inside.

"Me sit near hunka hunka man yes."
"Oh shizz......"

Recursive laughed as she climbed into the car next to her. "See? Making friends pays off. Nice and snug"
"It's always the freaky ones man...always the crazy bi*****."

Recursive shut her door and the car started moving.
"Hey...take us to King's Row...make it fast." The driver mumbled something about King's Row and the vehicle picked up speed. Something was wrong. Recursive looked at the door lock. It was moving rhythmically, up and down. She concentrated on it and the button lifted, then immediately locked again. The cycling resumed, open-close-open-close. She examined the glass between them and the driver. An extra layer of reinforced plastic, much thicker than usual. She could see perspiration glistening on the side of his neck.

"FD..."
"Yeah..what now? More eight ball?"
"No, something's wron..."

The wheels squealed as the car suddenly sped up and tore across two lanes of oncoming traffic.

"HEY JACKASS WHERE THE HELL YOU GOIN-" There was a moment of agonizing realization as the taxi sped up the exit ramp of the southbound freeway. Recursive reached out to the man's mind. It was clouded, a shell of darkness surrounding his thoughts that she could not penetrate.

"He's being controlled! It's a trap! He's trying to get us killed!"
"Sit back..I'm gonna get it back." FD placed his palms flat on the glass. Darkness streamed out of his fingertips, sliding over the edges. Recursive could see it shoot forward on the other side like serpent, coiling around the driver's arms and torso and seizing the steering wheel. "DON'T FIGHT IT BISH I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

The driver grunted and the car jerked as FD shifted the wheel. Vehicles shrieked and blasted their horns as the cab began to weave around the flow of traffic. The wheels turned hard to the right and Recursives door sparked as it ground against the hard median.

"SOFT GET HER OUT OF HERE. THROUGH THE ROOF." Soft ran her finger over the ceiling of the cab, burning a circle through it with corrosive fluid from her fingertip. She punched out the roof fragment and stood up in the opening as the wind roared in the back seat.

"Come now fancy girl go time go."
"Umm.." Recursive screamed as Soft lifted her out of the cab and leapt into the freeway, bouncing and running over the surfaces of the traffic at 60 miles an hour. The green woman jumped over the median, dodged several vehicles coming from the opposite direction and sprang towards a street light, sliding up the surface and carrying recursive along with her. They turned and looked back for FD.

In the distance the taxi veared wildly back in forth in the lane driving the other vehicles to either side. Then it abrupty lifted, rising into the air on two thick columns of darkness that lurched clumsily in the lane, the cab lurching loosely on to of it. The legs turned the car around in a half circle and then stepped over the median. It walked across the opposite lane as cars and trucks crashed into each other to avoid it. They watched as it dropped off the freeway, floating and falling over the surface road and stumbling into a small park where it rammed into a tree trunk, dropping to the ground and then bursting into flames.

"Get us over ther.." There was an explosion underneath the vehicle, fire and debris spraying over the area.
"Mmmm booby trap mmmmm yes."
"Oh my god.."

Lol that's what I read at first too.

Dr. Proxy staggered a bit, leaning on the lid of the thermos. He slid his hand into a pocket inside his coat and pulled out a small sheet of clear material that looked like clear plastic of mylar. He tossed it to the ground at Recursive's feet.

"Give tha to herr...sssmore in the office back...back at the chursh." Recursive picked it up.
"Her? Who? Give it to who?"

He shuddered and wave them away. "Back! Ge..get back..now before I passsss..ow...out.." Recursive took FD's arm and walked back towards the door.

"Think there's a bomb in there?"
"No. But something dangerous."

Proxy grunted something inaudible and flipped the latch on the side of the thermos. He twisted the cap slightly. There was a loud hiss as a cloud of green mist sprayed out of the sides. The doctor snorted and coughed, shaking. The lid suddenly spun and shot off, bouncing across the room. A jet of green liquid fired out of the container, hitting Proxy in the throat. Blood squirted out in an arc from his carotid artery as he fell back to the floor, arms flailing. The green liquid expanded and coalesced, moving over his spasming form as it burned his flesh away. His face and torso dissolving to the sound of eggs of frying.

"GADDAMN!"
"Wait.." Recursive could sense FD beginning to power up. "Hold on....look."

There was a humanoid form on top of Proxy's dissolved carcass. It crouched there, watching them through the exposed fragments of his ribcage. It roughly approximated the shape of a woman, angled luminous green eyes with no pupils. Waves of spikey protrusions played over its surface. The creature suddenly pushed off the floor with its arms. It flipped up in the air and landed on the ceiling, standing upside down facing away from them towards the back of the room. It's form continued to coalesce, appearimg more like green skin. A naked, green skinned athletic woman with spikey protrusions radiating from her scalp. It make a warbling, chirping sound.

Recursive stepped forward slightly and waved slowly. Without turning around, the creature repeated the motion. It made more of the strange chirping sounds. They started to change in pitch and rhythm, slowly becoming intelligible as speech.

"mmble kakaka...ttt target dead made dead finish assignment with target."
"Yes you did it. Good job."

The creature suddenly arched back, facing them with both of its thumbs wiggling directly in front of its face. "Good job Soft yes good double thumbs up yes yes."

Recursive laughed. "Yes very good job! Nice job!" She clapped her hands. "FD....applause please...."
"F*** man, for real? Ok....Yay! Good job!" He clapped loudly. Recursive beckoned to the creature.
"Could you come down please? Over here to me? Soft? Is your name Soft?"

The green woman arched her back further and placed the palms of her hands against the ceiling. She started moving forward like a four-legged animal, leaving discolored pock-marked hand and footprints on the walls where she passed over them.

"That thing ain't human."
"No, she's making herself look human. She's trying...but it's all just appearance. Even the eyes are for show. I think she can see us from any direction."

The creature crawled in front of Recursive and righted itself, standing and facing her. "Soft Assassin yes yes."
Recursive reached out and took one of the head spines between her fingertips. "Can you soften these spines?" The spikes started to droop and Recursive worked then with her fingers, bending them and shaping them into an approximation of human hair. She took Soft's arm and led her to one of the stacks of metal crates, pointing to the reflection.
"See?" Soft grinned, exposing rows of pointy, shark-like teeth. "May I?" Recursive gently opened Soft's jaw and started pressing down on the points, evening and straightening them.

"You are fricken crazy, man, you are pure loco..."
"Just making friends." They looked in the reflection again. Soft's smile was considerably less menacing.
"Like like like."

"Oh, I need to give you this." Recursive reached into her pocket and pulled out the clear material and handed it to Soft. The latter shoved it into her mouth and swallowed it. There was a hissing sound, some vapor escaping from the corner of her mouth.

"Mmmmmgood good payment for wack job. Good quality where is more and my upgrades?"
"We have more back at our base. Wanna come with us?"
"Hmmm yes yes good good."
"Ummm...hold on a second." Recursive went to the smoking pile of remains that had been their leader. Pinching her nose, she reached down and grabbed the collar of the lab coat, lifting it up and dumping the dissolved remains onto the floor in a heap. The fabric ripped away and she was left with most of the back and half of one sleeve. She took it away from the corpse and walked back to the others. She waved the fragment in the air in front of her and it reformed, the fabric expanding and returning until it was clean and white and new again.

Soft clapped her hands. "Ooooh magic fancy girl so magic."
Recursive slid the coat over Soft's arms and buttoned it up the front. She waved her hand in front of Soft's face. "Remember now, this is the front. Look at people and talk to them this way."
"Yes yes remember now yes in box for long time."
"How long were you in that thing?"
Soft turned slightly towards FD. "Two years think two years think."
"Wow, that's a long time. Who hired you to do that?"
"Mmmmmm Proxeeee mmmmProxee man offer upgrades in return I kill mmmmmm."
"Proxy hired you? Who were you supposed to kill?"
"mmmmm anyone who open container first come first serve yes yes."

The sobbering and whimpering voices drifted out from the corner of the room. Recursive slowly walked back to the desk in the corner and peered over the edge. Two female crey agents huddled there on the floor in their black business suits, their makeup running down in the tracks of their tears. They stared wided-eyd at the floor and the bare wall, mumbling and gesturing towards some imagined horror. One held a pistol in her hand. She gnashed her teeth and languidly lifted it to her temple, clenching her eyes shut as she fingered the trigger. Recursive reached down and pried it out the woman's limp grasp. She set it on the table and snapped her fingers, drawing their attention as her consciousness reached out to them.

"Look at me." The agents gradually calmed and met her gaze. "Do you two want to die?"

The two shook their heads. "No..please..don't..."
"You two are going to get up and calmly walk out of here. You are going to leave this area and not return. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"Thank you..."

The two started to rise nervously. Recursive pointed across the room to FD. "And stay away from that man. And if you come back here, I'll draw my power back and the fear will return."

The women started to leave. Dr. Proxy stepped over the smashed remains of a man in a powered assault suit and smiled at Recursive.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you bother releasing them? They would have stayed there."
"Does it bother you I let them go?" Dr. Proxy shrugged.
"No. It's just a bit confusing is all."

Recursive walked over to where FD sat in a desk chair. A second armored body was driven into the wall to the left, just the legs and lower torso dangling out. The edges of the hole in the wall were lined with ice. Smoke wafted out from somewhere on the other side. FD had the pieces of a third suit spread out in front of him on a table. He held the helmt, turning it around and studying the controls from different angles.

"Where's the body that went with this one?"
"It's gone. You don't want to know where."
"I saw you left the chickies...unkilled."
"Yeah well...I'm a ....misogyner...err a gynocologicaliss. You, know whatever they call that." Recursive laughed.
"Maybe kind of chauvinist?"
"Whatever it is [censored]! I got a soft spot for the ladies ok? Whatever you wanna call it. I call it being a man but you can call it your fancy french things. Whatever you want."
"That's sweet. But don't you think that's gonna get you in trouble some day..maybe with some super powered hot girl that will take advantage of it?"

FD laughed. "How do you think I got into this mess to begin with?"
"What mess?"
"Nevermind." He got up and followed Dr. Proxy out into a hallway.

The guard station was at a junction point for three new passages. Proxy led them down the one to the right. As they moved away from the room, they could hear people moving in the other corridors.

"Do we need to worry about reinforcements?"
"No. This facility is of minor importance to the organization, so it operates on a skeleton crew. There is one active research project going on here at the moment. They'll station their remaining security there to guard it. They'll let us take whatever we're after and then investigate later. We can't dally here but we have plenty of time to do what we need to do." He led them to a large storage room that had several stacked rows of metal containers, each one a cube about three feet wide. He shut and locked the door behind them and went to a filing cabinet in the corner. He pulled out a binder and began flipping through the storage manifest.

FD paced the room. "What are we gonna get here?"
"I bet it's a new team member."
"In a box? Is she right Proxy? Maybe it's like a cool robot or something."
"I don't know. It could be. Come on, it's over here."

The box was by itself in the far corner of the room from the entrance. Dr. Proxy flipped the latches on the lid, causing a brief, whistling influx of air as it came loose and the pressure normalized. He tossed the lid to the side and looked in.

"Oh......"
"What is it?" FD pushed him aside and looked in.

Inside the box was a thermos. A chrome thermos. It was about 16 inches tall. It had a handle on the side. It said Nissan at the bottom.

"WHAT THE HELL? WE BROKE IN THIS PLACE TO GET A THERMOS?!?"

Dr. Proxy was pale. He paced aimlessly rubbing his jaw and mumbling to himself. "Put it on top of that other box there."
"What is this? What is in the thermos?"
"JUST PUT IT ON THE DAMN BOX."
"Ok man just chill out geeze." FD reached in the box and grabbed the thermos. "Holeee crap it's heavy! Feels like it's full of lead or somethin."

Recursive put her hand on Proxy's shoulder. "Is everything alright?"
He rubbed his face and then stared up at the ceiling for a moment, lost in thought. "Aww man...it has to be this way? really? Man...there's gotta be some...no it can't...yes...well....man...." He rubbed his eyes. "Ok...ok...ok ok..yeah..." He looked down and started patting the front of his coat and then pulled out a small prescription bottle full of red tablets. He popped the lid off and started gulping them down, pouring the pills into his mouth straight from the bottle.

"WHOAH dude! What are you doing? Don't go crazy man.."
"It's ok." Dr. Proxy tossed the empty bottle away. "It's ok but...ugh..wow...good pain killer. Anyway, um I have to explain what's going to happen next. First, look around. Are there any boxes around that are smaller, maybe with a "P" marked on the side?"

The wandered around looking at the stacks. Recursive called out and came back with a small, square plastic container with the mark on the lid. "This?"
"Yesh! Great thas it. Open it."

Recursive flipped open the lid and pulled out a black plastic sphere. She turned it around. One side had a window with liquid inside. She shook it and white words appeared.

GOOD JOB

"It's a magic 8 ball." Proxy smiled.
"Great here's the plan. Ugh..mmm I'm gonna open this thermos. And then you two rrr gonna do what the mashic ball telllsssyou...k?"
"Man you're high dude..you goin crazy on us?"
"Doctor what's gonna happen when you open it?" Proxy laughed and put his hands on the thermos.

"I...I yam gonna die. Someone hass to and I neejoo too alive. But its cool..don worreee....listen to the magic ball...it willl give you all..it will tellyou wha to doo untill I come back. It will givv youooooo guy dannnzzzzzzz...."

Thank you for the kind words.

They rolled up to the office building in a decrepit cargo van. The breaks squealed and boxes rattled in the back as Dr. Proxy circled to the rear of the building. The vehicle stopped and Recursive cracked her window. FD leaned over her seat from the back and stared out of the windshield.

"This it?"
"Yes indeed."
"We really gonna be making our getaway in this piece of crap."
"No, unlikely.."
"But you don't know right? Stupid....more of that stupid crap. What's in there?"
"It's a Crey research facility disguised as a vacant building. The offices next to it are really vacant. We're going to sneak in from there."

FD sat back down. "Hey what am I doing this for anyway? What are you paying?"
"Mmmm money?" Dr. Proxie pulled a roll of bills out of his coat and tossed it back. "I think that's about 5 grand to start. But I don't picture you really doing this for cash."

"Oh?" FD thumbed through the bills. "Why's that?"
"Cause you could take whatever you want. I think you probably have everything you need in terms of material wealth."
"Yeah, so? How am I gonna get rewarded?" He stuffed the bills in his pocket.
"I was thinking more power. I understand you are pretty much tethered to the artifact in your safe house right? Can't leave the city."
"Yeah, that's right."
"Well I should be able to do something about that soon." He opened his door and slid out into the parking lot. Recursive smiled at FD.

"You have somewhere else you need to be?"
"I don't like this mystery garbage."
"I think he's gonna deliver. I think it'll be worth it."
"Why? You know this guy?"
"Not really. Just the feeling I have. My gut is usually right."
"Hey your hair got long." Recursive twirled a strand with her finger. It was well past her shoulders.

"Yeah. Do you think it looks better this way?" Her hair shrank back into her head until she had a pageboy haircut with sharp bangs just above her eyebrows. "Or this?" There was a flurry of motion as the hair lengthened and swirled into a bun in the back, bangs lengthening on the sides.
"Crackhead."


The office building was dark. Dr. Proxy handed out nightvision goggles, which FD declined. They followed a couple turns until they ended up at a metal security door.

"Do I bust this thing down?"
"Nope. You shouldn't ever need to do that as long as we have Recursive with us."

Recursive waved her hand at the door. The locking mechanism clicked and it swung open. Inside was a small passage leading to another door, this one larger with more reinforcement like somthing from a bank vault. Again, the mechanism turned inside and the door squeaked open. Proxy peered into the space beyond.

"They really don't expect people to get beyond this door without creating a lot of noise, so this area isn't as secure as the others. We have a straight shot to the surface lift."

He led them down a side passage that ended at a staircase. They listened for a moment to some voices in the distance then, when the sound subsided, they began their descent. Proxy stopped them at the fourth floor down. The stairway exit was locked and keyed with a palm print scanner. Recursive opened it and they entered the passageway, removing the goggles and squinting in the flourescent light. Proxy gestured towards the walls.

"Okay. Here's where it gets interesting. The passage in front of us has pressure and motion sensors along the floor and sides. For the first 20 feet or so, there are special guns that will fire an adhesive foam at anyone trying to make it past without a special security beacon." He gestured towards slots visible along the length of the wall. "The foam absorbs oxygen in the air, so normal people will likely pass out within the first minute. After that, there is an additional 15 feet with flame throwers, followed by 2 large blast shields that will slam into place if activated by the men in the room at the end of the passage."

"Who is in the room?"
"A Crey security team. Five or six agents. Two of them in medium grade power armor at all times."
"That's it?!?"
"Sorry?"

FD stepped forward. "Ok I got this handled."
"Wait..." Recursive extended her arm towards him. His body blurred for a moment, then the outline sharpened. He balled his fists, a feint energy and blur surrounding him as he moved.

"Oh yeah...nice! Feels like I'm at 150 percent."
"Probably around there."

FD drew his closed fists to his sides then slowly extended them halfway. He sank in his stance as jets of darkness flowed out of his hands, pouring into passage. Suddenly he thrust them forward, ramming his energy down the hall. There was a shriek of metal, grinding and falling noises then explosions and burning. He shot off and was gone, darting into the black and away from view. Proxy smiled and strolled after him, hands in his coat. Recursive followed, gawking at the mangled corridor--the walls pushed out, machinery sparking and burning on the other side.

I agree with BW. Milk Weasel's monkey is cool because you can look at it two ways. One is a monkey getting stepped on by a giant tree and bleeding all over the place. Two is a funky monkey with an afro hiding in a tree top and looking down from above. Keep the Weasel.

The temperature dropped considerably as the moved further down the passageway. The surface of the narrow walls was moist with humidity. The lightbulbs strung loosely overhead flickered slightly, as if somehow affected by an undetected breeze. The space widened into a room with stalls on either side. Dr. Proxy flicked a switch and it lit up, revealing some modest furnishings--a couch and a few office chairs, along with a dehumidifier in the corner. There was a bolted metal door on the far side of the room. He gestured to one of the stalls.

"This is left over from Prohibition. They used to have bookies down here too. That's what the phones were for." Each of stalls held an antique receiver on a base. Simple rotary dials. FD paced impatiently.

"Yeah that's nice...so? Why'd you bring us down here?"
"I have to make a phone call, need some more info for the smash and grab."
"A phone call? Dude you ever hear of a friggin cell phone?"
"Hahaha no it's not that kind of call. I'm calling the future. This is a special place for it."

FD looked at Recursive. "Is he trippin'?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Really? Daaaamn"
"Yeah it's part of his super powers. He's a weird guy."
"Hey Proxy....man, um...find out what the winning lottery is gonna be. The big one, the Mega Bucks one."

Proxy laughed. "Sorry my friend, it doesn't work that way."
"Well then crap--the Super Bowl. Find out who wins.."

The doctor mumbled something inaudible and sat down in one of the stalls. FD walked around the room a couple times than sank down on the couch. Recursive went to it and leaned against the arm rest on the opposite side.

"FD.."
"Yeah?"
"I don't really know you that well, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"What favor?"
"Something is trying to kill me. And I was wondering if you could...stop that from happening."

FD looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time. He had the face of a haunted man. In her mind's eye, Recursive could picture the specter of responsibility wagging its boney finger at him. His head was sunk into the plushness of the couch. It seemed to hold him there like flypaper. Finally he sat up and retrieved a pack of cigarettes from a pocket on the side of his right boot.

"Ok...yeah..f*** it..whatever. I'll do it." He held the cigarette in his hand, staring at the tip. Suddenly it burst into flame and he took a long drag. Smoke poured out of his mouth as he spoke. "Who wants to kill you? How old are you? Twenty? Some ex boyfriend wants to kill you or something?"

"No I'm almost 16."
"What? 16..damn...."
"This thing is hunting me. Dr. Proxy says its name is Bulb. It's some sort of creature from another universe. I don't know what it is exactly."
"It's as good as dead. Thing will wish it never showed its face..."
"It doesn't really have a face."
"Then I kick it in the nutz until it dies. And if it has no nutz, I run it over with my ride. Drive a stake through his heart. Throw his a** in a black hole. Oookaay?"
"Thaaaank yoouuuuu."

Cryptcrawler won the Artist of the month prize in the April issue of Imagine FX magazine. He's got a 2 page spread.

I was thinking of some of the old signature characters people have had on the artforums and how I'd maybe redesign them. Here's an old pick of Warfox I did for Bucky:

classic version

Here's an updated version for fun:
update

I'll probably work on it some more when my schedule clears up a bit. Also maybe doing some other toons.

What exactly are you looking to have done? It can be very misleading judging what an artist can do by what they choose to show in their galleries. If you see someone who does good work in some other area, it's worth asking how they would handle horror.

"So it was some nonhuman entity. And you think it sent the hitmen after you."
"Yes I'm sure of it."
"And it was wearing a suit?"
"A grey suit. White shirt, black tie. Black leather gloves."
"Hmmm."

Dr. Proxy ripped a sheet off the notepad on the desk and pulled a pen out of his coat. He leaned over his desk and started scribbling. His hand was a blur. The motion produced a nearly photograph quality rendering of the thing.

"Yes! Yeah that's it." Recursive started as the furnace vents started clattering behind her. Proxy's one-man neurological institute was located in an old stone chapel at the edge of an industrial park near King's row. The furnishings left something to be desired.

"Hmmm. Well crap." He crossed his arms and tapped his index finger agains his lips. "You're a bad boy Proxy. You promised you wouldn't do it again. Oh well..."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I steal....a lot of stuff. From various places. There's this one universe, it's just a great place to siphon energy for things." He grinned. "You know, like giving little girls super powers. Problem is..." He pointed to the picture. "This thing..I call it Bulb. It followed me out of there. It's killed me in the future, absorbed some of my knowledge and abilities. I think it probably wants to hunt you down and kill you to release to power I used to boost you."

"Why didn't it attack me directly?"
"Well it's tricky. The thing generally manifests somewhere and you need to kill it three times in order to be rid of it. Still, that's only three chances. If it can kill you indirectly, it will."
"How difficult is it to kill?"
"Well it's not that hard at first, but there's a problem...hold on.." He lifted a finger. "Wait.."

There was the sound of a large vehicle pulling up outside the building. Dr. Proxy became agitated. "He's here! Let's go to the main office." He brushed passed her. "Come on!."

"What? Who? Who is here?"
"Our point man. Our muscle. He's being delivered."


Recursive sat down next to Proxy's desk. There was silence then the sounds of people passing through the main entrance and something like chains being dragged across the floor. There was a loud voice:

This ain't the Zig. What the hell is this crap OH HELL NO YOU ARE NOT PUTTIN ME IN WIT DA KOOKS AND DA CRAZIES man that jus ain't gonna fly I'm tellin you mother--

Two longbow wardons in full armor entered the office. Between them was a large, muscular, very pale man with sunglasses and slicked back black hair. He was in heavy restraints, manacles on his wrists and ankles, chains connecting the two sets and restricting the movement of the heavily tattoed arms. He had an elaborate collar around his neck that Recursive took to be some sort of taser device.

He was wearing a black tshirt, black leather pants and boots. The room reeked of alcohol as soon as he entered.

Dr. Proxy stood up and approached them. "Key?" The warden on the left handed over a key ring "Thanks. Was there anything else?"
"No this is how we found him when we picked him up in the bar."
"Thank you gentlemen, you can go now." They turned and left without a word. He started removing the shackles. "It's Frozen Death correct?"

"Most people call me FD." He rubbed his wrists. "What is this? Explain. What you have me picked up for?"

"I didn't have you picked up. I just heard about a plan to ambush you after a hard night of partying. So I mezzed those guys and had them bring you to me instead of jail. They won't remember anything after they leave here."

"Why? What do you want with me. Better be good."
"I need you for a job."
"Ok what job."
"There's a high security facility that I'm going to break into. There's a storage container in a research lab on a lower level. I need to get to a box inside that container. I need a heavy hitter. The place will be crawling with security in powered armor."
"Yeah i can bust some heads no problem. What's in the box tho?"

Dr. Proxy smiled and threw up his hands. "I won't know until I open it."

Recursive zipped the duffle bag and looked around the bedroom for anything to take. Anything serviceable as a weapon. She jumped up on the bed and slid across to the other side, snatching the lamp off of the nighttable and pulling it away until the plug popped out from the wall outlet. She ripped the cord from the base and wound it up tightly before sliding it into her pocket. The voices in the house we getting louder. She could hear Mr. Greene's footsteps coming down the hall.

"Callie? You in there? Come on out, we need to talk to you in the living room."
"O.k. I'll be right there." She looked at the bedroom window and thought one last time about escaping through it. Then she sighed, grabbed the bag, and headed out the bedroom door.


"Are you going somewhere honey?" Mrs. Green sat on the couch with a man in a suit. There were two more in the room. One was standing by the front door. The nearest one was to her left, by the wall opposite the door. They were all well built. athletic. Well groomed to look official. All three were armed. Two with shoulder holsters under their jackets. The man near her with a pistol tucked into the back of his waistband, another at his left ankle. Underneath his sleeves, the one by the door had knife wound scars all up and down his left forearm. There was a switchblade in his pocket. The guy on the couch with a prison tattoo on his neck just barely peeking over the top of the starched white collar. Liars. Fakers. Contract killers. Mr. and Mrs. Green talking with them. Hopeful and blissfully ignorant of what their senses were unable to tell them.

"No mother." She dropped the bag to the floor and brushed past the man to her left who was trying to introduce himself as "Dan". Mr. Greene's golf clubs were stacked in the corner. She took a metal putter and returned to where the duffel was slumped on the floor.

Mr. Greene gestured towards the guests. "Callie these men are with a government agency called Longbow..." He turned towards the man on the couch, who reached inside his coat and pulled out a picture.

"Yes Callie we are from a division of Longbow, which is a government agency formed to deal the with super-human threats that have been rampant since the days of the Rikti invasion. Our group's focus is protecting ordinary people, like yourself and your parents, who come into contact with these dangerous people. Take a look at this photo for me..." He held the picture out for her to take.

Recursive ignored him. She methodically lifted the club in different directions in front of her body. Up and down, left and right, side to side until every vector away from her wrist had been covered. The man at the door grinned.

"Practicing your golf swing? That's a strange way to go about it." Mr. Greene grunted.
"Callie pay attention! These men are here to help you."
"No they aren't."

The man on the couch shot Mrs. Green a knowing look and continued. "Callie, this man who introduced himself as "Dr. Proxy" is a rogue chemist and pedophile who has been victimizing young girls over the last 10 years. He uses dangerous hallucinogens to distort his victim's sense of identity in order to make them believe is scams. We are close to apprehending him and we believe that we can undo most of the damage he has done to your system. Mrs. Greene clasped her hands and leaned forward on the couch.

"Do you hear that dear? They can restore your memories. You'll be able to have you life back. Isn't that wonderful?"
"They are lying Mother. I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry about what has to happen. I am. Proxy was right. I shouldn't have come back here."
"Callie, what are you.."

The man on the couch put his hand on Mrs. Greene's shoulder. "Remember that cognitive disassociation we discussed earlier? We need to get her to the medical facility in Steel Canyon in order to.."

Recursive lashed out with the club. It shot across the room and hit the man by the door square in the face. He leaned forward, clutching his nose with his hands, blood seeping out between his fingers. The club shot back to her hand and then fired forward once more, bashing him in the top of the skull. He crumpled to the ground as the putter returned again to her grasp. It spun around in an arc as "Dan" rushed forward to seize it, snapping three of his fingers.

"AAArrgh damn Jack she broke my fingers!" The Greenes both yelled as the man on the couch jerked out his pistol and opened fire. The putter flashed back and forth in front of the girl. It caught the first bullet and sent it into the ceiling. The angle of the second impact deflected the next bullet towards "Dan" and it lodged itself in his right temple. He snorted and shook and then fell lifeless to the floor.

"You little [censored]!" Mrs. Green screamed as the gunman seized her by the hair and pulled her down, putting the gun against her head.
"Hey! What the..." Mr. Green reached for his wife.
"You stay the hell back or she dies now!" He glared at Recursive. "Think you're cute freak? You're going to drop that club and lay face down on the floor or I'm going to kill your folks."

"Go on ahead. Do it."
"I'm not joking here!"
"Go on ahead."

He quickly shifted the weapon and fired on Mr. Green, opening a hole in his chest. He gasped and sank to his knees.

"OH MY GOD NOOOOO. HOWARD!" Mrs. Greene started to pull away but the hitman yanked her back down. He fired again. Howard Greene slumped against the side of the couch and then slid to the floor. Mrs. Greene whimpered and shook.

"You like that, eh? You happy now kid?" He pressed the barrel hard against Mrs. Greene's forehead. "LAST CHANCE."

Recursive stared at him impassively. "Go on ahead. You're not going to make it out of here alive anyway."

There was a moment of grotesque heavy silence. Then the explosion. The burning. The spatter. Red mist and moisture. He pushed Mrs. Greene's corpse away and stood up. He pointed the gun. His body was stiff. His face was squirming. She was staring at him vacantly.

What are you going to do to me now?
Mrs. Greene rose to her feet behind him. And she became Recursive.
What are you going to do to me now?
The other killers stumbled to their feet and they were Recursive.
what are you going to do to me now?
what are you going to do to me now?
what are you going to do to me now?
Mr. Greene staggered to his feet and was Recursive.
what are you going to do to me now?
There were footsteps coming down the hall. And it was Recursive.
what are you going to do to me now?
The room began to fill with bodies.

And it was Recursive.
And it was Recursive.
And it was Recursive.
And it was Recursive.
And it was Recursive.


"GET THE F*** OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" The killer emptied the rest of his clip and ran for the door. He wrenched it open and darted out into the light.

Recursive moved to the window and watched him. He ran to a black SUV parked out front. He was about to climb into the driver's side when something caught his attention down the street. He seemed to fall into a daze. He shuffled off down the sidewalk to a lot that was bordered by hedges. He stood there, babbling to nothing on the other side of the hedge wall.

Then she saw something. An apparition. An empty suit and dark gloves. An empty collar with no neck. It was standing there and the killer was ranting to it. Then a shadow moved past the window. Shadows moved down the street. They emerged from the bushes. They fell down from the sky. They seeped into the suit like water. And a strange shape began to take form.

The head was long rounded shape. A cylinder with a bulbous end, like an old fashioned thermometer. It was dark and glassy with strange movement inside, swirling like smoke. The figure raised its hands and began to throttle the gunman.He writhed and shook until the life left his body and the thing dumped him in the hedges. There were sparks of light in the glass. Flickering images. A single eye looking around. A skull breathlessly laughing.

Recursive left the window and gathered the duffelbag. She stood in the center of the room for a moment, eyes closed. There was a sucking sound as blood flew across the room and poured back into the Greenes. Their bodies jerked to life like puppets, spitting out the shells, cloth and flesh burrowing and locking back into place. They gasped and looked at her in horror.

"I'm sorry. I never wished this on you. I have to leave now for good."

Mr. Greene coughed and patted his chest compulsively. Mrs. Greene stared slackjawed at the bloodstains and bodies, and the bullet holes intruding on the walls of her home.

The doctor sat down and smiled, sliding the aerosol can back in his pocket. Recursive took another survey of the plain white office walls.

"So I take it you're not really a doctor." He shrugged.
"I dabble in medicine, but it's true. I don't have a formal degree in anything. I just like having the title. 'Doctor.' Gives a nice air of credibility and authority. An expert that can help you get well, you know?"
"Yeah."
"Would you mind keeping it up? Calling me doctor...I've just really grown accustomed to it."
"Sure. I will."
"Thank you so much." He smiled broadly. "I know you have questions, but could you indulge me in something else for one minute?"
"O.k."

He reached into another pocket and pulled out a small bottle of ink. He removed the cap and set it on the table. Then, his eyes intent on Recursive, he knocked it over with a wave of his hand. The fluid spilled out, flowing all the way to the other side and dripping off the edge. He threw up his hands.

"Ooops! I'm so clumsy. Would you mind taking care of it?" There was a moment of silence. Nothing happened. He gestured towards the ink. "Please."

Recursive glanced at the spill. The drops jumped back up from the floor to the table. The fluid rolled and coalesced back towards the bottle. It flowed back up inside until the bottle was nearly full again and it righted itself. Standing once more as it had before his hand knocked it over. The doctor grinned and clapped.

"Very nice. Very very nice. Wonderful."

"Was this all your doing? Did you put me in the coma to create this ability?"
"Actually, I don't know. I think it's definitely likely. But I had no knowledge of your condition prior to this morning. I was instructed to come meet you here."
"Who gave the order?"
"I did."

He shifted his posture. A bulge appeared in one of the lab coat pockets. He reached inside and pulled out a white note card.

"That card appeared in there just now, didn't it?"
"Correct." He held it close to his face as he read it. "It's from the future. 'A' future I should say." He frowned slightly. "Yes it seems I was responsible for your coma. Sorry about that, it was apparently necessary for the transition. There was no beating either, just some bruising created to serve the cover story." He dropped the card and it disintegrated into nothingness before reaching the table.

"You're a time traveler?"
"In a way. I'm able to extend my being outward to different time periods and realities. I'm able to send myself information and other things accross the gaps. When I was little I had a twin brother. We played together all the time. Then one day my mother informed me that she hadn't had any other children. I realized my twin brother was another incarnation of myself. He was the first to pass on to the future and he was my first pen pal, so to speak."

He stood up and pulled a cell phone out of an inside pocket and looked at the screen. "Hmmm, I'm almost out of time. There are some things to which I need to attend. You should leave those people and come stay with me. It would be better that way. I'll just send the mother on her way."

"The Greenes? I can't just leave." He looked at her blankly.
"What? Why not?"
"They've lost a child. They're traumatized.."
"What is that to you?"
"I don't know. It seems wrong."

"Alright, fine." He reached into the coat and pulled out a business card. "You can reach me at that address. If you experience any difficulties make your way there as soon as possible."

She took the card. "Hold on. I have a feeling...a bad foreboding. I'm in danger aren't I?"
"Yeah. The note said you need to be careful. Didn't say why." He turned to leave. "Just keep in touch, you'll be fine."

"Keep in touch for what? What is this all about anyway?"
"I'm putting a team together. To take over the world--it will be a lot of fun. Ciao for now."

I'm going to wait to see how the story progresses before I worry about posting it anywhere else.

Thanks I missed those.

The periodic hammering brought a fine trickle of dust from the ceiling. Recursive shook her head and brushed some larger drywall fragments from her shoulder.

"Why do they have his office out here in this wing in the middle of a renovation?"
"I don't know. Budget cuts or something. He doesn't work here anyway, they brought him in for this consultation." Mrs. Green stared at her daughters dress. "Where did you get that? I don't remember you owning a dress like that." She rubbed the fabric of the sleeve between her fingertips. "It's too...mature for you."

"Mr. Greene gave me some money to buy clothes. We stopped at the mall yesterday after he picked me up from school."
"Don't call him 'Mr. Greene'. He's your father."
"'Father' got me a new dress. The other clothes don't fit."

The door to the office opened and a man emerged. He was of middling height and build, wispy blond hair, engrained laugh lines around his mouth that evoked an attitude of perpetual amusement. He was handsome and charming with a rubbery face that looked sort of fake and disconnected. Topping his pinstriped shirt and tie was a long white lab coat with six pockets on the front. Three up each side, the lower ones in the usual place while the others stacked higher on the torso like those of a vest. He held a folder in his hand and used it to wave them into the office, which was completely bare save a desk, lamp, and three chairs.

"Ladies I'm Dr. Proxy, please have a seat."
"Proxy? That's an unusual name.." Mrs. Greene lowered herself into a chair, purse on her lap.
"Haha yes I know. I get that all the time." He sat down and opened the folder, and flipped through a small stack of documents.
"Is it German?"

He looked at Recursive, then Mrs. Greene, then glanced back down at the folder. "Ok so we have a situation here with Callie. Callie Greene. My notes say she was found under unusual circumstances..."

Mrs. Greene shifted in her chair and slid her purse on to the floor. "I dropped her off at the high school in the morning. She was found 2 hours later in an alley by the train station downtown. She was unconscious and had been beaten. It took a week for her to come out of it."

"And then?"
"She didn't remember anything about her life...me..her father...nothing. And she insists her name is 'Recursive'."
"Well people who experience extreme traumas often have altered states of consciousness as a result.."
"There's more." She rubbed her eyes.

"Go on."
"She doesn't sleep. Every time we've checked on her at night, she's been awake. She's...bigger. She was in a coma for one week and now she's four inches taller than before. She doesn't act anything like my daughter."
"Do you think there's been a mistake? Did you bring home the wrong child?
"No. I thought about it, but we stayed with her...nearly the whole time. It's Callie...just the change wasn't apparent until she woke up."

Dr. Proxy took a pen out of his lab coat and tapped it on the table before jotting something down on a piece of paper. He looked at his watch. "Mrs. Green, what do you think is going on here? What is your worst case scenario?"

"I..don't know..it's just. It sounds crazy..but..that isn't my daughter. Inside. It's not her..."
"So what are you suggesting? That's she's somehow possessed?"

Mrs. Green squirmed in her seat a bit. She threw up her hands. "I don't know."

Dr. Proxy turned to Recursive. "Are you possessed?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"I told you it sounded crazy! I know it sounds crazy. I know that." Mrs. Green reached into her purse and withdrew a tissue.

Dr. Proxy laughed and waved his hand. "No no dear lady it's not crazy. There are many different types of possesion. Induced extreme personality disorder via brainwashing. Demonic possession. Psychic displacement. All sorts of different scenarios."

"Are you serious? Is this a joke?"
"Absolutely not. Here let me show you something..." He reached into his coat.

Recursive put her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Mother wait. He's not what he seems to be."
Mrs. Greene pushed her away. "Stop it. Now what do you have to show me doctor?"

As she leaned forward towards the table, Dr. Proxy pulled out a small aerosol can and sprayed it in her face. Mrs. Greene sneezed and then coughed. She fluttered her fingers near her face and then started to convulse. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her jaw slackened. The doctor came around the front of the desk and took her hand, steadying her.

"Mrs. Greene....Mrs. Greene...."
"Yes."
"Your little girl is gone. Callie is gone. And she's never coming back."
"Oh...no..."
"It's alright. Do you hear me? It's o.k."
"O.k.?"
"Yes everything will be alright. Just start to let go. Everything will be o.k. Think happy thoughts. Can you do that?"
"O.k."
"Good girl. Now I'd like you to go out in the hall and wait for a while. We have some things to discuss. Be happy. O.k.?"
"O.k."
"Goooooood. Go on now."

Like a sleepwalker, Mrs. Greene collected herself and her bag and exited the room without looking back.