When What You Are Is Violence

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, Wanda Maximoff, Open
WHERE: Near the Hangar, Later In Wanda's Home
WHAT: Rage Bug Bite, Bonding with a dragon
WHEN: During Bug Issues
WARNINGS: CW: Violence, potentially attacking other characters in one prompt. Possible Discussions of violence/abuse with Wanda.




The Violence Begins

For all that he's seen how the bites affect people, that doesn't save Tommy from his own issues. The bite of a bug, on the back of his neck. Happened not long after he left Altair's attentions, getting the electrical burns on his arm looked at (not to mention other pains). But it didn't overtake him quickly, strange given how prone he was to having everything happen. It's nearly half a day between the bite and when Tommy can't take it anymore. Half a day that he spends alone, near the hangar, hiding out from everyone and trying to put together a really awkward project of potting some seeds from the greenhouse into whatever containers he can find to move onto the Twin Roses.

But when the fury comes, it overtakes him suddenly.

The problem with a speedster with rage is just how much damage he can do. And near the hangars... Well, the targets are obvious, aren't they? So there's Tommy Shepherd, with super human strength, pulling up looks stones the size of people's heads, throwing them toward the hangar walls, like he's trying to bring it down. Strength is one thing. The fact that he can hurl the things at well over a hundred miles per hour is what gives the greatest bit of force.

It wouldn't be very safe for someone to be around that. But he wouldn't hurt a person, right? Tommy's a good guy.

Comments

this okei?

[out_of_order]

People being angry isn't so unusual a thing. However when it's at such a level as this, there's some cause for concern. The sudden spikes of wild emotion come without warning, shattering the placid atmosphere, the initial sensations fading. What had happened then, Cal has no idea, but he can try to seek answers.

For someone attempting meditations in the Force, it hits without warning enough to startle Cal out of it. A fresh wave of anger, and in his partial meditative state, perhaps just a little more clearer.

"...Tommy?"

He has no idea why, but he feels he has to find out. With BD-1 behind him, the padawan is off at a run. He knows where to find the speedster. He just isn't sure what to think once he does.

"Hey!" The ruined buildings are already delicate, but seeing the sheer force that Tommy can fling those stones would have been amazing in different circumstances. Now? This is bad...

"Tommy, stop!"

totally, so long as Tommy slips away in the end

[doubled_speed]

Stop? The voice finds Tommy dropping a larger chunk of road to the ground beside him, looking toward the source. And the man he finds makes him glower. And in a flash he's there, in front of Cal, a hand flashing out for his throat.

"You're not my boss."

*salutes*

[out_of_order]

Cal wasn't prepared for that. Despite knowing Tommy's ability, it's still an entirely different matter when he's using it. His gasp is cut short by the hand that's grasped at his neck, and instinctively the padawan grabs for that wrist in turn. "T-ommy, wh-"

Behind him, BD-1 gives a squeal in alarm as he continues to cling. He has no idea what's happening either, but their friend certainly isn't in the right mind!

[doubled_speed]

He growls, hand tightening.

"How the fuck is someone like you supposed to do anything? You're so weak."

With that Tommy tosses Cal aside. With a good bit of force too. Should fly a bit.

[out_of_order]

The comment hurts almost as much as that hand around his throat. In the next moment everything blurs, but he's at least ready to react this time. It's still far too sudden and with an impressive amount of force, but Cal still reaches out with the other Force that he knows so intimately, not so much slowing himself down at first but helping him to perceive things as if they weren't flying by so fast.

He twists and finds his feet hitting the ground, and he skids back some considerable distance until the momentum's been killed. BD-1 trills behind him as the padawan slowly rises from his three-point position, getting a handle on his breathing, on the Force around them. He's not sure if Tommy intends to follow-up, but he's not going to be caught flat-footed if he does. At least that's the plan anyway.

"What's wrong?" he calls out, his voice a little hoarse, but he takes a few steps forward again. "We're not here to fight you, Tommmy." Something's not right, but what?

[doubled_speed]

Nothing is right. He itches, quite a bit. Back of his neck, it itches and it won't stop and he's angry. His brother attacked him, left him scarred. Betrayed. Broken. And he's not letting anyone else do that again. Tommy throws himself forward, acting rather than thinking.

He's across the distance in an instant, lashing out and striking, several blows coming fast. Fast enough that his fists must be a blur for anyone else, an echo of green color around everything.

[out_of_order]

This time, Cal's ready, although even then he just barely manages to react. He jumps back the moment Tommy practically vanishes from sight, throwing out a hand as he focuses through the Force at the speedster.

While he can't freeze things in their tracks like a certain other Force user, he can slow them down. It probably isn't enough to really slow Tommy down, but for a few seconds it'll make his movements easier to track that Cal can dodge. And even that's not something the padawan wants to do for long. He throws himself into a roll away from the speedster as he feels the effects begin to slacken, knowing that even space won't be much good against someone who can cover it in a split-second.

So he follows up with a Force push to help, thrusting both his hands towards Tommy to try sending him flying back.

[doubled_speed]

Weird, it feels like moving through molasses. And Tommy DOES NOT like that. If anything, it makes him angrier. It earns a growl of rage as the man manages to roll away. There is NO WAY he shouldn't be able to catch the little punk.

But hey, speedsters aren't immune to telekinesis. He gets thrown back several feet and it earns annoyance. Fine. He grabs a large rock up from the ground and hurls it at Cal, throwing quite a bit of his speed and strength behind it.

[out_of_order]

Not the most ideal situation. Cal's gone up against many things but nothing like this. Tommy's super speed is keeping him on the defensive, and the only way to be efficient in that is to use the Force. And it is positively draining.

It's hard to find your center when you're hardly given time to think. BD's shriek is what alerts him to the incoming object, and a last minute attempt to slow it barely gives Cal time to push himself to his feet before the rock practically explodes where he'd been standing. He tumbles to the ground, pelted by shrapnel, breathing hard. Get up, get up, get up runs like a mantra in his head, knowing that in that brief moment he's lost track of Tommy and that's not good at all.

[happybeeps]

The shaking strikes sound very much like the hanger is under attack, and Poe sits up in his bunk, BB-8 racing through the ship while CC-9 questions what's happening, unfamiliar with the sounds of war.

The ship door slides open and Poe flinches back at another crashing rumble, following the sound to the hammer walls, eyes narrowing in confusion as he jogs out to try and find the source of this apparent attack.

[doubled_speed]

The source if clearly the guy hefting up another large rock, larger than a human could lift, and flinging it at the hangar.

[happybeeps]

Yeah, that's...not good. Poe flinches back, waving the droids to stay inside the ship.

"Hey Speedy, you wanna try and leave something intact so we have a decent shot of getting out of here? What's going on??"

[doubled_speed]

Did someone just suggest that he stop? Tommy glares and picks up another rock. This one is smaller, but he still knows that it could do damage. He takes a step, winds up like a pitcher, and lets go with all his force.

[happybeeps]

Maker- that's a terrifying level of strength. Poe flinches back, unsure if he's really prepared to take on someone like Tommy.

"You're scaring the droids, kid, calm down."

[doubled_speed]

Scaring the droids? Like he cards. Tommy sneers and picks up another rock, aiming this one for Poe's head. Better dodge, dude.

[happybeeps]

Cursing, Poe ducks, grateful for those quick reflexes, and he without any means of fighting back, he moves to retreat back to the safety of the ship.

[doubled_speed]

See, now that's smart. Because Tommy does chase after Poe. If the guy goes fast enough, he'll probably be safe, especially because Tommy won't be able to get onto his ship.

[seeingscarlet]

Unease starts to prickle at her senses without any specific source to attach it to. Something is very, very wrong, but Wanda can't quite identify what it might be. Something about this place itself, or whatever's causing the storms? She hasn't really felt completely at ease since Vision disappeared, and less so since her powers had completely failed her when she'd needed them most.

It's insistent in its nagging, and before long Wanda goes in search of whatever that vague feeling of dread is. It doesn't take long - the loud crashing can be heard from blocks away. But even though her mind supplies a thousand horrible things that it could be, it doesn't prepare her for what she finds.

Wisps of scarlet catch the last rock just before it makes contact with the hangar walls, but she's too in shock to actually drop it. "Tommy?"

[doubled_speed]

The rock stops. There's no reason the rock should stop before it hits the wall. But that curl of red. Yes, he knows what that likely means. Sneering he turns on his heel and glares at the new comer.

"Didn't ask for you, witch."

[seeingscarlet]

Yeah, she's just going to leave that rock where it is, extremely out of Tommy's reach, for now. The way he looks at her shakes her to the core, and it's not because she's particularly afraid of him or that no one's ever looked at her like that. It's just so wrong on his face, like Pietro turning on her in anger.

"What are you doing?"

[doubled_speed]

"What's it matter to you?" he comments. And he drives the heel of his shoe hard into the ground under him. With his strength and speed, it's too much on the road below him, cracking off another chunk that he picks up.

There's a moment, long for him, where he considers, before he throws the rock right at her head.

[seeingscarlet]

"You're going to hurt someone like this—" This time Wanda doesn't react quickly enough to catch it and instead the rock is just completely obliterated by a blast of power. Now the unease makes sense. Something is very, very wrong with Tommy. This isn't like him at all.

And if she had been someone else, someone without the protection of powers or super soldier serum or the like, that would have killed her.

"You need to stop. Now."

[doubled_speed]

Of course he's going to hurt someone like this. That was the POINT. Geez. Some people are so stupid. Tommy growls and lifts another rock. And another. One in each hand. No way she could stop both. He winds up and throws again, faster this time.

"Shut up. Not your fucking business!"

lmk if this is okay!

[seeingscarlet]

This time she's expecting it, though, so while the impact does send her flying she had her shield formed enough to protect herself from anything more serious than cuts and scrapes from hitting the pavement. He's faster than Pietro and his mind is complete chaos; at this rate she's not going to be able to fight him fairly. But she can fight him, and as much as she doesn't want to, she might be the only one actually capable of stopping him long enough to figure out what's going on.

Wanda gestures sharply and uses her powers to lift Tommy off the ground and hold him still. Another gesture lifts her to her feet and now she can safely walk closer. His mind is running so quickly that it's hard for Wanda to read him, but now that she's not trying to defend herself, she can sense some sort of weird influence on Tommy's thoughts.

"I don't know what happened to you, but that's enough."

He may be a speedster and a mutant, but she can still force his mind into unconsciousness. And then maybe she can untangle whatever that outside influence is.

perfectly okay. enjoy that parasite in the back of his neck, Wanda. It's FUN!

[doubled_speed]

Magic. It's always got to be magic. Or near enough to it that Tommy doesn't think there is an effective difference. Sure he's running at her after the damn way she blocked the rocks, but he doesn't make it there. Because fucking MAGIC. It curls around him and lifts him up, feet off the ground, the world away from him, out of his touch, out of his control. Thanks, he hates it.

The rage spikes at being so powerless, at her words, but it's not like he can do anything about it. Not when she's breaking through his head, through the speed and the strain, and shutting him down. And, unconscious, he goes fully limp, as much as if he were dead. Enjoy that mental image. You earned it.