Butterfly Apocylpse: Boundaries

Mesay opened her eyes as a pale blue light shone in through the tent. She quickly got up and opened the zipper door. In the distance she saw what should have been the sun. But it was a bright blue. Waving neon flames whipping into the sky took the normal cloudy haze. Replacing it with the familiar black void she once saw in Home. The earth bumped and moved around her forming large roots.

"Mesay!" Muse yelled.

The roots started to move. They twisted and tangled themselves around each other. Mesay frantically looked around trying to find Muse. She tried to call out but nothing came from her voice. The shifting roots forced her to concentrate on staying upright. Everything was lit by the giant blue light source. The sun shifted and seemed to be moving closer. Mesay was terrified. She did not want to face that thing. 

"Papilio...." a strange voice echoed. "It's time."

"Mesay!" Muse yelled again. "Please!"

The foreign voice started echoing all around her. Muse was yelling her name. Then she could hear the others. Screaming for help. Screaming out of pain. Mesay didn't know where to go or what to do. She just wanted everyone to be safe. She just wanted everyone to go home again. She put her hands over her ears but the noises just got louder.

"Mesay, come on!"

"Mesay!"

"MESAY!!!"

***

She jolted up out of her sleeping bag. She felt two hands holding her shoulders. She jerked until her eyes focused on Muse above her. He was shaking her trying to wake her up.

"Mesay? Finally, you're awake. Can you hear me?" Muse asked.

Mesay blinked a few times, trying to regain her bearings. "Yeah. What's going on?" She moved around Muse and stumbled out the tent. Outside she could hear Kyle screaming. And a bunch of others rushing toward the woods. Natalie was outside her tent. Mesay tried to hurry her sleepy body toward the commotion. She was bumped into by Caught.who was also rushing to help. Mesay quickly grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.

"Caught. You can't go. We don't know what that is. Stay with Natalie please." She insisted.

"He's hurt!" Caught yelled.

"We can't afford to lose you to anyone Caught. You need to stay here." She turned to Muse. "Muse stay with them. And zap yourselves out of here if there is any trouble."
Muse nodded and turned to Caught. Motioning for him to get back.

"Don't worry. Whatever it is, we've had worse." Mesay assured. Then ran off toward the trouble.

***

In the woods, Tiq, Starling and Wren were first on the scene. All they had were their flashlights, and respective weapons. Starling with her gun, Tiq with an axe, and Wren with her smaller sickle. The three were on watch so they were luckily armed for instant trouble. Since they didn't know what their abilities were yet they had to be prepared. They heard Kyle scream but couldn't locate him.

"Kyle! Where are you?" Tiq yelled.

Starling suddenly straightened. She felt a bit odd. Something was pinging a certain sense in her. It was the screaming. She could feel the screaming. And she knew exactly where it was coming from. 

"Over here!" Starling yelled and she ran off deeper into the forest. The other two butterflies following fast behind her. They rushed through the dark trying not to stumble or fall. Starling didn't have such a problem. It was like she could sense everything around her. But only from the direction of the sounds. As it got louder it became more tangible for her. Almost like a force being pushed and moved through her body. She "seeing" what was ahead from the sound. It was like a type of echo location. This must be her power. She sensed what the earth was shaped like in front of her. It looked like a eight foot drop and at the bottom was the source of the sound. It was Kyle. She could see him. He was writhing in agony. Three other things were around him. But they constantly faded away and then appeared again.

Without thinking she yelled, "Stop!" 

Tiq and Wren quickly came to a halt and Starling jumped off the mini cliff and into the fray. When she closed her eyes and landed just before Kyle. The ripples of sound coming from him were thick now. She moved her arms in giant sweeping motions around her. As if she was brushing them away. And as she did the three things disappeared. And Kyle's screams turned into moans of pain. Starling opened her eyes and saw Kyle bloody and broken.

"Kyle! What happened to you?" She asked.

"Sweet God just get me out of here!" He pleaded.

"What is going on down there? Starling are you okay?" Tiq asked.

"Kyle is hurt pretty bad. I could use some help." Starling called back.

"We'll be down in a second." Tiq replied.

Soon more screaming came from Kyle. His bones cracked back into place. His muscles tore and reformed. A minute later Kyle was sitting upright. Trying to mentally catch up to his physical recovery. Starling was standing next to him. Tiq and Wren walked up to them.

"What on earth was that?" Wren asked.

"Yeah! You just jumped down like some kind of badass. How did you even know that was there Starling? It's dark as hell out here." Tiq continued.

"I think I figured out my power guys! It's some kind of sound thing. Like I could hear the sounds but then see with them too. Like echolocation. And then I took the waves and moved them. It was really cool but really weird. I didn't even think I just....did." Starling stopped in thought of what just happened. Elated at her ability finally showing up but confused as to what happened.

"What about Kyle?" Wren asked again.

"He can't talk right now. He's still recovering from his body reforming. He was beat up pretty bad though." Starling answered.

"Kyle?" Tiq started. "Kyle buddy you okay?" Tiq shone the flashlight in Kyle's unblinking eyes.

Kyle blinked a few times then finally reacted. "Get that fucking shit out of my eyes!"

"He's fine." Tiq quipped.

"Far from it." Kyle countered. "Looks like my boyfriend finally came a calling."

"Showtime?" Wren asked.

"Yeah, he was having a good time of me. He was...hurting me pretty bad and then would wait for me to recover before doing it again. Little shit. Something was holding me down though. It was like there were multiple versions of him. I don't know. Fucker needs to buy me flowers next time." Kyle was doing his best impersonation of himself. He couldn't tear his mind away from what he saw or felt. It was a horrible experience that he was pretty sure he wasn't going to live from. He was dragged so far and fast into the forest that he didn't know what was going on. Let alone if anyone was going to find him.
Just then they heard a loud squawking. Lucy darted past the others and strait to Kyle's shoulder.

"A lot of good you did!" Kyle poked at the bird. It lovingly cooed and nipped at his finger. Kyle was happy to see Lucy again. "You little shit." He smiled.

"Guys! Is everything okay?" Paul asked over the hivemind.

"We have Kyle, he's okay." Wren answered back.

"Well good but we need you to hurry back. Someone's attacking the camp." Paul retorted.

***

"Chula! We need you by the food tent! It's on fire again!" Mesay yelled. "Apple! Red! I want you two to search the perimeter and find out what is going on! Blue! We need to get everyone into the bunker NOW!" As everyone separated Mesay went to check on Muse. She ran to their tents but was greeted by a ton of fire. She raised her hands and it banked away from her face. Still feeling the intense heat from the flames. Suddenly the flames in that corner dissipated as Paul walked past them and to Mesay. 

"How did this get started?" He asked.

"I don't know, but this isn't just a normal attack. I feel like we're being kept busy." Mesay answered. "Have you seen Muse? He was with Caught and Natalie."

Muse materialized beside Mesay. He had Natalie with him. She dropped franklin, her baseball bat and fell to her knees coughing. Muse had a bad cut across his forehead. He stumbled back a bit in his stupor. Mesay quickly moved to help him keep his balance while Paul checked on Natalie.

"I'm okay." Natalie insisted. "I'm just....not used to getting punched in the gut."

"You got punched?!" Paul asked.

"Some huge guy. And a masked woman." Muse spurted out. "They have someone starting fires around camp."

"Where is Caught?" Natalie panicked a bit.

Muse looked around confused. "He isn't here?" Muse started to sink. Mesay tore part of her pajamas and wrapped the cut on his head. 

"He was right next to us." Natalie insisted.

"Muse? I need you keep talking okay? Mesay worried.

"I'm okay. I just.... am a little tired." Muse retorted.

I need to get Muse back to Blue." Mesay said. "Paul, you need to find Caught and get him back here."

"I'm on it." Paul assured.

"I'm coming with you." Natalie said.

"You really shouldn't. Just stay...."

"I'm not going to just leave him in this mess." Natalie held up her Franklin. Whatever blow she took was shrugged off quickly. 

"Alright slugger. Let's go find Caught." Paul quipped. And the two ran off toward the far end of camp. Paul dispersing flames as they went.

***

"Natalie! Muse!" Caught stopped his calling out to cough. The fire was starting to close him in now. And he had to find a way out. That Muse guy must have vanished without him. He's probably would have been able to get away if it wasn't for the creepy woman who attacked them. The three of them just had a run in with what looked like the proxy of the month. All he knew is that he had to get back to the dragonflies. 

Or butterflies. 

The bug people. 

Whatever.

As the fire raged Caught tried to find another way out. It was then when he felt a familiar pain on the back of his head. He dropped on the ground. His eyes hazy. A brick was laying near his head. Trying to look up a pair of boots came into view.

"Trying to find a memory in a dark room. Dirty man....I know you well." She said.

"Oh great. A poet." Caught retorted. His vision getting wobbly. Even his arms and legs felt shaky. But it felt like it was coming from beneath him. A rhythmic pounding that almost felt like giant footsteps. "What the..."

A loud battle roar came from the woods just beyond the fire. Suddenly jumping over the flames was an inhumanly tall 15ft man. Bald and burly. He landed in the ring of fire grinning madly. He held an average sized woman on his shoulder like a child. She threw her sickle at the masked woman. It expanded into a full length scythe. Wren's weapon of choice swooped down, spinning toward the proxy. It spun to the side and nicked her in the arm before crashing to the ground.

"How do you like that you proxy piece of shit? Get the hell away from him!" Tiq yelled. And he clenched his two fists together and threw them down on the proxy. Wren went falling to the ground as this happened. And the woman tucked and rolled out of the way.

"Hey!" Wren hollered as she got up. "Did you forget something there big man? Do you want to see me hurt?"

"Chilly wind you're piercing like a dagger. It hurts me so....yeah." The woman retorted.

"That's enough out of you!" Another voice called. Suddenly Red was right behind the woman. She grabbed her by the arms and held her back. Wren hurried to Caught's side but not before getting kicked in the head by the proxy. Wren fell to the ground near Caught. The woman struggled viciously. Red held on but this woman was considerably taller than her. And strong too. In the struggle the proxy's hoodie fell to her shoulders revealing tangled black hair. The proxy twisted and the two fell to the ground. Red made sure to never let go of her grip. The proxy seemed to calm a bit now. Tiq walked up to the woman and Red. Shrinking down to his normal size. 

"Let's see what kind of face we find under that pretty mask." He quipped.

"Nobody needs to discover me." She retorted. 

Just then Tiq found himself in a sleeper hold, by another. Red stood shocked at the sight. Somebody with a Mexican wrestling mask was trying to wrestle him back. He was huge. And Tiq couldn't get out of his grip.

"Drop the puck, time to go."

"What?" Red said. 

The woman leaned her head forward and slammed it back onto Red's face. She released to nurse a potential broken nose. The woman quickly recovered and pulled some twine from her coat. She quickly tied Red's ankles together. And then her wrists.

The woman got up and watched as the other proxy man finished the job. Tiq passed out and the man dropped him. She turned around to only find Wren coming at her with the scythe. She swept it forward and caught a small chunk of the mask. Tearing it revealing a bit of the face. The woman rushed Wren and grabbed the handle. fighting with her for the scythe.

"Nobody needs to discover me. I'm back again." the woman said. Quickly moving a leg behind Wren knocking her on the ground. The woman took the scythe and pointed it at Wren's neck. The string on the mask came undone a bit showing a bit more of the woman's face. The fire all around them lighting the corners. Catching the reflection off an exposed eye. Wren tried to make out the face. It looked familiar.

"You feel the ashes from the fire that kept you warm. Its comfort disappears."

"....Natti?" she asked. Then she felt a hard knock to her head and went limp, unconscious. The woman looked up and saw the Messenger come around Wren after having kicked her. She had her flamethrower pack on. She looked up at the half masked woman and held up the brick. The man came to meet them and they all looked at Caught. Trying to drag himself away from the scene. The man walked up to Caught, picked him up as if he was a toy. And put him over his shoulder. Caught didn't protest. He could hardly stay awake.

"The barn is full, our teams in town. So put em up boys." The woman proxy walked over to Red still nursing her wounds. "And knock em out." She raised the brick but suddenly heard voices. 

"Over here!" Paul yelled.

The woman backed off and motioned for the other two to follow her. The three proxies, disappeared into the woods.

Paul and Natalie came though the fire. Paul dispersing it as they walked along. They found Tiq unconscious, Wren waking up, and Red with a bloody nose struggling through her bonds.

"Get this fucking shit off of me!" Red yelled.

The smoldering remains still crackled around the group.Paul quickly got the bonds off of Red. Red cursed up a storm yelling about proxies and explained how they took Caught. 

"Caught is gone? Where did they take him?" Natalie asked Paul. 

"Really? Really Paul? Isn't it obvious?" Red started. "Fucking Help3r! Asshole has found a few fucking followers for his shit. And now he's turning them on us. Asshole."

"I had no idea! These are people we don't even know." Paul said.

"I think we know one of them." Wren finally spoke up. She slowly walked over to Paul and Red.

Just then Blue rushed over to the group. She came up to Wren and helped her sit down. "Today's a day for head injuries huh?" She chimed. 

"What about my broken nose baby?" Red mildly complained.

"Concussions first sweetie." She smiled back. She turned to Wren. Not being able to exactly pinpoint where the pain for Wren was. Mostly because of the concussion of her own. "What are you feeling right now Wren?"

"Oh Blue, you're hurt too." Wren wavered a bit and then grabbed blue to steady herself. Suddenly a rush ran through her body. Her hands shined brightly for a second. She moved her hand up to touch Blue's head and it began to heal. Blue stood there a bit shocked. Was... was Wren healing Blue? Did they have another healer in the group?

Wren moved back and saw that Blue's head wound was all healed up. She looked at her hand and her eyes opened up wide. 

"That's my power? I can heal stuff like you Blue?" Wren smiled at that before bumping into Paul. She put her hands onto Paul's shoulder and then felt another rush. Her hands shined again, and fell over from dizziness. She was on her knees holding herself steady with her hands on the ground. Sparks of blue flame suddenly rose out of her hands and engulfed her. Everyone screamed in shock. Paul quickly picked up Wren but the fire wouldn't stop. He did everything he could to lessen it but to no avail. The fire didn't even feel hot. It was cool almost to the touch. The fire went away and suddenly there was Wren. Wide eyed again. But perfectly fine. All of her wounds were healed. And she felt clear headed. 

Everyone was dead silent for a moment.

"What....in the hell........what that?" Red finally said.

"Holy shit." Paul answered noticing her healed self.

"What? What did I do?" Wren asked.

"I think you just combined our powers." Paul retorted. "I think you just made up a new power. By combining ours.

***

The three proxies were making good time getting back to Help3r. Occasionally The Messenger would stop and look back. As if she was expecting someone to be there. But she couldn't see anyone. They marched on, with Caught.

Apple breathed a sigh of relief. That was too close. They were really good at making sure they weren't being followed. They almost lost her a few times. But Apple had to see where they were going. Where they were taking Caught.