The Last Robotica (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thefolksbetween) wrote2010-10-20 05:16 pm
thefolksbetween) wrote2010-10-20 05:16 pm
#48 - Home: Claudio Kilgannon
Who: Claudio Kilgannon
What: #48 – Home
When: October 13 - 19th
Where: Siren’s Port -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sirenspull Takes place just before this.
Rating: PC-13? Mild violence, cussing, slavery, etc. Nothing graphic.
Note: A long string of events leads Claudio being captured by the Hunter again and placed into a hunt once more. Though a group of friends is coming to break things up a bit and get his lame ass out, he doesn’t know this.
This is just a bit of what happened that week he was gone and his condition. As always, rough, unedited, and fastly done. Man I really need to learn to care enough to look back over my shit huh. Oh well...
If you've stumbled across this cus of the RP itself... hnnn *hides* don't judge meeee. You all already know I am a really poor writer.
~*~
It was cold.
That was the first thing he had noticed. The second was the sounds of a cat... no a girl crying in the not so far distance. The third was the sharp pain in his ribs as he started to move. The ground was cold and hard metal, not the same hard cot like bed they had tied down to the frame in the jail he should have woken up in. The sounds were wrong too; not the normal heavy breaths of an overly skinny man in the cell with him, or the soft hum of the coke machine just outside the interrogation room in the hall outside.
Lifting his head he felt the throbbing wash over him like a hammer to the skull, beating so hard his vision felt blurred. There was a deep growl, a pzzt-snap sound, and a howl. His head came up fully, turning to push off the ground with both arms. He regretted the movement a moment later as his head came into contact with another metal surface.
He realized he was looking out through thick cold stele bars. A sight he’d seen before, months and months ago. He felt the panic build up, welling over as he realized where he was. He’d been so careful though! He hid himself as often as he could and he didn’t steal anymore or go out and do stupid things or... well he did come here a while ago looking for Jinx’s boyfriend, and he helped Zelda and her group to go looking to free some slaves, but...
He had been good! He didn’t make himself known! In his panic he went to fade out, use his powers to drop out of this cage and run. He’d done it before, but this time...
The feeling shot through his ankle first, then up through his leg, his knee and thigh, shooting past his middle, his chest, his heart ached, his neck his—he screamed, a deep angry and painful yell, dropping to his elbows again. Fading back in, using no powers made everything stop, and giving him time to breathe, or try to remember to breathe again.
Gasping he barely heard the man return to the cage side. He stood so very tall and yet he was on level with Claudio as he looked into the small metal box.
“Good ta see ya again boy...” He smiled a sharp yellow toothed wicked smile, his breath an awful smell of garlic and meat drifting into Claudio’s already difficult breathing path. “Ya didn’ think you’d be gone lone did ya?”
He reached a large hand out, knocking his knuckles and a ring of keys along the bars of the cage, laughing. “Scared as a lil’ tiger cub. Go ‘head, kid. Try the powers again. See how far tha’ getcha.” He laughed.
It was stupid, of course, and he wasn’t even sure what came over him, but both his hands darted out, reaching for the key ring that knocked the bars, knowing damn well he was taunting him for them. That he was being stupid to even try, but he did. His hands reached through the bars, desperate to get the keys. He could feel his heart racing, thoughtless.
It was the other hand that he didn’t see, the one that brought a long silver stick up and jabbed it into the cage. None to lightly either. Where it made contact it shocked him, a hard burning feeling jabbed into his ribs and sending volts through his body.
He remembered this from before as well.
He remembered how it felt to have the cattle prod move from one jolt right into another. But after that he remembered no more for some time.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been out of it. When he woke again there was a small plate just outside his cage with a few leaves of lattice and some rice. He ignored that and reached for a small paper cup of what he hoped was water, drinking it with greed. It tasted oddly, but it didn’t matter; he was so thirsty. It should have mattered to him, really, but after another nap he didn’t really care.
They days passed on. He didn’t bother eating what was brought to him, and after a bit didn’t drink the water either, trying to stay away now. He knew what was going on. There were four of them there, all in cages about 15 feet away from each other. They were being kept alive but weakened. Protests were met with a zap of the cattle prod. Use of abilities, or at least for him, sent pain from the device on his foot through his body. If he tried to take it off it shocked him as well.
Later in the week, what ever day it might be, he lay in the cage, tired, sore from how he had been resting for a week, hungry and with dried lips. He heard the tiger girl and the werewolf talking; the fire user staying silent in the conversations. They were all wrongfully abducted it seemed. None of them should have been there. No one should ever be here though.
His arms laying out through the bars, draped there he stayed silent as well, staring blankly out. He shouldn’t even be in this shitty city. He should be-- Where? Another shitty city? Hunted there as well? Wanted dead for something that’s not even my fault?
He sighed, closing his eyes and hearing the others talk. He liked this city. He liked being here. No. You like the people you met. The city is shit. Though another voice in his head, almost sounding like his father said You shouldn’t be here. You should find your way home.
“I am home though...” He whispered to himself, barely a mumble, eyes closing tighter. That was stupid. This wasn’t home. Home was his soft bed and the twins screaming in the living room and Josie talking to Patrick on the phone. Mom making breakfast while dad came home from strange hours of work.
Home was a place where Newo would be. Where she would pick him up from home and drive them to school. Or park out at the end of the shuttle ports and stare at the stars on the hood of the car. Home was in the arms of the blonde girl that--You left her. You left all that behind. All of that is dead. He killed it all. He destroyed them all. Home isn’t there anymore.
Newo is there... that voice said again. I didn’t know what I was doing. You have to believe me... It was faint, that father like voice. He didn’t understand why he heard it of all things, but it was faint and fading away.
This was home now. His eyes blinked open, looking out into the dim room of cages. He watched the others try to comfort each other. His eyes drew past them to a large strange creature in a hay strewn bin. A wild animal, the smell was something he had gotten used to by now.
Laying there he couldn’t believe he wanted this to be home. Not this cage, but this city. This horrible shitty little city. He’d been there for nine months now, living a simple life. No more school, as that didn’t matter anymore. No more jocks bullying him at school. There was no more mother and father, nor siblings and Patrick. There was no more Newo, and no more Apollo the dog.
There was Apollo the cat though, and two Roommates he trusted beyond belief. Trauma and Jinx. He found his life with those two by mistake. Accident. He was glad for it though. Trauma was... well, he’d never had a better friend then him. He trusted him on a level that he had only ever trusted Newo on, and even then there were things he could tell the boy that he could never confess to his girlfriend.
Jinx on the other hand was a pain in the ass, trouble making, loud, obnoxious little pink haired girl who delighted in giving him a bad time and hated his cat. Why the hell he thought of her as... well nearly a sister, he couldn’t even fathom.
Perhaps it was on a deeper level for the three of them that connected them. None of them really wanted to go home, right? He was... pretty sure that was the case. Even if it wasn’t they did share a lot of things in common. Strange things but things none the less.
There were others on this island, this city that he ha grown attached to, fond of, but none of them so close as those two. He’d actually put down his life for either of them, if he had to.
So where are they now? it was a grim thought, one that weighed him down more and more eve time he thought it. It wasn’t fair to them to think of them that way though. He was sure they would have tried to get him free. After all, Trauma got hold of Edgeworth who got a friend to cover his case, right? So fast too. Maybe they tried and... failed.
There was a clinking heard, something rolling into the room and spinning to a halt, tendrils of smoke trailing after it then soon masking it, filling the space around it and floating, drifting up towards them. Another clinking and a second can crashed in, closer to his cage. Sitting up on hands and knees he raised the bottom of his shirt to his face, trying to cover it, looking around to find a way out in vain.
The realization that he should have stayed down hit him a second later as the smoke filled his lungs, made his head spin and dropped him to the floor of the short cage once again. His mind went blank.
***
It was warm.
That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that he lay in something cool, wet and very plant like. His head was foggy and spun a bit, but there was a warmth pouring over him that felt strange. Like he was outdoors.
The wind swept over his face, and a tall blade of grass slapped him, making him sit up suddenly, head looking around. They had dropped him off in the field, near some trees. A small field, but it was out in the open.
It’s the hunting grounds. A hunt must be starting. He’d wandered around this place before, both in hunt and not, but it didn’t mean he knew it well. He was outside though so it was the chance he needed to get out, right?
Slipping into his invisible form he--- screamed, dropping back to the ground as the burning shocks broke out around his ankle and up his leg. He was visible again, panting as he realized he still had that ankle collar on. Catching his breath he pulled his pants above his bare ankles, getting a good look at it. His feet were bare and around his right ankle was a small black metallic device with a blinking red light. The skin around the device was worn, rubbed and sore.
“Shit...”
There was a crack, just past the tree line and a growl. Damn it, don’t tell me he let out the wild animals too... He hissed to himself, getting to his feet and hands. His hand ran across a old dagger, instantly taking it up with out thought to how it was seated right next to him.
The orange haired tiger girl stepped out of the woods, hands up and whispering “It’s just me...”
“Jeeze...” He groaned, relaxing. “I thought you were...” a wild animal? She almost looked like it what with the ears, tail and claws. ‘...the damn hunters or something.” He stood, sliding the dagger into the back of his belt, moving closer towards her.
“Shh... be silent or you’ll give away our location.” She hushed him.
Shaking his head he pointed up to a tree, pointing out a camera that was just barely seen. “They know where we are. Or someone does. Been here before... he’ll start it at noon so... we got a moment to get scattered and--”
There was a snort, a huffing sound from a distance that made him stop. The tiger girl crouched down suddenly, both kids looking around for the sound. There was a gruff huff, and something smashed into a tree, out into the field. “Shit! What the hell is that!?” he couldn’t help himself form blurting it out, looking at a huge armored looking white rhino.
His words caught the beasts attention, turning its huge horned head towards them... it roared and charged.
“Rhino! Run!” The tiger girl called as she lopped off through the trees, Claudio, after a moment of completely being shocked, chased after her.
His feet were bare, so running through this mess of trees and buses when he was so used to boots and socks was... not easy. He tried to keep up with the girl but her tailed behind was so far ahead that he could barely catch her movements. The rhino on the other hand was right on his ass in no time. When he knew he was about to be hit he grabbed a tree, hiding behind it, only to feel the rumble and impact of the beast hitting the tree and knocking both it and him over.
Scrambling to run again he started in another direction, only to be chased down again. Turning, he gave a holler and decided to go for it. His hands reached to grab at the charging beast, a burst of power and strength running through him like it had before.
Just enough to stop the animal, turn it’s horn and knock it over to its side. Also just enough of his own power that the device on his ankle went off, sending a shock through both himself and the animal, causing him to yell again. He fell back into a tree, gasping. The animal already getting up once again, though disoriented looking.
Claudio limped off in another direction and climbed his ass up into a tree before the beast got fully to it’s feet, raging off after where he thought the boy had gone.
Laying flipped in a branch of a tree he gasped, trying to catch his breath as well as calm his racing heart. Shit... shit... shit... his mind chanted as everything throbbed. That last crash had his shoulder aching; his feet were already killing him from being shoeless. There would be hunters soon, if they weren’t already on the rise.
You got out before. You can do it again. There were holes in this place. You can get out. He told himself.
The other voice, the fainter one that still disturbingly sounded like his father said You got shot last time! Almost ran over by a huge beast. You need to be careful.
“Yeah... I know, Dad...” He said with out thought. He wasn’t even sure why, but it did feel like his father was there, helping him. With useless advice, but still, it was his father.
He needed to get that damn device off his ankle. Pulling the knife from his belt she balanced himself in the large tree and brought his ankle up. The red dot was blinking; his skin looked red and raw under the device, blistering in places. He hissed, trying to use the knife to break the device, only to receive another shock that made him drop the knife out of the tree and nearly fall out himself.
It took him another twenty minutes, hidden behind a bush by a tree, trying to get the damn thing off. From the distance one might see a red glow and hear the grunt or bitten tongue growl of the boy trying to get it off. He tried fading out and going intangible a few times, trying to slip just the device off, but when he went invisible so did it. He started pulling it through his body once and lost control, coming back into view only to yell as the device was sitting partly through his skin.
That one made him scream.
He forced himself not to pass out as he did it again, flicking the device off him just before falling over to the ground completely as the after shocks ran chaos over his nerve system. Laying twitching, ankle bleeding he gave up for the moment.
He got the damn thing off, so he should get up and go. He could use his powers now. Instead he stayed crumpled on the ground, shoulders hunched, hands in the dirt and head down. His heart still reached and ached, his head spun still. Get up. Get out! That voice that wasn’t his said in the back of his mind.
“I... am.” He told it, a whisper out loud. But his own voice inside wondered if he could. It’s not like they wont come after you again. Get it over with here and now, see what happens and go with that.
Get UP, Claudio! “I can’t...” But he tried. Trauma would be upset if he didn’t at least try to get back, right? And Jinx... maybe she wouldn’t care, or maybe she’d be pissed if he just disappeared and--- get up... he said to himself, moving again.
Carefully he moved, limping from tree to tree and telling himself (or was it the other voice?) that he had to keep moving. Get to a wall and fade through. Get out and get home.
Home. Yeah, this was definitely home. Not this city or the apartment that he stayed in, but the people he stayed with. He had to get home.
What: #48 – Home
When: October 13 - 19th
Where: Siren’s Port -
sirenspull Takes place just before this. Rating: PC-13? Mild violence, cussing, slavery, etc. Nothing graphic.
Note: A long string of events leads Claudio being captured by the Hunter again and placed into a hunt once more. Though a group of friends is coming to break things up a bit and get his lame ass out, he doesn’t know this.
This is just a bit of what happened that week he was gone and his condition. As always, rough, unedited, and fastly done. Man I really need to learn to care enough to look back over my shit huh. Oh well...
If you've stumbled across this cus of the RP itself... hnnn *hides* don't judge meeee. You all already know I am a really poor writer.
It was cold.
That was the first thing he had noticed. The second was the sounds of a cat... no a girl crying in the not so far distance. The third was the sharp pain in his ribs as he started to move. The ground was cold and hard metal, not the same hard cot like bed they had tied down to the frame in the jail he should have woken up in. The sounds were wrong too; not the normal heavy breaths of an overly skinny man in the cell with him, or the soft hum of the coke machine just outside the interrogation room in the hall outside.
Lifting his head he felt the throbbing wash over him like a hammer to the skull, beating so hard his vision felt blurred. There was a deep growl, a pzzt-snap sound, and a howl. His head came up fully, turning to push off the ground with both arms. He regretted the movement a moment later as his head came into contact with another metal surface.
He realized he was looking out through thick cold stele bars. A sight he’d seen before, months and months ago. He felt the panic build up, welling over as he realized where he was. He’d been so careful though! He hid himself as often as he could and he didn’t steal anymore or go out and do stupid things or... well he did come here a while ago looking for Jinx’s boyfriend, and he helped Zelda and her group to go looking to free some slaves, but...
He had been good! He didn’t make himself known! In his panic he went to fade out, use his powers to drop out of this cage and run. He’d done it before, but this time...
The feeling shot through his ankle first, then up through his leg, his knee and thigh, shooting past his middle, his chest, his heart ached, his neck his—he screamed, a deep angry and painful yell, dropping to his elbows again. Fading back in, using no powers made everything stop, and giving him time to breathe, or try to remember to breathe again.
Gasping he barely heard the man return to the cage side. He stood so very tall and yet he was on level with Claudio as he looked into the small metal box.
“Good ta see ya again boy...” He smiled a sharp yellow toothed wicked smile, his breath an awful smell of garlic and meat drifting into Claudio’s already difficult breathing path. “Ya didn’ think you’d be gone lone did ya?”
He reached a large hand out, knocking his knuckles and a ring of keys along the bars of the cage, laughing. “Scared as a lil’ tiger cub. Go ‘head, kid. Try the powers again. See how far tha’ getcha.” He laughed.
It was stupid, of course, and he wasn’t even sure what came over him, but both his hands darted out, reaching for the key ring that knocked the bars, knowing damn well he was taunting him for them. That he was being stupid to even try, but he did. His hands reached through the bars, desperate to get the keys. He could feel his heart racing, thoughtless.
It was the other hand that he didn’t see, the one that brought a long silver stick up and jabbed it into the cage. None to lightly either. Where it made contact it shocked him, a hard burning feeling jabbed into his ribs and sending volts through his body.
He remembered this from before as well.
He remembered how it felt to have the cattle prod move from one jolt right into another. But after that he remembered no more for some time.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been out of it. When he woke again there was a small plate just outside his cage with a few leaves of lattice and some rice. He ignored that and reached for a small paper cup of what he hoped was water, drinking it with greed. It tasted oddly, but it didn’t matter; he was so thirsty. It should have mattered to him, really, but after another nap he didn’t really care.
They days passed on. He didn’t bother eating what was brought to him, and after a bit didn’t drink the water either, trying to stay away now. He knew what was going on. There were four of them there, all in cages about 15 feet away from each other. They were being kept alive but weakened. Protests were met with a zap of the cattle prod. Use of abilities, or at least for him, sent pain from the device on his foot through his body. If he tried to take it off it shocked him as well.
Later in the week, what ever day it might be, he lay in the cage, tired, sore from how he had been resting for a week, hungry and with dried lips. He heard the tiger girl and the werewolf talking; the fire user staying silent in the conversations. They were all wrongfully abducted it seemed. None of them should have been there. No one should ever be here though.
His arms laying out through the bars, draped there he stayed silent as well, staring blankly out. He shouldn’t even be in this shitty city. He should be-- Where? Another shitty city? Hunted there as well? Wanted dead for something that’s not even my fault?
He sighed, closing his eyes and hearing the others talk. He liked this city. He liked being here. No. You like the people you met. The city is shit. Though another voice in his head, almost sounding like his father said You shouldn’t be here. You should find your way home.
“I am home though...” He whispered to himself, barely a mumble, eyes closing tighter. That was stupid. This wasn’t home. Home was his soft bed and the twins screaming in the living room and Josie talking to Patrick on the phone. Mom making breakfast while dad came home from strange hours of work.
Home was a place where Newo would be. Where she would pick him up from home and drive them to school. Or park out at the end of the shuttle ports and stare at the stars on the hood of the car. Home was in the arms of the blonde girl that--You left her. You left all that behind. All of that is dead. He killed it all. He destroyed them all. Home isn’t there anymore.
Newo is there... that voice said again. I didn’t know what I was doing. You have to believe me... It was faint, that father like voice. He didn’t understand why he heard it of all things, but it was faint and fading away.
This was home now. His eyes blinked open, looking out into the dim room of cages. He watched the others try to comfort each other. His eyes drew past them to a large strange creature in a hay strewn bin. A wild animal, the smell was something he had gotten used to by now.
Laying there he couldn’t believe he wanted this to be home. Not this cage, but this city. This horrible shitty little city. He’d been there for nine months now, living a simple life. No more school, as that didn’t matter anymore. No more jocks bullying him at school. There was no more mother and father, nor siblings and Patrick. There was no more Newo, and no more Apollo the dog.
There was Apollo the cat though, and two Roommates he trusted beyond belief. Trauma and Jinx. He found his life with those two by mistake. Accident. He was glad for it though. Trauma was... well, he’d never had a better friend then him. He trusted him on a level that he had only ever trusted Newo on, and even then there were things he could tell the boy that he could never confess to his girlfriend.
Jinx on the other hand was a pain in the ass, trouble making, loud, obnoxious little pink haired girl who delighted in giving him a bad time and hated his cat. Why the hell he thought of her as... well nearly a sister, he couldn’t even fathom.
Perhaps it was on a deeper level for the three of them that connected them. None of them really wanted to go home, right? He was... pretty sure that was the case. Even if it wasn’t they did share a lot of things in common. Strange things but things none the less.
There were others on this island, this city that he ha grown attached to, fond of, but none of them so close as those two. He’d actually put down his life for either of them, if he had to.
So where are they now? it was a grim thought, one that weighed him down more and more eve time he thought it. It wasn’t fair to them to think of them that way though. He was sure they would have tried to get him free. After all, Trauma got hold of Edgeworth who got a friend to cover his case, right? So fast too. Maybe they tried and... failed.
There was a clinking heard, something rolling into the room and spinning to a halt, tendrils of smoke trailing after it then soon masking it, filling the space around it and floating, drifting up towards them. Another clinking and a second can crashed in, closer to his cage. Sitting up on hands and knees he raised the bottom of his shirt to his face, trying to cover it, looking around to find a way out in vain.
The realization that he should have stayed down hit him a second later as the smoke filled his lungs, made his head spin and dropped him to the floor of the short cage once again. His mind went blank.
***
It was warm.
That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that he lay in something cool, wet and very plant like. His head was foggy and spun a bit, but there was a warmth pouring over him that felt strange. Like he was outdoors.
The wind swept over his face, and a tall blade of grass slapped him, making him sit up suddenly, head looking around. They had dropped him off in the field, near some trees. A small field, but it was out in the open.
It’s the hunting grounds. A hunt must be starting. He’d wandered around this place before, both in hunt and not, but it didn’t mean he knew it well. He was outside though so it was the chance he needed to get out, right?
Slipping into his invisible form he--- screamed, dropping back to the ground as the burning shocks broke out around his ankle and up his leg. He was visible again, panting as he realized he still had that ankle collar on. Catching his breath he pulled his pants above his bare ankles, getting a good look at it. His feet were bare and around his right ankle was a small black metallic device with a blinking red light. The skin around the device was worn, rubbed and sore.
“Shit...”
There was a crack, just past the tree line and a growl. Damn it, don’t tell me he let out the wild animals too... He hissed to himself, getting to his feet and hands. His hand ran across a old dagger, instantly taking it up with out thought to how it was seated right next to him.
The orange haired tiger girl stepped out of the woods, hands up and whispering “It’s just me...”
“Jeeze...” He groaned, relaxing. “I thought you were...” a wild animal? She almost looked like it what with the ears, tail and claws. ‘...the damn hunters or something.” He stood, sliding the dagger into the back of his belt, moving closer towards her.
“Shh... be silent or you’ll give away our location.” She hushed him.
Shaking his head he pointed up to a tree, pointing out a camera that was just barely seen. “They know where we are. Or someone does. Been here before... he’ll start it at noon so... we got a moment to get scattered and--”
There was a snort, a huffing sound from a distance that made him stop. The tiger girl crouched down suddenly, both kids looking around for the sound. There was a gruff huff, and something smashed into a tree, out into the field. “Shit! What the hell is that!?” he couldn’t help himself form blurting it out, looking at a huge armored looking white rhino.
His words caught the beasts attention, turning its huge horned head towards them... it roared and charged.
“Rhino! Run!” The tiger girl called as she lopped off through the trees, Claudio, after a moment of completely being shocked, chased after her.
His feet were bare, so running through this mess of trees and buses when he was so used to boots and socks was... not easy. He tried to keep up with the girl but her tailed behind was so far ahead that he could barely catch her movements. The rhino on the other hand was right on his ass in no time. When he knew he was about to be hit he grabbed a tree, hiding behind it, only to feel the rumble and impact of the beast hitting the tree and knocking both it and him over.
Scrambling to run again he started in another direction, only to be chased down again. Turning, he gave a holler and decided to go for it. His hands reached to grab at the charging beast, a burst of power and strength running through him like it had before.
Just enough to stop the animal, turn it’s horn and knock it over to its side. Also just enough of his own power that the device on his ankle went off, sending a shock through both himself and the animal, causing him to yell again. He fell back into a tree, gasping. The animal already getting up once again, though disoriented looking.
Claudio limped off in another direction and climbed his ass up into a tree before the beast got fully to it’s feet, raging off after where he thought the boy had gone.
Laying flipped in a branch of a tree he gasped, trying to catch his breath as well as calm his racing heart. Shit... shit... shit... his mind chanted as everything throbbed. That last crash had his shoulder aching; his feet were already killing him from being shoeless. There would be hunters soon, if they weren’t already on the rise.
You got out before. You can do it again. There were holes in this place. You can get out. He told himself.
The other voice, the fainter one that still disturbingly sounded like his father said You got shot last time! Almost ran over by a huge beast. You need to be careful.
“Yeah... I know, Dad...” He said with out thought. He wasn’t even sure why, but it did feel like his father was there, helping him. With useless advice, but still, it was his father.
He needed to get that damn device off his ankle. Pulling the knife from his belt she balanced himself in the large tree and brought his ankle up. The red dot was blinking; his skin looked red and raw under the device, blistering in places. He hissed, trying to use the knife to break the device, only to receive another shock that made him drop the knife out of the tree and nearly fall out himself.
It took him another twenty minutes, hidden behind a bush by a tree, trying to get the damn thing off. From the distance one might see a red glow and hear the grunt or bitten tongue growl of the boy trying to get it off. He tried fading out and going intangible a few times, trying to slip just the device off, but when he went invisible so did it. He started pulling it through his body once and lost control, coming back into view only to yell as the device was sitting partly through his skin.
That one made him scream.
He forced himself not to pass out as he did it again, flicking the device off him just before falling over to the ground completely as the after shocks ran chaos over his nerve system. Laying twitching, ankle bleeding he gave up for the moment.
He got the damn thing off, so he should get up and go. He could use his powers now. Instead he stayed crumpled on the ground, shoulders hunched, hands in the dirt and head down. His heart still reached and ached, his head spun still. Get up. Get out! That voice that wasn’t his said in the back of his mind.
“I... am.” He told it, a whisper out loud. But his own voice inside wondered if he could. It’s not like they wont come after you again. Get it over with here and now, see what happens and go with that.
Get UP, Claudio! “I can’t...” But he tried. Trauma would be upset if he didn’t at least try to get back, right? And Jinx... maybe she wouldn’t care, or maybe she’d be pissed if he just disappeared and--- get up... he said to himself, moving again.
Carefully he moved, limping from tree to tree and telling himself (or was it the other voice?) that he had to keep moving. Get to a wall and fade through. Get out and get home.
Home. Yeah, this was definitely home. Not this city or the apartment that he stayed in, but the people he stayed with. He had to get home.