Stinger was confused; he was trying to summon his tail, his main weapon that he had used a number of times. Yet, when he tried, it was almost as if his own body wasn't listening to him, and the throbbing pain that was felt on his shoulder was returning.
It was taking over his body, not allowing him to do almost anything. At times, when he was low on energy, or had just gotten out of a big fight, he wouldn't be able to transform, but apart from the throbbing pain, he felt fine, so why wasn't it working?
"Get out!" Stinger shouted, and forced the tail out of his body. He was covered in sweat but even more so, he was frustrated at everything that was happening.
With his stinger, he turned around and stabbed it right toward where Blackjack currently was. It looked like a perfect hit, but when it managed to go right through his body, it had exploded into what was seemingly dust; it was an afterimage.
Right after that, Stinger was trying to keep track of where Blackjack was, but he was nothing but a blur that was moving at an incredible speed from side to side.
Digging his tail out of the wall, he tried to stab him time and time again in the small room, but no matter what he did, he was unable to attack him.
With cards in his hand, Blackjack threw them out again, and as he did, they went right for Stinger's stomach. Seeing this, Stinger was ready to react, to change part of his center body into the hard outer casing of a scorpion.
Part of the skin on his face started to change, but just like with the tail, it started to go away again, as if it was reverting back.
The cards continued and dug right into Stinger's stomach, drawing blood as if knives had been stabbed into his body.
"What is wrong with me, what is wrong with my body, what happened!" Stinger was shouting and asking himself.
Before he knew it, he could see Blackjack right in front of him. Out of desperation, Stinger threw out a few punches. Due to his Altered type, he also had considerable strength even when compared to other Altereds.
Yet, Blackjack was able to knock the attacks away to the side with ease, and with the final hit, he had caught Stinger's strike with an open hand and clenched down.
"Did you think because I haven't fought in so long that you could best me? Most knew after that day to leave me alone, but you decided to attack me?" Blackjack asked, and as he did, he used his other hand to grab right at Stinger's throat.
Stinger felt it; once again, he thought his life was going to disappear right in front of his eyes. He had lost two times in a row. Doing favors for the other groups. It was his life in here. The only way he could survive was by being a middleman.
A person who didn't have much strength, but wasn't weak. It was how he felt on the outside and the same with how he was on the inside.
'I pushed beyond my means back then as well. When we were in the gang, I thought we could expand a little… then people got involved, and I had no choice but to get rid of them. To leave no witnesses, and that's how I got put in a place like this, I guess it's only right that I die.'
If there was one thing Stinger wanted to do, it was to look in the eye of the person that was going to end his life, and curse him for taking his life.
Stinger was finding it hard to breathe, and when he opened his eyes, he looked directly into Blackjack's eyes, and that's when he could see they were glowing slightly red of all things.
He was sure that his eyes didn't look like this before. The glow of them, it was unnatural, something he had never seen before.
"Tell me, what's going on with you right now! What's happening to your body?" Blackjack asked.
Instantly the words that were spoken, they were being repeated in Stinger's head again and again. He felt his mind going numb searching for an answer. He could feel the grip loosening from Blackjack, yet almost as if he wasn't in control of his own body, he had given out an answer.
"I don't know what's happening. My body isn't listening to me. When I try to transform into my altered form, a throbbing pain in my shoulder extends out to my body, and my transformation reverts," Stinger answered.
Stinger was conscious of what he was doing, but he didn't feel like he was in control. It was almost as if Blackjack had used some type of mind control spell on him.
After hearing the answer, Blackjack had let go of Stinger, and his body dropped to the floor. Blackjack had turned away heading back into his cell somewhat. When he turned around to look at Stinger.
Stinger was expecting to see the glowing red eyes, but they were no longer there.
"These issues you have been having, have they been occurring since you fought with the green-haired guy?" Blackjack asked.
"I guess you could say that, but it's only been a few hours. I think I might just be exhausted." After experiencing everything Stinger had gone through, he was in no mood to try and fight again, so he was more compliant with Blackjack's questions.
"I need you to do me a favor." Blackjack asked. "There was another one that was bitten other than you in your group. We need to find out if he's experiencing the same thing, and over the next few days, update me on how you're doing, see if this problem gets worse or better."
Once again, Stinger was forced to do another favor for someone, and he was wondering when it would stop. At the same time, though, he was wondering what type of Altered Blackjack was. Was there one that could do those types of things?
Leaving an afterimage, being super fast, super strong, and able to control people's minds?
*****
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