[LNHY/ACRA] The Daily Super Short-Short Story #31

[Saxon Brenton]

The Daily Super Short-Short Story #31
 
A Devil Came Down to Georgia 13
 
Last Time: Lots of angst about being a Teenage Giant Halfbreed Angel.
 
     Martin wasn't sure how long he lay on his back and stared at the 
stars before it occurred to him that he must be dreaming again. After 
all, there weren't any stars in the steam tunnels; not even glow worms.
     His eyes felt sore, he still had the constriction in his throat, and 
there was dampness on his cheeks - and because this was a dream it didn't 
in any way seem strange that these things should be the case even though 
large parts of his body had become an accumulation of metal debris.
     .oO( Strange that there should be that carry through from when I was 
awake, ) he thought.  ( Oh well. )
     Eventually he decided to get up. Not because he felt particularly 
motivated to do anything, but more in the way that you feel uncomfortable 
in a prone position after lying in bed for too long. Martin wanted to 
crawl into a hole and never come out again, but it was actually easier 
to get up and ease the muscle cramp. And when it occurred to him to think, 
oO( Why do I have muscle cramp when I'm turning into metal? ) it was more 
out of general irritability than any common sensical reflex.
     After he had stood up he became aware of the armoured giant nearby, 
waiting patiently. Martin turned a sour look towards him, then turned 
away. After a while, the figure made the first move and said, "You have 
spoken with the first emissary then." Which made no sense to Martin, and 
he said as much.
     The figure said, "Patterns repeat themselves. Whenever a prodigy 
such as yourself becomes aware of his gifts, both sides try to sway him 
to their cause. I had hoped that I could provide a base of stability for 
you when They came sniffing about."
     "You knew this would happen!?" said Martin, suddenly angry. "You 
knew that I'd turn into this fscking metal demon!?"
     "I knew you would start to change you body once your abilities came 
into play, but not that you would become metal, specifically. That was a 
choice you made for yourself."
     "What do you mean, I made for myself!? How did I choose this!? When!?"
     "All the films you watch. All the science fiction you read. Robots 
and cyborgs and mecha, and men wielding technology and becoming one with 
their technology. It's not a conscious choice. Well, not usually."
     "You bastard! You knew this would happen to me, and you didn't even 
*try* to tell me!" Martin lashed out with one arm, now shaped into an 
enormous club, and brought it down on top of the figure. Who nimbly 
darted to one side despite his own size and encumbrance from his armour.
"You just kept going on about choices between good and evil!" Martin's 
other arm suddenly formed a huge gun, topmounted on his forearm and 
dangling grotesque cables that merged back into the hyperthyroid veins 
of the still organic parts of his limb, while his hand was reduced to 
a vestigial growth underneath. "At least the sock was prepared to offer 
me help!" he yelled as he blasted away at his opponent, who continued to 
successfully dodge. "Well, if charity to others is the way to tell 
between your 'forces of light and darkness', then it looks like I've 
finally figured out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys..."
     "STOP," ordered the armoured giant, and simply grabbed Martin by 
both arms and would not let the young man move. "And did you accept the 
sock's offer of help?" he asked with penetrating authority.
     "Not yet," replied Martin somewhat sullenly once he discovered how 
thoroughly he was pinned.
     "And has the sock said what the price of his help would be?" asked 
the giant.
     "Uhm..."
     "No, I didn't think so. So, what did he tell you about yourself?"
     "He said I was one of the Teenage Giant Halfbreed Fallen Angels. It 
explained a lot about what's been happening to me."
     "And that was all that he said about your gifts?"
     The use of the word 'gift' to describe his disfigurement rankled 
Martin. "Isn't that enough? What, you're saying that he was lying or 
something?"
     "If that was all that he said, then he was deceiving you with an 
only partial truth. Tell me then: did you wonder how this would affect 
your relationship with your Saviour? And how did the sock react?"
     "I, uh. He kind of suggested that I was damned..." He licked a drop 
of sweat that had somehow formed on his upper lip. "That's not true, then?"
     "That is most certainly a lie. I know that from personal experience."
     "You do?"
     "Oh yes," said the giant, who let go of Martin and lifted off his 
helmet. Bare-headed, the figure was revealed as having the head and 
features of a wolf. "I am Saint Christopher, patron saint of travellers. 
And I know all about overcoming a monstrous inheritance to find grace."
 
Tomorrow: The Secret Origin of the werewolf saint.
 
The Daily Super Short-Short Story series and the wondersocks created by 
Arthur Spitzer, and used with belated permission.
 
The Teenage Giant Halfbreed Angels epithet for the Nephilim/Nephalim 
cooked up by Andrew Perron.
 
-----
Saxon Brenton    University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
     saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au 
The Eyrie Archives of Russ Allbery which collect the online superhero 
fiction of the rec.arts.comics.creative newsgroup can be found at:
     http://archives.eyrie.org/racc/