[LNHY/ACRA] The Daily Super Short-Short Story #21
Saxon Brenton
saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au
Tue Sep 28 01:45:54 PDT 2004
The Daily Super Short-Short Story #21
A Devil Came Down to Georgia 3
Last Time: Damian was so busy looking for new victims to corrupt that
he grew careless and let a mugger sneak up on his current meat puppet.
Damian cursed himself for a foolish sock as Murdock went down. He
hadn't been so careless in ages! Still, there were certain minimal
precautions that Damian always took to protect all of his mounts, and so
despite having been knocked to the ground, Murdock was still conscious
and for the most part undamaged. Time to reverse the situation.
He feigned being stunned as the mugger moved in with practiced
speed. Unhindered by either bodily pain or the threat of death from
the fight, Damian directed with detached interest; interesting how the
assailant (scruffy looking white male, early post-adolescent, medium
height and build, scar on left cheek) was using his fists rather than
a weapon.
Murdock kicked him in the groin when he came in range, prompting
a squeal of agony. Slightly faster than an unaugmented human could
have moved, Murdock was up and on his feet, lunging to grab at his
assailant. The mugger matched him speed for speed, prompted a
metaphorical raised eyebrow from Damian; was this one some sort of
net.ahuman?
As the two monkey boys continued to spar, Damian decided to test
the notion. It would chew up some of his reserves of occult power, but
it might be useful to have a meat puppet that was already superhumanly
powerful. Mentally tracing out dark hierograms of power in his mind,
the evil sock slowly raised Murdock's speed and skill.
TJ cursed. Bastard had got him right in the goolies! Damn, that hurt!
It looked like this one would be tough, since his Fist was usually
enough to take care of things. They went through a few feints and
parries as each tried testing the other, but then TJ realised that this
mark was beginning to speed up. Shit, how fast could this guy go? It
wouldn't take too much before TJ wouldn't be able to keep up.
He really didn't need the hassle. A quick robbery and clean getaway
was all he wanted. Was that too much to ask? And physically tougher than
normal though he might be, he didn't want the risk of an extended fight.
He pulled his gun to finish this off quick.
As the boy pulled a weapon Murdock grabbed him by the scruff of the
neck and beat his head repeatedly into a wall. Three good hard whams and
a broken nose later, and Murdock let the mugger fall to the ground.
Damian looked down at the mugger both through Murdock's eyes and
his own esoteric senses, considering the situation.
It didn't seem that this monkey boy was all *that* powerful, but
objectively speaking it would be sensible to take a mount who was a
local to the area and who wouldn't seem out of place as the wondersock
toured around town on the prowl.
But this was not the reason for the actions that Damian was planning.
Damian was feeling misanthropic (big surprise) and wanted to make
things unpleasant for someone who had been unlucky enough to attack him.
One quick glance around to check that the coast was clear and
Murdock took off his left boot. The wondersock was already wriggling
from the human's foot; it was an unpleasant sight, because the sock had
a way of ~crawling~ that would have made an Hollywood special effects
director start feverishly contemplating how it could be used in the
next horror blockbuster.
Murdock took off the mugger's left shoe and sock, and the
wondersock transferred itself over. Acting under a few final
suggestions (not commands, Damian couldn't command anyone unless he
was wearing them), Murdock donned the left-over sock, put on his boot
and went back to his rig to get on with his life.
Damian forced his new body into a state that would pass as
consciousness, got up and went his own way. He needed time to repair
the new human's body, and so he began pulling leavers in its mind to
return to its home.
As they went their separate ways, Damian contemplated what Murdock
had waiting for him. They'd had some fun together. Damian had taken a
loving, family-oriented man who missed his wife and kids when he was
out on the road and @tWysTed@ the trucker just a little bit at a time
to made Murdock think that it was natural to drink just a little too
much and sleep with a few women of negotiable affection - all in the
name of easing the stresses of a long road haul, of course. They were
the type of influences that were settled deep into the mind - and even
if they couldn't *compel* a reaction, they'd linger for ages.
There was some good stuff in there, like the benefits of keeping
his wife in line with a good beating every now and then. Even if worst
came to worst and Murdock resisted and didn't end up with a divorce,
well, Damian had already arranged for Murdock to contract HIV while he
was sleeping around. So their time together hadn't been completely
wasted.
.oO( Now, who are *you* boy? And how can I keep myself amused
using you while I'm looking for the big score? ) Damian asked
rhetorically as he began rummaging through the mugger's mind.
Then: ( Timmy-Joe Jim-Bob!? Do parents really give their spawn names
like that? )
Tomorrow: Damian repairs Timmy-Joe.
The Daily Super Short-Short Story series and wondersocks created by
Arthur Spitzer, and used with belated permission.
-----
Saxon Brenton University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au
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