Possessive Behavior

Leotigris had never been the sharpest tool in the shed. A specialty of mine as a hero had been to use Thought to be fully clued into a villain's every minute thought and feeling and break, or at least weaken or temporarily distract them, by talking.

Now, this approach wouldn't work here, it never did with him. While Leotigris was certainly stupid enough for it to be effective in theory, in the end he was just in it for the adrenaline and violence so any attempt to reign him in verbally was doomed to fail from the start. People like that could never be properly talked down as they simply didn't have the motivation to stop.

What could and probably would work was using that tactic to stall him until a hero arrived. He had killed 6 people at least in broad daylight and with many witnesses, it was only a matter of time before someone showed up. The biggest flaw with that however was me. My identity.

I had plenty of mid-battle talking sessions with the beast-man, and even though I was confident that I was a different enough person now, the possibility was always there that he would recognize me. I couldn't risk that. My old self was dead to the world, and I wanted the ghost of my corpse to stay buried. That left one option.

Possession. Possession would be the next best solution. But the pressing question was: "Then what?" Master Controller was a known small-time villain. Poorly known, sure, but known nevertheless. No matter the circumstances I didn't want to paint her in a more heroic light than strictly necessary.

Back when I was in the hero business a good number of my colleagues loved redeeming villains. There were countless examples of villains who switched capes after a stint in prison and the guidance of a hero, and most of them had been that hero's personal project for a while beforehand. I really didn't need some goody-two-shoes getting obsessed with and following me around for years on end trying to convert me to the light just because I helped stop the murderous rampage of a fellow bad guy.

Plan B then. Possess Leotigris. Pretend to continue his rampage but let everyone escape and do as little damage as possible, while still behaving within the expected parameters of what he might do. Be slow, stall, and wait for a hero to arrive. Deliberately lose at the earliest possible point.

Yeah, that was it. The best way to resolve this situation with as little collateral damage and potential negative repercussions down the line as possible.

Pumped full of adrenaline and resolve I looked around for a good place to hide. Once I took over a body, my own was left limp and defenseless where I stood. Finding a good place to securely stash myself and luring a fitting victim to that spot to assume direct control had always been the most difficult part of my runs.

There really wasn't a great hiding spot anywhere around here, but observing my surroundings made it click for me that that didn't really matter at all.

The only threat here was Leotigris. I was not in costume, just a regular woman having a walk, coincidentally stumbling into this mess. A civilian passing out at the sight of bloody, torn apart, and half-eaten bodies and a cannibal monster-man gorging himself wouldn't seem out of the ordinary whatsoever.

The only thing I needed to make sure was that my body was a safe distance away so I wouldn't be compromised in the inevitable struggle with the approaching heroes.

As quickly and stealthily as I could manage I maneuvered to a spot a good 15 to 20 feet behind the creature next to two parked cars and looked at the hulking mass of flesh. He had finished with two musketeers and was presently ripping an arm off the third. I was not familiar with this hero team. They must've debuted within the last 5 years.

I could see Leotigris growing slightly, teeth lengthening, a snout forming, fur growing....he was getting more fired up as he ate. This wouldn't be a pleasant experience, that was for sure.

With a bit of concentration, I established a mental link between us. No active thoughts entered my brain; he was fully concentrated on his food. If he wasn't in the process of devouring an innocent person he just murdered I might've found this singular focus admirable. I was never able to concentrate that thoroughly on anything.

I pushed further, willing myself to connect with him on a deeper level, to let me know his mind as if it were my own....and I entered the state of Thought.

My vision split in two, showing me both Leotigris from behind eating his prey as well as the ripped open body of a hero as chunk after chunk of flesh was torn from him. Both the faint smell of blood a distance away and the overpowering stench of it directly in front of me registered in my brain. Worst of all, I felt the taste of raw meat on my tongue, the sensation of bones shattering against my strong and sharp teeth, the mushy, chewed lump sliding down my throat and filling my stomach. I felt sick.

His mind was now clearer to me too. His surface thoughts were still concentrated on his meal, but his deeper feelings and subconscious expressions lay open to me now.

I could feel a strong sense of elation, of freedom. Of being able to let your true self out in the open after being forced to hide it, no, repress it for far too long. That side of him was almost relatable.

But what I felt nothing of was guilt, compassion, or any sort of empathy. Just pure, unfiltered, raw self-interest. He had deprived himself for too long and now he was throwing caution to the wind and indulging. It was time to stop that.

I concentrated deeply on Leotigris' mind, feeling out its proportion, its shape, making a mental picture of it.

Then I forcefully pushed it out of the way, out of his brain, my mind flowing in to fill the metaphysical gap. It was a bit like taking a heavy object out of a body of water, the displaced liquid rushing to cover the now empty space.

Finally, after about a dozen seconds of struggling, I fully supplanted Leotigris' mind inside his own head.

The whiplash that hit me was indescribable. I had taken over plenty of people, but physically they had all been regular ordinary men and women. This man was anything but.

Looking down at his enormous muscular arms I felt powerful, mighty. It was exhilarating, to say the least.

As I moved to right him and stand up straight I stumbled more than once, only barely managing it the third time. It always took me a little while to get used to puppeteering a new body, but this dissonance was in another league entirely. The sheer magnitude of our physical differences was throwing me for a few more loops than usual.

After 2 or 3 minutes I finally managed to turn around and slowly walked along the emptied street.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." I made him snarl. "Mister Kitty just wants to play. I promise I'll be gentle."

I did not know if, and if yes then how much, his behavior had changed in the last half-decade, so I based his personality on the mannerisms he had displayed while I was active as a hero. I hoped I was doing a decent job at least.

Using his large arm I grabbed a stop sign and ripped it off the ground in one fell swoop. The sound of the metal snapping startled me a bit. I hadn't even used half the strength he had available and still barely felt any resistance.

If I had been born with this power, I'd have probably become an adrenaline junkie too, just a less violent one. Being this formidable and vicious was addictive. I was almost sad that it was going to be over so soon.

Leotigris' feeble mind was trying its best to oust the intruder and reestablish control, but all he managed to achieve was to make me feel second-hand embarrassment for him. For someone this unnaturally beefy his strength of will was severely lacking.

A sound drew my attention. It seemed his hearing also improved. I focused his eyes on the street ahead. There, far away but still clearly visible to me, I saw a car driving this way.

A couple, idly chatting while approaching what would have been their certain doom if I hadn't intervened. I had to make it look like my meat-puppet was still out for blood, so I drew the arm holding the sign back and aimed carefully.

With a loud yell, I threw the makeshift spear as hard as he could. It impaled itself into the hood of the driving car, causing it to swerve and crash into a wall.

As I expected, both passengers were fine. Had the car been any faster I wouldn't have risked this stunt, but at the speed it was driving I felt confident that I could hit it without seriously injuring anyone. I made a slow, lumbering step in the couple's direction when I heard her.

"Halt, Leotigris! By the might of heaven, what hast though done?!" A booming, regal voice stopped me in my tracks. A familiar voice, with a familiar fake accent. When I turned around I found myself face to face with one of the people I had tried my best to avoid since returning to civilization.

Her olive skin glistened in the sunlight, which perfectly framed her floating, elegant form. The long golden hair, meticulously styled, perfectly matched her unnaturally piercing golden eyes, which looked upon Leotigris with disgust and scorn, while her beautiful white wings and brightly shining halo signaled her divinity to all who looked upon her.

"Thou hast been in hiding for two full years. We almost thought thou had turned over a new leaf. Why go on a killing spree now? What doth thou hast to gain by this? What hath changed?"

I just stared at her for almost a full minute, stunned. A whirlwind of conflicting emotions was raging inside me, but I regained my composure soon enough.

"Ah, Angelica....how I missed you." I spat through Leotigris' mouth. "Still going strong with the We and the Hath and all that holier-than-though nonsense. You haven't changed a bit."

She narrowed her eyes. Leotigris had no idea what the real Angelica was like but I had been working with her very closely for 7 years.

The relationship started out a bit rocky, but over time we grew closer. Eventually we became friends, comrades, and she learned to be fully comfortable and herself around me.

The royal We and her inconsistent usage of Ye Olde English had been a major part of her "Angel from Heaven" persona since she started out, but behind closed doors and around people she trusted she would never even dream about acting like that. I always had the feeling that if her fans hadn't loved it that much she'd have stopped with that gimmick a long time ago.

"You know, captivity is hell for Big cats. Our instincts are telling us to run wild and play and pounce and eat but when we are leashed all of it is suppressed."

I made him lick his lips, trying my best to channel his personality. "I tried hard, I really did. But you know what they say...you can try to tame it with nurture but you can't fight your nature."

Angelica grimaced. I must've been doing an alright job then. "But tell me, chicken wings. Where are the other Enlightened? So scared of the big bad kitty-cat that they had to send mommy out alone?"

The Enlightened......That was the hero team I had been part of. The greatest in the nation, founded by the single most popular and powerful hero of our time, Daylighter.

His absolute mastery over light made him strong, durable, stealthy, fast, and capable of taking down opponents at any range. The perfect hero.

Of course, he had jumped at the chance to lead his own team and so the Enlightened came to be, a team made up entirely of Light-powered heroes.

I knew him personally and worked under him for about 4 years. By then he had rebranded as The One, but despite that incredibly arrogant moniker, he had always been very down to earth with us, even in private. Listening to our concerns, helping out where he could, etc.

I hated him anyway. Back then I didn't. Now I did. But all that was the past. With The One dead and Angelica being the only hero from the original roster left, there weren't a lot of light-powers left in the Enlightened.

"We do want not the others to deal with a wretch like thou. Leotigris, as the emissary of heaven I hast rendered mine judgment upon thou. May the lord have mercy on thy soul!"

Amid a loud crackle a spear of light appeared in her outstretched hand and with a single swift motion she threw it directly at my puppet.

At the last possible second and carried mostly by Leotigris' reflexes, I was able to dodge out of the way, but it wasn't over yet.

With a leap, I managed to put enough distance between him and the spear so that the resulting explosion missed him by a hair.

All of Angelica's light constructs had the ability to explode, stunning the enemy but never harming anyone caught in its blast.

"Nice try, chicken wings."

With another leap I closed the distance between us but before I could connect a strike a glowing shield of light materialized and deflected my claw.

Speaking of, the clawed glove seemed to suddenly sit much tighter than it did before. I looked down at Leotigris' hand and my eyes widened.

It had grown. Massively. His arm was now at least twice as wide as a watermelon. A quick look around confirmed my further suspicions. He had grown taller too.

Angelica was still floating in the air, but where before I had to crane his neck upwards to look her in the face, I now was on eye level just standing up normally. His body must have tripled in size in the short time since she had shown up.

I had never seen him this big before in any previous engagement and for a second I assumed he must've simply grown stronger while I was absent, but the look on Angelica's face told me that this had been new to her too.

My confusion was short-lived however as I soon realized why it happened. It was the same reason why I dodged the spear and took a swing at her despite my original plan being to immediately lose to the hero at the first opportunity.

If anyone but one of them had come to the rescue, it would've been over already. Leotigris would lie defeated and the day would've been saved. But not with them. I couldn't let one of them go without a fight. This was my chance. My chance to tear them down once and for all. Or at least one of them.

Yes. There was no doubt about it. For the first time in forever, I was excited.

"What demonic trick is this?!" she cried as I let the now much too small claw gauntlets fall to the ground, revealing ten brand new organic claws sprouting out of Leotigris' fingers.

"This ain't got anything to do with demons, sweetie. That's just what happens when a starving predator comes across some grade-A tender chicken meat. Maybe you should've brought backup. But it's too late now. When I'm done with you your wings will be all that is left for your friends to bury!"

As soon as I ended that sentence I pounced. Two of my swipes were deftly dodged in mid-air but with the third, I managed to hit her right in the belly.

Or at least I would've, had the shield of light not formed once more to block me. Angelica smirked and opened her mouth to say something, but her attempt was silenced instantly as her face contorted into a visage of pain.

The force of my strike must've been overwhelming because it managed to violently push the light shield upwards against and into Angelica's stomach, causing her to drop to the ground, doubled over and gasping for air.

Without missing a beat I stepped in front of her and grinned.

"Well, chicken wings, you aren't looking all that angelic or holy writhing on the ground like that. Seems pretty lowly and human to me. Pretending to be something you're not is not very heroic, I don't think. Let me fix your look to reflect that."

I held her down with one hand, claws anchoring themselves into her shoulder, while the other tightly gripped onto her halo. To my surprise, it felt hard and sharp like a steel blade. It was also way too hot, both burning and cutting Leotigris' hand but I held fast through the pain.

"No....please..." she wheezed, still trying to catch air after the gut punch. "Please don't take my halo. I'll do anything. Please!"

I could see tears running down her cheeks, but I remained undeterred. Many villains had threatened or gloated that they were going to take her halo or wings, but she never even dignified these taunts with a response. This told me that Leotigris in this current form possessed all the raw force necessary to actually pull it off. With all the power in my stolen body, I got to work.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

No matter how hard I wrenched it wouldn't budge an inch, but her scream was deafening, so I must've been doing something. She struggled pathetically but she had no chance. I knew she needed to concentrate to summon her light constructs, even if just for a second. But this constant pain ensured that that was out of the question, and so her only recourse was her physical strength. And we both knew she was hopelessly outmatched in that area.

After a good 3 minutes of straining, accompanied by her tear-filled pained screams, I finally felt something give, and, with a sickening tear, the magnificent halo separated from her head.

The momentum made me fall backward on his butt and, still in disbelief, I looked first at the glowing circle in my hand and then at the sobbing Angelica lying defeated in front of me.

Her hair had nearly turned all red, blood leaking from invisible wounds on her scalp. I couldn't help but smile. After offing Angelica I would make Leotigris turn himself in, satisfied with having achieved the greatest kill of his life. Stopping a rampage and ridding the world of an Enlightened, two good deeds in one day.

And they called me a villain.

I got up again and lifted her up by the neck. She uselessly clawed at my hand.

"Any last words, chicken wings?"

Leotigris' old nickname for Angelica had really grown on me for these last few minutes.

She let her arms fall, gathered herself, stopped crying, and looked me defiantly in the eyes. Suddenly her whole body started glowing. I could feel the skin on her neck heating up.

"Yes." she croaked somberly before shouting the next line as loud as she could manage with a hand around her throat.

"FEEL THE LIGHT OF JUDGMENT!"

The glow was blinding. Her whole body emitted it, her skin, her eyes, her hair, everything. And with the light, the heat exponentially increased too.

My attempts to let her throat go were futile as Leotigris' hand had fused to her neck. The pain was unbearable, and the sizzling sound of flesh blistering and bubbling was nauseating.

I knew at this point that it was over. I had lost and I did not plan to die a death this excruciating, at least not today. With my last bit of strength, I threw the halo in the general direction of my real body and my mind began to retreat.

When I was fully myself again, I was hit by the intense whiplash once more. Going from from monstrously strong and muscular to a regular skinny human was almost as bad as the other way around.

Once I had fully recovered the first thing I did was get to my feet and grab the hot halo lying on the sidewalk. As quickly as I could I secured it in my bag, and hid behind a car until the intense light show died down. Even then, I waited until I heard more voices arriving on the site before peeking out again. When I turned to look at the scene of the fight, my heart skipped a beat.

A few other heroes had gathered by this point, a winged one currently in the process of flying an unconscious and severely bloody Angelica away, presumably to a hospital. Leotigris however.....

His lower body looked badly burnt but the upper body was pretty much entirely gone. While his lower body had shrunken back to its original size, his exposed upper body skeleton had not.

"Everything okay, lady?" I heard three heroes say in unison.

I turned to look at them and was confronted by 3 identical-looking bug-themed capes. After a moment, recognition flared in my eyes. I had actually already heard of her.

Her hero name was Army Ant and her one consciousness shared 6 bodies. Sextuplets, born with a singular mind.

I nodded, but let her help me to the nearby ambulance anyway. All I needed to do right now was lay low until I could get back home.

"Don't worry. The bad guy is gone. You're safe now." the Army Ant that led me away said, rubbing my back reassuringly. I must've looked really distressed.

Her other 5 bodies were busy helping with identifying and questioning potential witnesses and securing the site against gawkers and journos.

"I know," I said with a smile. "My hero." Grabbing her arm I held her close, feigning residual fear as well as craving some human warmth. It was cute seeing all 6 Army Ants blush.

"Oh, thank you miss, but you should really save your gratitude for Angelica. We're just here to help with the cleanup."

I looked at the remains of Leotigris and the crater around him. I had never known Angelica was capable of that much destructive power.

My original plan was to just ignore the Enlightened forever and do my own thing. All of this only happened by chance. Maybe, I thought, I should just stick to plan A. Just leave well enough alone and live my quaint little life as an unremarkable D-List villain.

"Really?" I answered in feigned ignorance. "Maybe I should thank her in person."