Wretch in the rain

When they'd all found the fire escape, I was by the ground. I walked by the trash, and snatched up three two-by-fours. Planks too warped for use in construction or repair, weather-worn from being left beneath the fire escape.

I took to the air, holding out the two-by-fours. I let the Wretch out.

Hands took the two-by-fours from me, holding them out and ready. One creaked with the hold on it. The other twisted as two different hands gripped it and threatened to snap it.

My hands no longer held the beams of wood, while they floated near me.

And as the rain came down, droplets ran down and wicked off, momentarily tracing the Wretch in its entirety. The arms, the heads, the faces, the hair. A tangled flowing of nude flesh, parts repeated over and over again, with me in the center of the mass. I didn't look at it, keeping my head down, my hood down where it covered most of my face.

"She can do this," my voice didn't sound like me. "Change powers by changing the host's physiology. She made the Class-S threat that took control of everyone, bringing them to the battlefield. That's who's going to be at the meeting today."

I swiped my arm down and at an angle. The Wretch threw the planks down toward the foot of the fire escape.

- Gleaming 9.1