The Bellators

1:8:4

Still in the heat of battle, the retreat makes time for much needed retrospection. As the Tempest flies in the night air within the dark, vast forest, chased by the array of Exhuman attackers, his focus sinks into the deep abyss of his mind, analyzing the state of the situation.

A few questions were answered, as for one, the nature of the extending branches was revealed to be rapid duplication, and while he needed to develop a more thorough plan, knowing now that there's a forced length of every segment gave ideas on how to potentially exploit its stiff movement mechanics.

Also, now the rotation ability could be linked to Bernie, as well as knowing that there seem to be other effects granted such as forceful movement. Furthermore, now it's clear how the user takes control, as he seems to have a light construct that moves by his control, and the objects that it makes contact with are then under his control as indicated by the same glowing dots that covered him. At the same time though, the abilities seem to have a limited range, as the dotted effect vanishes once he moves far from Bernie.

At the same time however, more questions began popping up. The most prominent were how both of them were also in the air as though having flight abilities. Due to the nature of Exhuman abilities, especially that exhibited by natural users, their powers should be related to a central theme rather than a haphazard collection, yet neither of their powers seemed to relate to flight, especially in such a raw manner as neither of them were hoisted by any visible mechanisms but rather just airborne.

Coincidentally, right in front of the Tempest, Rodge suddenly appears out of thin air, flashing in a bright red luminescence before his body is revealed. The moment of shock is quickly overwhelmed by surprise as Rodge takes control of the branch of a nearby tree, and swinging his arm he duplicates a trail towards the Tempest.

Reactively, cables project out of the side of the Tempest's arm to pull him out of the trajectory, but his legs also are thrusted to rotate his body in such a way where the extended branch flies beside the top of his head. Reoriented, the Tempest fires a cable on the branch, using it to pull himself while boosting, flipping around the branch and below before pulling himself forwards with two cables protruding from his hips, one on the extended branch and another on a nearby tree, which then detach to throw himself forwards. Another cable projects onto a branch, pulling him up and above it to which he fires two more on nearby trees, stepping on the extended branch as he uses it as a ground.

He begins sprinting with immensely enhanced speed, leaving a blue trail as he catches up to Rodge in a matter of seconds, cables continuously pulling him as he sprints with delicate steps on the light branch, coiling his arm back as it blazes with energy, prepping for a powerful punch.

Right as he gets within striking distance, the air around the Tempest begins vibrating, and while he persists forward, he notices his vision suddenly distorted heavily as to him, the black night suddenly changes to a deep yellow, the tone of honey. At the same time, all the objects in his peripheral – the trees around and the target in front of him – begin to morph as their bodies start expanding and waving from side to side as though melting.

It's as though the whole world is being warped, as even the branch below him stretches and waves as though made of gel, the sky deep yellow. The stretching image of Rodge loses all shape before suddenly vanishing, leaving the Tempest perplexed.

While all the shapes blend into an unfamiliar mess, the Tempest notices a speeding glowing object approaching him from the corner of his vision, its shape basic enough for it to be recognizable as a triangle.

He tsks in realization that he's once again being trapped, to which he leaps backwards, plummeting downwards through the stretched branch. A few cables project from his back, reeling him farther away as he stares ahead, watching the triangle miss him. After being dragged past the anchors, the Tempest is released backwards, to which he swings his right arm, quickly firing an upward cable onto a nearby stretched tree to pull himself up, realizing after passing through the stretched branch that the world isn't truly melting, but rather it's a visual illusion affecting him. That said, the world's shape is still maintained, so as long as he can make movements that would function well given standard conditions, they should work now too.