The Tale of a Dog Hero

New Suit, New Man

Oscar, Zane, Tippy, and Ohm came out of the portal to an open patch of field with a humid forest on one side and a cliff leading to a beach on the other. There is a small pond with running water off the cliff. Tippy immediately stumbled a few steps. "Woah! The gravity is lighter here." Zane spread out his arms to take in the sunlight. "Welcome to this dimensions Earth. Animals still roam around as kings here. It wont be another few million years before humans exist here." Oscar walked beside the pond and Ohm flew beside him to take a drink. "Alright. Ready to test your suit Zane?" He nodded and approached Oscar. He summoned his pistol and fired into the air. Rustling and bellows could be heard in the Forrest. 4 beastly animals marched into the clearing, ready to attack. Zane took a stone and tossed into to Tippy. In her hand, he turned it into an obsidian sword and turned to face Oscar. "Alright. Take off your jacket. And defend me while I work on making this thing." "Why will it take so long?" "It's bio-mechanical. This is my first time making something alive. Just cover me." Oscar scoffed and prepared for the fight. "And here I though you were a master at creation." "Oh haha. Very funny. Just you wait till you see this prototype." The beasts all have thick hides with horns long enough to drive strait through someone. One decided to ram Oscar and another walked cautiously to Tippy. Oscar caught two of the horns near the top of its head, and tried to plant himself. He was pushed back several feet before coming to a stop. Tippy drew her blade and waited for it to do something. "Aren't you going to attack me" She questioned the beast as it stared at her while circling around. Oscar dropped the beasts head into the ground and stomped on its head. It wasn't strong enough to do external damage, but it's definitely hurting. Another beast walked toward Tippy and began circling as well. "What is.... this?" Zane stood up and adjusted his watch. "Almost done guys. Keep it up." He tossed down a small flat rock that turned into a bag and some rods. Oscar now fought to beasts as well, but they were more aggressive toward him. Ohm did his best to distract one of the beasts while Oscar tried to take down the other. He managed to get on its back and was choking it out before getting thrown off when the other beast slammed its side into the one he was riding. Before he could get up, the one he was choking turned around and stood on its hind legs before dropping both front feet at Oscar. He shuffled to the right in time to dodge one, then caught the other foot. As he let out a grunt he turned his head towards Zane. "Any time buddy." "Working on it..." Oscar stuck his hand out, leaving one arm to hold the beast from crushing him. Ohm grabbed Oscar's hand and dragged him out from under the foot. Oscar barely managed to get to his feet before getting nearly impaled by the previous beast. Tippy walked toward one of the beasts that was circling her. It grunted and let out a huff of air through its nose. She slowly stuck her hand out and it responded by placing its head against it. "Aww. You guys don't want to fight me. Maybe I am just that charming." She giggled to herself, as the second beast came up behind her sniffed her hair. "Hey! Ahahaha! You aren't so bad." Tippy sat down on the ground and the beasts laid beside her while she watched Oscar continue to face against the others. Zane managed to finish the prototype in time to see Oscar fly in the air. Oscar whistled for Ohm before hitting the ground. Ohm landed on his back and fixed his fall to land on his feet. Oscar hopped to the right, then left, and right until he reached a beast and roundhouse kicked it as hard as he could. Blood scattered the ground beside Oscar as the beast fell to the ground with a piece of its jaw taken off. It roared and thrashed on the ground before getting back up and trying to fight. Oscar summoned his pistol and fired into its side. The bullet sunk into its hide, but didn't break into the organs. With a focusing breath, time slowed and he took aim. A second bullet aimed for the first. He fired and the bullet smashed into the first, pushing it through the hide and into its organs. The beast let out a low whimper and moan before falling back on the ground. Oscar was suddenly yanked into the air. Ohm noticed the other beast was going to attack and flew him into the air. Zane closed his eyes and focused. The ground around the last 3 beasts turned to mud, completely caked the beasts, then hardened into stone. "Alright Oscar hurry up." Tippy was disappointed to have to leave her friends, but she got up and walked over next to Zane. Oscar let out a sigh of relief as he headed over to Zane as well. "Don't relax just yet, Oscar. We aren't done fighting these things... but it's about to get much easier." Oscar nodded and turned to see what Zane has made. It was an all white blob. Parts of it slowly convulsed as if it drew breath. "What... is that?" "That is the prototype. I call it. BEAST with a three as an 'E'. And you are going to be its host." "I don't know about letting a blob wear me." "Calm down, Oscar. You wear it. Not the other way. And as long as you are within range of me, you have full control of B3AST. Leave my range, and you have to worry about it trying to assert itself over you. Basically an ego challenge." Oscar thought as he took in this new information. "Alright. I think I should be able to do that. Don't leave your reach, if I do, stay smart." He tried to pick up the blob, but it stuck to his hands and he couldnt pull away. It rapidly covered his arms and traveled around his body, covering him. Ohm flew off in a panic, and Oscar let out a cut off yell as it covered his face. The blob expanded until it looked like a 6 foot tall balloon, then rapidly shrunk down and took the shape of Oscar's body. Originally, he stood at 6 foot 2 inches, but with this new body, he stood at a towering 7 foot flat. Oscar's muscle definition stood out as well. The veins in his arm now bulged with the suits outline. His muscular body was replaced with the looks of an Olympic weight-lifter. He had no face besides clear outlines of where his eyes are. There is no nose or mouth. Only the shape of his snout. His hair now pressed down as the suit covered his head into a smooth curve with two sharp ears pointing strait up. Oscar made to speak, but the only noise that came out of the suit was a distant hush. Oscar turned toward a terrified Tippy. "Oscar?" He looked at her and tilted his head before nodding. Zane released the beasts from their traps. "Don't go out of reach Oscar. Now, let's have some fun" Oscar's eyes shrunk to a more serious expression as he let out a hush. Tippy cautiously picked up her sword as a beast ran towards B3AST. Oscar drew back his fist. He barely had to move with effort, and the suit followed with extra strength. As the beast got in range, he threw his fist into the forehead of the beast. The extra power the suit gave, caused the beasts head to explode on impact. Blood splatered on his arm as it fell over. Oscar was taken aback by how easy it is to move. He barely even felt himself punch it. The remaining two beasts stood away from him. Tippy stared at B3AST as he prepared to charge. He let out a hush and blasted forward. He kicked off the ground and slammed his shoulder into one of the beasts. It flew off the cliff with a bellowing roar. It grew more faint until a splash could be heard. B3AST walked toward the last beast as it backed away. He grabbed it by the top two horns and dunked its face to the ground. Tippy walked forward and placed the tip of her blade on the temple of the beast. She quickly leaned on the hilt, causing the sword to enter its brain. B3AST broke off its top left horn and tossed it toward Zane. Tippy took her sword out of the beasts head and sheathed it. "Oscar? Are you still in there?" B3AST turned around and looked at her. It's sharp eyes turned soft as it dropped to one knee and grabbed her hand. "This new suit is very scary. I'm just glad you are still conscious in there." B3AST looked up then back down as it made another hush sound. "What? Are you okay?" It stood up and tossed Tippy toward Zane. As soon as he caught her, B3AST was tackled by a flying animal resembling a 4 legged dragon. As it flew, the dragon used its arms to grab B3AST and drag its face against the earth before throwing it into a tree far away. Oscar stayed still inside the suit. He was out of Zanes reach, and didn't know what would happen if he moved. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the dragon land and begin marching toward him. Zane, Tippy, and Ohm were on their way, but wouldnt be here fast enough. Oscar decided to take the risk and stood up. Doing so seemed strained and labored. Like the suit was now pushing against him instead of with. When he got to his feet, he felt something stab his side. Oscar looked down, but nothing was at his side. The suit itself stabbed Oscar, forcing him to bleed. Before he could move, the suit tried to turn him around. Oscar fought against it, until it stopped again. By the time Oscar figured out that the suit was its own entity, the dragon was already on top of him. With a quick bite, it grabbed B3AST, thrashed him around, then threw it into the air. Oscar had to think before he started falling. Before he could come to a conclusion, a sharp pain filled his head, as something stabbed onto his skull. Oscar let out a muffled scream as he and the suit began falling back toward the dragons open mouth. Oscar could feel his brain being prodded, but couldn't move. He still had thought, but he should be dead. He finally realized what the suit was doing. It is connected to his brain to recognize his fighting pattern. Oscar stopped struggling and let the suit move on its own. It began to move how Oscar used to move when he was younger. Sporadic and unaccustomed. When it reached the dragons open mouth, B3AST managed to grab at its teeth. The dragon tried to chew it, but the suit kept moving to avoid the teeth, until a perfect left uppercut broke one of the dragons teeth off and it crawled out. The dragon tried to take to the air againand in retaliation, B3AST summoned Oscar's pistol. Oscar was shocked by this. He has never had anyone else capable of wielding his pistol. Before it shot, the suit began to cover the pistol. Slowly, it changed into what looked like a sawed off shotgun with a thick iron sight, that had only one barrel. The pistol doubled in size as B3AST aimed the new gun. It fired a bullet powerful enough to completely shred the left wing of the dragon. B3AST stumbled back a few steps from the kickback. Oscar tried to focus on staying awake while the blood from his head and side continued to drain. B3AST sprinted forward as the dragon got back up. It attempted to swipe and kick at B3AST. It jumped over the dragons tail, slid past its hind legs, and braced itself for for its front legs to swipe at it. Oscar realised it is using Oscar's older fighting style. When he didn't care about getting hurt, so long as whatever he was fighting was dead. BEAST buried its feet into the earth as the dragon swung towards it. Oscar braced himself for the impact as B3AST caught the giant paw. Before the dragon could pull away, it jumped over the arm and spun with the wrist in an attempt to break it. With a loud crack, B3AST broke its paw. The dragon let out a deafening screech while swinging its paw up and down, until B3AST was thrown off. As it landed, the dragon quickly began slamming its uninjured arm against B3AST. The attacks were quick and relentless. A crater formed where the dragon struck repeatedly. Oscar began to feel the force of the dragon through the suit. Every hit, pushed out more blood as he fought to remain consious. Zane and Tippy finally caught up in time to see B3AST jump out of the hole in between an attack. While in the air, it summoned the large pistol and shot for its head. The bullet entered its left eye and drilled through its skull. Blood erupted from the head of the dragon as it fell over. Tippy ran toward B3AST to try and get its attention. "Oscar! Hey! Calm down and focus on me." Oscar noticed it was almost caught up with Oscars current fighting style. Now, it focused on scarring the prey into submission. B3AST looked over with bloodlust. It grabbed at the dragons eye, and washed blood over itself. Oscar suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. His head and side no longer bled, and he was sure that he was healed completely from all previous wounds. Oscar learned that the suit runs off blood. The more blood there is, the stronger B3AST is. As Tippy tried to flag Oscar down, B3AST only viewed another kill. It began to lurk behind the dragon and wait. "Oscar? Come over here. I think we should leave before anything else shows up." Tippy waited a moment before heading towards the dragon. Oscar was pulling as hard as he could against B3AST so it wouldn't jump out and attack Tippy. The amount of blood B3AST consumed made it barely stronger than Oscar's full force. B3AST shakily and slowly made his way around the dragon and toward Tippy. "Are you alright Oscar? That looked like one scary fight... It's a good thing you have that suit." B3AST dropped to its knees as Oscar continued to try and stop it. Tippy walked right up to it. B3AST shakily lifted both hands toward her. It's left hand grabbed her shirt, and it's right hand grabbed her wrist. "Ooh. Tight grip. You're shaking really bad. Are you alright." Zane and Ohm rounded the corner and he quickly put B3AST back under his control. Oscar dropped it's hands and let out a sigh, which turned into a hush, thanks to the suit. He slowly picked himself up and gave a nod at Zane. Zane shed the suit off Oscar as he adjusted to being without the suit again. "Thanks Zane. What do you think Tippy?" "I like it, but it's scary. It reminds me of when you were younger, in a weird way." "Oh. That reminds me. Zane. The suit can survive without me in it, yeah?" Zane looked at the blob and reformed it into Oscar's suit. "Awesome. I was wondering if I could spar against the suit itself when we get back. Tippy laid her hand on Oscars shoulder. "Hey, shouldn't you take it easy?" "Nah, I feel great! When the suit bathes in blood, it heals the host. Although, if it gets injured before it can get blood, it will take mine." Ohm jumped on Oscars back as he headed toward the center of the clearing to grab his jacket. Zane opened up the portal for Tippy. "Go on ahead. Oscar and I should have a quick talk about B3AST. Oscar waited for Tippy to leave and the portal to close before talking. "Alright. So. I believe if I can get more time with B3AST, I can control it, instead of the other way around. Just let it get used to me and how we work. It copied alot of my fighting styles from when I was younger, but hasn't learned anything current, that I could see." Zane had moved B3AST to stand beside himself. "This is a very dangerous machine Oscar. It took years to finish everything for this suit. Alot of research, materials, effort, and time. It was made for taking things down that are too big to do so by yourself. I don't want you using this too much." "Alright. Then I won't. But if I can control it by the end of today, I get to hold onto it for a bit. I wont wear it until we need it." "I'd love to see you tame it... Deal." Zane took a few steps back and released control of B3AST. It instantly locked eyes with Oscar. It's eyes narrowing into that of suspicion at the same time Oscar's had. He gave a confused look and it did the same. When he lifted his right arm, it's right arm would lift close to immediately after. They began to circle eachother and make gestures, before finally Oscar tried to touch it. As he reached his finger toward B3AST, it did the same. They pressed their finger into their faces at the same time and B3AST jumped back. Oscar remained eye contact, but was suprised. "Can you hear me?" B3AST answered with a slow nod. "You are me, right? You are a younger version of me?" B3AST shrugged it's shoulders. It let out a low hush and pointed to Zane. "Ah. That's Zane. A friend. The girl you attacked is also a friend. Do not attack anyone that I don't attack, alright?" B3AST gave a quick look toward Zane before nodding in agreement. "Nice. Told ya, Zane. Already tamed." Oscar went to fist bump B3AST as it mirrored him. Zane opened the portal back home and made his way through it. "Keep an eye on it Oscar. It's still a prototype." He and B3AST walked through the portal and headed upstairs. Walking through the living room, Nexus stopped Oscar. "Yo, what's that thing? It's huge!" Oscar and B3AST looked over to see Nexus in the doorway to the kitchen. B3AST pointed at her and made a fist. Oscar lowered his arm and shook his head before speaking. "Nexus. This is B3AST. It's a prototype biomechanical suit Zane made for me. Right now, it has my conscious from about three months ago. Wants to fight, but powers through punches and shakes off damage." Nexus walked up and stuck her arm out for a handshake. B3AST summoned its pistol and pointed it right in her face. "Got it. You don't like handshakes." "Nah. It just doesn't know what they are. I should have specified. It has my fighting style, so it doesn't hold any memories or real thoughts." Zuko walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of soup. "Good. At least we won't have two Oscars running around." Zuko let out a small chuckle as Oscar rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it's going to help us take out bigger enemies. It couldn't learn my current fighting style because I left the suit early, so I will likely have to teach it... or I could have two different fighting styles working together... hmm." "Well have fun. Don't let that thing be a danger." "I won't. Nobody has to worry." Oscar went outside and B3AST followed closely behind. Oscar pulled out his phone to check for any crimes reported. Zane met up with Tippy, who was in the testing area, practicing on her sword work. "Hey, Tippy. Oscar is gonna hold onto that suit for a bit. I want you to use that watch on him if you have too. Remember, that frequency only calms creatures down. Then you have to incapacitate them with the other switch on the side." Tippy jingled the watch on her wrist. "I remember. I wish he didn't like that suit so much. I'm worried it's going to do something bad without you to stop it." "That's why I gave you that watch as your upgrade. You can stop Oscar in his tracks, no matter how angry he is. Just remember to keep it hidden from Oscar. He can't know about this." Tippy looked down at the watch. "I understand. With the calamity spell Zuko taught me, I should be able to put Oscar to sleep right after I use the watch." Zane made a sword for himself and walked forward. "Good. We have a plan. Now, show me your technique. I think I already see a few ways you can improve." Tippy and Zane practiced their sword skills throughout the rest of the day.