Ninja Apocalypse

3: Manipulation (edited)

After Lloyd aged, the years that had disappeared caused within him a physical and mental misalignment. In the heat of the moment he had accepted this fate to save his friends but when his body was transported in time he found his mental age had stayed the same. It had confused him somewhat at first, but finally he settled in to his new body and as days became weeks and weeks became months, and years on the calendar rolled over, the gaps between all their ages seemed to grow smaller, differences between them lessened and his teammates accepted him, treating him the same as they would each other. Naturally he became closer to his teammates, but he had always felt comfortable around Nya, she was only two years his senior after all. She had always treated him fairly and if he ever needed someone to turn to he usually thought of Nya first. There was in him, still something that felt like a child and he was pretty sure the memory of them all scolding him as a boy was still fresh in their minds. But it never occurred to Nya to treat him differently and he felt happily at one around her.

He lay on his bed, looking out of the window. Recently he had felt changes. Changes outside of what he thought should be normal and what he perceived as a misalignment had become more pronounced. Whether it was something to do with his true age he wasn't sure. His body was certainly older now and should not be affected by the usual teenage changes as he had surpassed those a long time ago. He really didn't know what he was feeling, or if it were entirely natural. He had urges... violent urges. He grimaced at the thought. In his life he was driven to force through necessity but violence was something different and he knew it wasn't a part of his true nature. So what was this? His considerable power was formidable and surged through him. It was a wonder and a gift, but it now felt like a burden, as if it were growing unchecked and asking too much of him. He could feel it under his skin and his nerves bristled. It needed release.

When it felt like this, his temperament changed. The episode at the Simulator Room was final proof to him. One minute he was himself, the next he became a force of destructive nature. The urge controlled him completely and he felt apart from his actions. There was something else too, a different kind of urge... and he slumped his head into the pillow in shame. He couldn't bare the thought and groaned, feeling deeply embarrassed at the things he would get up to when he was like that. Thankfully His teammates hadn't entirely realised this was happening; his alter ego disguised itself well. He pulled the pillow tight around his head in frustration 'this just isn't me!'

Feeling his nerves rise, his arms began to prickle; like ants beginning to crawl under his skin. This had been happening recently too, the annoying sensation becoming gradually worse over recent weeks. Lying still just made the ants scrabble faster; it was becoming unbearable. He rolled onto his back, stretched his arms up and shook them vigorously. A spectral blast hit the ceiling. Plaster, wood and dust rained down on him and he covered his face with his arms to protect his eyes.

'Crap!' he whispered. He hadn't meant for that to happen. But the offloading of power did make him feel a bit better.

He heard Nya's voice at his door and froze. When he didn't answer, she began banging on it and shouted to see if he was ok. He stopped short of answering but knew he had to 'Just a second Nya' he said. A cold shiver ran up his arms and a hot flush hit his cheeks as a sudden panic overcame him. Nya! He thought to himself and he felt the pull of a sensitive trigger inside him. 'Uh, it's all good Nya, I'm fine'

'Not buying it Lloyd. Open the door' She called back.

Cringing he went and opened the door.
Nya took a step back in surprise to see Lloyd ghostly white with dust, a faint green haze tracing up his arms 'Hey' he said, trying to stay calm, while the army that crept, irritated his skin and his chest thudded.

'Is everything ok Lloyd?'

The green haze pulsed and grew and he felt his head start to spin.

'Lloyd? Lloyd... Hello?'