[hr][h1][i][color=#000000]Creed Boggs[/color] & [color=6ecff6]Adam Blackmore[/color][/i][/h1]


[color=#000000]"No, that's not what I meant."[/color] Creed said, obviously more worked up than Adam. [color=#000000]"You're putting words in my mouth here. I'm not saying that we're [i]destined[/i] to become the dominant species. I just know for [i]fact[/i] that it's bound to happen. Survival of the fittest."[/color] Creed went on, pointing at the computer screen. It was a live feed of a court case. A metahuman, named Taylor Domin, in Tulsa was being accused of using his powers to create counterfeit bills. [color=#000000]"I mean, look at this guy. He knows he has a gift, he's living off food stamps, so he uses his gift. Survival of the fittest."[/color] Creed repeated.

Ah, the age old debate. Adam just [i]never[/i] tires of it. He was still leaning up against his desk, reading the book. With Creed being the next person in his office. Every now and then, a Meta-Supremacist comes around the school, and shares his views. [color=6ecff6]"Settle down, Creed,"[/color] Adam started off. [color=6ecff6]"Domination is not the way. [i]Equality[/i], and [i]understanding[/i], is. Even if you believe in survival of the fittest, this is simply more proof that these Metahumans need helping. This man would have never resorted to this if NEST offered more than regulations..."[/color]

[color=#000000]"Yeah, but,"[/color] Creed paused for a second. This wasn't the first time he and Adam debated about their political views. Creed wasn't sure if Adam put up with his debates out of interest, or a sense of duty as a teacher. Or maybe just boredom. [color=#000000]"He wouldn't have to resort to that if those backwoods hicks wouldn't deny him jobs."[/color] He stood from his seat, throwing his hands up. [color=#000000]"So this guy grows up backwards-ass Oklahoma, living off food stamps and getting discriminated against at every turn, and then he starts supporting his family with his power."[/color] He paced around the room, continuing his wild gesticulations. [color=#000000]"Now look, he's getting hit with 30 years. And I'll bet the same guys arresting him were the same ones beating him up as a kid. They build this system up, so that, that,"[/color] He took a breath, with a bewildered look on his face. [color=#000000]"They're always at the top and we're at the bottom, and that's just because they're [b]afraid[/b] of us!"[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"... Have you considered the fact that they have a [i]reason[/i] to be afraid of us?"[/color] Adam closed his eyes at the same time he closed his book.  [color=6ecff6]"No, it isn'r far. No, it will never change - it's a fear that some people had from the start. But, the best everyone can do is work to [i]change[/i] that perception that we're a threat. That we're monsters out to destroy. After we, as a people, accomplish that, then incidents like this will stop cropping up."[/color] Adam looked Creed dead in the eye.  [color=6ecff6]"... Your... "Metahumans will become the dominants" belief, is not helping.[/color]

[color=#000000]"Trust me, I know about people thinking you're a monster to destroy."[/color] Creed barked. He paused for a second, letting himself cool down. [color=#000000]"But they're, not,"[/color] He struggled to find the right words. [color=#000000]"But, but, we..."[/color] Adam's words had a strong point, but not strong enough to pierce the armor of resentment Creed had built over the years. [color=#000000]"Whatever."[/color] Creed said, making his way to the door.

Creed stormed down the hallway, his hands clenched into fists. He wouldn't ever admit it, but Adam had a good point. He would've replied with his usual retort to the other students, but he knew Adam wouldn't listen to a word of it. [i]They want us gone, so why not act first?[/i] he thought to himself. Not his words, but words he had heard repeated many times.

He pushed through the double doors that lead to the outside world, and quickly made his way down the path. He had gone this way many times before. Eventually, he made a turn off the path and into the woods that surrounded the academy. His hands still clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists, he brushed through most of the branches with his broad shoulders, grunting angrily at every few snags he would encounter.

Slowly, he heard less and less activity from the school, and more of nature. There was a buzzing cicada in the distance, and a few birds chirping. Although it was far more tranquil a place than the school itself, he hadn't been coming to the woods to meditate. Eventually, after hiking through the trail he had made for himself over time, he arrived at his destination. The ruins.

It was a circle of large buildings that had faced years of weather. Some were crumbling, and some only looked incomplete. Many had long clawmarks trailing down the side, which where fresh with silver streaks of untouched concrete that had been below the surface of the rust and grit. Creed had delivered those blows. He had come here many times before to blow off steam, and today was no exception. Nobody but perhaps a few wild animals were ever hurt during these rampages, allowing Creed a relatively safe way to vent his anger.

Quickly, he began to undress, throwing off his boots and socks. He only had a few more moments of holding his transformation off. He unclipped his suspenders, throwing them to the ground alongside his shirt. His jeans, as always, would stay on. They were usually torn to shreds from his legs growing, but allowed him a level of decency when he would inevitably come to. After all, his waist was unaffected by the transformation, so he'd just end up looking like he wore shorts that were very torn, and [i]very[/i] short. 
He exhaled, satisfied that he had arrived and undressed before transforming. He let his fists unclench, allowing the urge that he had been fighting to overcome him.

The first part of transforming was his skeleton -- He always hated that. He felt them stretch, audibly creaking as they pulled themselves into an unnaturally long caricature of what they were meant to be. He felt everything, from his marrow pushing itself into the tiniest crevices of his arms, to his toenails slicing his delicate pink skin as they pushed out of his feet. His muscles were next. His heart raced, pumping blood through his body with an alarming quickness, as his muscles engorged and grew. Huge blocks of muscles shifted together in his shoulders, his arms, and then his torso. He dropped to one knee as the process reached his legs, which hurt the most of the transformation -- Almost like the growing pains he remembered from childhood. His nails and teeth slowly fit into place, creaking as the pushed themselves out of his body. 

The transformation was complete. He was still hunched over, realigning his footing. He stood up, and sniffed the air. His swollen facial muscles and tightened skin covered up his eyes and plugged his ears, but his newfound sense of smell made up for it. He could sense everything around him nearly as good as he could without his sight, and sensed some things even better. A fox had marked the tree behind him. One of the rabbits to his east was in heat. The wind even carried the smell of a cigarette.

None of that mattered, though, He came to let out his anger, not to smell out his surroundings. He leapt onto the side of one of the shorter buildings, and pulled himself up with ease. He dropped to all fours and bounded down the rooftop before leaping onto the side of a much taller, less ruined building. He climbed quickly, sinking his claws into the concrete, pulling himself up like a bear would climb a tree. He reached the peak, and looked into the distance. Nothing but the ruins and the trees. Just how he liked it.

He let out a roar.