Round Robin: Interview II

Interview II

A "Winds of Change" Story

When I scented the other buck behind me, I started to repeat to myself: I'm in control, I'm in control... And that apparently helped. The scent in my nostrils was pure challenge. I'm in control, I'm in control...

But Red, apparently, was not.

I'd tried to avoid looking directly at him. Which is kind of hard when you can see almost 270 deg; around you. Then add to that my sense of smell... But it was not as hard as it might have been a couple days ago.

Then my fears were confirmed when Kim asked Red to get her something from the truck. The look he gave Brian was pure hatred. A foreboding silence ensued for at least a minute. Then Red, apparently, had had enough.

There was a strange-looking inrush of light around Red's body. Between one eyeblink and the next, Red had Shifted fully, and started to bugle and scrape the carpet. He was an elk, actually. Then I did something I rarely do. I swore to myself. Oh shit. Then I thanked God for my hypersensitivity. Just before he charged, I leapt right in front of Red, turning on my shield at the same time. I noticed incidentally that Brian had covered Kimberly with a wing protectively.

Red thrashed, rather ineffectually, against my shield, which glowed brightly where his antlers were impacting it, the absorbed energy instantly making my antlers begin to glow bright yellow, which was quickly going blue. The only thing on my mind was to protect my friend, and my mother. He thrashed and struggled and bulged in frustration and anger. The only thing I felt was the strange calmness.

I was rapidly approaching maximum capacity. When I did my shield would turn off, and he'd continue his attack. Then we'd all get hurt. And he was WAY too big for me to fight. As a normal whitetail, I massed perhaps 250 lb. Red was more like 800 lb. (which accounted for the inrush of energy, he was converting it to mass) I had NO chance at all that way. I had only one option available to me.

With a thought, I transferred a Red charge to my hands (Kimberly had been staring at my antlers), made the fireball motion and yelled "HADOUKEN!!!" and got him in the side. At point blank range, it knocked him out without hurting him. It looked like Red would be out a while, and when I knocked him out he'd Shifted back to morph.

Brian uncovered Kim, who was looking at him in adoration. Brian somehow looked dumbfounded by the look Kim was giving him. Then my mom spoke up, "Why don't we give him a bit of soup... It'll make him feel much better."

"Mom! How can you think of soup at a time like this?"

"Just trust me." With Brian's help, we opened Red's mouth and poured cold soup broth down his gullet. A minute or so later he woke up coughing and sputtering, then he surprised us by saying, "Hey! I feel better! My mind is clearer." It seemed the soup had had a similar effect of Red as it had on me. Mom's soup seemed to have that effect of people.

Not to say that Red and I did not still hate each other. He was another male deer, and at this time of year it was *way* too hard NOT to feel that way. It was a good thing that he agreed (quite reluctantly) to leave.

While we were waiting for another cameraperson Kim asked me, "Just how much control do you have over that Power of yours?"

"A lot of control. I was exhausted that night, but later I knew that leopard, if he'd gotten within six feet, could have blasted me out of existence with a thought."

"You did not have to kill him, you know."

"Look. If you've read the police reports you know that he was responsible for the death of an entire SWAT team. He just dissolved their van into nothingness with them still inside. There was not enough left to fill a thimble. Brian's bullets could not stop him. He was within a foot of being close enough to me to use his Power when I let go. It was self defense, pure and simple. And it's already been proved. And please, I feel guilty enough over that incident." And I was starting to feel just a little ticked off over her comment. Geez, some people...

That was the only time she questioned my conduct. Police investigators move really fast on these things. Brian and I had spent much of our time in the hospital answering questions from investigators. They'd put the whole thing together with incredible speed, clearing me of a lot of guilt in the matter. A good thing, too. I could not deal with an angry public (though there were some that felt that way, I was sure).

The other two major channels would show up, too. But since I would not be interviewed anywhere but in the house, they could only be let in one at a time. Thank god for stairs.

Because my antlers were still glowing, I had to do a general degauss. That, is a kind of slow release of KE directly from my antlers. It would feel like a strong breeze was pushing them backwards. It took five minutes to degauss completely. I did end up knocking over a couple of glasses, but not too much was damaged.

The worst thing that happened was when TNC showed up. Turns out the riot had made the national news. Brian and I both refused them, and according to the new Media Laws once we'd said "no", they had to leave or be prosecuted. They could get the footage they needed from the other interviews we'd just given anyway. Not to mention I was becoming increasingly irritated. And I did not want to say something I might regret. I'd started to feel more and more irritated, and did not trust myself.

A funny thing, though. Even though she was finished, Kim stayed around to watch Brian some more. I think she liked him, but to what extent I could not be sure. It could have been just admiration for what he did. I attempted to hide my smile, not easy when your whole face gets into it. But Brian did not notice me, he was busily returning Kim's stare. It was quite uncomfortable. I did not know much about eagle courtship, but the atmosphere between them was almost electric... And I almost wished Grace was around so I had someone to stare at, too. "Brian," I said.

"What?"

"I think it's time we got back to my apartment. Cleo's hungry again, I'm sure. You can call Kim later. Unless you want to fly back to my apartment later..."

"Uh, no. I'll go back now. I *do* want to fly though. It'll clear my head of this interview garbage. No offense Kim." He said the last sentence quite quickly. "None taken," she replied cheerfully. "Mind if I come with you, Mr. Sleeper? I can get a better feel for editing the story if I see how you actually live. I need to stretch my wings anyway."

"But, but you..." Brian began.

"I've got a Shifter Power. Sort of makes up for these arm/wings not working well either way. I'll just follow you, Brian." All he could do was nod vigorously... "Jon?" He asked.

"Fine," shrugging. Even though my irritation had grown, I agreed. Mostly because I was in no mood to argue. They flew while I drove, and I started to feel more than a little angry over the dumb questions I'd been asked. By the time I parked in my space in front of my apartment, I was really angry.

Brian looked at me, "Are you OK?" He asked, concerned. I almost replied "I'M FINE BIRD BRAIN!!" but managed to keep it to, "I'm... fine." Then I had an idea. "But I've got to think. Just a moment." I left them outside while I quickly fed Cleo, and came back out. "I'm going out for a run. I might be gone a while. I need to work out some of this irritation. So I'll see you later." Then I Shifted, and galloped off in a random direction.

It's really hard to explain. I must be at a peak in testosterone concentration, maybe brought on by my fight with Red. I thought running might help me work off some of this irrational anger had had started to bubble up within me.

As I went around the corner, I noticed Brian had a strange look on his body language. He was staring at Kim. Then I wondered if leaving was a good idea. Then I thought, nah. He can handle it. I doubt he'll have the same problems I have. And I continued my run.

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