To think of Rene's transformation as a positive thing isn't something that usually goes through his mind. After all, his transformation took a
lot away from him and he remembered
every moment where his human body had been torn and sliced off in that horrible excuse of "surgery."
This... is different. Now, he
welcomes it.
There isn't any other way to put it. The former human saw his body
slithering and gave no look of horror to it. This isn't being fearful of the unknown but the return of the familiar. He
knows this form; it's exactly how he remembers it. He's had his peace with his normal reptilian form and now can't live without it. His form is, put simply, stronger than his human form. It's exactly what he needs as his bonds break and the world around... him...
...Changes.
He knows this castle, as does the Totem.
Rene, now the Builder, stands in his usual hunched state. His eye slits stare blankly into the familiar darkness. He remembers what happened here, yet here he feels so... lonely. There's no Croc, no Misfits, no mad sorceress.
All that is here is Rene... and the Totem. Rene can recall its "shape," darkness of scale and size beyond imagination, trapped only by the size of the dungeon. The smell of the ruined jungle pierces through Rene's snout and skewers into his brain. There's no way Rene would forget such a dominant
presence.
It's here. It's weak!
The voice in Rene's mind echoes like an outside force. He hasn't heard it since the warship, like something about that event forced itself out of Rene's mind. Yet it's back, talking to him again. The beast didn't leave Rene, it just hid until he was ready to speak to it again; and this was for good reason. For the first time in Rene's life, he sees the Totem as
prey.
Do what we like. Bite. Slash. Crush. Suffer. Torture. Imprison.
The Totem seems so small, so
puny compared to before. Everything Rene had done to it, from Castle Doom to his many rejections, must have weakened it, if it wasn't hiding this illusion in the first place. It's not gigantic but roughly Rene's own size. If Croc were here, it would tower over the Totem. Even the Lizard might appear bigger than the Totem now, if the "creator" wasn't cowering as he currently is. That is a reaction Rene can somewhat sympathize with; the Totem terrified Rene as much as it did drive him into a rejecting, raging frenzy. Yet this isn't the same Totem that Rene first met. This is a weakened one, sealed in the body of one of its hosts. It has tormented and taunted him for so long now; that has to
end. This is the moment where Rene has to made his stand, put his foot down, and put the Totem in its place. Rene has
NO other choice if he wants to get everyone out of this. Rene isn't fearless; his heart pounds fiercely in his anxious and nervous body. There's still that
thought that he is no Misfit, nor is he a Justice League member or an Avenger. He's nothing like those superheroes; he's just a reptilian humanoid who has had an incredibly awful time and has just
barely managed to survive god knows how many nightmares. Yet this is his time. This is the moment where he has to prove himself to all those heroes that he can handle himself and his own life.
There is a slight pause in Rene's hunched movement before, in dramatic fashion, he stands up straight. His body stands to its near-8-foot height. He ignores the cowardly Lizard, very clearly horrified by the Totem's grandiose illusions. Yet there should be no indication in the Totem's mind that Rene is buying into its illusions any more. If Rene's posture and angry look didn't indicate that, his voice will.
"Shut up." The reptilian hisses at the "great" beast, speaking with scaly coldness mixed in old frustration.
"You won't trick me again. You are in me and you will stay there." His voice grows as he speaks, hisses becoming louder by the word.
"And I don't care if THIS-" A flash of red blankets the room as Rene's memory of the giant, draconic, skeletal
thing appears behind him for a brief moment, the very being that the Totem warned about, before disappearing back into nothing.
"SCARES YOU ****LESS! I see for what you are now and nothing I see of you says you can offer me something that will make a difference against the Hunter, much less Darkseid."
Letting his anger fuel his adrenaline and, hopefully, control of the situation, Rene leans over and places his left clawed hand on the messy stone of the dungeon. His right arm raised up behind him as if in a fighting stance.
"I won't let you out. If you want to tear your way out then you can come and get me. You say put and I'll leave you like that. But if you think of clawing at my mind again or going after my family then I will rip off that right limb of yours that's clutching your heartless body!" Rene's anger, scowling endlessly to rid of fearful anxiety, bleeds its way to the Totem.
And as Rene does so, the beast within laughs heartily. It's slithering voice gives off such a comforting, familiar radiance... He just can't recall where he's heard it from.
Spoiler: OOC
Show
So not sure how relevant this might be but Rene will ready an attack if the Totem tries to pounce or attack him. Putting Killer Instinct active on my array for this: (1d20+10)[11] DC 25 Toughness + Penetrating 6 and Improved Critical 2 Oh brother. Should I... even reroll this if it might be important to? I do have 1 HP left.
Re: Reassembly II: Creatures of Light and Darkseid (M&M 3e)
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