[b]12:37 PM
Wilderness outside Hope Springs, West Virginia 
November 3rd, 2019
[/b]

The forest was peaceful, tranquil. None disturbed it but the animals who called it their home, birds elegantly danced around trees, letting out a soft symphony. In the distance, a brook babbled, winding through the forest in a path long carved by wind and water. A deer trotted, an owl hooted in the sun... strangely, and a fox yowled.

"And Hayes goes down!"

Birds darted from the trees in fear as a loud yell rang through the otherwise silent forest.

"What a blow by the demon! Tell you what, this is looking more and more grim for Hayes..."

A phone's speaker repeated the words of a commentator, relaying them to the ear of the green man, seated on a tree stump not far from a pick-up truck. In the back of said truck, a still dazed poacher awoke to see his phone being utilized by a swamp creature to watch a boxing match. He promptly fainted.

Harris had always been a fan of boxing before he'd transformed, he knew the names of the greats off by heart, and he'd spent many a long night in front of a television screen watching battles between them. It wasn't a luxury he managed to relive often, now that his body had been morphed into whatever he had become. He'd heard the fight being discussed in Hope Springs earlier that day, and he had been quite angry that he would be forced to miss such a fight due to his... unique circumstances, but discovering a poacher driving through the empty forests had provided him just the opportunity he had been looking for. The man wouldn't need data once he was in prison anyways, and its not like the Vine Stalker had much of an opportunity to enjoy himself anymore.

This was a surprisingly good fight, Hayes had landed a number of blows before Ives even had the chance to strike back, Harris hadn't been following in the weeks since his transformation, but this new guy seemed to be something special, even if Ives knocked him down like a kid does to a pinata. Harris never was one for the technical stuff, he had enough of that at work, boxing was about hitting each-other in the face until someone fell down, not some equations or techniques or whatever, it was visceral, and it was a way to get the aggression of a boring life out, not that his life was anywhere close to boring anymore.

Harris watched intently, he honestly hoped Hayes got up. Harris had always enjoyed watching Ives fight, but seeing someone able to challenge the figure that boxing fans almost worshiped was incredibly exciting.

Oh and the poacher, Harris almost forgot about him. Harris had dropped a tree on him earlier but it would be fine. No cars in this forest, at least not off the roads, a rule that the poacher had learned quickly. Harris still had to drag him to Hope Springs' outskirts and dunk the truck in a lake, of course he was procrastinating, he always had, but the fight was still ongoing and he wasn't just going to abandon it to do his job... that sounded worse when he actually thought about it. Dammit he wasn't ready for this, he was just some biologist, why did he have to become involved in... whatever this was.

Harris sighed. He'd complained enough when he first became whatever he was, now was the time to watch the fight, let it all go for a moment in time. Later he'd worry about being the planet's protector or whatever he was now, for now he needed a break from the worrying and the stress.

Then the phone went black.

Harris stared wide-eyed, he pressed the power button... nothing.

[i]Dammit no.[/i]

Harris pressed every button on the thing, shook it, tapped it against one of his hard plates, all to no avail. He stood and near-leapt to the truck, grabbing the door and pulling it open despite it being locked. This worked horribly well, and the door was pulled right off its hinges. Harris dropped it and stuffed his gigantic form into the small cab of the truck. He grabbed a charging wire and plugged the phone in, chuckling as it once again beeped to life. Once again opening the live-stream, he nearly fell out of the truck as the phone blared crowd noise at full volume. Struggling to move his body in the claustrophobic environment of the truck, he fumbled with the phone until he managed to turn the sound down to a reasonable level. Harris heard one of his plates crack as his body contorted into the seat, surprisingly comfortable despite the position he was in, finally relaxing, Harris sat and got back to watching, finally calm.