[indent][b][u]February 6th, 12 PM Northern California.[/u][/b][/indent] The roar of a magitech engine filled the air. The pounding of explosions going off and shattering the powerful redwoods drowned out the screaming commands of police officers and the fearful weeping of his hostage. Harris ran as fast as he could. Yes, ran. [i]Dammitdammitdammitdammit.[/i] Harris gasped as he sprinted as quickly as he could to get to the hostage-taker's location, blue explosions erupting on both sides of him as the bastard indiscriminately fired into the woods. Harris had to get there, now. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen to the hostage if he didn't get there soon enough. He pushed his body as hard as it could go, growing his leg muscles as much as he possibly could while moving each of his limbs with speed enough to burst a normal man's. "Come on officers! Continue to resist for your old order! The new order comes to replace it! And that new order, is [i]anarchy!"[/i] the jetpack-clad man roared hammily, firing off a series of wild blasts. A massive redwood was felled by one of said blasts right in front of Harris' eyes. He barely had time to mourn it before it began falling right on top of him. He crouched before one could blink, and launched himself into the air with an uppercut, shattering the tree in two. Without a moment to stop, he sprouted a pair of wings and fired into the air like a torpedo. [i]Not fast enough! Dammit dammit dammit![/i] Harris' wings grew three times as his arm drew back into a fist. With one massive flap, he fired right at the man. His mouth opened for a second, only to be slammed shut be a green fist to the jaw. [i]That was too hard![/i] Harris watched in horror as the man and his hostage were flung through the air. He immediately slashed through the air with his wings, again firing himself at the two of them. Fortunately both were alive, unfortunately, the man had recovered, and had turned his jetpack to flee. He was far faster than Harris, and Harris wasn't willing to risk getting any bigger. Not after last time. He quickly grew a tree beneath them, trying to send it skyward to stop the man in his tracks. A subtle bubble appeared in the tree trunk as it grew. Harris' breath went icy cold in his throat. [i]No.[/i] He tried to dissolve the tree, he flapped towards it, he shot his fist after it, he did everything he could think of. Nothing stopped it from erupting into a massive fireball. Two shards of the trunk went skyward. One took the man's jetpack off his back. The other sawed his leg off. [color=olivedrab]"No!"[/color] Harris cried out, horrified. The hostage was dropped in the aftermath, but she fell slower. He quickly grabbed her and dove after the kidnapper. Harris gritted his teeth as he flattened his wings against his back. Something died inside him as he realized he wouldn't make it. He had to resort to the worst option, it was the only one he had. He held out his arm and generated a length of vine from it, trying to make it grow as fast as it would. He wouldn't let the man die, he couldn't. He had to catch him, maybe if he made it elastic enough it would break his fall a little, he hoped he wouldn't break his neck. Oh god he hoped he wouldn't break his neck. The vine grew closer and Harris's mouth dropped open to let in as much air as possible; his stomach wouldn't calm down otherwise. Then he noticed. Just a tiny little bump in the vine's length as it left his arm. A tiny bump that quickly grew to a large tumorous mass that consumed his hand. Harris screamed. [color=olivedrab]"I've got you, just a little longer! Hold on!"[/color] The vine grew, but so did the tumors. He just needed time. Just a few more seconds. He could almost feel the man's leg. A little closer... Just- Harris' arm popped. In the instant before the blast consumed him, he let out one last desperate, screaming "No!" The sky was filled with flame. The hostage was consumed by the explosion. The kidnapper struck the ground at over a hundred miles per hour, shattering his skull and pulping his brain. Harris was reduced to a foot. A scream filled the air. A horrible, crying, pleading scream. Harris was certain it was coming from him.