by T5
The morning after:
The white light surfaced in a cascade of light and vapor. Four people floated on the waves. The white light dimmed, and a fifth figure now stood on the water. A blue-skinned man, bald, with two small horns and white glowing eyes, smiled upon the floating figures. "I will leave you, my friends, but I give you a part of myself as a gift."
He produced four white, glowing spheres from his chest and forced them into the foreheads of the unconscious foursome. He then raised his head and gazed across the waters. "There you are..."
Two wings made of pure white light sprouted out of his back, and he took off, a bit shaky at first, but soon he got the hang of it. The sense of freedom he felt could only be compared to a bird's joy of flying. The part of him that still was Tom knew he should have died there on the island, but something and someone had merged with him for survival. He could feel the turmoil in his consciousness.
An explanation suddenly emerged from one of the personalities within him. As long as we are on this plane of the continuum, you will be the dominant mind, but if that should change, who knows which one of the five wills will be dominant then? For now, he was engulfed in the new being that he had become, the name Tom becoming less than a dream.
Yet one final memory from childhood captured his thoughts. His grandmother had told him tales of a naked fiddler called Naecken, a figure from Swedish folklore, and he had always thought him very strange. The idea had captured his thoughts as a child, just as it captured his mind now. This new creature he had become was also very strange, befitting a name like the strange naked fiddler of Swedish folklore.
Without any thought or determination, this new, strange, composite being took the name Naecken as his own.
On the horizon, the vessel that carried the troops was sloshing its way ahead in the clear blue waters. Aboard, in the radar room, a young ensign sat at his station observing the radar systems.
"Sir... sir! We have a bogey on our trail. It's coming up fast and straight for us, sir!"
An older officer bent down to have a closer look at the screen. "Good work, Ensign. Very quick of you. It's moving at twice the speed of sound. Alert the fliers to send a team of planes to see what it is. Should it prove to be hostile, just wing it and pick up the pilot. We don't want an international incident on our hands. Well done, lad." Orders were issued, and soon two jet fighters were deployed to intercept the unknown aircraft.
Naecken was so full of wonder and amazement at what he could sense and do that he failed to focus on the two approaching jets.
"We have the bogey in sight, sir. It seems to be glowing... and, sir, it's not a plane, sir."
"No, sir. It's not a UFO... It seems to be a man with wings."
"Yes, sir... It could be a metahuman, sir."
"It's coming closer. Should I fire, sir?"
"Roger that!"
Naecken suddenly heard the screaming sound of two missiles heading his way. He looked up and laughed. The two missiles suddenly turned and headed for the second jet fighter instead. The young pilot maneuvered his fighter like never before, but it was a no-win situation. The telekinetic force directing the missiles worked much faster than the controls of a plane. Soon, a ball of fire was seen plunging toward the waves.
The other fighter opened his guns and fired at Naecken, still flying onward to the battleship. The bullets collected themselves into a larger ball, about ten times a bowling ball, and then flew through the cockpit of the fighter, smashing up both the equipment and the groin section of the pilot.
Naecken took control of the fighter and sent it plunging toward the battleship. The jet hit straight on the command deck, killing the commanding officer and thirteen other officers in a huge ball of fuel-ignited flames.
He landed on the flight deck, and was soon met with heavy sidearm fire from the marines aboard. A suggestion was made within him, and he let the energy in his eyes engulf the marines, who were left crying on their knees, some even hysterical with laughter.
Naecken walked up to a marine and lifted his head. "Where did you come from? Where is your base?"
"Whu... we heehee... are -- sniff -- based on... on... on Halé, an island not far from heeheehee here..."
Naecken let the marine go and prepared to take off, when suddenly he was engulfed in black flames.
"I don't know who you are, but you have destroyed my mission here!" a dark, cold voice shouted at him.
Naecken put out the flame with his wings and regarded the officer walking toward him. Black fire surrounded the eyes, and he hovered about one centimeter above the deck. "What are you?" he said.
Black flame engulfed Naecken once again, this time with more fury. Naecken ripped the deck open and tried to escape the flames by going inside the ship. He was met by marines that opened fire at him. He shielded himself with his wings and tried to shout at them to stop, but to no avail. Black flame suddenly engulfed the corridor, and Naecken screamed in pain.
Naecken screamed in defiance and let his telekinetic power loose. This resulted in the ship being split in two, and the flame disappeared. The screams of the marines who tried to swim away from the sinking wreckage went unheard by Naecken, who instead searched for the dark force that attacked him.
He detected it far above the sea, heading for a smaller island just south of the ship's position. Eyes blazing with anger, he took off after it.