Discovery Promt- Jaeger's Powers
“Please,” he whined, “I didn't do anything wrong…”
Jaeger backed up further, yelping as his back hit the wall. He hadn't meant to hurt him.
The day had started normally enough. Jaeger had woken to another splitting headache, as the head nurse, an unpleasant woman who looked more like stack of boulders than a person, was already banging on his door.
“Get up you lazy mutt.” Her voice was staccato and high, rapping away with each word.
Jaeger sighed, dusting the last few wrinkles from his scrubs, opening the door with a frustrated smile.
“Honestly,” Mrs. Buford huffed, “You’re lucky we don't just put you on the streets. Or better yet, have you returned.”
Jaeger’s smile widened slightly but he said nothing, sliding past her to start his rounds. He had always known that none of the other employees at Golden Glenn Assisted Living Center liked him. And only by the grace of the manager of the place was he was able to stay there to live and work. The work though was rewarding, sort of… It would be more rewarding if he didn't have to do room service again for Mr. Reynolds. Jaeger knocked on his first door of the day and waited before rapping again, but the only response was something heavy being thrown and crashing into the wall.
“Mr. Reynolds?” He didn't dare push the door all the way open; he had made that mistake once already and nearly got stabbed.
“Mr. Reynolds. I’m coming in, alright?” Jaeger said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice as he opened the door completely.
Mr. Reynolds was an unfortunate victim of chance; he was a physically capable man in his forties, but a car accident robbed him of his ability to function without assistance. While he had stayed in decent shape, he was now paranoid, hostile, and like much of the staff, hated Jaeger. So of course Jaeger always managed to find himself assigned to the man, who would routinely attempt to chase the small grem out of his home.
The moment Jaeger was fully in the room, he was forced to duck under a clock that came careening towards him, just barely managing to avoid it as it slammed into the wall behind him. Jaeger growled and looked around, almost immediately spotting Mr. Reynolds hidden behind his bed, glaring down the grem. Giving an irate growl and an eye roll, Jaeger made his way further into the room.
"Mr. Reynolds, we've talked about throwing things." Jaeger sighed as he began to organize the books on and around the coffee table - he often found it best to ignore the man so he would eventually just burn himself out. Unfortunately, today he was more wound up than usual, spitting a slew of profanities at Jaeger. Doing his best to ignore him, Jaeger diligently continued his work, quietly dusting and cleaning the far side of the room, not wanting to antagonize the already angry Reynolds more than he had to.
A sudden flash of pain caused Jaeger to stumble forward as something connected solidly with his head. Lights flashed before his eyes as Reynolds, emboldened by his direct hit, tackled Jaeger, arms flailing wildly as he attempted to clobber the creature beneath him. Jaeger just barely managed to wheel around, landing on his back and angrily kicking at the man on top of him while screeching at him to get off. Jaeger made a wide swing, hitting Reynolds on the back hard enough to stun him and give Jaeger the chance he needed to push the man off of him. Reynolds stumbled back, his foot hitting the clock on the floor, further throwing him off balance. Jaeger was back on his feet in an instant, scrambling towards the man in an attempt to catch him - but he was too slow, and all he could do was watch as Reynolds fell, his head making contact with the wall. The ruckus from their fight had managed to draw the attention of another nurse, who ran in right afterwards to violently shove a frozen Jaeger out of the way and check on the now wailing man. The shove was enough to snap him back to his senses, and he bolted from the room. It was late when there was finally a knock on his door. Jaeger jumped at the sudden sound, staring at the door across his unlit room. The hushed conversation outside his door caused him to pause and perk up his ears, Mrs. Buford's high voice unmistakable as Jaeger listened in
"And what will be done with him?" She sniffed quietly.
Another voice, male this time, chimed in.
"Well, considering your report, it will likely be sent to the labs back at Grem Corp."
"Or culled; it's probably too volatile for retraining anyway." another voice added bluntly, deeper and rougher than the last.
Jaeger froze as the word echoed in his mind. Culled; He was going to die. Jaeger looked around the room in a panic as the door rattled again, the sound of a key scraping in the lock only serving to heighten his fear. He had to run, to get away and hide. The door opened with a sudden click and Jaeger yelped, the light streaming in from the hallway suddenly flooding his room and causing him to squint. Mrs. Buford walked in first, clicking her tongue and flicking on the light switch. Jaeger stood frozen in the room as a surly looking man and grem strode in behind her.
The man looked around the room with a hardly contained disdain, settling his cold gaze on Jaeger as he spoke.
"So, this is the one that attacked your patient? Jason, collect him please." he finally took his eyes off the small grem to glance at his companion, then settled his stare onto Beauford whose smile withered slightly.
It took her a moment to compose herself, but she finally gave a brusque nod, as Jaeger looked between them and the door.
"I-I didn’t do anything, though!" Jaeger blurted out, hoping he could convince the man of his innocence.
"Reynolds, he- he jumped on me, I was just trying to push him off! I never wanted to hurt him," he could feel a lump forming in his throat now, his headache from that morning returning with a vengeance.
Jason, the grem behind the man spoke, his tone just as curt as the other officers.
"Don’t try to bullshit your way outta this, kid," he snapped.
"We got testimony and even a video from the hallway, plus we know you and that Reynolds fella never got along. Don't make this any harder than it has to be," the grem growled, continuing his advance on Jaeger.
“Please,” he whined, “I didn't do anything wrong…”
Jaeger backed up further, yelping as his back hit the wall. He hadn't meant to hurt him.
He stared up at the other grem, pleading quietly for them to give him a chance to prove his innocence - but he knew it wasn’t going to come. He knew there was only one option; summoning his courage, he made a mad dash towards the group, eyes trained on the door. But the other grem was too fast and caught him before he even managed to get past, slamming him on the floor and startling Beauford enough that she let out a shrill shriek. Jaeger struggled beneath the grem, desperately trying to claw away. A heavy handed punch from the large grem dazed him for the second time that day, a second and third punch soon following. Between the grem sitting on his chest and the blows to his head, Jaeger felt like he was going to pass out. Though the mental haze Jaeger found something odd. Through he was fairly certain his eyes were shut, he could still see. While objects and open air only manifested as formless gray lumps in a plane of blackness, the other three living things in the room were blindingly bright auras that flickered and shuddered each time he tried to focus on them.
Another blow to his head caused the vision to blur, and his attention shifted to the grem on top of him. He did the only thing he could think to: summoned all of his strength, and pushed, energy coursing through him and slamming into the aura, causing it to flicker wildly. Suddenly there was a shriek of pain as the grem on top of him fell to the side, writhing from some invisible wound. Jaeger's eyes snapped open, staring in stunned silence, as did the rest of the people in the room. The human man was the first to recover, almost having to shout above the fallen grem's wails.
"You never reported it had powers!" he snapped, rounding on the still shocked Beauford, who only managed a pathetic amount of stammering.
Jaeger was again on his feet, still desperately trying to make it out, the safety and freedom of the city just beyond his reach.
An earth-shattering bang sounded behind him as pain ripped up his leg, and he staggered a few steps, so panicked to get away that he only barely registered that he had been shot. Closing his eyes as he ran again, he saw the glowing energies, and Jaeger did the only thing he could. Summoning his strength he gave one mighty mental shove. He felt both glowing energies flicker wildly, the sound of both of their screams distant as Jaeger crossed the threshold.