Power Swap: Help! (Open!)

[Levi Xu]

[[This is open to anyone who is in earshot of him.]]

Pain.

It was all Levi could think of as he woke up. His back felt like it was about to explode, and when he tried reaching over his shoulder, he drew blood as he scratched himself. His room was suddenly hot, and he threw off his blanket that had already been soaked through with sweat. It had to be a dream--a nightmare.

He stumbled to his feet and tripped when his foot--suddenly claw-like--snagged on his sheet and ripped a large hole. Levi didn't notice that his clock read 5:00am, but he did notice that something followed him out of the bed.

A long, lizard-like tail.

"Help!" His voice was strangled the first time he cried out. Levi staggered out of his suite and into the hallway, then fell to the floor as the pain in his back doubled. A pair of wings tore through his skin and tee-shirt and stretched out behind him, leathery and awful.

The pain was slightly less now, but he looked over his shoulder at his monstrous new appendages and screamed out again. Trying to cover his eyes with his hands only led to him scratching himself again, and more blood dripping from his face into his clawed hands.

It had to be a nightmare. But in all his nightmares, monsters had been chasing him. Vampires, demons, Jahel...he'd always been running from them. He'd never been the monster before.

"Help! Oh G-d, someone help me!"

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn was deep in slumber when she heard a very faint something, like someone yelling from a long distance away. She frowned in her sleep, shifting a little, hoping the noise would go away, but it didn't. All of a sudden, she could hear the loud, piercing screams for what they were, and she jolted awake, terrified. It didn't stop when she woke up either - if anything, the screaming now sounded more panicked, more desperate. Stumbling to her feet, she tripped as she stood, unaccustomed to her back feeling so... Light. She fumbled on her knees for a while, gasping, before glancing over her shoulder to see what the problem was.

She stared for a while, disbelieving. No, no....
Her wings were gone.

She must still be asleep. This couldn't happen. You didn't just lose appendages in the middle of the night, that was impossible. But as she stood and falteringly made her way towards her door out to the hallway where the screaming could be heard, she knew this wasn't a dream.

How.... What... What the hell was happening!?

It took her longer than normal to get to the hallway, both because she was half-asleep and not used to not having her wings to help keep her balance. Tears streaked down her face, but she refused to believe that this was permanent. If they didn't somehow come back.... Well, she would rather die than not be able to fly.

Her terror intensified when she found the source of the screaming.

"LEVI!" she gasped, stumbling over to where he was writhing on the ground. Even amidst the flailing wings and tail, she could tell who it was. She dared not get too close, in case she got hit with a limb. "What.... What happened!?" She held up a hand, not really knowing what she was going to do, when she felt a strange pressure burst out of her hand and a door suddenly flew open with no sign of anyone touching it. She shrieked, pulling her arm back and clutching it to her chest. Her entire body was shivering, and she forced herself to not panic, knowing that there had to be an explanation for all this. There had to be.

"Levi, Levi, please.... Just, stop moving! I can't get close to you like that!" She didn't know if he could hear her over the sound of his own voice, but she knew whatever was happening to them, it was probably somehow connected. He was turning into some sort of dragon, she had lost her wings and now could apparently open doors without touching them....

It was a waking nightmare.

[Levi Xu]

Admittedly, Levi had been begging for help. Screaming for it, actually. But when the confused-looking girl stumbled into the hallway as well, he realized it was the last thing he wanted.

He didn't want anyone to see him like this, even if they were there to help him.

He scrambled around so he was at least facing her--he didn't quite recognize her though, because while she looked like the Goddess a few doors down, she didn't have wings--as he backed up, clawed fingers snagging the worn carpet in the hall. At least his pajamas had only torn in the back, and mostly covered him, even if they did stick to his body with sweat and blood. He felt so hot, Levi fleetingly hoped this was a fever dream and he'd wake up in the infirmary with a cold compress on his forehead. The door across the hall banging open brought him sharply back to reality though.

Or, well, whatever this horror show was.

Backing up didn't hide the wings or the tail though, and when his leathery new limbs hit the wall, he stopped. "Who...who are you?"

Levi was shaking as he looked up at her. Everything was wrong. He raised his claws to cover his face again, hoping that when he opened his eyes everything would be normal. "Don't touch me! I don't want to hurt you!"

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn began to realize that Levi wasn't just sweating, but bleeding. The red stuff covered his face, his hands - er, claws, rather - his back. What was happening to him!? She could feel the heat all the way from where she was kneeling from him, and she, too, was beginning to sweat, both from terror and the temperature. He was still flailing around, and she held out her hand again, this time reaching towards the writing tail. She felt the pressure in her hand again, and she directed it towards the scaly thing, willing it to be still so she could get closer without getting hurt.

Oddly.... It seemed to work. His tail stopped moving so much, and she cautiously approached the poor boy, still tottering from side to side as she became adjusted to her new wingless form. Her TEMPORARY wingless form, she told herself. "Don't you recognize me?" she asked softly, wiping at her wet cheeks. "Ravyn. You know, bird girl? Well, not really anymore..." She held back a sob. "Levi, you're bleeding. You need help." She didn't know what she could do to help him, but he was so scratched up and bloodied, she knew SOMETHING had to be done. "You won't hurt me, just... Just keep still. Do you think you can make it to the infirmary? We can see if this is happening to anyone else...." She trailed off. She saw a few more heads begin popping out of doors, though no one else approached. Whether they were too scared to approach or just waiting to see what happened, she didn't know.

"It's going to be alright." She didn't know who she was trying to convince more - him, or herself.

[Levi Xu]

"No!" Even though he said not to touch him, Levi felt his tail being held in place. His tail that shouldn't be there and it scared him even more that he felt the pressure holding it there. He opened his eyes, only to see that she wasn't even touching it.

Telekinetics, right. But she still said she was Ravyn...

It had always been reassuring to Levi when he power worked, even when it got him into deeper trouble with people. It was nice to know something, and have reassurance every time he encountered them that he still knew it. He didn't know what to do now, because Ravyn had wings. "Did...did you do this to me? Is this a curse?"

Perhaps she had turned him into a demon or something. Turned him into a monster that wasn't able to have faith in anything, killing his power. The thought crossed his mind, but for some reason, he didn't know she was a Goddess anymore. Which actually gave his theory more weight.

Levi looked down the hall too, and saw a few people watching them. Why had he run outside? He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Ever.

So maybe the infirmary was a good idea. Even if she had cursed him and turned him into a monster. "Can they fix it?"

He didn't even have faith that she'd know the answer.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Telekinesis? Is that what this was? She had no other explanation, but she had no idea how she could be telekinetic. Was this something new - were metas evolving, changing? Whatever it was, it didn't matter now, there were other matters at hand.

"No.... No, of course not Levi, I... Something else did this. See? My wings are gone. But it's still me, I swear." She didn't understand why he thought she did this. She was suffering too. Maybe not in as much pain, but still terrified. "Trust me. I'm just trying to help." She wiped at her blurry eyes again, before turning over her shoulder to glare at the people watching them. "Well, are you just going to stand there or what!?" she yelled, a little more loudly than she intended. Some of them flinched, and many closed their doors. She cursed to herself, turning back to Levi. Great use they were.

At his question, she hesitated. COULD they help? She could only hope. "I don't know," she told him honestly. "But I don't know what else to do. Come on, let's try, at least." Still holding a hand out to somewhat control his movements, she scooted closer until she was kneeling next to his side, right next to a big, leathery wing. Amidst the terror, she somehow managed to feel a small pang of jealousy - at least he had wings. She brushed away the thought. "Can you stand?" she murmured, offering an arm but realizing belatedly that it was probably a bad choice, considering his hands were now razor-sharp.

[Levi Xu]

Okay, Ravyn really did seem upset too, and her wings were gone. She wouldn't do that to herself, right? Levi was a little relieved as he reasoned out that the curse couldn't have been from her. Of course, he still flinched as well when she yelled at the rubberneckers watching them.

Levi shook his head again, but the blood-mixed sweat on his forehead kept his hair sticking to his face and in his eyes. He didn't want to wipe his face again however, and risk cutting himself again.

He hesitated, but maybe she was right. This was Hammel. Crazy shit happened all the time, and the infirmary had to patch people up from it. It's what they did. Finally, he decided to try to stand, and took her arm for balance. (Ravyn was unbalanced without her wings, but he suddenly had a set and a tail to deal with.)

Levi instantly regretted taking her help though, as he felt his fingers slice into her skin. "Oh, oh no! I'm sorry!" He let go, but it was too late. He had cut her, and now he had her blood dripping from his claws too. He tried to back away again, but the wall and Ravyn's telekinesis stopped him.

"I don't want to hurt you." Again, he raised his claws to cover his face, ashamed and scared. She was just trying to help, and he'd injured her. "Just...let me get up and I'll follow you, okay?"

And please don't have your father hurt me more. He added in his head.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn bit her lip. She wanted to badly to help now, but she couldn't see anything that she could do immediately that would relieve his suffering. She saw him uselessly shake his head and reached out to brush the hair from his face, hoping that's what he was trying to do. She didn't know why she felt so protective of him - she really hardly even knew him. Maybe because they were both going through similar traumas, and it made her feel a little better to be helping someone out.

It was her own fault for offering her arm. He wasn't used to having claws, and she had been willing to help him up. Nevertheless, she cried out as she felt the talons slice through her skin, quickly pulling her arm away to assess the damage. There were four slices on top of her arm and one below, deep enough to bleed but not dangerously so. "It's.... It's alright," she gasped, watching a drop of blood land on her leg. "We're going to the infirmary anyway, this is nothing. Really, I'm fine." Her arm stung quite a bit, but the initial pain of her skin breaking had ebbed. At least it got her mind off of her wingless-ness. A little.

"It's okay, I... Yeah, how about you just get up on your own. I'll be right back." She ran (well, stumbled really; how did people balance without wings?) back to her room really quickly, grabbed a couple towels, and ran back out, wrapping one around her arm. "Here," she said, awkwardly handing the other one to Levi. "Um, if you want to wipe off your face, or something." Could he do that with claws? She didn't know. But it seemed like an okay plan at the moment. After making sure he could walk on his own (he really had WINGS! Dragon wings! And a TAIL!), she slowly set off down the hall, keeping one hand on the wall and the other outstretched towards Levi, ready to catch him with her new telekinesis in case he stumbled. "What on earth happened?" she asked, motioning towards the new appendages. "I mean, did you wake up with them, or...?"

[Levi Xu]

He stumbled a bit as he got to his feet. His tail got in the way, his wings got in his way, and he gouged out some holes in the drywall as he supported himself with the wall. Well, he was going to get in trouble for that one, unless there were a bunch of other people who had claws now too. He couldn't stand up straight with the wings; his back still hurt and they were heavy.

Levi took the towel from the girl, but winced as he felt his fingers slice through it as well. He'd hurt her, and now he was destroying her things too. Why was she still being kind to him? He wiped his face with it anyway, managing to soak up some of the sweat and at least got the hair stuck out of his eyes.

He followed Ravyn down the hall, carefully not meeting the eyes of any students who were still looking out of their rooms. Perversely, he hoped some of them were going through this too; having their powers torn away and replaced with something terrible and painful. Or at least terrible. They deserved it for staring like this.

It took a moment for Levi to respond to her questions. Honestly, he didn't remember if his claws had come out before or after he woke up. "I woke up and they were coming out. It really hurts." Obviously.

He looked back over his shoulder, but the wings blocked his view of the doors they had passed. "We can't be the only ones this is happening too, can we? Is everyone cursed?"

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn glared at anyone that looked at them too openly. "What?" she hissed at a guy that she didn't recognize, who was smirking at both of them. "You think it's funny that he just went through a traumatic, painful experience that he didn't deserve? You're sick." She thrust her hand out and, without really meaning to, slammed the door in his face. She jolted, forgetting she now apparently had that ability. She almost smiled. He had deserved it. "Come on Levi," she muttered, wishing more than anything she could hide under the comfort of her wings. Her poor companion looked like he could hardly take the weight of his, let alone control them.

She glanced at him as he answered her question, frowning sympathetically. "I'm sure it did. I know what it's like to have wings tear out of your back, trust me. I feel your pain." She couldn't say she had developed a tail and claws, though. "It will stop eventually. It's just the initial... Ripping that's the worst. Hey, doesn't Mr. Woonren have dragon form?" she asked, pausing for a moment. "He might know more about this. Maybe we should see if someone can get him for us." She kept talking, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach. Whenever she was stressed like this, she found the nearest exit and just flew. But she couldn't do that now.

Ravyn followed his gaze backwards, finding it sickly ironic that he couldn't see and normally could, while she was just the opposite. "I can't tell. Not everyone came and looked at us, but the ones that did don't look like they're panicking. Then again, not everyone has abilities that are as... Visible as ours." She really hoped they weren't alone in this, but at the same time she hated to think that anyone else might be suffering. "There has to be some sort of explanation," she added, clenching her teeth.

They carefully made their way down the stairs to the bottom floor. Stairs were extremely hard to get down - Ravyn almost had to slide down to keep from falling over. Levi's trip was just as, if not more so, difficult than hers. "Are you doing okay?" she asked once they reached the bottom. "I mean, minus the whole... Dragon thing." Of course he wasn't okay, she mentally chided herself. "Do you need water or... Or anything?"

[Levi Xu]

Levi blushed more and said nothing when Ravyn stood up for him. Even with his temperature elevated--he had to be sick, and maybe that was causing it--he could feel the heat rush to his face. He was used to being a freak, but this was a new feeling.

"There's... a teacher who does. I don't know who." He'd been placed in Ms. Reynolds class for Home Economics, and had frankly avoided the tall, scary-looking man he'd sometimes seen in the hallway. Even if the teacher didn't have the wings, he was still a good two feet taller than Levi was, and therefore intimidating.

But at this point, Levi was willing to go to just about anyone for help. Even Dr. Neville, if he had to.

"But...my power isn't visible. It's all in my head." Of course, Levi was referring to how he "knew" things. He'd reasoned out that being cursed into this new body kept him from recognizing the girl's divinity. He hadn't realized his own power was gone. Particularly not when it seemed only he and Ravyn were affected.

Navigating the stairs was tricky for him, between the weight of the wings on his back and the tail that either dragged behind him or attempted to trick him. Feeling the claw marks he was digging into the wooden railing didn't help either, but at least he didn't fall. He bit the inside of his lip, and was surprised to taste blood instantly. Maybe he bit harder than he intended. (Later, when he finally looked in a mirror, he would realize that his teeth were slightly pointed now.)

"I'm not a dragon," Levi insisted when he finally made it downstairs. (Thank G-d he wasn't all the way up on the boys-only floor.) Dragons were lucky. He was a monster. "I'm not a dragon; we've been cur..."

Suddenly, it clicked. He hadn't lost faith that Ravyn was a Goddess. His power was gone. Which meant his ability to shield from telepaths was gone too. Instead, he had wings, claws, and a tail. "Is everything about your power gone? Did you have anything else other than your wings?"

He closed his eyes, praying that when he opened them, he'd know something, anything, about the girl in front of him.... no luck. "Ravyn, it's in my head. Someone took my power away."

[Ravyn Rozanova]

"Yeah, I think it is Mr. Woonren." She frowned. "I wonder if anything is happening to him too." She wondered vaguely if maybe somewhere, a telekinetic had suddenly grown wings. Because, you know, that totally made sense. People switching powers... Right.

She glanced at him as he talked about his powers, suddenly realizing... She didn't actually know what his usual powers were. All she knew is that he didn't normally look like... Well. This. "Um, what is it that you can normally do?" she asked quietly. "Telepathy? Astral projection?" He had said it was in his head, and those were the first two mental abilities that came to mind. She didn't like to pry, but it might be important to know.

When they were both safely on the bottom floor, she slowly meandered towards the exit. She thought about his question. "Well, my bones are partially hollow too, but I don't know how I can determine-" She stopped. Maybe that was why she was having such a hard time getting around. Not only did she not have her wings, but her bones... Were they solid now? She lifted an arm, now aware of how heavy it felt. She hadn't paid attention amidst the chaos and confusion. "Dammit," she hissed. Her powers were really and truly gone. She wrapped her arms around herself, fighting not to give in to panic again.

She focused her attention on Levi. "So somehow your ability is gone, and you're now a dra- I mean, you have new, uh, limbs." She tried to think of any possible explanation. "Are there any metas that can, like, take abilities away and give new ones?" If so she was going to find him or her and demand they be switched back. As useful as telekinesis was at the moment, she would give anything to be herself again. "Maybe we should talk to Mr. Neville too. He might know of someone with that ability." She had no idea how scared Levi was of Sean, or the dad/daughter connection he thought he had made between them.

[Levi Xu]

Levi shook his head again, and was thankful she'd given him the towel earlier. At least his hair wasn't still in his eyes. "It's like, um, ESP? I just...know things about people. Usually secrets. And I can shield from telepaths and stuff. Or I could."

He followed her to the door of the stairwell, only for his wings to get stuck. Sometimes, Evan had joked about how often he needed to duck when just walking around, but Levi had never needed that kind of spatial awareness before. He bumped into things enough; he really didn't need extra appendages to keep track of.

"No! I can't talk to him. I can't let him into my head." Without his power, he couldn't shield from telepaths. He didn't like going near the lion when he could protect his thoughts, and he sure as hell wasn't going anywhere near him now.

It did make sense to ask him, though. He had to know all the metas who had come through Hammel, which meant all the metas in the US. Dr. N knew everything. "Can you do it? I mean, he's your dad."

He still didn't know why she called him Mr. Neville though. Probably didn't want people treating her different because of it.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

"Ooh, alright," Ravyn replied, nodding. ESP made sense. She froze a moment later, though, from his comment about knowing secrets. How much did he know about her? "Er, how much do you know about people?" she asked, rubbing her arm. "I mean... Do you know a lot of embarrassing secrets?" She felt her cheeks flush at the thought. Well, at the moment at least, it seemed he didn't have the ability anyway, so maybe she didn't need to worry about it. Still, she wished she shared his ability to shield telepaths.

"Oh, goodness," she sighed, seeing him stuck in the doorway. "I know how that feels. Um, here, let me see if I can..." She carefully maneuvered around him, making sure to stay away from his claws as she tried to reach his wings. "Do you think you can pull them more tightly against your back?" she asked quietly. "It might hurt, since you're still, well, getting used to them, but it would help out a lot." With a little pushing and tugging (carefully, of course - she didn't want to hurt him any more), they managed to get him through. She let out a breath, wincing as her torn arm began to sting again.

She held up her hands as he cried out against seeing the psychiatrist. "Okay, okay. If you're that against it, we don't have to. He's very kind though, I'm sure he wouldn't pry without your permission." Or so she hoped. She had visited Dr. Neville occasionally, and he had always been very pleasant. She was sure if anyone knew anything about what was going on, it was him.

His next question had her completely baffled. She actually gawked open-mouthed at him for a good five seconds as she tried to register what he had said. Finally: "My..... Dad? Levi why.... Why on earth do you think he's my dad?" She didn't mean to sound harsh, but she had no idea why he had come to that conclusion. "My dad lives in Russia, he's a huge alcoholic that I've only met once or twice in my life. I would love to have someone like Dr. Neville as my dad, but... He's not." Was Levi sick? He was definitely hot, maybe he was getting delirious from a fever or something. "Well, whatever the case, I'd.... Be happy to ask him for you." She took a deep breath, wishing for the hundredth time that this was all just a dream. "We just need to get help. I don't know how much longer I can go before I completely panic."

[Levi Xu]

Levi shrugged. He didn't want to tell her a whole lot about his power. It was hard enough to explain when he had access to it; he didn't think he was able to when he couldn't use it.

He was never going to tease Evan about being too big for his treehouse again. With his wings like this, he'd never fit anywhere ever. "I think I can..." He hadn't tried really moving the wings on their own, and it felt so strange to control them. They managed to get him through the door, but it was as much Ravyn's pushing as his his own doing. He could feel them, but he hoped he wouldn't have them long enough to really learn how to use them properly.

He didn't respond to her assurances about Dr. N, because well, she was biased. Of course she thought he was kind. She was his daughter; benevolence was almost a given in that case.

Ravyn's confusion felt familiar. Just like when he'd told Evan about knowing he was Spider-Man, it looked like she didn't know how to react. "Um...sometimes my power gets things wrong."

If his face weren't already flushed from the extra heat, he would have been blushing heavily at this point. As it was, he now had mortification added on top of the mess of emotions in his head right now. He didn't meet her eyes and hurried towards the exit. "Maybe one of the trainers can fix us."

((We need to have them find an authority figure to help out.))