Chapter 7: Unfettered
The "Moment" that time froze for the sake of Marcus, a fledging jumper now forced to flee with little more than his life and about half of his perks, gets stretched out to almost comical lengths. By the time the jumper is both purified of the mark his foe left on him, one that might well have spelled a near immediate second death if left untreated due to how it could have allowed the cryptid to pursue and track the jumper, and far enough away from the living drawback that is nanoseconds from undergoing a frightening evolution to view him as not worth pursuing, entire hours ought to have passed.
Perks Marcus possesses, or in some cases possessed prior to his encounter, have successfully safeguarded his existence as a free-willed, truly living being, though not without great personal cost. And eventually it comes time for perks to set the world back in motion.
Unfreezing time is a difficult task, one that requires all sorts of esoteric calculations and eldritch actions on a scale so microscopically small that the humans of the world this disastrous battle has taken place on do not yet have words for it. Nonetheless, the unspeakable forces that allow for perks to work across universes to exist spring into action when Marcus has crept far enough from the cryptid.
Creatures so small they make atoms look universe-sized spring into action, and their mischief as they obey eldritch instincts that predate humanity cause abstract principles and unnamed laws to take effect that allow both the final stage of Marcus's escape plan to begin and also kickoff the next stage of the small apotheosis the cryptid is about to undergo.
Deep in the recesses of the mind of the entity who spent many minutes supernaturally determined to feed on Marcus, a notification is constructed and certain restraints and blinders that kept the entity focused on its quarry are primed to be turned off, forever.
The nature of the creature's essence mixing with and empowering a stolen piece of the etheric organ once fully located in Marcus's soul have set in place the foundations for an unholy evolution. Though some parts of his evolution happen while time is frozen, the most critical parts of the process require the passage of time, no matter how minute the scale.
The moment that time begins to resume, the sharp-witted creature immediately senses something has changed even before enough time has passed to allow him to detect the sudden, and rather remarkable, absence of the creature he is certain is about to perish at his hands.
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Before my very eyes, in less than the time it takes someone to write a period, I watch Marcus go from standing in front of me to suddenly disappearing, his entire body vanishing in one moment. While this is occurring the "Mark" I placed on the man vanishes as well, leaving me completely unaware of his current location. I even glance in the direction of his sword and am unsurprised to notice that it has also gone missing. At the same time the strange feelings that have been swirling around inside of me begin to powerfully intensify, causing me to fall to my knees at a rather inopportune time.
A part of me is certain that whatever happened to Marcus he is well and truly gone, at least in the sense that he got the hell out of dodge, but it's not like Marcus is not the only threat I am facing. I alert the text box still in my mind's eye that I'd like Mary's corpse to be turned into one of my shadow servants, even as I mentally order my servants to restrain and slay Alexander. None of them question Marcus's disappearance, which is good because I wouldn't have any answers for them if they did question where he went.
I give my servants their orders right in the nick of time, as a split second later the strange, but pleasant, sensations I have been enduring reach a new peak of intensity. They threaten to deprive me of my wits.
Thanks to the time I spent processing the memories and knowledge of Nathan I have an awareness of at least some human emotions. Unsurprisingly, the time I spent familiarizing myself with humans, also through Nathan's knowledge and memories, has equipped me with an understanding of some sensations that humans might experience. And somehow, even considering Nathan's career, I lack the vocabulary needed to either properly or efficiently articulate the strange things I am feeling.
The sensation is comparable in intensity to the heart stopping excitement Nathan felt when he got a particularly special birthday or holiday present but it's also more widespread. The excitement I feel is not limited to my chest, but instead covers my entire body. It is a dizzying sensation, though one that is incredibly pleasant to endure.
It all began when Marcus, the strangest human I've encountered so far, began to leak sickly, poisoned blood from his eyes. The instant after that occurred, I began to feel a strange tidal wave of… something exciting stirring deep inside of me. Now, with every second that has passed, those feelings have grown, only just now stopping their conquest of my entire body. They only had seconds to spread, but evidently that was enough.
The feeling's spread eventually plateaus, but only because it has nowhere left to go. I can feel it present in every cell in my body, and it takes me a moment to recognize that the sensation is the result of something within me… changing.
The remarkable feeling is almost some sort of weapon that forces me to sit and to endure whatever is happening to me. It robs me of much of my awareness, though not all of it. I can faintly feel that time is passing, even if I'm not sure how much time has passed since I began to feel bizarre.
It is difficult for me to be sure while I am still feeling the bizarre sensation coursing through me, but I think I can feel the structure of my brain changing. If that is accurate, I can also assume that something about the way my brain is being changed is affecting my mind, in fact the sensation I feel is most likely a result of my brain undergoing some sort of alteration.
"I feel… free." I eventually mutter, as I begin to identify bits and pieces of what I'm feeling. Slowly but surely I sense a sort of… subtle fog clearing from my head. As it fades I sense my attunement to the world around me deepening, and the speed at which I can fully integrate the memories of the men and women I've slain begins to increase.
A notification appears in the middle of my mind's eye. It is a decently lengthy, and not transparent thing that demands my attention. It being opaque means I must look at it and read the thing before I regain the ability to see much of what is in front of me.
[Alert: Apotheosis
You have 'Slain' a jumper. Jumpers are universe-hopping entities who, through the usage of an etheric organ situated in their souls, can survive the otherwise fatal stress traveling from one universe to another would put on a mortal body. Their etheric organs are so potent that they transform radiation located in the liminal spaces between universes into energy that can be spent to empower themselves. The most common way this energy is used is that it is transformed into "Perks", but sufficiently talented, devoted, or otherwise remarkable natives to a universe can also manifest perks of their very own.
While "Slaying" the jumper you were just fighting your essence, the nascent power within you that allows you to resurrect those you kill, latched onto the jumper's organ and cut into it, a process that closely replicates the process by which you gain the ability to use the powers, knowledge, and memories of those you kill. One of the pieces of the organ it cut out was successfully transferred to you and now rests within your soul.
This sliver of an organ is transforming your body and warping your soul. While only a slight shard of a much larger thing, even the fragmented piece of the organ you possess is powerful enough, at least when coupled with your essence, to allow you to overcome the limitations that have been influencing you. You are becoming more than a 'Drawback'. The etheric organ is also not the only thing you unintentionally stole from the jumper.]
The box is filled with curious words that I can tell have double, triple, or more meanings but I opt to focus on what I can make sense of right away. One of my first takeaways, and the most important one right now, is that Marcus is still alive. Somehow.
If the "Jumper" were dead, I ought to have been able to turn him into one of my shadow servants, or at least have his memories and any perks he possesses but I never got a notification about transforming him and after wracking my brain for any memories I don't even slightly recognize, all I perceive is a strange… static whenever I examine a seemingly empty corner of my mind.
I instinctively know that these must be new memories, almost certainly Marcus's memories, but now they seem untouchable. I don't know why this is, as until now I've been able to see entire lifetimes of memories with ease, provided I slew the person whose memories I was examining. What a bizarre turn of events…
Annoyingly as soon as the lengthy alert vanishes it is immediately replaced by another one. A lengthier one.
[Alert: Overcoming Limits and Transcending Destiny
When a 'Jumper' enters a universe they shed a tremendous amount of energy as they fully materialize wherever they first appear. This energy infuses the universe and alters it in ways that differ from jumper to jumper Normally these changes are beneficial, such as empowering people who have the potential to be unique friends and allies of the jumper or transforming items and bonding them to the jumper.
Some of the alterations the energy makes on the universe the intruder has just entered are decidedly unbeneficial, relative to the jumper. 'Drawbacks' refer to certain things, people, and creatures, who are unusually receptive to the energy radiated by a jumper but are changed in ways that make them dangerous to the figure responsible for their changes and sometimes even outright hostile to them.
You were a drawback, and certainly the greatest of them as far as the active danger you pose to the jumper. Jumpers do not directly control the number of drawbacks they create when they enter a universe, and some drawbacks are decidedly stronger than others, nor can they reject them. Overcoming drawbacks, on the other hand, is possible for a smart enough or strong enough jumper. Your foe was not smart or strong enough to overcome you.
You existed in this universe for a matter of days before Marcus entered it, and you even natively possess 'Cryptid' abilities such as your shapeshifting and stealth skill. Your essence was inside of you, but not active, until Marcus's multi-universal radiation seeped into you. When Marcus entered this universe his energies allowed your essence to begin to mature, a process which slightly accelerates whenever you slay something.
The essence inside of you is a particularly potent nascent font of power that both confers to you new abilities and serves as an amplifier of everything you are. Unless something unlikely occurred, such as Marcus's intrusion into this world, you were likely going to have lived a simple life, slaying animals, maybe even a human or another cryptid or two, and at most awakening a handful of the powers within you before getting put down by monster hunters. Now… Well, now your destiny is your own.
No longer shall you be restrained, as now even the instincts you possess to hunt the figure responsible for your initial change are fading away, represented by the feeling of a fog lifting in your mind. You are no longer a drawback, no longer driven by instincts subtly programmed into you by alien energies and extra-universal radiation. That said, to gain true power you must embrace what you are. By doing that, by embracing the essence inside of you, you can
You have become, and are becoming, something new. Something strange. Something altogether wonderful, though in a dark, cruel way. How does it feel?]
The notification vanishes as soon as I finish reading it, and it is not immediately replaced by another text box. As for the answer to its question… It feels good, I feel good. Because of my ignorance of the, extra-universal, nature of my drive to consume Marcus, coupled with the fact that I am incredibly new to being sapient, I wasn't aware of the almost manufactured nature of my desires.
Now that the strange fog that began influencing my thoughts before I even gained the ability to truly think and subtly stifled my ability to think freely is being purged I can think about what I want for the first time in my life.
I stop being introspective for a split second, to inspect my surroundings and to allow for more of the fog to lift as this is a decently slow process. This happens just in time for me to see Alexander fighting for his life against all four of the shadowy remnants of the "Teenage Truth Seekers", as I know Mary once called her and her friends in conversation with Marcus, and Nathan. The sight of the group fighting against the strange man is amusing, and so I elect to watch for a few moments.
None of the shadows are naturally skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and that's obvious with as little as a glance at their movements. I am no expert boxer or anything, but thanks to my perfect recall of all of Nathan's memories and of some of the memories of the small gang I slew, coupled with what I am learning just by watching Alexander do mildly well against the teens and the professor, I can tell that he's a skilled warrior.
Against no less than five people it is tough for Alexander, who is unarmed, to do little more than defend against an unrelenting flurry of limbs, but he does so with impressive grace and dexterity. His eyes flit between fighters as they move against him with subtle coordination.
The sleuths and Nathan are not fighters, but their status as shadow servants empowers them tremendously and makes them enduring enough that while they can't match Alexander one on one, they can wear him down over time.
Alexander will dodge a kick, only to have to contend with a fist a split second later. Roger will try to tackle him, which he'll manage to overcome with a powerful punch and a kick, only to have to immediately dodge a surprisingly sharp kick from Mary. Alexander is easily the most skilled fighter I've ever seen in terms of true skill, and his actual stores of energy are equally impressive as he's been dealing with this for minutes now, after enduring the earlier battle. Watching the fight is a bit like Nathan's memories of watching an old martial arts movie!
That said, I eventually grow tired of watching this fight. This is primarily because the conclusion is a foregone one. Alexander, even as skilled as he is, does not have the raw physique needed to contend with two shadow servants, much less five.
My enhanced senses are sharp enough that I can see the subtle tells that he is tiring, the way that his movements are slowing and the tension in his muscles when he reacts to a blow by one of my minions give away how this story ends. Perhaps if he hadn't had to deal with me earlier…
I turn inward once more, devoting a fair deal of my concentration to sifting through the memories I have absorbed but not yet unpacked. As I do this, I feel information, now fully contextualized, begin to flood into my mind.
Nathan's knowledge serves as the baseline standard by which other knowledge is more easily assimilated. Things like Mary's understanding of science, Roger's understanding of fitness, and even Anthony's surprisingly complex understanding of psychology, all blend together and are meshed into a curiously holistic understanding of the world, which begins to grow as I begin to run out of raw knowledge to assimilate and begin to work on unpacking memories.
Memories are a tougher beast to unpack than knowledge is. Memories come with context, and often require multiple viewings for me to fully understand them, which is part of why it took me a beat to fully assimilate all the contents of Nathan's mind. Thankfully, now armed with both an unfettered mind and with the processing power of Nathan's mind I am unpacking memories much faster than I did when I was dealing with Nathan's mind, even though all in all I have almost sixty years of memories to sift through.
Thankfully, all I really need, at this moment, is knowledge. It turns out that consuming a group of detectives and an academic is great when it means I can absorb what they know about the world around me.
Speaking of knowledge… As I focus on the contents of my mind I suddenly grow aware that I possess several wholly new perks. I can intuitively tell that these perks belong to Marcus, or more accurately that they belonged to him. Most of these perks don't confer wholly new abilities, but rather buff me in distinct ways such as enhancing the creativity I feel relative to my own powers or increasing the effects of training and self-improvement I undertake.
As I allow a more passive part of my conscious mind to continue to work to assimilate what my unconscious mind already knows I review my immediate situation. One of the big things that immediately comes to mind as I review my immediate situation is that this conflict has resulted in me gaining incredible resources, in the form of Mary and her gang.
The detectives are an already established, if not yet especially well-known, mobile set of eyes and ears that investigate mysteries that put them in contact with monsters and the supernatural. Just from Anthony's memories I know the group has had encounters with other supernatural creatures, creatures that if I, or they, murder I will also be able to resurrect as my servants. Not to mention the fact that they know law enforcement officials in states across the country…
Nathan is also far from a slouch in the resource department. He's a popular professor at his university, and goes to conferences across the country, which gives him a decent number of personal resources and allows his status as one of my shadows to result in me having easier access to academics and intellectuals. Devouring intellectuals and academics gives me the ability to instantly learn a lot about a range of fields, and also makes it easier for me to stealthy enter a number of areas that Mary and the sleuths might struggle to sneak into.
And then there's Alexander… While he's not a servant of mine yet, he is a curious wildcard. It's clear that the figure is some sort of warrior, and supernatural himself, and it's possible that when he is "Recruited" into my service I can use him as either a personal protector or as an elite headhunter tracking down and nailing more dangerous potential additions to my forces.
Of course, I can't keep my thoughts confined to what I've gained. Right now there are two wild cards I need to consider: Peggy, and Marcus. Peggy, Nathan's girlfriend, is in the wind right now. Thanks to my knowledge of geography as well as what Nathan knows about her, I can assume she's either on her way to the university she attends, or heading out of state to seek comfort in the arms of family. While the university is closer, the sheer terror of our eventful meeting might have harmed her state of mind enough to push her to seek to put distance between the site of her trauma and herself.
She knows about me, somewhat, but given the fact that if she tells people that her boyfriend was slain by a… supernatural, deer-monster, she'd sound insane. She could also lie and report her boyfriend as missing, but doing so would backfire since now that I can think freely and long-term it's clear that I'd be best served by Nathan by sending him back to the university. In a number of ways it's possible that Peggy will inadvertently deal with herself, whether by keeping what happened to Nathan a secret, going insane, or even having an accident on her way away from here. Though, I'd prefer to deal with her directly if possible…
When I am done here, I can have Nathan call Peggy. Doing so will let me evaluate her state of mind and will allow me to decide what to do with her. It is at this point that an enigmatic notification appears in the corner of my mind's eye.
[Alert: Growth And Freedom
Stealing and then incorporating part of Marcus's etheric organ into yourself has resulted in you entering a new, unnatural, stage of an already unnatural life. You are now aware of the existence of other universes, and as you grow into your new abilities you will also gain fragmented awareness of some of Marcus's memories in places unimaginably far from here.
Despite this, the ability to travel to other universes remains beyond you. In your current state, you are not whole. To be freed from the confines of one universe, someone must possess a whole etheric organ. If you wish to touch something greater than one universe, become whole.]
That notification's true purpose is clear. It seeks to push me into having another encounter with Marcus, one that if I win I will b able to transcend my new self as readily as I have transcended my old self with this first victory. If I "become whole" I can do what Marcus has done and become something multiuniversal… And becoming multiuniversal means encountering new things, meeting new people, and gaining new servants and powers.
Is that what I want? I mean, looking at Marcus it's clear that entering one universe doesn't signify that one is particularly powerful, and what happened to him could happen to me.
But the notification also makes it clear that my attack on Marcus left him stranded here as well. I stole part of his organ and if it takes a whole one to travel from universe to universe that means that he is stranded here. That means that even though I lost him it is likely that I have time to find him and rip out his whole organ, and if his organ can't recover on its own then he may well be stuck here forever, or he may need to rip out what I stole and put it back in himself… What a situation I have found myself in!
Right as I begin to think about Marcus I receive a notification alerting me to the demise of Alexander, this precedes me sensing his vast wisdom and lifetime of memories, as well as a surprising gift in the form of a handful of "Perks" he possessed, begin to flow into me as I inform the notification that I'd like to make him one of my servants. His thoroughly beaten corpse vanishes as easily as the corpses of the teen sleuths did when I made them my minions, and I begin to smile. His transformation into one of my shadowy servants begins, as I begin to pay attention to my surroundings and study the scene before me.
This part of the forest is a chaotic mess. The van is visible in the background, wrecked and next to the tree it crashed into, blood covers a considerable amount of grass, and a few different bullets litter the ground. That said, one consequence of my mind being unfettered, coupled with new perks in my possession is that now I can quite easily begin to clean up after myself.
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The strange, naked "human" silently raises his hand and the shadows who serve him are astounded to watch as he wordlessly begins to manipulate reality. The fluids that cover parts of the forest's floor, along with other debris from the fight such as the bullets, all begin to float, detaching themselves from the grass they clung to or otherwise ignoring physics to obey to the whims of the monster.
This is a synergistic fusion of several the creature's abilities, blending disparate parts of "Elementalism", "Rotter" and "Merciful Ruination", a feat which is only possible because of the newly unfettered status of the being's mind coupled with a few of his new perks. The potency of the fusion of abilities becomes evident when the metal bullets begin to abruptly rust, and the floating blood begins to thin supernaturally suddenly. The creature concentrates on his efforts, keeping the unusual objects in the air as they begin to waste away to nothing.
"Servants, you have performed admirably." The creature states, smiling as he watches his powers warp reality. He is clearly fascinated by his own abilities, and he is eager to use them. His servants, even Alexander, all smile at his praise. They also watch him demonstrate his powers with awestruck expressions, as they only have the barest understanding of the powers he possesses and only know about the ones they themselves endured.
"We fought a battle against opponents with powers of their own. Alexander and Marcus are both powered beings, and while I am disappointed that Marcus escaped, we have attained a wonderful victory today." The creature begins, even as he turns his attention to the van and begins to walk towards it.
"Now that the battle is over, I can introduce myself. Or at least I could if I were a being… like you." The creature continues, causing his servants to look at him quizzically even as he begins to willingly transform. Over the span of time it takes the shadow servants to walk in the direction of their master the creature they serve goes from resembling a human to something loosely resembling the form he was in when he was first empowered: that of a large, tiger-like creature.
"I am not a man. I am a monster, a powerful 'Cryptid' with an array of patently supernatural abilities. The reason I was hunting Marcus was that I was being manipulated, unknowingly, by powerful supernatural energies, and now that I have hunted him and dealt him a significant blow I am free from their influence" The creature explains, now speaking through subtle usage of his supernatural powers rather than doing so biologically.
"Marcus lives. His escape is due, no doubt, to his own supernatural powers but my efforts to hunt him were successful enough that it appears that I have stolen some of the powers he possessed, due to his own unnatural nature." The cryptid reveals, enigmatically. As it does this, it opens its mouth in the direction of the van and begins to unleash and direct a powerful sonic strike aimed at the vehicle. The shadows watch this, curiously, and the gang of teenaged detectives are expressionless as their treasured transport is disposed of.
"Marcus is a 'Jumper', a creature capable of traveling from one universe to another. When he moves from one place to another his entrances release energy that warps and alters people, places, and things. I was one of the things he altered and one of my alterations made it so that when I became aware of him I wanted to devour him." The creature reveals, aware that he can trust his servants and so opting to be honest with them.
The next few minutes are filled with activity. The creature evolves enough to get a notification alerting it that it now owns new items, which it becomes determined to research when it is alone. The unnamed cryptid also finishes assimilating the memories of Dakota, Mary, and Anthony, while it processes the raw knowledge of Alexander, who it is overjoyed to discover is a military veteran who was vaguely aware of the supernatural and who possesses a number of perks the fierce cryptid also now possesses.
At the same time its unfettered mind begins to benefit from some of the stranger perks in its possession. Perks like "Myth", "General Knowledge", "I Know", "Ritualist", and even potent combinations of all those perks and more, begin to synergize. This massively expands the creature's awareness of the world, as well as begins a process that, like the creature's complete evolution, will take a few hours: the process of subtly modifying the world so that some background perks in the creature's possession take root properly.
The creature finishes rusting the vehicle as it explains more of its origins, including its history with Nathan and Peggy, and begins to discuss its plans.
"Marcus and Peggy are… wildcards. I don't think Peggy is particularly dangerous, but in this world, there are people who might hear her story, if she blabs, and elect to investigate it even after Nathan reports to work on Monday. And if any of those people are supernatural… I don't love the thought of having aware supernatural opponents lurking in the wild. So, I'd like someone to go and handle her." The creature reveals, as it studies the remains of the van. All the shadow servants eagerly attempt to volunteer, grateful for opportunities to enact their master's whims, but he sighs and almost immediately silences them with an annoyed mental utterance.
"I appreciate the… enthusiasm, but I only need one person to do this. Roger, when we know where Peggy is you go and 'Recruit' her. After all, she doesn't know you so you'll be able to approach her without spooking her once we know where she is," The being decides, before it glances at Nathan and decides to edit its plans. "Nathan, take a proactive approach in figuring out Peggy's location. I don't want to leave part of this to chance and fail to suppress Peggy in time for her to tell someone the truth." The creature informs his servant, who nods and slips a hand in his pocket. He retrieves his phone and smoothly unlocks it.
"As for the rest of you… Hmm," The cryptid begins, as he looks out and studies the remaining shadows. One of the first aspects of the cryptid's plans that he revealed is that he plans for Nathan to continue teaching. Thanks to the knowledge of the sleuths the creature is aware of how weird it'd look for a well-liked professor to suddenly decide to quit teaching, plus the cryptid is firmly aware of the fact that Nathan's most valuable contributions to the shadow-king's resources are all dependent on Nathan continuing to appear mundane.
"Alexander is a powerful, perk-possessing, 'Documenter' and thanks to you all recruiting him so am I. Of all of us, his abilities and his breadth of experience are both the most directly useful, and most potent, so I want to keep him here, or at least relatively close to me, and only use him when the situation calls for him." The cryptid explains, which thrills the older gentleman but disappoints the others when they make inferences based on what the creature has told him: that they will be more useful further away from their master than in his direct presence.
"The impression that Alexander gives off is that of a strange, grouchy old man. He is perfect for working as the steward of this region, particularly back in the town you all met in. I can easily use my shapeshifting to take on an unassuming disguise, maybe like a kitten or something, and stay here with him, keeping a close eye on Marcus's house while you all cement our positions elsewhere." The monster states, even as it closes its eyes and forcefully uses telekinesis to do something physically demanding.
A screeching sound suddenly reverberates throughout the part of the forest the monster and its servants are located. The sound is the result of the rusted remains of the van being compressed into a small cube of rusted metal. A split second later the ground underneath the cube opens up and swallows the object, before suddenly closing and thereby hiding the remains of the van.
"As for the immediate future… Let's go to where Roger and Dakota were defeated, and then head to the cabin. From there I can use your memories to teleport you to places from which you can more easily begin your tasks than you'd be able to from here." The creature tells the group, causing them to begin a trek that will take, in total, an hour and a half. The first part of the trek, to where Roger and Dakota were killed, only takes minutes.
When the group arrives, the cryptid cleans up after itself, and the group begins to hike a bit longer. During this time Nathan is unsurprised that he fails to get in touch with Peggy, but he does send her texts telling her he's okay, and missing her, which she immediately reads. The group reaches the cabin, and silently crowd into one of the bathrooms in the place, where a large mirror serves as a perfect conduit for one of the cryptid's stranger abilities: the power to travel through certain objects and substances, such as mirrors, without regard for distance.
"Alright Nathan, you're up first." The creature declares, as it reaches up and places one of its powerful paws on the mirror. Ripples spread from where the cryptid touched the object, and as they spread the mirror stops being a reflective object and instead begins to show the group a stylishly decorated modern-looking apartment.
Nathan laughs lightly as he watches this, and looks at the mirror, and then his master, in shock. He eventually snaps out of it, and is helped up to the top of the vanity-sink where the mirror is located.
"Amazing, master…" The shadow utters, as he looks into the mirror for a second. He then turns and nods at his master and steps through the mirror. This causes the reservoir of arcane energy the cryptid possesses to take a hit, but not one big enough to hurt the creature's mood.
The creature's desire to try and use "Traveler" on its shadow servants is the result of an indirect but powerful perk named "Oh, the Possibilities". This perk is one it stole from Marcus, and it has been filling the creature with ideas ever since the beast stole it from its original owner, which is what the perk does. It is a handy creativity booster that amplifies creativity related specifically to perks and powers one possesses, which makes it an invaluable power in the hands of a power-thief like the cryptid.
The idea that the cryptid has just successfully tried out is that while it possesses many perks that are only supposed to work on it, its shadow servants are a part of it. "Traveler" is one such self-directed power, and the knowledge that it can be used to safely transport shadow servants makes it an unbelievably handy ability.
The creature replicates what it just did for Nathan for the sleuths, effectively depositing them back in the tiny motel they were planning to stay at, and finally it repeats its usage of this power once more to send Alexander back to his home in the same town where the sleuths were staying. And suddenly, for the first time since the creature truly began its dark journey, it finds itself alone.
"And now… Items. I should also probably pick out a name for myself." The creature says, even as it begins to wander in the direction of the bedroom where it first met Nathan and Peggy. The cabin itself subtly shudders, happy to house its true owner.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone