[ Ben gives a quick, curt nod when Pratt warns him about the rifle. The news that this man is armed doesn't seem to daunt him. It won't be anything like the first time Ben has faced down a hostile stranger with a gun. Sure... it's been a lot of years and he doesn't have his siblings here, but that's life.
He proceeds forward, jaw set, not waiting for Pratt to finish his objections, his explanations. Jacob is a big bad monster to him, and Ben totally gets that. But this isn't his own big bad monster. If this had happened some other way there would be time to get all the information, come up with a smarter approach. That's out the window, now. The guy is here and armed and Pratt had been very clear about him not hesitating to kill people, and wanting the deputy dead in particular. Ben doesn't know Pratt super well yet, but he isn't about to let that happen. So he just repeats: ]
Stay back -
[ Then it is all happening so fast. There's a man in front of them and Ben's not sure what he had been expecting Jacob to look like, but this definitely isn't it. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up when Jacob speaks, not to him, but straight past him, to Pratt. Ben doesn't know the history, but he doesn't need to. This is fucked up and he can just tell.
He hadn't wanted it to go down like this. He was going to get Pratt to wait far enough away that he wouldn't have to see Jacob again or see what Ben was going to do to him. Probably this is going to scare him almost as much, Ben knows it, but he will at least not end up shot. It's just a shame, He was kinda hoping he and Pratt could get to be friends. That's probably not going to be an option after this.
As soon as Jacob reaches for what Ben assumes is some king of weapon in his pocket, his instincts kick in. As deeply as Ben resents everything his father had put him through, training him for the Academy, it sure did make him into an effective killing machine. He clenches his fists against the pain as the portal in his stomach opens, and then he isn't thinking or worrying any more. All Ben's concentration is swallowed up in directing the violence of those horrible creatures towards his intended target. Not at Pratt, not at the wolf. Just Jacob. He has to stay conscious and hold tight to control, so it is only Jacob they lash out and wrap around. Jacob they lift off the ground and bash into the ceiling as if he weighed nothing.
Ben has to keep that violence all pointed in one direction, and just that, and staying conscious through the pain (he doesn't even notice himself screaming) is all he can manage. Moderation would be asking too much. So the tentacles don't just let that one killing blow be enough. They slam Jacob into the ground even harder, and the sound is wet and crunching and terrible. Then they heave him into the air like a rag doll, twisting and contracting in key leverage points. It's basic physics, where to pull and how hard, to rip a human body in half. Ben knows the feel of it intimately, before it even happens.
Except when he is torn apart, Jacob explodes into a shimmering, dark cloud, and that definitely is not something Ben was expecting. The tentacles thrash, suddenly deprived of anything to hang onto. Ben feels them feeling around, something alive, something with blood, something to mangle... and slams the portal shut as fast as he can, breathing hard, swaying slightly on his feet. ]
cw violence and gore
He proceeds forward, jaw set, not waiting for Pratt to finish his objections, his explanations. Jacob is a big bad monster to him, and Ben totally gets that. But this isn't his own big bad monster. If this had happened some other way there would be time to get all the information, come up with a smarter approach. That's out the window, now. The guy is here and armed and Pratt had been very clear about him not hesitating to kill people, and wanting the deputy dead in particular. Ben doesn't know Pratt super well yet, but he isn't about to let that happen. So he just repeats: ]
Stay back -
[ Then it is all happening so fast. There's a man in front of them and Ben's not sure what he had been expecting Jacob to look like, but this definitely isn't it. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up when Jacob speaks, not to him, but straight past him, to Pratt. Ben doesn't know the history, but he doesn't need to. This is fucked up and he can just tell.
He hadn't wanted it to go down like this. He was going to get Pratt to wait far enough away that he wouldn't have to see Jacob again or see what Ben was going to do to him. Probably this is going to scare him almost as much, Ben knows it, but he will at least not end up shot. It's just a shame, He was kinda hoping he and Pratt could get to be friends. That's probably not going to be an option after this.
As soon as Jacob reaches for what Ben assumes is some king of weapon in his pocket, his instincts kick in. As deeply as Ben resents everything his father had put him through, training him for the Academy, it sure did make him into an effective killing machine. He clenches his fists against the pain as the portal in his stomach opens, and then he isn't thinking or worrying any more. All Ben's concentration is swallowed up in directing the violence of those horrible creatures towards his intended target. Not at Pratt, not at the wolf. Just Jacob. He has to stay conscious and hold tight to control, so it is only Jacob they lash out and wrap around. Jacob they lift off the ground and bash into the ceiling as if he weighed nothing.
Ben has to keep that violence all pointed in one direction, and just that, and staying conscious through the pain (he doesn't even notice himself screaming) is all he can manage. Moderation would be asking too much. So the tentacles don't just let that one killing blow be enough. They slam Jacob into the ground even harder, and the sound is wet and crunching and terrible. Then they heave him into the air like a rag doll, twisting and contracting in key leverage points. It's basic physics, where to pull and how hard, to rip a human body in half. Ben knows the feel of it intimately, before it even happens.
Except when he is torn apart, Jacob explodes into a shimmering, dark cloud, and that definitely is not something Ben was expecting. The tentacles thrash, suddenly deprived of anything to hang onto. Ben feels them feeling around, something alive, something with blood, something to mangle... and slams the portal shut as fast as he can, breathing hard, swaying slightly on his feet. ]