Strings attached (solo)

While the forest was a poor testing ground; he found his ability to climb much more enhanced. He could now scale those flat skyscrapers with ease, but he still didn’t trust his ability enough to jump down. He did chance upon an idea as he made his descent from one such climb. By keeping his slime flowing from his hand he made a cord which he could use to rappel down the side. Climbing on in the concrete jungle was easier overall, he tried climbing up walls and hanging from the ceiling. Unlike with the trees, he was able to hang from his feet. He found walking on a wall even more enjoyable than climbing. His body horizontal to the ground he stood and laughed as he defied gravity. He found his prey quicker, and as promised fed on two strong signal people. He wondered if there was a city wide warning from the recent deaths. But the people didn’t seem to be taking any precautions. He returned to the forest after his grim work of cleaning up the mess he made.

He needed to better project the slime. He thought back to when he first used it to kill the shinigami. The thought of spitting at his enemies was less than appealing. Dripping it from his hands then slinging it, took way too much time for use in a fight. The use of sticky puddles had some merit, but again producing enough slime for them took too much time. He had figured how to maintain a small amount of slime on his hands and feet. Perhaps the key lay there. He sat by his usual lakeside practice area. His hands were easier to pool the slime to, and more practical, he would start there. First he tried to make a thin layer of slime on his hand. Looking at his palms he could barely see the goo. It felt like wearing a glove. He tried to pool more and droplets formed quickly. Finally he pushed more and the droplets thickened into small puddle in his hand. Still too slow, but he had better control than when he started days before. He tried with is left hand with the same results. He was missing something. He made another puddle of glue in his hand, this time big enough to start dripping from the edges of his claws. It was about the size of a softball. He took aim at a tree and slung the wad of slime. The wad stuck to his hand still. He had forgotten it’s sticky nature, he tried again this time releasing the slime’s hold on his skin. True to form, the ball of slime flew quick and true. It hit against the tree eight feet away with a splat. It was more akin to a water balloon filled with glue, as it splashed upon the tree’s hard surface. The ball had covered a good size area nearly four times the size the ball had been. “Well that’s an interesting tool, but still doesn’t solve my problem” he mutters. He wonders if the solution isn’t easier. The process of creating the slime is like squeezing on a tube of toothpaste, why not letting it build up inside first? It was a different approach worth trying. Rather than immediately letting the slime out he tried to cap it within. Stratus felt the pressure build, but was unsure how much he needed. The pressure got too intense and he released it. Slime exploded from his right hand showering his face and most of his upper body. “Ugh.” Was all he could say. Completely covered his release technique was of little use. “Guess it’s time to take a bath.” He looked to the lake and dove in.

The slime doesn’t dissolve in water, but it’s hold does become weaker once completely submerged. It becomes weak enough for Stratus to free himself of the mess covering him. Some of the slime once free of his body floated lazily on the water’s surface, while other parts of it sank like a stone. Some fish nearby swam close and started to nibble on it. Stratus watched as others joined in. “Well I guess it’s not toxic.” He was a bit disappointed; he had hoped that it would be. He stayed in the water to continue his practice, should he make another mistake and cover himself again. His next attempt at building pressure with his slime ended very similar to the first try. The blast of slime wasn’t as large, but it did splash against his face and chest. Strands of slime stretched from his hand to his now green painted exterior. He cleaned himself again in the waters and the fish feasted on the slime residue. Maximum pressure seemed to only make a mess; the wide spray would be an effective way to cover a wide area. Light pressure might be more manageable. He let the pressure only build for a second if not more, and then released it. A wad of slime seemed to plop into his hand, it was smaller than the softball he had thrown before, but it was faster than letting it drip. Little by little he tried to increase the pressure until he got the larger size of slime in his cupped hand. After forming the ball of slime he would toss them at the trees. He was till I the water, so the trees were some distance away. With his inhuman strength it was easy enough to lob the spheres to the shore. His accuracy wasn’t great, but the way they would explode slime everywhere made up for it. Still he could hit the tree easy enough with the balls. Left and right he tried forming balls, and throwing them. It was easy after got used to the amount of pressure needed. He then tried building more pressure and holding his hands together; this time he created a blob of slime the size of a basketball. It was impossible to hold with one hand, and it was even more unwieldy to throw. It barely went a quarter of the distance the smaller balls had gone. The large slime barely cleared the edge of the lake. He now had a ranged attack, but it seemed to be lacking still. Once thrown they did make decent projectiles, but delay between tosses could spell his doom.

Stratus didn’t visit the city for several days; he fed on animals and wayward travelers along the roads. All the while he worked on perfecting his arsenal. His timing needed to throw is sticky spheres has improved. He had to release their hold on his skin as he threw them, if he did it too early they would slip out of his hands. He could throw them pretty fast and the impact was enough to knock a deer over. Stratus began making some progress with his full pressure spray. Rather than release all the slime once he built up pressure, he would release for only a second. This would give him a short but wide spray of slime from his hand. It was quite similar to turning on the shower head and then shutting it off. The sticky wave would have the same effect as when he captured the shinigami. The only difference was this was from his hands and was quite thin in quantity. But the small nets could stack, and the remaining pressure he had built up allowed him to release 3-4 nets in rapid succession. Still the range was little short, the further it went, the greater it would disperse and get thinner. Something was till missing. He took a walk to relax and think about it.

The forest was calm; he suppressed his signal so to not scare the animals. Normally he would jump among the branches, but he would lose his train of though. Close range he had his claws that could rend flesh and pierce steel. Mid range he could use nets to ensnare his prey or to tangle their limbs. At long range he had throwing spheres, effective but inelegant for his liking. He wanted to be able to release a steady stream of slime, but the best he could manage was the nets using the build and release method. The pressure built too high would only force out a huge short spray. Too little pressure and he ended up with spheres. There was not middle ground. Why couldn’t he pull it off? Stratus racked his brain, but thinking wasn’t his strong suit. Occasionally he would hit upon things by dumb luck. This would be one of those times; he realized that he was in fact over thinking. His head hurt from the effort. “Keep it simple, and simple solutions reveal themselves.” He muttered. The problem wasn’t the pressure, it was the focus. He wanted a focused stream of slime, but was simply releasing it. He hadn’t tried to focus it. It was like beer bottle; shake the bottle and then open it, and it explodes. He remembered back to his first attempt. If he were to build the pressure, then slowly funnel the slime to a point he might get his stream. He looked down at his hands, slime usually came from all over his hand, how was he going to isolate a single area?

He decided to try just a finger. The best way was to focus and push through a fingertip then work up from there. Stratus built up the pressure in his arms, and pointed his finger at a tree. He looked from his finger to the tree; he willed the slime towards his hands and to his finger. Then he released, the pressure was more than he imagined, on reflex he quickly stopped the flow. A small burst of slime erupted from his finger tip and flew at the tree. Shooting a small wad of slime from his finger was hardly worth calling an attack, but worth noting he was on the right track. With less pressure the slime just dribbled from his finger, not gaining much distance at all. Maybe using just his finger was asking too much. He would flinch and shut it off before it would all would release. Instead of his finger he shifted focus to his palm. He curled his fingers and thumb on his hand. Build pressure and release, but again he flinched and stopped the flow. The result was a sphere launched at a decent speed at the tree and slam into it. It was hard to tell, but the speed almost seemed equal or greater than being thrown. Another successful failure.
Too small a focus and he falters, too big and it’s just bad. Finger can’t handle the pressure, and not using fingers gave him another version of spheres. Was there a way to use half his hand? He tried folding his fingers into his hand, and using the exposed palm, the slime merely exploded into his hand. Stratus was nearing total frustration. He needed to use half his hand but not the full palm. He looked at his closed fist, and uncurled his index finger. “Not enough.” Then it hit him, and he sighed at his own stupidity. Stratus then uncurled his middle finger and lined it next to his index. Half his hand; two of his fingers extended revealing part of his palm. The simple answers strikes again. Focus shifted again, this time his hand out stretched with only two fingers facing outward with the half palm. His hand almost looked like a “c” clawing at empty air. He built up pressure again “Let it all out, focus, focus, focus.” He muttered, is eyes locked on the open hand. And then he released. The familiar burst came from his hand and flew towards the tree, but this time it was followed a trail of slime. Once the tree was hit Stratus cut the flow. He was left standing with a long string of slime connecting the tree and his hand. The strand was slightly elastic, but grew tense as he pulled it hard. A steady stream might be impossible, but he had made a rope. Stratus laughed, the animals that had wandered close were startled. He released the slime from his hand and tried again successfully. He alternated to his left hand and managed to complete the technique with few mistakes. Stratus recalled how he had used strands of slime to lash at a tree, this technique could be used to ensnare enemies or make trip lines to entangle. That was enough for the day. He decided he was due some rest and perhaps a night in the city. The light was nearly fading. It was going to be a lovely night.