Apple A Day (Kealey)

A frown on his face Bacchus looked up to check the large reflecting mirrors to make sure that none of the so called security guards, better yet produce police were coming his way. Bacchus didn’t want much trouble at the supermarket, frankly it was one of the things that reminded him of home somewhat seeing as he often was the one to take Brooke and go shopping for the house seeing as he usually worked night jobs while everyone else took off to work during the day. The thought of splattering someone’s brain all over the head’s of lettuce was just disappointing, mainly because he had yet to toss some into his cart.

Pleased that no one was coming for now Bacchus turned his head to check the mess he caused, the floor was obvious, not to mention that the watermelons and other fruit on display were bathed in the juices. Looking down at his large construction boots then up to his pants and his shirt, it was a pain to admit it but he had deserved it for not concentrating, he was covered in the juice luckily the cart and all it’s contents remained juice free thanks to his bulk protecting the contents.

”You need to watch out for the kamikaze watermelons…”

Turning his attention to the petite blond that was now addressing him the first thing he noticed about her was her shirt which was dotted in watermelon juice. His nostrils twitched slightly as he gazed upon the woman who was now putting on a friendly face so to speak seeing as she just got juiced. The smell was a familiar one as a sudden touch of homesickness came over him, the scent was a familiar one in fact it reminded him so much of some of the girls back home. The smell was that of Jasmine if he could identify it correctly.

”I know they’re on special…but you really have to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks.”

A small twinge touched Bacchus’s lips at first but quickly his loud voice boomed with laughter as he tried to be polite as possible, “Sorry bout that lil’ Sheila!” Bacchus said as he lifted his hand and swatted it down causing some juices to fly from his arm down to his hand and eventually to the floor. “You know the exploding water melons are totally worth it!” he grinned and licked his lips and gave a refreshing sound after clicking his tongue, “The watermelon rarely blows up on me if at all, usually it’s the milk, cheap cartons and all.” Shrugging slightly trying to continue the humor he looked back up to the large reflecting mirror a sighed, it had seemed that someone was on their way. Maybe if he was lucky he could play it off there was no reason to believe he was a mutant… unless someone recognized his face from the news reports of the naked giant.

Moving his cart over to the side of the isle so he wasn’t holding up traffic Bacchus looked back to the shorter woman with piercing blue eyes and said, “Lucky for me the lettuces was unharmed,” reaching over and expanding his hand slightly Bacchus was able to palm two heads of lettuce and drop it in the cart. “Sorry again, Sheila…” Bacchus apologized once again for getting watermelon juice on her shirt.

The anticipation was egging on his nerves as he glanced from the small blonde back to the security mirror, someone was defiantly about to round the corner someone he hope wouldn’t notice his face, after all he was slightly surprised the woman who had just offered to grab a watermelon for him didn’t notice his face, but then again Bacchus always did enlarge a facial feature or chose not to expand it with the rest of the body so he could go around unnoticed in his normal form. But then again a seven-foot tall wall hardly would go unnoticed; he liked to think of it as hiding in plain sight.

“That would be appreciated Sheila…” Bacchus said trying to hide his current emotions from his face. A subtle smile and a small laugh followed after as he continued, “Just one more will do, don’t know how much more my cart can hold…” he looked back to his cart and frowned slightly a little upset they couldn’t hold more than he would like. He could always make the cart its self bigger but then again that would just be drawing unnecessary attention to him, but then again attention seemed to be drawn to himself he was after all the ‘Naked Giant’.

Waiting for the woman to drop the woman in the cart Bacchus decided he would seem less suspicious if he seemed to be in a conversation, “Name’s Bacchus,” turning his eyes over to the corner of an isle Bacchus watched as a man poked his head from the corner and frowned slightly, Please see nothing wrong here… Bacchus thought as the security guard pulled out his two way radio and requested for someone to call the police. It was barley more than a whisper but a whisper was all Bacchus’s enhanced hearing needed.

Letting out a loud sigh as the security guard rounded the corner and walked casually towards him Bacchus tensed up slightly. “Sorry about your shoes…” Bacchus said in advanced knowing that something was going to happen to them. Spattered in blood or vegetable or fruits Bacchus couldn’t be sure but if her shoes somehow got away from this mess un-harmed he would be greatly impressed.

Turning his head to the security guard Bacchus raised his hands and placed them behind his head the way someone would if the police was stopping them. As the security guard approached he quickly pulled some mace and sprayed it in Bacchus’s face. Completely unaware Bacchus let out a howl of pain as his eyes quickly closed shut and his hands shot down smacking his cart to the ground causing produce and eggs to scatter everywhere.

Fear struck him, as all his senses were preoccupied with the burning sensation of mace. His vision obscured, his hearing distracted by the loud roars and bellows he was giving off his nose and tongue burning from the mace and his feeling of touch trying to compensate with everything getting tossed down around him.

Stepping backward still yelling in pain Bacchus continued to swat the air around him trying to grab onto something solid so he didn’t feel totally defenseless. He was still scared even with his skin being able to withstand a barrage of bullets and only feel the small flecks of burnt metal on his hide. For now he was shut off from the world and was scared. Another step back and he hit what felt like a shelve his eyes still on fire all he could see was a blur as tears streaked down his face. A loud roar continued his mutation amplifying his voice making the air shake from the power of it, “IT BURNS!!!!!”

As he bumped into the shelve he lost his balance and tried to grab onto the isle which in turn caused it to fall with him. So much for support, if he could see his eyes would have closed in attempt to protect themselves from the falling jars of preservatives that were following his down fall. When this was over he was going to find out a way to build up immunity to mace, if such a thing was possible. As several jars crashed on his face without leaving a mark to his thickened skin the liquids in the jar luckily for Bacchus seemed to give a cooling sensation across his eyes.

It felt like an hour he couldn’t tell exactly how long it was he was in his frightened state but his nose was still rendered useless for now and his hearing was no longer distracted by his screams. As he was regaining his composure he started to feel anger well up in his legs as they started to twitch and grow. His work boots started to grow as well but without his entire concentration on his clothing growing as well the shoes blew open with a loud snap and crack giving way for his ever-expanding feet.

Turning his head slightly as he was slowly regaining his sight Bacchus frowned and expanded his hand and forearm pushing the shelve that had fallen on it with ease. Scattered screams could be heard as the shelve was now falling towards the frozen food section that still had people in it trying to get away from the falling isle. As he pushed himself up he blinked a few times rubbed his eyes and then grabbed the security guard with one hand and started to squeeze.

“That was completely unnecessary!” Bacchus roared as he took his free hand and whipped hi eyes which still tear and were hazy, “I was putting my hands behind my head and then you hit me with mace!” reaching his free hand out to the man Bacchus felt for can of mace and tried to spray it in his face, unfortunately for Bacchus the can was aiming away from the security guard and was aiming towards Bacchus. With his hand pressing the top the spray shot into his eyes once more, “Damn it!” he roared again flinging his arms about trying to not kill the man in his hand but found it difficult not to.

A twitch of the finger and a scream would follow a twitch of two fingers of more and no screams would follow simple as that. With the way he was feeling now it would only take a small movement to kill the man who killed his great mood with a stupid little can of mace. After her initial pain Bacchus’s eyes remained shut but he didn’t react the same way he did before. This time despite the pain and the man in his hand and the frustration knowing that he just maced himself in the face Bacchus wasn’t yelling as much as he was nor was he thrashing about this time.

One step back then another and he stopped his eyes now crying more out in protest to the chemical cocktail that was now specked across his face. The smell of the chemical shut down his sense of smell but that didn’t matter much, he had the man in his hand and the can of mace in the other. With a simple twitch of the wrist the can of mace blew up in his hand. Looking blindly at the man in his hand he could feel him twitching about trying to free himself but of course Bacchus didn’t let up.

”STOP!”

Bacchus’s ears twitched slightly, why was Kealey telling him to stop? The guard had it coming, all Bacchus was doing was a little shopping and the next thing he knew was the mace in his face… twice! Granted that the second time was his fault but still the guard had it coming. He started this mess and caused Bacchus great pain so why shouldn’t he return the feeling?

”You have to put him down.”

Bacchus’s lips twitched as his eyebrows tilted down showing his disapproval for what he understood as a command, even if it was a request he didn’t think he would have obliged. Granted Kealey was nothing but nice to him but this man cause pain to the giant, and one thing about this giant… he always got even.

Blindly looking down his own arm holding the man Bacchus’s pinky twitched as the man let out a scream as two ribs was broken. “Why do I have to let him go? I did nothing wrong today!” he said as he turned his attention to the woman who was pleading to let him go. “This man started it, not to mention he just recently called the cops.” He paused looking to the man as his pinky pulled away from the fist and then slammed back into the mans side doing more damage. “Now I won’t be able to get away with the groceries seeing as blood will soon be covering them… and for some reason the cops don’t know when to quit…” he stopped again and then tapped his pinky into the man again causing him to let out another scream.

Deep in thought he didn’t really pay much mind to the man screaming for freedom. Frankly the man signed his suicide note the second he called the cops the can of mace was all the more reason to kill him. He hated the people who tried to be heroes; there was no such thing as a true hero, thee was no man or woman doing the right thing because it was the right thing there was always some angle the person would be working. Sure their wee good and bad people but none were heroes, villains on the other hand… Villains were very real, they weren’t always visible but they were around. Bacchus never thought of himself as a bad guy just in more a pickle than anything, loan sharks with sniper scopes pointed at his friends head made it hard for him to breath let alone get a large sum of money within a few weeks without killing or breaking the law.

The sound of police sirens came to his ears the way the a dog could hear a whistle a mile away, granted he couldn’t hear that far but the familiar ringing sounded out through his mind and caused his attention to snap back to the present, his trance was broken and the screams could be head from the man as he lost yet another rib. He looked to Kealey who seemed upset or scared about the situation and he felt sorry for her. There was no reason she should have been here still he didn’t plan on hurting her, kids and women for the most part remained free from his wrath when he was upset.

”A righteous man turns the other cheek in the face of violence

His eyes trailed over to her and he blinked trying not to blatantly laugh in her face, which would normally be his response to a comment as this, “I don’t know what a righteous man is but as you could tell, I am no man of any kind of righteousness.” His face turned to a frown as he looked back at the man in his hand and he then looked back to Kealey his eyes meeting hers as she continued to plead with him.

”You could be gone by the time they get here…”

He snuffed off the comment slightly as he nodded his head to the front of the store, “Not really, the police will be here in a few minutes if that, sure I could run but I was never one to run from a challenge.” He used his mutation and puffed out his chest and grew some more, now standing another two feet in the air Bacchus looked down at Kealey, ”They are nothing but cockroaches, all of them…” he bit his lip slightly not believe what he had just said, maybe it was from hanging out at the order to long, it could have been that he was homesick or maybe he was just tired of everyone running in fear and calling the police at first glance.

”Then I’ll buy the groceries and bring them to you…”

Eyes slightly wide Bacchus looked at Kealey for a second thinking about her offer, he could take her up on it… shaking his head his eyebrows lifted no longer showing a angry look but rather a more of a sensitive one, “No can do, Sheila” he said bluntly as he looked to the man in his hand. With a final scream from the guard Bacchus twitched his wrist and threw the man into the frozen food section forcing him to land face first in a pile of ice. The force wasn’t enough to kill him granted if he were left alone with his injuries he would die within an hour or two.

”Please don’t do this.”

Feeling his rage and anger subside slightly Bacchus sighed and shrugged, “Count yourself lucky,” Bacchus said pausing for a second only to listen to the sirens that were now parked outside the market. “You must of hit a nerve with me or something, not so many people are this kind to me.” Looking at Kealey he was reminded slightly of the innocent face Brooke always gave him whenever he mentioned anything about America or work.

Bacchus was about to pick up what he could and leave but as soon as he picked up a watermelon a gunshot rung out blowing the watermelon up. “Damn!” Bacchus said looking to the entrance that was now behind him, “See Sheila, nothing but roaches, they pop up out of nowhere!” Bacchus said his temper starting to flare once again, he didn’t intend to kill in front of Kealey seeing how she seemed that she couldn’t handle a lot of the mess but of they started to fill in the market with nubers Bacchus would over look the woman’s reactions.

The next few seconds seemed to go in slow motion as his adrenaline started to flare up, excitement reaching his fingertips and the soles of his feet. His senses going into overdrive as he looked from police to Kealey now lying on the ground. Covering her head from the spray of hot metal that was now buffering his chest and bouncing to the ground quite hot but otherwise harmless. Bullet holes covering one of his favorite brown shits Bacchus frowned and picked up the closest thing he could find other than Kealey who was now running behind a shelf for cover.

Picking up one of the watermelons he was deciding on getting Bacchus enlarged the fruit and threw it at the police, which forced them to get out of the way or get forced the wall as the watermelon forced up against them then exploding. Watermelon juice sprayed out on the floor and splashed in every direction as Bacchus made his move towards the police who were already on the ground ducking in cover due to the giant melon of doom.

His hands still enlarged from before Bacchus grabbed one of the officers and slammed him into the ground smashing his skull into the tiled floor creating a small crater. The police by this time regained their composure and continued to buffer him with bullets, which crushed against his skin and fell to the ground in a rain of burning metal. Turning his hand and rotating at the waste Bacchus back handed the next closest police man who was sent flying past the shelve Kealey was now hiding behind.

A quick palm thrust to another officer’s head caused the brains to explode from the back of his skull. His signature move was just shown to all who was no watching and the police officers seemed to not even be phased, now they started with the pepper spray and tear gas hoping that the gasses would have more of an effect than the bullets would. “AGHHH” roared out Bacchus as one of the canisters broke against his chest and caused him to thrash about as his eyes and nose started to burn. His ears however were mostly unaffected. He tried to remain still even though it was getting harder and harder to breath he had to figure out where everyone was so he could figure out if he should swing his arms or moves his legs to get moving.