New world

"Ugh." Ken slowly up but something was not right, his head felt too heavy. After his brain fully adjusted, he noticed that he was upside down, hanging from a tree. 

"Great, just great," he muttered, trying to assess his situation. His ribs screamed in protest as he attempted to curl upward to reach the branch. The memory of the fight at the facility came rushing back – the mysterious powered individuals, his desperate escape through the tear, and then... nothing.

The world around him looked different. The air felt cleaner somehow, and the vegetation wasn't quite like anything he'd seen before. He wiggled himself out of the tree and he fell head first. "fuck!" 

While rubbing his head, he heard a rustle from a bush and his power automatically activated. 'What now?' He did not get up, his head was still spinning.

From the bush, a small blue slime bounced out, making wet squishing sounds as it hopped. It was about the size of a basketball, see-through like jelly, and had two tiny black dots for eyes.

He stared at it for a moment before bursting into loud laughter. After all that tension, expecting something dangerous, it was just a cute blob of goo. His laughter made his ribs hurt even more, but he couldn't help it.

"Oh man," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I got all worked up over a living jello cup."

The slime tilted its whole body to one side, like a confused puppy. It bounced closer to him, making little 'plop plop' sounds.

His smile dropped when he noticed something odd. The slime wasn't scared of him at all. In fact, it seemed... curious? That wasn't normal behavior for any creatures...right? Maybe this world was more different than he thought.

"Hey there, little guy," he said carefully, staying still as the slime got closer. "You're not going to try to eat me, are you?"

The slime bounced even closer, and he tensed up, unsure what to do. His power was still active, but luckily, the heat was not too much to hurt the slime. It seemed fascinated by the glow, hopping excitedly.

"This is weird," he muttered to himself. "Where am I? Nothing makes sense." His head throbbed as he tried to remember anything before the facility, but his mind was blank. Just darkness.

The slime suddenly jumped onto his glowing arm. He almost pulled away, but surprisingly, it didn't feel gross or slimy. It was cool and soft, like touching smooth rubber. The little creature wiggled happily, its black dot eyes somehow managing to look cheerful.

"You're... actually kind of cute," he admitted, relaxing a bit. "But I still don't get it. First that crazy fight, then that weird tear in the air, and now I'm in some place with living jelly? Am I going crazy?"

He looked around at the strange forest again. The trees had leaves in colors he'd never seen before - some were purple, others had a silvery shine to them. In the distance, he could see what looked like giant mushrooms towering above the trees.

"This can't be Earth," he said. "But then... where is it?" 

The slime made a happy bouncing motion on his arm, as if trying to cheer him up. Despite his confusion and worry, he couldn't help but smile at the little creature.

"Well, at least I made one friend in this weird place."

A rustling sound came from deeper in the forest, much bigger than the slime's movement. The little blue creature instantly froze on his arm, its body trembling. Something was coming through the underbrush, something big.

He instinctively raised his body temperature, feeling the familiar warmth spread through his limbs. The slime squeaked and quickly bounced off his increasingly hot arm.

Through the trees, a massive centipede emerged. It was easily twenty feet long, its segmented body armored in dark brown plates, countless legs moving in a horrifying wave-like motion. Two giant mandibles clicked together as it sensed them.

"Shit," he muttered, slowly rising despite his aching ribs. The centipede's antennae twitched, and its head turned directly toward them. 

The slime made a terrified "plop" sound and hid behind Ken's legs. The centipede reared up, raising the front third of its body off the ground, mandibles spread wide.

Ken raised his hands, feeling the heat build up. He didn't know much about fighting but he would not just sit and die. The air around his hands started to shimmer with heat waves.

The centipede lunged forward with frightening speed. He released a blast of heat, but the monster was faster than he expected. It twisted its body, the heat wave only grazing its side. A few legs were scorched, but the creature barely slowed.

"Move!" He shouted at the slime, diving to the side as the centipede crashed into the spot where they'd been standing. The monster's body plowed through small trees like they were twigs.

He rolled to his feet, ribs screaming in protest. The slime had somehow kept up, bouncing frantically beside him. The centipede was already turning, its countless legs scrabbling against the ground.

"Okay, plan B," he panted, concentrating hard. Instead of a blast, he began heating the air around them, creating a barrier of scorching heat. The centipede charged again but pulled back as it hit the heat wall, its antennae recoiling from the intense temperature.

"That's right, back off," he growled, pushing more power into the heat barrier. Sweat poured down his face from the effort and his own rising body temperature.

The centipede circled them, testing the heat barrier at different points, its mandibles clicking in frustration. He could feel his strength draining - he couldn't keep this up much longer.

The slime suddenly bounced excitedly, pointing its body toward a gap between some large rocks. A way out?

"Better than getting eaten," he muttered. "Ready to run, little guy?"

He dropped the heat barrier and sprinted for the rocks, the slime bouncing right beside him. The centipede burst through the cooling air behind them, its legs clattering against stone like hundreds of knives.

They reached the gap between the rocks, but it was tighter than it looked. Ken had to turn sideways to squeeze through. Halfway in, his foot slipped on loose gravel. That single moment of lost balance was all it took.

'crap.'

White-hot pain exploded through his side as one of the centipede's mandibles caught him, punching through flesh and muscle just below his ribs. He screamed, instinctively releasing a massive burst of heat that sent the monster reeling back, taking a chunk of his flesh with it.

He stumbled through the gap, blood pouring from the gaping wound. His vision blurred as he collapsed on the other side. The centipede was ramming against the rocks, but couldn't fit through.

"Well," he coughed, blood speckling his lips, "that could've gone better." He pressed his hand against the wound, but blood kept flowing between his fingers. The edges of his vision were growing dark. "Sorry, little buddy. Looks like... you need to find a new friend..."

The slime bounced frantically around him, making distressed squishing sounds. It stopped and looked at him for a bit, like it was assessing him. Then it did something unexpected - it stretched itself thin, like a sheet of living water, and flowed over Ken's wound.

"Hey, what are you—" his words cut off in a gasp as an intense cold sensation spread through his side. The slime was... merging with him? He could feel it seeping into the wound, spreading through his tissue. His first instinct was panic, but then the pain began to fade.

Looking down in disbelief, he watched as the slime's blue color spread under his skin in web-like patterns. The bleeding stopped. New flesh began knitting together before his eyes.

"What the hell?" He whispered, touching the wound. The slime had partially absorbed into his body, leaving only a small portion of itself visible as a blue patch on his skin. He could feel it in there, cool and alive, somehow helping him heal.

The centipede was still ramming the rocks, causing small avalanches of pebbles. But he barely noticed. He was too fascinated by what was happening to his body. He could feel the slime moving under his skin, seeking out other injuries. The pain from al the injuries began to fade too.

"You're... helping me?" He asked in wonder. The remaining visible portion of the slime then vanished into his body.

A loud crack echoed through the gap - the centipede was breaking through the rocks. But Ken stood up, feeling stronger than before. The slime's cool presence spread through him, and somehow he knew things were about to get interesting.