My head turned up and I stared at the beast in front of me. He shifted back a foot, startled. My head tilted, sparks fell from me. “What’s the matter?” I asked the monster, “You look surprised, Koh.” I advanced, “Shocked, even.”

“Your face…!” he was blinking rapidly, as though completely unsure of what he was seeing, “What did you–”

“I cut it off,” my steps towards him did not become faster, not yet. “You can’t steal a face that isn’t there for you to take, and by deliberately slowing my healing factor down, I can make my only facial expression what you see here.” I gestured to broken muscle and veins, blood and sparks and smoking carbon, “You seem afraid.” My body lit up in flames, illuminating the underside of the supermassive tree.