Men and Monsters: Metempsychosis.
by Perfectly Insane
First published
Three months, it's been three months since Pinkie disappeared. There have been multiple search parties, family members constantly questioned, even pony Twilight came over. She was never found, but one day she did come back, but she came back diffrent
In Equestria, there's no crimes, no murder or suicide, and certainly no gangs or hit squads. Not even the slightest amount of evil in the everyday pony, but it's not the same for their sister world. In the human world, there's drugs, rape, murder, suicide, even mass destruction and world wars. In their world, every single human being is capable of being more savage and mindless than any animal, the mane six's counterparts are no exception. Not even the happy-go lucky, goody two shoes, party planner, Pinkie Pie. In fact, she's the worst.
Now with a sequel, enjoy! /story/380616/men-and-monsters
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The Prologue.
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading, please tell me if you notice any errors such as grammar, spelling, or left off letters. By the way, this will take only from the movies, it will have nothing to do with the specials/mini-episodes.
Pinkamena was walking down the halls of the school, wearing a dark, grey hoodie and jeans with sneakers. Her hoodie pulled back, as it was too hot for that today. She had her hands in her hoodie pocket, in an almost casual way. But, most of them were too full of shock to pay attention to that. She had been deemed dead, everyone who knew her had already grieved for her, some still were. Now, she’s back, and still very much alive, and very different. Her posture and attitude were different; her entire fashion sense had changed from positive and cheerful to dull and negative.
Her hair was no longer curly and bouncy; it was now silky and straight. The hall was more silent than it had ever been, no walking or chattering amongst the students, no burst of tears of joy or anger at seeing her alive, just silence. Sunset Shimmer and the rest either weren’t in the hallways or weren’t at school, some just didn’t have the will to move on, others couldn’t take the pain and just took a break from school, the rest were just unlucky to not be in the halls at the time. Just the sound of sneakers against the floor of the halls as the ghost of Pinkie walked towards Celestia’s office, then, the sound of the door opening and closing behind her. That was when the conversations and rumors started, some chatting amongst themselves, others trying to find Sunset or any of the others. Nothing could have prepared them for the truth, the truth they’d most likely never know, it would have been better if she never came back.
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Pinkamena threw the table across the kitchen room, slamming it into the wall beside of Maud.
“THREE MONTHS MAUD! THREE FUCKING MONTHS OF TORTURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RAPE, YOU KNEW AND DID ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING TO HELP! IN FACT, YOU EVEN SUPPORTED IT! YOU LIED TO MY FRIENDS, THE POLICE, HELL, I BET YOU EVEN LIED TO YOURSELF TO FEEL BETTER! WHAT KIND OF SISTER ARE YOU?!”
Maud sat there with her usual emotionless face, staring blankly at the enraged face of her sister, she always did love to express herself. After Maud got the news that not only did Pinkamena survive the test, but she had become the leader of the family business, she went to school to clear things up, and then came home, where Maud was waiting. While right now she didn’t look like it, she’s quite good at calculating and keeping composure. Maud was just one of the few people she would show her emotions to.
“A smart one, Pinkie I- “
“Pinkamena! I am not that person anymore; I don’t want the name!”
“Pinkamena, what happened to you was inescapable. We both know that everyone in the family has to go through the test, dad did, mom did, even I did. Even Inky and- “
“Don’t say their names! I don’t even want to think about them experiencing that horrible test, the one they died in.”
A long silence was shared between the two, both never fully getting over the deaths of their sisters. They simply weren’t fit for the tests, but that doesn't make their deaths any less tragic.
“The point is, sister, is that what happened was going to happen no matter what either of us did. Nothing me, you, or anyone else could have done even to slow it down. If I had tried to stop it and believe me, I came very close. Then not only would they have killed us both, but they would have killed everyone we knew. They would have killed your friends; they would have killed your pets, they would have killed everyone at the school who knew you, they would erase any trace of you or me ever existing. So, blame me and be mad at me all you feel like for as long as you want, but I made the smart choice and let you and your friends live. I’m your sister Pinkamena; I’ll always choose what’s best for you, whether it be personal or business.”
Again, there was a long silence, but this wasn’t one of grieving. This was a friendlier silence, one of understanding. Pinkamena walked over to the door, opening it, but not walking out yet. She looked at Maud, with a similar, emotionless face, but her eyes betrayed her and showed slight signs of forgiveness.
I’m going to go out and clear my head for a bit, get the spare table in the garage and start making something to eat. When I get back, we’ll discuss business.”
Maud looked at her with a look of confusion and curiosity; there hadn’t been anything business related planned for a month. One of the rules was to give the new leader a month to get used to their new life and set everything straight. Then again, her case was a very strange one, so things may be different.
“May I ask, what business?”
Pinkamena was already a foot out when she stopped, not turning her head, simply just remaining silent for a short time.
“As my first action as the new boss, I’m going to deal with one of our biggest rivals, The Apples.”
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DON’T GIVE ME THAT SHIT, PINKIE! ‘Personal Business’? YOU WERE GONE SO LONG YOU WERE CONSIDERED DEAD! SO, YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO GIVE US MORE THAN THAT!”
It had been about an hour since Pinkamena had made her appearance, pretty much the entire group had shown up except for Rainbow Dash. She had been absent about a week after Pinkie’s disappearance. No one knew where she’s been, she just up and vanished, except Pinkamena returned and Dash was still gone. She had been outside in the courtyard when they showed up, it was lunch break, and she wasn’t feeling very hungry then. So, she went out and put her hood on, and sat against a wall behind her. Plenty of people tried to talk to her and figure out where she was, but, she scared them away.
Then, while she was trying to clear her head and sleep, Fluttershy had tackled her crying and mumbling incoherently and began to sob into her shoulder. She didn’t let a lot of people hug her, sometimes not even her family, but, Fluttershy was an…. exception. Despite her messing up her hoodie, she still let her cry into her, she had others. Then, after Sunset saw her, she screamed at her with a face almost as red as the streaks in her hair, then she remained silent.
After Sunset’s outburst, everything stayed pretty much the same. Fluttershy was still crying into her strangely muscular shoulder, while still mumbling. Rarity was trying to pull her off, saying she was making a scene and that she was messing up her makeup, not even paying attention to Pinkamena. As if she was choosing the silent anger over Sunset’s kind of anger, which was actually worse. Applejack remained silent the entire time; she was the only one who had just walked over here instead of running. She was unusually calm for a situation like this; it was impossible to tell what she was feeling, only her and Pinkamena would know why.
Other World Twilight wasn’t here; she decided to go back to Equestria and try to use a spell that would work in the human world, she hasn’t come back. While the human world Twilight has been spending countless nights of isolation trying to find out where Pinkie was and how to find her, she most likely hasn’t gotten the news. Everyone else had decided it would have been better to leave and let them talk it out; the courtyard was clear from any student or teacher, even the teachers knew better than to interfere with something like this.
“No, I don’t. Look, I don’t have time for this, so, this is what’s going to happen.”
Pinkamena shoved Fluttershy off of her, sending her tumbling into Rarity. She then fixed her clothes, putting the hood back over her head and her hands in her hoodie pockets.
“We’re not friends, not anymore. So, you’re going to leave me alone and stay out of my business. We won’t communicate in any way, no calling, texting, chatting, not even so much as a friendly gesture. I appreciate that you guys were worried about me, but, I’m back and perfectly fine. So, find someone else to be your comic relief, maybe Derpy or Trixie. But, the next time you talk to me or confront me without me permitting you, this is going to get really violent.”
Pinkamena started walking toward the exit of the courtyard, hitting Sunset’s shoulder on her way out. The only one who didn't react was AJ, she glared at Pinkamena when she walked past her, and Pinkamena glared back. Everyone remained silent; even Fluttershy stopped crying out of shock, not knowing what to do.
Even Rarity started showing emotions, as her face turned brighter than it ever had before. She was about to scream at her the same way Sunset did, but AJ stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes and face showing no emotion, but she whispered to Rarity that this wasn’t the time or place for more outburst and drama.
“What happened to you? Who took you or what was done to you that made you like this? What happened to the joyful Pinkie I knew?!”
Sunset screamed at Pinkamena as she got to the door, making her stop, her face full of tears and eyes full of sadness.
Pinkamena turned her head around, facing Sunset and the rest with a cold glare, a menacing face they had never seen before, on Pinkie or anyone else.
“I lost my Laughter.”
Chapter One: Survival of The Insane.
Author's Notes:
Sorry this took so long, summer started and I haven't had a lot of free time. Please, if you see any problem such as plot holes, grammar, etc. I'd appreciate it if you told me in the comments, other than that, enjoy! Also, sorry for it being so long, but I think longer chapters make for a better story. I may or may not have put an undertale reference in here, now with some major editing.
There were a lot of things about Pinkie that made her special: her personality, her childlike appearance, her parties, her positive attitude, and the overall wonderful person she was. She had many friends, both close, and people she was friendly with. But, none truly knew anything about her real life. No one knew about her family, her past, what her parents were like, why her siblings disappeared, except for Maud. And, especially, no one knew why she always tried to stay positive, the truth was much worse than any of them could have hoped to imagine.
She never knew that much about her family, not really. But, she soon found out when she reached eighteen, her family would take her away for ‘family business.’ Her father terrified her, he always had an emotionless face, no matter what it was he did. At least she knew where Maud got it. His yellow eyes never harbored any emotion, he always had a suit on, no matter the occasion, and always wore black pants to match his suit. He always had his hat on to cover his spiked, gray hair, he never looked different, despite how little Pinkie actually saw him, other than his clothes.
Her mother was… distant, to say the least. When she looked at any of them with those cold, blue eyes, it always put fear into Pinkie and her siblings, except for Maud, since she never seemed to look at her that way. She usually wore something fancy like a dress, or just something that would be more suited for a ball, despite whether or not she planned on leaving the house. She also kept her hair in a bun, except for when she was asleep, she let it down then.
She enjoyed her siblings though, Inkie and Blinkie, before they disappeared. She loved spending time with them, they always played together and gossiped like sisters normally did. Then, their birthday came. They were fraternal twins, but, they were still as close as twins would be.
When their birthday came, and they turned eighteen, Igneous Pie, their dad, came and took them away. He never showed up unless it was something important, or, at least, what he deemed important. Cloudy Quarts, their mother, was always around the house, but never treated them like she was their mother. She didn’t cook; she didn’t clean, she didn’t help her daughters with homework or boys, she didn’t do anything a normal mother would.
They never returned, not once did they come to visit or send letters, they simply vanished. Pinkie tried her hardest to find them, looked everywhere she knew about, but, she never found them. Maud said they were just helping dad with something, but, Pinkie wasn’t stupid. Everyone at school was asking where they’ve been and when they’d be back, but, Pinkie simply just made excuses, as she didn’t know herself. Then, recently, her eighteenth birthday came up, and she found out the hard way exactly what the family business was.
She went to school like any other day, talked to her friends, made plans for the party, those kinds of things. And, she did have a party, all of her close friends came, even Maud tagged along. After the party was over, and everyone said goodbye, Pinkie had started to clean up, but, she never got to finish.
Igneous came to the house and took Pinkie the same way he did Inkie and Blinkie. Neither Maud nor Cloudy tried to stop him, as they knew this day would come. He always had two bodyguards near him; they always wore the same kind of clothes Igneous did, except the only accessory they wore was a pair of glasses. Pinkie never knew why, as there was almost no reason to have any. There was rarely crime or muggings or anything, and when there was, it usually happened up in the city, not way down in the suburban parts. Pinkie didn’t try to resist, as she wanted answers, and resisting would just cause more problems. They took her into a car they had parked in front of the house, a normal, black van, with tinted windows. Basically, it was the kind of car either people in business have or criminals.
As they drove to wherever it was they were taking her; Pinkie tried asking both the guards and her father questions. Such as: Where they were going, when they’d be back if she would see Inkie and Blinkie, but, they just stayed quiet the entire time until Igneous told her to shut up, which she got the hint and did. Eventually, after hours of driving and traffic, they got to their location. Though, Pinkie didn’t really know where, as she had fallen asleep long ago, being too bored to stay awake.
What they stopped at, was a landing pad with an active helicopter in it. She had no idea why there was a helicopter here, as it was too late for anyone to be going anywhere. It didn’t seem like anyone was expecting them, there was no life except for the pilot in the helicopter. As the bodyguards let Pinkie out of the car, she noticed both of them were wearing body armor and had gun holsters with pistols in them. Which was scary for Pinkie, she had never so much as looked at a gun, so much as heard one go off. She doubted either one of them would use them, that kind of stuff didn’t happen here, right?
Igneous was the first to get into the helicopter, then Pinkie, then one bodyguard beside each of them. Igneous said something to the pilot, but Pinkie couldn’t hear it because she hadn’t adjusted to the loud noises yet. He seemed to nod at Igneous, as he began to press buttons that seemed to get the helicopter off the ground. After talking to the pilot, Igneous reached into his side pocket and pulled something out. Pinkie couldn’t see what it was, as he concealed it the second he pulled it out of his pocket, but she could see he also was carrying.
“Pinkamena, would you come here a moment?”
He always did call her by that name; it made sense since that was her name, she just preferred Pinkie. She did as he said, and began to walk toward him in excitement, thinking she was going to be getting a present, she was not.
“Ooh! What is it? Did you get me something? I love presents! Don’t you love pr-“
Before Pinkie could continue, Igneous injected a needle into her neck. He kept that stoic look on his face through the whole thing, his guards not reacting in the slightest. Slowly, She had started to feel sleepy, as her body got weaker until Igneous put her on the spot to the left of him.
“I’m glad you’re so gullible, it was much harder to sedate your sisters. But, we simply can’t allow you to see where we’re going, it would be too risky. Plus, you’re just plain annoying, it astonishes me that you’re my daughter. You don’t take after me or your mother, if I hadn’t taken a DNA test with you when you were younger, I would be convinced you weren't. ”
Pinkie’s eyes slowly closed, as the last thing she saw, was the blank look on her father’s face. He had one hand behind her head and the other behind her back, making sure she didn’t get hurt or anything. He didn’t care if she did or anything, it’s just she was going to need to be at her best for the test. It didn’t make any difference to him if she survived it, but, if she didn’t, he’d have to choose Maud as his protégé, and he was the only one of his daughters he disliked. He didn't dislike Pinkamena, per se, he just found her very annoying. But, Maud was just so...hard to read.
She was just so… strange, there are no words for girls like her. Besides, she was only meant to be an assistant, that’s all she was trained for. She wasn’t prepared to be a leader or go through the same kind of test. Igneous certainly didn’t want to have more children and wait until they were eighteen, he probably wouldn’t live that long.
Pinkie passed out, filled with confusion and fear, not knowing why this was being done to her or what happened to her sisters. But, she was too weak to think about it, as her world slowly started fading to dark and her eyelids felt too heavy to keep open. Whatever was in that syringe, was extremely effective, as she could feel its effects almost immediately. She didn’t dream; she didn’t really even know she was asleep. It was just darkness; maybe it was the drug? But, she didn’t dream before she knew it she was already beginning to wake up.
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“Careful! I don’t want a scratch on her! It may seem insignificant, but one scratch could cause an infection, which could cause death, which would destroy the whole point of this!”
She woke up to the sound of her father screaming, he never screamed at or around her, so, it was unrecognizable at first. She may have been waking up, but the effects of the drug were still there. She could still move, but she felt extremely weak. She was barely able to open her eyes, but when she did, she became further confused.
She was being carried by the two bodyguards that were with Igneous, both of them having disgruntled looks on their face. Both Igneous and the pilot were still in the helicopter; the former was yelling at the guards after he almost dropped her. While the pilot was remaining calm and preparing to leave, the helicopter still on, but on the ground. The thing that bothered her wasn’t what was happening, but where it was taking place.
They were in a forest, a huge forest from the looks of it. They were surrounded by tons of trees and bushes; the helicopter was landed onto a rather large clearing. Either they cleared this themselves, or mother nature was a very impulsive creator. After setting Pinkie down, the guards rushed back to the helicopter and sat on both sides of their boss. Pinkie had been watching them this entire time, expecting them to say or do something to indicate this was just an elaborate prank. But, they didn’t seem to notice her, though, her father did.
At that moment, Pinkie saw the first smile on her father’s face. She’s tried multiple times to get him to smile, but it never worked. It wasn’t a smile that showed his teeth, just a simple uplift of his lips. But, his eyes, and the way he smiled, it was plain out evil. She had only seen a smile of that kind twice, the first time on Sunset Shimmer before and during her transformation into a demon. And the second time was on the faces of The Dazzling, she had really hoped she’d never see a smile like that again, and the fact she saw it again on her father’s face deeply disturbed her and made her afraid. More than her mother’s glare, more than any villain she’s previously faced, more than she thought she was capable of feeling.
He then lost his smile and returned back to his normal face, but the feeling of fear didn’t leave until they had long left. It took a long time of Pinkie laying there in both emotional confusion and physical fatigue before she was able to get up, and when she did, she immediately wanted to go back to sleep. Her head was killing her, her body felt extremely weak, she had no idea where she was, and she was hungry. As she was getting up, a note fell out of her pocket. It was a simple white piece of paper that was already open and was written in her father’s handwriting. As she slowly stood up, her headache was making it a difficult process, she picked it up and began to read out.
Dear Pinkamena
As you know, when you or your sister's turn eighteen, they will be taken away in a similar way that you were. This is the same thing that happened to both of your sisters, and what will happen to Maud, if what happened to them happens to you. Now, why am I doing this, you may ask? Well, let's make a deal. If you can survive one month in the woods by yourself without any help from outside forces, I’d be more than happy to tell you anything you may want to know. As for your sisters, well, if you’re lucky, you might just find them. But, considering how big those woods are, and how nature is, it’s unlikely. If you're smart, you may be asking yourself ‘but if these woods are so big, how will you know when I’m dead?’ There’s a simple answer to your question, which knowing you, you probably didn’t. The night before your birthday, I had Cloudy put a chip into your body while you were sleeping. You didn’t notice, as she was smart enough to make sure you’d stay asleep, which obviously worked.
This chip allows us to keep track of both your heart rate and your location, which means if you get near any kind of civilization, we will send several shocks throughout your body. If you persist in trying to talk to them, we will kill you. That is all, survive one month in the wild, by any means necessary, and you will get all your questions answered, probably.
From, Igneous.
P.S. Your friends aren’t coming to save you this time, it’s just you, the woods, and whatever feral animals you come across. Have fun!
After reading the letter, Pinkie just stood there for a while, slowly lowering herself down until she was sitting on the ground. She wasn’t really sure how to feel, for those few seconds, she was just standing there, she didn’t feel anything, she was in shock. Then, it all came at once. Fear, betrayal, depression, these feelings shook her to the core. The letter slowly floated to the ground when she dropped it, losing any common sense, as she screamed as loud as she could. Not really wanting to get anyone’s attention, just not knowing what else to do, realization of everything that just happened to hit her.
That’s when it sank in; this wasn’t a prank, this wasn’t some elaborate joke, this was real. She was betrayed by her family, practically kidnapped and drugged, taken to some forest in the middle of nowhere, left by herself to the mercy of nature. She collapsed onto the ground, her breathing erratic and frantic, her heart beating rapidly. Eventually, her breathing slowed down as she looked up at the sky, the scenery calmed her down.
That drug must have lasted a long time, as when she was knocked out, it was late and dark, but, now it was early, and the sun was bright. If she had to guess, she’d say it was around eight; her friends were probably wondering where she was right now. She had managed to go all year without any absences; it was so close to the end of school too, there were only a few weeks left. It was still spring; there was only one more day left in school before testing was going to start, seems she would miss it. Well, if by some miracle, she does survive, she at least could say she had a wild summer.
She then got furious, no, anger was an understatement, she felt hatred. She felt a deep, passionate feeling of hatred towards her father, for taking her away from her friends, for drugging and abandoning her in the middle of the woods, and for doing the same thing to her sisters. She had never hated someone before; she thought there was nothing anyone could do to her that would make her hate them, she was wrong.
She wanted to hurt him, badly. But, not before she could figure out exactly what happened to her sisters, and why. They just couldn’t be dead, he’s not that cruel, right? Pinkie wiped her face, getting rid of any tears that were threatening to fall down her face, and suddenly stood up, regaining her bouncy personality. If she was going to get her revenge, save her sisters, reunite with her friends, and live her life, then she needed to stay positive and get out of this alive. But, for now, she had to indulge him, she had to survive one month in this forest.
When she was younger, she went through a Bear Grills phase; she watched all the episodes well more than once. Though hopefully, she wouldn’t go as far as to drink her own pee, that would start affecting her negatively after a few days. She also talked to Fluttershy about animals, since she had so much experience with them, it would make sense to ask her what to do if she encounters any wild animals. She had everything she needed to survive out here, she just really hoped she wouldn’t have to kill any animals, Fluttershy would hate that. And neither her, or herself, would ever be able to forgive such an act.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to start by finding a shelter before it gets dark! Ooh! Maybe I’ll run into some friendly animals or something, that’d be awesome! Then, I could keep them as pets and have them watch for me when I’m sleeping! And then-”
Suddenly, there was the sound of a twig breaking from a bush not too far away from Pinkie, making her shut up and filling her with fear. The sounds stopped, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something there. When Pinkie screamed, it could have attracted a nearby predator, and she really didn’t want to deal with that, her memories of peaceful ways to deal with wild animals were hazy, at best. She slowly began to back away from the bush, intending to get as far away from that clearing as possible, being in plain sight for as long as she has was a bad move.
When Pinkie got away from the clearing, she started to run as fast as she could. She avoided any loose branches or anything, as tripping could get her killed, or something broken, which would eventually end with the same result. If something like her arm or leg became broken, which were essential to anything she would need to do to survive, she wouldn’t last a week, so much as a month.
Pinkie took a sudden left and went behind a tree, out of breath from the sudden running. That was stupid of her, if you rush your heart like that without building up to it, you’ll get tired a lot faster. She held her breath and closed her eyes, trying to hear if anything was following her, or any other noises that would indicate anything else. If there was, it was hushed; the only sound was the chirping of birds and the wind. If something was back at the clearing, either it was a deer or something, or it simply lost interest. Either way, Pinkie had to get as far away from that clearing as possible, staying out in the open where she couldn’t see any animals in the woods, but they could see her, was just stupid.
Pinkie began to breathe again and opened her eyes, seeing if there was anything chasing her, she was bound to hear it by now. Not many people know this, but, despite almost always talking and being loud, she could be extremely quiet if she wanted, it’s how she always snuck up on her friends, or set up pranks in the school after hours. When she was younger, she would play hide and seek with her siblings; she was rarely found. She was just good at hiding and staying quiet when the situation required it. This was a significant advantage in nature, because if she could stay hidden whenever a predator was around, then she might just make it out of these woods alive.
Pinkie looked at the tree she was leaning on, she noticed how high up it was. She decided that if she wanted to survive in these woods, she was going to need to learn a bit about her surroundings. She began to climb the tree, making sure to only get on branches that were big and could handle her weight. It took a long time, around thirty minutes, but, she got to the top. She was tired and covered with leaves and other things; she didn’t really care at the moment, she was too mesmerized by what she saw.
“Where did they take me?”
Pinkie said, in utter shock and confusion. There were miles upon miles of woods, with the occasional mountain in the distance. Wherever they took her, it was far from the city; there was no forest anywhere near the city that was this size. It would take her a month just to get out of this place; there must be tons of animals in these woods. There wasn’t a single human-made thing in sight, not any buildings or anything. It was going to be hard to survive in these woods; it would take more than a month just to navigate them, she wasn’t even going to waste the effort of trying to find civilization. Her only chance of survival was to find an area with water and stay in that area, without water, there was no chance of her staying alive.
She began to pay more attention to the view, trying to find any sign of a source of water, a river or a pond or anything that contains water will do. Maybe even a cave, occasionally, there can be water sources in caves. But, she wouldn’t be able to see a cave entrance from here, so, she wasn’t going to look for one. Then, she noticed something, a spot with a lack of trees. This wasn’t the clearing she woke up in, that was in a completely different direction. There didn’t seem to be any reason for this, as, past the spot, the miles of woods seemed to go on. The only reason why this would be is if there was another clearing, or there was a pond!
Pinkie’s face suddenly changed into a smile; she began to climb down the tree. She got a bit excited and rushed down, which caused her to scrape her foot against the tree. She gasped out at the sudden pain in her foot, but, she bit her lip to avoid any sounds coming out, she was afraid she might alert any nearby animals.
After waiting a few seconds to see if she was noticed, she continued to climb down the tree in a more cautious manner. Almost immediately after she got to the bottom, she began to sprint towards the direction of the clearing she saw. She knew that she would get tired sooner, but the clearing wasn't that far away. She kept a concentrated look on her face; she was trying to remain quiet while maintaining focus on her surroundings, she had to make sure that she didn’t make too much noise or run into anything.
Avoiding any and all obstacles the same way as when she was running from the clearing, quickly getting tired. When Pinkie was younger, she went through an athletic stage. It was either to compete with Rainbow Dash or to try to get her father’s attention; she wasn’t really sure. She practically signed up for everything, track, basketball, soccer, football, baseball, everything the school had to offer. She kept in sports until middle school, when she and her friends had a falling out. But, muscles don’t just disappear, especially not with metabolism like hers.
She was nothing compared to what she used to be, but she was still in fairly good shape. She couldn’t run as far or as long as she used to, or hit a home run so far they had to get a new ball, but, if push came to shove, she could win a fight or outrun her opponent. Animals might be a different story, if she ran into a pack of wolves, for example, there was no way she could fight them or outrun them, hiding was the only option in that scenario.
After what felt like an hour of running through bushes, jumping over loose tree roots, hiding behind trees at sudden sounds, and eating berries that Pinkie was ninety percent sure wasn’t poisonous, she could finally see the clearing. It wasn't far; it only took so long because she kept getting tired, or it was farther than it looked. It was a huge waterfall, that fed a small pond. She couldn't see where the water was coming from, as it was too high, it was probably from a river or a stream.
It was barely big enough to fish out of, but, hopefully, it had fish in it. She couldn’t tell, the water was too dense to see through. Around the pond, was rocks and mud and such, with it being surrounded by Cattails and other plants. This was good; She could set up a shelter around here. While it was in plain sight, she wouldn’t be sleeping here during the night, and she could sleep in a tree or something. The shelter would be more for storing food and waiting out weather, no other real purpose.
She walked forward and smiled out of satisfaction; this was perfect, this would work. This was a great, practically endless water source, and the surrounding area is pulsing with edible plants and berries. This made her smile stretch even further, having both water and a food source was key to survival, and she had both of these things in one, somewhat safe area.
All she needed now was a shelter of some sort to protect her from the weather, and she could sleep in, one that could be easily made and efficient. Not a wooden shelter, she needs a shelter that doesn’t take too much time to make. Not a cave, she really didn’t like enclosed areas. What she needed, was a moss shelter. They keep heat stored in a small area, they’re easy to make, they can protect from rain and snow, and they provided a good amount of cover, it was the perfect shelter for her!
At that, she began to gather up moss in the surrounding area and pile it all up to use for the shelter, when she thought she had a sufficient amount of moss for her makeshift home, she began to gather up branches. Some she could find on the ground, others she had to tear off trees. This is a similar process to what she would need to do for a wooden shelter, except this takes a lot less wood. Wooden shelters can’t contain heat as much as moss shelters do, and also can’t protect from weather like rain or snow as well. While there are environments where wooden shelters would be the better choice, this wasn’t it.
She would need about twenty decent sized branches, and one log to hold them all together. It was hard to carry all these branches back and forth into one pile; it was even harder to find a log big enough to hold all the branches in one place, but, luckily, she did. She had found it lying between a few trees, probably the remains of a tree that fell over. She couldn’t carry something that heavy, so, she rolled it over to the pile.
By the time she was done getting everything she had needed, she had two piles, the pile of moss to her left, which was almost as big as she was. And the pile of branches, plus the log to the right of her, she still felt like she forgot something, something important.
"Let’s see; I’ve got the wood, the moss, the log, what am I missing? Oh, yeah! Rocks, lots of them!”
To keep the branches standing up without falling over, she was going to need to surround the base of the branches with rocks, which there were plenty of. She was also going to need to save some rocks to make a campfire, but, she won’t be making that until she was done with this. She began to gather rocks in the area, both the ones near the pond and the ones beside the trees. When she thought she had enough, she put them in a similar pile beside the moss one. Then, when she was positive she had what she needed to make shelter, she began to work on it.
First, She got the log and lifted it up, it was cumbersome, and she was barely able to get it off the ground, a look of strain was on her red face, but, she did. She angled it to wear one part was leaning against a tree, and the other was pushing into the ground. Next, she rushed some rocks into a pile around the base to prevent it from collapsing. She got the branches and did the same thing with them that she did with the log, except the branches were leaning on the log, and the piles of rocks around their base was smaller.
There were ten branches on each side of the branch, making it both even and able to support their own weight. Finally, she got the moss and put some on top of the log until it covered it from top to bottom, until there was so much on the log, it was dangling off the side. She did a similar thing with the branches, except, she had to do it vertically from head to toe, or it wouldn’t have stayed in any other way, she did this with all twenty branches, until moss was both on and in-between the branches, not making any entrances or exits except the area at the bottom of the log.
She stepped back covered in dirt, moss, and sweat, but, still had a huge prideful smile on her face. It was decent sized, had rocks at the base of all the branches, enough moss covering it to make it seem like the wood was green, and was obviously hastily made, but, it was home, and it had to do. As Pinkie was bathing in pride at her creation, she noticed something dangling from one of the branches of the tree the log was leaning on, something familiar.
It was a necklace, a silver necklace. Pinkie’s face went from joyful to worry at this; she didn’t come here wearing a necklace. She walked over and slowly grabbed the necklace, not wanting to break it, she had no idea how long it had been there. It was covered in dirt and other things showing how long it had been there. She took the necklace over to the pond and dipped it in, using her hands to clean it.
It took a few minutes to get all the muck and such off, but, eventually, it was clean. It was a silver necklace, with a matching silver chain. The chain wasn’t entirely silver; there were slight parts of it that had rust. Which didn’t necessarily mean it was old, just that it had been out in the open, vulnerable to rain and wind and such, it was still in fairly good state.
The pendant at the bottom was the color of gold, with a little red jewel at the top of it. It was also hollow, most likely one of the necklaces that you opened and it had a picture in it. This was good! This meant there were other people in the woods with her, maybe even someone she knows! Technically, she wouldn’t be breaking the rules, if she talked to someone who was already in the woods. With woods this big, it was entirely possible there were hikers or campers who may have gotten lost in the woods. In the excitement that she might meet other people, she quickly opened the pendant to look at the picture inside, but it wasn’t what she was expecting.
What was the pendant made Pinkie gasp, and filled her with dread, not knowing how else to respond. It was a picture of her, Inkie, and Blinkie. The picture was taken two or three years ago before they disappeared. This was the necklace Inky always wore because if she ever was sad or scared, she could look down and see the smiling faces of her sisters. It’s been so long since she’s seen them, she forgot all about it, which filled her with guilt. The picture was taken during her sixteenth birthday, the necklace was a present from Blinkie, she swore she’d never take it off, and she didn’t. If something this important to her was here, that either meant she lost it, and some bird picked it up, or she was dead.
“No! I can’t think like that! I have to stay positive, thinking like that isn’t going to get me anywhere.”
She shook her head and quickly stood up, not wanting to feel the worry and dread that was creeping up on her, she hated feeling like that, feelings like those made people do the opposite of smile.
“Just because this is here, doesn’t mean she’s dead! She can’t be, she just can’t! But, it does mean she’s been here, maybe she’s still in these woods somewhere!”
Pinkie said to herself, not really having anyone to talk to like usual, she has no other choice, she never was an inside thinker, she preferred to voice her thoughts. She closed the pendant and put the necklace around her neck, after all, someone has to give it back to her. She looked down at the heart-shaped pendant, the water glistening as it slowly rolled off of it, she was filled with determination.
She had to see them; she just had to. It’s been years since she’s ever even had contact with her sisters, she nearly jumped in joy at a chance to see them. She couldn’t wait to catch up with them, tell her about new and old friends, about the Elements of Harmony and magic, all the drama in her life, all sorts of things.
Pinkie smiled at the idea of what her sister's reaction would be if she told her sisters her and her friends had sprouted ears, ponytails, horns, and wings, and used magic to defeat a demon who was now their friend, it would take a lot of convincing, but she was more than happy to try, and had plenty of time to.
Then, suddenly, her stomach loudly rumbled, reminding Pinkie she’s had nothing to eat but a few berries every now and again. She blushed in embarrassment at that, glad no one was around to hear that. Then, she looked over to how many rocks were left, and there were just enough to make a campfire. She gathered some nearby wood and the rocks she left in a pile and started to put the rocks in a small circle. It was just small enough to cook something decently sized, but not big enough to make a lot of smoke, as that would attract unwanted attention from nearby animals, be predator or prey.
After she was done making the circle of rocks, she put a bunch of twigs and such into the middle, making enough fuel to last a fire a couple of hours. Now all she needed was food, not necessarily a big animal; it could be a frog or a snake or something, Pinkie was sure Fluttershy wouldn’t have minded that considering how many of her animals snakes have eaten. She understood it was the laws of nature for predators to eat prey, which didn’t make it any less tragic. She hated to admit it, but she needed to kill and eat an animal. It was starting to get too late to go out for berries, plus, she was too tired from making her shelter to go too far. She had no choice.
She began to look in and near the pond, hoping she might see something she could catch with her hands. Like a frog or a fish, just something she didn’t necessarily have to kill to catch. Usually, you would have to make a spear to catch fish or a makeshift fishing rod. The basic spear is a long piece of wood with a sharpened rock taped with lots of grass to keep it there. But, considering how much she had already gotten done today, and that it was an hour or so away from being night, she was both too tired and too scared to do any more work like that today.
After a few minutes of looking, she saw a fish near the edge of the pond; it seemed to be just staying there, no indication it was even alive except for its tail moving back and forth. From what Pinkie knew about fish, which was only from the occasional conversation about them with Fluttershy, and the occasional video or documentary that would talk about them, it was most likely a Bluegill, considering the size and environment. Bluegills were usually quite small and not very nutritious, but it’s still better than having nothing to eat.
She started to walk over to the area in front of the Bluegill, remaining quiet to make sure the fish wouldn’t get scared and swim away, she most likely wouldn’t have gotten another chance like this. The closest she could get was just on the edge of falling over, making it very hard to keep balance, but not impossible. She slowly leaned down towards the Bluegill, making sure not to make any sudden movements or sounds, it could cause her to go to sleep hungry tonight.
The Bluegill remained in the same place as before, either not noticing or not caring that something was leaning closer and closer to it, until Pinkie had suddenly grasped towards it, successfully capturing her target. The Bluegill being suddenly attacked in its environment began to squirm violently trying to escape the grasp of whatever predator had it in its paws, or hands.
Pinkie had kept a good grip on it, despite how wet and slippery it was, because if it got back into the pond, there was no chance of her getting it back. She threw it as far in the opposite direction as she could, making it land a few feet behind her, flopping in every which direction, trying to get back to a water source. Pinkie didn’t want to kill the fish, well, not directly anyway; she was going to let it suffocate. It may not have been the most pleasant death, but, fish didn’t feel pain, it wouldn’t suffer.
As the fish flopped back and forth, desperately trying to live, Pinkie had a disgusted look on her face as she wiped her hands on her jeans. She hated anything slimy or as wet as that; she just hated it! She sat there for nearly a minute wiping her hands on her blue jeans; she had just recently got them too! It went so well with her bright pink and yellow shirt!
Well, not really, she knew she didn’t usually wear these kinds of things. But, she got them for her birthday from her friends, so, she wanted to wear them while they were partying to know she appreciated it. But, it seemed she was stuck with this ‘dreadful outfit,’ as Rarity would put it, though, there were worse clothes to be trapped in the woods with.
After she was done making sure every last drop of slime and water was off of her hands and on her clothes, she walked over to the no longer flopping fish. Which, while Pinkie was cleaning off her hands, it was desperately trying to live, until it ran out of energy and couldn’t flop anymore. She noticed this, and just stood there with a sad look on her face, knowing, not directly, she had killed it.
It sat vertically on the ground in front of Pinkie, opening and closing its mouth, in a last, desperate attempt to live. Pinkie felt bad for it; the fish had done nothing wrong. It was simply born, lived in the pond, and probably had fish friends, and was suddenly taken from it’s home, and is now dying.
"I’m sorry little guy; I don’t WANT to do this! It’s just berries won’t keep me full and healthy, and it’s going to be getting dark soon, I don’t want to risk going in the woods, you were just the closest thing I could find. I Pinkie Promise I will make sure to eat every last bite of you, so your death doesn’t go to waste! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
Her face changed from a sad one to a joyful one as she made the gestures of her signature promise, the fish still opening its mouth, not responding to Pinkie’s declaration in any way. Then, suddenly, the fish stopped, it’s body no longer showing signs of living. Pinkie, realizing the fish was now dead, lowered her hand from her eye, her face going back to her depressed face.
“Goodbye, Mr. Fish.”
She then walked over to the campfire and began to start the fire, using the simple sticks method. As she put the slightly on fire twig under the pile of wood, she went over to the fish as the fire slowly spread to the rest of the wood. The fish still in the same place as she left it, obviously not moving, it was dead.
She picked it up, ignoring the remaining slime and other disgusting stuff on the fish, and the fact that it was dead. When she got back to the campfire, noticing it was surely, but slowly, spreading to the rest of the wood. She put a stick through the fish, making a disgusting squishing sound that grossed her out more than the slime did. Then, she stuck the stick into the ground at an angle to where the fish was right over the pile of wood so that the fish wouldn’t get over or undercooked.
As she waited for her dinner to be cooked, she walked over to the pond and began to wash her hands, not wanting to get any more gross stuff on the clothes she’s going to be wearing for the rest of the month. As she was washing her hands, she had a blank look on her face. Then a sob suddenly came out of her, it was short and the only one she did, but it was full of emotion.
She had never taken life before, human or otherwise. Not even as a kid did she ever kill a fly or anything, despite how they might bother her. She always believed, no matter how different two things may be, they’re both alive. Whether it was a fly, a fish, or a person. No matter how advanced humans may be, they’re no different than animals. Everything deserves just as much reason to live as anything else. She understood that animals and insects were killed by people daily around the world, but that didn’t mean she had to be the same.
She also understood that it was necessary to kill that fish, or she may not have had the energy to get food, but she still hated it. She broke the rule she made to herself so long ago, which both made her disappointed in herself, and hate towards her father, who put her in this situation. True, she didn’t have much choice in killing the fish. But, if he hadn’t put her in these woods, then she never would have had to kill it.
“I’m gonna kill him!”
Pinkie suddenly slammed both of her hands into the water, making some of it splash onto her face, but her face was already wet with tears before that. It wasn’t just the fish that made her cry, nor was it the rage she felt for her father. It was the combination of knowing she’s most likely going to have to take the lives of many animals, knowing her sisters most likely had to do the same thing despite them making a similar promise, that her own father did this to her, that her friends will be worried sick about her and there’s nothing she can do about it, and that her mother and sister simply didn’t care. These thoughts gave her the feelings of dread, rage, spite, depression, and betrayal. Most of these emotions are ones she’s never felt before and had no idea how to deal with them; no one could deal with all these emotions at the same time, especially not someone so positive.
She began to cry, with her wet hands on her eyes, despite how wet they were. She didn’t care how loud she was being or if she attracted any attention from animals, she just couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears of pain and rage fell down her face, landing into the pond in front of her.
After a few minutes of letting out some of her emotions, she began to wipe her face with both water and tears. She then got up, turned around, and began to walk over to the fish that she nearly forgot about. By now, it was cooked enough to eat, which, despite Pinkie knowing she had to do, disgusted her. She sat down in front of the campfire and began to eat her meal. Pinkie gagged at almost every attempt to swallow it, not because it tasted bad, it actually tasted quite good, it just disgusted her so much.
By the time she was finished eating the fish, she had felt like she was going to puke. Sometime during her meal, it had turned dark, the campfire was now the only light source in the night. She threw the bones of the fish into a nearby bush. She then started to walk over to her moss shelter, both too physically and emotionally exhausted to do anything more for the day.
As Pinkie began to walk-crawl in her shelter, with a sad look on her face, a sudden sound rang through the forest that filled her with fear, howling. Now, she understood that this was normal, as wolves would howl for a multitude of reasons, the problem was, this was nearby. This wasn’t the kind of howling you would hear in the far distance and shrug off thinking it was an echo; this was close, maybe a mile or two out?
Either way, this was bad. This meant that there was a predator in her area, one that had an acute sense of smell, which meant it probably already had her scent. Or worse, a whole pack of them.
She slowly crawled out of her moss home, looking in the direction where the howl had come from, she could feel the adrenaline from the fear starting to rise up. If they were visible from where she was, that meant she was in danger and had to hide. If they weren’t, that meant she still had time to run, maybe lose them or climb up a tree; she was pretty sure wolves couldn’t climb trees.
Pinkie squinted her eyes in the direction of the howl, it was dark, and there were lots of bushes and such blocking a clear sight, which meant if whatever amount of wolves hunting her had a dark enough coat that they blended into their surroundings, she had no chance of surviving. Then, suddenly Pinkie saw it, a wolf.
It had a dark gray coat that made it very hard to see it, if it hadn’t been so large, she probably wouldn’t have. It had golden like eyes, which were looking around for tonight’s prey. Pinkie’s eyes widened as two more smaller, but similar wolves came behind it, one with its nose to the ground as if it was tracking a specific scent, which it probably was. The other was remaining beside the first one, appearing to be searching for any other predators in the area.
This was bad! Really bad! They must have smelled the cooking of meat when Pinkie put the fish over the campfire and followed it here. The wolf tracks must have been trying to pinpoint its exact location, which, if they’re as good as trackers as Pinkie had seen and heard of in the documentaries, would lead them to the campfire. The big one was probably the alpha male, as it wanted to lead them to the prey, and was the largest among the three.
Pinkie slowly crawled back into her home, as she weighed her options. She had three choices; the first was the stupid choice, fight them. Which shouldn’t even be considered, these are predators. Creatures who spend every day hunting their food and killing other predators, Pinkie hasn’t even been in a fight, that wasn’t an option. The second option was to make a run for it, where the wolves will most definitely notice her, she might outrun them. She wasn’t as fast as she once was, but she was still fast. Besides, humans can run longer than any animal, so she didn’t have to outrun them, just outlast them.
But, considering it was this late at night, she would probably run into objects and fall, which would slow her down. Even if one wolf fell, the others would keep going, and with their vision more adjusted to the night than hers, they wouldn't fall. Which left only one option, hide. While it was true they could track her down; it didn’t matter if she hid to the point to where they couldn’t find her. Considering this one was most likely to work, and her only real option left, this was the one she was going to choose.
She began to look around for a good close, hiding spot, dense bush, a tall tree, anything will do. As Pinkie looked around for a good hiding spot, the wolves slowly began to get closer and closer to her spot. She couldn’t see this, of course, but she assumed they were, she seriously doubted they were just standing there. Her eyes eventually fell onto the pond; she was seriously considering just going under and holding her breath. Then she noticed something, something she hadn’t noticed before.
At the back of the pond, where the waterfall was, The walls seemed to get smaller as they got closer to the waterfall as if there was something back there. She looked as closely as she could at a waterfall at night, trying to notice any details. And then, she saw it; there was a cave behind the waterfall! This was perfect! Not only would the water mask her scent so the wolves couldn’t smell her, but the wolves wouldn’t go so far for there prey as to swim through a pond, into a cave, and adventure through it just to find her, probably.
Pinkie then slowly began to crawl toward the pond, hoping she’d get there before the wolves found her. The wolves had been continuing their hunt, remaining slow, they still weren't if any other predators were around. Pinkie was also going slow, but she was closer to the pond then the wolves were to her. By the time she was at the edge of the pool, the wolves were mere feet from her shelter, and they were still getting closer.
Pinkie felt hesitant, if the wolves did notice her in the pool and jumped in themselves, she would have nowhere to go. But, if they didn’t, she would still have to swim through water filled with fish. Then, the wolves noticed the campfire and the shelter and began to speed up, getting closer and closer to being able to see her every second. If She didn’t jump in soon, they would most definitely see her, and then, option one will be her only remaining choice. Pinkie then slowly got into the water, trying her hardest not to make any noise, she succeeded.
The first thing She saw when she was underwater was fish, lots of fish. Some on the floor of the pond eating plants and algae and such, others hiding in holes in the wall of the pond and sleeping, or, at least, the fish version of sleeping. She then began to swim towards the waterfall, noticing the cave entrance from where she was. It was hard to keep her eyes open, the water began to burn her eyes, but she had to, so she could make sure where she was going. What bothered her most though, wasn’t her eyes or having to hold her breath, it was more the fact she was basically swimming in a fish sewer, and they lived there.
‘Fish both defecate and urinate in their home, as they don’t have the brain capacity to do it in a specific place or time, so, they just do it when and wherever they are.’ Pinkie had learned this from a documentary on the ocean she had seen a few years ago, this fact disgusted her then, and it still disgusted her now.
Eventually, after what felt like hours of stinging eyes, burning lungs, and disgusted feelings realizing she was swimming in the equivalent of a fish sewer, Pinkie made it to the waterfall. After climbing into the cave, which was hard with the pressure from the waterfall keeping her down, she began to rest.
The second she got into the cave, she had a coughing fit, which lasted almost a minute. She really hoped the sound of the waterfall was louder than her coughing, because if it wasn’t, then the wolves most definitely heard her. She drank some of the water from the waterfall, despite just swimming through a pond, she was quite thirsty, it was probably the fish earlier that made her thirsty.
As Pinkie was drinking from the waterfall, she noticed in the time it took her to get there, the wolves had arrived at their destination, the campfire. She wasn’t worried though; she was positive the water had covered her scent, so, even if the one tracking her did get her scent, they still wouldn’t be able to find her.
The one tracking her was smelling both the campfire and the area around it, while the alpha male was investigating the moss shelter, the third one was watching for other predators. Pinkie sat and watched as the wolves tried to find her, she smiled knowing she had won, then, the smile faded when something unexpected happened.
The wolves began to gather at the moss shelter, and they all went inside. They cuddled together and began to sleep, with the alpha male on top. This filled her with distraught, they weren’t just looking for food, they were looking for a place to sleep, and Pinkie provided them with one. Not only did this mean she had to stay in the waterfall all night, but that the wolves would now know of her shelter, and might come back to sleep there while she’s asleep. This certainly wasn’t good news, but still, it was better than being eaten alive.
Pinkie decided she might as well explore the cave; she had nothing else to do since the wolves were now residing in her shelter for the night. The first thing she saw when she had turned around was darkness, lots of it. Which made sense, considering it was a cave, they tended to be dark. Though, since Pinkie had been out in the night, and she was pretty good at adjusting to things, she could see, not as well as in the daytime, but enough to make out large objects, or anything she could get close to.
Pinkie was tired, but not tired enough to immediately go to sleep, not with all the fear adrenaline running through her veins, which would probably leave her exhausted when it’s gone. She decided, since this cave was such a great hiding place, had a clean water source, and she was able to see incoming predators without them seeing her, this would be her new, better shelter. While she did say she didn't like enclosed areas, this cave wasn't as enclosed as most. But, it would be stupid to make this cave her home when she hasn’t even explored it, even for her. She waited a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness better and began to explore.
As Pinkie was exploring the cave, making sure to watch out for bats or anything of the like, her thoughts began to put more fear into her than the wolves did. Not too long ago, she and her friends decided to watch a movie, then they all started voting in the genre. Fluttershy voted on an animal documentary; Rarity wanted to watch "The Notebook," which Pinkie had already seen tons of times. Twilight and Sunset wanted to watch one of the Star Trek movies. The genre that got the most votes though was horror. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie voted on a scary movie.
After some bickering between six of them, with Fluttershy just trying to hide behind her hair, not wanting to get into an argument, they finally got them to at least watch it. The horror movie they had agreed on, was the one that was making Pinkie scared now, "The Descent." The movie was about, to sum it up, a group of girls who get lost and find an unmarked cave, and due to human curiosity, they explore it. What they find in there, was humans who had gotten trapped in there, and had devolved into something that couldn’t even be considered human anymore. The creatures were cannibalistic, of course, as they had eaten or killed all of the girls except for one, which led to a sequel, but they didn’t watch that one, as the first one already terrified them from going anywhere near caves.
But now, with Pinkie in a cave, the thoughts of those creatures being real became very much more terrifying, despite how unrealistic it was. Pinkie was a Christian, that’s how her mother and siblings raised her, though, her siblings raised her more than her mother did. She didn’t believe in evolution or any of that stuff, so, she just assumed that whatever those creatures were, they couldn’t be human. She just assumed it was a bunch of blind, albino, hairless monkeys who bred together and made a whole bunch of their kind, and, for some reason, decided to live in the cave. Fluttershy said it was immensely unlikely but possible.
The idea of one of those things popping out of a nearby rock and attacking her in the dark made Pinkie much more terrified than a whole pack of wolves did. But, this was a cave behind a waterfall, not some unmarked cave in the woods. So, she laughed away her fear, thinking how funny it would be if her friends were here. But made sure to laugh quietly, there may be no blind monkeys in this cave, but that didn't mean there was nothing in here.
Rainbow Dash would probably act all confident and nonchalant, while Applejack would be trying to calm her down, as not to wake any possible bats, especially Vampire Bats. Fluttershy would probably be hiding behind someone, afraid of the cave. Twilight and Sunset would probably be trying to find the solution to all of this, and Rarity would be throwing a fit because the waterfall messed up her makeup.
The thought of being with her friends again put away her fear, replacing it with confidence and dedication. She had to get through this so that she could make her fantasy a reality. She put the idea of cave creatures in the back of her mind and replaced it with the smiles of her friends. If she let the fear keep her from doing the things she needs to, then she’ll never get out alive, and she needed to.
She needed to see her friends, to let them know she was fine. She needed answers, why her father did this, and what happened to her sisters. But, most of all, she needed to live. She was too young; there were too many things she needed to do. With that notion in mind, she continued through the cave, with a look of confidence on her face.
The cave wasn’t as deep as it looked, not even close. It was actually quite small and wasn’t very cave-like. There was barely any water, other than the occasional dripping from the ceiling. And, as far as she could tell, there weren’t any bats or anything. Her eyes had further adjusted to the dark about as well as they were going to, but only to the point to where she could see distant large objects and shapes more clearly.
She had seen many rocks and such on the ground, so, she could vaguely tell when one was in the distance. Which is why when she saw two objects on the floor at the end of the cave, she could tell by their size and placement, they weren’t rocks.
She wasn’t sure what they are, they could be sleeping bags hikers left behind, or something else. Whatever they were, they were either inanimate or dead, as they hadn’t seemed to move an inch.
“Hello? Anyone alive over there?”
Pinkie called out, trying to see if it might have been people who lived here and were sleeping. After waiting a few seconds to see if there was any indication of life. Pinkie didn’t want to think they were dead, as other than funerals; she never wanted to come anywhere near a dead body, so much as two. She began to walk forward, intending to see if they were truly dead or not.
She couldn’t tell a lot of detail about either one of them; they were both turned to the other side of her. Both of their hair was long, but that didn’t mean anything, as if a boy was lost in the woods long enough, their hair would get just as long as girls. She couldn’t tell the hair color of either, both of them were covered in dirt, muck, and other gross things, making it hard to tell what their original hair color was.
It was very dark, but, she could vaguely tell what kind of clothes they were wearing. The one in front of her had a dark gray shirt; Pinkie couldn’t tell if that was its original color, or if it had been something else and it just faded it. It was also wearing long, dark blue jeans, which were covered in dirt and mud. The thing that stood out about it the most though was it was wearing a rainbow-colored bracelet on the arm that was resting on its leg, she assumed it was it’s right. Her sister, Inkie, was wearing a similar bracelet when she disappeared.
Pinkie shook her head, thinking it was just a coincidence. Inkie wasn’t the only one to have a bracelet like that; it was possible this person just happened to have a similar bracelet. She diverted her attention from body/person in front of her to the one a little bit to the left.
It was laying similar to the one in front of her, except, it was laying on its right side, where the one to the right of her was laying on it’s left. Its hair was longer than the one she was looking at before; it seemed this one already had long hair, meaning, it was probably a girl. It was wearing a dark blue shirt, though, it might have been bright blue before. It had a matching blue skirt, which meant it was a girl or a bizarre guy, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.
After examining what they looked like, Pinkie needs to find out if they were alive. She slowly put her right hand onto what appeared to be the neck of the one in front of her. After a tense few seconds, there was no pulse. The tension wasn’t gone though; she still had to check the other one. She pulled back her right hand from the now confirmed body and moved over to the other. She then put the same hand on its neck and felt for a pulse. After a similar tense waiting, the same result came of it, and there was no pulse. Both of these people were dead, whoever they were.
Pinkie wanted to cry; she really wanted to. These weren’t fish that Pinkie had to kill for survival, these were people. People who had friends and family wondering where they were. Who were probably still in high school and had much of their life ahead of them. And, despite how much Pinkie wanted to avoid thinking about, she probably knew them. Even if she didn't, they still reminded her what could happen to her.
Pinkie knew everyone in high school and a lot of people in and around the city. She seriously doubted her father took her that far away from the city, from what she knows about him, he doesn’t have that much patience. These could have been someone from her school who went camping or something and ended up getting lost in the woods. Though Pinkie didn’t like it; she knew it was possible, but, there was only one way to check.
She had to flip them over; it was the only way. The bodies were at the end of the cave, parts of the bodies were touching the wall, there was no other way. There were lots of reasons to find out who they were, to see if she knew them, to find out who they were so when she got out, she could tell the families and many other reasons. But, none of them could justify what she was about to do, no matter how good the reasons may have seemed.
Not only did she never want to see a dead body, she was about to touch one. She hated the idea of it, but there were family’s out there that had missing children, and needed closure, this could provide it for them. She put away the hesitation in her heart, thinking whoever the families of these two are, need closure more than her.
She slowly put her right hand on the shoulder of the body in front of her, doing the same with the other body with her left hand. The feeling of their cold, dead bodies sent shivers down her neck, but, she ignored it. She knew this was probably going to traumatize her for the rest of her life, but she had to go through with it, for the families.
She closed her eyes and began to count, intent on flipping both the bodies at the same time.
“One.”
Her grip on the bodies got stronger, as she tried to fill herself with confidence. With thoughts of her friends encouraging her, and the smiling faces of the families as they thanked her for finding their family.
“T-two.”
Her voice began to get shaky; she suddenly had a thought. Sure, a family member going missing was bad, but being told they’re dead was worse. If you know they're dead, then you know they're never coming back. You’re never going to hear their voice, see them smile, get to tell them how much you loved them, or any of that. But, if they're just missing, in her opinion, that was better.
If they were missing, then there was still hope. They could have amnesia and be living somewhere as someone else, they could just be lost somewhere, they could be held hostage, and the kidnappers were holding them for ransom somewhere. If they're just missing, then there’s always the chance they're going to show up one day on your doorstep. But, if instead, someone came to your doorstep telling you they were dead, that hope is gone.
“Three!”
Pinkie acted unconsciously, despite the internal battle she was having with herself. Some part of her wanted answers wanted to know who these people were. Perhaps it was human nature, to be curious, human nature was extremely hard to resist, especially in these kinds of situations.
After hearing the sounds of the bodies being turned over, and quickly pulling back her hands, not wanting to touch them any more than necessary, she slowly opened her eyes. The second her eyes had readjusted to the dark, and she saw who they were, she wished she had just let them be. She gasped loudly, as she began quickly scooting back until her back hit a rock.
Their faces were similar to the rest of their bodies, covered in dirt and other various things, but they were still recognizable. The one on the right was Blinkie Pie, her oldest sister. Those bright, yellow, lifeless eyes, her tomboyish features, there was no mistaking it, that was her oldest sister. The one on the left was her other older sibling, Inkie Pie. Her longer than normal hair, her purple eyes, and her shy, innocent features, both of them were her long-missing siblings, and both were indirectly, or maybe directly, killed by her father.
Pinkie felt numb, her body still pushed against the rock behind her. Despite the cave being warm, she felt cold, freezing. It wasn’t the water that made her cold, that had already dried. Her sisters, her friends from the day she was born, were dead. Put into the forest and abandoned by their father, all for a reason they weren’t even been told. They didn’t deserve this; there was no reason they had to die.
They were just as innocent as Pinkie was, maybe more. Blinkie pie was much like Rainbow Dash, she was athletic, outgoing, confident, and many other things that made her like Rainbow, they probably would have been competitive rivals, but good friends. While Inkie was more like Fluttershy, she was anti-social, kind, and extremely shy, but she was a good person. While she didn’t care for animals as much as Fluttershy, she was just as nice.
Blinkie may not have been as innocent as herself or Inkie, she made dirty jokes every now and again, but she didn’t deserve to die, neither of them did! They both, despite Inkie’s shyness, had friends, hopes, dreams, things to do, but they’ll never get to. Because of her father, because of his sick, twisted, version of entertainment, they never will.
Before Pinkie’s thoughts could fill her heart with rage, one of the bodies moved, or more specifically, Blinkie’s mouth. It had shifted a little, just barely. This replaced the hate in her with a hope that maybe she could be alive. In few cases, there was something called open eye comatose. Where the body enters a comatose-like state so quickly, their eyes don’t have time to react and stay open.
Pinkie was about to go forward until she saw why her jaws moved, her worst fear. A black rat came out of Blinkie’s mouth, slowly crawling out and began to climb on other parts of her body. Pinkie hated rats; they were riddled with diseases, they eat disgusting things, and just looked terrifying. Pinkie was about to scream until she saw what exactly the rat was doing.
Pinkie hadn’t noticed it, but her shirt was loose on her body. Which shouldn’t be, even if she was starving, which she wasn’t, her facial details were dirty but weren’t giving away any signs of starving, which made her wonder how they died, the shirt still shouldn't be that loose.
The slight movement of the rat moving under Blinkie’s shirt caused it to fall to the cave floor, and what was under it made her eyes dilate to unimaginable levels. The rat wasn’t alone; it had a family, lots of them. The reason Pinkie hadn’t seen any rats in the cave, was because they were living in their home, or should she say, food source, or maybe both. If Pinkie had to guess, something caused Inkie and Blinkie to try to use the cave as a shelter as Pinkie had, but they weren’t as lucky.
The rats had attacked them, and being the disease carriers, they were, probably infected them with something that they didn’t have the medicine to protect themselves from, and killed them. Rats were extremely adaptable scavengers, who use whatever they need to in order to survive, whether it be the horrible or the unimaginable. Since rats don’t particularly like water, they would do choose any other option than to deal with it, and that’s exactly what they did.
They used Blinkie’s body as both a home and a food source, Inkie’s too, rats were crawling out of her shirt, making it slip off and reveal a similar view as Blinkie’s, but not as bad. The rats had decided to eat through Blinkie and Inkie’s skin, leading to their organs and other internal body parts. They had been eating away at her, eating her organs, skin, muscle, anything they could find in there that was edible. Since they had already eaten through the skin, whatever organs were left were falling out of their bodies, with the rats living in the place of the organs they had already eaten.
This was more gore than Pinkie has ever seen in any movie, more than she’d ever want to see. This had shattered her mind, not only had she found out her sisters were killed by her father, but she had seen the exact gruesome way they had died. The rats didn’t notice her; they were too busy enjoying their meal.
Pinkie began to chuckle, while slight tears began to fall down her face. Then, it escalated into full-blown laughter; tears rained down her cheeks like a waterfall. Her mind and sanity were shattered, going from an innocent person, into a fractured mind, similar to that of a war veteran who’s seen things no one should have to. Except, her mind was much weaker and more innocent than any normal person. Meaning, she was much easier to break.
Her father sending her to the forest for his entertainment, leaving her to the cruelness of mother nature, having to go against her oath and take a life, and knowing she most likely will have to do it lots of more times. Seeing her siblings dead, and seeing the horrible way they died, and many other things that put pressure on her, piled up in the back of her mind, waiting for the perfect moment to push, and it did.
The rats noticed the sudden noise, but, decided against attacking her. They already had two huge food sources; they didn’t need a third one, they were scavengers, not greedy. Pinkie didn’t care if the rats noticed her, she didn’t care about anything at that moment. She was overcome with all the emotions she had pushed away, the same emotions that broke her sanity. The immense grief for her siblings, the dread of all the things she’ll have to do to survive, the pure rage she felt for her father, but most of all, the depression she felt, knowing for the rest of her life, she’ll never be the same after this, she couldn’t be.
For a few minutes, she just sat there, laughing insanely as tears rained down her cheeks. She watched the rats that killed her siblings devour their bodies, eating them like it was the best meal they’ve had in years. Slowly, her laughter died down, as did her crying, until she sat there, blankly staring with lifeless eyes similar to her dead siblings.
When the rats were done eating, they moved around inside the bodies, until they were all settled in, and began to sleep. For the entire night, Pinkie sat with her back against a rock, staring with dead eyes at her siblings. There wasn’t a single noise in the cave, from the rats, or Pinkie. After hours of sitting there, she got up and walked out of the cave, not caring about anything anymore.
She ignored everything, her feeling of grief, her depression, everything. She focused on one thing, one emotion that kept her moving forward, the one feeling that gave her reason to live, rage. Rage for her father, rage against the world for letting such innocent people die in such a painful way, rage that no one, not even her friends, could hold back. She was going to kill him, no, she was going to destroy him.
From the day she was born, she was taught that killing was wrong, that no one but God should decide when someone should die. But this, this wasn’t right! He killed her sisters, probably tons of others, and tried to do the same to her! At that moment, Pinkie remembered a saying; she couldn’t remember where she heard it but recognized how much it fits this situation. No one deserves to die, but some people don’t deserve to live.
Pinkie made a promise to herself, a promise made on the spilled blood of her sisters. She was going to kill him; she didn’t care if God put her in hell for all of eternity, if there was a God. What kind of benevolent, all powerful and all knowing deity, would let something so horrible, happen to people who didn’t deserve it. Even after Pinkie had left the cave, the water making her hair straight, her hair never went curly again, neither did she want it to.
The first thing Pinkie noticed when she walked on the land, was that she had been in there longer than she thought, it had been morning, sometime around six. She looked forward, looking for the wolves, which she found, sleeping in the different pile she had left them. Apparently, they left the moss shelter and slept in the open, in a similar dog pile that they were in before. She slowly walked toward the wolves, being quieter than when she was trying to catch the fish.
When she got right beside them, looking at their faces as they slept, she felt rage. Not as strong as the rage for her father, and not nearly the same amount, but rage. THEY had made her find them! THEY had forced her to leave her home, making her stumble upon the horrible sight of her siblings. She picked up a large rock to her left, and raised it over her head, rage filling her every thought.
She slammed the rock onto the head of the closest wolf, smashing its skull and brains, killing it nearly instantly, bringing a smile of satisfaction to her face. Then, the other two wolves began to wake up, noticing their dead pack mate. Pinkie didn’t want to give them the chance to attack her, so, she tried to slam the boulder on the other wolf’s head, but it quickly moved away. Luckily, it wasn’t fast enough; the rock slammed against its paw. Making it impossible for it to move, as a majority of its right leg was trapped under the rock. Then, suddenly, the Alpha wolf, noticing what's happening, pounced on their attacker.
Pinkie, still crouched over from her recent attack, wasn't expecting the attack, and was on the ground in seconds. The Alpha wasn’t bigger than her, but still stronger than her, giving the wolf an advantage. Pinkie was trying her hardest just not to get hurt; the Alpha was clawing back and forth, the only thing stopping it from hurting her, was her hands right under its paws, pushing it as far up as she could.
With its paws being pushed back, it tried to bite her, snapping its jaws down at her, while Pinkie was trying to avoid her face getting bitten off. Saliva is going everywhere with every snap, mostly on her face, luckily, her mouth was closed. Slowly, her strength was leaving her, making her regret no longer working out. She knew, eventually, she was going to die.
This wasn’t some fight in school that the teachers would break up, this was a life or death battle, against an experienced predator. A wolf who has lots of experience in taking the lives of other animals, whether it be alone or in a pack, it was made to kill. While Pinkie, other than the fish, has never taken a life. This was bad; she was outmatched, her opponent had the advantage of strength and experience.
She was going to die here, is what the old her would have said. But the new Pinkie, the less innocent, more rage-filled Pinkie, wouldn’t accept that. After everything, the things she had to do, the things she saw, changed her. She had to live, not for her friends, or her human needs for self-preservation, but for her revenge. That’s what made her different than the rest of its prey, they tried to survive to live, but she’s trying to survive for death.
Pinkie put all of her strength into her right hand, flipping the wolf over with her on top. Before the wolf had the chance to counter, she began to beat it, hard. Punch after punch on the wolf’s face, slowly turning its growls into whimpers. All the while, Pinkie was imagining she was beating her father, which is why she was smiling all the way insanely through, with a manic look in her eyes. She keeps going, even after it was dead, not wanting to lose the feeling she was getting from this new experience, a feeling of… bliss.
But, like all good things, it had to end. Though, Pinkie didn’t stop herself. While she was beating the long-dead dog, she was bounced from the back. It was the dog Pinkie had trapped, which confused her. She looked over to the boulder, thinking it had somehow pushed the boulder or pulled it’s paw out or something, but neither of these was the case.
You know that saying, ‘ A wolf will bite off its own paw if it means survival.’? Well, in this case, that’s exactly what happened. The wolf had bitten of its crushed paw to survive or save its alpha; there was no real way to tell. Pinkie knew this because she could still see the paw, there was a pool of blood coming from under the boulder, and a trail leading straight to her, with blood on the wolf's teeth. The wolf was at a disadvantage though, since it can’t use its right paw, and it’s back ones were mainly used for travel, it could only use one.
Though, it did have the advantage of a sneak attack, which did end up harming Pinkie. While Pinkie was using her left hand to keep its left paw away from her, and her right hand was trying to push the wolf off, something unexpected happened. Since the wolf wasn’t using its right paw, it decided to use that to its advantage. It snapped its jaw from the right, which it couldn’t have done before if it was using its right paw. This surprised Pinkie, she wasn’t expecting it would do that. Luckily, she noticed it and moved away at the last second, but it still got a good cut on her neck. Not a very deep one, but enough to bleed.
This enraged her; she didn’t want a pathetic creature like this do harm to her or anyone. Pinkie always had high confidence and self-esteem, even after her mental transformation. She was attractive, she knew it, and she flaunted it. Not in a slutty way, of course, she wasn’t that kind of girl, or at least, she didn’t used to be. But now, she was different. This encounter with death changed her in a lot of ways, physically was just one of them. Now, if she survived everything and killed her father, she was going to change the way she lived.
She was going to take more chance, live life more dangerously. She was also going to change her appearance, before, she tried to hide her body. She wanted people to be attracted towards her for her personality, not her appearance. But now, she was going to change everything. Wear less makeup, more revealing clothes, date more boys, both bad and good. She wasn’t going to be a slut and sleep with anyone. She just wanted people to pay more attention to her, and be more proud of her body. But first, she had to get through this, before she would get the chance to do any of these things.
Pinkie’s face was no longer a smile, but slowly, contorted to that of rage. She rammed both of her knees up as fast as she could, slamming into the stomach of the wolf on top of her, throwing over her. It landed on it’s back, with the breath knocked out of it so quickly and unexpected, she wasn’t able to move for a few seconds. Pinkie took this chance to attack, with that insane smile back on her face.
“I thought you were supposed to be elites!”
Pinkie screamed, with a mixture of sarcasm and disappointment in her voice. She was honestly expecting a challenge, if she was going to take on her father and his goons, she needed to be prepared. She wanted whatever challenge nature sent to her, no matter the risk. If she couldn’t handle a couple of mutts, she couldn’t dream of killing him.
“Three of the most dangerous predators in nature, with years of experience in hunting and killing, killed by a teenage girl!”
Despite now being driven by nothing but rage, bloodlust, and insanity, Pinkie’s conscious remained. Pinkamena wanted to regard her situation as two personalities. The old her, which she will regard as Pinkie. Joyful, outgoing, caring, but above all, innocent. Then, there’s the new her, Pinkamena; she couldn’t think of a name that would fit better. Sadistic, bloodthirsty, angry at the world, didn’t care for anyone, and a shattered mental state.
But, her old personality, it’s symptoms maybe gone, but it was still very much there, and won’t be going away. And, like mono, it will occasionally come back, and this was one of those times.
*Please, stop! You don’t need to do this! Just leave them be!*
She was talking about the wolves; she didn’t want her to kill them, despite both of them knowing it was too late to stop now. But she ignored her, everyone always told her if she ever hears voices in her head, just to ignore whatever they tell you to do. The wolf, now getting it’s second wind, was standing on whatever paws it still had. It started to growl at her, trying to be as intimidating as it could with only three paws and a couple fractured ribs.
The wolf made it’s move, rushing to her as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in its chest and paw. Though, it was pathetic compared to what it was before, making it extremely easy to avoid. Pinkamena simply sidestepped quickly, making the wolf smash into the ground. She kicked it in the chest, really breaking a few ribs this time.
She played with it for a little while, putting pressure on the place where its paw should be, kicking her a few more times in the chest, and the occasional punch to her face. Until the wolf didn’t have any more fight, even if it did, its body wouldn’t be able to do anything. Pinkamena decided there was no longer any more fun she could have out of her, and to just kill her, eat her and her friends, and sleep, she really needs to rest.
Pinkie was still trying to stop her, telling her to stop and giving as many reasons as she could. But, Pinkamena just ignored her, not wanting to stop. Eventually, she found what she was looking for. It was a branch she had thrown when she was collecting some. This branch was quite sharp, and wasn’t big enough to be used in the campfire, so, it was tossed, but now, it had a reason to be used. Pinkie, knowing exactly what that branch was going to be used for, started trying harder to get her to stop.
“NO! STOP! Please, you can just walk away. Let the wolf go! PLEASE!”
She didn’t listen and continued to move back to the wolf. The wolf had tried to crawl away but wasn’t very successful. It was just a few inches from where she left it; it couldn't really crawl very far. Pinkamena put her foot on her neck, not enough to stop it’s breathing, but enough to stop it from moving, which didn’t take a lot. Pinkamena raised the branch over its head, as Pinkie was protesting and trying to get her to stop. Then, like a plane beginning to crash, Pinkamena slammed the branch down into the wolf’s head, with a huge smile on her face.
She aimed for her eyes, which she got, and it had killed the wolf almost immediately. Almost immediately after she did, Pinkie stopped. There was no more protesting, not even crying, just silence. Maybe, it was gone. Whether it was Pinkie, her conscious, or some slight part of her that wanted to stay pure, it was gone. She had killed it like she had the wolf, and neither was coming back. Well, Pinkie might, she may have been innocent, but she was stubborn.
Pinkamena got on her knees, her smile spreading as far as it could, and she laughed. She laughed both from the satisfaction of killing the wolves and finally getting rid of that annoying voice in her head. There were no tears this time, just laughter. Dark, evil laughter. She was no longer the pure ball of sunshine she once was; now she was the exact opposite. She was exactly what she never wanted to be, and more.
For one month, she lived in those woods. Killing predators and prey alike, out of either necessity or just wanting to. She ate everything she killed, whether she was hungry or not, she hated being wasteful. Whatever time she wasn’t spending killing animals, she was exercising. Push Ups, sit-ups, planks, those kinds of things. She wanted to be strong again like she once was. She had to be strong, both to be able to survive in the woods, and to kill her father.
And strong she was, pushing herself as much as she could before being exhausted daily. She had abs, a simple six pack, and muscles. She felt she was ready by the time the month ended, for whatever her father threw at her. Just like he said, at the clearing where he had left her, after a month, the helicopter was there. What disappointed her though, was that she could not see her father in the helicopter.
Then, without warning, tall men in suits, similar to the ones she saw with her dad, came out of the helicopter. She tried to fight back, but they had tasers and numbers. While it’s true she was strong; she’s only ever fought animals. She didn’t know how to fight, while these guys knew how and had strength. Whenever they finally got her down, one of them injected her with a syringe, similar to the one her father gave her.
Like the one her father gave her, she felt the affects immediately. Passing out into the arms of the bodyguard in front of her. They took her to the helicopter, which had been ready to go this whole time, and flew off. When Pinkamena would wake up, she would soon learn her test is not over yet, and she would have much more to endure if she wanted her revenge. Before, she thought she could handle whatever they threw at her. But after what they were going to do to her, she would be more broken than what she was now.
Bonus Chapter.
Author's Notes:
Hello, sorry if this isn't what you were expecting. I decided to do this chapter solely for the plot, and to help you understand more about Igneous and just what kind of situation Pinkamena is in. Please, tell me if you see any errors, such as grammar, spelling, plot holes, or added on/left off letters.
After she was subdued and taken back to the main base, Pinkamena was given almost immediate treatment from the best doctors and nurses they had; Igneous made sure of that. Any and all injuries she had were cleaned out, stitched up, and left to heal. Though, she wouldn’t have the time to heal.
When the head of the medical team reported to Igneous that they had done all they could, and all she needed now was time, he dismissed the doctor and went to his office; he had a lot to think about. She had already proven what she was capable of, but they needed more than that. It was going to take more than simple survival skills; she needed to prove how much she could take, she needed to prove her endurance.
His office was a small one, the door being a well-crafted mahogany wood, with many carvings of various signs. Swirls around the corners, lines going down the edges, a circle around the knob, and many other things. He didn’t request this; he was a more plain and classic person. The door had belonged to the previous leader, who requested the door to be crafted like that. It wasn't his taste, but he didn't specifically dislike it.
He opened the door and walked in, looking around his office. Coming in, there was a desk in the middle. Made of the same kind of wood as the door, but without the signs. It had a laptop on top of it, for all the outside sources and media outlets. There were a pencil cup and a lamp on the left of the laptop, the cup having three sharpened pencils in it.
To the right of that, was a simple picture frame. In it, was a picture of a family, two years prior. Though what was strange about it, was Inkie and Blinkie had red marks on their faces. Igneous had done this when he got the news they failed. He didn’t have a funeral for them, as it would raise too many questions, and he didn’t care enough for them to have one.
Behind the desk, were three drawers on each side. They were made to hold papers and documents, and other various things. The chair behind the desk was also wood, except it was made of oak, instead of mahogany. It was painted black; it was Igneous's favorite color. To the left of the room, was a bookshelf that took the entire wall. Covered top to bottom with books, Igneous had more free time than he liked. Luckily, he liked to read.
Some of the books were stories or myths; others were personal journals of the previous leaders of The Syndicate. He hasn’t read every book and personal journal, though, he does intend to. On the right side of the room, were three rows of televisions. Igneous had trust issues; you get those kinds of things in a life like this. So, he decided to have cameras put in every single room in the headquarters, even the bathrooms.
The cameras were made very well, and well placed, not even he knows where they are. He told the ones who put them in to make them hidden and make sure they have view of the entire room. They’re always on, and always recording. Each camera has two pairs of batteries in them and a battery charger. So while one pair is being used, the other is charging. When the pair that is being used runs low, they switch out. Basically, the cameras are almost on, except when the batteries switch out. But, the time in between that switch is three seconds, no one could get through a room that quick.
But he wasn’t focused on the screens, or on the books, or on anything really. No, he had more pressing matters. He walked over to his desk and sat down, putting the laptop into one of the drawers. Then, he opened a different drawer, pulling out a file. The file had nothing on it; only he would know what it was. Each file had a special mark on it that Igneous had put there so he would know which file was which. This file had the top right corner slightly bent, anyone trying to steal it would think it was just a regular file, but he knew better.
Recently, a problem had risen in The Syndicate. It had started with a criminal being shot while he was robbing a store, his name was Jason Tunes. He had been robbing convenience stores for a month, killing anyone who didn’t cooperate or tried to play the hero. The Syndicate didn’t help or stop him, as any criminals not allied with them were considered neutral, and The Syndicate only helped allies.
This case was widely known, both by the police station and the citizens. But Jason was smart enough to wear a mask and gloves, and used a different gun every time, so, it was hard to get any evidence against him. But some had suspected it was him and tried to interrogate him. Many believed it was him, but there was still no evidence.
One day, while Jason was robbing a gas station, he was shot. Not by the cashier or someone shopping there, none of them even had a gun on them when he was shot. No one seemed to have even heard the shot, the only indication he was shot was a bullet hole in between his eyes, it was a clean shot. The bullet had been found; it was on the other side of the store, it had apparently gone straight through him and hit a wall.
The bullet had come from a sniper, which would explain the lack of a gunshot. What was strange about it though, was the bullet itself. It was taken back to forensics, but they didn’t come up with anything. Apparently, the bullet didn’t belong to any sniper rifle; it wasn’t even shaped like any kind of sniper rifle bullet they had seen before. Then, it got even stranger when they couldn’t find any gunpowder residue, if it weren't for the range, there would have been nothing indicating it was even a sniper rifle that it was shot from.
The most common theory about who shot Jason was that one of the police officers who was investigating him, had truly believed it was him. But frustrated that due to not having enough evidence, they weren’t able to arrest him. So, the officer had decided to take matters into their own hands. They had taken a sniper rifle from the police station and followed Jason until he was caught in the middle of robbing, and was shot. And the bullet was strange because the officer had bought it from somewhere else, as a way to not get caught.
This theory was believed by many, and it even went to the point to where the police stations that were looking into the case began an investigation, and what they found debunked the theory. Every officer that had believed Jason to be the suspect had been accounted for at the time of the shooting, all sniper rifles had been found and checked, and none had any signs of recent use. They even went as far as to check every officer's recent purchase history, and while some things did raise questions, none were out of the country purchases.
This case would have been forgotten, falling into the rest of the many cold cases if it hadn’t continued. Criminal after criminal had been killed in the same way, no gunshot, an untraceable bullet, and no suspects. Whoever had been doing this was killing criminals daily, rarely having any connections to each other. After the fifth one, the NYPD had opened a case into it, calling it The Silent Killer case, that’s what the mysterious sniper was nicknamed.
The Silent Killer was good at more than just sniping; they were good at staying hidden too. The cops had checked every building around the areas the criminals were shot at, even checking some that were out of the range of possibility. But, there was no trace anyone had shot from any of the buildings, and none of the residents heard any gunshots. Either this person was ex-military, or taught extremely well.
This case had started a month ago and was continuing to this day. Originally, Igneous nor the rest of The Syndicate wanted to get involved with this case. Whenever someone in The Syndicate committed a crime, it was always organized and planned out beforehand. Most of the time, the crime is committed flawlessly, no one is caught, or even suspected of. But on those infrequent occasions, where one or more of them is caught, it’s considered a failure to the entirety of The Syndicate, and a hit to their reputation.
But, everyone here is well disciplined, and don’t say anything. The only real bad thing out of failing is losing a few members; no information is given. Sadly though, The Syndicate wasn’t the only big organization in New York. They were definitely the biggest, but there were many others that could be a threat if enemies. But, the reason they were now involved in the case, or more particularly who, was The Apple Family.
What started off as one of their old relatives committing crimes, either for money or other reasons, evolved into something else. They were now one of the biggest organizations out there, and they weren’t happy. Apparently, some of their guys, or as they like to call them, ‘Apples.’ Were killed for whatever crimes they had committed, or been committing at the time they were shot. And Applejack, their leader, had suspected The Syndicate.
It made sense; The Silent killer was effective and untraceable, something The Syndicate specialized in. And The Syndicate was impressed, whoever this sniper was, they wanted them. It took a lot of convincing, and nearly some bloodshed, but Igneous managed to convince her it wasn’t them. But, that didn’t make her any less angry, in fact, it seemed to make her even angrier. She wanted to kill whoever it was that was killing them, and now that she didn’t have a suspect, it infuriated her.
She wanted a target, someone to put all the blame on, and she was looking at them for one. She said that if she didn’t find out who The Silent Killer was, that she’d assume it was them, and declare war. Usually, he would have killed her right then and there for making such a statement. But, that would have assured war, and he couldn’t have that, not now. Yes, they would win. But not without casualties, and such a war would most definitely risk exposure. But. He also couldn’t go to war for a different reason, Pinkamena.
He didn’t want to take any risk while she was still in the middle of the test, especially if he’s uncertain whether or not she’ll pass. If he were to go to war and die while she was still in the test, and she was to fail, Maud would have to take his place. If that were to happen, then The Syndicate would fall in on itself. He couldn’t have that; there was too much at stake. So, he accepted her deal and began to look into the case.
For the last two weeks, while Pinkamena was still in phase one of the test, he was gathering information. Criminals, ex-military, possible sniper rifles, the schedule of the killings, anything and everything that was connected to the case was in this folder. Slowly, he opened the folder, mentally preparing himself for the countless headaches he’s about to have.
The second he was about to open it fully, the head doctor he had dismissed earlier ran into his room. He shut the folder and put it back in the drawer immediately, not wanting to risk anyone knowing what he’s working on. Igneous was about to beat him for just rushing into his office, but then he saw the look on his face, and knew whatever reason he had rushed in, was important.
The head doctor was a white male, in his mid-thirties, his name was Melvin Haines. He had short brown hair, which was flat and spiked forward. Like most doctors, he wore clear white glasses. He had a pointy nose under them, which is why he usually didn’t have to push them back up. He always wore a black shirt with matching jeans, with the signature lab coat most doctors wear. His face was scrunched up, with his eyebrows both curved down at the spot in between them. His eyes were wide with shock and worry, panic was written all over his face. Igneous would allow this intrusion, as there was obviously an important reason for it.
“What is it, doctor?”
Igneous said calmly, as he laid his elbows on the desk, intertwining his hands and leaving them in front of him. Before speaking, the doctor quickly shut the door behind him, not wanting to alert anyone. As soon as he did, he looked at Igneous, trying to calm himself down.
“I-it’s Pinkamena! She’s waking up!”
Igneous's calm demeanor fell for a second, as shock filled his eyes. But, being the leader he is, he made sure to appear calm. This was surprising, the drug that was injected into her was supposed to keep her knocked out for seven hours, it’s only been four. She shouldn’t be waking up, not yet. It was possible to build an immunity to the drug to the point where it doesn’t affect that person anymore, but not so soon. He had to act quick, if she woke up and tried to break free, then they’d have to subdue her. And any injury to her lowers her chance of surviving the test, and that wouldn’t be good.
“Then inject her with more, she only needs to be asleep for a few more hours, then phase two can start.”
The doctor seemed to get even more surprised, both of them knew the consequences of using the drug again so soon.
“But if I do that, she might-
“I know! Just do it!”
He didn’t yell at him, he just loudly talked to him with anger in his voice. Yes, the drug was effective, but it had a catch. If the drug is used on the same person twice within twenty-four hours, it’ll increase the nervous system. Which means you'll be far more sensitive, to both pleasure and pain. A pinch would feel like someone was stabbing you with a butter knife. A spider bite would feel like a bunch of maggots are digging into your skin.
This side effect is said to drive a person insane from the immense amount of pain if it doesn’t kill you. Though it does make it feel worse, the injury itself doesn’t increase any. While the pinch may feel horrible, it’s still just a pinch, and won’t kill; it’s basically the body over exaggerating. Before Melvin could protest again, Igneous gave him a look that said,’ this isn’t negotiable.’
Then, he walked out, opening and closing the door behind him. Then, Igneous opened the drawer and pulled out the folder, resuming what he was going to do in the first place. As he opened the folder and began reading, he had a huge smile on his face. But, this wasn’t a happy smile, this was the same smile he gave Pinkamena before he left. That had been fake; it was just a scare tactic. But, this was genuine, he was smiling at his own realization.
He had not only made phase two ten times harder for her but now, she was guaranteed to be broken by the end of it. The effects may only last five hours after waking up, but it’s going to be the most excruciating five hours of her life. This wouldn’t just test her limits of endurance; this would make her skyrocket through them. It’s a good thing sanity isn’t a requirement, because she wouldn’t be when the test is over.
Chapter Two: Pain.
Author's Notes:
Sorry for taking so long to put this out, it took a bit of effort to type this out the way I wanted. Also, WARNING!!! This chapter will contain rape and torture. If you don't want to read that, please skip this chapter. If you see any grammar errors, left off or added letters, plotholes, or any questions about the story, please comment or pm me. Other than that, enjoy and thanks for reading.
“Are you sure about this, Igneous? I mean, I have no issue torturing your crazy hot daughter, no offense. But, if I do this while she’s under the effects of Zania, there’s no telling what she’ll be like afterward. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be able to ‘discipline’ her, as I’ll put it. But, she’ll always be a bit...off. Mentally unstable would be the closest term, but it’s still a major understatement.”
Blake said to Igneous, the main ‘interrogator’ of the Syndicate. He was of average size, somewhere around five ten. He had short, spiky, bleach blonde hair, which was obviously dyed that way. He had dark blue eyes, and a pointy nose, which made him strangely alluring. Other than that, his features were fairly normal. He wore a leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, wearing black pants with chains around the pockets. Wearing matching black shoes, and a golden skull necklace around his neck. Unless someone were to pay close attention to his hands, it would go unnoticeable. But, he had a pain tattoo on the knuckles of his left hand, with a gain tattoo on his right. He was also fairly built, noticeable by the cut sleeves on his leather jacket, revealing his muscles, and the many tattoos on them. He had skulls, dragons, demons, and many other numerous things on his arms, who knows the stories behind him.
“Oh, believe me, I’m sure. I want her to be like that, after all, no sane leader has ever led for long. Besides, considering the circumstances, we wouldn’t really have a choice. The real question here though, is, are you ready? You will be torturing her every day for a month, that’s the longest you’ve ever done. And I know how you like to use a different method every time, I know you’re creative, but, you’ll have to come up with thirty methods. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Igneous said as he looked at Blake, wanting to make sure he wasn’t making a mistake. Igneous had called him here about an hour before Pinkamena would wake up, he wanted to make sure he had been properly informed of the job he was getting into. He was sitting across from Igneous on the other side of the desk, keeping that smug smile on his like he always did, and Igneous liked that. He liked the kind of person who could smile despite the situation; it meant they took no situation seriously and were never afraid.
“Am I ready? Are you serious? This is the biggest challenge ever given to me, and I like challenges! I’m going to love having her to myself for a month; there are so many things I can’t wait to do to her! So believe me when I say I’m ecstatic to torture her! The only question I have, is how far am I allowed to go?”
Blake said with excitement in his voice, his smile and eyes showing just how excited he is. He was nearly shaking with excitement; this puts a smile on Igneous’s face. This was perfect; this is exactly the kind of guy Igneous was looking for, she was going to be perfect.
“As far as you please, rape, burning, breaking, cutting, disease, even psychological torture if you want. As long as you don’t do anything fatal or permanent, like gas prices, the limit is high. Just ask for it, and any tools or anything you want will be given to you. And, as I said before, you will be paid handsomely, but I’m sure you’re not here for the money.”
Igneous said, his voice calm and almost instructing. But anyone could see the joy on his face, something he rarely shows. Blake nearly jumped out of his chair, nearly screaming out of excitement. He wanted to scream; he wanted to cry, he wanted to do a lot of things. This was going to be the best month of his life.
“WHEN DO I START!?”
He nearly screamed, almost forgetting who he was talking to. Luckily, Igneous was in an excellent mood, and let it slide. Blake’s smile faltered, but his joy did not.
“In about an hour, just go to the room you usually do, get the tools you need, and wait. She will be brought to you in about ten minutes before she wakes up, she was given a small dosage. But, don’t worry, the side effects will very much still be active. The only thing I ask is for you to wear your mask, it adds a certain element of horror. Unless you want to take off your mask, so she’s scared by your face, it’s your option. ”
The second those words left his mouth, Blake ran out of the room, unable to stand still anymore. Igneous didn’t mind, he understood, he was excited too. Honestly, he knew the room was soundproof, but he was hoping he could hear the screams. The thought of all the things that were going to be going on in there almost made him wanna join, except for the rape, he had certain things he wouldn’t do, and that was one of them. But, despite that, when Pinkamena wakes up, a very…interesting month will happen, and Igneous can’t wait to see the results.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pinkamena slowly began to wake up, the drugs finally beginning to wear off. The first thing she noticed, was where she was, and just how bad it looked. In front of her was a wall, which was checkered black and brown, but seemed like that more of age than the actual color. To her right, was a table, it was like one of the ones at the hospital. Small and silver, with wheels on the bottom, so that it can move around. But, instead of medicine or other medical stuff, the top of it was covered with various tools. This slightly scared her, she was sure most of those tools had no purpose other than to inflict harm on others, and she was probably that other.
She couldn’t see what was on her left, but from what she could tell so far, she probably wouldn’t want to. Then again, the room was very dark; she might not even be able to see that far anyway. The only source of light was a lamp on the ceiling, and that was dim, at best.
She tried to move but found she couldn’t. She looked at her hand to see what was stopping her, and it seemed to be shackled. She seemed to be on a vertical metal table, which she only recently noticed how cold it was. She wondered why it felt so cold, while her clothes were cut up and ripped, they would still protect her somewhat. She looked down at herself to see what was wrong and was almost immediately filled with embarrassment and fear. Her clothes were gone! She was completely naked!
Her breast was out in the open; her pink nipples erect from the coldness of both the room and the table she was on. But, that wasn’t the most noticeable part of her body, it was her scars. Her body was covered in scars and wounds that she did not have before. All of them came from her time in the wilderness, and her many encounters with its inhabitants. She had scratches, bite marks, bruises, cuts, and many other various injuries, some still healing. Her womanhood was also exposed, whoever stripped her didn’t even give her that much. Her face was incredibly red, she was naked on a metal table, probably about to be tortured. Honestly, she would have preferred the woods; at least then, she’d know what to expect.
She began to shake violently, hoping to get somehow loose and get some clothes. Her shaking was in vain though, the shackles holding her down were strong, she wasn’t getting loose anytime soon. But she kept shaking, not because she thought she could get loose, but because she didn’t want to sit still. She had to try.
“Calm down there, doll. I promise you, after I’m done with you, you’ll have plenty of reason to shake.”
A cold voice came from behind her, startling her and making her stop shaking. Then, someone came around her left side. From the voice, she was assuming it was a guy. He seemed to be her height, maybe a little shorter. He was hard to see, as he was wearing all black. Except for his face, he was wearing a mask. It was a skull mask, the kind you’d see a bunch of kids wearing on Halloween. Except, this one was older like he had been using this same mask for years. The white was faded and even gone in some parts, but, it still very much covered his face. The mask covered his entire head; she couldn’t even see his hair. But, she felt his look, she felt his eyes looking her up and down, he was checking her out! This infuriated her; he was staring at her body, something no one had gotten to do.
She tried once again to move her arms and legs and covered herself, despite knowing she couldn’t. There was nothing she could do.
“What’s wrong? Why try to cover yourself? I don’t mind to see your sexy body.”
He said mocking her, making it obvious just how much this pleased him.
“SHUT UP FUCKFACE! YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE THE GUTS TO STRIP ME WHILE I’M AWAKE! YOU HAVE TO DRUG ME, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”
She suddenly screamed at him, hating his attitude. She decided to push away her embarrassment, people like him didn’t deserve to see her embarrassed. Her face was still red, but not because she was embarrassed, it was because she was enraged.
“Oh? Have you a mouth on you? I really didn’t expect that. I mean, I knew being in the forest for so long would toughen you up, but not make you so…vulgar. Something in there must have really damaged you. Good. That means breaking you will be so much easier, and fun.”
He said smoothly, seeming actually more excited than before. He was no longer looking at her body; he was looking at her eyes. While still angry and spiteful, he could see just how different she was, and he liked it. While she was in the woods, Blake had decided to look into her. He watched a couple of videos on her, asked about her to her friends, claiming to be a cop, and looked into her record. She was the very definition of good, all her friends liking her and missing her, saying just how much of a good person she was. And, while she was still hot, he didn’t like that. He never liked idiotic, bouncy, cheerful people like that, wasn’t his type. But now, she was different; she was better.
She was strong, ruthless, didn’t hesitate to kill, didn’t hold back, she was the almost the exact opposite of what she used to be, and he loved it. Not only was she completely different, and she was going to be more so when he was done with her, but she had a body. He could see how fine toned and curvaceous her body was, despite the many scars and wounds on her body, though in his opinion, that made her all the more attractive, ridiculously well built. But, his favorite change about her wasn’t anything about her body, it was her eyes. They were dark, full of emotions and pain, and they were beautiful. This girl was perfect, and he hadn’t even started on her yet.
“You, I have never been more excited to torture and corrupt someone more than you. And believe me, I’ve tortured a lot of people.”
At that, her face changed, she now had a face of fear. Her face going pale and her eyes expanding, and god, did he love it!
“Yes, that’s what I’m here for. Your daddy wants me to fix you to our side, brainwash you. But to fix something, you first have to break it. So, I’m going to torture you until you're broken, and then torture you some more, until you’re on our side, or our slave, whatever I’m in the mood for.”
He said in a sultry voice, barely able to hold himself back. But, once again, Pinkamena’s face changed, going back to her more angry features.
“THAT PIECE OF SHIT DOESN’T EVEN HAVE THE BALLS TO COME DOWN HERE AND TORTURE ME HIMSELF?! WHAT A PUSSY! WHY DON’T YOU SEND HIM DOWN HERE INSTEAD?! THEN I’LL SHOW YOU JUST HOW BROKEN I AM!”
Pinkamena suddenly started thrashing against her shackled, much harder than what she was doing before. This intrigued Blake; he didn’t think he would find her trigger so easily. He could use this, but first, he has to show just who’s in control here. He walked over to the area right in front of her, grabbing her attention and making her stop thrashing, she was still very much enraged.
“So, got some daddy issues do we? Wanna talk about it? We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, after all, might as well talk.”
“FUCK YOU!”
Pinkamena spits in his mask, trying to get into the eye sockets, but he simply just wiped it off with his gloves, not even slightly bothered.
“Alright, that’s fine, I see how it is. It doesn’t matter, I read up on you, after all, I could probably guess why you hate him so bad. But, I won’t, that’s not what I’m here for.”
He turned to his right, fidgeting with some of the tools on the table. Pinkamena couldn’t see what he was getting, but she really wasn’t liking the sounds. Then, he turned around, holding something in his hands. It looked like a mouthpiece, but it was bigger and wooden. It also seemed to have a part on the front of it, almost perfectly matching her mouth.
“Now, I looked multiple times through your dental records and carved this just for you. I don’t do this for all my victims, but, you’re special. I’ll only use this every now and again though when I deem whatever I put you through is exceedingly painful.”
She was about to reply, but, he took the few seconds she opened her mouth to put it in, doing it a lot faster than she thought he could. It tasted like a piece of wood, bland and nearly tasteless. But, it fit perfectly with her teeth, it felt fairly comfortable. But now, she wasn’t able to talk, just bite. Suddenly, she found herself terrified. He said he would only use this when he was going to do something terrible to her, which meant she was about to experience something horrible.
“You got a lot of fight in you, and I like that. But, sadly, I’m going to have to get that out of you, forcefully. But, hopefully, you break soon. After all, I only have one month with you, and the process of brainwashing your mind takes time, and pain, for you. So, let’s start, shall we?”
Strangely, instead of taking one of the various tools on the table, he pulled a sewing needle from one of his pockets. Which greatly confused her, it didn’t make any sense to use a needle on her. Unless he had some specific intention for it, like sticking it in her nose or stabbing her eyes, she seriously hoped she was wrong. Then, without warning, he cut across her stomach. The pain was immense. Her stomach burned and hurt like no cut she’s ever gotten before. It felt sharper than any knife or fork; she nearly cried at the immense pain. Her body was screaming at her brain, telling her that her body was severely damaged and that she needed to stop the pain from continuing, but, she couldn’t. The pain was so quick and excruciating that she bit down on the wood piece on her mouth almost instantly. She immediately regretted it. The wood was hard, hurting her teeth when she bit down on it so quickly and with so much pressure.
She’s bitten down on hard things before, mostly candy, and it’s never hurt this much. Her teeth felt like there were a bunch of miniature hammers banging against them at once and it got worse every second. She looked down at her stomach, positive she would see a deep gash on it, and a pool of blood under her. But, to her surprise, there was almost nothing. The only indication that she had been injured at all was a bright, red scratch mark cutting across her stomach, not even deep enough to draw blood. But, while the pain was fading, it was still immense, confusing her more by the second, and it showed on her face. After ten minutes of just standing there and watching her suffer from pain and confusion, enjoying the look on her face, he decided to speak.
“As arousing as it is to watch you suffer, I hate being confused, and I’m sure you do too. You must be very confused about your body, and why things hurt more than they should, and I will explain. I don’t know the chemistry of it all, just the cause and effect. Basically, the drug we used to knock you out, while effective, has risks. If the drug is used on the same person twice within twenty-four hours, the nervous system goes into hyperdrive. Making you way more sensitive, to both pleasure, and pain. Though, the person who it’s used to wakes up faster, due to the drug overlapping itself. It lasts about six hours, which isn’t very long. But, don’t worry, I FULLY intend to make it the longest six hours of your life.”
She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell, he was smiling. Her face though had paled. The realization of his words hitting her, and for the first time in the last month, truly terrifying her. He was going to torture her, and probably rape her, and there was nothing she could do. Both the realization and the pain were taking a toll on her; she wanted to cry. But, she wouldn’t, she couldn’t, he would like that.
“Come on now, don’t tell me the fights out of you already. Then again, this is an extraordinary situation. I’ve never experienced it myself, but I’ve heard stories. It’s said to drive people insane, pain far beyond that of anything. Being tortured by someone while under this is said to be a fate far worse than death, I’ll have to give it a try, I’m curious. But, this goes in my favor too. I don’t know what your current mental state is, but, I imagine, it’s at least damaged. This is also my first time torturing someone under this; I can’t wait to see what I can do to you!”
Without warning, once again, he lunged forward. But, this time, instead of just cutting her once, he did it multiple times. He cut wildly with the sewing needle, no specific pattern or area. Just swiping randomly, like an artist with a paintbrush, and she was the canvas. The pain was indescribable, burning and cutting all over her entire body, she was unable to focus on anything else. She was trying her hardest to endure it; she wouldn’t cry. Her long nails digging into the palms of her hands, cutting so deep blood began to roll down her hands, slowly, but surely. She was biting much harder into the wooden mouthpiece, making her teeth ache in pain. But, she didn’t care, it was nothing compared to the pain on her body. After finishing his assault, Blake slowly stepped back, admiring his artwork. All over her body scratched, some deeper than others. But, not all of the scratches were on a clear part. Some of the scratches hit her scars, reopening some of them, causing her to bleed and cry in pain. Blood was all over her body, but not because the cuts were deep, but because there was so many. At least she was warm now.
“Absolutely marvelous! Your face is perfect! That’s a face similar to when I would maim someone, yet your injuries are so miniscule! It is amazing just how sensitive you are!”
He was nearly laughing as he exclaimed all this loudly, still holding the now bloody needle in his right hand, and she hated it. She didn’t felt angry, or enraged; she felt livid. She suddenly lunged forward, making him jump back in surprise, dropping the needle in his hand. Despite all the pain, all the cuts over her body, she ignored all of it. She didn’t care; she only focused on one thing, him. But, despite all her efforts, she couldn’t break loose. Her emotions were still there, but there was nothing she could do about it. After thrashing against her shackles toward a surprised Blake, she stopped. Being unable to do anything but look at her tormenter, with a look of utter spite, but instead of being angry at her for surprising him, like she thought he would, he started laughing. It was loud and sounded happy, and she didn’t like it. As suddenly as he started, he stopped, simply just staring at her, and she could practically see the grin on his face. This wasn’t like the stare before though, he wasn’t looking at her body. No, this stare was different. Almost like a person looking at an animal at a zoo, intrigued and curious.
Suddenly, he started walking toward her, still keeping his stare. When he got to her, he moved his hands above her, towards the shackles. Then, she heard a metal sound, and she felt the shackles get tighter, a lot tighter. She couldn’t even move her hands now; they were actually so tight, she was slowly losing feeling in them. Then, he crouched down and did the same thing with the shackles on her ankles, giving them a similar feeling. She thought she felt trapped before, but now, she couldn’t even thrash against them now, she almost couldn’t move. The only parts of her body she could move were her stomach and her head, and she couldn’t move her head very far, like the way she was positioned prevented her from doing that. Before she could even try to move, Blake stood up again, looking her in the eyes.
“You, I like you. I honestly wasn’t expecting you’d have any fight in you, considering the intense amount of pain you went through. It’s beautiful, you’re beautiful.”
She said nothing, both because she couldn’t and because there was nothing she could say. The mouthpiece could only be removed by hand, and she couldn’t exactly use hers. If she could, she would be thrashing against her shackles in an attempt to even scratch him, but she was slowly losing more and more feeling in her limbs. She could barely even wiggle her toes or fingers now; she was basically paralyzed. The only thing she could do was look at him, and she was, intensely. The thing was though, is he was looking back, and he was keeping eye contact.
“Oh, yes, give me that look, I love that fire in your eyes. It looks so hot and welcoming. Hopefully, you are too.”
Then, strangely, he started to take off his gloves. His hands were big and pale, it was too dark to tell, but they seemed to have tattoos on them. He then threw the gloves to the left, like they were meaningless to him. This confused her; she wasn’t sure why he was taking off his gloves now until his words meaning hit her. He wasn’t talking about her being hot and welcoming; he was talking about HER being hot and welcoming. Her eyes expanded, she began to sweat profusely, he was going to rape her.
“What’s wrong? Realize what I meant? Wow, it usually takes the other female ones I have a few minutes to get it. You’re smart too, every second you seem to arouse me more and more.”
He said nothing more, as he began to walk toward her, his intent even more obvious in his body language. She could do nothing; she had lost all feeling in both her hands and feet, she was unable to move them. Sadly, she still had to feel the rest of her body. Which meant she would feel everything he did to her, she really hoped the drugs weren’t still in effect. She could barely stop herself from crying when he was cutting her; if rape was as painful as it sounded, and her nervous system was still sensitive, she would be in unimaginable pain.
He put both his hands on the areas above her knee, slowly moving up. Groping and grabbing all the way, his cold hands making her body shiver, both in pleasure and from the cold. And she hated it. She didn’t want this, not with him, not like this. If she could, she’d stop her body from enjoying the touch from such a sick person, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her sensitive system, or because she hadn’t been ‘touched’ in a long time, but, it felt good, really good. Better than anyone before, and she was mad at herself for it. Her mind was screaming at her to make him stop, not to enjoy this. But, her body was saying otherwise, enjoying the sensation, but not understanding the situation. If her body weren't going into such a state of pleasure, she would be doing all she could to stop him, but she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t let her.
He was going ever so slowly, both making her irritated, and grateful. But, when he got to her thighs, gripping a bit harder than before, she felt nothing but self-disappointment, she couldn’t stop herself from moaning. This caused him to tense up, his head moving up and looking towards her, but, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him back.
“Well, would you look at that, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Or, maybe it’s just the drug making you oversensitive. Honestly, I don’t care either way. All I know is I’m going to enjoy this very much so, and I don’t care whether or not you are!”
Suddenly, he plunged his index into her folds roughly, making her eyes bulge out of her head. No longer did this feel good, it felt horrible. Since she was a virgin, her vagina was tight, and since he was so rough, it hurt even more than it should. She could no longer hold back; she began to sob, the pain becoming too much to bear. This didn’t seem to make him slow down, if anything, it seemed to make him go even deeper. He plunged his ring finger in too, not caring how hard he had to be to get it in. Her sobbing increased, becoming little by little louder, seeming to motivate him to go harder. This went on for a few minutes, the pain seeming to multiply every second, she was barely able to stop herself from throwing up from the pain, as she would only have to swallow it again.
“You dirty little bitch! You think this hurts? I’ll show you pain; I’m going to plow you like a goddamn field of soil!”
He said eagerly, as he pulled out his large, throbbing, ten-inch cock. He didn’t hesitate to shove it straight into her, making a loud slapping sound as it entered. It broke through her hymen almost instantly, making the pain she felt before mediocre. She burst into tears right there, in too much pain to care about her pride anymore. No, this wasn't pained any more. This was pure agony, completely excruciating; it was beyond words. There was nothing she could ever even think about doing to him that could be more painful, nothing she could do to anyone that could be more painful.
He pulled out his dick to the very tip, then slammed it back in at full force, once again, making a loud slapping sound. Such a large penis was destroying her womanhood, making it bleed and sore, her body crying in agony, unable to stop it. He seemed to enjoy the blood on his cock, seeing it as nothing more than a lubricant, seeming even to arouse him even more. He grabbed Pinkamena’s left breast with his left hand, and grabbed her right butt cheek with his right hand, enjoying what he was feeling. He grabbed hard, so hard that his nails were digging into her skin, drawing blood and pain. But Pinkamena didn’t even notice it, the pain in her loins blocking everything else out. She was now screaming at this point, her tears falling down her red face like a waterfall, one that wouldn't stop for a long time.
For what felt like hours, but was really only thirty minutes, the pain was Pinkamena’s world. She could focus on nothing else, think about nothing else, feel nothing else, except for the pain. For twenty minutes, Pinkamena screamed, at least, as much as she could with a piece of wood in her mouth. Her face was blood red; her eyes dilated to tic tacs, her body covered in sweat and blood, this was true hell. But, after a while, she just stopped. No more struggling, no more screaming, no more nothing. She simply just sat there with a blank look on her face, her only movements being that of shaking, and that was only because of Blake.
Then, suddenly, he pulled out of her. He then pointed his cock at Pinkamena and began to jack off; it only took a few seconds before he ejaculated, releasing burst of semen all over her face and body. Despite this, she still didn’t respond. She simply stared blankly, not at anywhere specifically, just stared. Her eyes blank and lifeless, the fire she had in her eyes was now gone, he had broken her.
After noticing this sudden change, Blake zipped up his pants, walked up to her, and looked into her eyes. Then, he stroked her cheek, slowly, seeing if he could get a reaction. When he didn’t, he said nothing. He then reached into his pocket, pulling something small and pointed, a needle. Still, Pinkamena did nothing; she didn’t even watch. She did nothing as he walked up to her and jabbed the needle in her arm, she just stared.
“Don’t worry doll, it’s not the same drug as before, it’s a different one. This one takes time to kick in, but not long, I only used it because I want to talk to you. Now, I know I said six hours, and I didn’t lie, every day for the rest of this month, I’ll be torturing you for six hours. But, I have to say, you disappointed me. You may be the first who I’ve tortured with the drug's effects, but still! I’ve had girls weaker than you last days! Even weeks! Honestly, I expected better. But, I won’t complain anymore. You breaking so soon makes my job a bit easier, but, it also lets me do something a little extra. I’ll talk more to you later; we have much to talk about, but, time’s run out. You should be blacking out right about now. See you later, hope you dream of me.”
Pinkamena had listened to his words but didn’t react in any way. The only time she did anything was when her head dipped down quickly, that was the drug kicking in. The last thing she saw was her torturer and rapist looking at her, and if she could see his face, she was sure he would be smiling.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pinkamena didn’t dream, nor did she have a nightmare, it was just black. For a few seconds, it was just black. Though, it was probably longer in the real world. She didn’t really care though, after some of the things she’s been through, she would probably just have terrible nightmares. But, despite how terrible it may have been, it wouldn’t even compare to the nightmare she was living now.
She had woke up on the ground staring up at the ceiling, her body sore and beaten up, and still naked. But, unlike before, she didn’t really care. Honestly, she didn’t care for anything anymore. She just felt…broken. It was a strange feeling, but, she didn’t dislike it. She didn’t really feel like laying on the cold floor naked and thinking about her situation, so, after an internal struggle with herself about getting up, she decided to sit up and look around at her new environment.
The first thing she saw was a wooden door, a big one. It was as tall as the roof, but not very wide. It was brown with black lines going down it, the lines only separated by a few inches. The door had a window but had bars on her side, the bars too close together to stop her from reaching her hand through them. She tried to look through the window, but there seemed to be a metal panel on the other side, and as far as she could tell, it could only be opened from the other side. Overall, the door seemed like a cell room door. Which meant she was in a cell room, and she was the captive.
Pinkamena stood up and decided to look around, if this was going to be her new home, she might as well get used to it. The roof was made out of concrete, a dark grey with blotches of color randomly spread out, most likely from age and use. The floor seemed to be the same, except there were many more blotches of color. The walls were also the same, seems to have fewer blotches, for whatever reason. The room itself was quite small, it was a two by two room, with nearly nothing in it. The only thing in the room other than her was an old, rusty bucket in the corner, which, she imagined, was to be used as a bathroom. It may have been unsanitary, but at least they gave her something. It’s still better than the floor.
She noticed there was no bed or even a mattress. Either she was expected to sleep on the floor, or she had to earn it somehow. But, she wasn’t really concerned about sleep at the moment, she’s been unconscious too many times for too long. Besides, even if she could, she wouldn’t sleep. There were too many things preventing her from properly sleeping, hunger, her sore body, her emotional issues, just too many factors to sleep for long, if at all. Then again, after her time in the forest, she’s learned how to sleep with pain or hunger. But, this wasn’t the cruelty of nature, this was the cruelty of humans. Something much different, and much worse. Though, she was both too mentally and physically exhausted to deal with anything.
All she wanted right now was to be left alone to her thoughts, despite how useless that would be. If she still had any fight in her, she would probably be using the bucket to try to break down the door, which wouldn’t work. But, she didn’t have any fight in her, she didn’t feel depressed either, she just felt…tired. She didn’t even feel like walking, she crawled to the corner opposite of the one the bucket was in, got into a fetal position, and just stayed there. Not crying or sobbing, simply just sitting there, thinking.
She couldn’t tell how long she was there; there were no windows in her cell to let her know whether it was day or night, but, she was fairly sure she had been there for at least an hour. And for that time, she just stayed in the fetal position, cold, hungry, tired, and alone. She probably would have stayed that way too, but someone had come in. She didn’t look up to see who it was; she didn’t really care. She just listened, as whoever came in unlatched the door, opened it, shut it behind them, and walked in front of her. She knew they were in front of her, because she didn’t here any more footsteps after they stopped in front of her, and whoever they were, they did nothing but stare at her for a few minutes until they finally said something.
“Look at me, doll; we still have more to talk about. Well, I’ll be doing the actual talking, but you get the idea.”
She knew who that was, she was already familiar with his voice, and his grunts. She looked up at him like, he asked, she didn’t want to go against him, she really didn’t feel like dealing with any more pain at the moment. He was wearing his almost entirely black clothing, with his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. The only thing different was his mask, it wasn’t there. When she looked at his face, she saw his piercing blue eyes looking at her, none of his other facial features sticking out as much as them. His look wasn’t one of lust, nor was it one of dark curiosity, it was a look of…pride. She could only imagine he was prideful because of what he did to her, and looking at her body reminded him of that. This should make her angry, but, for some reason, it didn’t. Even if she was, she was in no shape to do anything to him.
He said nothing as he kneeled down on one knee, now face to face with her. She didn’t flinch or tense up; she just stared back. He then smiled and seemed to almost chuckle when he started to speak.
“Well, look at you. I wasn’t expecting to see you like this, so obedient already. That’s good; I like that. But, I’ll tell you now, no amount of begging is going to stop me. I’m going to torture you every single day for six hours, and something you need to know about me, I don’t use the same method twice. You see, one of the many things we have in common is creativity. I’m very creative, which is something you will find out. Not only will I torture you, but I will discipline you. I will make you loyal to us, make you never even want to question us, or your father.”
For a second, she flinched. The mention of her father still bothered her, almost enraged her, making her entire body tense up. But, this was temporary, and only lasted a few seconds. But, having been looking her in the eyes, he noticed this spark of anger, and it made him smile even wider.
“Oh, you’ve surprised me yet again, Pinkie. I wasn’t expecting you had any fight left in you, that’s good. It’ll make my job a bit harder, but much more enjoyable. But, I didn’t come here just to tell you what I’m going to do to you and why. No, there’s something else I’m going to do to you, something Igneous didn’t tell me to. This is something I want to do, something you may or may not like.”
Pinkamena’s eyebrows raised for a few seconds, curious as to what this was. While she knew it was probably going to be something painful, but, she couldn’t help herself. The way he was saying it made it seem like something important, something she should know.
“Curious, are we? Don’t worry, I’ll tell you. While I was watching you in the forest, I noticed something. After you went into that cave and saw whatever you saw, which I don’t know what it was, we didn’t even know that place was there, you changed. Your entire personality changed! You weren’t that goody two shoes who cried over a fish, no, you were something better. I don’t know what you saw in that cave, but it changed you. The way you killed those wolves, I don’t think even porn has even turned me on that much! It was sadistic; it was dark, it was hot! I know that side of you isn’t gone, it can’t be, I know it’s not. Despite me having broken you, I know you’re still like that. I can see it in your eyes, and you know it. But, you could be better, I can make you better. After I make you obedient, I’m going to change you even more. I’m going to make you a sadist, and after all the torture I’m going to put you through, I can guarantee I’ll have turned you into a masochist too. I’m going to make you even darker than you are, I’ll make you stronger, I’ll make you unbreakable, doll.”
He put his hand under her chin, making her look directly into his eyes. His eyes were full of excitement, and Pinkamena couldn’t deny it, some part of her was too.
“I’m going to make you perfect!”
He said with confidence, the smile on his face never leaving. He wasn’t lying; this wasn’t some trick, he was serious. But, before she could say anything, he kissed her. It was sudden, but she could feel the passion behind it. She didn’t like it, not one bit. But, she couldn’t stop it, she just let him. Then, as soon as it happened, it stopped. He then stood up and straightened his jacket, and then walked toward the door. Pinkamena wasn’t sure whether this was some trick, or if he genuinely liked her. But, it didn’t really matter, he wouldn’t tell her even if she asked. No matter what it was, she was still disgusted with him. She hated him, everything about him. She just didn’t resist because she knew she couldn’t, what’s the point of trying to do something if you know you’re just going to fail?
As he opened the door, he suddenly stopped, reaching down to the left of the other side. She couldn’t tell what he was doing, but he seemed to be picking up something. Then, he threw a pile of something over his shoulder, not caring where it landed. Pinkamena couldn’t tell what they were, not until they landed. When they did, she was mostly confused. They were clothes, which is what confused her. She didn’t expect to wear clothes again for a while, especially not under the circumstances. But, she wasn’t going to complain, she wasn’t going to thank him either.
The shirt was a short-sleeved black t-shirt when she put them on, they fit her perfectly. She wasn’t going even to ask how he knew her size; she really didn’t want to know. It was pretty painful to put clothes on, as it hurt for anything to touch her wounds. But, she worked through it, she was slowly getting used to it. The panties were a bright pink with multiple colored balloons all over it; those were straight from her room, she wasn’t sure whether to feel flattered or disgusted. The pants were black and soft, and very comfortable. It felt…nice to be in clothes again, considering she hadn’t been in any real clothes since she had first gone into the woods. They felt warm; they were recently cleaned. She was still tense though; there must be some catch.
“Before you ask, I only gave you those because you were such a good fuck. I don’t do this for just any girl; you’re different than the others. But, don’t get too comfortable with them, when I start torturing you, you will leave them here, that’s not up for debate. Check your pockets; I left you a present. But, don’t think I gave it to you because I wanted to give you a reason to keep that fight in you, you’ll know what I mean what when you see it. I know you must be hungry, someone will bring you food in an hour. See you tomorrow, love.”
He shut the door behind him, humming happily as he walked away, probably going to set things up for tomorrow. When he left, she put her hand in the left pocket of her pants, searching for whatever ‘present’ he left her. When she didn’t find anything in her left, she did the same thing to her right. Strangely, it made a jingling sound when she did. Which confused her a bit, there weren’t a lot of things that she could think of that would make that sound. She pulled it out quickly, wanting to know what it was. When she saw it, she nearly sobbed.
It was her sister’s necklace, the one she had found in the woods. Honestly, she hadn’t expected to see it again. She expected Igneous to burn it or something, but he didn’t. This was the last thing she had of her sisters, or probably ever will. She understood why he gave this to her, he knew this would drive her to revenge, and he was right. She would make him pay for what he did, no matter what. Pinkamena held the necklace to her chest, sobbing quietly to herself at the memories of her siblings, and how much they didn’t deserve what happened to them. She wasn’t broken before; she was just in shock, she realized that now. But, she was going to pretend like she was, until either the months over, or he actually breaks her. But, she was going to try her hardest to resist, no matter what it took. She was going to make them pay, all of them.
She might let him change her; she wouldn’t be able to do it herself. She needed someone else to change her, someone capable, someone like him. Pinkamena decided to sprawl out on the floor, holding the necklace to her chest and sobbing, until she fell asleep. What she was unaware off, is what really awaited her. The month ahead will change her, no doubt. But the month after, when she’s going to be left to the mercy of a mad scientist. He wouldn’t just put her through pain and experiments; he would change her physiology. She wouldn’t be human anymore, nor would she be a monster. Before people would call her a party animal, after everything that will happen in the next two months, they’ll be half right. But, that would be an understatement, an animal is something mother nature would make. What she would turn into would be humanmade, unnatural, an abomination. But, in their minds, she would be the closest to perfection humanity would ever get.
And after everything, she will too.
Chapter Three: The Results.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys! Bet you weren't expecting a chapter so soon! Well, neither did I! I decided that it was taking far too long for me to upload a chapter, since I made them so long. So, to make it easier on me and you, and hopefully attract more followers, I'm going to make my chapters shorter! Anyways, if you notice any errors, grammar or other, please pm me. If you have any questions or thoughts on the story, please comment. Enjoy!
“So, what did you need again?”
Blake said nonchalantly, the last month had been good for him. He had a smug smile on his face, the breaking and rebuilding of Pinkamena had been a huge success. It took longer than he expected to break her, but he liked that part. He had pretended to have romantic feelings for her, in order to help create a masochistic feeling, and it worked. She was becoming even better than he hoped for, and he still had so much planned. Though, there was still a few…problems.
Right before he could get to work, Igneous had called him into his office. When he got in there, Igneous was sitting behind his desk like usual. His hands interlocked in front of him, looking right at Blake. He didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, but he wasn’t in a good one either. Blake, not entirely sure what he was here for, sat in the chair in front of the desk.
“It’s been a month now, so, I want you to-“
Blake had jumped out of his chair as soon as he sat in it, slamming his hands on the desk in front of him, a panicked look on his face. Igneous didn’t even flinch, this response was expected.
“WHAT?! There’s no way it’s already been one month! There’s still so much I need to do! There are a few tweaks I need to do! Some techniques I need to teach her! Please, Igneous, I need more ti-“ Suddenly, Igneous quickly sprang up from his chair. He put one hand on the back of Blake’s head, and another on his left arm. Then, he slammed his head onto the desk, with his left arm behind his back, and his right still on the desk in front of him. Igneous had no emotion on his face when he did this, no anger or annoyance, just a look of seriousness. Blake though had a look of panic, surprise, and fear on his.
“Blake, I’m only going to say this once, listen closely. This is a very serious matter, this isn’t just some little pet project I felt like doing. This affects the entire organization, so, I won’t make any exceptions on this. I already have everything planned out for the remainder of time we have, I won’t allow anything or anyone to mess with it. Now, you’ve had your time, your job is done. And since you’re such a fuckup, I expected you might not be able to finish your job. I will finish whatever it is you failed to, so, no, you’re not getting any more time. The only thing I want from you, that I know you can’t fuck up, is a status report, so I can know specifically how you fucked up. If you understand, blink.”
Igneous nearly shouted into his ear, frustration, and seriousness evident in his voice and face. The longer he talked, the stronger his grip and louder his voice. By the time Igneous was done, Blake was sweating. There weren’t a lot of things he was afraid of, but this was one of them. Igneous had never done anything to him, but he’s seen what happens when others get in his way, and not even he would do something that brutal. Hesitantly, he blinked his eyes.
Igneous saw this, and slowly let him go. Watching Blake, Igneous sat back down in his chair, going back to the same position as before. Blake slowly sat back in his seat, looking back at Igneous as he did, fear still in his eyes. For a few seconds, there was no noise in the room. Blake was too afraid to say anything, and Igneous just stared at him expectedly.
“Well? Tell me what’s happened over the last month, you really don’t want to test my patience right now.”
Igneous had a tone of anger in his voice like he was seriously pissed off. Blake hadn’t seen him this angry for a long time, and he was beginning to think he wasn’t the reason. With all his experience, he’s become very good at reading people. Looking at Igneous, he realized it was blatantly obvious, something else had made him this angry.
“A status report, eh? Hmm, where to start?”
Blake put his hands in his pocket, slowly slouching down in the chair as he seemed to space out in thought. His usual cool returning quickly, as if what happened only moments ago, hadn’t happened at all.
“To start, you were right about her defiance. I thought she would last only three days, give or take. But, surprisingly, she lasted a whole week before I broke her. That’s pretty damn impressive! Before her, the longest someone I’ve played with lasted five days, and he was a mercenary! She was only a barely adult girl in high school! I don’t know what was driving her, her hatred for you, her want to see her friends, or if she was doing it to spite me! But, whatever it was, it was hard to break! I haven’t seen willpower like that sin-“
Blake had started getting excited during his explanation, he had a slow, stretching smile across his face. But, during it, he failed to notice the look of annoyance on the face of the one he was explaining to.
“Alright! I get it! She was strong-willed, so what? No matter how strong-willed someone is, anyone can be broken given the right tools and time. I’m not concerned with how you broke her, I’m concerned with what happened after. Start explaining how far you got with her, and don’t sway from the subject like that again, you’ve already tested my patience far too much.”
Igneous's tone hadn’t changed from before, he was still angry. After yelling at Blake, he closed his eyes in thought. Blake didn’t retort back, he could practically feel the tension coming from him. Something serious had happened, something bad. But now wasn't the time for questions, not when he's already being asked them. “Oh, there were no problems there. I treated her the same way I do all previous females, rape, physical, mental, and emotional torture, doing something different every day, I even injected her with a few non-lethal diseases to make her weak. On one occasion, I even gave her a high dose of arginine, and just left her there until It wore off. This happened the day before she broke, so, I’d assume that was a part of what broke her.
"After breaking her, I did exactly what you told me to. As much as I would have loved to continue torturing her, I wanted to see what I could do with her more. But, this is when it started to get weird, even for me.”
Igneous had kept his eyes closed while Blake was explaining, but when he heard the confusion in Blake’s voice near the end, his left eyes slowly opened and looked at Blake.
“How so?”
Blake looked back at him, no emotion on his face. He put his arm behind his head and closed his eyes, a thoughtful look now on his face.
“You told me to break her down and build her back up as a different person, which I have, but this time, I had an ideal person. A sadomasochist with a huge pain tolerance, a person who could lead and manipulate people, a calm, calculating person who thinks of solutions to multiple scenarios, someone with good observation and people skills, who was smart, but could act ignorant and dumb, and a few other things. It was the most specific and hardest job anyone’s requested of me in seventeen years, but, knowing me, I enjoyed the challenge.
You had other torturers, ones who are better at certain parts of it. But, I have experience when it comes to…changing people, so I understand why you chose me. The things you asked me to do contradict each other in some ways, you were practically asking for the perfect person. It was near impossible to make her the person you wanted, but, I was going to try anyway. I’ve changed people before, but never to that detail.
When I started changing her mind, it was…strangely easy. I started off with the less complicated traits, I was going to turn her into a masochist. I understand why that was easy, considering how much torture she had to go through, she probably turned herself into one to make it easier for herself. But the ease of everything after this is…disturbing. She became a sadist so easily, almost like she already enjoy people suffering. She learned and adjusted so easily and quickly like everything just came naturally to her. Before you ask, no, she wasn’t acting. I did test her afterwards, multiple times just to confirm. She wasn’t acting, it was just easy for her, I don’t know how else to explain it!”
Blake had a frustrated look in his voice, but he didn’t move from where he was. With Igneous staring him down, he was far too nervous to move.
“So, let me get this straight. You started doing the job I told you to do, but she was adapting almost too easily? I mean, it makes sense why she would be. Everyone in the family so far has been very moldable people, capable of transforming themselves into who they want to be. I don’t understand the problem here.”
Igneous had a casual tone in his voice, as if the issue he was talking about wasn’t a very serious one, despite his seriousness before.
“That’s what I thought at first too, and you might be right. But, Igneous, I don’t think people change, not without the right experiences. She spent a month alone, in the woods, with the bodies of her dead sister's, against mother nature. I know you’ve seen the tapes, and we both know that cheerful, high school girl wouldn’t have survived that. And yet, she did. I think those woods changed her, something happened to her in there that already broke her, and she built herself back up. I don’t know what it is, Igneous, but I just have this feeling, that I’m right.”
Blake was leaning forward in the chair, a look of excitement in his eyes. His arms gripping the armrest tightly, almost like he could barely hold himself back. But Igneous did not flinch, he simply stared back at him with one eye open.
Igneous leaned back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head and resting on them, now both eyes were looking at Blake.
“Other than you complaining about your job being too easy, is there anything else I should know about her.”
Igneous responded calmly, not even acknowledging Blake’s thoughts. This made Blake’s look of excitement leave, as it was replaced by disappointment. But, some part of him expected that.
“Fine, I’ll indulge you. Overall, she has all the traits, that’s not the issue. But, I didn’t focus on each individual one. So, some of them are strongly implanted into her mind, becoming a huge part of her personality. Others are barely holding on to her mind, still making up her personality, but if she’s shaken up enough, they could completely disappear. But, with enough time, she’ll adapt. Could take a few days, or a few years. The human brain is a complicated, unpredictable thing. Then again, she won’t be human for that much longer, will she?”
Blake smiled at Igneous, with a huge, cocky, knowing smile. But, Igneous said nothing in response, and did nothing in response. He just looked back at Blake with one eye, having closed his left eye sometime through his explanation, not acknowledging what Blake said.
“Anything else I should know about?”
Igneous asked casually, once again, not acknowledging what Blake said. Blake, in response, sighed silently.
“Well, if you’re talking about making her the kind of person you wanted, no. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other issues. While I have broken her will, there are still some sparks of defiance. She seems fine with me or anyone else, I’ve tested to make sure. She behaves, however I want her to and doesn’t even try denying me anymore. But, the second you’re even mentioned, any discipline I’ve put into her seems to disappear, she shows rage and bloodlust, calming her down is never easy after that. Once, I picked up someone that looked like you. With a few tweaks that made him look even more similar, I put him in the same room as her.
And, well, her reaction. Igneous, I’ve only seen clips of what happened to her in those woods. But from what I have seen, something happened in there that awakened something in her, something…primal. I managed to somewhat suppress it, but it’s still there, and it’s still waiting. The guy I put in there is still alive, I released him back into society, but not without scars. If I hadn’t been there, she would have killed him. Other than her primal rage, there are no issues with her that I’m aware of."
Blake put his hands back in his pocket, as the tension in his body disappeared, he was slowly losing interest in this subject. Since Igneous wanted to be selective about what he wanted to hear, there wasn’t any point in this conversation anymore. But, he was interested in why Igneous was in such a mood. During his time with his ‘toys’, he likes to isolate himself from everything else, so he can focus on them. So, if there was some major recent event that happened over the last month, he would have no idea about it.
“Good, then there won’t be too much to deal with. If that’s everything, then I have one last order for you. I want you to tranquilize her, or just knock her unconscious, your choice. Make sure she’s clothed, and put her on a gurney, there should be a couple in the storage room. Take her to the lab and leave her there, it’s his turn to play with her.”
Blake gulped at Igneous's words, not at Igneous, but at the person he was talking about. The person he was talking about was their scientist, well, not their only one, but the best one, at getting results. He didn’t want to go into details, that would bring back bad memories, some of the few ones he has. He was insane! He was the textbook definition of a mad scientist, the experiments he does, the things he does in the name of science, it was something you had to see to believe.
Blake didn’t say anything in response, there was nothing to say. He knew there was no way he could convince him otherwise, especially not in the mood he was. Sure, he could say something witty, but that would just make him angrier. He said nothing, he didn’t even respond when Igneous smiled at him, he simply got up, and walked out the room. It wouldn’t have mattered, right now, there was nothing he could do.
The second Blake left the room, the smile left Igneous's face, his usual serious expression returning. He quickly opened the drawer to his bottom right, revealing rows of yellow files. A tab on top of each file, indicating what the file was for. As if he instantly knew where it was, he pulled a random file out of the many. He then moved pushed some stuff off his desk, not seeming to care for anything else.
He opened the file, and what was in it was the result of everything that’s happened in the last month. It was extremely organized, maybe even more so than police files. It looked like it was a profile of someone, with lots of details. There were three or four pages in the file, all of them on the same person. The first three were nothing but notes, notes about evidence and theories on someone, about who they were and their intentions. Everything is written extremely well and neat, resembling the notes of a detailed journalist.
Igneous read and flipped through the pages quickly, skimming through his notes, looking for something specific. The last page had what he was looking for, a picture. It was a large picture, covering the entire page. It was a picture of a figure on top of a rooftop at night, the figure was covered in dark clothing, every inch of them was covered in the same kind of clothing, almost like a suit. The figure wasn’t facing whoever was taking the picture, so, only the back of the figure was visible. But, from the back, it could be seen that the person was holding a large sniper rifle, the same color of black as the rest of their clothes.
A red circle was drawn around their head, a line connected to it that leads to the right of the picture. The words ‘Silent Killer?’ was written at the end of it, in the same red marker. This was written before certain events happened, But Igneous knew know that, whoever this person was, is The Silent Killer. All these notes had been collected and written over the last month, they were a mix of evidence, events, theories, and Igneous's personal thoughts on The Silent Killer.
He wasn’t in a bad mood because of something that happened today, it was because of everything that’s happened over the last month. At first, their kills had only been one or two every week. But suddenly, for whatever reason, they spiked up in both quantity, and the target. They weremnow purposely killing specific targets. It started with members of lower gangs, then to members of The Apples, and now, members of The Syndicate.
The thought of it enraged him, never had anyone managed to kill any of their members, until now. Igneous bragged about this fact, saying his members are smart and know what they’re doing. But now, this was becoming personal. They were now going out of her way to kill his members specifically, over the past few weeks, no one else but members of The Syndicate had been killed, he made sure.
It infuriated him! Some random person who thinks they’re hot shit was killing his men! And he didn’t even know who it was!
“But,” Igneous smiled to himself sadistically. “I know exactly how to deal with them. Once Pinkamena has been prepared, that’ll be her test.”
Igneous couldn’t wait until she was ready, she couldn’t wait to watch her tear them to pieces! That is if he could hold himself back long enough. Igneous sat in his office by himself, looking over the file, a huge smile on his face.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Blake walked up to Pinkamena’s cell door, dread filling him, for many reasons. He wanted to finish her, he hated unfinished projects. He also wasn’t sure if she was ready for ‘him’ yet. Yes, she had been through unimaginable torture, but the things he would do, it would do more than hurt her, it would change her, not mentally like he had, but physically make her something else.
As Blake reached the door, he looked down into his right hand, a small syringe in it. He had decided to inject her with this to knock her out, he wasn’t in the mood to do it himself. He put the syringe in his right pocket, he then pulled back the slide on the bar of the door, looking in before entering. He didn’t see anything but the darkness, but, honestly, he didn’t expect to see her. If he did, he would have been disappointed in himself for not teaching her right.
He slowly opened the door, fully expecting her to jump out of the darkness. But, for once, Blake wasn’t smiling. He made sure to leave the door open, both for the light, and he didn’t plan on staying long. He looked into the darkness, expecting her to have come out by now. But, she does this sometimes. He whistled into the darkness, something he knew she would always react to.
After waiting a few seconds, he could see it out of the corner of his eye. The first thing he saw, was her hair. Her long, silk-like hair. It had grown longer over the last month, which is how he liked it. Then, her face, her beautiful face. There were scars on her face, of all kind. Burn scars, scars from cuts, all kinds. They practically covered her face, some of them fresh, some of them old, but all permanent.
The next thing he noticed were her eyes, her blue, broken eyes. The fire and life were gone, replaced with an empty abyss. The final thing, and the most important, was her smile. It was a wide, sadistic smile, like his or Igneouse’s. it stretched to both sides of her face, making it seem like a permanent smile.
The rest of her body slowly came out of the darkness, covered in the same scars as her face. It was all kinds of scars, it was almost hard to tell what wasn’t covered in scars. The more she came out of the dark, the more he became aware of her. She was on all fours, her body curved in a feminine way, like a cat. He couldn’t deny that he found it arousing, and as much as he wanted to, he didn’t have the time for that.
Her smile seemed to stretch wider the closer she got, making it harder for him to resist smiling. She came close enough for him to touch, which he wanted to, but he resisted. He couldn’t give in, not now.
“Master! You’ve returned.” She said excitedly, seeming genuinely happy that her torturer had returned. To assert and keep dominance, Blake inserted a master-slave relationship. And like everything else, she adjusted quickly. “Is it time for you to play with me already? But, you’re early! But, if you’re already wanting to play, then I’m more than happy to-“
Pinkamena was talking in an excited voice, like she was talking more about a playdate than being tortured. Blake couldn’t take anymore, if she had kept talking, he wouldn’t have been able to hold back. He quickly pulled the syringe out of his pocket, and injected it into her neck. She gasped quickly, not expecting something like that, he was always direct with these things.
“Master?”
Pinkamena managed to get out, before she passed out into his shoulder. He said nothing in return, he did nothing in return. He put his hand on the back of her head, and pushed her head into his shoulder. He wasn’t going to let her change, not after all his work. No matter what is done to her, she will always be his. He will make sure of it.
Chapter Four: The Discordant Doctor.
Author's Notes:
A character is introduced, but it's not really a new one. You'll see what I mean. Anyway, enjoy! If you spot any errors, please tell me. Comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Pinkamena woke up, once again, strapped to a table. She found this out the hard way. After waking up, immediately remembering what happened, her eyes quickly opened and her body jolted forward. In doing so, she ended up giving herself a headache. She realized this wasn’t the same table she was used to, it was different. First off, it felt different. Not like the cold, metallic feeling she was used to. It felt more like plastic, but it wasn’t plastic. It had a different feeling to it, a certain kind of texture she couldn’t explain, and she didn’t like it.
It was also vertical, as when she looked straight ahead, she only saw a ceiling. But, the biggest difference, also partly the reason she had a headache, is the number of straps on it. These weren’t the same kind of straps either, the ones on the table before were shackles, not straps. These were leather straps, and while they were weaker than the shackles, there were more of them. Some were in the same places as the shackles, one on her forehead, one on each of her wrist, and one on each of her ankles. But, there were multiple on each part of her. There were straps every few inches going down her arms, and straps every few inches going up her legs. There was a small strap on her neck, three big ones on her torso, and multiple smalls ones spread out the rest of her body.
As she looked down at the multiple straps on her, she noticed something else, she was wearing clothes! She was only used to wearing clothes after she and Blake had ‘fun’, so, it felt weird to wear clothes at any other time, almost wrong. They weren’t fancy clothes either, something you could find in pretty much anyone’s closet. She was wearing a plain, white t-shirt, which must have either been very old, or hadn’t been washed in a while, as the color from it had faded. Her pants seemed to be some blue jeans, like the t-shirt, the colors were faded.
She began to look at her surroundings, but like before, it was too dark to see anything. But, this time, there was no dimly lit lamp, just the darkness. It didn’t scare her, not anymore. Fear, like most of her other emotions, seemed to have left her. After everything she’s experienced the past two months, fighting bears and wolves, living off mother nature, and then being tortured to the breaking point, and being changed into a completely different person, there wasn’t anything she could think of that could make her afraid.
“Master? Are you there?”
Pinkamena whispered in the darkness, not sure what kind of response she was expecting. Anything would have been fine, she just needed to know if it was Blake, or someone else. But there was no response, no whisper from the darkness, there was nothing. Which did nothing but confuse her, for whatever reason, Blake drugged her and dragged her here. She knew it wasn’t the same drug they used before, her nervous system was still normal, not oversensitive in any way. Which meant two things, either Blake was doing a scenario to test her, or, the more likely scenario, she was being given to someone else.
Pinkamena heard a door opening and closing, causing her to tense up. She couldn’t tell where it had come from, but it was close. She looked into the darkness, looking for any sign of a person. But, there was nothing. No other sounds, no movement, there was still nothing. It unsettled her.
There was a sudden flash of light, then the entire room was lit up. This caused Pinkamena’s eyes to dilate, having been used to darkness and only dim light, the sudden bright light causing her to go temporarily blind. She reflexively closed her eyes, to adjust. But, this wasn’t just a sudden change from darkness to light, it’s been little less than a month since she’s seen any kind of bright light. Her eyes were adjusted to barely being able to see, adjusting back would take a few minutes. But, it’s better for this to happen now, then in combat or an escape attempt.
She slightly opened her eyes every now and again, hoping her eyes had adjusted, but, they hadn’t. It took nearly five minutes before they were, luckily, whoever had turned on the light, was generous enough to let her adjust. When she did, she decided to take a look at her now visible surroundings. At least, as much as she can with her head strapped down to her head.
It was somewhat different from the one Blake kept her in, but somehow, cleaner. It was similar in size, the walls seemed to be the same distance apart, but that was really the only way they were similar. The color of the walls was different, not just from Blake’s room, but different in general. Pink and orange, two combinations of colors that shouldn’t go together, were in the form of both spots and stripes on the walls. It must have been hard to paint, and it was harder to look at. Pinkie wasn’t artistically talented, or even knew anything about art except what colors were good for parties, but even she knew those two colors were disgusting together.
In the room, there were machines. Not any kind she had seen before, then again, she hasn’t seen a lot of machines. They were big, well above the height of an average person. There were buttons all over it, wires seeming to come out from all around. There was a slot on the front of it, kind of like the ones in arcades where the tickets come out, but bigger. Whatever it was, it looked complicated, it’s purpose would be a mystery to her.
The wires lead to a corner of the room, in the corner, was a desk with a large computer. It looked super advanced, like something NASA would have. The purpose of it made her curious, she knew she should probably be afraid. But, like she said before, fear seemed to leave her. Whether it was made to torture her or educate her, a big part of her wanted to see which.
Then, shifting her gaze to the left of the computer, lead her to the culprit. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short either. He was average height, probably five feet nine inches. But everything else about him was anything but average. His hair was a bright gray, spiked up with blue tips. He had a long, skinny goatee that was the same color of gray. The sclera of his eyes wasn’t the usual white, instead, they were yellow. Which probably wasn’t natural or healthy, to go along with it, his eyes were red, she was partly expecting some part of his eye to be orange. His skin was pale, extremely so, borderline gray. She wasn’t sure whether that was because he was unhealthy, or an inside person. He was wearing glasses, small, clear ones, similar to ones a doctor would have. His clothes were somewhat strange too, he was wearing a long-sleeved lab coat, extending down to the point of covering his legs. But instead of being the typical white, his lab coat was brown instead. His hands were in his pocket, his body language showing a relaxed mood. His shoes were a dark black, him, his clothes, and the room were all different colors.
“Sorry, about that, just had to shine an light on the situation.”
He spoke comically, his voice in a very non-serious tone. A grin on his face, either from his mood or because of the pun he made. She wasn’t sure whether to chuckle or insult him. He slowly began to walk toward her, the grin still on his face.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, but, I prefer to meet people myself. I would offer a handshake, but, you're kind of tied up at the moment.”
Pinkie didn’t chuckle, but she did smirk. His hands stayed in his pockets, as he looked down at her.
“Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is Giles Hue Mallok, the Hue and Mallok part isn’t my actual middle or last name, but I changed them myself, wanted to sound more…exotic. I’m what you’d call the mad scientist of this place, but, I don’t really do a lot of sciencing. I’m more of the borderline legal, inhuman experiments type. I’ve gained a reputation for myself. Now, since Blake’s time with you has expired, you’re under my care now. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”
He smiled sadistically at her, it was nothing compared to Blake’s or Igneous's, but something about it was...different. Pinkamena was having mixed feelings about this guy.
“But, Giles is a mouthful. So, how about you call me by my well-deserved and fitting nickname. For the next month, you may call me, Discord.”
Chapter Five: The Adaptable Human Body.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking,”
He looked down at her curiously, with a smile still on his face, and his hands still in his pockets.
“Why the name Discord? A name meaning conflict, chaos, etc. Well, let me explain.”
He walked behind her, over to the machine behind her. She heard a shuffling noise as if he was looking for something. She tried to look behind her to see what he was doing, but the straps prevented her from doing so.
“As I’m sure you know, there are many kinds of doctors that specialize in many kinds of things, dentist, paleontologist, even a psychologist is a doctor. But for me? Yes, by definition, I am a doctor. But, my specialty is both frowned upon by society and illegal. My profession is the human body.”
The shuffling noises stopped, making her tense up. He then showed up beside her again, with some sort of helmet in his hands. It was shaped like a bicycle helmet but seemed to have a more metallic texture. It was dark gray, almost black. With multiple holes in it, it’s purpose was a mystery to her.
“Not the way you’re thinking, I don’t study the functions or anatomy of the human body. Well, sort of.”
He walked forward holding the helmet in front of him, the casual smile still on his face. When it touched her head, she pulled back. The sudden coldness of the object making her flinch, but she didn’t when he tried again. She knew there was no point in resisting, it was going to happen one way or another, no point in a making a fuss of it. Besides, she was kind of curious what it was for.
He helped put her hair into the helmet, which was strange, she hadn’t expected that. The helmet was cold and somewhat heavy, but surprisingly comfortable. His smile seemed to widen at her willingness, at least Blake was good for something.
“I focus more on what the human body can do, not in its functions, but what it can be made to do.”
He went behind her again, but this time, he returned almost immediately. She could tell by his footsteps, but, for some reason, he stayed out of her line of sight. He was right behind her, and he seemed to be doing something with the helmet. She heard a scraping sound, as if he was putting something in one of the holes. Then, moments later, she felt a sharp pain in her head. It made her gasp from how sudden it was, but the pain didn’t bother her that much. Then, as sudden as it came, it left, as if nothing was there to begin with.
“You see, the human body is very adaptable, to pretty much anything. If exposed to something enough, we can gain a resistance to it. It can also heal any kind of wound, with enough time. The same diseases won’t affect the same person the same way twice, if at all. But, that’s not exactly what I look into.”
The same pain had kept coming back, in different parts of her head each time. If she had to guess, he was putting something in the holes on the helmet, needles or something, and they were going into her head.
“I want to see how moldable it is, how much the body can be changed, and if it’s still considered human. And I’m not talking about adding an extra limb or something, I mean changing your physiology altogether. Your DNA, your genetic sequence, everything. Blake may change the person, but I change the body. I take the average person’s body, and with science, and some trial and error, I make them into something different, something better.”
His words had her interested, she was curious what he meant. The pain kept coming back and leaving in different places, but she decided to focus more on his words more than that. What he was saying made her both worried, and excited for what he was going to do to her.
“There, done. I’ve put every single one in, good. You see, for as long as mankind has been sentient, we’ve wanted one thing more than anything else, power. We've wanted to be powerful, to be stronger than anything else. And, in a way, we’ve achieved that. But, there’s one problem. One thing we haven’t achieved, creation.”
She heard the sound of footsteps again, but he didn’t seem to walk that far. She heard the sounds of buttons being pressed, probably on the machine behind her. She figured whatever things he put in her head, were connected to the machine.
“There are thousands of species on this planet, us being one of them. Whether it be through evolution or God, they were created. Humans have discovered, invented, built, bred, and destroyed. But we’ve never created something of our own, not really. Sure, modified cells and stuff, but we’ve never really made a new species of animal. That’s what I do, I create animals.”
The sound of a machine starting up filled the room, like the sound of a generator. It was coming directly behind her, which meant the machine was on. Discord then walked past her, his hands still in his pockets, and the smile still on his face. He moved over to the computer in the corner of the room, turning it on, but not bothering to sit down. The sound of the whirring machine and clanking on the keyboard filled the room.
“That’s what I will do to you, I’m going to make you into an animal. Well, sort of. We can’t create something from nothing, that’s literally impossible. But, we can make something new. What I do, is combine genetic DNA from dozens of species of animals, and bond it with you. It slowly becomes a part of you, as your body adjusts to it. Now, yes, it’s not scientifically possible. At least, it wasn’t. Then, this beautiful little thing called Crisper, which is pretty much genetic manipulation on a microscopic level. Usually, it’s only supposed to be used on fetus’s, when the DNA is at its most adaptable.
But I found a loophole, which took lots of trial and error before I found it. Which was probably why government scientist hasn’t found out about this, the method is quite inhumane. If the body is in a certain state of instability, which is ironic since it’s the exact opposite of balance, then it’s possible for it to properly bond with them. You have no idea how many it took for me to figure that out, but, I did.”
He spoke with a casual voice, no excitement like Blake, and not seriousness like Igneous, just casual. Though, there were spikes of pride every now and again. So far, he seemed like an okay guy. But, looks can be very deceiving, she would know.
“Of course, even when I managed to properly bond them, there were still complications. Different blood types, incompatible DNA, sometimes even a broken bone could make a difference. I learned I need to get the right animals and the right state of being for the person. So many factors to consider, so many different variables, it’s a very time-consuming process, which I’ve already done for you while you and Blake were ‘bonding’. But the result when done right, it makes me prouder than a father after his son just won a baseball game.”
The sound of the keyboard clacking stopped, replaced by the sound of footsteps. She looked up at him curiously, she was still deciding on how she felt about this guy.
“It’s called many things, monster, beast, demon, etc. But those are just names hurled at them by the people afraid because they don’t understand, but I think it’s far more beautiful than that. I still haven’t thought of a name for it quite yet, but the closest thing I can think of is Chimera. Now, I know they’re not three headed lion creatures, most of the time. But, it is a combination of multiple animals, which is as close as I can get to what you will become. Well, might become. Even with all the preparation and considered factors, it’s not a guarantee. This could easily kill you, and if It does, it will be beyond painful. But, I assure you, what you would become, it would be worth it.”
He looked down at her, with a surprisingly serious look on his face. One of his hands were in his pocket, while the other was behind his back as if he was hiding something. She looked at him back, a neutral look on her face. She had learned a while ago not to show what she was actually thinking on her face, it’s better to keep them guessing.
“I would love to tell you more, but, as I said before, you might not live. It will take a week or so before your body will be in the proper state, then your metamorphosis can really begin. Before I begin, this could be quite literally your last moments of consciousness. So, I would like to give you the chance to speak your potentially last words.”
She looked back at him curiously, not expecting such a thing. She hadn’t said anything the entire time because she was curious about what he was saying, but now he stopped, he was giving her a chance for final words. Honestly, she’s never thought about final words before, the thought just never occurred to her. But now, she was being given the chance too. And when she thinks about it, she knew exactly what she was going to say.
“I’ve come too far to die now, after everything that I’ve had to do, and that’s being done to me, I REFUSE to die here! I’m not really sure what you’ve been saying so far, about turning humans into animals, but whatever it is, I WANT IT! Even if it destroys me, if it gives me the strength I need to kill him, I’ll gladly take it! So, do what you what you want to me, it can’t be any worse than what Blake’s done. Whatever it is, I’ll endure, and I will survive!”
She practically screamed at him, her voice full of anger and rage, her demeanor as a slave seeming to disappear. Yes, Blake had changed her. But he could never take away the unyielding rage in her heart for her father, it was going to take more than physical torture to get rid of that. Instead of flinching or backing away, Discord only smiled at her.
“Good choice, I think I’m starting to like you. Part of me hopes you’ll survive this, just to see what you’ll become. Now, let’s begin.”
The hand he was hiding behind his back suddenly sprang out, revealing a remote control in it. It had a variety of buttons on it, it probably controlled the machine behind her.
“Now, as I said before, your body is going to have to be in a state of chaos before I can start. Which means I’ll have to do many things to it to get the right...stimulation, sending a few signals throughout your body, and expose it to a few elements. It’s different every time, so I might have to do things different with you.”
He looked down at the remote in his hand, fidgeting with the buttons on it as if he was going to turn something on. He then looked up at her, a cocky smile on her face.
“Heh, I guess you can say, this will make us have an electrifying relationship.”
He pressed one of the buttons on the remote, and as soon as he did, the whirring of the machine sped up. It sounded louder, and like it was doing something else now. There was a confused look on her face, she understood what he meant. Then, the helmet started shaking. Electricity suddenly attacked her body, pain flooded her entire system. She could feel it in every area of her body, it was like the tingling sensation when your arm falls asleep, but magnified by ten thousand! It hurt immensely! She’s been shocked before by Blake, but not to this extent. Her body bucked against the straps, it was practically steaming from the heat inside of her body the electricity was causing. She wanted to scream, but she was afraid if she tried to open her mouth, she’d end up biting off her own tongue.
Discord watched in amusement, curious to just how much of a pain tolerance Blake put on her. The voltage wasn’t that high, but the needles inserted into her head were made to make the brain think it was more. It was just tricking the brain, which wasn’t as hard as you’d think. The brain was actually fairly easy to trick, or maybe that was just because of his experience. Either way, this was going to be very interesting to see if she’ll live up to his expectations. When Igneous went through this, he showed an incredible endurance, and the results were amazing. This was his daughter, she had high expectations, both by him, and Igneous.
After a few minutes of Pinkamena thrashing against her straps and her body steaming from the electricity, he decided to turn it off and see how she was doing so far. He pressed one of the buttons on the remote, and the sound of the machine went back to its usual whirring. Her body stopped thrashing, but there was still some steam coming from her body. Her eyes were closed as if she had been knocked out.
“So, what’d you think? Still so cocky?”
She didn’t respond, her eyes were still closed, she didn’t seem to be moving in any way, it was hard to tell if she was even breathing. He began to fear if she was dead. But then, a smile came across her face, as her eyes fluttered open slowly. She moved her head to the left to look at him, a look of defiance in her eyes.
“That all you got?”
She said in an arrogant voice, her smile going from ear to ear, the scars on her face were very evident. A feeling of nostalgia filled Discord, that look on her face, that tone in her voice was so much like Igneous, this was going to be very interesting.
“Not even close.”
Chapter Six: Metamorphosis.
It has been one week since Discord started with Pinkamena, compared to the month with Blake, it was nothing. While it may not have been as painful as what Blake did, it was certainly different. To get her body to get to the state of balance he needed, she was exposed to multiple kinds of torture, some Blake didn’t even do to her. Waterboarding, oxygen deprivation, being exposed to extreme heat, electrocution, but nothing fatal. Other than a few burn marks, none of the torture left any scars on her, not like Blake did.
Unlike Blake, he wasn’t very serious when he did it. He made puns and jokes every now and again and tried to strike up a conversation either before he starts or in between. She didn’t have any problem with it, it was just different than what she was used to. After he was done with her for the day, she would be escorted to the room she used to stay in before. Except for this time, Blake never came to pick her up, it was Discord. She was fed and watered like normal, and she still had the habit of being naked. Discord didn’t seem to mind that much, but he preferred her with clothes, so he usually brought some.
“So, how do you feel?”
She was now strapped down to the same table, but with a calm look on her face. Over the week, they had developed a strange relationship. It wasn’t the master-slave relationship she had with Blake or pure hatred like the one she had with Igneous. Despite the torture, they had a very casual relationship. She wouldn’t go as far to say friends, more like friendly acquaintances.
“The same as I felt a week ago, am I supposed to feel different?”
She asked curiously, she’s only gotten the gist of everything so far. Supposedly, she’s already gone through mental and physical preparation for passing this test. Now, she’s going to be physically transformed into something more than human. Or maybe he’s just crazy and is torturing her? He could just be senile and nothing he’s said is true, there’s no real way to know.
“Hmm, sort of. The results can be different every time, it’s impossible to tell. To be honest, it doesn’t always take a week for your body to enter the state anyway. You could enter it after the first day, but I wanted to do it for a week, just to be sure. So, no, it’s not impossible for it to be done without it, it’s just a good sign.”
He wasn’t looking at her as he was talking, like every other time, he was writing something down in a journal. She was curious what was in it, but she probably wouldn’t get the chance to find out. After writing whatever it was he was writing, he closed the journal and put it in his pocket. He then pulled out a syringe from the same pocket, the first time she’s seen him pull something out of his pockets that wasn’t a journal. It was a fairly large syringe, filled with a strange dark green liquid. He flicked the end of it, making sure the needle was in good condition.
“This is what you’ve been waiting for, this is the thing that will change you. It took me years to successfully make this, and even longer to figure out the right conditions required for it to work. Now, in a few moments, I’m going to inject this into you. It won’t be immediate, but you will feel your body molding and changing. That’s the process that’ll probably kill you, not anything before. I won’t describe to you the exact details of what will happen if you survive, it would probably just be a waste.”
Discord walked over to her, putting his hand on her arm to find the vein. After finding it, he gently hovered the vaccine over the vein, but stopped, and looked at Pinkamena.
“Are you ready?”
For the first time, there was concern in his voice. Whether it was because he had genuinely cared about her, or her surviving the test because Igneous had more planned, or if it was just an act, who knows? But, she did think about it. While it was highly likely all this was just some ruse, there was a slight chance it was real. That she would be transformed into something beyond human, that she would be powerful, that she would have the strength for revenge. And that possibility was too much the pass up.
Pinkamena took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and spoke.
“I’m ready.”
Discord nodded and injected the syringe. Slowly, he pushed down the plunger, injecting whatever liquid was in the syringe into her bloodstream. It wasn’t particularly painful, just uncomfortable. The liquid had a very strange texture to it, making it to where she could feel it enter her system. But as soon as it did, she couldn’t feel anything. He withdrew the needle from her arm, putting the syringe back into his pocket.
He sighed and pulled a chair from behind her, one she didn’t know was there. He put it in the spot he usually stood in, sat down in it, and leaned back. He then pulled out his journal, but his gaze never left her. He was intently watching her as if expecting something. But, she felt indifferent. No pain, no changing feeling, nothing. She felt the same as she usually did.
“Is something supposed to-“
Pinkamena suddenly bucked forward, the sound of bones cracking and being broken coming from her. Her arms and legs snapping in half, bending in such a way that would dislocate her knees and shoulders. The reason was because they were expanding, they seemed to rapidly be growing, her muscles and fat doing the same. Something could be seen under her skin, almost like something was moving. Her arms and legs stopped growing after a point, and seemed to shrink, adjusting to the body’s size.
Her eyes seemed to be flashing in color, both the pupil and sclera, seeming to be going through every color there was. Blood was flowing from her eyes, she tried to blink, but because of what was happening, she was temporarily blind. Her mouth was also bleeding, her teeth were growing in size and sharpness, especially her incisors. They were growing and sharpening more than the others, beginning to look more like snake teeth. Both her jaws had dislocated due to her teeth growing in size, they were not able to contain them.
Her ears were bleeding too, her eardrums were changing size, her ears growing along with them. She couldn’t hear anything, not even her own screams. The chest was convulsing rapidly, the sounds of her ribs breaking evident more than most sounds. Organs were being moved around and thrashed insider her body, the bones that weren’t broken were taking a beating from this. The skin on her body seemed to be morphing, changing in colors and texture. Some parts were a dark green color, seeming more like scales than skin. While others were a darker brown, making it look like some kind of fur was growing on her.
Her face was morphing into a more animal-like look, her cheeks stretching and expanding, the rest of her face following. Pinkamena was in more pain than she could ever imagine, and she couldn’t even see or hear. Discord watched intently, worry on his face. This transformation was a bad one, usually, only certain parts of the body would begin to change first. When those parts were done, they would move on to different parts. But this time, the entire body was changing, which meant the process must have been extremely painful for her.
But, he said nothing, there was nothing to say, she wouldn’t hear him anyway. For thirty minutes, the room was filled with the sounds of bones breaking and snapping, muscles, fat, ligaments and tendons being torn reattached and torn again, and screams. In that time, her body morphed and changed multiple times. Her body going from a scaly texture to one similar to fur, then to leather, and many others. Eventually, it stopped. The sound of bones breaking and screaming was now gone, Pinkamena had passed out. Her arms and legs were noticeably bigger than before, but not to the point of abnormality.
Her skin seemed to be a darker shade, and while it felt tougher, it had the normal texture of skin again. Her teeth had gone back to normal size and sharpness, except for her incisors, they were somewhat bigger and sharper. Her ears were also bigger, but not immensely like her arms. Her eyes were no longer flashing in color, they were now the dark blue they were before. Blood was still on her face from before, but now it had begun to dry.
“Finally, the metamorphosis is over. That was surprisingly short, it’s usually longer than that, hours, actually. But, I suppose her spending so much time in the woods made her more…. adjusted to nature. Which, considering what it does, makes sense. Now, for the moment of truth.”
Discord lifted her arm, and put two fingers on her wrist. He waited patiently, holding his breath, feeling desperate for a pulse. And, after what felt like hours, he felt it. A smile stretched across his face, it was a success. But, somehow, he wasn’t surprised. He was sure what it was, but something in their genes made them strong-willed people. Everyone he’s met in their family so far has been like that, it really was quite amazing.
After writing something in his journal and putting it in his pocket, Discord stood up and began to walk out towards the door, but suddenly something grabbed his arm. He quickly turned around, surprise and astonishment on his face, it was Pinkamena.
“Going to…leave…already? C’mon, I thought you were going to give me answers? I’d sure like to know what the hell you just did to me.”
Her eyes weren’t open, she probably still couldn’t see yet. But hearing wouldn’t be surprising, that didn’t usually take that long. She was breathing rapidly, her body seemed to barely be functioning.
“Amazing, it usually takes hours, sometimes even days before waking up. But you only woke up in a few minutes! Do you have any idea how remarkable that is!”
But Pinkamena didn’t respond, she seemed to have fallen asleep. Which wasn’t surprising, her body just went through one of the worst things possible. Discord’s look of wonder left him, a smile replacing it.
“Of course, it was just a moment of consciousness, there’s no way anyone could be awake after that, not even Igneous. Speaking of, I know I said I was going to give you answers, but you’re not really conscious of them. Igneous would want me to report the success, which I will do.”
Discord turned around and walked toward the door again, this time opening it before stopping. He looked at Pinkamena again, half expecting her to wake up. But, she didn’t. She was going to need that sleep, while she had successfully survived the transformation, she was still going to need to learn how to control it and how it works. Especially considering how Igneous would want to test her, she was going to need to learn.
“Pinkamena, you impress me. Igneous was the only one who has done what you have, you deserve your answers. I hope you have sweet dreams, because after you wake up and I explain everything, you will have your final test, and I can’t wait to see how you do.”
Chapter Seven: Different Body, Different Person.
Pinkamena was sitting on a bed, an actual bed. It was very small, probably made for only one person. The sheets were a bright blue, the blanket covering her the same color. The headboard and post of the bed were both a dark brown, more than likely made from wood. The pillow was a simple white one, big enough to hold her entire head. Discord was sitting in a wooden chair beside her, waiting for her to wake up. Reading a book, wearing his usual doctor outfit.
The room she was in was very different from the kind she was used to, looking more like a guest room. Instead of a cold, hard floor like she was used to, there was actually a red carpet, looking like it was recently cleaned. To the right of the bed, was a bookshelf, seeming to be the only real thing in the room. It was filled top to bottom with books of many varieties, on tons of different subjects. On the opposite side of the room, was a white door with a golden colored knob. To the left was a door that looked almost exactly the same, except there was a brown doorknob instead. That room led to the bathroom, a simple white bathroom with a mirrored sink, a toilet, and a shower.
Pinkamena was sleeping peacefully, she had been asleep for three days. While the main transition had been completed, her body still had to go into a sort of hibernation state. Bones had to set, muscles had to regrow, tons of things that needed to be done for her body to readjust. But, as his notes have shown, three days is usually the wake-up time. And since this is going to be her final test, there’s no need for her to be chained up anymore. She’s going to need a little bit of time to prepare herself, so she can be at her best. Discord was going to inform her as much as she could, on both the final test and what she was now. Any moment now, she should be waiting up.
Almost on cue, she began to groan. Her eyes slowly began to open, opening once, twice, and then fully opening. As soon as she did, she quickly rose, looking around her new environment, shock on her face.
“Ah! You’re awake, good. We have much to discuss.”
Discord closed the book he was reading, putting the book back on the bookshelf with the rest. She looked at Discord, then down at herself. She was wearing a black t-shirt with jeans, she could feel a bra and underwear underneath, she’d stopped questioning how they’d been getting these clothes on her. She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry, she noticed how dehydrated she was.
“W-water!”
She said desperately as if the words were hard to get out. Discords face changed to that of realization, as he quickly pulled a bottle of water out of his right pocket, handing it to Pinkamena. She quickly snatched it out of his hands, ripping off the lid and chugging the water. After the bottle was empty, she put it between her legs and tried to catch her breath, as Discord watched her.
“Well, to start off, I have good news and bad news. Good news is you’ve successfully gone through the transition, well, more or less. Your body has successfully adapted, which has its pros and cons. Your senses will be increased, such as sight, smell, hearing, etc. you’ll be faster and stronger, and you will heal faster. Not like bullet wounds are gone in seconds, more like minutes. But, you’ll also be hungrier, you’ll need to eat more meat. Which will be easier, since your teeth have grown larger and sharper.”
He said in a casual tone, an eager smile on his face. Pinkamena had finally caught her breath, no look on her face, as if she was trying to comprehend everything she was being told. She was now practically superhuman if everything he said was true. Something like a hybrid of a person and an animal, well, a bunch of animals. Which was something she didn’t think was possible, but, apparently, it was.
“And the bad news?”
Pinkamena asked shakily, which Discord responded with a sigh.
“Same problem humans always have, emotions. While your body is prepared for your first transformation, your mind is not. You still heal faster, and you’ll have heightened senses, but there is still so much left. but you nee-“
“Wait! You mentioned healing? Which means, where’s the bathroom!?”
She asked Discord frantically, as if it were life and death. He had a surprised look on his face, he wasn’t expecting a response like that, she was usually so composed. He pointed to the door across from him, she didn’t hesitate to jump out of the bed and run into the bathroom, taking off her shirt as she was. He watched her intently, curious what she was doing.
After entering the bathroom, she threw the shirt on the bed, looking into the mirror above the sink. Thanks to the transition, her body was no longer covered in scars. There were no wounds on her body, she looked the same as three months ago, as if nothing had happened. She was frantically looking at herself in the mirror, her pink bra covering her breast.
“NO! Where are they!”
Pinkamena nearly screamed, running her hands all over her body. Her eyes were dilated, a look of disappointment and distress on her face, which quickly turned to anger. She ran out of the bathroom towards Discord, still not wearing a shirt.
“Give them back!”
She demanded, as if something had been stolen from her.
“Give what back?”
Discord replied, confusion and curiosity on his face and in his voice. Nothing had been taken from her, if anything, they’ve only been giving her things! Unless Blake took something, then he had no idea what she was asking for.
“My scars and my necklace! Give them back!”
Ok, now he was just confused.
“Scars? Why would you want your scars back?”
He asked, not understanding why she was getting so upset about it. She should be overjoyed.
“Scars aren’t just injuries on your body that don’t heal, they’re you! They’re your story, they show what you’ve endured and gone through to get where you are! They tell your challenges, failed or not, they’re proof you tried!”
She exclaimed, surprising Discord. He didn’t expect she would have such a level of sentimentality, after everything that’s happened, he expected she wouldn’t.
“Ah, I see. Well, I apologize, but it’s impossible to give those back. Even if we were to put you through everything again, it’s practically impossible to scar you. But, I understand how you feel.”
He said apologetically, feeling partly bad about that, he had grown to like Pinkamena. Her anger seemed to fade away, as realization set in. she slowly sat down the bed, her back facing Discord.
“And my necklace?”
She asked calmly, as she grabbed her shirt beside her and began to put it on. This time, Discord was only confused.
“Necklace? You didn’t have any necklace, the only thing that was on you when we pulled you from the woods were your clothes. There was no necklace or anything else.”
Discord replied, hoping his words didn’t upset her. But Pinkamena only giggled, but not in a funny way, more of a ‘knew I was right about that but didn’t want to be,’ way.
“Of course, Blake probably has it. Either as some sort of bargaining chip, or as some sort of trophy, great.”
Pinkamena whispered solemnly, barely loud enough for Discord to hear. Discord grimaced, from the sounds of it, that necklace meant a lot to her, to the point of motivation.
“Why is it important to you?”
He asked, Pinkamena turning her head to him slightly in response.
“Why do you care?”
She asked brutally, slight surprising Discord, he thought she had liked him, at least to an extent. But, he said nothing, he wasn’t sure if he could really give a good reason. When he didn’t say anything, Pinkamena turned her head away from him again, making it impossible for him to see her face.
“It’s a silver necklace with a golden heart with a red jewel on it, inside of it is a picture of me and my sisters. It belonged to them before they…well, you know. I found it in there, along with their bodies. It’s pretty much the only thing I have left of them, so, I’d really appreciate it back.”
She spoke with a tone of sadness, something Discord hadn't heard from her before, or expected to hear. He’s only ever heard a cocky, sadistic, or angry tone from her, never sad. He knew her sisters were dead, but he wasn’t sure if she’d found their bodies or not.
“Maybe, as a reward, I can get you that necklace if you pass the test.”
Discord said quietly, looking at Pinkamena’s back, he knew she heard him. She quickly turned around, now looking directly at him. Anger, shock, and curiosity on her face.
“Test!? What do you mean test? I thought you said I was done? Or were you lying through your teeth?”
She asked viciously, like if he said the wrong thing, she would kill him right there. But, Discord wasn’t afraid, Pinkamena has yet to take an actual human life, and he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be to rage. No, she’ll be taking her first human life very soon.
“Well, yes and no. Technically, the test isn’t really over, but I wasn’t lying. You are completely done being tested and improved upon, your transition was the last thing. But, the entire test isn’t over just yet. But, before we get to that, I need to finish my explanation from earlier, or else you won’t understand. Is that okay?”
He said calmly, trying his hardest not to further upset her. It’s doubtful, but it might be enough to trigger it, and now wouldn’t be the time, it’s too early. Pinkamena nodded, her anger seeming to subside. Discord gave a sigh of relief.
“Now, as I was saying, the problem is emotions. Your body has adjusted and is ready for the first transformation, which is three states of what you are now. In these states, either activated willingly or through emotions, are what you are now. While you do have the advantages of the animals you are combined with normally, they’re immensely increased when you transform. Your DNA has been combined with dozens of animals, bears, wolves, lizard, birds, all kinds of things. But don’t worry, you’re not going to transform into a lizard or anything, probably.
It’s more like you make certain parts of your body transform to those kinds of animals, and have their abilities. For example: you can make the skin on your arm turn into scales like a lizard, which would provide more cover, and since their cold-blooded, you’re more adjustable to temperature changes. But you can’t transform your entire body into scales, that’s not possible. Same way for any other kinds of changes you’ll discover. As for the cold/warm blooded works, if the creature you're changing to is warm-blooded, that part of the body will change to it, while others remain the same.
Now, back to the transformation. This is the only exception to a full body transformation, you will have the advantages of most of the animals you are now combined with, you’ll be even faster and stronger, but, you risk destroying yourself. It takes a massive toll on the body, pain absolutely unimaginable, you’ll be exhausted for hours, maybe days. Sleep may be impossible, rest will come rarely, might even be other symptoms, such as hallucinations, mood swings, random bleeding, etc. you can lower or even prevent any of this depending on how long you’re transformed, and which form.
There are three stages, each one different in appearance and performance. Stage one: The changes will be slight, but noticeable. Your nails will grow longer, teeth sharper, your eyes will also change, the color to a darker red, and they might change shape, looking more like a wolf or a bear, which does improve eyesight. You can stay in this form for up to three hours without suffering any consequences. Stage two: The changes are much larger, this is one you start becoming more animalistic. Hair or scales will start appearing on your skin, sometimes both, which I’ve heard is extremely uncomfortable. At this point, a tail may grow, along with the rest of your body. Your size will begin to increase, making you slower, but stronger. Your nails are practically claws at this point, your teeth more like that of a lion.
Your eyes will stay the same, as will most of your facial features. At this point, communication might be more difficult, you’ll be giving more and more into your primal instincts. Your sense of awareness may be hard to keep hold of, you might have even forgotten the reason for transformation in the first place, you’ll be focused solely on killing your enemy, if you can still remember who that is. You can stay in this form for one hour before suffering any consequences.
Now, finally, the third stage: This would take a lot of rage or willpower to get to, and a lot of resolves to get out of. At this point, you are a wild animal. You have no sense of awareness, whoever you were will be gone, you will have completely given into the beast. Your body will grow even larger, being twice the size you were. You will have either a coat of fur, or scales replacing your skin, your eyes will be an even darker red, your pupils will be gone. Your claws and teeth will be razor sharp, able to rip through nearly anything organic. You will be both faster and stronger, and have an even further improved sense of hearing, seeing, and smell. Friend and foe would be one in the same, you will kill everything in sight.”
“So, like a werewolf?”
Pinkamena asked curiously, her calm silence ending. She had remained silent through the whole explanation, listening to Discord’s explanation.
“Well, sort of. The differences are as obvious as the similarities. If you ever reach it, then you might understand. This form is dangerous, and if you’re like this longer than thirty minutes, the consequences will be drastic. Now, while I know a lot about what you are now, I don’t know everything. You could develop abilities I have no idea about, it’s impossible to predict the results of what could happen. While certain kinds of abilities will always happen, certain ones have chances of being gained. Right now, there’s no way to know what ones you’ll have.
I have been ordered not to tell you any more about what you are until after the test, so, before I continue, I need to ask, do you understand everything I’ve explained?”
Discord asked her slowly, one of the first times he’d been this serious. Pinkamena had been surprisingly calm while listening to his explanation, which meant she was either very open-minded, or in shock. But, that could be good, they didn’t have time for a mental breakdown.
Pinkamena nodded slowly, as she looked at Discord with curious eyes, her facial expression not changing.
“Good. For you to fully become what you are, you need to feel some kind of strong emotion, something that will push your body to achieve. Rage, depression, grief, something powerful. My bets are, you will experience something like that during your next test. It will be something like a gladiator fight, but more to test the results of everything you’ve been through. You will be pit against a bunch of mercenaries, assassins, and even some of our own. You will be given the option of weapons ,if you so please.
Your mission will be to survive, they are being offered a large amount of money if they successfully kill you, so they won’t stop until they’re either dead or unconscious. And considering your position, you might be able to knock out some, but not all of them. You will kill, it is necessary. And if you survive, you will pass, simple as that. You will have plenty of room, and plenty of enemies. I, Igneous, and Blake will be watching you from a distant place, as we all want to see the results of our work. And…if you pass the test, you will get your necklace, I assure you.
This test will push you, everything you’ve learned in those woods, everything Blake’s taught you, and everything I’ve made you, this will be the ultimate test. You will have the rest of today to prepare, you should be getting hungry very soon. Both because of the transition, and the short coma. There will be guards outside the entire time, ask them for anything, and they will bring it you. Do whatever you feel necessary to prepare, but come this time tomorrow, it will begin.”
Pinkamena had been listening intently, her face going blank, no emotion evident. Once again, her head lowered, hair covering her face. Discord got up and went towards the door, opening it and slowly walking out.
“If I pass, there will be no consequences for killing them? So, I can do whatever I want with them?”
She asked sadistically, her tone sounding like a murderous sociopath. And, while he wasn’t sure, he could’ve sworn he saw a smile.
“Well, yes.”
She didn’t say anything after that, she just laid on the bed, her hair covering her face, but he was sure she was smiling. He decided to leave her, there was nothing else he could say to her. She needed to process everything she’s been told, and prepare for tomorrow, for tomorrow, she will no longer be fully human.
Chapter Eight: Meeting Of The Mad.
Author's Notes:
Hello, I've got a little bit of explaining to do, so I'll just start. You may have noticed I put my other stories on hiatus, that's because this is the second to last chapter for this story. Technically third, since there will be an epilogue. When I work on the finals for stories, I prefer to dedicate my time to the last chapter, as I make them rather lengthy. But don't worry! Because I'm not done with this story, I have much planned. So, all I ask is for you to be patient, because it will take time. Otherwise, enjoy!
"So, when's this party getting started?"
Blake asked blatantly, his usual obnoxious, cocky tone very present. The room he was in was very spacious, made to hold up to ten, but currently only had three. But unlike most of the rooms, this was made warmer and more welcoming way. Not because they discuss important things here, most of the time. But because this room was where they observed the battles below, in the battle arena, where the fun happens.
The room was quite large since it was intended to hold up to ten people, But, it didn't have that many things in it. Mostly chairs, and a table in the back, which usually had someone behind it, holding bets. But since this was a test and not the usual pseudo-gladiator battle they usually did, only Igneous, Discord, and Blake were in the room.
The other thing in the room was a refrigerator, holding alcohol and other drinks. And a white cabinet that had snacks, such as chips, jerky, sandwiches, etc. There was usually only one fight a week, so the stuff in there usually lasted a while before new snacks had to be put in.
The walls, floor, and roof were all made out of dark wood, same as the chairs and table. Making almost the entire room a dark brown, which was a neutral color for most people. The light sources consisted of a white lamp on the betting table, some ceiling lights, and the spotlights for the arena. There were two spotlights, both on the other side of a long, metallic glass window. Which is what was used to watch the battles, but since there was nothing currently happening, the room was nearly pitch black.
Blake was leaning back in a chair, his hands behind his head and his feet propped up on the table, an obnoxious smile on his face. He was wearing his usual outfit, with something new around his neck. A silver necklace with a golden heart at the end, a red jewel embedded in the center. Somehow, it felt familiar to him, but he couldn't place where. Discord was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, near the glass window, his back facing the wall. He was wearing his usual doctor outfit, he had a laptop in his lap, not typing on the keyboard, just focusing on the screen, as if he was watching something. Igneous was laying his back against the wall across from Blake, also wearing his usual outfit, but had a black fedora on with a white bond, his eyes were closed in thought, and had his arms crossed.
"Soon, be patient. I'm as eager to see this as you are, but we don't have much time left, maybe a week, we can't afford mistakes. Besides, it's good we have this chance to talk. Things have been distant between us ever since this whole thing started. I understand why though, Blake you've been busy setting things up with The Apples since they've angsty. Discord, you've been busy with fine tuning the process to help increase the chances, which I understand takes time. And I've been distracted hunting down our silent friend. It's has been a busy and eventful summer."
Igneous said tiredly, sleep's been hard for him lately, it's been days since he slept. After this test, he had planned to let Blake and Discord run things for a bit while he took a long needed nap.
"Yeah, I'd agree on eventful, but not busy. It has been pretty crazy around here but also really fun! Torturing your daughter, dealing with The Apples, trying to find out who The Silent Killer is. Sure, it's aggravating. But it's nice to have something difficult for once!"
Blake exclaimed loudly, impatience in his voice, it's obvious he's been waiting for this for a long time, But Igneous has been waiting longer.
"Heh, I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree. Whoever this person is, they've killed dozens of criminals, including some of our guys and The Apples, have caused the city to doubt The N.Y.P.D., and is proving to be very elusive. But, I have to admit, the challenge is refreshing. After all, it's not like they're a threat to The Syndicate. They're only really a threat to our relationship with The Apples, which was unstable before. So, there's no real threat, might as well enjoy it, opportunities like this are pretty rare."
Igneous said, a smirk on his face. Blake was slightly surprised at this, Igneous seemed so relaxed, something that he usually wasn't. Discord was still looking at the screen, but it was obvious he was listening to them.
"I also agree, these last three months have been very productive. By watching the tapes of Pinkamena in the woods and being tortured, I was able to figure out the standards required for the conditions to be met, well, more like I understood them better than before. Which will help a lot in the future? And her surprising amount of durability and endurance allowed me to test the limits and requirements for the process, it's remarkable she's gone through so much and still has such willpower. It reminds me a lot of you, Igneous."
Discord spoke casually, still staring at the computer screen in front of him, but he was talking to both of them. Igneous's smile widened slightly, appreciating Discord's casualness. Blake's smile also widened, but for a different reason.
"Oh, stop it! You're making me blush! Her pain tolerance and willpower is because of me! It took a lot of creativeness to last a month, but the results were what you see. I doubt anything even really hurt her except for the transformation itself, and even then it doesn't compare to what I did to her. And her willpower was because she wanted to see me again! I've practically made her a slave to my will! She would do anything to see me."
Blake declared proudly, talking only to Discord, but also with the intention of impressing Igneous. Discord twitched, the smile left his face, turning to a more serious one.
"I...don't think that's true. At first, it may have seemed like that, but that's not what I think now. After watching some of the tapes from the cameras in the woods, it became apparent she went through some traumatic event. She went from crying after killing a fish to having a smile on her face as she brutally killed three wolves. Yeah, you torturing her might have built a pain tolerance, but I doubt it changed her otherwise. And as for her reason for having so much willpower? It's not because she wants to get back to you, I don't think she feels for you at all. Her motivation is solely her rage to kill Igneous, not because you've made some master-slave relationship with her. I doubt you've had any real effect on her, she probably just acted like she did because it would've been easier that way."
The tone in Discord's voice changed drastically, sounding almost like anger, something Igenous doesn't hear often. Blake slowly began to lean forward, the smile leaving, anger evident on his face.
"Are you questioning how good I am at my job?"
Blake spoke in a questioning tone, not even trying to mask the anger. Discord sighed, closing the laptop and gently putting it under the chair. He then pushed the glass closer to his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked at Blake, and annoyed look on his face.
"No, I'm questioning how good you think you are at your job. Yes, you've proven how good you are multiple times before, but this is different. Before you can break and repair someone, you have to recognize where they are, and you failed to do that. Your pride caused you to convince yourself that you didn't need to bother with that, that your usual way was the right one. You just did what you always did without even thinking about it, like a barbaric idiot."
Blake thrust out of his chair and quickly walks towards Discord, ending directly in front of his face.
"Not only do you insult my work, but you insult me too. You must be feeling confident, or stupid."
Blake said aggressively, looking like he was ready to hit him at any moment, Igneous was considering intervening.
"No, I just want to put your work to the test. I was hoping to wager with you."
Discord said smugly, not even flinching when Blake became more aggressive. Blake stood up in front of Discord, the look of anger on his face now had signs of curiosity.
"A bet? Huh, I never thought you were the type. Ok, fine, what do you want to be on."
Blake put his arms on his sides, bits of anger still in his voice.
"Since you seem to have so much confidence in her, I'm willing to bet she won't pass the test without transforming, which would prove what I'm doing gets better results. But, if she gets through it without needing to, then you win."
Igneous was listening intently, not curious, but confused. Discord has never been a betting man, if there was an outcome he couldn't predict and calculate, he didn't take it. Risk was something he always avoided, so if he was making a bet like this, there must have been something he wants or something someone else wanted.
Blake smiled eagerly.
"And, it won't happen, but what would you want if you win?"
Discord smile back, but he was serious.
"That necklace around your neck, I want it."
Blake had a slightly surprised look on his face, that wasn't something he was expecting.
"Why do you want it?"
Discord smiled at him smugly, knowing he was pushing the right buttons.
"I thought you weren't the type of guys to ask questions?"
Blake didn't say anything else, he just smiled, a look of annoyance in his eyes.
"Alright, and when I win? What do I get?"
He asked curiously, there were a few things he could ask for, but he wanted to hear what Discord was going to offer.
"If you win, I'm going to bring you all of my scientific tools, or gadgets, as you call them. And you can pick out three of any of them you want."
Discord said hesitantly, as he was saying goodbye to old friends. Blake seemed to get excited at that, in Discord's lab, there were things he used to set the conditions for the transformation. Blake has played with a wide variety of torture tools, but Discord likes to custom make his tools. Blakes saw a few of them, and they were something special. Some were multi purpose, others had purposes he couldn't think of, but he had a few ideas. He would kill for the opportunity to use one of those, but now Discord was offering him three to keep, that wasn't an opportunity he could afford to pass up.
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal."
Blake said cockily, an eager smile on his face and his hand stretched out towards Discord, offering a handshake. Discord smiled backed back, shaking his hand, sealing the deal. Igneous had been observing the whole thing, trying to figure out why Discord suddenly became a betting man.
Then he asked for the necklace, and it turned from curiosity, into frustration. He knows he's seen it before, but he wasn't sure when or where, and that immensely angered him.
"Hey Blake, where did you get tha-"
Suddenly, a ringing filled the room. It sounded like an alarm going off, and it was coming from Discord's pocket. Discord's face became a happy and excited one, pulling a phone out of one of the lab pockets. The phone seemed to be the source of the ringing, Discord clicked on the phone, causing the noise to stop. But the smile was still there.
"What was that, Doc?"
Blake asked curiously, but Discord only smiled in return.
"Oh, that was just my timer to let me know when it's happening."
Discord said mysteriously, almost as if to make Blake ask another question.
"When what's happening, Mr. Enigma?"
Discord smiled a little wider, Igneous smirked, he had a pretty good idea what it was.
"Pinkamena's on her way."
Chapter Nine: Apex Predator, Part One.
Author's Notes:
Hi all! Sorry this took so long, I've been busy with schools and stuff. But, I got a new writing program, so, hopefully, my grammars improved. Also, I've been going through my old fanfics and been trying to fix the errors there, which will take a bit. There will be two more chapters after this, then I can move on to another story, but don't worry, I'm not done with this just yet! Please wait patiently, and thanks for reading!
Pinkamena was lying in her bed, thinking to herself. She had been resting this entire time, trying to comprehend everything that's happened and will happen. Almost immediately after Discord left, she felt extremely famished. She hesitantly asked the guards for food, preferably meat. And for the next three hours, she did nothing but eat. Meat, vegetables, fruit, anything they gave her, she ate it. Not even when she was dealing with growth spurts did she eat that much, maybe it was the coma? Or maybe the transition took that much of a toll on her body?
Pinkamena moved her hand in front of her face, like everything else, it looked vastly different. It was like Discord said, she had heightened senses. Her sight was vastly different, she could see better out of her right eye, her left was borderline a lazy eye. But now she could see equally out of both eyes, even better than before. She could see stuff further away, and the closer things are, the more details she notices. She could see all the differences in her skin, even vaguely being able to see the veins inside of her.
Her hearing improved as well, allowing her to hear every noise in her room, even the heartbeat and breathing of the guards outside her room. She could smell and taste better too when the guards brought her food before it even got to the hallway, she was able to smell it. The food tastes different too, the taste and texture of the food were in more detail than she ever noticed before. Her teeth were very different, being larger and sharper, causing her to bite the inside of her cheek and lip multiple times, causing wounds and drawing blood. But, she adjusted her chewing and the wounds healed, so it wasn't a problem anymore.
She was more sensitive also, whether that be because of the transition, or the drug, she didn't know. Everything felt different, the warmness of the covers, the hardness of the floor, it was like she was in a different body, with the memories of who she was. But, she could tell her body was improved. If she was like this in the woods, things might have been very different.
Suddenly, there was a violent rapping on the door, making Pinkamena sit up.
"It's time for the test to begin, are you ready?"
The room had been deathly quiet for a long time, a sudden loud noise like that startled her. But, once she understood what it was, she calmed down. Pinkamena hasn't had time to think ever since she got out of the woods, and now that she does, she was extremely on edge. Her thoughts were focused mainly on three things, what's happened, what was going to happen, and what she was willing to do.
She was going to have to kill if she wanted to live, she was going to have to take human lives. If it was Igneous or Blake she had to kill, there would be no hesitation. But these people haven't done anything to her, even if they were going to try to kill her, she had no reason to. But, she wasn't going to figure that out by sitting here and thinking
She sighed, realizing there was nothing else that she needed to do. She's all the time she needed to prepare and think, all that was left was the actual test. She hopped off the bed, begrudgingly, walking towards the door, without making a sound. She suddenly opened the door, slightly startling the guards, an impatient look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm ready. lead the way."
She said demandingly, acting like a commanding officer barking orders. Usually, any outsider that treated members of The Syndicate like that would beat unconscious. But, this was an exception. They had specific instructions, and if they weren't followed detail by detail, they'd never find the bodies.
"Follow us down the hall, and don't bother trying to run anywhere, there are no ways out. Just the room you were in, and the one we'll be leading you to."
One of the guards said bluntly, no tone or emotion in their voice. They looked identical to the guards that were around Igneous, the exception being the one on the left had a darker brown hair. She didn't say anything, she only nodded. They turned their backs to her and began to walk down the long, dark hallway, leading her to the end.
She followed morbidly, she felt fearless, like there was no weight on her. She only felt acceptance, as she realized this is what everything was building up to, this was the big finale. The woods, the torture, the experiments, those were all prepping her for a battle royale, and she was ready.
They led her to the end of the hallway, a steel door at the end. Not a new one either, it looked old and beaten down, stains covering it up and down. Some rust, some blood, the rest were indistinguishable. It was the kind of door you'd see in a torture dungeon, covered in the blood of the multiple people who have suffered on the other side.
Any normal human would have been afraid, terrified, even. The sight of blood and everything that's happened should have shaken her to her core. But no, Pinkamena wasn't afraid, she was excited, she could barely hold back a smile. One of the guards opened the door, gesturing her to go through. The other side of the door was dark, but she didn't hesitate. She walked through the door, allowing herself to enter the darkness, the door to freedom shut behind her.
There was silence, for what felt like a long time. The darkness was the only thing in sight, and it was alluring. Suddenly, there was a loud clicking noise and a bright flash of light, causing Pinkamena to flinch, closing her eyes. She slowly opened them, revealing the room in front of her. The first thing she could compare it to was a gladiator ring, but bigger. Somehow, this was more modern, like it was made just for this era.
It was huge, undoubtedly the largest room Pinkamena's ever seen. The walls were a dark brown, scratches of silver spread out on the walls. The floor and concrete were made out of concrete, making gray, brown, and silver the only colors of the room. Well, except for the bloodstains, most varying in old and new ones. Dents were on the walls, fragments of bone and pieces of skin could be seen on the walls and floor, this wasn't just a gladiator pit, this was a graveyard.
She looked around more, noticing the emptiness. The room was pretty much the same, except for one thing, a bunker. Sort of, it had the structure of one, but if she had to guess, it was used to see the bloodshed inside. The size was ridiculous, going from one side of the wall to the other. It was made out of a dark metal, almost black. Compared to the rest of the room, it was new. There were no bloodstains or dents, nothing indicating it's age.
The light source for the room was on top of the bunker, spotlights. They were massive, easily two or three feet bigger than herself. It was impossible to tell the color or details, the light they were emitting made it difficult to focus on them. There were several of them spread on top of it, providing most of the light for the room. But, Pinkamena noticed there were spotlights on the roof, giving light to areas that usually couldn't be.
The most noticeable thing about the bunker, other than its cleanness, was the window. It was gigantic, stretching across both sides of it, practically confirming Pinkamena's assumption of it being an observation room. It was tinted, making it impossible for her to see inside. But she knew it, the feeling of his eyes piercing through her soul felt familiar. Igneous was on the other side of that glass, watching her, eager to see what she'll do. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there. Blake and Discord probably were as well, but she couldn't feel their stares. Either because they weren't, or she just didn't care.
She was considering going up to the glass and trying to look through it, but she didn't. Not because she had second thoughts, but because there was a sudden voice in the room, a familiar voice.
"Hello, Pinkamena."
The voice was loud and echoed throughout the room, most likely from an intercom in the room somewhere. Most likely behind one of the spotlights, or maybe it was hidden somewhere else, but it didn't matter. The intercom didn't matter, no, the voice that was coming out of it did. That tone, the deepness of it, that was Igneous's voice. He was on the other side of that intercom, so close to her, rage was coursing through her.
"You look much different than when I last saw you in the woods, not a broken teen racked with guilt over her poor, weak, dead sisters."
Igneous said tauntingly, his voice echoing. She ground her teeth, clenching her fist as her nails dug into her hand, drawing blood. She could feel her blood boiling like she could explode with rage at any second.
"I can see your hatred for me is still burning strong, that's good. Channel that rage, your enemies certainly will."
Suddenly, there was a new sound in the room, the sound of something mechanical. It was coming from above her, she looked up curiously, her rage still there, but not focusing on it. When she looked up, she noticed some lowering from the roof. From what she could see, it was a small, wooden platform, almost a table without the legs. It had chains attached to both sides of it, which lead back up to the roof. Pinkamena began to walk toward where it was lowering too, curious what its purpose was.
"You will be facing dozens of enemies, each of them has advantages you don't. Battle experience, a variety of moves and techniques, almost all have killed before, and they far outnumber you. But, most importantly, they have motivation. The one who kills you will be rewarded one million dollars, the proof being your heart in their hands."
He spoke sadistically, the tone in his voice similar to Blake's. It was like he wasn't taking it seriously, trying to provoke her. Pinkamena had made it to the spot the platform was going to be, she stood there patiently, waiting for it to arrive.
"Now, even I would have trouble against such unfair advantages. You've barely killed more than feral mutts, while they've been fine tuned by real battle. So, to make things more even, I'm going to give you an advantage they don't have, weapons."
As if on cue, it stopped above the floor. Right under Pinkamena's stomach, hovering above the ground. She looked down at it, revealing everything on top of it, making her eyes widen. To the left, was a machete. It looked brand new, the handle looked clean and polished, while the edges looked sharp, like just touching them would leave a deep cut. In the middle was a small, black pistol, similar to the ones the guards had. There was nothing special about it, no attachments or markings, nothing that made it special. It was just a small, black pistol.
To the right, there was, technically, two things. A small pair of brass knuckles, something Pinkamena never expected to see outside of TV. Like the pistol, there was nothing special about it. Most would have indentions or something on them, but no, this one was completely blank. The one thing all three of these had in common was how new they all seemed, to the point where there was nothing on them. They were all in mint condition, waiting to taste blood.
"Each of these weapons is more than capable of killing a man, and they've all been prepared to do so. The machete has been cleaned and sharpened, able to completely decapitate someone, or whatever else you want to do. The pistol has been taken apart and thoroughly cleaned, but, counting the one in the chamber, is limited to ten bullets. Your enemies don't know that, so you could use that to your advantage by making them think you have more. Then again, there are a few gun freaks in there, so that probably won't work. I suppose, if you're desperate enough, you could beat them with it. Or try, anyway.
The last is pretty simple, brass knuckles. You put them on your fist and beat your enemies until they stop moving, pretty messy though, blood and teeth go everywhere, but it's very satisfying. Now, here's the catch. You can only pick one, if you took them all, it would be far too easy. After taking one, the others will be locked in by little claw things built into the platform. And before you think about trying to break them out, that won't work. Both because it would take too much time, and they'd stop you before you could. Now, I'm not going to rush you, but we're not going to wait forever. So, choose one."
Pinkamena felt her rage boil, his taunting voice making her want to scream back at him. But, she couldn't. It wouldn't do anything, and she had more important things to do. She quickly looked down at the weapons in front of her, sweat beading down her face. She had to think about this carefully, whatever she chooses could change if she lives or dies.
Yes, each weapon could help her. But at the same time, they each have cons. The machete is very sharp and durable and could cut through flesh and bone easily, but it takes a lot of energy to swing it hard enough. At the same time, it could easily get stuck in her enemies, which would leave her vulnerable. The pistol is the easiest one, each bullet capable of killing. But after those bullets run out, it becomes useless. Even without that, Pinkamenas never shot a gun before, so it's more than likely she'll miss some shots.
The brass knuckles weigh almost nothing and don't take a lot of energy to use, meaning she can attack quickly. But brass knuckles are made for long, drawn out fights, not to kill quickly. Maybe in a one on three, it could work, but she had no idea how many she'd be fighting. Pinkamena was sweating, realizing no matter what she chose, she'd be taking a massive risk. She examined each item, trying desperately to think of some way to cancel out the con.
Her eyes darted between the three weapons, trying her hardest to think of something. The gears in her head were turning desperately, trying to think of something, anything!
"Come on, come on! There has to be something I'm not thinking of, something I can use!"
She mumbled to herself desperately, her eyes darting all over the platform. She was sweating profusely, as she examined every detail of the platform. She could feel their eyes on her, watching eagerly, waiting to see what she'll do. She was paying attention to everything, hoping there was some detail she missed, something between the cracks. The wood, the weapons, the craftsmanship, the chains, the m-
"Wait, that's it!"
Pinkamena suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the machete impulsively, like an inventor who just came up with a brilliant idea. Suddenly, there was a loud clicking noise. Like Igneous had warned, there were little black claws that came out under the weapons, clutching themselves around them.
"That's fine, all I need is this machete."
Pinkamena said casually, determined to keep composure. She carefully touched the edges, testing its sharpness. It cut the tip of her finger, drawing blood, it was sharper than she expected, she smiled.
"Good, now, for the moment of truth."
She mumbled to herself, as her grip tightened on the machete. She quickly turned around, hitting the chains to the right of the platform. Like Pinkamena had hoped, it cut clean through, the sound of the platform hitting the ground rang through the room. The right side of the platform was on the ground, the chains no longer supporting it. There was a loud clanking sound, as the chains dropped on top of the platform, the rest hanged from the ceiling. Pinkamena tossed the machete to the side, landing it a few feet away, she no longer needed it.
Pinkamena walked up to the platform, grabbing the chain tightly with both her hands. They were attached to a small ring embedded in the platform, but she was about to fix that. She pulled on the chain, ripping it from the platform, the ring still attached to the end. Pinkamena smiled, she had the perfect weapon. Not only was it extremely light, making it to where she didn't need a lot of energy to swing it, but it had multiple ways to use it! She could use it pull enemies closer, wrap around their neck and kill them. Or whip them with it like slaves, or wrap it around herself for protection, there were dozens of ways she could use this!
Pinkamena wrapped the chains around her hands a few times, making her grip on them stronger. She has a sadistic smile on her face, swinging the chains in a circle to her left, she was ready.
"Interesting, I wouldn't have expected you to utilize the chains like that. Your the first to do something like that, you must have a unique way of thinking. But, will it work out the way you think it will? I'll send in three guys first, the rest later. It might work against three, but what about a few dozen? I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?"
The smile left her face, the sadistic and cocky tone of Igneous filled her with unyielding rage. Her eyebrows furrowed as her grip on the chains tightened, she felt her body tense up, she was going to kill him, no matter what. Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the room. It sounded like a drawbridge opening, but smaller. Directly across from her, the walls began to open up. It started to split in the middle, one side going left while the other goes right. It was too dark for her to see into, but it was probably a secret room meant to hold people, this was where the thugs being paid to kill her were.
The walls stopped moving, showing just how large the room was. Pinkamena peered into the darkness, looking for anything. As if on cue, three human figures started stepping out of the darkness. It wasn't long before they stepped out of the darkness, noticing Pinkamena almost immediately.
"Really? That's the big bounty? I was expecting some big shot criminal, not some frail, teenage girl!"
The one on the left exclaimed, a sarcastic and surprised tone in his voice. His voice had a weird pitch, somewhere between pubescent teen and forty-year-old woman, making him very annoying to hear the talk. He was somewhat short, looking to be around five-six for his height, and had no muscle to be seen. He had curly brown hair, it poked out in multiple directions, meaning he didn't care for personal hygiene. He had no facial hair, nothing on his face seemed to stick out. His eyes were a dark brown; the pupils were very constricted, he probably took something before coming in. Strangely, he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, as if this was something casual for him.
"Even if it was, it's not like your puny ass would've been able to kill them. You should be happy; that'll be the easiest million you've ever made."
The one on the right said, in a more obnoxious tone. The one on the right was noticeably bigger than the other one, probably five eleven in height, with noticeable muscles. The hair was long and blonde; it looked like it spent hours being groomed, something that probably happens daily. Piercing blue eyes and no facial hair, were the features that poked out the most. Like a certain someone Pinkamena despised, he was wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath, a long pair of black jeans to go with it. His voice was normal, except for a thick British accent, he reminded her too much of Blake.
"Shut up! You two sound like bitches complaining about who has the biggest dick. Well, the answer is me! It doesn't matter whether it's some guy who thinks he's tough shit or some chick. We're getting paid to kill'em, so let's do just that, and let's enjoy it!"
The guy in the middle barked, his voice boomed over the others. He was massive, at least six five. His arms didn't look like normal at all; they looked giant tree trunks! He wore a small, sleeveless black shirt, revealing his massive body size. His jet black hair combed back, the rest of his face is completely open, something she intended to use later. He had a broad, obnoxious smile on his face, which irritated her to no end. He was wearing long, black boots, and black gloves to match. All of them reminded her of Blake in different ways, something that just further enraged her. More than likely, Igneous chose these three to go first to try to provoke her, it was working.
Pinkamena smiled, not out of happiness, but out of rage. The burning feeling of rage filled her, no longer were there any other emotions inside her, there was only one, pure fury, and she couldn't help but smile. She tightened her hands around the chains, her eyes constricted, she was starting to forget why she was afraid to kill in the first place.
"Come on, then! You don't want to keep a girl waiting, do you?"
Pinkamena said sadistically, taunting them into attacking first. And just like that, she could see anger forming on their faces; they didn't like that.
"Well girly, I like you. Most girls like you try to run, try. But you sit there, with that smile on your face, swinging some chains in your hand. You're going to be fun. Go on boys, have your fun, but leave some for me!"
The one in the middle commanded, acting as the top dog, which seemed to fit. With no hesitation, both rushed towards Pinkamena. One went on the left, the other on the right, while the one in the middle just watched her, like a predator to prey. Pinkamena knew she should be afraid, that the risk of getting killed should have terrified her. But, it didn't, she only smiled.
The one on the left suddenly lunged at her, his hands outstretched in front of him. But, she expected that. While he was still in the air, she threw the chain towards him, intending to wrap it around his neck. But the chain was harder to throw than she expected, so she didn't throw it as hard or as high as she expected. The only experience she had with this was throwing a handmade rope around animals back in the woods, so she was prone to messing up. But she still managed to wrap it around his right hand, so it was still a success. After the chains tightly wrapped around his hand, Pinkamena violently pulled down on them with both of her hands. With a surprised expression on his face, he slammed face first into the ground below him, right in front of Pinkamena.
"Not forgetting about me, are you?"
The other one was faster than she expected, he was now only a few feet to her left. He swung at her, not even acknowledging the other guy on the ground. She was barely able to move out of the way in time, having to let go of the chain to do it fast enough, she cursed herself for only focusing on one them. Pinkamena smiled, during her time with Blake, he burned into her some facts about the human anatomy, things she'll never be able to forget. A few were meant just for torture, but most were intended for combat, whether he meant for her to use it that way or not.
Pinkamena ducked under his arm, punching him on the right side of his body, causing him to clutch his side and cough up blood.
"No, I didn't forget about that, not at all. That's your liver, by the way. If hit hard enough, it can cause immense pain and for you to cough up blood, leaving you entirely open!"
Pinkamena said sadistically, using her other hand to uppercut him under the chin. Which was a knock out point, meaning, unless they have a strong chin, it will almost always knock them out if hit there. She made sure to strike him, hard enough to make him jump off the ground and land on his back, he was out cold.
"Well, that went better than I expected, considering I was mostly improvising. Now, to finish-"
Suddenly, a hand from behind grabbed Pinkamena's ankle and pulled her down, causing her to fall forward on the ground. Luckily, she was able to catch herself by putting forward her hands, leaving her unharmed. But before she could look at whatever pulled her down, she felt a hand pull her head up by her hair and slam her into the ground. She felt the pain immediately, it was searing and made a strange cracking noise, she knew it was going to bruise. She heard the drips as the blood came out of her nose, her vision blurred after being stricken. She turned her head to the left, the hand on her hair not stopping her.
"YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH! DID YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOCKED OUT THAT DIPSHIT, THAT'D YOU WON!"
The ugly one she thought she incapacitated yelled at her, anger on his face. There was a bruise on his forehead, showing she had hurt him, just not enough to knock him out as she wanted. He was crouching over her, one hand holding her hair, the other clenched in anger. His head was bent down to the left side of her face, screaming into her ear, she could feel the spit flying out of his mouth hitting her face.
"What, got nothing to say now that I've got you in my hands?"
Pinkamena mumbled something, but it was too quiet for him to hear.
"Speak up! I want to hear your last words!"
He leaned in closer, his ear moving towards her mouth. When he was close enough, she suddenly lunged forward, latching her mouth around his ear. She sank her teeth in and ripped off a chunk of his ear; blood began to pour from what remained. He screamed, letting go of her hair, letting her head fall the ground. He clutched his ear, blood seeping through the cracks in his hands. Pinkamena spits out the ear on the floor, taking this opportunity to pounce on him. She slammed his head against the ground, knocking him out cold.
She played on top him, sitting on his chest. His arms were spread out on both sides, his left hand covered in blood from putting his over what remained of his ear, which was still gushing out blood. With no hesitation, Pinkamena put one hand under his chin, and the other on the back of his head, getting a tight grip on both. She quickly twisted the head at an angle, pushing it farther back than the neck can go, snapping his neck, killing him almost instantly.
That was how she killed animals, either when they hadn't noticed her, or when they were in suffering. That was different though; this wasn't to prevent the unnecessary suffering of animals, she just snapped the neck of a human being, she just took the life of a person. But somehow, it didn't seem to matter. She knew she should felt something, regret, rage, satisfaction, something. But no, there was nothing, maybe she was just in shock? Whatever the case, it doesn't matter. She wasn't even close to done.
Pinkamena walked over to the other unconscious guy on the floor; she crouched down, put her hands on the back of his head and under his chin, and snapped his neck like the other. Suddenly, the sound of clapping filled the room. Pinkamena stood up and looked toward the source. She had blood coming out of her nose, blood on her mouth, and no emotion on her face, and this was just getting started.
"Congratulations! You managed to kill two complete mongoloids! I hope you're proud because now, you're going up against me!"
The guy in the middle was the source of the clapping; he had a huge smile on his face as if he just watched his son win a baseball game. He began to walk toward her, his body tensing up, a huge smile on his face.
"Well? What's wrong? Did getting a little beat up make you lose your nerve? That would be very disappointing; I wanted a challenge!"
He spoke in a taunting manner, wanting to provoke her into attacking first. He gestured her with his right hand, almost teasing her. Pinkamena stood her ground; she slouched down like a predator about to pounce on her prey. He began to move closer to her, the smile widening. She lowered herself down more; she was now on all fours. She could feel it; her instinct was coming back, the feeling she hasn't felt since the woods.
In those woods, she had to give into her primal instincts. She had to forget everything she thought about surviving; she had to forget herself in the jungle. There were no morals, no conscience, no choosing what animals got to live or die, nothing left of the person society created. There was only one rule in the jungle: Adapt, or die. With the sole motivation of killing her father, she changed. She learned how to be a predator, she learned when to be the prey, but most importantly, she learned how to fight and hunt.
"What are you doing? You supposed to be a cat or something?"
Pinkamena was on all fours, similar to how a tiger would be when they're about to pounce. She was showing her teeth, growling at him like a feral dog. She was digging her nails into the ground; her body was tense, she was giving in to what The Woods burned into her.
He stopped moving, standing maybe two feet in front of her, his hands at his sides. He was looking down at her curiously, but at the same time, joy.
"Heh, you remind me of a sick dog, not sure where you are or who's an enemy. You know what happens to sick dogs?"
He said sadistically, taking one more slow step forward, knowing she would pounce. And like a snake lunging towards a mouse, she pounced. She jumped up off the ground, using her arms and legs as springs. She was off the floor now, getting close to him. But, faster than she thought he could, he quickly raised his leg up and kicked her. It caused her bite down hard, she even one of her teeth coming loose. The kick hit her under her jaw, causing her to flip back on land on the floor, hard.
"They get put down!"
He slammed into her chest, pushing his foot hard down onto her. The pain was agonizing, it felt like getting hit by a truck. She could feel her ribs cracking, but she didn't scream, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Come on, cry for me, I want to hear your pain."
He pushed down his foot harder onto her chest; he could hear her ribs cracking underneath his boot. His smile grew, she could see the satisfaction in his eyes. She refused to scream, she put both her hands on his ankle, using all her strength to push his foot off her. But he just smiled.
"You know,"
Suddenly, he lifted his foot of her, kicking her hands away as he did so. He then grabbed both her hands with one of his, pinning them above her. He then leaned down to her, looking her in the eyes, she could feel the lust irradiating off of him.
"The money is a nice reward and all, but seeing you, a hot girl too weak to fight back, makes me crave something else. So, before I kill you and get a shitton of cash, I'm going to have some fun with you."
He said lustfully, as he moved his hand under her shirt, grasping her breast roughly. She could feel his erect cock through his pants rubbing against her leg, he leaned closer to her, licking her neck with his tongue, Blake must be furious right now. Pinkamena was disgusted, but she couldn't stop him. Pinkamena was weak, and he had her pinned, there hasn't been the chance to catch her breath. She tried moving away, but all she could do was move her face. Suddenly, he aggressively flipped her over, still pinning her hands down, but the grip lightened.
She could hear his hand fumbling with his zipper, and hear his erratic breathing on her neck. After she heard his zipper unzip, she felt something hard and warm against her butt. His hand began to unbutton her pants, his grip on her hands even lighter, she was sure that she could break out of it.
"Let's see what you're hiding under those tight pants of yours."
He began to pull down her pants, the grip on her hands loosening as much as she thought it would. She took this opportunity to get loose, pushing her head forward and biting his hand, causing him to yell and let go. As soon as her hands were free, she used them to quickly push her body upward, headbutting him and causing him to stagger. He was on his feet now, his dick was now flaccid, just hanging out of his pants. She turned around, laying on her back. She put her hands on the ground; and pulled back her legs. Then, like a spring, she sprang forward, almost jumping off the ground. Both her legs rammed into his chest, knocking him onto his back. She was barely able to land on her feet; her chest was still in immense pain.
But Pinkamena couldn't hesitate, she had to take this moment. She ran over to the chain on the ground, trying her hardest to ignore the immense pain in her chest. She grabbed the chain in one hand, clenching her chest in the other. She turned around, dragging the chain behind her as she began to walk toward him. Somehow, the pain seemed to be dulling, faster than it should. She's never had her ribs fractured before, but there's no way the pain could just start to go away like that, she could almost feel her ribs mending inside of her like the injury wasn't that serious. Not just that, but she could feel herself getting stronger like she was slowly gaining her stamina back. Now that she wasn't in battle, even if it was just for a few seconds, she could feel her energy was slowly coming back to her, faster than usual. And she could feel it again, that rage, that primal instinct, she couldn't help but smile.
" Knocked out already? We're not even at round two yet! You don't want to leave a lady dissatisfied, do you?"
Pinkamena said sarcastically, knowing full well he was conscious. She stopped moving towards him, standing a few feet away with her chains behind her, that signature smile on her face. He began to get up, wiping the blood on his face. He stood up, zipping up his pants, his cocky smile returning.
"Well, you were more feisty than I expected, tired me out. But don't worry, I'm motivated to make you beg!"
There was no anger in his eyes, no lust to see her dead, just a look of excitement. Pinkamena only smiled back; this was going to be different. They began to circle each other, Pinkamena swinging her chains again, and he held his hands at his sides his fist clenched. No longer was this a battle between predator and prey; this was now a battle between two predators.
They circled each other for minutes, waiting for the other to make the first move. But this time, there were no words or gestures, no attempts to provoke the other. There was just patience, waiting for other to make the first move. This time, it was him to attack first. He sprinted forward, ramming straight into her. She tossed her chain towards him using one hand; the other was holding on to the string to keep it straight. He smiled as he dodged it with ease, quickly moving to the left.
"I saw you use that trick already, that's not going to work on me, you're going to have to try something different!"
He said cockily, gaining his balance back as he continued to run towards her, now only two feet away from her. But Pinkamena wasn't afraid; she didn't say anything. She only smiled, as she pulled on the chains roughly with both of her hands.
"I've got you now, girl!"
He reached forward, so close to tackling Pinkamena. But when Pinkamena pulled on the chains, it caused them to come back towards her violently, wrapping around his neck from the back, knocking him to the ground. He rose up, on his knees in front of her, clawing at the chains now wrapped around his neck. He couldn't say anything, Pinkamena was tightening the chains around his neck, he couldn't breathe properly, so much as speak. Pinkamena smiled sadistically; She had already won. She walked in front of him, enjoying the look of desperation in his eyes.
"I hear chokings pretty fun, wanna give it a whirl?"
Pinkamena asked sarcastically, leaning down in a sassy way, smiling as she watched him struggle for his life. She stuck her tongue out in a sultry manner, licking the blood off his nose. It tasted different, almost...good. It was strange, she vaguely noticed it when she bit off that guy's ear, but this was different. She was ingesting the blood directly, and it had a good, almost intoxicating. It tasted like a mixture of vanilla and pure sugar, something she was somewhat familiar with before. But there was something else to it, something she couldn't explain, something that made her want more. Maybe it was because of what she was now? The transformation she went through changed the rest of her body, why not her taste buds? It would explain why the food tasted so different, so much better. Is this how human blood always tasted? Or was there more to this? That was something she was going to explore later after she got out of this shithole. But now, she had someone to deal with, waiting for her.
Pinkamena stood up straight, looking down at him, she could see his face slowly turning blue. She went behind him eagerly, gripping the chains tightly.
"Here, let me help you with that!"
Pinkamena kicked him down as she pulled on the chains, making it squeeze his neck tighter. He struggled desperately, clawing at the chains around his neck, his face now turning a dark shade of purple. Pinkamena pushed him harder against the ground, pulling the chains as tight as she could. Her eyes were widening in excitement, as her smile widened slowly. Soon enough, his struggling stopped, he no longer clawed at the chains, he no longer moved at all. He was dead.
"...Hey...I did it...yay!"
Pinkamena was panting; she wasn't just tired, she was injured, even if it was healing at a good pace. She began to loosen the chains from his neck; she was going to need it. Slowly, she tried to catch her breath; she wasn't sure how long she had until the others showed up. She sat on the ground, chains in her lap, her hands on the ground, her head tossed back as her eyes closed.
"Taking a nap? But you have so many excited guests waiting for you!"
Igneous's voice rang through the room, waking from her trance. She snapped forward, standing up with chains in her hands, her fatigue now gone. She wasn't sure if she fell asleep, or they were just that quiet. But there they stood in front of her, the twenty-seven others being paid to kill her. They were all of different shapes and sizes, some looked intimidating, and others looked almost pathetic. Most looked like mercenaries, but some looked like soldiers who just came back from war. Pinkamena was frightened by this, she knew there were going to be this many enemies, but seeing so many of them that were experts in fighting and killing? It was demoralizing; it made things hopeless.
"What's wrong? Is the little girl afraid?"
One of them said mockingly, causing a few of them to chuckle. That got rid of Pinkamena's fear, replacing it with a familiar rage. She couldn't lose hope, not now. She knew the odds when she walked in here, seeing them is not going to make her change her mind! With blood on her face, a new found courage, and chains in her hands, Pinkamena rushed towards the group of soldiers, prepared to fight until the end.
Chapter Nine: Apex Predator, Part Two.
Author's Notes:
Hello readers! I can not even begin to express how sorry I am that this took so long! But, here it is! This is the climax, the battle between father and daughter, the true test! This is the second to last chapter, and I'll try to do the last one as soon as possible, and then I'm done! Don't worry though, this isn't the end of the story. And I promise, the next one won't be as long, probably. Anyway, thanks for reading, and enjoy!
Pinkamena lay on the ground, beaten and raped. There was blood all over her body, mostly her own. Multiple bones in her body were either fractured or broken, one of her eyes were so swollen she couldn't see through them. They had the courtesy to put her pants back on her, but they left her to die after that. She tried her hardest to fight them; she even managed to kill one or two of them, but she never had a chance. There were just too many of them, and they had way more experience than she did. They eventually beat her into submission, and most had their way with her, one by one. The ones who weren't interested just watched, some enjoying it, others just out of boredom.
It felt like hours before they stopped, most hit her while they were raping her. She wasn't bothered by being raped, that stopped bothering her after Blake, even though she knew it should. Maybe it was bothering her, but what she was feeling now was overshadowing it, overwhelming defeat. She lay there in pain, unable and unwilling to move.
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In the bunker, it was a very different atmosphere. Blake was banging on the window, his face was a dark red in rage, the veins on his face popping out. He had been rooting for her before, saying how well he did on her. Then she went to fight the crowd of them, and when they started beating and raping her, Blake went ballistic. He started screaming about how it was unfair, and that they couldn't do that to her because she belongs to him, crying he was going to kill them all.
He did that the entire time they were beating her, even as the men out there walked up to the bunker and began banging on windows, saying things like: Is this it? And where's our money!? Even though she wasn't dead, just unwilling to fight, it was nitpicky, but that was the job. They needed to kill her, not beat and rape her until she couldn't fight back. Though, the way it was looking, she was going to die from her injuries. And if that happened, the money would have to be split up among them, which would cause a variety of problems.
Discord was watching almost eagerly, in the beginning, a smile on his face as he internally rooted for her. But when she was getting beaten, the usual smile left his face. He turned his head away, not wanting to see what they were doing to her. Eventually, he pulled out his laptop, using it as a distraction. He ignored everything, Blake's screaming, the sound of the thugs beating on the windows, everything. He focused on what he was doing on the laptop; he couldn't watch her die.
Igneous' reaction was the most unchanging, but he was upset. His face remained unchanged throughout most of it, except for when she killed the first three. It seemed to relax for a few seconds as if he was surprised or impressed. But he returned to his usual neutral face as if nothing had happened. He stayed like that for a few seconds, his arms crossed as he watched her fight, until she started getting beaten. Then a scowl crawled into his face, his eyebrows furrowed as a look of disappointment and anger formed on his face. He ground his teeth; he gripped his arms tightly, he needed this to go right. With everything that's been going the wrong lately, he couldn't afford this to go wrong.
There was way too much time and resources put into her for her to just die here, she may not have had the ability to transform, considering she needs a catalyst, but he would have liked to see that at least once before she died, just to know there was some point to all this. Honestly, he needed something to go right, or all this built up stress and frustration was going to kill him. He was considering just letting Blake in there and joining him in killing them, at least then they wouldn't have to waste the money on them. But, that would've harmed their reputation, and that wasn't something they could afford right now.
Igneous sighed, begrudgingly putting his finger in a small box with a button on top in front him. It was a little, wooden box with a speaker on the front; it was connected directly to the intercom, allowing him to speak to anyone in the room. He was about to speak into the intercom, telling them that they'll have to wait until she's dead first, ignoring both theirs and Blakes screaming. But the sound of gasping and a chair hitting the ground caught his attention, causing him to turn around quickly.
Discord had suddenly stood up, knocking down his chair. He seemed to be surprised by something; his mouth was agape, his glasses were falling off, revealing his dark red, constricted eyes. His was still holding his laptop in his hands, but it was closer to his face, leaning his face down towards it as if he was looking closely at something he couldn't believe was there.
"This..this is amazing! This is the first time I've seen it heal such injuries to this extent and rate! And to do so suddenly, whatever emotion she's feeling is stronger than anything I've seen before!"
Discord exclaimed, astonished at whatever he was looking at on the computer screen. Even Blake stopped his tantrum to turn around and see what was happening, though he was still furious. At any other time, one of Discord's usual outburst would have made Igneous curious about what prompted it, but with how things have been and Igneous' mood, it only irritated him.
"Discord...tell me what you're talking about, now!"
Igneous said coldly, the scowl on his face only deepened as he said that. But Discord didn't seem affected by this, he barely even responded. He quickly put the laptop on the table beside him, facing it towards Blake and Igneous, allowing them to see what was on the screen. It was similar to the monitors hooked up to patients in hospitals: Temperature, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. But there was other stuff, in the top right corner, was the image of a human body. It was entirely gray, like on a diagram. Well, not entirely gray. The face, the upper torso, and both the legs were red, with spots of orange and yellow spread out the rest of the body. Most of the time on stuff like this, the colored area were injuries. There was other stuff too, in the bottom left corner was a long list of organs, beside them were two variations of conditions: Stabilized, and critical, most were critical. The rest was a bunch of stuff either Igneous couldn't tell what they were or were too small to make out.
"This is my custom monitor; I use these on all my patients to know, in detail, exactly how they're doing. This is, of course, Pinkamena's. But I attached this one to her while she was in the woods since she caught my interest. I've been paying close attention to her ever since, even now. I want you to look carefully at her injuries and organs, and you'll see what I mean."
Discord said excitedly to both of them as if waiting for a particular reaction. Igneous paid attention to the injuries, while Blake went back to watching the men outside, no longer interested in whatever Discord was talking about, nor was he angry enough to beat on the windows again. Igneous looked carefully at the body, paying close attention to the injuries, which was hard to do since there were so many. At first, there was no change; the injuries stayed the same. But then he began to notice it; the spots were shrinking! Not only that but as they shrunk, the color was changing too. The red was slowly changing to orange, the orange to yellow, and the yellow turned to gray, meaning the injury healed.
These weren't just the minor injuries either, that would make sense with her accelerated healing factor. These were injuries that would still take hours to heal, broken bones, collapsed organs, severe wounds that no average human could survive if left untreated. But these many critical injuries, spread out so much? It was fatal; there was only one explanation for this. As Igneous came to this realization, a smile stretched across his face, the seemingly permanent scowl now gone.
"She's transforming! Entering the first form as we speak! The timing is horrible, but this is the first I've seen someone transform so spontaneously and heal so much! If only I could tell what emotion or mix of emotions caused it, maybe if I could recreate-"
Discord began talking to himself excitedly, watching the computer for any further changes as he did so. But when he said transform, it immediately caught Blake's attention. He quickly turned around and ran towards Discord, picking him up by his shirt, he had a look of anger and disbelief.
"What do you mean 'transform'! Have you seen the state of her body? It couldn't possibly survive turning!"
Blake screamed in his face, spit flying out of his mouth onto Discord, which he wiped off. Discord's face wasn't one of
fear, more surprise, he thought Blake would be happy she wasn't going to die.
"Well, yes, normally, you'd be right. But the very first time is different, the body hasn't adjusted to change like that. So in the first transformation, the DNA and the venom mold together with the bones, muscles, and organs. Both making them stronger and healing any injuries. I thought she'd transform during the first three out of anger, but I guess I was wrong."
Discord said disappointedly; he wasn't usually wrong about things. Blake dropped him, but the anger was still evident on his face.
"You were wrong about when she'd transform, why not if she's transforming at all? With all the stuff she's been through, how do you know her body doesn't already heal quickly?"
Blake questioned, not wanting to accept he lost the bet.
"Because it doesn't work like that, you idiot!"
Discord and Blake argued, Blake desperate for Discord to be wrong. Right now, Igneous didn't care. He watched through the window, his hands behind his back, a smile still on his face. He looked past the men outside, focusing on the beaten and raped body of his daughter. And if he looked close enough, he could see the steam coming off her body. Any second now, she was going to get up, he just had to wait.
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She had lost.
There were no words for what Pinkamena was feeling right now, nothing she can think of that could truly express it. Her father was the leader of a massive criminal organization and wasn't there most of her life, if at all. Her mother was distant and cold, rarely paying attention to them except for when she had to. Her only real family were her three sisters, they were who raised her, and her best friends. But Maud has become similar to their mother, cold and showed almost no emotion. And her sisters were practically kidnapped, abandoned in the woods and left to die, and all in the name of some test. Now, she'd been abandoned, tortured, beaten, raped, experimented on, and now she was going to die.
Through this whole experience, Pinkamena has rarely felt something other than rage. But now that she lay here, her right eye so swollen she can barely see, beaten and broken on the floor, she felt something else, fear. Not only fear for herself, but Maud as well. She felt disappointment in herself, for not avenging her sisters she loved so dearly. She felt hatred for her father, for forcing her to go through all this and just watching her die. Sadness for her friends, she'll never get to see them again, and they'll never know what happened. But there was one feeling that was stronger than the others, one that she hated, powerlessness.
She was powerless to stop her father from murdering her sisters, and from doing the same to her. She was too weak to keep fighting and avenge her sisters, even after everything. This wasn't the first time Pinkie's felt weak and powerless; she's just never really thought about it. She couldn't stop Sunset from mind controlling the entire school; she couldn't stop The Sirens forcing her and her friends to fight, her friends could have died, and she couldn't do anything!
This wasn't going to just magically work out like that though, no, this was different. She was going to die here; then Igneous would force Maud to go through the same stuff. And she too would die, then, to erase her existence, he would kill all her friends, all because she was too weak. Pinkamena felt something new, but familiar at the same time. She felt a burning hatred, but not for Igneous, this time, it was for herself. She was so angry at herself for being so powerless, for being unable to stop her father from killing the people she loved, Pinkamena couldn't believe how ignorant she was before this. For being so naive and ignorant, thinking nothing was wrong, and the world was a fair and great place. But most of all, she felt angry that even after everything that's happened to her to make her stronger and better, after being transformed into something better than human, she was still so weak!
Pinkamena's body began to burn intensely, steam rising off her body, mainly from the spots where her injuries were. But she barely paid any attention to it, compared to the consuming rage and hatred inside of her, it was nothing. She grits her teeth, not out of pain, but out of anger. She wasn't going to die here, she couldn't die here! Pinkamena slowly lifted up her fist, steam still rising from it, and hit it against the ground, her nails digging so deep into her skin that it drew blood.
She thought of the faces of her sisters, pale and dead; their last moments must have been agonizing. Then she thought of Maud with that same look, and her friends, something that she never wanted to see! Pinkamena began to rise slowly, her injuries almost done healing, but she ignored the pain. Her body began to morph, similar to when Discord first injected her. Her teeth were growing larger and sharper, while her nails grew longer, resembling claws more than nails.
But she would not submit! Maud was not weak, her friends were not weak, she was not weak! She was not going to be powerless and let her father kill the people she cared about! Pinkamena began growling fiercely, she was nearly on her feet at this point, the steam now only coming from the places her body was morphing. Her body was getting larger, mainly her arms and legs. She could feel her skin getting tougher too, becoming more of a leathery texture. Her eyes had changed color; they were now a crimson red, matching the color of blood on her body.
Pinkamena no longer looked human; her teeth seemed like the kind that would belong to a predator, larger than usual and sharpened, prepared to tear apart meat. Her nails had grown a few inches; the tips looked sharp as knives. Her body had become noticeably larger, but not to the point of abnormality. Her skin looked the same but had a much tougher texture now. She held out her hands in front of her, looking down as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She touched her teeth; they felt unfamiliar in her body, and yet she knew she'd adjust quickly.
She could feel the power coursing through her; she felt stronger, faster, like she could kill them all. But that wasn't what she was focusing on; she was focusing on the urge. She could smell their blood, hear their heartbeats; she allowed her bloodlust to consume her. Filled with her newfound power, her unyielding rage, her desperation to kill her father, and pure insanity, she smiled. She got on all fours, similar to before when she pounced on one of three, but this time with a smile. She began to slowly crawl forward, as she felt herself become consumed by her instincts. As she smelt the sweat and blood from the many men in front of her, she remembered the taste of blood from earlier.
It was intoxicating; she could feel her mouth watering, craving for the taste. She would have stuck her tongue out, but she probably would have bit it off. The sound of their heartbeats got louder the closer she got; it soon became the only sound, other than her thoughts. She began to lose herself, in the lessons she learned from the woods, in the teachings burned into her by Blake, in her new animal instincts, in her broken mental state, she was becoming trapped in her sanity. And the more she lost her self, the faster she got, she was practically salivating.
Everyone was gathered at the bunker window since they lost interest in her, they assumed she was dead and wanted their award. None had noticed the one they thought was dead had got up and was running towards them. One of the ones in the back heard the sound of her hands and feet hitting the ground, and slowly turned around to see what it was. His eyes widened and his mind filled with fear, as what he saw terrified him. It was some monstrosity of a person; the teeth looked like they belonged to a lion! And the nails looked like claws that of a wolverine! Her injuries from before were none existent; her clothes ripped from where they were. Her eyes were so wide and red; they had so much hatred and bloodlust behind them, even more than before. But it was too late; there was nothing he could do but scream.
"What the hell-"
He desperately tried to scream, attempting to warn the others of the threat. But before he had time to finish, his throat was ripped apart. As soon as he noticed her, Pinkamena leaped forward, jumping off the ground towards him with her mouth open. Before he had the time to finish his sentence, Pinkamena pounced on him, digging her nails into his shoulders and biting into his neck, knocking him down to the ground.
She tore into his neck, biting through the meat to the bone, almost like she starved for it. Within seconds he was dead, she had lost herself in the addictive feeling of taking a life in such brutal way, and the intoxicating taste of blood. For a moment, she forgot what she was and lost her sense of control; blood covered her mouth and the floor as she ripped through his neck, nearly decapitating him. She would have entirely eaten through his neck if one of the others hadn't kicked her off of him. She lost her self so much in the taste, her grip on him had almost entirely loosened, so she got knocked back a few feet.
"What the fuck are you!? Some monster!?"
One of them yelled at her, fear and anger in his voice. They had noticed as soon as they heard his scream and his body hit the floor, but they were too late. They would have acted sooner, but they were too in shock at the abomination they were seeing. But when the blood hit one of the closer one's face, the shock left him. Most of them were looking at her; a few were looking at what was left of the body right beside them. The ones who were looking at the body were either still in shock, or were disgusted and couldn't believe what they were seeing. Around twenty of them were looking at Pinkamena, their fist clenched, and sweat ran down their faces. Most were disgusted, some were angry, but there was one thing they all felt, which was fear. They didn't know what they were looking at, and that terrified them.
Pinkamena lay on her side, slight traces of steam came from the side of her face where they kicked her, healing the injury. The smile on her face was gone, replaced with a grimace, she didn't like being interrupted during a meal. She slowly began to get up, not looking at the crowd of men in front of her. She didn't have to; she knew her answer.
"A monster? No,"
Pinkamena stood up, a smile stretched across her face as she looked at the crowd of men in front of her. Her teeth were a dark red, blood dripped from her mouth onto the floor, making her malicious smile even more terrifying.
"I'm an animal!"
Pinkamena screamed as she began running towards them, the ones who were looking at the body now joined them. They started running towards her, intent on beating down whatever this thing was. But when they met, Pinkamena outstretched her arms and quickly jumped forward, slicing open the throats of two in the front, they didn't even have time to react.
One on her left tried to punch her, but she easily dodged it, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him into one of the others, her smile, if possible, seemed to widen. Discord was right; her senses were so much better in this form! She could hear the joints and bones moving in their arms and legs, allowing her to know that she was about to be hit without even looking! She could smell their sweat and blood, but best of all, she could smell it! Their fear!
"I'll kill you!"
Someone behind her screamed, trying to hit her from behind. But she only smirked, quickly leaning down and putting her hands on the ground. She lifted her legs off the ground, pushing her body upwards and kicking him in the jaw, she could hear the satisfying sound of his neck snapping. She landed on his chest, enjoying the sound of his ribs cracking. Right as she landed on him, two men leaped at her, one from the front and one from the back. She bent her knees and jumped up, causing them to jump into each other. For a few seconds, she was above the crowd of men.
And thanks to both her improved eyesight and her killing high, she was able to focus those few seconds. She could see it on their faces, they were afraid! That fear in their eyes, some of them were even shaking! Just a little more, and they'll lose their will to fight. Pinkamena looked down for her next target, eager to taste the deliciousness of blood again. She landed on one of the men, her mouth wide open as her sharp teeth poked out. She chomped on his face, avoiding his mouth so he could hear his screams.
Her teeth sank into his upper face, biting into his eyes and part of his nose, his screams were deafening, but they only filled Pinkamena with glee and arousal. She bit deeper, causing his screaming to stop and his body to go limp. She slowly detached her teeth from his face, tossing his body to the floor like it was nothing. There was a gigantic hole in the front part of his head; it looked like the result of a brutal animal mauling. She bit deep, almost biting through the bone. The muscle was all that was visible, covered in blood and other liquids, little shreds of skin stuck out. The eyes sockets were almost empty, the optical nerves sticking out of them like cables out of a computer, except there were still parts of the eye on these. Blood flowed from his face, making a puddle on the floor around him.
Pinkamena's face was covered with blood, to the point to where it looked like that was her skin, which made her eyes almost seem natural. She visibly gulped, swallowing the juices of the eyes and the meat, as she had torn them apart with her teeth. Then she started moving her tongue around in her mouth as if something got stuck in her teeth. She turned her head to the side, spitting something small and white out. It landed at the feet of one of the thugs to her left, he picked it up and examined it, but threw it to the floor when he realized what it was. It was bone, probably a part of his skull.
"So,"
Pinkamena whispered, but everyone around her heard it. She was in the middle of the crowd, men surrounded her, but they did nothing. They could only watch in terror as she devoured his face, and tossed his body aside like it was nothing. She looked at the men in front of her, but it was evident she was addressing all of them. She outstretched her arms in a welcoming manner, her palms open, though her hands still covered in blood. Her smile was broad and sadistic, her teeth a dark red with blood, parts of flesh in them. Her pupils constricted as she slightly lowered her head, taunting them to attack her, her eyes practically glistened.
"Who's next?"
Her words were a catalyst, enhancing the immense fear in each of them. The crowd dispersed, almost all of them going to the bunker. They all went around her, not even one bumping into her, she stood completely still. They were filled with overwhelming fear, crowding around the windows and beating on it desperately, screaming to be let out and that they didn't want the money anymore, but it was in vain, Igneous had no mercy. But not all of them left, there were still three in front of her. They were shaking, they were just as afraid of her as the others, yet they stood their ground. They were either stupid or were relying on their anger to fuel them. She didn't care.
"So, you're the guys with the big balls, huh?"
Pinkamena asked sarcastically, standing straight up and tilting her head curiously. She stuck her abnormally long tongue out of her mouth and moved her right hand to her face, licking the blood off her hand, making one of the men shiver. Her smile widened, her eyes constricting again, as she got on all fours, her tongue still hanging out of her mouth.
"When I'm through with you, you won't have any!"
Pinkamena leaped forward, as she slowly succumbed to the bloodlust.
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"Jesus Christ."
Blake whispered to himself, in shock at what he was seeing. After hearing the scream from one of the men, he stopped arguing with Discord and looked out the window, just in time for the carnage. But instead of his prideful smile, he usually had, his face was that of terror. He's seen gore before, hell, he's seen men tear each other apart in some of the most gruesome ways he could imagine. But this was different; there was no motive behind the way she killed, she was toying with them. Usually, this would make Blake proud, since he contributed to making her like this. But there was something about her change, something he didn't make. He may have given her a push, but somehow, he felt like she either was already like this or was on her way to be. Not only that, but this was the first time he's ever seen one of Discord's 'creations' in action, it almost made him jealous. But now that he's seen it, combined with something he created, it was unnerving.
Discord was mesmerized, his glasses were slipping off, but he didn't seem to notice. He had a smug grin on his face, almost identical to the one Blake usually has. He too was focused on the events outside the bunker, the one-sided massacre happening just in front of them. But, unlike Blake, he knew this would happen. He expected it, though he second-guessed himself for a little bit. And while he could do without the...brutality, this had surpassed his expectations. He's seen the first transformation dozens of times, and most of the time, they survive it. This test was harder than most, but the chimeras usually survive, even if just barely.
She wasn't just barely able to fight them off or having trouble adjusting, it almost looked natural. She used her new form so flawlessly like it was an old glove she hadn't worn in a long time. It was marvelous! This was better than he could have ever expected, than any chimera he'd ever seen! Before he realized it, Discord quickly took out his brown journal from his pocket, never taking his eyes off what was happening in front of him. He began to immediately write down everything he was seeing, being able to write it without even looking. He wrote down every visual detail, also writing down reminders for later, he needed to know everything.
Igneous's reaction was the most out of character, but at the same time, it fit perfectly. Igneous was shaking! Not out of fear of his daughter, or because he was angry that they weren't killing her, but because he was excited! He had been desperate for results, for this to go right, and it did! This was amazing! Not only did she turn out to be the person he needed her to be, but she was a killing machine! She wasn't the same immature child he dropped into the woods; she was a different person! He wasn't sure if it was something she learned in the woods, something Blake or Discord did, or if what just natural! But the way she was psychologically manipulating them, the way she used her senses to fight, even the way she acted and talked was impressive.
It took him years before he learned any of that. And she seemed like she already knew it all! Her emotions weren't holding her back, but she wasn't just letting her instincts control her either. She was thinking about everything she did and enjoying every second of it. Igneous had goosebumps; he couldn't stop shivering! This was his child! He made this! At first, he thought he would need a boy to be a proper heir, since the first two died, and Maud wasn't capable. But now he knew she was perfect! She was precisely the win he needed, now all he could do was watch and wait.
Igneous stood, his hands clenching tightly, a wide grin on his face. None of them said nothing; there was nothing to say. They just watched, as their creation tore apart men like a fox in a hen-house. She killed the three who tried to fight her efficiently, their deaths meaning nothing. She spared no one, not even the ones too afraid to confront her. They were still crowded up at the bunker windows, begging to be let out, but Igneous wasn't going to. It was almost pitiful, watching her kill them so quickly. Most of them weren't painless either; she didn't seem to be one to do something so merciful. She either ripped them apart, bit through their faces and necks, or broke their spines and left them to die, or to finish later.
"Come on! Fight back! It's no fun if you just let me!"
Pinkamena yelled, after tossing another body aside like it was nothing. She still had that sadistic smile on her face; her crimson eyes thirsted to kill. The fresh blood began to mix with the dried, as it began to deeply stain into her clothes, something that would never come out. Despite her request, the men continued to crowd around the windows, begging for freedom desperately.
"Welp, I tried."
Pinkamena mumbled disappointedly, pouncing towards the now small amount of men. Igneous shuddered at her words; she just got better every second. For what felt like hours, Igneous, Blake, and Discord watched, each for different reasons. She finished those men like they were cattle, except she didn't wait until they were dead to start eating them. Her hunger seemed to be satisfied, as she wasn't eating their bodies or drinking their blood. Bodies and body parts spread throughout the entire room. Blood almost covered the whole floor, the parts that were visible, anyway. Most of the bodies had something taken off or out of them, bite marks on most.
Pinkamena didn't seem to mind the carnage, in fact, she almost seemed proud. She looked around her surroundings, down at the bodies and blood, no emotion on her face. Then, unexpectedly, she got on her knees. Her arms dangled at her side, blood dripping off of them. She looked up at the roof, hanging her head back as she did so, allowing her pink hair, which had splotches of blood in it, to flow behind her, something she had never really done before. Her face looked calm, almost relaxed. Her eyes were closed in a peaceful way; the smile disappeared, she almost looked like she was asleep.
For a moment, Igneous questioned whether she was conscious. She didn't move at all, except for her chest, indicating she was still alive. The adrenaline rush was beginning to leave him since there was no one else for her to kill, he regretted not getting more guys.
"Come on, do something, don't tell me your fighting spirit was temporary."
Igneous mumbled under his breath; he needed her to do something. Sure, what she did was impressive. But sometimes it can be the effect of their first transformation or first kill, temporary insanity if you will. He needed her to keep behaving the way she was, to know that it wasn't just something temporary.
Pinkamena, of course, didn't hear him. For a few more minutes, she was utterly still. Igneous could feel the annoyance and frustration creeping up on him, feelings he was all too familiar with. But Pinkamena, knowing it or not, was about to please him. She suddenly opened her eyes, her smile quickly returning. Her right hand grabbed a nearby decapitated head, digging her nails into the eyes. She stood up immediately, get into a position similar to a baseball pitcher.
She pulled her right arm back, lifting her right foot off the ground slightly. She gripped the head tightly, then she suddenly slung her arm forward, her foot stomping onto the floor. She threw the head with accuracy and strength, it splattered against the window, almost seeming to stick before it fell to the ground. The blood covered the window, but not enough to where they couldn't see through.
"Is that all you got, dad!? I've got at least two hours left, are you going to make me sit here and wait?"
Pinkamena asked impatiently; she was still eager for blood. And just like that, Igneous could feel it again. That rush, that excitement to fight, the need to kill. He needed to sate it; he needed a release. And at the same time, he needed to test her thoroughly, and then break her. Igneous smile insanely, as an idea entered his mind.
"Discord, what's her condition?"
Igneous said calmly, the emotion in his voice nearly opposite to the one on his face. Discord didn't respond; he didn't even seem to notice. He was reading the notes in his journal, mumbling to himself incoherently. Blake didn't seem to be in shock anymore, but he remained silent. At some point in time, he had walked over to the table. Blake sat down in the chair, looking out the bunker with a blank look on his face. He had the necklace in his right hand, moving it around between his fingers.
"Discord!"
Igneous shouted, snapping Discord out of his trance. He looked at Igneous shakily, more out of surprise than actual fear.
"Y-yes?"
Discord asked slowly, not knowing whether he asked him a question or not.
"Her condition, what is it?"
Discord quickly walked over to his computer, which was on this entire time. He put his journal back in his pocket, leaning down and looking on the screen.
"Well...she's fully healed, no physical injuries. From the looks of it, I would say-wait a minute, this is strange."
Discord started out normally, but his tone became more suspicious and confused. He began to examine the laptop as if he was looking for something.
"What is it?"
Igneous said, his voice showing how irritable he was. He had his head turned to the right, looking at Discord with one eye. His hands were still at his sides.
"Her bones, they're strange. Usually, in the first form, the bones change to adjust. But looking at her body, not all of them have. Some parts have, like her arms and legs. But most of her bones haven't changed, if at all! Most have stayed the same, but some changes in size or density, maybe even longer. That's not all either, some of her teeth haven't changed, mostly the ones used to bite are the only ones that have.
Her eyes have stayed the same size, even the pupils have stayed human. As far as I can tell, the only change is the color of the pupils; I have no idea whether it's even affected her vision or not."
Discord exclaimed, he was becoming frustrated at not understanding what was happening here.
"Wait, I thought you said she had successfully transformed."
Igneous turned all the way around, both eyes facing Discord. Another body part hit the window behind him, causing more blood to splatter. It seemed Pinkie had started playing catch with the windows, except the ball was body parts.
"She has! I guess she's in some partial transformation like she only focused on certain parts of her body changing. I know it's possible to change the skin to scales or fur on certain parts, but this is very different! Her eyes can only change color in a full transformation! At least, they're supposed to. It should be impossible only to change particular parts like this, something she shouldn't even be able to do yet!"
Discord's voice was panicked and erratic, trying to come up with any explanation.
"Are you telling me she was able to do all of this without even fully transforming?!"
Igneous nearly shouted, disbelief written all over his face.
"Well, yes, but there's one problem."
Discord almost whispered, knowing bad news wasn't something Igneous wanted to hear right now.
"What?"
Igneous asked impatiently.
"Since she thinks she's in her first form, that means she isn't doing this intentionally; I doubt she'd even know how. And since this is something I've never seen before, all I can do is make assumptions. There are three possibilities why this happened: One, her emotions were high, but weren't strong enough for a complete transformation, resulting in this. Two, her feelings were strong enough, but her body wasn't. Certain parts were ready; some others weren't, so only the parts prepared changed.
Third, this is something unique to her. Every chimera has their trait, something only they have because of their genetic sequence. Sometimes it's access to specific animal abilities, or it can even be something like being able to stop and restart their own heart. I've never seen something like this before, but with chimeras, anythings possible.
But, the cause isn't the issue. The real problem is stability."
Discord said worriedly like he knew something was going to go wrong.
"Stability? Why's that a problem? Isn't the first transformation always stable?"
Igneous asked, dreading the answer.
"Yes, it almost always is. But since this is something completely new, I have no idea how the body is dealing with it. If the body is stable than I have no idea what the length of this could be, or if she even can revert it, assuming she knows how.
But, with the chemical imbalance, the body not used to certain parts being heavier than usual, and there haven't been any chances for it to rest since she's been constantly moving, it's very likely her body's unstable. Which means..."
Discord didn't finish his sentence; he seemed almost afraid too. Igneous looked at him expectedly, the realization slowly creeping into his mind.
"Which means what?!"
Igneous yelled at Discord, he already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it.
"It means..."
Discord hesitated, he sighed as he took off his glasses, a look of worry and fear was on his face. He closed his eyes; he couldn't look at the computer anymore.
"At any given moment, her body could collapse, most likely putting her into a coma. And if she does, I'm not sure when she’d wake up, if at all."
Discord didn't say anything else; he kept his eyes clothes and hands on the table, he didn't want to talk anymore. Igneous's face changed to anger, as he turned back to Pinkamena, who was still throwing body parts at the bunker window, that smile still on her face. Igneous watched her, his anger burning inside of him. He ground his teeth, his hands clenched, nails digging into his skin.
"Would fighting speed it up?"
Igneous asked, no anger or fear in his voice. Discord didn't say anything for a little bit; he didn't want to.
"No, it wouldn't affect it, as long as she isn't too badly injured."
Discord answered, the words out of his mouth softly spoken. Igneous looked out the window; he was considering doing something drastic.
"Fuck it!"
Igneous suddenly yelled, slamming his hand against a button on the wall beside him. He ran out towards the door of the room, opening it quickly.
"What are you doing?!"
Discord asked, not understanding what he was going to do. Igneous stopped halfway through the door, looking like he was in a rush.
"Getting results."
He ran out the door, slamming it behind him, saying nothing else.
_________________________________________________________________
Pinkamena threw an arm towards the window, but it didn't seem to leave much blood.
"What are they doing in there? Are they even paying attention to me?"
She mumbled to herself, a bad habit she still had from her time in the wilderness. Since she's killed all the men, she assumed she would move on to the next part of the test. Unless that was the entire test, then she would be very disappointed. She decided the best way to get their attention was to start throwing body parts at the window. And, surprisingly, it worked.
The gates that the men came out of slowly began to open, causing Pinkamena to toss aside the leg she was about to throw, an eager and excited look on her face.
"Alright! It's about time! So, what going to be my next ch-"
Pinkamena immediately stopped where she was, disbelief on her face. Igneous walked out of the darkness, not with that same brooding look on his face, but with a prideful smile.
"You've seemed to have taken care of these guys fairly quickly, ready for an actual challenge?"
The words came out of his mouth smoothly; he was acting so calm, more than usual. In seconds, Pinkamena filled with burning rage, so much so she couldn't even say anything. She began running towards him, not thinking about what she was going to do; she was running on her rage.
"Just going to rush in like that? Seems a bit reckless to me."
Igneous said smugly, not even flinching when she took a swipe at him. He dodged it quickly, his movements surprisingly fast. She took another swing at him, but he avoided that one too. Faster than she could react, he moved forward and kneed her in the face, knocking her down on the ground.
"These guys may have had more battle experience than me overall, but I've fought chimeras before, most of them in this very room."
Igneous said to her, his calm demeanor still present. Pinkamena jumped off the ground towards him, launching a kick towards him from the left. This time, he didn't dodge. Instead, he caught the leg with his hands, holding it with a firm grip. Without hesitation, he spun around, taking Pinkamena with him. He tossed her across the room, causing to land on her side with a grunt.
"I know your limits, your speed, and your strength. So, as long as I remain calm, fighting you is not that hard. Especially when it's one like you, allowing their rage to consume them."
Pinkamena slowly got off the ground, looking towards her father, the color red began to blur her vision. She roared as she ran towards him on all fours, no longer able to think.
"There you go again, rushing in without thinking. That wouldn't be too bad if you were competent."
Pinkamena began to desperately attack him, swinging her nails at him again and again, trying to land even a single hit on him, but he was dodging them with ease. Eventually, Igneous grabbed her arm and kicked her in the chest, knocking her down on the ground. He then firmly stomped his foot on her chest, still holding her arm in his hands.
"Strength and speed mean nothing if you're stupid, you have to think about everything you do, every hit has to have a meaning. I wonder, maybe some pain will teach you this lesson."
Before she could react, he quickly twisted and bent her arm, causing it break almost instantly, making a loud snapping sound. Pinkamena felt the immense sharp pain through her entire arm, causing her to nearly whimper. But she bit her tongue; she couldn't let him hear her pain, she wouldn't allow it. He let go of her arm, steam rising from her arm as it began to heal itself. She held it close to her body, trying to let it heal.
"You're as pathetic as your sisters, do you expect to avenge them being as weak as you are?"
He asked blatantly, looking down at her with pity in his eyes. Pinkamena tried jumping towards him, but she could barely get off the ground. He didn't have to try that hard to avoid it, he just slightly sidestepped. She hit the ground with a thud, landing on her still healing arm, causing her to grunt. Igneous kicked her in the stomach, barely doing any damage.
"You are a disappointment; I should have just went ahead and got Maud. This was a waste of time, If only I had a son instead of four girls, maybe then I wouldn't have such a pitiful bunch of children."
Pinkamena tried to get up, but Igneous kicked her again, hard enough to crack her ribs. He put his foot on her head, slowly pressing down. Pinkamena was in a lot of pain, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"You know, I have the video of them dying. They were too scared to leave the cave, afraid of whatever animals were waiting to eat them in the woods. So they starved, holding onto each other in the end. But, Blinkie made Inkie make a promise. That if she died, Inkie would eat her to survive, and the same vice versa. Well, Blinkie starved first. And Inkie? Well, I'm not sure if she was too weak to do it, or strong enough to resist, but she starved too. Their bodies didn't go to waste; the rats made use of them."
There wasn't actually a video of them; there was no camera in that cave. He was goading her, hoping to force her to transform entirely. He didn't look down at her as he talked, he was curious to see if she would suddenly get up and attack him, but she wasn't.
Pinkamena was sobbing, not because of the pain, but because of her sadness. Her rage slowly began to face, as her almost forgotten feelings of grief returned. She pushed her face into the ground, hoping to stifle her crying, tears rolled down it.
"Honestly though, it makes me curious. If they had made it to this point, which I doubt they would have, I was going to make them kill each other, instead of the usual test. I would have liked to-are you crying?!"
Igneous asked aggressively, looking down at her with an angry look on his face. She didn't respond; she just continued crying.
"At first, I just felt pity and disappointment looking at you like this. But now? It makes me sick!"
Igneous pulled back his leg; then he let it go, kicking Pinkamena in the stomach again, causing her to cough up blood. He kicked her pretty hard, it lifted her off the ground and sent her flying a few feet. She probably would have gone farther if she hadn't hit a wall, she tried to stand up, but she couldn't. Her arm and ribs were still healing, and now so was her back. She could only sit up with her back against the wall, at least until she could get up again.
"The moral of that story was that the weak and cowardly die. And what are you doing? Being a coward! You're sitting there and crying! I thought you said you were going to kill me?! But now you sit here, broken and pathetic!"
Igneous screamed at her, trying to push her. She had stopped crying, but that didn't mean she was angry, he was just going to have to push her harder.
"I'm sorry!"
Pinkamena screamed, tears threating to fall again.
" You're sorry!? I killed your sisters, and your apologizing to me!?"
Igneous asked rhetorically; his voice boomed in the room. He appeared to be angry, and partly was, but he was trying to provoke her in any way he can. Pinkamena didn't respond.
"Not only did I kill your sisters, but I tortured you for months! I spent so much time and money on you, made you better and stronger than the pathetic child you were before! And yet here you are, making empty threats, stronger than you ever were before! But you're too stupid and weak minded to do it!"
Pinkamena clutched the sides of her head with her hands, tears going down her face.
"Shut up!"
Pinkamena screamed, her voice breaking as she did so.
"Now you're not even fighting anymore! You're sitting there and screaming at me like a child having a tantrum! What would your friends say if they saw you now? It doesn't matter; I'm going to kill them after this. Not because I have to, but to punish you for being such a failure!"
Pinkamena's nails began to dig into her head, blood dripping from it. Tears began to flow down her face; her emotions began to overcome her.
"No! Please! Not them!"
Pinkamena begged, her friends and Maud were all she had left, she couldn't afford to lose them.
"Stop begging me, it's pathetic! You need to fight for what you want! You want to stop being powerless and weak? Then prove it! If you don't get up right now, I'm going to do something so bad to your friends; it'll make what I did to you look like a joke!"
Pinkamena felt fear coursing through her, fear for herself and her friends. But at the same time, she could sense her rage. But somehow, it was different. It felt stronger, and it burnt differently, almost like it wasn't hers. Pinkamena slammed her fist against the wall, slowly standing up. Her anger and resolve temporarily forgotten, but slowly coming back, stronger than before now that the main reason for them is right in front of her.
"There you go! Come on, show me that fire in your eyes!"
Igneous demanded, his excitement slowly began to overwhelm him. Pinkamena looked up at Igneous, her eyes brimming with anger. The pupils were morphing, changing size and shape. Steam was irradiating off her body; her rage began to consume her. Her hair was almost flowing, the steam coming out of her body so rapidly, it began to cover her body.
"I'm not weak! I'm not powerless!"
Pinkamena said, either to herself or Igneous, he couldn't tell. Her hand dug into the wall, actually slightly denting it. Her teeth were showing, steam coming out of her mouth from her teeth, she seemed to be snarling at him.
"You are! You can't do anything right! You couldn't even protect your sisters; you didn't even look for them! You never wrote, you never looked for them, did you even care at all about them?! Do you even care about your friends?! It's their lives on the line too, and you don't seem to be trying too hard for them! Or are you just so weak that you can't?!"
He could feel it; he was getting close. She was right on the edge.
"SHUT UP!"
Pinkamena slammed her hand against the wall again, causing a dent. The steam began to come out more rapidly; it began to clot up around her, making it hard to see her. But there was one thing Igneous could still see clearly, her eyes. They seemed to be an even darker shade of crimson than before; the pupils looked barely human. Her voice was distorted, sounding like hers, but also the sounds of other animals. It was almost hard to tell what she was even saying.
"Why don't you come an make me? Or are you afraid?"
Igneous taunted her, gesturing her with his hands. That was the final push, Pinkamena could no longer stop herself. Pinkamena's eyes expanded, the pupils changed to slits, similar to a snakes. Her mouth opened, showing her carnivorous teeth. Her body got slightly bigger, and the parts that stayed the same before also grew. Steam exploded from her, as she killed the fear in her heart, and replaced it with rage.
A roar filled the room, coming from the spot Pinkamena was in. It sounded like a combination of a lion and a bear, but it was slightly distorted. Igneous knew what that was; he's heard it so many times, that was the roar of a chimera. Igneous smiled, she had finally transformed.
The roar pushed the steam forward, like a strong gust of wind. The steam was hot, not enough to burn, but enough to make someone sweat. It was strong enough to knock the hat off of him, but he didn't put his hands up to stop it from hitting his eyes, he didn't have time to.
"The very first transformation is usually explosive, but this one, in particular, seems to be more so, interesting."
Igneous mumbled to himself, his hat seeming insignificant. But another roar filled the room, this one louder than before, making Igneous's ears ring. This caused another gust of steam to burst forward, this one stronger than before. It hit Igneous's eyes, the sudden pain causing him to close his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, Pinkamena was in front of him.
She was midair, off the ground in front of him. Her eyes were still a dark crimson, looking more like black mixed with red, her pupils making her look inhuman. Her teeth were obvious, large, sharp, and tinted with red. And, for just a moment, Igneous forgot who he was looking at, he only saw a predator, hunting its prey.
She swiped at him, faster than before, this time she was aiming for his face. He was barely able to dodge it, both because she was faster, and he didn't have time to react. Even though he was able to avoid it, she almost hit him, cutting off some of his hairs. Igneous was about to make a snarky remark when she hit the ground, but she didn't. Faster than he expected, she put her left hand on the ground, using it to spin herself around, kicking him in the side.
It hit him in the side, causing him to grunt more out of surprise than out of pain. But, he was able to stand his ground. He put his right arm around her leg, not intending to let it go. But, instead of struggling to get out of his grip like before, she just smiled. She used the left hand to swipe towards him, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge this time. Igneous noticed this but also realized he wasn't fast enough to entirely avoid getting hit. He let go of her leg and moved back as quickly as he could, but he wasn't fast enough.
The tip of his nose was caught off, and some parts of his face were scratched. Deep claw marks were on his face, red. Igneous grunted loudly, his face burned with a hot pain, blood running down his face. Steam began to rise off his face, his wounds starting to heal. The problem was, the steam was clouding his vision, making his eyes water, which was affecting his sight.
Pinkamena was satisfied, she finally hit him and got that smirk off his face. Not just that, but with that steam coming off his injuries, she finally got confirmation that he was also a chimera. But she wasn't done yet; she wanted to make him suffer. Before he could fully heal, Pinkamena leaped forward, taking quick swipes at him. Igneous was unprepared; he could barely see. But he heard her moving, in response, he moved to the right, but still getting grazed. He focused on what he could listen to, dodging her attacks the best he could. The first few he didn't entirely avoid, causing him to get cut along his body.
But, he was a fast healer, the wounds on his face were quickly closing. He was getting his vision back, meaning he could dodge her attacks better. He was no longer getting grazed; he was now dodging pretty easily. But he couldn't go on the offensive; he wanted to wait until his wounds fully healed. As he was dodging, he noticed her attacks were different before. They were almost too easy to avoid, it's almost like she wasn't even aiming to hit him like she was just swiping at him with no real intention of actually hitting.
"Are you even trying to hit me? Or are you so pathetic that you can't even-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he tripped. He looked behind him to see what on, his eyes widened in shock at what it was. There was a reason she wasn't trying to hit him, she wanted him to dodge her. She was placing her attacks in a certain way and direction, so he would have to dodge her a certain way. She had been leading him over to the bunker, continuously attacking him so he wouldn't notice. And since he wasn't paying attention to he was moving, he tripped on one of the bodies. Pinkamena smiled sadistically; her plan had worked. Pinkamena jumped forward, but instead of trying to cut him with her nails, she clenched her hand. She was going to hit him, hard.
"Clever girl."
Igneous mumbled as Pinkamena punched him in the face, slamming him against the ground. He bounced off the floor, Pinkamena slammed her foot against his chest, causing one of his ribs to break. He winced as she did, causing her smile to widen. Now, she just has made him transform, and then beat him, permanently demoralizing him.
"Get up; I'm not done with you. You're going to fight, you're going to try your hardest, and then I'm going to beat you. And while you're at you lowest, I'll break you as you did me!"
Pinkamena screamed as she pulled back her arm. She brought down her arm, aiming for his face, hoping to break his nose. But before she could hit him, he caught her fist with his hand, like it was nothing. His other hand grabbed the foot on his chest by the ankle; his grip was stronger than before. He slowly began to get up, quickly lifting her off the ground. There was a broad smile on his face, his teeth bigger and sharper than before, his eyes slowly beginning to change from yellow to red. Steam was rising off his body; he was transforming!
"You wanted it? Well, you got it!"
Igneous said sadistically, his voice demonic. Pinkamena's smile was gone, her face changed to that of shock, and slight fear. Is that what she looked like? Igneous threw her across the room like a ragdoll, but she was able to catch herself midair. She landed on her feet, sliding as soon as she did, her hand against the ground trying to slow herself down.
"This is going to be your first time seeing the transformation, burn it into your memory!"
Igneous's distorted voice boomed in the room, as he slowly began to get up. His body was slowly changing in size; the steam started coming off of him more rapidly. His eyes slowly began to change shape and color, the nails extending to claws, the teeth getting bigger and sharper. The transformation was so different to look at than to experience, almost entirely different. It nearly had her hypnotized, nearly.
"Heh, you idiot, you did exactly what I hoped you would."
Pinkamena smirked to herself; she had already won. Pinkamena stood up, pulling something out from behind her. It was the machete she had tossed earlier, during the steam explosion, she grabbed it. She hid it in her pants since she didn't have anywhere else to put it. It was uncomfortable and made it hard to move around without it cutting into her, but it paid off. Igneous didn't seem to notice her; his transformation distracted him. As soon she fully pulled it out, without hesitation, she threw it at him. In seconds, it went through his chest, exactly where she wanted to. In the woods, she learned how to use things like spears and bows and arrows, her aim drastically improved.
Igneous's transformation was stopped in its tracks, his body slowly reverting to its original form. Igneous looked down at the blade in his chest, coughing up blood as he did so. He fell to his knees, trying to put his hands around it to pull it out.
"Why...did you...do that?"
Igneous choked out; he was barely able to breathe, so much as talk. Both because of the pain, and his lungs took a major hit. Pinkamena walked towards him with a swagger, her smile reached both corners of her mouth. Igneous was slowly pulling out the machete; he almost had it out.
"Because,"
She put her hand on the end of the machete, pushing it back into him. Igneous grunted in pain, as he struggled to push it out, but he didn't have the energy to. Steam was coming out of the hole, trying desperately to heal it, but it couldn't with the body still inside.
"I wanted to see the fear and pain in your eyes as I killed you."
Pinkamena said coldly, using her other hand to grab his face and raise it up towards her so that she could look him in the eyes.
"Y-you can't kill me!"
Igneous said desperately, using all of his strength just to speak.
"Obviously I can, I missed your heart by two inches, so that I can watch you die face to face. Unless there's some other reason?"
She said suggestively, pushing the machete in deeper.
"You..don't know how to lead this organization! You'll have questions, and I'm the only one with answers!"
Igneous was desperate; he had too many things to do, he couldn't die here!
"I'll improvise."
She pushed the machete in deeper, enjoying the sight of him wincing in pain.
"Don't you want me to...transform? So, you could beat me at my best."
Igneous was trying his hardest not to cry out in pain; he wasn't going to let her hear that.
"I just said that to make you transform and give me an opening, which you willingly did. I don't care how you die, as long as it's painful, and I'm the one to do it!"
Pinkamena said sharply, as she suddenly twisted the machete. It was poking out of his back now, causing him to wince again. Igneous was getting pale, his body getting weaker every second from the immense blood loss.
"I'm...not afraid of you."
Igneous whispered, barely able to speak now, as he was slowly losing consciousness.
"Oh really?"
Pinkamena asked, skepticism in her voice. Unexpectedly, she pulled the machete out of him, tossing the blood covered thing across the room. But before the wound had time to start healing, Pinkamena shoved her hand in the hole, making a loud squishing noise as she did so. She wrapped her hand around his heart, not squeezing, just holding it in her hand. Causing Igneous to gasp, his eyes fully open, he was now entirely conscious. She let go of his face, putting that hand on his shoulder, using it keep him from passing out.
"How about now that I literally have your life in my hands?! Are you scared of me yet?!"
Pinkamena screamed in his face, Her eyes constricted and a broad, sadistic smile on her face. The fear in his eyes was evident; she terrified him. Igneous didn't respond, either because he couldn't, or didn't know what to say. He was defeated.
"Please...have mercy."
His words were quiet and weak; she broke him. Pinkamena scoffed.
"Mercy? Why would I have mercy on you? You practically said it yourself, for the weak and the powerless, there would be no mercy."
Pinkamena said mockingly, using his own words against him.
"I...created a monster, more than I ever imagined."
Igneous muttered, the life in his eyes slowly drained away. Pinkamena smirked at him, almost happy those are his last words.
"No, daddy. You didn't create a monster; you just unleashed one."
Pinkamena leaned forward and whispered into his ear, the last thing he would hear. She then ripped out his heart, the light in his eyes faded, he was dead. Pinkamena stood up and kicked him, his lifeless body thudding on the ground. Pinkamena looked down at the warm organ in her hands, blood trickling from her hand. As the adrenaline and rage left, her body began to revert back to normal slowly. Which, surprisingly, wasn't as painful as she thought. Before she knew it, her body was back to normal. She was still covered head to toe in blood, mostly dried, but she was normal.
Looking down at her father's heart, she wasn't sure what to feel. Suddenly, her sight got blurry. The ground, the heart, her hand, everything looked like it was far away. Her arms, no, her entire body began to shake. She dropped the heart, her hands unable to hold it anymore. Her ears began to ring painfully; she couldn't even hear her own breathing. Along with the ringing, a major headache came without, borderline migraine. She couldn't think, she could barely move. She put her hand up to her head; her eyes were drooping.
"Whu-"
Pinkamena blacked out; her body hit the floor with a thump. As soon as she did, the gate opened to the room, Discord and Blake running out of it.
Epilogue: The Final Change.
"Hook her up to the monitor, clean her, get her new clothes, and check her condition! In that order! Now! No questions!"
Discord ordered two nurses and a doctor in the room, pushing Pinkamena in on a gurney. His face was red, the same color of blood he had on his hands from where he had picked up Pinkamena and put her on the stretcher. Pinkamena, still covered in mostly dried blood, lay there unconscious, her face almost peaceful.
"Why? Who is this perso-"
The doctor tried to ask, not recognizing the person. But Discord interrupted him.
"I said no questions! Now do what I said, that's an order!"
Discord screamed louder than before, causing the nurses and doctor to flinch, they'd never seen him so angry before. Hesitantly, the doctor gestured the nurses over to one of the beds, picking up Pinkamena and bringing her over to the table.
"Discord! Answer me! Is she going to be okay?!"
Blake ran into the room, almost screaming. He had a worried look on his face. This nearly caused the doctor to drop Pinkamena, but luckily, he didn't.
"Shut up! I have enough to worry about trying to comprehend everything; I can't deal with your pestering right now! I'm going to get some Neurontin; she's experienced enough pain. If you're that concerned, then you can stand here and make sure they don't fuck up!"
Discord yelled, talking to Blake, but glancing at the doctor, almost as to warn him. He ran out of the room, slamming the door as he left. Blake looked at Pinkamena, sweat beading down his face, visibly shaking. He walked to the table beside her, looking down at her body with worry and dread.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pinkamena was afraid.
She was in a white room, not like the cushion rooms in asylums, it was just...white. She lay crouched in the fetal position of the room, staring at the other side of it. The entire room was white, except for the wall on the other side, the one she was looking it. It looked bad, like someones threw a bucket of black paint on the wall. It was spread out, and, it might have been her imagination, but it looked like it was spreading, like an infection.
She wasn't even sure why she was afraid of it; it's not like just touching it would cause it to spread to her, right? Well, she'll never really know. No matter how much she tries, she can't make herself get up. Even if she tries to get up, she's overcome with terror and fear and sits back down in the fetal position in the corner. What confused her, is why she would be in a room with something she was so scared of.
Now that she thinks about it, how did she even get in here? She noticed there were no doors or windows, no entrances or exits of any kind. What kind of room was this? How did she get in here? She tries to remember, but her memory is blurry. She can't remember when she got in here; she can't even remember how long she's been in here. The last thing she remembers was walking into a room, a huge room. She wasn't sure why she was walking into the room, what happened after, or what happened before. All she remembered was a big, steel door, and the feeling of rage. She didn't remember why she was so angry either; she just remembered the distant feeling.
She tried to remember the things that happened before entering the room, but those were blurry too. Trees, someone dies, grief, pain, that's all she could remember, nothing substantial. And from the way it felt, that might be a good thing. But remembering anything before that? Easy. She could remember it. It was her eighteenth birthday party, and everything was great! She had invited all of her friends; it was one of the best parties she's ever planned! But then her friends left, and the party ended. And whenever she tries to remember what happens after that....that same rage returns.
Somehow, it seems like remembering whatever she was forgetting would be bad. And yet, there was this massive nagging feeling in the back of her head, like there was something she had to remember. Like despite how painful it was, sheneeded to know it.
As Pinkamena tries to remember the details, she was losing focus on the black splotch on the wall, slowly forgetting about it. As she lost focus, it began to retract, becoming an even smaller spot than before. Before she knew it, she had forgotten all about the black spots, or even whatever she was trying to remember, that nagging feeling in the back of her head was beginning to fade. She lost herself in her good memories, going in a borderline catatonic state. She sat unmoving, thinking about her thoughts, forgetting where she was and all her problems.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"It's been a week Discord, what's happened to her?"
Blake said solemnly, sitting in a chair beside Pinkamena, a worried look on his face. She was in one of the beds of the infirmary, hooked up to the monitor. She had the same kind of clothes on before, except this time they were all pink. She looked...healthy, surprisingly. She wasn't pale; her injuries healed, she was completely clean of blood. It looked like she was just peacefully sleeping, and could wake up at any moment. But, she wasn't.
"I...don't know; I'm just as confused as you are. Yes, I did say her body would collapse, but only if she didn't fully transform. She did, so, there's no reason this should have happened. It's possible her body had just exerted itself too far, and it needed to shut itself down to rest. But then she would only be like this for three days, and there would be physical signs. But, there aren't."
Discord said in a defeated tone, he had never been in this kind of situation, and probably never felt so...useless. Blake's face seems to sadden; he hated feeling like this.
"So, then what could it be?"
He looked over and Discord and asked, begging with his eyes for an answer. Discord closes his eyes, there was an idea he had been toying with, but he wasn't sure if he should share it. It might make things worse, but, another opinion would be helpful.
"It...might not be a physical thing."
Blake looked at him confusingly; he didn't understand what he meant.
"What do you mean?"
Discord sighed and crossed his arms, thinking of the best way to word this.
"Pinkamena has been through a lot of trauma, experiences that would break anyone. She was abandoned in the woods, found her sister's bodies who she loved and cherished, tortured, beaten, and raped. And the one thing that pushed her through it, the single emotion that allowed her to endure her pain, was her rage for Igneous. But now he's gone, and she has no distraction. When she killed him, it all came crashing down, and she was forced to deal with everything. Her body wasn't what shut down; it was her mind."
Discord didn't want to look at Blake; he didn't want to look at anyone.
"So, she put herself into a coma, so she doesn't have to deal with the world?"
Blake asked a tinge of anger in his voice. Discord shook his head in response.
"Not...exactly."
Discord walked to the front of the bed, looking down at Pinkamena, frustration, and disappointment on his face.
"Now, I'll repeat this, I'm not a psychologist, so this is pretty much a guess from what I've learned from talking to actual psychologists, and my experience with my patients. But, I think shutting herself down is temporary. No matter what someone may go through or how much they want to die, the human body will try its hardest to stop that. Even if she wanted to die, I doubt this is how she'd do it.
I think she's erasing the memories of everything that's happened to her, or, at least repressing them. Sure, physically she would never be able to live a healthy life. But she probably thinks if she forgets what she is and what happened to her, then it'll be like it didn't, which won't work. But, she doesn't know that. Her reason for her rage is gone, now she's just left with the aftermath. Rather than deal with the pain of it, she's choosing to forget it."
Discord gripped the bed railing tightly, angry both at her and himself for not expecting this. Blake looked at him in disbelief, but seeing how serious he was, he believed him. For a moment, Blake felt angry at her. But, it faded, replaced with worry and fear.
"Is there....anything we can do?"
Blake asked quietly, not wanting to tear his eyes off Pinkamena, afraid she'll wake up at any moment.
"No, there isn't. Except, no, nevermind."
Discord dismissed whatever thought he was having, regretting even mentioning it. But Blake jumped at this, literally and figuratively. He jumped out of the chair and grabbed Discord by the collar, knocking the chair down.
"What?! What is it?! I don't care what you have to do, just do it!"
Blake screamed in his face; desperation filled his voice. He shook Discord back and forth, slightly lifting him off the ground.
"Ok! Just put me down, you oaf!"
Discord replied angrily, hitting Blake's arm. Blake hesitantly obeyed, putting Discord back on the ground. Discord fixed his collar, and then looked at Blake.
"I didn't mention it because it's risky, more than it usually would be. It's something that needed to be done anyway, but with her mental state being how it is..."
Discord stopped talking; there was no need to finish.
"Discord, I could literally not give a fuck how risky it is. Our leader is dead, the one who's going to be our leader is in a fucking coma! And when she wakes up, if at all, she won't even be able to lead! Whatever the risk is, it's better than the alternative! I'll take responsibility for whatever happens, just do it!"
Blake screamed at Discord, trying to convince him the best he can. Discord looked down at the floor; his eyes closed in thought. He looked into Blake's eyes and sighed.
"Ok, just...wait here."
Discord said solemnly, walking out of the room. Blake put the chair back up and sat in it, watching over Pinkamena. After a few minutes passed, Discord returned. He was holding a strange device in his hands, similar to the metallic helmet he used on Pinkamena before. Except it was bigger and had something different coming out of it, spread around on top of it were dozens of small, vials, filled with a thick, white liquid.
Inside of the helmet were tiny needles, if there weren't so many of them, they would have been impossible to see.
"What...is that?"
Blake asked as he cringed, he couldn't get the image of all those needles going into his head out of his mind.
"This is plan b, and right now, our only real chance. Usually, when someone passes the test, the leader teaches and prepare them. But, Igneous is dead. Luckily, a contingency was made for a such a scenario. I think it's only ever been used three times, both because it rarely needs to be, and because when the person the memories is injected into dies, the memories have to be extracted. That comes with risk and cons of its own, which is why there's an emergency copy of them. Don't ask me how that works; this was made far before my time, I barely understand it."
Blake looked at him and the helmet in confusion, he didn't quite understand what it was, he was almost positive memories don't work like that.
"So, what, they'll enter her mind, and wake her up with the knowledge to lead? That's deus ex machina if I've ever heard of it."
Blake said almost sarcastically; this seemed stupid to him.
"Sort of. They will wake her up; there will be too many memories to erase, she'll have no choice but to wake up. But the knowledge thing will be different; it won't be like she gains just the knowledge. She'll be gaining their experiences, their personalities, their way of thinking and perspectives, it'll all mash with who she is. That's the price for this knowledge, so far, everyone who's went through this has had an identity crisis. And assuming they didn't have any before, they had mental disorders. But, surprisingly, it didn't affect their leadership skills at all. Despite their psychological issues, they were all great leaders.
Now, I could sit here and explain all of the risks and side affects, or how this works, but I don't think that would do anything. All that would do is waste time, and I don't know when she'll wake up. So, this is it; this is the only chance of waking her up with memories intact. Are you willing to take responsibility for whatever happens? Whatever person she becomes, whatever she does, or even if she dies. The choice isn't mine; it's yours."
Discord said, the tone of his voice serious and questioning, the grip on the helmet tightened. Blake looked at the helmet, then up at Discord, skepticism on his face. He then looked back at Pinkamena, refusing the idea of her never waking up. Hesitantly, he looked back over at Discord, his mouth opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something. Eventually, he spoke.
"Do it, before I change my mind."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The fear returned.
At some point in time, Pinkamena fell asleep or passed out; she wasn't sure. All she knew was, at some point when she was trying to remember something she forgot, she lost consciousness. She didn't feel tired, so she must have passed out for some reason. That wasn't the main concern though; it was what she noticed when she woke up.
The black spot spread, a lot. Like mold, it covered the surrounding walls, even the one behind her. Except for the small corner she was in, it remained white, though the blackness is threatening to consume that too. This already terrified her, what made it worse is that it didn't stick to just the walls. Some kind of fog filled the room, a thick, black fog. She couldn't see through it; she could barely see in front of her. It may have just been her fear and paranoia, but she could've sworn she saw figures in the fog, human figures. She couldn't make out specifics; she could just tell it was human.
And...voices, coming from the figures. It wasn't something she could make out, it's probably something she didn't want to hear. It was all whispers, dozens of whispers overlapping each other, reminding her of the lunchroom cafeteria. Despite coursing with fear, something motivated her to speak.
"H-hello?"
She spoke quietly, barely able to talk with her body shaking. The voices didn't respond, but they did react. The whispering got louder, beginning to sound like there were more, and that it was directed towards her. It became deafening, the whispering grew louder and louder, slowly becoming more of a buzz. Pinkamena put her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noise, but it didn't work at all. Despite her ears being covered, the sound got louder. She crouched down again, clenching her teeth as a major headache set in. The whispers filled the room, becoming the only thing in the room. She couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't move; she couldn't do anything.
But then, suddenly, it just stopped. There was no decrease in intensity or sound, it just...stopped. Pinkamena opened her eyes, slowly moving her hands away from her ears, wondering if this was some trick. The whispering didn't return, for a few moments, it was just silence. But the silence didn't last long; a new sound ended that.
"Hello? Is there anyone out here?"
"I-is there anyone to help us?
Two voices spoke, ones she's heard before. Pinkamena jumped up, looking forward to where the voices came from. In the fog, there were two people, ones she hasn't seen for months, her sisters. They looked normal, the same as the last time she saw them. Blinkie still had her hair down covering one eye, her shy personality making her a taciturn person. Inkie still had short hair, her tomboyish features still there.
Pinkamena almost ran forward towards them, happiness filling her. But she couldn't bring herself to touch the fog, even with her happiness and joy to see her sisters again, something about that mist terrified her.
"Inkie! Blinkie! I'm over here!"
Pinkamena shouted, tears at the corner of her eyes. But they didn't seem to hear her; they didn't even flinch when she spoke! They just continued standing there, shouting into the darkness.
"I'm over here! Can't you here me?"
Pinkamena screamed, waving her arms back and back and forth. But still they didn't notice her, it's like they couldn't hear her. This confused her; this didn't make any sense. Past the fear and joy, Pinkamena felt something else, something wrong. It felt like dread like something was wrong, that they shouldn't be here, that something was going to happen, and she didn't know why.
Suddenly, a third figure appeared behind them, their father. But he looked...different. He had claws and teeth; his eyes were red instead of yellow, he looked more like an animal. He snuck up behind them, an evil smile on his face. Pinkamena started panicking; they didn't notice him, she had to warn them!
"Behind you! It's Igne-"
She tried to warn them, but it was too late. In an instant, he moved his claws to their throats and swiped his claws across them. Their throats were ripped open, blood gushing out. They both tried covering it up with their hands, but the blood just seeped through, it was too late. They gasped for breath desperately, Inkie fell to her knees, Blinkie collapsed on the floor, her blood creating a pool underneath, it wasn't long before Inkie joined her. In seconds, they were dead. Igneous looked down at them, a satisfied look on his face. The bodies began to break down, turning into specks of black dust, joining the fog in the room.
Pinkamena was screaming; tears went down her face, she had just seen her sisters murdered by her father. But before she could do anything else, Igneous looked straight at her, that same smile on his face. Pinkamena jumped back, hitting the wall behind her, full of fear. Igneous began walking forward, blood dripping from his claws. But before he could take his first step, squelching sound filled the room; a hand had punched through his chest from behind, holding his heart. Igneous looked down slowly, moving his hands towards his chest, as he coughed up blood.
He fell to his knees, looking down at his heart, his arms dropping to his sides. Igneous looked back up at Pinkamena, fear in his eyes.
"You did this."
He whispered as the hand pulled out of his body, taking the heart with them. Like Inkie and Blinkie, his body began to break down into black dust. But this time, he looked straight at her as it did. The person behind him had their hand stuck out, the heart still in their hand. They crushed the heart, black dust falling from their hands.
"You didn't think you could run, did you?"
A voice spoke, sounding like hers, but distorted. Pinkamena was in shock; she could barely comprehend what was happening. She looked up at the person who spoke, her eyes expanded as she did, her mouth agape as she wanted to speak, but she couldn't. It was herself! But different, she was barely recognizable. Her hair was long and straight, parts of it were red, and she didn't think it was highlighted. Her eyes were a crimson red, an unrecognizable look in them. Her teeth were larger and sharper, looking like they belong to a predator. Her nails were the same, almost like claws. She wore a T-shirt and jeans, and, despite not having any injuries on her, they were cut and torn to pieces. What scared her the most wasn't any of those, it was the blood. Her clothes, her skin, everything was stained with blood.
"Forgetting is easy. Running? Heh, impossible."
She said again, looking directly at Pinkamena. But she couldn't respond, she was too afraid and in shock. In a moment without even moving, she appeared in front of her, looking down at Pinkamena maliciously.
"You let your sisters die because you were afraid and weak,"
She said bluntly, no emotion in her voice.
"W-what are you talking about? I di-"
"and then you killed Igneous in a fit of rage and pain."
She interrupted her, not waiting for any responses. Pinkamena flinched, flashes of memories started coming to her. The woods, her sister's bodies with their organs hanging out, Igneous's body in front of her, his heart in her hand. As this happened, the blackness began to spread again, the wall behind her slowly becoming engulfed.
"I never did that!"
She shouted, trying to push the memories away.
"You were forced to kill, raped, and tortured. All in the name of a test."
More flashes came into Pinkamena's head, along with a major headache. Wolves, a man raping and torturing her, being left in a room naked and alone, strapped to a table and experimented on.
"No! Shut up!"
Pinkamena screamed, crouching down on the floor with her hands on her ears, trying to ignore everything. The whispering returned, coming from behind her look alike.
"You're trying to forget everything, so you don't have to live with that pain, and that'll work, for about two weeks. Then something will trigger it, and it'll be like experiencing it all over again."
More memories flashed, none of them pleasant.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Pinkamena repeated, not wanting to remember anymore, now she knew why she forgot them in the first place. The darkness had covered the wall behind her, the only spot that hadn't been consumed was the one Pinkamena was on.
"Look at you, acting like a child, trying to ignore all your problems until someone else fixes them. What happened made you who are you, and turned you into something more than human. You can blame it on the brainwashing, your father, or whatever you like. But this is what you've become now; you can't forget that."
The darkness grew closer to her feet every second, only inches away.
" We won't let you!
The voice became demonic, even the whispering stopped. The darkness sped up, consuming Pinkamena.
"No! Stop!"
She shouted, struggling to get the blackness off of her, but it didn't work. She lay on the ground, trying to fight it, but it was useless. The darkness began consuming her body, her entire upper body covered in it.
"After all,"
Whatever it was, it no longer took the appearance of Pinkamena. Black mist came off of it, as it began to morph and change shape. Pinkamena looked up at it, her upper face the only thing yet to be consumed.
"I have so much planned for you."
The voice changed to a masculine one, causing Pinkamena's eyes to widen. Her right eye was consumed, she looked up at the figure in front of her with one eye. As she was consumed, she looked at the person it chose to take the form of, the one she hated more than any: Igneous.
"I have high expectations for you, please don't disappoint."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Blake lay anxiously beside Pinkamena's body, waiting for something, anything to happen. It's been about an hour since Discord put that helmet on her, it was only five minutes ago he took it off, the white vials empty. He said he'd be right back, that he'd take the helmet back and he'd return as soon as he could. He also said that it was too early for anything to happen yet, so all Blake had to do was watch over her, which he was doing.
Pinkamena looked the same as before, no changes at all. He was beginning to think this wasn't working; all this waiting was making him anxious.
"....don't...forget..."
Pinkamena whispered, barely audible. Blake's heart jumped, he looked at her surprisingly.
"What-what was that?"
Blake asked, excitement filling him. He saw her lips move, but he couldn't tell what she was saying. He stood up and leaned down towards her, his ear near her mouth. As soon he did, her eyes snapped open, and her right arm shot up, picking Blake off the ground by the neck. She threw him across the room, causing him to slam against the wall.
She got off the bed, her legs wobbled a little from lack of use, but she managed to walk over to him. She was temporarily stopped by the IV in her arm, but she quickly pulled that out of her arm without hesitating.
Before he had time to do anything, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, picking him up and slamming him against the wall. There was no anger on her face, no spite or sadistic smile, just a look of blankness. Blake, on the other hand, was smiling.
"Guess that coma left you well rested, and violent."
Blake remarked, looking Pinkamena in the eyes as he did, but she didn't respond.
"You have something of mine, give it to me, now."
Pinkamena demanded, her grip tightening.
"Yeah, I figured this is the first thing you'd want, not sure why though."
Blake put his hand into one of the pockets, pulling out the necklace she found in the woods. Without hesitating, she grabbed the necklace out of his hands, dropping him to the ground as soon as she did. She walked away from him, standing in front of the bed she was in, holding the necklace in front of her, watching it twirl as she kept it in the air. She wasn't sure why she still wanted it either.
"Did anything new happen Bl-, oh, appears I was terribly wrong."
Discord burst through the door, looking at the situation in front of him. Blake was pulling himself off the ground, looking both annoyed and happy. Pinkamena was awake and staring at the necklace in front of her, looking like she didn't even notice him.
"So, Pinkamena, how do you feel?"
Discord asked hesitantly, putting his hands in his pockets, grabbing a syringe in his left. Pinkamena didn't answer his question; she was still staring at the necklace. She decided to put it around her neck, tieing it and letting it drop down to her chest. She looked down at the necklace, opening it with her hand, looking at the picture of her sisters in it. She closed her eyes and shut it, in the very back of her head, it was hushed, but she could hear it, the whispering was there. A smile stretched across her face, her eyes opening slowly as she looked at Discord.
"Alive!"
Author's Notes:
Hi all! This is it! This is the last chapter in this story, it took longer to write than I'd like, but it's done. But don't worry! I'm working on the first chapter for the sequel right now! Please be patient, and enjoy!