Ms. Thavel
The glare of teal was caught by the moon, making the unique eyes shimmer under its soft rays as the sparkle in them flared with ferocity so desperate you'd think she was dying; its heat was comparable to Ms. Circle's any time someone had the gall to tease her about her lack of a love life: they never made it home that day.
Her orbs of teal were messily framed in white as her bone-colored hair draped down in ragged clumps; they were further highlighted by a red-hued skin tone that brought her bright palette to life.
As I took a step closer, I was made aware of the danger she posed, as her devilish lips parted to reveal the serrated sable teeth hidden inside, closely followed by her hands, or more acutely, her claws, as the hands the digits were attached to were pulled from the mud she was slowly sinking into, revealing the short yet thick stygian claws taking up residence on each nail, all extending rapidly as she looked to force them to grow.
The situation was made all the worse as I noticed the ears and tail taking up post near what looked to be the base of her spine and skull, with the colorless wolf ears perked as high as four inches, and the long matted tail hung overhead, dripping something that seared the very air as heat radiated off it.
However, by the look on her face, it was nothing more than a scare tactic, as each drop of radiating liquid caused her face to scrunch with pain and beads of sweat, seemingly just as affected by it as I would likely be had I been close enough.
I didn't bother to push forward, but I never let my hazel gaze fall either, as even if she'd break under her own hubris, you could never be too careful when it came to a cornered animal.
After a while of just glaring at me, she eventually started panting, her sabled teeth prying open to let out the excess heat still building up as her stubbornness looked to force her action forward.
This allowed me to see yet another oddity of the girl, as where you'd usually find the pink flesh of one's tongue, instead sat a forked version, its form breaching the edges of thin without teetering completely over; it was also just as teal as her eyes, really driving home the fact that whoever this was, she was no human being.
'A folklore entity, maybe?'
My cautious gaze started shifting to one of curiosity and some other feeling that I couldn't put my clawed hand on; the feelings only grew as I watched the girl start to collapse, her arms buckling under her as she tried to keep herself upright.
However, I kept in place until her tail fell alongside her, its form ceasing in the production of whatever it was leaking a few seconds ago.
After I felt the threat it posed was completely diminished, I once again took a step forward, the air pockets hidden under the muddy plain giving away my attempt as I looked for another reaction.
My trek continued after she didn't respond, until eventually, I found myself standing next to her downed form, my gaze once again noting things that remained unseen at the distance I was previously at, with a small dark pair of dark horns just barely poking out of the tangled mop not too far from her oversized wolf ears, both nearly side by side as they sat in the middle of both hearing organs.
And breaching through the rags that looked to be her clothes was a pair of equally dark wings, their small forms laid flat against her back, as mud caked them in quantity.
Discarding the even odder features for later, I took a knee next to her, a single clawed digit finding her neck under the white mop as I calmly felt for a pulse; it was eventually found as a weak hum under her skin spoke of life.
The real question was, what did I do now?
I had no real obligation to help her, nor did I particularly care either; if anything, I'd shove my hand through her chest and be done with it.
Something very painful churned in my gut when the thought passed through my head, an organ or two seemingly raging at the very mention of such an atrocity; it made me scoff, as I'd done far worse than a mercy kill in the past.
Yet, even when I metaphorically pointed that out to myself, the feeling never died, and even went as far as increasing, the emotional pain driving me to frustratingly discard the idea as I went back to the drawing board.
However, it seemed my loose body had wandered while I was in thought, as I came back to one of my hands prying open the trap, its form having since been pulled out of the mud with the girl's leg.
Seeing no real reason to stop myself, I kept up with the action, discarding the metal snare for whoever bothered to put a trap in this sink hole to re-collect as my hand palmed most of the injury, its blackened form completely wrapping around the black-tinted leg as I mindlessly began my trek home, my nose guiding me by smell as my hazel orbs kept themselves centered on the unconscious girl.
An ache in the back of my brain told me this outcome might be too much trouble than it was worth, but I set that aside for now, as I was already in too deep to regret my new course of action; I really wasn't, but I didn't want to deal with the pain in my gut from before so the course of action I was on now had all but been cemented.
I sighed in defeat when the girl cuddled closer to my chest; I couldn't believe I already felt attached to the brat, 'Eko', save us all.
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Asrel
I shamefully whimpered in pain as I tried prying off the metal trap, its teeth knawing into my leg and drawing on my pools of black blood, the life liquid quickly falling to the muddy ground as it was subsequently consumed by it.
Grunting, I continued with my fruitless attempts, stubbornly ignoring the fact that my attempts were only making the wound worse.
This is certainly not how I'd imagine my day going, but then again, what's one shitty situation going to do when placed on top of another going to do? Make it shittier?
I suppressed another whimper as I failed yet again, my feeble strength paling in comparison to the sheer tension the traps' springs were putting on it, something I pointedly refused to acknowledge, as my pride would not accept reality as it was, instead choosing to throw a tantrum as it was bested by the snare.
Huffing, I continued the attempts, ignoring the feeling of incompetence every time my arms failed to uphold their jobs long enough for freedom to be achieved; it happened so often that I wondered if it was best to just cut the damn thing loose, but I knew if I did go through with that, then I'd just bleed out and die not even fifteen steps away, direction be damned.
My thoughts snapped shut as my head whipped around at the slightest of unnatural sounds, rigging out from behind me.
My hearing paid off in full as I was gaze to gaze with a hybrid-looking creature, its eyes of hazel locking with mine as they seemed to observe and note things beyond me.
The thing had legs like an elk or goat, and it made a difference in height as she was a few heads taller than me, not really an accomplishment when you realize that I was naturally short, but an advantage nonetheless.
However, those weren't the most pressing issues as my eyes found themselves trained on her blackened arms, as the hands were anything but, with each digit plagued with thick claws evenly spaced for more flexibility; ten altogether, five on each hand, and they looked sharp, razor even.
I barely acknowledged her horns as my teal gaze once again found hers, the hazel orbs now dancing with curiosity and... Caution?
No, I knew what caution was and what it looked like, and that was not it, not by miles.
I gave up trying to understand as the woman-creature thing took a step closer, sending caution rocking up my spine as I mustered everything I could do to defend myself, heaving my tail from its imprisonment under the layers of mud as it now hung above my head and in between my large ears, warming up as it prepared heated pockets of reality.
My hands also came up in defense as the usually short sable claws were forced to extend painfully slowly, literally and metaphorically.
Unfortunately, my initial attempts at intimidation were called as the woman's gaze remained the same, her caution unchanged, as she merely kept her distance while continuing to pick me apart with vigor; intentional or not, it implanted a sense of lower life, or inferiority in me as it looked like she saw me as below her.
My tail had heated up enough at this point, so it wasn't too surprising when the mouth hidden under the muddy and matted tail fur began to leak a liquid that was closest to the definition of heat.
I again ignored how it created another problem for me, as my body wasn't yet ready to handle it, especially the lack of oxygen it created around me as it vaporized the slurry that was the air around me, all the important parts making up the layout of the air itself returning to nothingness as my lungs slowly started to heave.
It didn't help that the heat I was able to withstand was forcing my lungs to work harder for the suffocating amount inside to be quelled, if even slightly, thus turning my heavy breaths into dry heaving panting.
It only got worse as nothing happened, with my body forcing unnecessary fear to stoke the flames of instinct that kept my abilities alive, thus causing even further duress as I realized the waiting game playing out before me.
The woman was waiting, not just observing; she saw what was going on with me in seconds and opted to wait me out as my emotions did the dirty work for her.
Trying to force a different outcome was impossible, as the heat and instincts were becoming more and more driven by fear, an emotion I didn't even recognize feeling, as my body seemed to collect it like a living harvester, truly driving a spike of terror into my unusually stale heart.
Panting was becoming harder as I could feel my body blacking out, with my legs going first, the mix of blood loss and oxygen deprivation making them go limp with exhaustion; after that was my spine, as the muscles keeping the bone upright lost their tension.
Soon after were my arms, their forms desperately trying and failing to keep my upper body upright as the blackout hit them, leaving the now useless appendages to buckle under me as I collapsed face-first into the mud, my airways, which were already desperate for what little air they could get, were completely blocked, leaving me to suffocate in horror as I recognized my brains imminent failure.
The only thing I could do as I faded into unconsciousness was laugh at myself.
'What a pathetic fool.'
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Alice
It's an odd thing, teaching someone else, but one very welcome one, as I finally got the chance to show Claire the joys of my hunts, and the elation one could find from them if they had a twisted enough mind to recognize the game.
We had left the plane hours ago and were wandering the swampy forest through the trees for a while, until we ran into something unexpected yet not unwelcome.
Our mindless aim had set us on a path that led to a relatively small town, its ragged and rundown form looking like a simple gust of wind was all it needed to fall from its massive support and sink into the murky sludge it sat on, drowning the buildings and people alike as they're beings and memories were swallowed by the creatures lurking not too far underneath.
There were things down there, I was sure of it as I had dragged a hill-sized serpent out of its depths as I butchered it for some entertainment, its wails of pain weren't as satisfying to hear as human ones, but I didn't know there was a town so close at the time, so I made due.
However, that wasn't to say I wasn't entertained when I did, as it was hilarious watching Claire take a curious bite out of the beast, only to immediately retch as she gagged her guts out, almost literally, as the beast's blood was near pure acid.
I wasn't worried, nor did I hover closer to her afterward, I did not.
But that brings us back to my current entertainment, as I had a random ass person bound, my now monstrous form pointing out to Claire the areas that tended to make them scream the most as I harshly slit the aforementioned area.
Claire, for her part, paid close attention as her equally twisted mind and morality noted each spot with determination. It was cute and reminded me of one of those little mutts I would find wandering the forest back when I was still traveling with 'Nyx'; however, they weren't as cute when I was finished ripping them apart in boredom.
My blackened form giggled at the recalled memories, my taller visage pulling Claire into a hug as I both relished in her curiosity and the reminder that I was still taller than her when in my partial true form.
I hoped it wouldn't be long before she was able to turn herself back into her human character, as I was really starting to miss her soft stomach, and that ass, oh that ass, it's soft yet simi firm form...
I was pulled from my fantasizing as Claire bit my breast.
Shifting my bloody gaze down, I found her silver eye looking at me with embarrassment as her cheeks were puffed, once again showing how cute she was.
Tilting my head, I questioned with a quirk of my brow, the motion drawing an eye roll from her as she spoke while shoving her face in between my blackened breasts.
"Please don't describe my ass while we're in public," her blackened face burned, "Its really embarrassing you know."
My eyes widened as I realized my thoughts might not have actually been the thoughts I thought they were; damn, that's a real head spinner, that thought.
I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me from using the word so much in thought.
Pulling Claire up to her full height, I tilted my blackened chin before nuzzling her lower cheek, my own smushing against hers as I merely enjoyed the closeness; the victim of my lesson was offed in silence as I continued my impromptu cuddles session.
Claire, being the cute little puppy she is, was more than happy to return the love as her blackened arms wrapped around my back, their forms slightly sinking as they pierced my darkened skin.
However, the moment was ruined when an ear-piercing scream echoed out from the door, the wooden construct having at some point slid open to reveal the darkened streets outside.
My eyes immediately narrowed in pure, unadulterated rage as they all but scorched the little brat in the doorway, the small form of which was shivering under the moonlight as her yellow eyes stared at the disemboweled victim sitting in the chair.
Wrath overtook me as Claire was discarded to the side, her form going stock still as she sighed in dismay; not a single one would be spared.
The brat who screamed was the first one to go, as my claws found a nice resort in her gut. The girl coughed, and then coughed again, as blood followed this one; her yellow eyes were squinted in absolute horror and agony as she began screaming in earnest, her young voice ringing out through the entire neighborhood as my sensitive ears could hear more people stirring from their states of oblivion.
A smile breached my demonic face as I drew the girl closer, her wails only growing louder as I did so.
When I felt she was close enough, I began laughing as my other clawed hand latched to her head, before it started squeezing, one clawed digit at a time.
The screams were drenched in blood as the pressure was applied; first to go was her left eye, as the ball of yellow slowly swelled up before popping out, its form now lazily dangling down to her cheek as her kicking and screaming grew, with her small hand desperately clawing at my blackened arm to little effect.
Her other eye was next as it just burst, the contents of which it previously held splattering all over my spiked chest as gore overtook the girl, and it wasn't long after that her skull gave way with a sickening crunch. The bone, which previously protected her small growing brain now caving inwards as the brain matter she had was turned into a fine paste filled with both.
I was a bit disappointed that her screams and wails had concluded, but only a bit, as I knew there would be others soon.
In my murderous bliss, I didn't catch the hard steps that approached the building with vigor, nor did I notice the cocking of a gun before a round or two were lodged into my head, the lead piercing through a few layers of my skin before they dinged off my skull.
Everything grew a little fuzzy after that, but only for a second, as new blackened cells forced the bullets out, the lead balls falling to the ground as their descent was smothered by the fact that they hit the mutilated form of the little girl.
The bliss I felt was gone as soon as the wound healed, as the situation grew more... personal.
Had the bastard been smart, he would've kept firing.
When I looked over to find the shooter, I was a bit surprised to find him in the middle of being mutilated, with both arms flattened and guts in the middle of being ripped out as 'MY' beautiful claim tore through him with blinding rage; the grin turned to a smile as I watched her take the gun from its fallen place on the floor before taking the butt of it to his skull, each strike becoming harder and harder as rage dictated his faster death.
It wasn't long before his skull caved in just as the girls did; however, even after the idiot's death, Claire didn't stop, as she just kept bashing. Over and over again, only stopping when the gun broke down, its rear having been stripped to pieces in her grip.
Things only got more heated as she continued raging on it, her clawed hands just as dark as my own, tearing through his cooling chest as the ribs and lungs in the way of her destination were torn apart and tossed to the side, their discarded forms painting the relatively empty room in red.
The fury in her was finally quenched a few seconds later, as her hands pulled a pulped heart from the chest of the corpse, the remains of which were then squished into a further mush as her palm squeezed.
My legs, at some point, had started grinding together as I watched the scene, turned on by the blood covering her beautiful form, the life liquid dripping down her drenched form as her one silvery eye continued to glare down.
However, I knew this wasn't an opportune time, as not only did I hear a vast amount of footsteps rapidly approaching, but I now knew they were possibly armed; Claire's rage, while stunning in its own way, was nothing compared to mine, and with Claire in the mix, my ire wouldn't be that hard to gain.
My blood-red eyes narrowed as my ringed pupils dilated before darkness overtook the room, its form having sprouted from the necklace on my darkened chest as the jagged crown atop my head glowed with a red undertone.
Claire, still coming down from her rage-induced fury, looked around in familiar comfort before looking back at me, her silver orb curious about what I was doing.
"Sleep, Claire."
Her eyebrows rose, before she lulled off, the darkness enticing her into a dream.
As the darkness faded from the room, Claire remained missing, her form inside the pocket dimension filled with darkness, contained inside the necklace; it wasn't how I imagined using it, but it's a fine alternative nonetheless, as now my claim was essentially bathing in my scent-treated power.
After the necklace settled, I turned my head to find the mob of bastards I had heard not too long ago, each one bearing a weapon of some kind, with one even having the gall to bring just a knife; that really pissed me off.
My form blurred as I appeared in the crowd, my clawed hand piercing the stomach of the idiot undermining me with a flimsy piece of metal.
The man coughed in pain before he was silenced by my other claw, its form turning his head into a fine mist as the arm still buried in him tore his corpse in half before flinging it at a deadly speed towards the ones finally acting to my blitz.
Blood sprayed as the mangled flew before it collided with the would-be attackers, turning a few of them into gore piles and dismembering the rest, leaving only a younger boy standing as he panicked while trying to bring up the pistol in his hand.
Dismissively turning the boy into his own pile of gore with an inky appendage, I once again blitzed more people, with my arms gutting any who stood in their way and my tentacles ripping apart those who tried to run.
I ignored the occasional bullet that lodged itself in my side as I kept up my assault, making sure to take a bit more time to mutilate the ones that did get those lucky shots.
I chuckled to myself as I ripped another child apart, their forms likely there because they were feeling brave and wanted to help; it's just unfortunate I couldn't play with them a bit as the screams of children were always the best thing to listen to when you're on a hunt.
It was almost ten minutes later when I started to get annoyed, as more and more people were showing up to the slaughter, each bearing their own annoying ass gun; this had to be the most frustrating hunt I've ever taken part in.
I clicked my teeth as I ducked another hail of bullets, their forms slightly ignited as some really annoying bitch had come loaded with incendiary rounds.
As I glared at the wooden path, I noticed a small hole that showed the swamp hidden underneath. It wasn't even a second later when an ingenious idea came to me, one that would deal with everyone, hopefully at once.
Five inky black tentacles launched out at the crowd with fury as my feet kicked under me, launching myself hundreds of meters in the air before I began the descent, my leg outstretched as my heel inevitably came into contact with the fire girl's head, its blackened form digging through her skull as it continued down in its trajectory.
My fall continued as she was split down the middle, her entrails and a lung following me down as I crashed through the wooden path underneath and into the depths of the swamp.
The organs were lost a second after, their forms being lost to the murky liquid around me, but that was of no concern to me as I was looking for something specific yet general, and it was something I found quickly as I came to a stop in front of a massive slit eye, its carapace form glaring down at me with unrestrained hunger.
The size of the beast was hidden, but the eye was telling, so I smiled before glaring back with wrath, daring it to act in me.
Almost immediately, the eye once radiating hunger went docile, its slit form falling away to a pointed oval as it seemed to grow an understanding of what was floating in front of it, and what danger it was truly in should it go against it.
Grinning in satisfaction, my ringed pupils spoke an unspoken order as I kicked off back to the surface, wanting to find a good view before the true massacre started.
Re-ascending wasn't hard, as I broke through the surface again and made another hole into the wooden path, which, funnily enough, was right under another victim, their forms crying out in pain as my unexpected collision shattered most of the bones in their back, however, I didn't pay any heed as I ripped through them for the interruption.
Having lost the momentum, I dropped down to the wooden path before kicking off again, dodging the bullets that quickly followed, and landing on a building not too far from the spot I reemerged from; whither that would cause problems in a moment was yet to be seen as I still had yet to see the beasts true size, a mystery soon to be solved as the entirety of the city shook with vigor.
From my viewpoint, I could see the outer edges of the city rise as something propped it up further, an impressive accomplishment and grand testament to the beast's size, as I knew the city stretched well over three kilometers in every direction.
I was giddy with excitement as I watched the area I was just in crack and splinter into wooden shrapnel as people fell through the new gaps created, likely being the first lucky bastards to see the beast I dredged up from the murky depths.
The first thing to note as the beast broke through was its thick, rugged white hide, its form ridged with uniform scales as they repeated a pattern all the way down its emerging back.
Its color contrasted harshly with the eerie soundings, painting it as a near-divine being descending from its perch in the clouds as it came down to the dark dunes of hell, with the only difference being that the beast looked to be from hell.
Not long after, half a kilometer of the city was torn to splinters as the beast fully emerged, its long, toothy snout giving it away as a crocodile as the carapace covering its eyes pulled back to reveal dazzling ruby-slitted eyes that had my own bloody eyes look on with stunning awa; its size was already breathtaking, but add that to the fact that its hide was white and its eyes were that of ruby and you get a gem of untold value.
My thoughts were interrupted as the beast's maw opened wide before a hiss escaped it. Its tone rattled even the near-indestructible bones residing in my body, as a morbid smile had me smiling like a maniac.
I watched in glee as the annihilation started, with the first of the beast's actions being to swing its massive tail, the seemingly simple action causing devastating effects as a shockwave shot through the surrounding areas and toppled most buildings over two stories.
Screams of panic and fear chorused out from everywhere in the city as people scrambled for the port. Ships of many sat neatly in the sludge as people tried boarding, and I would've let them, had they not shot at me.
My form immediately bounded with blinding speed as I rocked to every port next to the water, messily destroying every ship I could see, leaving the people already on them to either burn up or be consumed by the creatures beneath their feet, it was mostly the ladder.
Returning, I found a new spot to watch everything unfold, as the previous one was destroyed.
Sighing, I took a seat on the shingled roof as I watched the sunrise in the background of the reptiles' rampage; who knew it would be so relaxing watching someone else do the work for you?
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Engel
As dawn drew on, my internal clock kicked into gear, with my mind groggily waking up as it struggled to process anything.
Eventually, the struggle gave way to recognition as the events of yesterday flooded my throbbing head; however, even after recalling them, I couldn't bring myself to care, because honestly, what was I going to do about it? Go to the police?
Those idiots were as corrupt as corrupt could be, and given that Oliver was supposedly well off in terms of finance, there wasn't jack shit they'd do to help me as long as they got a fat paycheck out of it.
My body twisted as my sore rear lost the pressure my weight was putting on it; now I was lying on my right side, looking at the sleeping form of Oliver next to me, the rising and falling of his chest locking me in a brief trance as my mind tried and failed to understand how I got here; how we, got here.
It clicked almost thirty minutes later as I recalled faint glimpses of Edward, his purple gaze looking down at me with... something.
'Right, I told them to keep it down as they had woken me up with his and Oliver's discussion about the rape plan. Then, I think I felt Oliver pick me up, no, he definitely picked me up, as I could still remember the warmth of his chest; so this must be his house then.'
My eyes wandered away from Oliver as they paced the room with curiosity. It was fairly plain in all honesty, with a desk, chair, and bookcase sitting a bit further away from the foot of the bed; a few empty frames were hanging here and there, but the most striking thing was a pinboard full of tacks and paper, promptly named, Engel Plans, at the top.
Something oddly... possessive had me smirking at the sight.
'Is that the first thing he sees whenever he wakes up?'