Well that was both disappointing and expected. I mean, I figured it would be stupid to expect anything from a new Freak who just got their ass kicked by Charlotte, but still. I had hoped they’d be sane enough to not commit random murder, but I guess not.
I continue walking through the halls, dodging through the crew making their way as well. I’d gotten used to it at this point, so it barely required a thought to walk past them. I mean, I could just make them actively dodge me without them knowing they were doing that but… that was just too much effort for a casual stroll.
Humming, I stepped into the cafeteria, ignoring the various tense looking staff members and walking straight into the kitchen. They always keep the best stuff in the fridge itself, after all! Like that fantastic yogurt that occasionally pops up. Some little shit keeps trying to claim it and writing their name on top, but it’s mine dammit! I legally stole it first!
I walk right past a staff member, then put my power on full blast forcing them to ignore the fact I’m raiding their fridge. I look through it, and spot my prize!
After grabbing it and closing the fridge I notice the message written on it in big bold letters/ “PROPERTY OF JACK LANCEL! POISONED FOOD! "DON'T EAT!”
Deciding to test the waters I popped it open a bit and smelt it, which just returned the usual fruity fragrance. Is this a prank?
Deciding it’s better to be safe than sorry, I leave to the cafeteria to find myself the perfect victim, and… aha!
Found them!
They were wearing the standard trooper uniform, the bulky blue and black armor with a rifle on their back and a radio on their hip and a discarded helmet on the table. They were sitting completely alone and looked like they were about to have a full on mental breakdown even without my interference, with messy slightly greasy hair and white knuckles -oh he took off the gloves- his eyes bloodshot as he stared blankly at his plate. My final confirmation that he was an acceptable target was the green badge on his chest, revealing him to have been a part of the FFPA for less than a month. Basically, more canon fodder that exists only to get murdered by Freaks so the government can continue justifying their “technically not slavery” of us.
I need to stop ranting so much, it’s unhealthy for my psyche. And all this because of some yogurt… I blame Tree guy for fucking murdering Jackson ten minutes into the meet and greet, though I guess if he didn’t I would have had to continue my bitching argument with Charlotte, so what do I know. Not like I particularly enjoy arguing with Charlotte but she is very good at starting them.
Shaking my head to distract myself from my thoughts, I sat down next to the guy and lowered my power’s output then tapped him on the shoulder and said “Hey kid, you hungry?”
The newbie just twitched and snapped his head in the opposite direction of where I was sitting, though from his perspective he must be looking near me. He wasn’t pulling his gun and attempting to fire on me though, and that’s a bad fucking sign. Man, his instincts were shit huh?
“Wh- what?! Where’d that come from! who… what are you!” The guy stumbled through his sentences, though he finished it in the end.
“Chill man, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m a Senior employee here, the names [ ]. Not that you can hear that shit when I’m sayin that.”
I could see him shaking and twitching, his eyes scanning around the room trying to figure out where I am.
“Are you… one of those Freaks I heard about? That would… is that …why… I can’t see you?” And that last line… so filled with both fear and determination, like he was preparing himself. Ooh, now that’s an interesting one.
“My my, good sir, you are aware we here at the Federal Freak Purging Agency also capture and occasionally ally with more agreeable Freaks now don’t you? My, it would be most unfortunate if you were to accidentally harm or kill one of our very willingly recruited allies just because you were misinformed.”
In response to my wonderful impression of our bosses (which didn’t really translate, sarcasm is hard when you don’t have a tone of voice) he finally reached for the pistol on his hip, before pausing and snaking his hand back to awkwardly rest on his leg.
“I… didn’t get a big briefing. My entire squad got moved to this branch, and none of us were given a choice… fuck man, this isn’t what I signed up for.” His voice was indignant and whiny, making me wonder how old he was. He looked quite young, perhaps in his mid twenties? Couldn’t be above 27 for sure.
“Yep, yep, a real shame. Well, if you have any questions be sure to ask them to me. Hey, you want some yogurt?”
“...What?”
“I’m asking if you want some of my yogurt.”
“What?”
“I’ll be taking that as a yes, now open your fucking mouth”
I wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow my commands, but… he was an army boy, and he seemed to know that you need to follow what your senior tells you to do, no matter how fucking weird. Then again, compared to what most army boys get up to in training I’m pretty sure eating some of your senior’s yogurt ain’t that weird, ey?
Still, he obeyed and opened his mouth. I shoved my finger inside of his mouth, which probably caused his brain to fry as it tried to well… process that clusterfuck of a paradox. Oh well, not my problem. Then, he licked it off. I withdrew my finger from his mouth
Well, I wonder how fast the poison acts. The guy who poisoned my reacquired yogurt probably realized I was a Freak, so I’m sure he must have put in some powerful stuff inside of it. Still, whatever he could have gotten access to couldn’t have been that strong.. right? Wait a minute… That Bitch’s body is literally made of fucking poison isn’t it.
Oh shit.
I jumped backwards, trying to deny my entire existence to make sure I wouldn't be caught in the backlash…..
[ ]
—
When I felt safe to hop back into existence after an unknown amount of time, I was greeted to the sign of the Cafeteria being mostly empty while Charlotte in her big fuck off sun transformation was standing over a hole in the ground.
Standing a safe distance away from her was our wonderful Handler (who did not deserve to be called by an actual name), his unusually perfect and youthful face looking at the situation with a slightly disapproving look tainting his features, one hand in his suit’s pockets while the other was raised to allow him to view his watch. He let out a chuckle and turned toward me, to look me in the eye.
Oh, I really fucked up didn’t I.
And then, he very slightly smiles “Well, that’s yet another incident with you [ ] in the past week. We’re blessed Unit 02 was here, otherwise even more of our most unfortunate recruits would have been turned into some fantastic pasta sauce! Still, you know what this means right?” His eyes had that slight glint in them, like he knew he had yet another excuse to torment us for just living our life. And he was clearly expecting me to answer…
Ffuucckk… “It’s time for another ‘rehabilitation therapy’ session”
He smiled “Indeed, it is! Come on, I know you don’t like to hear it but someone needs to help you move past your issues. Chuck is more than happy to help you all, you know. It’s not his fault that you keep rejecting his perfectly reasonable suggestions and advice, you know. In fact I’m positively sure you know that, you know. Come on [ ], follow along!”
I hated that he could direct me and hear me no matter how much I denied everything. He always had a way of bringing me back down into this shitty world, to take the cheer I was spreading and crush it into a pulp because of ‘safety reasons’. I knew what this was, this was a way to fuck with me specifically and these sessions were bullshit! Hours of awkwardly sitting there with some guy while I felt like killing myself to avoid having to listen to him try and ‘fix me’, that fucker.
And yet, everytime I realized that I couldn’t get away from it all just yet. I needed to wait for the right moment, and until that time came….
—
I sat in silence, trying to just ignore the man sitting behind his desk who was staring at his papers and occasionally making light disapproving clicks with his tongue. Dr Chuck was one of the few ‘therapists’ they had at the FFPA and he was also the youngest. He always wore a labcoat like some kind of fucking evil scientist, and had an ugly face that made you want to get the fuck away from him. His hair was brown and slightly unkempt, and he had a lazy left eye that made him perpetually look like he was about to strangle you or have a stroke.
In short, Chuck was a stupid cartoon scientist pretending to be an actual psychologist and his Dr title made you wonder what school could have possibly accepted him.
“Hmm.. another incident this week [ ]? Could you tell me, in your own words, what transpired in the cafeteria? I got my breakdown from the Director of course, but if we want to handle this I think it would be best to know what you saw, right?” Chuck slightly smiled, revealing rows of shiny white teeth.
I tried to think of an answer, but my mind only provided me with more insults for Chuck and his stupid office. If any of the Gods were still left, I’m sure they’d be smiting this place in an instant. Still, Chuck just waited patiently for an answer and I realized that the silent treatment won’t be working for now. Well, time to try and bullshit my way out of this
“Well.. ya know. I got my food from the fridge, and when I looked at it someone had written ‘Poisoned, do not eat’ on it or something like that. I decided to take it out, cuzz, ya know, someone might eat my food that someone else poisoned. So I went into the cafeteria and saw some lonely guy with a Green Badge on his chest, and thought ‘oh he might enjoy company’. So… I went over and had a chat with him, gave him some explanation and stuff. Then I… so this is gonna sound weird” I paused in the middle of my sentence, wondering how I was going to continue my bullshitting further, and how the fuck I would justify poisoning a newbie for no good reason.
Chuck just nodded, his left eye beginning to drift to the side as his right eye focused on me. God, I fucking hate how he can do that… I should… I should have eaten the other fucking apple. God damn it!
What’s lost is lost, I suppose… I’ll talk to that snake again soon enough, and then I’ll get the ability to walk out of this place and live my goddamn life. But for now… to continue bullshit
“But… I… kind of forgot about the label someone put on it and, since he looked so stressed and wasn’t eating anything while inside of a cafeteria, I… decided to give him some of my food, because it was good. I only remembered that it was poisoned after he ate a spoonful of the stuff, and then it was too late. He kind of just exploded, and I could only barely protect myself from the blast. And now… he’s dead”
I finished my tale, grateful for the fact that I denied any intonation of my voice from existing. Hopefully he’d be fooled by that, and-
He tapped the desk with his left hand, with his right supporting his head as he seemed to ponder something. “You said you forgot about the fact that the food was poisoned, did you not? Wasn’t that the whole reason you came into the cafeteria?”
“Well, you know how scatterbrained I can be”
He hummed again, his fingers drumming the edge of the desk “Isn’t that the result of your power? Did you attempt to deny the existence of the poison?”
Aha! A perfect excuse!
“Yep!”
“Interesting. None of the reports I received mentioned your signature registering such a large push of effort to try and negate Rose’s poison. Unless you merely attempted to deny the memory that your own food was poisoned from your mind, but that seems.. odd”
Shit.
“Hahaha.. well you know how it is, Doc. I just didn’t realize what I was trying to deny so it didn’t work.” I realized that what I had said was the wrong thing to say, because his hand stopped drumming on the table and moved to take a pen… which he then used to make a note. Which meant he was preparing a punishment for my Handler to prepare for me. Fuck.
“Interesting. So your power has changed in some way, has it? Previous analysis of its exact function plus your own testimony revealed you are instantly aware of what you attempt to deny alongside the mental impact. Have any of my pills been affecting your power, I wonder… if so, that's… fascinating.” Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
“Nah Doc, nothing changed at all.. I just used it wrongly at the time ya know? Cuzz I wasn’t bothering much.” And then he noted something down, again.
"Interesting. Moving on, when you fed Rose’s poison to this man by accident you said you protected yourself before he exploded. Why not attempt to simply deny his poisoning or imminent death? Would that not be a much better solution to that problem”
“Yeah, but I was under a lot of stress at the moment. And I wouldn’t immediately think of stuff like that because it’s super exhausting you know?” Was this room getting hotter? I don’t know if it was, or if it was just my mind but I could feel myself sweat and my heart beat quicker. God, I fucking hated these sessions.
“Interesting. So your immediate reaction to the death of a new recruit, which you yourself caused, was not to save the life of this man, something that you could do quite easily with your abilities, but instead it was to let him simply die because that would be a little bit less effort to you?” His face had a very slight, almost gentle smile as he continued to note. I looked at his hand, his fingers holding the pen in a gentle grip. I focused on the lines on his fingers, the subtle imperfection of the human body. Just focus on his hand, focus on the pen and not his words.
“It was a situation of stress and pressure… it was just a quick reflex or I would have died” I gave my answer, then continued to stare at his fingers.
"Interesting. I think we should work on that, don’t you think?”
What. “What?”
“Your job here at the FFPA is to keep the public safe, first and foremost. If your mental state and reflexes prevent you from saving people then that’s something we should work on, don’t you think? I do think I have a few pills that might be able to help with that. They should also make you feel better than before” I can already picture it. That fake concern on his face as he pretends to care for my feelings and needs, then he poisons me with more pills. I don’t say anything, while Chuck continues to nod to himself.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Well, what do you think? You know I value your input here, and I want to hear out anything you have to say to me.”
Liar. “Yeah, that… seems fine to me, I guess. So what do I need to take?”
He chuckles “I don’t have them on hand at the moment, but we have managed to extract several more from Rose’s body. Speaking of Rose, don’t you think it’s time for you to visit her again soon?” Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no no no. I tried to block out the memories from my mind but failed, the feeling of her fleshy tentacles puncturing through my skin, her maggots crawling underneath my skin, my body burning in agony as my skin melted… I don’t want to go back
“Please I don’t want to go back, I'll do anything!” It’s at times like this that I regret having erased the tone from my voice, just so Chuck could truly understand all of my fear and panic. Maybe that would satisfy him and he would stop tormenting me.
“Interesting. Is there a problem? You know Rose appreciates your visits every time. She truly does seem to appreciate your presence, and I thought the same went for you as well, or am I mistaken in that regard?” I needed to… I focused on his voice, and his tone. He sounded like he pretended to care, really. So that was the game he wanted to play now was it?
“It’s not that I hate her or anything, I just think she’s fucking inappropriate. She keeps touching me with her fucking flesh tentacles”
“You know that she is only lonely, and quite likes you. Perhaps if you communicated this before this wouldn’t have been a problem for you. Still, Rose is a valued member of this Agency and it wouldn’t be very good for anyone if you two didn’t get along. Is there any other reason you don’t like her?”
The memories boiled to the top of my mind, of a crawling horror of skittering legs and fleshy stalks. I could hear the constant screaming of those thousands of mouths, begging for mercy. Of the skittering mess crawling towards me as a carved face chattered incoherently, the speech of a thousand different victims being mashed together to attempt conversation. My ears replayed the ringing noise and squelching sounds the pumps made as they madly drained away and pumped the mass in sync, a horrifying cacophony of man’s worst nightmares.
“That thing is an abomination against all that is holy and unholy Chuck. Seeing it with my own eyes is all the proof I ever needed that God couldn’t exist. I wake up every morning filled with terror and seething hatred alike because of that fucking abomination. Just.. go fuck yourself”
Chuck didn’t respond, but I could hear his pen move as he wrote notes down on his paper.
“Interesting…. you know she can’t help her appearance being like that don’t y-” I didn’t let him finish his sentence, as I stood up and began to give my sentences. Anger was pointless given that he couldn’t experience it, but the frustration at his bullshit was unsuppressable.
“Go fuck yourself! She’s literally the only Freak out there that can actually control her appearance! And guess what, she decided to look like that! So she can go fuck herself! Frankly, I-”
My statement was interrupted by Dr Chuck with a cough and a tap of his pen.
“Please do not interrupt me. Perhaps it is time you get moved to a different treatment plan, to curb your behavior. This appointment is over, some staff will be moving you to your room now.” Chuck’s voice was hard as a steel rod now, and I realize that I really should have shut up when I had the chance. Chuck didn’t get mad a lot, but whenever he did.. it meant I would be getting in a lot of trouble soon.
—
I was currently laying down on the uncomfortable bed in ‘my’ room. The rest of the room was barren only having a mirror on the wall, a nightstand, empty closet and a camera on the wall monitoring my every action of course, an ironic addition given that those don't actually work on me. I got ‘escorted’ to my room by a few Green Badge agents who just blindly guessed I was following them.
They had given me some new medication and I could feel it starting to kick in. I would probably have to acknowledge my situation soon. I didn’t want to do that though, it… just seemed so tiring. I realize I sound whiny as hell, but I can’t help it. This world around me… fucking sucked. People like me had to keep it all inside because otherwise we’d burst and turn into Freaks. I never wanted to be a Freak, why the fuck would I?
Oh. It’s kicking in. That’s why I’m reflecting on my past, isn’t it? I wonder what the Snake would think right now. I know for a fact that it reads my thoughts, that’s just how it acts. I gave up my entire soul and body that day, and I didn’t even know…
I turned to the side, and saw the apple laying on my nightstand. No one else could see it, and I was sure it was a gift from the Snake. I know how the Snake operated and from what I heard from the other Freaks they had been tricked in the same way, and yet… it had warned me about actually eating it. That I would be granted enlightenment at the cost of my ‘self’ and that I should be careful.
A warning from the Snake…. I could still see its Ruby eyes turning into Topaz after it gave me the apple. I’d question that, but I don’t think I want to know how that Snake works.
I reach out to it, then pause and sigh. I should just… lay back and let it all kick in. Who knows, maybe after I get this emotional lobotomy I’d finally be happy?
I doubt it though
—
I entered the mission briefing room, my eyes scanning it for a brief moment. The only people inside as far as I can see was another nameless higher up, a Purple Badge on his chest revealing his position as a Backseat Commander alongside the dead look in his eyes and slightly wrinkled suit. All in all, exactly like a man who would be doing reprograming work for new Freaks. He was standing at the front of the room, behind him was a digital smartboard with some information on it that I didn’t bother to read. There were eight chairs in the room, of which seven were taken up. And of course, six of those were taken up by the same Freak.
Jackson was an interesting case. I quite liked him and he in turn was friendly to almost everyone in the FFPA, but I feel he’s been starting to lose his mind a bit recently. He literally got murdered by a new Freak and just shrugged it off. He still feels pain! How can you just… ignore the fact someone smashed your skull against a wall until you died? That’s not normal. I wondered if perhaps his mental degradation was somehow linked to how his body kept becoming more monstrous, but… that just felt rude.
Of course one of the seats here was being taken up by Tree Guy. He seems like an edgy bastard to me, completely silent and fully willing to just murder someone for no good reason, and like the exact type of man that they feed to Rose to grow her body. That does make me wonder what Rose will gain out of eating him, will she grow tree bark on all her Fleshy bits?
That just sounds disgusting. Not important. I sat myself down on the only free chair and waited for the explanation to begin.
"Alright. Everyone is here now, so let’s begin. Recently a report was filed in Boston, this report told us about a new Freak having appeared in the city and committing numerous crimes, including destruction of property, assault, and murder. Two different private agencies, the BFC and the BPA took on the job and tried to suppress him but were unsuccessful. These agencies report that the Freak seems to be capable of surviving heavy damage, surviving a sniper shot through the head and a direct grenade detonation underneath their feet. Besides that, they reported that he carried a longsword of sorts which could be used to cleave through cars with a slice, though the Freak doesn’t seem to possess any supernatural speed. The Freak appears to have no outward visual changes, but should be identifiable by their choice of weaponry.” The Backseat Commander finished rattling off details in a grumbly tired voice, occasionally pointing at various details on the smartboard. He then turned away and looked us over for a bit, before sighing and putting his hands in his suit’s pockets.
“Now, this is an introductory mission for the new Freak, now designated as Unit 83. It’s pretty simple, go over there and kill the bastard dead. Recruitment is acceptable if it does occur, but not the priority. No teleportation or other alternative methods are available, so you’ll just have to be taken by helicopter. Unit 43 and the various Unit 71’s are to assist in the suppression of this Freak. Now get out of my meeting room and do your damn jobs already” He finished his final explanation in one breath, then fished a flask out of his pocket and took a shot.
So our boss is an alcoholic without a plan and this entire mission was potentially suicidal. Time to improvise!
—
The helicopter ride was for all intents and purposes very awkward. Tree Guy (I guess Unit 83) couldn’t even talk at all, and Jackson was fine to talk with but… we quickly ran out of topics to discuss. Our helicopter was being controlled remotely by people at base, rather than an actual pilot, probably so we couldn’t murder or control them and then make a break for it. Way too paranoid really, I can’t survive a fall from this high up!
Eventually we landed, ending the awkward silence between us all. The helicopter blades died down, and a robotic voice announced “Opening Vehicle Doors now.” as the doors slid open to reveal the wonderful streets of Boston. I couldn’t see any people around, and I wondered if they were told to evacuate the area for our arrival. I could already imagine the FFPA troopers driving away tearful victims of the attacks, as they seemed to enjoy doing.
The Jackson’s followed out of the helicopter after me, trying to keep some distance between themselves and Unit 83. I clap my hands together a few times, catching their attention as I grab my communicator.
“Aight everyone, listen up! Your communicator should tell you their current estimated position! Plan’s pretty simple, Jackson will try to snipe their ass while I try to move towards them. Tree Guy, you give observation from the back and give support if you can. Now, let's move on!”
I had elected myself team leader, and none of my less competent members seemed to disagree.
Sigh.
—
I grabbed a motorcycle and rode through the city towards the general direction of the freak, Jackson going up ahead to do scouting. I tried to get Tree Guy on a ride too but his new body was far too heavy, so he ended up just walking after us. The fact he’s keeping up with me is terrifying, but also means he’s going to be very useful in… really any upcoming fight. Speed is one of the most important factors in a Freak battle after all.
While I was contemplating this I got a message through the communicator from Jackson , alongside a ping to one of his current locations.“Well bud, I dun got 'em on sight. He got a typa ghost angel floatin next to em? And a hole through their head.”
The briefing had reported freakish durability and the fact it’s still there though suggests a lack of regeneration. The ghost element was slightly concerning, but I’d (hopefully) be alright.
I brought the communicator closer and signaled “A hole through their head means we can give them more. Try to disable one of their legs if you can. Ignore the Ghost for now. Me and Unit 83 are moving over there now.”
With that communication sent I revved up the engine and blasted over to his location, glancing behind me to see Unit 83 begin to speed up alongside me. And then another communication came in from Jackson “The ghost angel deflected ma shot! My main body over there died before I could even realize what happened!”
Hmm. Unreported speed would be the only explanation, or perhaps some form of teleportation? No, he would still be able to notice someone teleporting to attack him. That’s going to be an issue, especially if the Angel can act autonomously from the main body.
“Unit 83! Once we arrive you act as a distraction while I go for a sneak attack!” I yelled out, my only response a nod from Tree Guy before he suddenly shot forward like a cannonball, smashing through the walls and windows of several buildings.
Cursing, I got my motorcycle parked near the scene. On arrival I was greeted with a ruined battlefield, cars had been slashed into pieces, buildings collapsed and the road itself had huge holes, like a giant plucked out chunks of it and threw it elsewhere.
There were occasional glimpses of figures in the sky, brown and white flashes in the sky that my eyes couldn’t keep up with.. Roots shot into the air and an angelic looking statue with wings and a large blade on its back dashed around them.
And, standing in the middle of the street was the target.
His brown skin was covered in blood and dust, his hoodie and jeans looked torn with several large bullet holes. There was a gigantic round circular hole in his head that gave me a direct window to the other side of the street, probably caused by anti-freak equipment. Pieces of his skull and brain were exposed, and his entire face was dirty with dried blood.
They were standing still as a statue, utterly unmoving. It was hard to pin down his age because of the wounds on his body, but he couldn’t have been that old. A teenager at best. Probably just had a series of really shit days, and then caused enough of a public fuckup that recruitment wasn’t an option anymore.
Sympathy, what sympathy? No, I just needed to [ ]
The ground was continually being pierced by vines and wooden constructs taking odd shapes, which initially burst out from the ground and then from these very same constructs. He seemed to be getting creative with them and trying to pierce/contain our ghost friend in various ways, who simply seemed to destroy them immediately.
Snapping my gaze away, I walked over to the Freak and stood next to him, trying hard not to study his features. The pin was pulled and the grenade was detonated at point blank
[ ]
I returned to existence to find my body dodging backwards, out of the way of a shimmering white facsimile of a spear whizzing past my face. Said spear belonged to a ghostly all white body that looked vaguely humanoid, except for the large tail on its back -wait, didn’t it have wings?-. Its expression was impossible to discern as it lacked any real facial features, but it reminded me of a marble statue. The angelic figure seemed to be missing the entire stomach area and a left arm, and I wonder if my grenade had actually damaged it. That grenade sure as fuck didn’t seem to hurt anything else, like the ground or the ki-
[ ]
And it was now standing right besides me, its spear an inch away from my body. “You have a unique ability, Puppet. Truly, it has been getting more innovative with its creations” The voice belonged to the mouthless angel, its tone expressive sounding mocking and scornful.
“Still, all of its creations are flawed in some way. I wonder how long you can keep this up for”
“As long as I-”
But this world isn’t fair, and I got cut off before I could make my (I assure you) very clever quip.
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
I simply kept activating my ability over and over again, returning to reality a few minutes later. The angelic figure with a sword was now passively standing and watching me. Wait a minute, sword?
“You can summon multiple copies.”
The angel turned to face me, shaking its head “That is incorrect Puppet, I am simply splitting my attention more than I usually do.”
As it slowly stepped towards me, memories of a conversation with Charlotte came bubbling up to the front of my consciousness.
“Freaks only brag and explain their abilities for two reasons. They’re either stupid, or about to kill you for real.”
The exhaustion hit me, how far my mind had been stretched by my denial was now hitting me.
A glance around revealed that Unit 83 wasn’t in sight anymore. Not sure if he had kicked the bucket or was being held up, but it didn’t matter. I could only hope the Freak misunderstood my abilities and I could still stall until Jackson showed up.
“You packed too many ominous statements in one phrase.”
Laughter emanated from the void, probably belonging to the angel. “The inability for your mortal mind to contemplate the truth which I dispense is not a problem of mine, Puppet. Perhaps you should devote yourself to study?”
“Do you just like the sound of your own voice?”
[ ]
The ground beneath my feet was a massive crater, the air reverberating from the force of the swing. Stumbling, I can feel my ability collapse.
I’m so lucky that the attack wasn’t aimed at me, right? Cuzz that type of strike was…Cling to the fantasy, or that sword will be moved back into my brain like it should have been.
As the angel turned its back to me, I collapsed to my knees and felt my vision begin to blur as I rapidly tapped a specific button on my communicator, though I couldn’t remember the reason why.
“I must confess Puppet, that while the struggle against Samael is technically furthered in my direction by this battle here… I find no joy in this outcome for any of us. Though you may be dead soon and so will my host here, neither of you will be forgotten. Goodbye, and let the bells of the afterlife be your shepherd.”
As the figure walked towards me, I tried to think up some dramatic last words before my death but couldn’t come up with any good ones. The last thing I said was better, anyway. For a moment I pondered at what point in life everything started to go wrong, but that’s just a really simple conclusion.
Getting drafted as a slave was probably when things started to go wrong. Maybe.
My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest with how fast it went, my skin feeling like maggots were crawling underneath, bile building up in the back of my throat. The bodily reaction of someone having a breakdown of pure terror, yet I felt… calm.
Why exactly do I feel so calm? Death is approaching yet I couldn’t even conjure up any terror, nothing but peace. My heart beat even faster and my vision slowed down, the sword coming towards my brain slowly approaching as if it was slowed down in time. And yet my heart went faster, I could now feel it physically beating against my innards, begging for an escape.
My hand dug into my own chest and ripped through my front, grabbing my heart and holding it up. The angel had now long since been forgotten, removed from the stage of my actualization. My heart was pulsing even though it was disconnected from my body… why was that?
It beat, and beat, and beat. The flesh pulsated and shifted into a grotesque form, eyes and mouths forming on it as the size continued to grow forever more. The eyes weren’t afraid to meet my gaze anymore as their reddened eyes bore into me, and the mouths spoke in sync. “hello there unit 83. do you remember me?”
The memories of hell came back to me, the abomination’s screams were so very similar to this one’s chatting. Yet… the abomination sounded calm like a low whisper a mother would use to shush a child.
Words didn’t actually leave my mouth no matter what I attempted, my tongue feeling limp and bloodless. I simply nodded my head, hoping that the entity understands.
“you are about to die. and once you do that snake will eat your soul and mind whole. i can save you right now. ”
I agreed.
“that was easy. crazy what choice people make when you only give them one, huh?” The voices gained a tone of mocking happiness, taunting me. I could hear a cackling emanate through the nothingness, and my hand brought my heart back into place without me ordering it to do so.
Then my body and senses exploded into a haze of red, and I stopped being aware.