"It's pedantic--pathetic!" Calypso swung her arm in an arc, flexed her claws. Acted with this fury that she never knew she was capable of, while still being vaguely human. "Everything that you've done so far has not helped us in the slightest--poking and prodding--what is the end game here? What's the goal? Do you just enjoy making people squirm for no fucking reason--what are you getting at here?"
"... I have watched you boisterous apes since you discovered caves and huddled around fire," Niles leaned forward, unconcerned. "I am one of the reasons why you were afraid of the dark. To say that I'm a judge of human character, is redundant at this point. And yet. And yet you humans manage to trick me, again and again, with your confusing codes of honor and empathy--until to disregard them the moment they don't aid you. I'm just trying to figure out why."
Calypso was scaring herself, at the fact she wasn't disturbed by that information. That she was so razor-focused yet burning with hatred in that moment.
To the point even she wondered that question herself. Why? Why is she going this far for all of them? She never cared about anyone aside from her only friend, her family... And as pitifully as it was to admit, even that had limits. Because she was so broken and lacking in that empathy. Yet here she is, defending so many people and trying to keep from humans that would dismiss and judge her without a second thought--their bid to live.
In that mess of complicated emotion, clarity triggered within her aching mind.
"Why not see it for yourself?"
Niles' gaze turned contemplative, inquisitive. His breath caught in his throat.
"Watch us. Give us the Tome, and whatever fucked up scenario that it's going to present us--watch us show you why we're so fickle as a people. You'll get your examples, we learn what we need to, you stick to your word in a sense. If we succeed then you're one step closer in figuring it out and if we fail--well, you get a good pre-show to what's prime to happen anyways. Yes?"
It was odd, looking at his smile form. It was even audible in a strange sense, as Niles huffed through his teeth in bemusement.
"No wonder she put so much faith in you. You're her, without the self-limitation."
Niles didn't give Calypso to soak that in, as he slammed the Tome upright, causing Gale to yelp out in surprise. Calypso watched as the thing continued to haggardly breath, it’s scars expanding and then shrinking out the black blood that coated the stained leather skin into a crack-like pattern. Even the pages that were slammed shut and awkwardly were folded as a result, the edges looked like fangs poking out. Because of that, the skeletal monster girl eyed a very noticeable, equally bright orange bookmark nestled into the weighty tome. Sticking out like the sore thumb it is.
“But, if we’re still being honest about our predilections, what is stopping me from not even honoring this deal, if the previous one had to be thrown away?”
“And we’re going that route,” Calypso glanced noticeably out the window, at the dimming of the light outside. “Then you’re going to deal with two monsters that will take it from you. Consequences be damned.”
“—I-It’s up to you, man!” Gale jumped in, hands on her hips in an attempt to be assertive. “I’m already, like, feeling the change already!”
Niles then hummed to herself, looking at the Tome. Calypso stiffened in response, to be ready for anything.
“Funny how we counted on the same thing…”
And before Calypso could make sense of that in time, Niles ripped open the book.
Immediately tumbled right into the ground she couldn’t see, and heard multiple thuds in quick succession. Not just realizing that everything was pitch black, but the air in the room being completely different.
The most chilling aspect of it all, was the fact that this was a darkness that Calypso couldn’t see through. The most oddly comforting part of this cursed lifestyle, and it was instantly taken away. It set a very humbling note, whatever this was.
Suddenly, there were a series of spotlights that shuddered into existence. Quickly shaking her head of confusion and grogginess, Calypso took in the surroundings.
A stage. Simply a stage, but with no end, no part of it closed off for the audience seats to be. In fact, any edge that Calypso reasoned out, it was in reality the wooden flooring fading into nothingness.
And each spotlight, it shined down on the four girls. Gale rising on her knees and rubbing her head, the bug girl curled up on her side, and poor Melissa face-down.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
And as her eyes settled on Melissa, Calypso stupidly just got the play that Niles alluded to.
She reached out, but it was already too late. The surge of agony ripped throughout her body, because she knew that she was literally being torn apart from the inside.
A tearful eye looked at Gale, but she was too overwhelmed. The nice girl was still too new to the transformation, and now her mouth was too busy screaming bloody murder—incapable of calming this beast that was going to unleash in mere moments.
Melissa’s limp body tensed all at once, to the point that she dragged her hand close to her side. Clearly showcasing that her fingers were already clawed, ripping the floorboard with minimal ease.
What followed was ghastly moaning, despite her face still pressed against a hard surface… Pained, far removed from the soft and sickly voice she had. Trembling, violently shanking as those groans became bloodcurdling screams of horror.
“Me—Muh—LISSAAAA!” Calypso squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her bones shoot out individually from her crackling back. Steadily pushing themselves out at a glacial pace, uncaring at Calypso’s so-called seniority.
Yet… As soon as she banged her already transformed arm against the floor, repeatedly both in frustration and pain, the spikes stopped in place. A new fresh hell in regards to pain, but managing to stop the transformation nonetheless. But Calypso couldn’t enjoy the victory, of course.
“Listen to me! I…uhrggg… Know that we haven’t talked--properly—since freeing you! We should’ve warned you about this—but we were pressed for time! Listen to me… D-don’t lose yourself in this! Th-the beast is just a part of you, focus on that! It’s still you, despite everything! If you… LET… GO...!”
But Calypso was forced to on her end, as she shredded into a scream as her bones finally surged into each other, connecting into her armor. The jerking about causing her to hunch forward slack as her muscles continued to tear apart, only to string themselves together, stronger.
Despite the sickening sound of it all flooding her ears… Calypso heard chuckling. No, cackling. And felt her heart drop despite hammering hundreds of beats a second.
She struggled, but Calypso forced her head from out of her squalor, to see Melissa’s pulsating body, giggle evilly with mirth.
Her moppy, curly blonde hair growing in real-time, suddenly jerking her head upward to unveil her new blood-red, glowing eyes.
“No way… This is fucking amazing.”
After finishing that proclamation, Melissa’s new fangs caused her to keep her mouth open, due to their sheer size. She couldn’t help herself, the poor girl opened her new maw to lick all over them in a pleasured daze, as her tongue morphed along the way.
The back of her shirt exploded, unveiling black and leathery wings with pale pink membranes. The joints and fingers snapping as they continue to form under the thin skin.
As Melissa rose and her ruined shirt fell onto the floor, her arms were already coated in this dark, puffy fur that acted as disconnected sleeves that stopped before the elbow. Her new claws taking up most of her digits, smooth and white as the rest of her transformed hands were black leather along with her wings.
Almost on cue, another pair of wings shot from the sides of her upper chest. Just leather, snapping themselves onto Melissa, creating a stylized bat in flight as a design she proudly bared. As more thick hair coated down her sides, almost a mockery of Calypso’s similar design of sharp patterns. Add in the legs that had fur that stopped at her thighs, it gave an appearance of ripped stockings and operatic gloves.
Melissa’s head snapped suddenly to her side. Only because the force of her long, narrow bat ears erupted from the left, the innards echoing the pale pink of her wings. Twitching on it's own, mixed with Melissa's pleasured intentions of feeling out a new appendage, as a white puff of hair grew from the base. And immediately after, letting her head jerk to the other side for her right one to twitch from the top of her head. Meanwhile, her blonde hair was quickly dying into a light blue color, as the new hair as a Consumed didn’t mix well with her actual, curly hairstyle, causing the appearance to be wild and matted.
Her intense sweating gave a sheen to her black fur, her wrists and ankles sporting spindly white streaks of hanging hair, as makeshift lace tassels. Her skin had violent, visible veins that were pumping away until every pale inch of it was colored violet, and thus the veins disappeared.
Her new body kept pushing out her back wings, which grew massively. As if Melissa herself forced them to spread outward, as a sign of power and status.
But she was too busy giggling. Huffing out the thick steam from her maw. Planting a claw against her violet cheek, lulling out her long raspberry tongue in happiness. No matter how dark the source of it was or came from.
It was so disarming for Calypso, who finished her own transformation moments ago… But was stuck. It hit too close to home, watching this. She knew that this was the Fates that Be’s mockery of her, in their cosmic sense of karma.
But not only that... This is too much--far too much flair, to be some Bat Consumed. Suddenly, Cassie's fucked up experiment wasn't just of malice after all.
Melissa’s laughter soon got thinner by the second, losing itself and stopping. The new Vampire Consumed rose to her clawed feet, oddly still having the massive patch on her neck. The tainted veins that rain up and down from her exposed flesh to limb flaring to life.
“Theeeere we go… Finally.”
The vampire monster girl ripped it off, and what followed had to be seen to be believed.
Instead of the blood pouring out—or spurting like a fountain—or the fact that it isn’t tainted black… The dark red, congealed blood softly twirled itself around Melissa’s neck, the drunken girl smirking as she gently helped it along. The massive shape of blood wrapped itself around the neck, and fashioned itself into a scarf as it settled in place. One still can see the rushing of blood on the surface, yet it couldn’t leave out of the shape.
The poor girl opened her arms, extending out them in showmanship. She let her massive wings fold around her hips, giving her the appearance of an elegant, twitching dress.
“Now... I can finally have fun, for once in my life,” Melissa grinned with her very pronounced fangs.