Grim walked over to the cowering man known only as Rat. “Alrighty bub, your choice. You are sad, weak, and pathetic. A coward, and utterly useless to me as you are,” he rattled off.”
“F… f… fuck you man,” he spat back, bracing for a punch that would never come.
“Spine! Excellent. Maybe you aren’t as useless as I thought. So, Rat was it?” Grim asked as the mad made a single trembling nod, “Right. Like I said, you have a choice here. I’m in the need of… help. Now, usually I would get this help through extra planar deals and the hiring of various demons and elementals. I don’t have that here. Because fuck the System. So, that being said, I need to make my own.”
The trembling man stared at him in shock. “You… want to turn me into a demon?” he asked, uncertain he was hearing Grim correctly.
“I… actually yeah, that about sums it up actually,” Grim replied, a bit caught off guard that Rat had caught on so quickly. “That was pretty fucking astute of you. You might be a weak coward, but you seem pretty smart too.”
Rat glared back at him, “Come on man, lay off the insults. IM not brave, I get it, but I’m smarter than most of the criminals in the port district. Well, maybe not Pin or the super geniuses, but I have street smarts. I’m not dumb like Shatter.”
“Stupidest fucking alias ever,” quipped Grim, to which Rat could only nod. “By the way, why did they call you Rat?”
“I can uh, control most rodents and small animals. Some cats. Small dogs even,” the super replied. “They put me as a Class I thought. I’m… not strong. So most people hire me for recon or a distraction.”
Grim nodded at that. The guy was basically fodder. Then he had an idea. A brilliantly evil, highly malevolent, idea.
Grim grinned. “What would you say to a… different kind of offer then. One in which you become far more powerful, able bodied, and free. But in return work solely for me in any capacity I wish for?”
“I don’t take it in the butt,” deadpanned Rat.
Grim roared with laughter. “I like you man… wait how old are you anyway?”
“Twenty, gonna be twenty one in a month,” Rat responded, sitting on the ground and now much less afraid. “Can you tell me more about this deal?”
“Smart kid, and yeah, to me you are a kid so don’t bother correcting me,” Grim said, wagging his finger as he cut off Rat’s protest. “And to answer your earlier question, yes I am going to turn you into a demon. However, my deals are a tad different than forceful conversion into a slavering monster.”
Rat nodded and was listening intently so Grim continued, “Now I don’t often offer these deals, because I often don’t have use for stupid mortals like other humans. But, I have offered them before. These circumstances are… odd to say the least. So, I can’t be sure how exactly it will work out. But I can tell you that you will become far stronger. Respect will be the least of what people can give to you.”
“I like the idea of people respecting me. And power. But what’s with the serving only you bit? For how long?” he asked, more than a little worry on his face.
Grim shrugged, “Until you die. Until I die. Or until I release you from the Bargain.”
Rat blinked at that. Thinking it over. He then looked up at Grim, meeting his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah lets do it. I don’t have anything to lose. I just… I have one request please. Just one, and you can keep me on board for however long you want.”
Grim, curious as to what kind of request some criminal outcast may have, nodded. “Shoot,” he said.
“I have a sister. She… shes young. Thirteen. Pin took her as a maid, mostly to keep me from blabbing about anything they had going on. He will definitely kill her,” he said, worry etched into the very grains of his face. “So please… please rescue her and take care of her. And… and… and don’t offer her any deals until shes at least eighteen? Please?”
Grim bounced his head back and forth in thought. He wasn’t sure just what exactly he would do with a thirteen year old, but the request was reasonable. He just didn’t want to make any major waves yet. Particularly nothing as large as wiping out a minor to moderate criminal organization for a child. On the other hand… that would provide him a lot of energy.
“Done. It will take some time, but they will think you are dead anyways,” Grim said, making a snap decision.
“Shush on the consequences. I haven’t sensed a divine presences since we got here, so I have some suspicions about that. How much energy is this going to cost me?” asked Grim.
With a sigh Grim held out a hand. A piece of parchment that was blood red with letters as dark as night printed on it appeared. Each word and letter were trimmed in a golden filigree, giving the document a beautiful yet starkly intimidating look and feel.
“Sign in blood. Just prick your finger or something. My contracts are direct, usually single page, and hold to the letter of our agreement. Betray the terms at your own risk,” he explained to Rat in no uncertain terms.
Rat took the page and read through it, giving Grim a slightly higher impression of the pathetic man in front of him. After a few minutes he bit into his thumb and signed the document. Which promptly burst into flame and vanished with a small of ash and brimstone.
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Then the screaming began.
Rat fell to the ground as his skin boiled and his limbs contorted. This was, often times, Grims favorite part of the contract to watch, seeing what the contracted became. More often than not they turned into some variation that matched their soul, mentality, our outlook at the world. Other times he was pleasantly surprised by what they turned into.
But alas, Grim had things to do. People to ensure were dead. He hadn’t forgotten about the fifth man Shatter smashed out into the courtyard. Ensuring that man was dead, dying, or otherwise taken care of was of paramount importance. So he reluctantly walked out of the factories front doors, leaving the screaming Rat to essentially boil alive as he transformed into his new form.
Outside of the factory itself was a large receiving yard, probably for large trucks that came in to deliver and pick up materials at some point in time. It was empty now, however, any vehicles that were left having long been removed, scavenged, or stolen.
The body of the remaining man, however, was right where he thought it would be. To Grims surprise however, the man’s chest was still moving.
He walked over and looked down at the caved in chest, wondering just how the man was still alive. Surprising him yet again, he saw the shattered plate of what looked to be high tech metal covering the chest of not a man, but a woman. In addition to the destroyed chest plate, he took note of the advanced mask that was covering her face. It seemed to have optics for various light levels, infrared, and several other devices he couldn’t identify.
“Hmm… letting this once die could be a waste. But I have no idea if she built or bought these devices. An inventor on staff would be excellent to help repair my demons,” he rumbled to himself.
He removed the mask and helmet to reveal that the woman was still conscious, gasping for air, and watching him intently. “Oh? Your still awake? Hmm… interesting. Answer me and I may allow you to live, blink once if you are an inventor of some kind,” he said, staring at her.
She immediately blinked once.
“Just know that if you are lying to me, I will kill you regardless. So, last chance to be honest. Blink once if you are an inventor of some kind,” Grim demanded in an icy tone.
The woman didn’t hesitate and blinked once, her gasps coming closer together.
“Grand. Blink one more time if you want me to, with no restrictions, save your life. Caveat, you will serve me until you die,” he said in the same tone as if discussing the weather.
His change in tone and attitude were meant to rapidly through other people off. Grim found it most affective to use on those who were not as astute mentally, or under great duress. It was an effective tactic.
However, the woman paused, even as he breaths became faster and shorter. But as she began to choke and gasp for air, she blinked. Apparently the fear of death was enough of a motivator to become someone else’s minion.
“Grand. No contract needed; full consent has been given. Bag, what’s the cost?” he asked his assistant.
Putting his hand over the woman, he injected the raw energies into her body. The energy requirements varied based on the conditions of a contract, if there was one, the hosts body, and the requirements to convert them into whatever was agreed upon. Or whatever Grim wanted them to be. More often than not however, he allowed their own minds to forge their bodies into whatever form they imagined for themselves. He didn’t tell them this of course, or there would be no fun in watching it happen.
If the woman had had enough breath left to scream, as the blood had quite literally filled her lungs to the brim, Grim was sure she would have. As it was he walked back into the factory, leaving her convulsing on the ground as her flesh began to boil away. Not unlike the process Rat had just gone through.
“Speaking of,” grunted Grim as he stepped back through the large double doors. He looked over to where Rat had once been and was, not unpleasantly, surprised. Where there was once a wispy, tall, skinny waste of a man now sat an unconscious Anubis Demon.
Anubis Demons often took the form of a humanoid with short black fur, a dog’s head, and inverted legs giving them far quicker land speed than most animals even. They were often resistant to magic and hellfire alike, and commanded animals with a near intuitive ability. Grim was very curious as to how that would affect whatever superpowers the man had once had, but he could wait to find out.
He still had one loose end to tie up.
Eyeballing the still undulating, but now silent, demonic transformation, Grim floated back up to what was quickly becoming the ‘barracks’ in his mind. He landed on the steel walkway and walked into the office, only to be startled as he saw the super woman in front of him. Leaning heaving on the wall, with blood from her ear drums leaking down the sides of her face, she stared at him in fury.
“Well now, you’re a tad more resilient than I thought you would be,” admitted Grim. Honestly I-“
He was cut off as she slammed a light beam into his chest, pushing him back several feet into the doorway of the office. Looking down at the smoking mark on his chest, he whipped his head up, annoyed. Not so much at her, she was just another weak being on this waste of an Earth. No. He was annoyed she had caught him off guard. A stronger attack could have seriously injured him in his weakened state.
“That, was annoying,” he grunted.
She breathed hard at him, struggling to keep her eyes from crossing. Honestly it was impressive to him that she had even managed to hit him.
“Bag, ready a soul containment charge. This one has a fury in her that is impressive,” Grim mentally vocalized. “It’s unfortunate she can’t hear me though. It’s a shame to harm such a body.”
“Shut up. I meant her powers. She’s cute at best, and I don’t like blondes,” he hissed back. He blurred forward, catching Solaria’s wrist. A notification went off inside his helmet, letting him know that the construct for her soul was ready. With a quick tug, he caught the super heroine off balance.
And with a quick jerk back towards where she started, he broke her neck.
Immediately the energy burst out of her, a magnitude stronger than even that from Shatter. Caught off guard Grim nearly missed snagging her soul. But he managed to catch it, placing it into the containment unit stored in the side of the helmet. Turning a soul of this magnitude would give him a servant of considerable power.
He would need to be both cautious and plan accordingly for that.
While he contemplated that he soaked up the residual energy from the supers death. The quality, not to mention quantity, of the energy was unlike any other that he had experienced yet. It could have had something to do with her power set. But something told him it was her souls unmarred purity that allowed such a level of release. Then he braced himself.
Usually when this happened some kind of god or angel descended demanding he release the soul to their custody. He waiting for nearly ten minutes, and when nothing happened it merely confirmed what he had already known.
“Bag, what have you figured out about the planet so far? Aliens? Gods? Anything out of the ordinary compared to other Earths?” Grim asked. There had to be something else going on here.
“No mention of gods?” he pressed.
Something on this world was wrong. It stank. And it wasn’t the stink of the five fresh bodies and two new demons. There was something here that was outright wrong, and Grim was going to get to the bottom of it before he escaped.
Or die trying.