~~~Nefraxis~~~
Nefraxis appeared underground in a jumble of panicked thoughts. Fear was the predominant emotion, and they no longer assumed that Morgrath was a coward for fleeing from that... That human! No, that monster!
As if summoned by their thoughts, Morgrath emerged from the lair entrance ahead, followed by the most promising recruits they'd found in this dungeon. All of them were still E-grade; all of them were worthless!
Morgrath's flesh grinned with a knowing and mocking smirk. "I told you not to go, didn't I?" Their gaze drifted lower. "Let me guess, he sent you fleeing for your life, and you came here? Instead of completing the mission, you led him here, like a coward! Who do you think should be fed into a ritual now?"
"Silence!" Nefraxis hissed. "You are to withdraw at once to the..."
"Are you sure you don't need help to get that off?" Morgrath drawled.
"No! Now withdraw!"
Morgrath went toward the teleportation ritual, waving the others along, but slowly. "I told you we should take his beast first."
Nefraxis ignored the comment but sighed inwardly. Morgrath already wouldn't shut up about claiming the Beast Lord, and they would only be more insufferable after this. Besides, there were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Like the human handprint burning inside their soul...
The savage was an amateur of the highest order, but then he went and did this. It was soul magic and crude beyond belief, but that didn't seem to matter when it was so strong, and by all the gods of accursed light, it was strong!
What was wrong with that human!? Souls did not have this weight! His attribute would have to be in the thousands to... was that it? Was that how he held a source? But no, even a soul that strong shouldn't be enough. The source would still burn his flesh...
Then there was the way it had killed Ruish. Psionics could not do what that human had done. He had done something to time itself... No one tampered with time! Those who attempted to do so either vanished without a trace, or they took entire cities with them when they vanished without a trace!
The human had been well on his way to doing the same with all of them. Nefraxis knew he had! There had been something for an instant there, a single instant of... nothing, followed by a... presence, and the void hadn't taken them.
More than that, Nefraxis could have sworn the Great System had spoken in that frozen instant. Only now there was nothing.
It was one thing for the human to break time—plenty of fools had done the same over the eons—but it was impossible for that human to undo his idiocy. Which meant someone or something had interfered, and the Great System did not protect fools from themselves.
There was a very slim chance that the Eternal itself had intervened on his children's behalf to spare them from oblivion's touch, but it was foolish to even entertain such thoughts. As valuable as this world would undoubtedly prove to the multiverse at large, it was still only a single world among nearly infinite others, and the Highest Lord would never bestow attention, much less aid, upon the lowest of the low like them.
Despite that, Nefraxis couldn't shake the thought. They knew someone had interfered. A lesser god, most likely. Perhaps one of the High Lords. But what if? What if the Eternal was watching?
They were always told to comport themselves as if that were the case, though everyone assumed that meant that the High Lord’s underlings would be watching in the Eternal's stead. But what if?
Nefraxis didn't know what was required to receive the Great System's permission to reach inside a dungeon's walls as must have just happened. But it couldn't be easy... the Great System was absolute.
Nefraxis carved off the infected piece of their soul without hesitation at the agony it caused and stepped through the teleportation circle. They could not waver. No matter who watched. The mission was all that mattered, and Morgrath may have been more correct than they expected with their mocking. A sacrifice might be the only path forward now. It might be the only way they could ever stop that impossible human.
~~~Caffeine~~~
Caffeine huffed in relief when Dearest Human stopped being scary angry and instead started being asleep. Sleeping was much better than angry, and Dearest Human was very tired. He would feel better after a nap because naps were the best!
Best Human caught the sleeping Dearest Human and put him down gently. Which was nice because Caffeine was still very tired. Almost too tired for catching. Instead, he crawled onto Dearest Human and curled up for a nap. Naps with Dearest Human were the best naps! Even if there were a lot of Stinky Not Humans running around...
It was okay, though, because all the Not Dearest Humans were here and they could make the bad things dead without his help.
"Can you heal him!?" Best Human said something to Warm Light, and he smelled like a lot of things... but mostly worried.
"I can't!" Warm Light smelled even more like worried, but he also made the very nice light. It was like the sun shining just the right amount of warm on his fur. Perfect for napping! "It's like he's... not wounded."
"What about you, Zeke!?" Warm Light's littermate was very upset, and Caffeine wanted to give her a lick to tell her that everything was good now... but he was too tired to get up again.
"I'm... I think I’m... fine." It was okay because Warm Light gave her a good cuddle for him.
"But it's still there!" The cuddle didn't work. Angry Metal was still afraid. Warm Light should have tried licking her face. Everyone always felt better after a good face lick.
Caffeine thought he understood why she was upset. Warm Light had a tiny bit of cold light on his chest... It was very bad. Caffeine wanted to growl at it to go away, and he would... after a nap. He was so tired.
He had been very tired ever since he had to growl at the Dark Not Human.
It had been such a very, very big, very Dark Not Human, and Caffeine had growled his biggest growl ever! He'd growled too big! So big that he almost hurt his Dearest Humans... and that would be really bad!
He'd had to make himself small again, and afterward, he was very tired—too tired to wake up. Even too tired to eat!
That was almost as bad as making Dearest Human sad... but only almost.
Caffeine had played a lot with both Dearest Humans in the sleep place, but it wasn't as fun as playing in the awake... and he could smell Dearest Human's sad sometimes. He didn't like playing when Dearest Human was sad...
He smelled other things, too. Bad things. The worst was the Not Dearest Human who smelled like Bad Hungry.
The Dark Not Human had wanted to eat Dearest Human for a snack. That was okay. It was so very big that it didn't realize that Dearest Humans were not snacks. Not until Caffeine growled big enough for it to understand that he would eat it instead if it didn't stop trying to eat his Dearest Humans.
It stopped trying, and Caffeine wasn't mad. It was only hungry, and he knew hungry. He ate lots of little Not Humans for snacks when he was hungry, especially if they tried to bite him first.
But the Bad Hungry wasn't hungry. It had wanted to eat Dearest Human not for food but only for hurting. It hadn't listened when Caffeine told it his Dearest Human wasn't for eating. It was not a good boy! If Caffeine hadn't been so tired, he would have given it a lot of bites until it stopped being alive!
Dearest Human had made it not alive instead. So he didn't have to. Dearest Human was the best!
Caffeine wagged his tail when Dearest Human pet him, and he tried to roll over for a belly rub... until he woke up and remembered. Dearest Human was sleeping now. But it wasn't all sad... because he smelled something good. He smelled chicken!
Caffeine scrambled out from underneath a blanket while the breeze made a bunch of noise with Windy Human's voice. "Get back to your post, Jerry!"
"I don't take orders from tyrants!" It was Food Human, and he had a bunch of chicken! He was the Best Food Human! "I only take orders from one person, and he's a better man than you will ever be!"
"You're talking about Caffeine, aren't you?" Crunchy Rock Human said his name, and Caffeine saw one of his rocks fly past to hit a Stinky Not Human chasing Best Food Human. That was good, because the Stinky Not Humans might make the chicken stinky!
"Of course!" Best Food Human crouched beside him and held out a piece of chicken! "Here, Caff. Are you..." Caffeine's stomach made a loud noise as he grabbed the chicken, and then everything else went away as he ate the best snack ever! Then another one! And another!
"Guess he was hungry," Warm Light said something while he gave Caffeine a nice back scratch.
"Of course he is! Poor guy hasn't eaten in days." Best Food Human stood up. "I've got a few more chickens already cooked. Just keep feeding him while I..."
"Stay with him, Jerry. I'll get it." Fire String waved her hot string and then went flying away after it, but Caffeine barely noticed as he ate and ate! It was so good!
Something thumped nearby, and Caffeine only opened his eyes long enough to see Best Human back again. The other Best Human. "Bernard, keep everyone away from that thing." He had a shiny rock in his hand, and there was blood on his fingers. "I think I almost lost my hand getting the core out of there."
"What the hell happened out here!?" Best Food Human said something, but Caffeine didn't care because he kept having pieces of chicken in his hand! "It sure felt weird as fuck from inside..."
"I honestly can’t say... and I'm glad you brought Caff some food, Jerry, but I really would prefer it if you were inside helping protect the kids."
"It's just some zombies. Barbie can handle it easy, and why are you all still out here if you're that worried?"
"Look at him, Jerry." Best Human smelled like afraid. "He said he was evolving... and all I know is that I really don't want to find out what he was evolving into."
"He wouldn't hurt the kids..." Best Food Human lifted the blanket covering Dearest Human. "Probably. He’s freaky looking, for sure. But probably not too bad if you get some clothes back on him."
"He looks like a fucking monster!" Angry Metal was still angry while she played with her metal. She was angry a lot. Maybe some chicken would make her feel better? Chicken always made everything better! Caffeine dropped the piece in his mouth and pushed it to her with his nose before grabbing another.
"Ah, what the fuck!?" It didn't make her feel better, but that was probably because she moved her head before it could land in her mouth. Instead, the chicken bounced off her face into the dirt... That was okay. The other Not Dearest Humans made happiness noises, and she would be happy too once she ate her chicken. Besides, a little dirt would only make her chicken extra crunchy and delicious!
"Guess you shouldn't talk shit..."
"Fuck you, Jerry! And... I wasn't talking shit. Look at him!"
"On that note," Best Human said something and held up the shiny rock. "I'm going to use this core to hit D-grade. Right now."
Caffeine smelled a lot of nervous from the Not Dearest Humans, but then Fire String came back with even more chicken! He barely even noticed that the Windy Human came along with her. "Are you sure taking his core is wise?"
"Not cool, Nate." Best Food Human was upset too. "Stealing his core while he's down... You really think he'll be okay with that?"
"I know he's not close enough to evolve yet, and we need a D-grade on our side as soon as possible."
"He said he knew where they were hiding," Windy Human said things.
Best Human shook his head. "No, it's something else, and besides, he never got a chance to tell us where they..."
"I know." Angry Metal said something but didn't look up when everyone else looked at her. "I know where that thing went." She smelled like afraid and guilty, and she still hadn't eaten her chicken. Humans were strange sometimes...
"You planted a tracker!?" Windy Human pulled a paper from his pocket. "Can you mark it on the map?"
"I... can only feel it." Angry Metal pointed and shivered. "It's that way."
"Bernard, I want either you or your fastest runner! Eve... can you guide someone to it using a spider!?"
"I..." Angry Metal got a little less angry. "Sure."
Then a bunch of Fire Dogs came running out of the trees. Most of them spread out to chase the Stinky Not Humans, but one came over to say hi. "Fire Dog!" Caffeine woofed happily. It had been so long since he played with her! "Do you want some chicken!?"
"That's not my name! And I don't want your slobbered on chicken!"
Caffeine gave her a piece of chicken anyway. He was feeling a lot better after his snack. Almost better enough to play chase with Fire Dog! But he didn't want to leave Dearest Human alone while he was sleeping... "Sorry, Fire Dog. We will have to play later."
"This is no time for playing, you idiot! There are zombies attacking your home!"
That was no reason not to have fun... and besides, lots of Not Dearest Humans were already making the Stinky Not Humans stop being alive. They were Good Not Dearest Humans. They were helping keep Dearest Human safe, and Caffeine didn't have to get any yucky tastes in his mouth either!
They probably knew they were all good boys, but Caffeine always liked to hear the magic words even when he knew he was a good boy. So he said them, just in case.
"You are all Good Boys!" Caffeine howled, and he was right—a lot of the Not Dearest Humans smelled better after hearing the magic words!
The howl made him sleepy again, so Caffeine ate more chicken with his eyes closed while the Not Dearest Humans talked about something. Angry Metal gave Fire Dog's Dearest Human a little metal spider, a not-for-chewing spider that smelled like her, and then he ran away with Fire Dog.
That was sad, but Best Human sat down beside him and gave Caffeine a head scratch to make him feel better. He was a good human.
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"Adrian, see if you can do anything to help Stanley. Caff and the rest of you watch my back. I'll be quick." He said something and then laid down for a nap too.
Caffeine thought that was a good idea, but then Best Food Human came running back with another huge chicken! He really was the best! Caffeine ate and ate, and he watched the Stinky Not Humans stop being alive more and more.
It was almost quiet when the chicken ran out, and Caffeine closed his eyes for a little nap. His eyes popped open again when Best Human finished his nap.
Best Human stood up very fast. Faster than anyone else noticed him moving. He looked at Caffeine and Dearest Human, and Caffeine looked back. Best Human's nap wasn't only a nap. It was a getting bigger and faster nap that Dearest Human sometimes took... Best Human was a lot bigger now, and he smelled like worried when he looked away at the trees.
Caffeine didn't smell anything in the trees, but Best Human ran into the dark anyway, and Caffeine watched him go until the loud noise of his running made a lot of dirt and leaves jump in surprise... A lot of Not Dearest Humans jumped too.
"Holy shit... Did anyone see him move?" Bright Light said something very loudly.
"No... but I can see which way he went, and it's the wrong way." Fire String smelled confused.
"Maybe he's just trying to escape before Stanley wakes up?" Angry metal smelled a little like laughing but also like afraid.
"He knows what he's doing." Slow Light only smelled serious. He smelled like that a lot...
Caffeine didn't look at any of them. He kept watching where Best Human had run off because he knew Best Human was worried. He was running very fast to make something very bad stop being alive...
~~~Nate~~~
Nate took a deep breath as he sank into the evolution space, then just stood where he was and let the weight of everything that had happened crash down on his shoulders. Here where no one could see his terror. It was a lot. Zeke turning into a monster before his eyes... then Stanley.
He couldn’t help but shudder at the memory of what had happened. They had almost all died. Stanley had almost killed them. Not even killed. He’d nearly erased them from existence—that wasn’t any part of his plan! How had he missed something that absolutely fucked!?
Then there had been the aftermath... Stanley, glowing like a fallen star even as his body withered away into something very far from flesh. The look in his eyes when first Caffeine and then Nate had stood in his path... It wasn’t the rage everyone knew the man for; it was something much more terrible. Something cold. Something ruthless. Something... unforgiving.
If Caffeine hadn’t stopped him... well, getting erased from existence was only one of the ways they’d almost all died tonight. Whatever he’d been turning into wasn’t human, and it definitely wouldn’t care about any humans after the fact. Nate knew that much without question.
Now he had stolen that... man’s core. He’d stolen it from a monster frozen in time so thick it felt like glass. Not to mention the notification he’d seen upon sticking his hand inside...
Don’t touch things you don’t understand. Seriously. If you’re lucky, it will delete you from existence. If you’re unlucky, it won’t.
Luckily, the core had been on the edge, though it had taken every scrap of his power to pull the damn thing free... minus one fingertip. Adrian had healed it just fine, and Nate wasn’t even that upset about it. Not about that. What he would never forget was what he’d felt when everyone had teetered on the edge of oblivion...
Not only that, but he knew that something terrible was coming. Out there in the darkness, something was about to happen. Something on top of everything else he’d seen tonight. Something that could still wipe them all of the map if he didn’t stop it in time.
He knew his time was short as he looked out at the evolution orbs hovering before him, but he still needed a few moments to just... feel. To acknowledge how badly he’d fucked up. Worse than any other time before. Everything was off the rails, and his only hope now was that something in here would give him the power he needed to see it through.
There were a lot of options to choose from...
He went through them quick and narrowed his choices down to the three best. Not quite what he was expecting, but they were within range.
[Prophet](D-grade Human)
Chart the future for a chained god, be it the actual future or the future you wish to bring into existence.
You have already started down this dangerous path. Continue and risk the chains slipping through your grasp.
Forge your intuition into a sword. Carve the future as you see fit.
Forge your intuition into a shield. Hide your true intentions from all who might doubt you.
Traits: [Chained Prophet]
It sounded less than ideal, but the bonuses were nothing to scoff at.
[Chained Prophet]
You have guided a chained god along his path. For his good or ill.
You have led a chained god into a role as your protector. Continue to shelter beneath his power.
You have convinced a chained god to fight your battles for you. Continue to let him handle the burden of violence.
Effects:
+10000% Effectiveness of All Physical Attributes
+10000 - 20000% Effectiveness of All Mind Attributes depending on proximity to the chained god
+1% - 1000% Effectiveness of Intuition Attribute depending on proximity to the chained god
He didn't like the implications that he was manipulating Stanley, but his actions this far had kept a lot of people alive, himself included, and strengthening his intuition could only help him going forward.
Still, he had other options.
[Almost a King](D-grade Human)
Stand at the top. Or near enough.
Not everyone has what it takes to be a king. But you have the chance to come closer than most.
Rise to your station. Stand above all but one.
Traits: [Puppet King]
This one was slightly condescending. But not without its perks.
[Puppet King]
You have been a puppet leader for a chained god. Now become a puppet king.
You have led thousands beneath the banner of a chained god. Even if many did not know it.
You seek to gather all beneath your banner. Now do so at the behest of another.
Effects:
+20000% Effectiveness of All Base Attributes
+0.1% Effectiveness of All Base Attributes per subject beneath your banner
Condescending, but it gave him the most straight-up power. With something like this, he was certain the undead would no longer be a danger to him. It might take a while to kill one of them, but that was all it would take. Plus, his boosting skill would only propel it further. Even defeating Stanley might be within his reach... though he wasn't sure how that would work given his evolution mentioned the man.
Something about Stanley was very off, aside from today’s events, and Nate was almost certain it involved the source. He was betting the undead knew more, but they weren't all that talkative. At least they hadn't been before tonight. When the skeleton talked about a king... and he had a feeling it wasn’t talking about anything close to what he was seeing here.
A number of people had seen similar mentions of the chained god in their E-grade evolutions, all of them close to Stanley in some way. As tempting as it was to push everyone toward him, Nate had erred on the side of caution and asked those people to keep the specific wording of their evolutions to themselves. It wasn't a big ask since they all knew Stanley, and no one who knew the man wanted to piss him off.
Which brought him to his last choice, and arguably, the best one.
[A Wise Man](D-grade Human)
It takes a strong man to admit his mistakes, but it takes a wise man to learn from them.
You have made mistakes and tried to learn from them. Learn more.
You have trusted in your intuition to guide your actions, and it has led you into treacherous waters. Trust it to guide you out the other side.
Traits: [Wisdom]
Strangely, this one didn't mention Stanley, despite being on par with the others that did. Maybe that was part of the reason he liked it.
[Wisdom]
Turn your intuition inward and guide others through the lens of yourself laid bare.
You have seen your mistakes. See them all and do not shy away.
You have looked into yourself. Look ever deeper.
Effects:
+10000% Effectiveness of All Base Attributes
+10000% Effectiveness of Intuition Attribute
It was a slight tradeoff from the previous two options, but Nate liked it more. Mostly for the stronger boost to his intuition. He couldn't deny that it had gotten him this far, but he also couldn't deny that he might have done better...
The one downside of going first like this was that he didn't know what the baseline for D-grade evolutions should be. Though he assumed this was a good one going by what he knew of people's E-grade choices. A tenfold increase fit well with the number of attributes they needed to advance, but what stood out most was getting such a large boost to a bonus attribute like intuition. Hell, he hadn't heard of anyone getting more than one hundred percent to their soul attribute... and that had been an evolution involving Stanley.
Nate only spent a few seconds deciding. He wanted physical power, but he also wanted to save more people than himself. Stanley, for all his power, still hadn't managed to save Zeke... Nate should have picked up the slack there. He should have known better; he should have seen more clearly, and he would.
Evolution to [A Wise Man](D-grade Human) has begun.
~~~June~~~
"Where are you going now!?" Quinn demanded. "The tower is right there!" He was being extra bitchy. Not that he didn't have a good reason, what with his wounds and all, but was this really the time? It wasn't even like he had to run, not with Brett carrying him—well, Brett's body, at least.
"Stanley went that way!" June said between panting breaths. "Which means we're probably under attack back home!"
"But..."
"It means that Adrian is probably on his way there already," Roland chimed in with a laugh. "So if you want to get healed..."
Despite the extra exertion, June didn't mind the detour. She could use more time to decide what the hell she was going to do after this shitshow of a night, and she didn't want to put herself into Walter's clutches without knowing what exactly he was capable of. She might never leave once she went inside...
There was still a good chance Stanley might kill her, especially after she'd agreed to get Zeke for the cannibal. Hell, Nate might want to kill her for that, too. But he hadn't killed her yet... and she knew he could have when he flew overhead. It would have been nothing for him.
Maybe Stanley hadn't been aware of what was happening? Though Quinn and Roland remembered everything... but aside from offering her a token condolence for Brett's death, she didn't think they knew she'd copied his domination. They wouldn't be so blase about it if they knew, would they?
More importantly, did Stanley know? He couldn't blame her for choosing her own life over Brett, could he? Who was she kidding? There was no telling what might set that lunatic off, and if he decided to kill her, then there was literally nothing she could do to stop him.
He'd let Brett live with the ability... and he shouldn't know that she had mind-swayed the women before, but if he knew she could copy skills, then it wasn't a huge leap to make that connection.
But where else could she go? Without Zeke, she would starve to death no matter what she did, unless... June slowed to a walk as she weighed what was most likely her only remaining option. What if she joined the undead?
"What is it now?" Quinn complained.
"Some of us are running on our own two feet!" June snapped. "I need to catch my breath."
"I feel fine," Roland said, and she ignored him.
Sure, she'd have to become undead to join, but was it really as bad as everyone liked to say it was? They were probably just being racist. She'd be alive... in a manner of speaking. That was a better deal than Nate or Stanley were likely to give her.
She would need to ditch Quinn and Roland... or kill them, since she couldn't simply dominate their minds and bring them along. Her copy of the skill wasn't strong enough to control more than one mind at a time, and she could feel Brett like a massive weight in her head.
Brett could have done it, but she couldn't use him as a loophole. She'd already tried on a monster. Brett could destroy its mind, but he couldn't control it after the fact. Probably because there wasn't enough of him left in there...
Damn you, Stanley! If he'd had his temper tantrum a little earlier... or better yet, not dragged them all into his revenge...
June's thoughts derailed when she felt... something. It was coming from up ahead—a whispering. She kept walking but sent a thought to Brett, stopping him in his tracks along with his passenger. "Watch them, Roland. I think there's something coming."
"I can..."
"Stay with them!" she snapped, and then took off jogging before he could protest again.
A red glow slowly came into view ahead, and she didn't understand until she laid eyes on the core. Then she knew exactly what it was. She hadn't seen it before, but there was no mistaking what she was looking at now. It was the cannibal's core. No doubt about it, even if it was red instead of blue...
June approached slowly, her thoughts racing, and stopped, standing over the glowing crystal. She stared at it for long moments, afraid to touch it for some reason... until she heard a noise behind her and snatched up the core before anyone else might.
It felt nauseating in her hand, but she couldn't help the smile that spread on her face as she read through the notification that appeared in her head. It was long. She'd thought her power was good, but this was something else entirely. Her handful of copied skills couldn't compare to the hundreds of skills that the monster had... taken. Not all of them were good, but enough of them were... and some of them were beyond great.
She clutched the core tight to her chest, trying to block the light as her gaze darted across the dark city surrounding her. Stanley must have dropped it, and he was probably long gone by now.
No... he hadn't dropped it.
June could feel it calling out to her. Stanley hadn't dropped the core. He'd rejected it, and so it rejected him. It didn't want to sit in a pocket. It wanted to be used. It wanted... her. All that power up for grabs... and it had chosen her!
The realization felt better than it should have... she wasn't a cannibal, and she didn't want to be a cannibal, did she? June shook her head and immediately felt better. Because she didn't want to be a cannibal... and that was just it. She didn't have to be one! She would gain all the skills if she took the class, but that didn't mean she had to eat anyone! That monster had already done the work for her...
Better yet, some of those skills looked like they would be more than enough for her to hide out away from the prying eyes of people like Stanley or Nate. It was perfect!
Yes, I accept!
June almost groaned aloud in ecstasy and simultaneously nearly threw up as terribly wonderful power flooded into her in a raging torrent. It felt amazing... and horrible.
Class Removed: Copycat (Epic)
All Class Skills Removed.
New Class Gained: Cannibal King (Mythic) - Level 145 (Expert)
Class Skill Gained: Feast of Devouring (Mythic) - Level 110 (Expert)
Class Skill Gained: Aura of the Docile Feast (Mythic) - Level 165 (Expert)
Class Skill Gained...
The notifications went on for what felt like forever, first the class skills, then the countless non-class skills that followed. Each one of them injecting a little more power. Each one of them making her feel a little more powerful, a little more sick, and a little more... hungry.
"Are you okay!?" The voice startled her, and June realized she was on her knees. Quinn and Roland stood over her, worried expressions on both of their faces. "Brett's dead..."
She'd forgotten about that. She'd lost the copied skill along with her class, and Brett went with it. It was unfortunate that she couldn't eat him and take the domination skill permanently... Wait; she didn't want to eat any...
"June!" Quinn shouted, and she blinked up at him. "Are you..." She activated her aura, and he shut up. That was much better, and Quinn had a useful power. He would be delicious... No! I don't...
"Yes," a voice rang through her head, feeling both like her own thoughts but also foreign. Terribly foreign. "I do want to eat him."
No! She stood up, but it wasn't her decision to do so. "Oh, yes!"
She strolled lazily around the two men, her finger tracing a line along Quinn's jaw and neck. "Yes, this one will be a tasty treat." It was her voice, but she wasn't the one speaking... then her hand came up, twisting this way and that, as if she were inspecting her nails. "Hmm, this body will require some adjustment, but it is acceptable."
June tried to scream, but her voice was no longer her own. Instead, she laughed. "I told you that you would serve, and you have done well. Though I would have preferred the other one... Ah well, I will have him eventually. As for you, my dear, I'm afraid I don't need you cluttering up the place."
There was a horrible tearing sensation, and June could no longer feel her body. She was still looking out of her eyes, but it was far away... as if she were watching through a TV screen.
She didn't have time to process the feeling before a new one took its place. It was confusing, like someone had just punched her in the... Then a fist crashed into her—its—face.
Except it became her face an instant before the fist landed. She felt her flesh tear. She felt an eye burst. She felt the bones of her face shatter and cave inward.
Then space twisted, and she got to feel what it was like to teleport. Distantly. Her broken face took up most of her attention, and more injuries followed. She'd only just appeared when a fist drove through her ribcage and shredded her left lung. Another fist followed the first inside, reaching for her heart...
She teleported again, but this time the twisting space didn't take her far. A hand followed after her, reaching into the twisted space faster than she could escape. It latched onto her wrist in that place between spaces and dragged her violently back into reality.
Her elbow shattered faster than she could process, and then her lower arm was simply gone. The next punch shattered her sternum and turned her heart into pulp... and then her remaining eye went dark as her skull turned inside out.
The pain didn't stop. Not even when she could no longer feel her body. Instead, it turned into a terrible gnashing of grinding teeth that chewed her up. She could only watch, helpless to scream or turn away, as that red light took her place inside a once again physically whole body, even as it devoured what little was left of her.
It was a small comfort when she witnessed the damage continue piling on. The thing that had taken over her body would die, but she would never get to see it happen...
You have died.
That message wasn't comforting, but then it no longer mattered.