Chapter Text
JUNE 1. 1914. SOFIA - 06:45
Screams..... protests..... so many protests.....
Yet the hoard never ceased. The creatures all alike protest in unity, their yells loud enough to echo throughout the entire city. The fires spread through the streets, gun shots audiable from the crowd as the authorities struggle to mantain some level of peace between the rowdy citizens, all headed for the one and only escape from this land. The rails of the monstrous structure bend and creek beneath its loud engine roar, smoke trailing behind its tracks. One after another screaming at the poor policemen. The creatures run over one another in a desperate attempt to climb onto the beast itself, lizards, vultures, slucats, scavangers, mice and yet none of them succeed. Falling off of the train, the path of blood and rotten flesh trails even longer, coating the tracks in a crimson red hue. The engines roar once again, trailing off into the distance as the citizens run forawrds, tackling one another for the long gone chance to escape. A sudden yet thunderous roar silenced the crowd, making them cower beneath their shadows. One followed another, then tens appeared, then hundreds, then none. A massacre on the city foundations, coated in a layer of pained cries for help, an unheard plea. It's a true shame no one was left standing in the old soil of Sofia...
...But who is to blame?
LIVE BROADCAST - ALL PARTICIPANTS ANNONYMOUS - FORCED
MODERATOR - ATTENTION ALL, THIS IS NOT A TEST. A UNIDENTIFIED RAPIDLY SPREADING FATAL SOURCE OF AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE HAS BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE FACILITY GROUNDS OF CENTRAL SOFIA, EASTERN OKLAHOMA CITY, CENTRAL NEW YORK CITY, WESTERN TOKYO, SOUTHERN EDINBURGH AND NORTHERN BUCHAREST. IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR OF ANY OF THE MENTIONED CAPITALS, WE ADVISE YOU AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO LEAVE THE CITY NOW.
END OF BROADCAST
LIVE BROADCAST - ALL PARTICIPANTS ANNONYMOUS - PRIVATE
NSH: Now what was that about? In my city? Ridiculous!
NN: Oh gods and beyond.... we've just started recovering from the revolution! What now? A pandemic?!
UI: Does anyone in here know anything about this, or is someone too ashamed to admit anything?
SOS: Any information about the train?
BSM: Well, it is going to Okahoma city tomorrow. NSH, I think it would be smart if you left with your people before everything gets worse for you. But for now, I heard UST had boarded the train with some of my peers. If my systems are correct, next stop after Oklahoma city would be Kyiv.
NN: Hold your horses there, isnt Moon in central Oklahoma? I heard they've taken down the power in there.
BSM: ...
NSH: Better question, who are you?
BSM: That is none of your concerns as of right now. Although, I must say, thank you for your location.
NSH: Answer me!
END OF BROADCAST - FORCED
JUNE 2. 1914. BARCELONA - 05:58
Oh what a beautiful morning it was, birds were chirping, the two suns have risen and there is a screaming vulture on the cliffside of Seven Red Suns' structure. The citizens, still asleep, lay silent amidst the ongoing chaos on the outside of the city barriers, unaware of the dangers bellow. The three suns rise up above the clouds, casting a golden array of light inside of the colourful windows which shield the creatures from within. Yet, a thunderous roar of the clouds bellow makes itself know? Bellow? It is too loud to be from the ground, however? From where did these abnormal ones come from?
A purple-ish slugcat rattles awake from his slumber, shaken by the loud noise from above. In a hurry, he opens his window. Peering up from the sky, a strong contrast between the golden sunrays and the dark blue clouds strikes his white eyes, a small flicker of lightning makes itself known as a sudden hue of green appears from the darkness. The winds cease and so does the lightning. The creatures all alike stare from their windows as the suns were slowly swallowed whole by the dark array of clouds above. Then, a droplet falls from the skies, not clear however. A rancid smell of gasoline and smoke follows suit, urging the residents to shut their windows tight. Another droplet, this time a murky black, as if ink itself was raining down on them. A strong gust of wind abruptly interrupted the citizens all over the structure, rattling it whole till its complex legs bent snd screetched, echoing throlugh the region. Spearmaster bolted out of his house, running as fast as his little legs could carry him to his creator. The wind screamed in the streets, carrying debris around like feathers of a bird.
With a loud bang, the doors of the chamber bursted open, yet to his suprise, there was no light inside of the chamber, just silence....
Or that's what he thought.
A monstrous growl made it presence known as Spearmaster snapped his head around only to see two pure white dots staring right at him, a smell of burnt meat and ash radiating off of her. A familiar voice, now distorted, spoke to him.
".... I see.... I feel.... bow down to the scarlet Queen.... for mercy is all she sees..."
"Rose- No no no no no.... Rose..... Y-you can't be here, who, no, what are you? You are not Rose! STOP PRETENDING TO BE ROSE!"
"Uneducated I see.... join us..... bow down to the scarlet Queen. Let her light guide you..."
A hand as large as Spearmaster himself landed near him, its claws the size of his legs and as sharp as blades, coated in a layer of ink and bullets. An eye hanged from her exposed skull, dried muscle visible from her wounds. A trail of blood followed her steps in the darkness, her intestines dragging along the floor of the chamber with sickly splotches as they moved. The stench of rot and desease radiating off of her. Spearmaster yanked a spear out of his tail, launching it at Rose in a futile attempt to scare her off. The spear klanked off of her face with a subtle crack. Her growls echoed through the chamber, staring right at him before lunging, breaking his arm on impact. he cried out, shoving his fingers into her vulnerable eyes, making her scream in agony.
He scrambled off of the floor, bolting for the exit. Yet, the exit was gone. Half of the structure was gone.... How...... why.... no... n-no no no no NO NO NO NO NO! Where- no when..... Oh my god-
Panic surged through him as he scrambled towards the nearest intact pipe, squeezing through. He ran till his legs practically screamed at him to stop, yet he only continued, Rose following at mockingly slow pace. A pair of talons swept him up from the ground, making him shreek in utter terror before quickly getting shut out by a familiar face.
"Christie? Why the fuck are in here?! Literally everyone has evacuated from the structures except you I guess!"
"When did that happen!? Just half an hour ago I was sleeping in my bed, minding my business and now this?!"
"Haven't you seen the news?"
"The power in here was out for the past week because something chewed through the electrical systems!"
"I mean, I heard sirens all the way from my flock evacuation, so I assumed your iterator already told you!"
"I mean, they did but none of us actually got the time to properly evacuate or some shit."
"I swear one of these cycles.... thank lord Rusty was kind enough to send me your location! Like man, I saw the ink clouds rolling in like-"
Out of nowhere, a loud screetch echoed from bellow, nearly knocking Sebastian and Christie out of the sky. Both glanced down, only to see Rose getting manhandled by Five Pebbles himself, whom just so happened to get caught inside of the spore storm and get pinned down under tons of rubble, single handedly knocking down seven infected troops twice his size.
"What the actual fuck is going on down there."
"Eh, he's gonna be fineee-"
"SEBASTIAN!"
"Ugh, fineeeee.... you owe me big time chibi."
"Oh go fuck yourse- oh and he's downed Rose.... eugh..... oh fuck.... damn..."
"Oh my god.... that look's nasty..."
"And we're down seven."
"Do I have to carry him? I'm scared."
"Oh don't worry, he's a sweetheart towards me and my creator, so I think you're just gonna be fineeeeee- HOLY SHIT-"
"Fifty bucks."
"Twenty five."
"Thirty."
"Deal."
Yet to their suprise, the moment the vulture glanced back down, the grey beast was nowhere to be seen.... well kind of-
"Christie. We told you to evacuate the citizens and mostly, yourself a week ago."
Christie yelped in suprise, snapping his head over to his left. There he was, just barely grasping onto a yet another vulture who just so happens to be struggling to lift his fatass up. Christie raised an eyebrow, climbing up Sebastian himself.
"Jesus man, anyways, have you seen Evangeline, I mean, they've been in their chamber just yestercycle."
"They're visiting Rusty."
"Ohhhhh, so that's why you were talking about Rusty the other cycle.... wait, isn't he in the quarantine zone?"
"Not to be a party pooper, but I think Elizabeth and I should, you know, hurry up before the spore storm catches up with us and burns us to ash?"
"Oh fuck-"
"Yeah, welcome back to reality, Christie."
"SEBASTIAN- HELP I CAN'T- AUUUGHHHHH-"
"Oh my god, HOW HEAVY ARE YOU?! Better question, HOW ARE YOU CARRYING HIM?
"SEBASTIAAAAAAAAN!"
"Ugh, fineeee..... seriouslycan'thaveanythingniceinthisworldeventhefuckinvoidseaisdeadfuckinhatetheseslavessomuchaughhhhhhhh...."
With a blink of an eye, the two siblings huddle their talons together, struggling to lift the absolute fatass bellow them. Elizabeth, being the shorter one, flapped her wings agressively against the cloudy skies, slapping Sebastian over and over again. He groaned in annoyance, rolling his eyes at Elizabeth before turning his engines loud and awake, spewing compressed gas and boosting them all up in the air. Christie shreeked in suprise, clinging desperately on Sebastian's back as to not fall. The pair of brids bursted through the clouds, the two suns shining brightly at their faces, awakening them from their somewhat sleepy yet startled state.
JUNE 5. 1914. SYDNEY - 10:09
...... Footsteps...... loud.....
A fluffy individual finds herself stranded on the busy streets of the city, a handbag in their grasp. In a quiet alley, they lean against a wall, staring down at what seems to be a ripped peice of paper. A blue slugcat leanin against her. The gilled one glances down at the picture in the other's hands, her eyes trailing over the man in it. A sigh leaves the fluffy individual, their hands slumping back to their hips, the picture still in hand. The gilled one reached for the other's hand, squeezing it tight. Her gaze shifted towards the gilled individual near her, a solemn expression on their face. Yet a familiar ring of a bell snapped them out of their trance as the colourful doors of the flower shop opened, a heavily tattoed, chubby slugcat exited the shop. In a chreerful voice, she greeted the two.
"Why hello there! Come in! Come in!"
The two slugcats entered the shop, looking around they spotted a beautiful boquette of sunflowers. Lucil stepped closer, sniffing the flowers followed by Cvita shortly after. She turned to Rosa, waving her over. Rosa excused herself before walking closer with a wide smile on her chubby face.
"Made your choice already? You sure these are for you?"
"Indeed. How much for this one?"
"Thirteen fifty six would be total."
"We'll gladly take it."
"Oh and Rosa, we owe you a coffee for the help with the wedding! We'll be on the Lizardous street caffe!"
"I'll come if I can, nevertheless, wish you a good day sweeties!"
"See you soon!"
Cvita grabbed the hand of Lucil, dragging her out of the shop and on the busy streets of good old Sydney. Lucil yalped for a moment, nearly dropping her flowers before coming back to her feet. Cvita waved for her to follow, a wide smile on her lips as her little feet stumbled against the conctrete. The green slugcat followed after Cvita, the flowers in her hands shaking as she ran. The gilled one dragged Lucil in her car, seating her down. Lucil relaxed for a moment, letting Cvita take the wheel. Her fluffy hand resting on the boquette of sunflowers.
"Cvita?"
"Yeah babe?"
"Can we stop at Mark's for a little bit? I got something I have to deliver."
"Yeah, why not!"
With a roar of the engine, the vehicle drove off in the distance, the trees around swaying gently against the wind. The purple audi sped through the streets of the busy city, passing vehicles left and right, ignoring the ongoing stress in them. Eventually, the pair parked near a massive mansion on the sea side, guards in every corner of the lonely land. Lucil stepped out, instantly getting sorrounded by guards. She pried her bag open, revealing a small card on its surface. The guards stepped down, opening the mansion door. Cvita followed suit, a slightly nervous smile on her face, her chest tightening with each breath she took, the guards still looking down at the two with unreadable expressions. The fluffy slugcat pushed the large golden doors open, the golden rays of sunshine and pristine walls glistening off of the marble floors greeting them in a silent fashion. The two went for the staircase, their steps echoing through the walls. Cvita grabbed the hand of Lucil, her anxiety rising with each moment spent inside of the mansion as Lucil pushed the final door open. Inside, on his balcony, leaned the old figure of Nightly Narrative, smoke coming from his ciggaret.
"Good morning, grandfather."
"Lucil?"
"That's right pa, how have you been? Been doing alright?"
"As well as an old man can sweetie. Tell me, who's with you?"
"Oh, I wanted to introduce you to Cvita. She's my..... fiance."
"..."
"My pleasure meeting you."
"Haha, mine too!"
"Well, what's with the flowers, what do you need?"
"Nothing pa I swear! Just wanted to bring you something for your anniversary. Also, I wanted to give you this."
"Hm?"
He reached out, grasping the golden envelope given by Lucil. He peered inside, a letter awaiting him. He read through its contents, his eyes showing more and more suprise the longer he read before closing the envelope shut. He glanced back up to Lucil, who was politely smiling at him, anxiously awaiting for his responce. To her suprise, a hug greeted her back. His expression was of pure joy, practically sheding tears right on the spot, his voice cracking with pride.
"Lucil! How could you keep this from me! Oh gods, my baby's getting married! I am so proud of you! Of course I will come! How could I not?"
"I uh- never thought you would be this.... delighted considering your.... you know what, nevermind."
Lucil gladly accepted the hug, tightening her grip around him. Cvita smiled at the two, snapping a picture on her phone.
"Hey uh, Lucil, I think we need to go now, the invitations aren't gonna deliver themselves."
"Oh shoot, well, I am so glad you can come pa, I will be waiting for you at nine."
"Have a nice day sweetie!"
"You too pa."
JUNE 2. 1914. - BARCELONA - 13:00
ringing.... silent...... peaceful....... inferno.
A desolate land, one devoid of comfort and noise reached far beyond the eyes' reach. The dusty streets of Barcelona reek of death, a metalic smell radiating off of the city floors. Footsteps echo through the tight spaces on the roads, maggot infested corpses laying on the cold concrete. A howl, then two, then a hoard. Gunshots covering the silence in a layer of fresh blood. Creatures, young and old, frantically running forwards, away from the city. Those foul beasts, those creatures if they can be called so. A scream. Then none. A hoard of infected monstrosities galoped towards the poor soldiers awaiting their unstopable demise. The infected soldiers slammed their maws to the gound, scarring it beneath their path, the bottom of their jaws burried under the rubble and dirt they drag with their maw. They bit the enemies unfortunate enough to find themselves in their path in half, dismembering their bodies with a stomp of their legs. As their heads bursted through the soil, the force of it being so great it pulled the ground with it, launching the comically small enemies tens of meters away. Plane engines roared from the skies, dropping gas bombs onto the battlefield. Screams errupted from the ground, the infected soldiers howling together, bursting the eardrums of nearby soldiers and exploding the engines of planes above. Smoke engulfed the murky gray skies, flames errupting from the dry soil bellow. One after another they fall beneath each other, a bloody massacre on the battlefield. Both infected and sane scrambled to their feet, friendly fire on the horizon, creatures flying through the air from stepping onto mines implanted in the ground, boots clanking against the rough dirt as the soldiers ran at each other. Panicked yells suffocated in the smoke and gas, the infected melting to the ground, rebuilding, regenerating too fast. More coming.
A young lizard finds herself amidst it all, gripping her shotgun close to her chest, her body cold, burned, dirty from the old trenches. Her hands shook as she stared down at the weapon, frantically trying to hold the weapon and herself together as she reloaded it. A comrade of hers yelled for her to go on, urging her to step outside of the trenche's safety. An explosion went off near her, sending her tumbling to the ground. She scurried back up to her feet, running through the flame coated mine feild, her boots leaving dents in the ground beneath her. A large beastly creature hopped over her head, casting a monstrous shadow over her side. Then a loud bang echoed through the land, a howl of infected cries followed suit. She stared blindly at the fire, looking around in fear, not knowing what's next. A hand violently shot her awake from her trance, shoving her back to the threnches. Glancing back at the surface, she saw massive amounts of those escaped slaves dressed in heavy armour, spiked to the teeth, their footsteps thunderous beneath their weight. She stared in awe at their sheer size, only in stories.... she thought. Only in stories of the once great facility did they tell the children of the slaves, the monsters within. No one thought it was real, well, until now. Her comrade dragged her to her knees as the threnches shook beneath the wave of the slaves, her body frozen from fear and awe.
On the surface above all hell broke lose. The slaves slammed head first on the infected soldiers, the first row of them crushed to mush of brains and muscle. The second row smashed itself on the enemy side, grasping the armoured horns of the first row slaves and slamming them to the ground. Both sides clashed with one another in a ruthless dance of blood and gore, each side taking heavy losse. Screams, yells and howls echoed from the city, the fire blurring their shadows. The sounds of metal clashing together turned in to a blurr of fuzzy noise and empty emotions. The soldiers bellow crawled through the tunnels in their trenches, carrying granades, gas bombs, plague infested fleas in bags and all kinds of experimental weaponry, the ground above them shaking with the monstrous footsteps above. The lizard huddled close to her comrades, the weapon shaking in her tight grasp.
In amidst it all, an explosion makes its presence known. A humaly scream, a woman it seems, yet a beastly roar, silencing the infected creatures, sending shivers through the slaves as the battle above froze. Six scarlet lights fluttered awake from the fire, the skull of a vulture just barely making itself visible, a grotesque line of tumorous bone tissue errupted from the round, impaling the ones beneath and on it. A wall of spikes carved the ground beneath itself, twisting the slaves above and mangling the soldiers bellow. The infected soldiers tore as many corpses as they could carry and ran off, only leaving the bone tissue behind, creating a horrifying yet beautiful artpeice covered in small droplets of blood.
JUNE 8. 1914. - TOKYO - 10:36
...... cold..... alone...... peace .....
What a city to be at, its a shame there is nothing left of it. Empty cars sat on the roads, some with still breathing bodies of dismembered creatures within. The tumorous bone tissue peered from every window of the now leaning buildings, the spikes covering most of the ground. A helicopter flies by, the people within masked and suited. One records while the other aims at the ground bellow.
The masked slugcat takes the shot, landing the experimental gas vial near an abandoned fish market.
The vial shattered upon impact, sending the small droplets rediating a orange gas flying to the walls and ground. The bone tissue around it shivered beneath the gas, yet it did nothing but pile on top of the spikes. The jetfish within sighed in annoyance, massaging his templates.
"Are you kidding me? We worked on that vial for the past three cycles without any sleep and all it does is pile up on those spikes?"
"Well, what did you expect? We just discovered the disease and now you want to magically erase it? Yeah, keep dreaming kid."
"I don't understand, it has all of the symptoms the rot used to have, but it behaves differently..... almost like it has some sort of a mind itself...."
"Oh come on don't be dramatic, no disease can have sentience."
"Well, we can only assume."
"Up we go lads. We got no time to waste."
JUNE 27. 1914. - THE BEAST - STATION 404 - 04:00
..... rows...... creatures...... children....... make the Scarlet Queen proud......
Several rows of people gathered around the train station no man dared to cross, yet all of them were saying their final good bye's with their wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, friends and foes, families and enemies. The passangers gripped to the sides of the train, a dark cloth covering the entire train, from nose to end, hiding the valuable cargo beneath. In amidst it all, the siblings stood together. The white slugcat held the smaller arm of the yellow other, looking at the ground, ashamed of himself while his sister looks up at him with those big, hopeful yet scared eyes. Her hand wrapped tightly around his, whispering to him in a worried voice, muffled by the gas mask on her face, her eyes visible from the glass on the mask.
"Brother?"
He glanced back down at her, his ears twitching underneath his suit. He whispered back in a defeated tone.
"Yeah sis?"
"Where are you going after I get on the train?"
"Nowhere special. Just helping the people against some bad guys."
"Okay...... will you come back?"
"...."
"Aoki?"
"... I'll try my best sis."
"Please come back."
"I'll try... Come on now, you gotta get on the train before it goes away."
"Okay..."
"Aishiteruyo Inko."
"Watashi mo aishiteruyo, kyodai."
Aoki picked up Inko, helping her climb up the train walls, his arms rattling under her weight. She grabbed the extended arm of Gerald, pulling her on the train roof. Aoki turned away from the train, his hands behind his back and his face pointed downwards. Inko looked around herself, spotting a familliar crowd of slugcats somewhere near her wagon. She tugged at Gerald's suit, dragging him to the crowd. He looked at the familiar shapes, his ears twitching every so often in curiousity. Inko waved at Lucil, crawling closer to her. Lucil turned her head towards her, gathering the attention of Cvita and Christie. The three waved back, meeting up somewhere in between the suited creatures. Inko looked the three up and down, tilting her head a bit.
"Since when are you two getting married?"
"Oh, so you notticed, huh?"
"So, where's your brother?"
"He said he was going to help people fight bad ones."
"Oh...."
"Anyways, have any of you seen Luna or Sofanthiel? I saw them somewhere on wagon nine with Oma."
"Wait, Aoki's girlfriend is here?"
"He has a girlfriend?"
"Sorry we're late guys, we've been looking for you."
A deep voice interrupted.
"Alex? Wait if you are here, then..."
"Arawru. rawr."
"Yeah...
"So, have you seen Oma?"
"Yeah, she's helping Spencer and Lauren keep Claire's fever in check. I heard it's pretty bad."
"Arar, rawru rarwrur rur rarrurwr. rarwru araur."
"Alex, please translate."
"She sees others on Wagon twelve. Come on, lets go."
"Woah, nice senses bro."
"Awraruarour!" :3
Alex pulled the group away from wagon nine and through the huddled crowd of passangers to wagon twelve, squeezing through the people on and under the train. Frances sniffed the air every so often, guiding the group towards the rest on the wagon. Eventually, Gerald spotted Oma near Claire and waved the group to follow him, then finally meeting up.
"Oma! I am so glad to see yo- what's with Claire?"
"We're trying to stabilize her body. She just refuses to even touch water, let alone actually helping her with the medicine. Spencer had to restrain her for the antibiotics."
"Oma?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Claire gonna be okay? She doesn't look too good."
"Don't worry kid, everything's going to be fine once we calm her down."
Inko glanced down at the pile of blankets near them with Spencer holding them down. She went to touch the pile, a hand grabbing her's mid-air and pulling it back. Luna urged the group to back off as she searched through her bag. She pulled out a tranqualizer dart, staring down at it with a flicker of guilt in her eyes. She looks up at the pile of tightly wrapped blankets before stabbing the dart in the thigh of Claire. A bloocurtling scream errupted from the pile, half sane and half animalistic. The blankets began to rip and tear, alarming the group. Spencer jumped on her, clasping his arms around her arms and legs, holding her down. He snapped his head at the group, his voice cracking with suprise and horror.
"GET AWAY FROM THIS WAGON!"
He yelled at the whole crowd of suited creatures. A hand ripped out from the blankets, punching Spancer in the face, nearly launching him off of the train wagon, his hand just barely holding on the train edges. A roar echoed from the wagon, the blankets now laying on the roof of the train, Claire wobbling on her broken, melted feet. She sneered at the group, her dead eyes rolling aimlessly in her exposed skull. Blood pooled around her woobly body, her jaw hanging open, horse like teeth visible from within. Her tongue fell to the ground in bloodied strings of muscle, her cheeks now with gaping holes in them, her muscles and bones visible from the melted parts of her skin. She lunged at Sofanthiel, her bones cracking beneath her twice as large frame. He snatched a nearby pipe, slamming it in her face, making her jaw hang a little left before black tendrils snapped it back in place, connecting it back to her body. Her bones peeked through the skin on her distorted legs, shaking with each moment she stood tall. She prepared to lunge again, her teeth bared and those bloodied, exposed finger bones for claws and jumping once again. Sofanthiel, still recovering from shock, was only able to stare at this beast she had become racing towards him at an agonizingly slow pace. He ducked once again, preparing for the worst, yet to his suprise, he found Sam tackling Claire to the ground. He stared in shock, scrambling to his feet before grbbing the pipe from the floor. Inko watched with fear in her gaze, she turned to Christie who was already pulling spears from his tail and cutting the strings off. She snatched one spear from him and ran at the three. She jumped on Claire's crooked spine, stabbing her horse like skull with the produced spear, making Claire scream in utter agony, her voice slow, deep, distorted and echoing, like an old recording on a VHS tape. Sam ripped the spear out of her skull, tackling her to the ground once more, pinning her with the spear through her neck. She howled once again, biting aimlessly at Sam, her neck twisting and snapping with the violent movement.
She scratched the spear in her neck with her bloodied, half melted fingers, ripping the spear out of her neck. She pushed against Sam, hopping to her feet once more, now pushing one another on the edges of the train wagon. Spencer looked around in panic, snatching one more spear from Christie before throwing it at Claire, who clamped her jaws arond the spear mid-air, crushing it to dust. She glared at Sam once again, searching for their weak spots before notticing their ever so slightly swollen stomach. She threw Sam at a large pipe on the roof, hitting it head first, blacking out. She lunged at them, her hands clamping around their legs and arms, exposing the swollen stomach once again. Sam groaned at the sudden movement, their consciousness returning. They looked up at Claire, a devious grin on her skeletal face. They squirmed in her grasp, pulling a hand free before shoving Claire to the floor. They grabbed her by the neck and twisted it just enough to incapacitate her. Claire wrestled against them, her back shoving them off of her body, launching them in the air before sending them falling to the floor, their spine cracking under the sheer velocity of the fall. They yelped in pain, their back arching forwards. Claire lunged at Sam, pinning them to the floor. Her neck arched back, pecking at their head, them squirming away, leavng dents in the wagon roof. Sam pushed themself upwards away from Claire, kicking her away with their legs. She recoilled back, stunned. The devious grin came to her face once again, her voice hollow, slow, yet fast and high pitched while deep and emotionless.
"Ohhhh~ Sooooo you got knocked up hmmmmmm???~ You will never be good enough for him, and I will prove it how big of a whore you are."
She hissed out, her voice dripping with mockery and amusement, a soft giggle leaving her mouth. They were left stunned, their eyes wide with shock at the sheer embarassment they felt at such awful words. Claire notticed their dazed expression, seeing an opening to her final act. She clamped her left arm around their wrists, pinning them above their head to the floor. They wriggled underneath her in desperate attempts to scramble away from her. She glared right in their terrified eyes, her right hand up in the air. She gently rested her hand on their stomach, feeling it slightly. She glanced down at it, something malevolent brewing beneath her dead eyes. She pressed down on their stomach, making them scream in anguish, blood trickling down their body. Out of th blue, Claire stopped her hand from going deeper in their skin, glancing back up at them, malice evident under those souless sacks in her skull. Then, with a violent jerk of her hand, she shoved her hand up their opening, ripping it open along with the suit, scratching the inside of Sam, crushing the child within into mush before ripping it out of their stomach and throwing it off of the train. The group watched in utter horror as Sam goes limp on the floor, Inko watching with traumatized eyes. Claire turned to the group, maniacally laughing at their cowardness. She prepared to lunge again, yet to their suprise, Claire's voice was cut short by a fit of rapid gasps and spasm, a circle of blood visible on her chest. She collapsed to the ground, seizing as the spear in her back stood tall, behind her seizing body Sam glared at her, a look of pure resentment and rage in their eyes. They Wobbled up to their feet, their stomach and legs coated in a thick layer of blood. They ripped the spear out of her chest before stabbing her once again, lifting the beast twice their size in the air. They slammed her to the ground twice, the spear moving withing her. Sam pierced her heart, pulling the spear out before shoving their hand inside of the gaping hole on her back, ripping Claire's still beating heart out. They threw the spear to the ground, the heart now crushed in their grasped. They glared back down at Claire, crouching over to her and whispering to her.
"You dare mock me and my husband, kill my child, and insult my family in public, and dare stand breathing on this very same earth we live on. A demon such as yourself doesn't deserve to live."
Sam stood back up to their feet, removing their gaze from claire before pushing her off of the train, her body flying somewhere to the ground. They gripped their stomach, their legs collapsing underneath them. Spencer rushed to their aid, gauze in hand from a local nurse on the train. The crowd gathered around Sam, trying so desperately to stop the bleed from all of their wounds. Šanic errupted from the wagon, gathering the attention of other passangers.
MAY 28. 1914. - SOFIA - 08:00
..... gasping... bleeding...... alone..... cold..... T R A I T O R........
Silence. Comfortable silence. Too comfortable. A familiar Gradient red slugcat hurriedly searched through the entire facility, panic evident on their face, slamming open every single door available to their sight. They ran laps around the halls of the facility, following the scent of Alex through it. Eventually, they found what they've been looking for. A blood trail leading to the basement door. They started to think, imagine the worst, internally pleading to whatever is in power of this mess that it isn't what it seems. They slammed the door open, their body shaking with fear, the spines on their back and face rattling, cold sweat dripping from their forehead.
A foul stench of rotten meat hit their nostrills, their eyes watering at the sight. On the basement floor lied the mangled body of Alex. His arms were broken, bone by bone, some peering from his skin. His jaw hanged on the wall facing his maggot infested face. His plumpy stomach now ripped open, his intestines spewed all over the walls and floors, some hanged by the old documents and tools inside. His legs now hang on the the wall next to Alits, pinned by a pair of rusty old nails. His skin ripped by what seems to be bite marks, holes from a beak visible on his exposed spine. They collapsed at the sight, their limbs going limp from the sheer shock they felt. Their eyes now filled with tears. They grasped the cold hand of Alex, their mouth open ever so slightly, shaking. A sob, then two, then a whail followed by a scream of despair and anger, their voice glitching with every war cry they uttered.
"ALEX! ALEX! NO! IT MUST BE A PRANK! TELL ME IT'S A PRANK! TELL ME THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! ALEX! Alex! Alex.... No.... NO!"
They hugged the corpse in a desperate attempt to prove something so fake yet so real at the same time. They broke down on full sobs, shaking, heaving even. A sudden presence abruptly interrupted their denial. They snapped their head the the figure, their pupils slits filled with rage, their eyes filled with warm tears.
"WHAT DID YOU DO."
"╎ ↸id ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ waᓭ リᒷᓵessa∷||"
"SPEAK TO ME DIRECTLY, COWARD!"
"I did what was necessary for the contract."
"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TOUCH HIM!"
"That's right, I never even touched him."
"SON OF A-"
"Don't forget who you made a deal with, Alice Hacklerule. And besides, he knew it all along, too much information for a small mind as him."
"WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT FROM ME! I GAVE YOU POWER! I GAVE YOU WELATH! I GAVE UP MY FATHER FOR YOU! I GAVE UP MY WHOLE LIFE FOR YOU!"
"Oh, it is nothing I want from you, you've already done your end of the deal. But there is a way I could bring them back."
"What. is it."
"Just a tiney tiny little favour for me. Release your proudest creation out in the world, and I will give them back, I will make you the most famous slugcat that walked this earth, I can make you happy again. Isn't that what you want? Don't you want to make him proud?"
"No no no.... I can't, I promised I won't!"
"Come on, it's just a creature, what harm could it do in molecules? It's as vulnerable as a feather to moisture, it won't survive longer than a cycle."
".... Yeah.... yeah.... it's completely harmless..... just if I do it before anyone finds out... before anyone finds me...... before.... anyone finds me. Yeah. That's right!"
"Good boy, now open those machine gates my child. Let the ink roam free, Alits."
"Okay.... okay...."
The young slugcat got up from the floor, exiting the basement once and for all. They ran to the controll room, a desperate smile plastered on their face. They cleared the old dusty panel, feeling the control they once held, and the guilt they brought upon themself. It hurt to think, they never wanted to think again. They entered the comands needed for the machine long shut down, tears still streaming down their face. They backed away from the panel, staring at the opening doors of the machine. They bursted out in manic laughter, heaving whilst screaming. They ran to the abandoned camps far from the controll panel, staring at the black mass pouring out of the Great Machine.
"You were right, YOU WERE RIGHT! IT WILL BRING THEM BACK! I WILL BRING THEM BACK! HA HAHA! I CAN BRING THEM BACK!"
"Good.... good Alits.... I couldn't be prouder of you.... unlike your bastard father."
Alits glanced behind themself, their tears staining their clothes. The beastly demon behind them. The raven's head peering through the open door, it's eye sockets filled with snakes. Alits walked forawrds, as if in a trance by the beauty of the serpents. They walked for minutes without a single blink in their dead eyes. They followed the snakes till they reached the artillery room. They gazed upon the sheer number of such beautiful firearm, the smile on their face widening with glee. They picket up their most trusted weapon, the good old chain whip.
They ran their hands over the old whip, their eyes beaming with glee.
"Geez, I wonder how it feels like to be repayed for your sins, I can't wait to end this pain, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!~"
Scarlet smirked at Alits' ramblings, her Raven skull squaking in amusement. She lead Alits over to the basement door once again, now locking the door behind them. Alits wrapped the chains around a ceiling pipe, dragging a chair underneath it. They wrapped their trusted whip around their neck. And with a final, afraid yet relieved sigh, they push the chair away from themselves, a loud, sickening crunch following soon after. Oh the relief, such a beautiful thing it is.