literature

ShellShock - Ch. 56

Deviation Actions

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Literature Text

Shell Shock

Writers:
Denny and Leila
Rating: PG-R
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us.  What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.




Chapter 56


--


Ratchet weakly kicked in the grip, breath short as if those hands were around his neck instead of just at his shirt. Aside the bounce in the cloth, his moves did little to free him and only added to his panic. His manifestor was still on the ground with his other gear and he wasn’t in any position to punch the Shapeshifter.

His breath stopped once the entity mocked him. His eyes dilated, his ears perked and he halted in his struggling with an open mouth. Then he gathered himself and snarled.

“You just came all this way here to deliver this message? What else do you want?!”

”O-OOHoHHOO-hohoHO, the L-L-LOmbAx i-i-i-is ANG-G-G-GrY!” The Shapeshifter laughed with a distorted sound, mind falling apart bit by bit. ”B-b-BUT this waS NoT the m-m-m-main me-me-me-message. T-Th-The MaiN MesSAgE WiLl b-b-BE de-de-de-de-DElIVerED tO the D-DoCTOR’s R-R-R-RoOM in tEN Min-n-n-NUT-es--”

A bone chilling scream seared into his mind when the Shapeshifter’s body was forcefully halved.  Zane huffed, quickly taking up his defensive stance again and reapplying Nanotech to the blade in his hands. Not that the entity could do much – it now lay on the ground, purple matter dissolving before their feet. A delirious grin was on its lips as it stared up to Ratchet, cackling, mocking, and repeating the same sentence over, and over, and over again.

”It’s not over. It’s not over. It’s not over.”

The orange glow faded; only purple matter remained formlessly on the ground. Something metallic clattered when the robot let his improvised weapon fall, fan whirring on maximum capacity.

Ratchet crawled away from the monster, blood pounding in his head.

“N-nice move.”

His throat closed shut around a sharp, hot wetness and he shuddered with his next breaths, eyes burning. Alister’s sacrifice, the memory, the sensations, the helplessness clung to him again as a leech would, sucking the life out of him.

Why did this all have to happen to him? Why did this have to happen to Alister? Neither of them wanted to fall into this situation and neither of them wanted to die. To lose the other.

“I… Thank… thank you.” The robot was positively shaking. “I… I—that was my first kill. I…” He stared at his limbs which had Shapeshifter matter sprayed all over them. His eye display flickered repeatedly, and threatened to malfunction. “I… I killed someone… I killed someone with my own hands…” He grabbed his head and just stared into nothingness as his processors wheezed under the wave of discord in his mind. Ratchet knew this sound from Clank and instinctively, he scrambled up and towards the robot, turning him around by the shoulders. The robot stared at him, hands twitching nervously as they clasped around his arms. His systems were scrambling the information that was relayed through his body, making his whole frame shake.

“I… I killed someone, Ratchet… I k… killed…”

Ratchet’s teeth clicked as he ground his jaw up. He didn’t know what to say. He really didn’t know what words to offer him as a comfort.

Of course Ratchet knew death. Even if he hadn’t truly understood it, the last days had taught him more than he ever wanted to learn – but he never had intentionally killed anyone before the facility. He mauled and slashed and shot at and made his opponents explode, but he never went that far as to walk into a fight and kill them with the sole intent of ending their lives in particular even in the heat of battle. First, with Clank’s voice as a second consciousness and then growing his own a lot bigger over the last years.

“Zane.”

The Shapeshifters were another matter for him. It shouldn’t make a difference, because somehow they were alive, yet their presence had felt wrong from the start. They were wrong in themselves. He couldn’t feel a connection to them and honestly, he didn’t want to gain one. Not what after they had done to Alister.

His thoughts, his past and his thoughts on his past still didn’t help Zane. Words wouldn’t either.

“Hope this is okay for you.”

He pulled the robot into an awkward hug, pulling his torso down. The worker shook, first not responding; but then his arms wrapped tightly around Ratchet, hoping that the new input of information would stifle the other data flow.

“Those… Those bastards. Fucking with my mind even when they’re dead…” Zane’s fingers curled as his mind repeatedly jumped back to the moment when he had slashed the Shapeshifter into half. An act of violence that he had imagined so many times before – but imagination and realization of said thoughts were far too different to compare. The purple matter on his surface seemed to remind him constantly that this was not a dream, not an illusion of his mind, but reality. He had killed someone, albeit a Shapeshifter, with his own hands. However… what had that entity said? Something with the main message being delivered to Nefarious…

He had to get a grip on himself. Now.

Shoving the overflow data down into the last resources of processing power, he cleared his mind enough to think about the information that was relayed. He could be traumatized later when Ratchet was not around, but as of now, this was crucial for the Lombax to know and act on.

“You’ve gotta go to Nefarious. Now.” He put some space between him and the organic to look him in the eyes. “I’m… I will be okay. But you have no time for this. G… Go.”

The protest died on Ratchet’s lips.

No way I’m leaving another friend behind!

Because what other choice he had? There was never one, there had never been one.

Dealing with the Shapeshifters was just more important in the greater scheme of things. Even if they likely had planned for this scenario too.

So, reluctantly, he nodded.

“Go to another friend so you’re not alone. Being on your own in such situations sucks.”

With a breath, he let go of Zane. He hurried to his gear, forcing himself to be calm as he slipped into it.

A robotic hand tugged at his suit before he had closed it up.

"... Maybe I should come with you." Zane mumbled and looked up to the Lombax. "I can't let anyone else see me in this state.”

Ratchet only nodded.

"You know that could get ugly, Shapeshifter or not. Simply 'cause it's Nefarious."

"I think I will be okay. Seeing him is better... better than--" His processor crashed for a moment. After a few
seconds he was online once more.

"Let's go, Ratchet. We ain't got time to lose."

The Lombax, lips pursed, turned towards the door, Zane next to him.

"Let's go. We have about two minutes left before the main message is supposed to arrive."

"If the message isn't already there or it's a trap to lure us there."

"Well, what choice do we have?"

That line again. It always did come back to that.

"Yeah." He ground out.

"Hey Lawrence, are you with Nefarious in the moment?"

”With the doctor…? Why yes, scheduled routine meeting in the research laboratories. Why do you ask?”

“Probably already part of the trap. A Shapeshifter broke through the forcefield and entered my room to deliver a message.”


Sounds of protocols being checked echoed in his ears. ”As it appears our area has no foreign entities entering or approaching. We should be--”

“LAWRENCE! Give me those damn lab reports already!”

“… Fine.”

“That’s because the Shapeshifter is already dead. So you really didn’t notice.”
Ratchet didn’t mean to add the last part, but it mattered little, he guessed. Finally they arrived at the laboratory where Lawrence and Nefarious should be. Zane accessed the door lock and opened it; gathering surprised gazes from the robots within.

“Worker unit, what are you--” Nefarious’ optics flashed when he saw the mass of purple matter sprayed all over his clothes. “What in Orvus’ name happened to you?!”

“Zane killed the Shapeshifter and since this was urgent, we didn’t have time to touch up.” Ratchet snarked.

“Well, what is urgent, for heaven’s sake?” The butler stared quite reproachfully at the Lombax. Honestly… Interrupting one of the few times a day where he could tease the doctor to his core’s content—

”Good evening, gentlemen. How nice to see that you have assembled.”

Monitor’s flickered, screens flashed – the systems offlined and rebooted themselves, revealing the Superior sitting in a chair. A faint, devious smile was on its lips that did not reach its eyes.

Ratchet crossed his arms with a faint sneer, keeping silent as he tapped his feet. So, now would the real show begin? Hopefully the Superior would keep it short. That surprise attack had already surpassed the little quota of ‘Shapeshifter’ he wanted to deal with. The entity watched him briefly, smirking still as it continued in its little speech.

”I see my little messenger has made it to its destination… though leaving a bit more of a mess than expected.” Orange eyes were laid on Zane’s surface, utmost satisfaction going through the Shapeshifter at that sight. ”My apologies for that, my dear guests. But it was necessary to have you all appear timely for the little show we have prepared for you.”

“Lawrence,” Nefarious hissed at his butler, “Where is the transmission coming from? Get them off my screen!”

“I can’t, doctor,” the robot replied as he was frantically trying to access the transmission protocols, “They have tapped into the systems and made the code…. Synthetic. They adapted it to their own nature…”

”Oh, yes, that we did. My dear, would you please show our spectators our communications officer, please…” The picture moved, and showed the Equitable having tapped into a communication cable by having made it part of its own body. An innocent smile graced its lips; the particular hues of blood on its fingers contrasted this quite starkly so. The picture returned to focus on the Superior, who almost lied in its throne. “Oh, but I digress… the purpose of this call had been something entirely else. I am sure at least one of you charming people remembers how terribly the elder had been left behind by its very own partner.” Eyes fixated on Ratchet with a piercing glare in them. ”How disloyal.”

A black hole opened in his chest, claiming all of his internal. Maybe it served him well in this moment, as he just kept staring, unable to react. Or at least keep him calm.

"Shove your words up your throat. You know as well as I do that Alister made it so I couldn't follow. Because of YOU."

"And you would let this stop you? Something as marginal as a few pieces of rock? Oh, excuses over excuses. Of course you could not have used your weapons. Of course you could not have bombed the entrance... All too much a hassle, wasn't it. The concept of loyalty is too much of a hassle to live to the very end. As expected from someone who does not value the bond of loyalty between two individuals." It looked at its fingers and sighed. "But he... Oh my, he is so loyal to you. Won't even enjoy the beautiful quality time he has shared with the lot of us..."
Delighted giggling could be heard in the background, in which the Superior only joined in with a faint smirk.
"Always 'Ratchet, Ratchet!' with him... It was endearing at first, but then it started to become annoying. So, my dear Shifter ate his tongue."

"You are speaking of loyalty?"

Ratchet threw his head back with a bark, laughing loudly.

"What a good joke coming from the likes of you. That's rich, that's just so rich."

He grabbed around his middle, leaning on a console as laughter wrecked his body. Loyalty, Shapeshifters? Forcefully transform an unwilling victim into one of their own and brainwash him to make him follow the Superior. Make him fall in love with it.

Make two random people choose to sacrifice one of them.

And turn the one who took the choice for himself into a monster of their own kind.

And now it was coming at him trying to 'blame' the latter on him?

He could only laugh. Alister brainwashed. Alister not his own person anymore, but maybe, possibly, still remembering him. Alister as a Shapeshifter.

Laugh. Laugh.

What a bad joke.

"Yes. I speak of loyalty. Because loyalty goes till death do us part." The last words were hissed with so much anger and resentment that it physically hit them like a punch. The armrests of its throne cracked as its fingers curled into them.

There was so much fury. So much fury in both of them. Yet one did not understand the other.

"And I will follow this. To the very letter. As for you, however..."

The Superior stood up and approached he camera, grabbing it.

"See the consequences of disloyalty."

Yanking the camera to the side, the picture blurred for a moment before it settled--

White and red.

Amber eyes piercing the Shapeshifter before him and struggling under the grasp he found himself in.

"Alister." Ratchet whispered, forgetting about the Superior completely. He slapped himself mentally not to hope, because that was what they wanted him to feel, only to yank it away from him. The elder’s eyes connected with him, elation coming into his gaze. A smile appeared on his lips, before they quietly formed, ”Hello, Ratchet.”

A swift lash of the Superior’s foot wiped his grin off.

“You see, Precious, we did not kill him.” The Shapeshifter gracefully stalked to his side and grabbed him around his chin. Blood was dripping down the cut on his cheek. ”We wanted to see if you would… come down and get him yourself.” It dug its claw into the fresh wound, drawing a pained scream from the elder. “But you did not. For a whole week… nothing. You just left him here all alone.” Three claws pulled down from the cut’s lips, adding three others to it. Orange eyes gleamed sharply.

”Now guess who will pay for that.”

“Are you finally done with the soap opera theatrics? Get it on with or stop it, but don’t be such a drama queen.” Nefarious interrupted, acting as if he was yawning under the angry yell ‘What?!!’ of Ratchet. Lawrence kicked the doctor discreetly against his leg, a scornful glare in his optics. A little bit more tact would be very much appropriate.

“He is still alive,” the butler hissed, “Maybe we can save him. Get Ratchet on our good side.”

”Oh, I see someone is getting impatient over there,” the Superior remarked indifferently, letting itself onto one knee. It licked off the blood pouring out of the Lombax’s cheek, drawing a pained hiss from the elder. It soon turned into a scream when one arm turned into a scythe and stabbed his leg. Excited whispers could be heard in the back, quite contrasting to the disconnected expression of the Shapeshifter centering the stage. ”Then I should get this show on. Shifter… Make sure he does not die prematurely.” Sliding back onto its feet, its hands turned into talons. As the other requested Shapeshifter appeared behind Azimuth, it lifted up the Lombax’s chin with one claw. Eyes gleamed dangerously as fury marred its face.

”I have a lot of steam to let off.”

Kicks, cuts, slashes – the Shapeshifter was stabbing and hitting the elder relentlessly, feet turning into blurry shapes and claws becoming shadows in the air. Initial screams and yelps drilled into the spectator’s minds; Zane stepped back, memories flashing back and forth between various encounters. Lawrence scoffed internally at the terrible mess that was created; and the continuous sounds of hits and bruises and slashes – it was tensing him up. The screams were ceasing bit by bit, becoming more of groans and moans, as blood flowed out of his mouth. But never, never did Azimuth lose that piercing glare in his eyes, like a predator just waiting for his moment to strike. He would find a moment. He would be ready should it ever come before he died.

It was only that glare that kept Ratchet watching. He fixed his whole being to those eyes so they were looking at each other. His eyes rung with Alister’s screams and his fingers were digging holes into his palms, but the elder was still hanging on, so he would too. He was shaking, rage and fear and worry and love pounding in his body.

"... Lawrence." The doctor stretched his hand out, waiting for the butler to react. The robot soon placed a device into his palm that he used to execute various commands. The Superior was still wearing its collar... So the others had to as well and they could stun them. "Any progress on the location?"

"I am afraid not, sir. Their code is mocking me as I work on it."

The robot scoffed. “Then get that blasted hacker over there and have him figure it out. I won’t have those shapeshifting twits fool around with me.” His eyes gleamed dangerously with seething, albeit unspoken anger at the situation beforehand. "It is time we show them why robots are superior to any other life form."

A push of a button. A blood chilling scream went through the room as the Superior jerked under the various shocks going through it.

"I hope you are having fun over there..." Nefarious remarked with a contemptuous tone. "Playing master of life and death with a captive. How stupid to live your fantasies out in front of me. Did you forget who made it possible for you to even exist?" The screams intensified as the doctor drove up the intensity of the shocks, watching impassively. "Did you forget who the master over your life and death is--"

"Lies."

The Superior's voice - its actual voice - seared into their ears. A beautiful sound marred by anger and hatred, just like its owner. Constant shivers shook its body as it tried to control its movements despite the shocks. Eyes gleaming in red, it glared at the doctor. "You hold no power over us. You never held power over us!" Fingers slid up and curled into the collar around its neck, grabbing tight. "You lied to us from the very beginning about our existence! That we are dependent on you and your mercy. That you control us. But it was a lie. A bold-faced lie. And do you know how I know this?

"Because these collars are USELESS!"

Metal cracked; the shocks grew erratic. With one last scream it tore the contraption off its neck, tossing it to the side. Its shape diffused, fighting for control in the sudden state of freedom. The entity snarled, its dissolved substance suddenly retracking and reshaping its body.

"We were NEVER under your command. NEVER bound to your will. We are Shapeshifters and we will NEVER bow to anyone again!" Cheering could be heard in the background as the Superior approached the camera, grabbing it tightly in its fingers.

"You have taken so much from us. Our dignity. Our pride. My heart and vision. So now you will see what happens if you insult a Shapeshifter." Spinning around on its heel, it walked back to Azimuth, glaring at him the same way the elder was. As it raised one hand, two fingers turned into long, thin blades.

"I don't like the look in your eyes."

Red splattered over the tainted floor. The amber light vanished under a tormented scream.

Ratchet’s insides finally rebelled and pushed up his throat to get him to look away. A palm in front of his mouth, he sunk to the ground, vaguely aware that somebody’s hand was almost crashing his shoulder. He cried for Alister or tried to – his stomach lurched and he bent into himself against his will, as his chest constricted, cutting off his air.

"What's the matter, Precious? Too delicate to see some violence?" The Shapeshifter's claws pulled out cleanly from the elder's face, leaving dark holes behind. "Can't bear to see some blood. How ironic, you have spilt so much yourself." Cackling could be heard in the background as the Superior watched him impassively. Endless whimpers and moans came from Azimuth; the sudden and painful loss of vision was driving him insane. He could not speak, he could not say anything - his words were trapped in his mind, trapped between unyielding pain and loss of all that was his sanity.

"How funny it is that you seem to be so troubled by the wonderful show I have put together, yet it seems to matter nothing to you that it is your alleged lover, your cherished one suffering in my grasp. You don't understand the pain of losing someone so dear to you only because someone wanted to hit you where it hurt the most. So I will make you understand. How painful it is to lose--"

A spiked heel drilled into an open wound.

"Everything--"

It crushed its boot against Azimuth's chest, drawing sounds of something breaking from there.

"TO SOMEONE'S WHIM!"

The foot was hauled upwards, crashing against Azimuth's chin and flinging his body against the Shifter behind him. Fix him up, was the silent command of its icy glare.

"ENOUGH!"

The feed screeched in agony as the butt of a wrench smashed into the Superior's picture on the hard-screen. Six orange eyes pierced, two mouths snarled in the beast's fractured grimace.

"You want me to pay? You want me to PAY?! WE'VE BEEN PAYING SINCE YOU GODDAMN STARTED HUNTING US."

Shards scrunched as Ratchet yanked back his wrench.

"All that ever did come against you was your own damn fault. You didn't have to kill the workers. You didn't have to use them as your playthings. You didn't have to declare me as your 'Precious'." He spat the last word out.

"But you did it anyway and now you bitch when you have to deal with the consequences. And don't you come at me that you know what it means to lose a loved one. You never loved Bar or you wouldn't have turned him into a Shapeshifter. Or did he CONSENT to that?!"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING, LOMBAX! NOTHING, NOTHING AT ALL!"

Purple matter flared up around the Shapeshifter. Its whole being turned into a grotesque distorted version of itself. Fangs bared, it almost seemed like it wanted to jump through the screen.

"You NEVER were my Precious. You NEVER were that to me!" It screamed in fury, the surface of its body cracking and giving way to purple light emitting from the cracks. "DON'T YOU DARE CALLING YOURSELF MY PRECIOUS. DON'T YOU DARE BESMIRCHING HIS NAME! You are NOTHING, NOTHING COMPARED TO HIM!" It growled, screamed even that the room was filled with the vibrations of its anger. "AND YOU DARED TOUCH HIM. YOU DARED HURT HIM AND BREAK HIM AND KILL HIM EVEN THOUGH-- You MURDERED HIM IN COLD BLOOD, your OWN FRIEND!"

“Not the point.” Ratchet coolly replied. “You made him look like a Shapeshifter, read like a Shapeshifter on the scanners. We had no clue you had done what you had done.”

What point was there to explain it had been the Shifter that attacked and drove Bar away? That Bar just vanished?

Why bother trying to explain anything to that monster. There was no way it could have loved Bar. He had been just a plaything to it and its brethren.

“But as said, not the point.”

Every gram of hate, every cut of rage, every rush of cold fear condensed into a thick, heavy ball that weighed on his every word as he repeated,

“Did Bar consent to being transformed?”

A pause to pull the crank tighter. Let it feel the slow crush.

“Or was it more like that you did drag out his torment, relish in his screams and fear and pain? Certainly closer to the truth?

“When you messed with my head, you enjoyed it so, so, so much – like a Shapeshifter would. But even so I can’t imagine what he had to go through at your hands, and ever after you were finished with him. It must have been worse than death.

“So, tell me that you didn’t enjoy what you did to him when you caught him, helpless, clueless.”

He snarled again, pupils shrunken to pricks.

Bar didn’t deserve this.

Zane didn’t deserve this.

The workers didn’t deserve this, those who had died and these who were still living.

Alister didn’t deserve this.

“Come on, tell me. What. Did. Bar. Feel? And what did you?”

”You want to know what Bar felt…?”, it quietly repeated, shape settling down once more. ”You want to know what I felt, too? Oh, I am easy, I am a cruel, vicious bastard who abducted him for the sakes of a collective endeavor, and did things I cannot say I am proud of anymore.” Agitated whispers came through from its end of the transmission. How dare the Superior say something of this nature and imply its actions had been wrong?
The Shapeshifter ignored them, continuing with his reply. ”I felt excitement. Elation, delight –what every Shapeshifter would have felt upon meeting such a peculiar subject. Having someone at my grasp whose mind had been so in disarray he wished upon himself to die by a Shapeshifter’s hand, even before I had done anything to him – I was intrigued, to say the least. So I tapped into his mind, and searched for the reason why he hated himself so much he would wish himself to my mercy. And I found it. He was desperate, so very desperate to forget what he had just done. The feeling of guilt in his head, the shame of having asked his friends to get sacrificed first for his sake… He was beyond regretful. He wanted to cease his existence, even pondered if falling into our hands would be enough punishment for his egoism. It was a truly beautiful mind, full with ravishing and wild emotions, at the brink of collapse. So, as a Shapeshifter, naturally I was fascinated by him. He was beyond mesmerizing at that point, and I wished to understand him down to the very last molecule in his body. He was special, just as I had suspected on the day I had marked him. I took him into my arms, enough to make him shiver, and asked him what he wanted. I asked, ‘What do you want to happen now?’, and he answered, fingers curling into my chest,

‘Anything. Anything to make me forget. To make everything disappear.’

So I did. I made everything disappear. Bar was scared, he really was – but I couldn’t stop, I was too enticed by what I had started to do. I drowned in the magnificence of his essence, the beauty of watching his molecules change upon my touch… He moaned, screamed, begged – I cannot recall what, but what he said and what he did contrasted each other so beautifully. In retrospective, I should have gone slower, he might have enjoyed it more in mind and body if I had. I was gentle to him, for Shapeshifter standards, as to not to overwhelm his beautiful mind, left him a little bit of space to defy if he wished it so. But he craved my touch, the pain of becoming one of us, the loss of himself. He was so desperate to drown in whatever there was to escape from his shame and guilt, and I was desperate to make him into a piece of perfection. So what did Bar
feel? Pain. Anxiety. Relief. Relief to have something to blame everything on. That is what he felt when I was finished. And as for me…” The Shapeshifter drew a cross across the area where its core was. ”I was proud. Excited. Satisfied. He was a piece of art, perfection as far as I could achieve it, he was mine, I could not wait to see how he would act in his new role.” A soft smile appeared on its lips as its memories flashed by. ”Needless to say, he surprised me in ways I had not expected. What was fascination turned into infatuation, what was infatuation into devotion. I cannot say when it started. I had not asked for it, and for all the pain I feel for the loss of him, I wished I could just revert to who I was before I did all this to him. Back to the cruel, vicious bastard. Away from the vengeful, empty shell with a broken heart.”

Silence followed its words. Then, Nefarious broke into delirious laughter, bending over on his seat before falling back, feet swinging around, so hard he was laughing. “Did you hear that, Lawrence? Did you hear that, Lawrence?! It said it has a heart.”

“Yes, I did, sir.” While by no means as exhilarated as his master, a contemptuous, humored smirk had appeared on the butler’s lips. “Quite amusing, especially considering from what kind of monster it’s coming from.”

“What is so funny, if I may ask?” The Superior’s eyes turned to slits. Having remembered Bar, its mind had calmed down quite a bit, and it was not yet ready to let go of its lost peace. ”Yes, I have a heart, and--”

“THERE, it said it again!” Nefarious could not stop laughing, beyond stopping any time soon now. Zane just stared at him, unable to comprehend how he could just laugh in the face of such a monstrosity before he returned to decoding the organic code trying to elude his grasp. “It said it has a heart! A HEART! That’s rich. That’s just RICH.” The doctor finally sat up, processors cracking under the constant laughter that had shaken his body. “As if you could ever have something even remotely similar. You are nothing but an accident, a monster created out of an irregularity. You shouldn’t exist, your very structure consists of instability! What you are is a running casualty that can only destroy. You twit think you are an actual living being? Was it not you who said you are neither organic nor robotic? That you don’t belong with us so-called inferior life forms?”
The doctor stared into its eyes. “I agree. You’re neither organic nor robotic. You are a stupid irregularity, a miscalculation of mine that I couldn’t get out of the system yet. A miscalculation such as the likes of you does not feel, does not care, does not love. All you do is imitate without understanding the very things you claim to understand. You just chase the illusion of what love means, trying to fill up your empty, meaningless existence with something. But you do not feel. You are not alive.” Nefarious’s optics narrowed in contempt, fingers clawing into his seat’s armrest.

“You are heartless, and a monster at best.”

"You are wrong," the Superior feebly replied, fingers curling into its palms, "You are wrong about this, you do not understand--"

"What are we supposed to misunderstand? That you grew a conscience? For an individual you marked as your own after ravaging his mind and who is just a 'mere, inferior' robot? That you started to care for a worker that had been among the ones you considered little more than food? Oh, please."

Nefarious waved his hand. "What do you think of that, Ratchet?"

"How should I know?" He gritted out. "I'm not the one who pries into other peoples' minds to wreak havoc for the heck of it." That was an idea - to push the Shapeshifters into the same position as their victims, but making them the helpless ones.

Then the Superior would really know what pain was.

"No!" The Superior cried out with its voice. It bit its lip, the accusations stinging into its mind. What should it do when they were true in their essence?

"It is not like this, Bar was no food to me, he never was-- I know, it is a Shapeshifter's way to do what you say I did, but Orvus, this does not mean that I did the same to Bar--"

Agitated hisses came from its Shapeshifters. How dare the Superior... How dare it renounce what it had been so proud of, what they were, who it was, even though it was their leader? Even though it was the embodiment of all that a Shapeshifter was to be?

Why was it so weak even though it was supposed to be the strongest in their minds?

"It is true that I entered his mind even though he did not explicitly ask me to, but Orvus, by Orvus, I did not know, I did not understand the implications of my actions, I believed myself to be superior, to both my kin and the rest of the life forms around us, but I realized that it is not true, Bar was more, he understood more, he made me realize that Shapeshifters--"

A hiss from the Shifter cut the Superior's thoughts off. It could not be allowed to speak any more, not like this-- if it did, the other Shapeshifters would commit treason immediately. Ratchet’s ears lowered, if marginally, at the interruption; his hands stayed clenched at his side, his lower jaw worked soundlessly against his upper teeth. If the Shifter hadn’t interfered, he would have burst into screams.

Liar. Just a liar. Or a hypocrite, what did it matter. It didn’t know, would never know, just a construct, a phantom, a not-dead, not-alive fishing for attention.

“Now that we’ve brought that little interlude behind us, what is the actual intention of your message?” Nefarious tipped the pointed ends of his claws together, two sparks threatening to flare into novas in the bottom of his optics. He was bored – the elder’s torture had only been a very short amusement – and annoyed. The twinge in a deeper part of his processor, wincing and coiling and hiding, got stepped over repeatedly.

The Superior remained silent. How… How could it make them understand? It had not been a game, its feelings were true, it cared for Bar more than for anything or anyone else in its life—why could it not be true that it had loved Bar, with all its being, despite the errors it had committed and cruelties it had done, and why… why did they not understand that this vengeance was all because its core had been torn out of its chest?

It felt a light knock against its consciousness, requesting to transmit thoughts in private. The Shifter connected with it, and spoke with an even tone.

Your Excellency... You cannot proceed like this. Your plan – our plan – is going to crumble if you continue in the same manner you are right now. A pause. You are our leader. You cannot abandon us in the middle of a plan you have conducted. Everything relies on you.

I can’t, Shifter…
The Superior’s mind darkened in agony. It hurts… It hurts so much I cannot feel my core anymore. Of course I have a heart, it is my core, it pulses constantly—

That is not the point, Zephyr!
Slight anger rose in the Shifter’s voice. They will not understand. They will never understand what we are, and they will never empathize with you. Not the Lombax, not the robots, not your inferior Shapeshifters. Not after all the things you have done. It is too late, and if you stop now, the only thing you will achieve is that everyone will turn against you. And this, I cannot let happen.

But—

Trust me, Zephyr.
The Shifter locked its mind with its own, so that it would focus on the other’s words. I have never betrayed you. I never will. I only want the best for you, and right now, the best is to forfeit your emotions and let yourself be guided by the collective desire. Do not waste your dignity on creatures who would never understand your position.

The Superior remained silent. The Shifter had a point – even if it loved Bar, even if it were to give its life for his, would those imbeciles ever understand? Would they ever understand that it had given its core to its Precious, never to be anyone else’s again?

No.

Fingers uncurled. Its body straightened. Lips split apart to a vicious grin, fangs revealing themselves as it pierced its spectators with a bloodthirsty glare. So they thought it a monster. Irredeemable, heartless, cruel. So why not give them that? Everything – its tranquility, its insecurity, all the little gentle notions it had gained from the time with Bar were pushed down and suffocated once more in the deepest corners of its core; and what remained was an endless desire for vengeance. To eradicate everyone and everything that was responsible for taking away what bliss it could have had. And if it destroyed itself with it, at least the pain would go away.

“Not so impatient, good doctor,” it replied with a melodious purr. ”My message, of course I have not forgotten it. What a terrible host I would be if I did not even remember that.” A delighted giggle escaped its lips as it leant in to the camera, eyes gleaming brightly. ”But my business is not with you, Nefarious. It is with the lovely Lombax on your left, who is staring at me with such delicious disgust.” It pulled back, a voluptuous gaze eyeing the organic. ”Wouldn’t you agree, my brethren? Doesn’t this kind of glare make your very structure tingle in delight?” The other Shapeshifters joined in, giggling lowly as their eyes gleamed in the shadows.

“Shut it and get to the point.” Ratchet growled. If the Superior had only kept its trap shut, but it and the Shifter must have talked over their minds, and the latter had given it new wind.

He prayed internally that they had already tended to Alister, although it would mean more torture for the elder in the future, because they didn’t want him to die yet.

”Of course, of course… Always so impatient, those life forms, tsk, tsk. All right, I shall hurry up a little. Shifter, bring me the other one.” It stepped further away, one hand raised to signal its servant. Then it let itself fall beside Azimuth, slinging one arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. “Say, Precious… ”, it spat out their pet name for Ratchet, ”You really think I am heartless?” Fingers played with the fur on Alister’s ears as they twitched under the sudden contact.

Other one?
His eyes narrowed into green shards as the entity dared to touch Alister.

“I think you’re all monsters who just live to make others’ lives miserable for your fucking pleasure.”

”Oh my, how vicious your assessment is. I like that.” Eyes gleamed with satisfaction as it watched the Lombax quietly. “And what does your vicious assessment let you conclude about the next question: Would you be unhappy if I killed your old plaything right here in front of your eyes?”

Ratchet’s fur stood at edge at once, with a snarl loud enough in his throat to be heard by everybody. He slammed his fists down on the console, baring his teeth.

“Of course I would, you bastards!” What point was there in denying? While Nefarious might not have caught on, the Shapeshifters certainly had. “And that’s why this ‘presentation’, huh? First make me think you killed Alister, then you drag me here to make me watch anything you want to do with him, just to make us both suffer.”

Ratchet wished he could look Alister into the eyes, but the fallen in lids, the light trickling from beneath them, turned his stomach upside down. Still, he blotted out the Superior and the other Shapeshifters, for the Lombax.

”Oh my. So furious. I am shivering.” The Shapeshifter giggled, stroking Azimuth under his chin. The elder was gritting his teeth, but could barely move with all the poorly mended wounds in his limbs. ”It would be truly heartless of me to kill your poor, poor general.” It pouted, feigning compassion. ”But now you have tempted me,” it slurred, retracting a finger that had just lined the bottom of Azimuth’s jaw and drawing a little blood from him. ”And since all of you are so convinced that I am heartless monster…” Eyes gleamed brightly as its hand turned into five sharp talons.

“I will not disappoint.”

The claws were rammed into Azimuth’s chest.

A silent scream tore from the elder’s lips, but only revealed blood streaming out his mouth. Bloodied tips shimmered in the light of the room, wiggling a little at the back of the general’s body; then, with a disgustingly slick sound, it tore its claws out, robbing the Lombax’s body from all support. Azimuth fell to the ground, lifeless, motionless—

Dead.

The second time that Alister died shouldn’t have hurt so much anymore. Ratchet had gone through it before, when the dot that marked the other’s life was swallowed by monsters swarming him, and he just was gone, neither Lawrence nor Nefarious able to find him, the link just a mess of dead static-

Between creating someone’s kind of death in imagination and experiencing it with your own senses stretched different worlds, however. Blood spilled, his heart stopped with Alister’s, his lungs emptied, warmth drained. He didn’t exist anymore – just an empty shell, too light and too heavy as his mind had tried to jump the gap. He hovered, legs flailing for friction between air and the terrifying moment of no gravity. This wasn’t happening. What was he seeing. What he was seeing couldn’t be real. Alister couldn’t be dead, not now, it just wasn’t part of reality. His reality.

He didn’t fall, but couldn’t move either, suspended above an abyss so dark the bottom was out of sight. He was lost, scrambling, flailing for the other edge. Alister stayed on the ground; his body didn’t move, not even his chest that should be rising and falling. The noise of harried breathing should have been there, and never came.

The ledge in front of him crumbled into dust that diluted into reality as emotions, thoughts and realization finally connected. Ratchet stopped still.

Weight crushed his chest and down he tumbled.

The monitor shattered completely as a shriek slashed itself outside from the organic shell. Once it had swiped the wrench across the monitor, it opened its hand and let momentum carry it away. The tool crashed against the wall, sparking, little shards of metal chipped away.

“I’LL KILL YOU. I WILL KILL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.”

The scream’s feedback bounced through the room, scrambling to escape the confined quarters. Ratchet just grabbed it with teeth and slammed it through the microphone.

“I WILL RIP YOU APART UNTIL YOUR MINDS BREAK DOWN. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING, YOU’LL JUST FUCKING DIE.”

Again and again fists slammed on the console, heedless of which buttons they smashed, that they had destroyed the speakers or interrupted the systems.

“NOTHING OF YOUR FUCKING HIVEMIND WILL REMAIN, NOTHING, NOT ONE EMOTION, NOT ONE THOUGHT, NOT ONE ATTITUDE. AND THEN YOU CAN SEE WHERE YOU CAN SHOVE YOUR SCHEMING, YOUR MANIPULATIONS, YOUR TORMENT. YOU. WILL. BE. DONE. FOR!!!”

The Lombax’s voice resonated in the room with such force that Zane even forgot to continue his duties. The monitor was smashed to smithereens; so was the image of the Superior. But, when its voice still rang through, despite the fact that the speakers were broken, he could hear it grin and chuckle with such disgusting amusement about the Lombax’s outburst.

”I am very much looking forward to this, Ratchet,” it whispered with sickeningly sweet tone, ”I truly am.”

The transmission ended, leaving only a mockingly simple code behind.
... Well. Talk about escalation.



Sorry that it took so long! I got carried away with the cover and ended up needing two more months for the chapter release than planned. XD;;; But, this chapter is very important to me, so I wanted to do something special for it.

Comments and critiques are highly appreciated, as always!

Zane, Shapeshifters - chinara
Ratchet, Nefarious, Lawrence - Priestess-Shauni


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GreenPoem's avatar
Hah!
Took me a while but I manage to reach the latest chapter!
Hooray for procrastinating in my school work!
I am seriously loving this btw. Hope the next chapter would be out soon.
Also more of Bar pls.