"Aww, don't tell me you died from shock or passed out on your feet or something, That's no fun at all." Blade's voice, a predator's purr cut through the air. Her lips stretched into a vicious grin as she advanced slowly, each step deliberate, the blade glinting as it caught the sparse light wanting to end things now that she had begun to get bored. But just as the got ready to launch the final blow one of the thick chains surged upwards with impossible speed, striking her blade mid-air with a shower of brilliant sparks momentarily illuminating the grime-caked walls before fading into the gloom and causing her to take a step back.
"Oh? You do still have some fight in you? Good! Its always so much more fun when the prey fight to the very end!" Blade shrieked, her initial playful menace giving way to a raw, bloodthirsty excitement. She poured more speed and strength into her subsequent strikes, a furious barrage of steel against iron. Yet, with each clang and spark the hunched figure slowly, agonizingly, began to rise till he stood unsteadily with the aid of a single chain, the other still expertly countering her strikes with a life of its own in a whirlwind of metallic defense, blocking with a blur of motion.
A voice, deeper and rougher than Braedon's rasped from beneath the shadow of his hood, carrying an unsettling chill that permeated the very air and making the captives try to press as far from him as possible in their prisons. "Interesting. I never thought I'd be in a flesh suit once more. Well, more flesh than suit admittedly but it truly is something interesting none the less." The words were deliberate, almost a contemplation spoken aloud devoid of the pain Braedon had shown. "This shall admittedly take some getting used to but thankfully shouldn't be to long, most of the repairs have been completed and I am no longer needed, additionally my presents here is merely due to the fact I would be better suited for this given the circumstances, needing proper action and reaction rather than constant planning and attempts to 'find the best solution' as that over thinker Braedon tends to do. Mmm? Do be a dear though and hold on while I try to acclimate to these new sensations. I'm far more used to the feeling of not feeling. Not to mention, the sensation of blood pumping and the crude, constant need to breathe is rather… uncomfortable along with the strange sensations of pain, I can't recall the last time I had felt such a thing. How do you humans tolerate all of these sensations and feelings?"
The voice, now undeniably cold, almost clinical and analytical was a stark contrast to Braedon's. It grated like stone on stone that made Blade involuntarily take a step back. The playful glint in her eyes evaporated like water touching the sun, now replaced by a steely wariness. "What the fuck did you do? Some weird class change shit?" she demanded, her voice losing its edge of confidence, now gripping her sword tightly as, with a twist of the handle caused it to split it into two smaller, yet far more deadly looking blades. Their edges were no longer broad and jagged points but now thin, hooked claws with wickedly sharp barbs that faced both towards the handle and the tips. Their sole purpose clearly to rip flesh from bone.
"Oh? Well, this is where you expect me to monologue or something, isn't it? Explain my origins, what had happened and give a full explanation of things? Well, I am quite sorry but I am not interested," the new entity drawled, a hint of dry amusement in its rough tone. "But I suppose we should do like you said and end this now, there is still plenty to do and master John may be a bit upset when he learns of what I am about to do, both here and to his body and I have no doubt it will take almost all the energy this body currently has left, hmm another thing I will have to… Help with. Either way I know it will all be worth it in the end and will just require a good rest once I'm done, both to recover from what I am about to do and to help his body adapt to the changes I have planned for it. Oh, now that should prove to be interesting," it mused, its hooded head tilting slightly as if pondering some profound mystery, "I wonder what it is like to 'rest' with a physical body of flesh?"
He held a hand out in front of him, fingers splayed and slowly twitching and bending as he experimented with the unfamiliar mechanics of his new form, Blade watching wearily as she Knocked away the chain each time it came at her, growing frustrated that her blades where unable to lock it. After a moment of awkward manipulation, he gave a small, almost dismissive wave towards the grotesque pile of corpses piled in the far corner of the room. As if given some unheard command the two massive chains stopped what they were doing, one no longer supporting him well the other twisted away from Blade, their tips towards the gruesome mound. They began to slow weave intricate symbols and runes into the air, a silent and beautiful display that burned with an ethereal light while simultaneously causing the temperature in the room to plummet, everyone going silent as a chill seeped into Blade's bones as she took a step back cautiously. The chains began to move with increasing speed, drawing complex patterns that pulsed with a steady dark energy visibly sparking across them before suddenly stopping before slowly tracing over each rune and symbol, one by one they glowing runes seemed to dissolve into tiny motes of light as he entity began to chant in a low, resonant voice, uttering words that felt utterly alien and caused the hair of everyone present to stand on end. A subtle pulse came from the final one, dissolving as the chanting came to an end, the chains dropping back in front of him, once more acting as supports to keep him unsteadily on his feet as he swayed slightly, gulping down breaths of air.
Blade narrowed her eyes and waited, even more on edge as if waiting for him to suddenly attack and strike her, for an he may have set up but nothing came. Slowly, her guard began to lower before and a harsh, boisterous laugh ripped from her throat. "That's it? You change your look and voice and then say all kinds of bullshit followed by a light show? Was that supposed to scare me, or cause me to back off or something? Fuck, I even waited patiently for you to finish but that was all you did? Oh, I see what you did! You made yourself half-dead in hopes I would go easier on you or make it so you would be too much effort to kill! Well, sorry, but I'm not that kind of woman and I've delt with those kinds of people before, it just means your extra durable and last longer, but now it's time to end this!" Her words were laced with a raw anger, her desire to kill now undisguised, feeling as if he had wronged her and wasted her time. Once more she lunged forward, her swords swinging with a speed the previous one could never hope to reach in a scissor strike. Each strike was met by the blur of a chain as it deflected her blows, there master standing unsteadily but a small, knowing smirk barely visible under his hood began to form.
"I'm glad you liked the show," the entity began, his voice still rough and clearly both tired and strained as the chain barely managed to keep up. "But it wasn't for you. Rather, it seems they needed a few moments to wake up and come through. Hmm, possibly due to the nature of this world, or it could be due to low quality of the materials." He began to mutter, a detached scientific curiosity in his tone, as the chain kept deflecting Blade's relentless assault yet each strike slowly forcing him further away till his back was against the wall.
"Die!" Blade shrieked well twisting herself to get the most momentum, swinging one blade down in a vicious arc while stabbing with the other. Right before her attack connected, a grotesque body stepped between her and him, its meaty hand gripping her downward slash as the other stabbed into it. The creature, cobbled together from the remains didn't show any reaction as it shredded itself upon Blade's stabbing sword, its form tearing as the blade sank deeper and getting stuck in its flesh. Before she could react its head leaned towards her, where a face should have been, instead was only a large, leech-like mouth, twisting, writhing and snapping as it desperately tried to latch onto her.
"What! What the fuck did you do?! What the hell is this!" Blade screamed, revulsion and terror warring in her voice as she struggled to get her blades out of this monstrosity, even resorting to pressing her foot upon its monstrous face and shoving with all her might to try and tip them free and get some distance. With a sickening rip she tore her sword free, large chunks of the creature's decaying flesh clinging to the blade as she got some distance well knocking down this creature. On the floor the mangled monstrosity began to wriggle before crawling towards her with a horrifying, single-minded determination.
"Me? I haven't done anything," the entity replied, his tone amused with mock innocence before a raspy laugh escaping his throat. "This young one was created by you, or rather from your actions. But don't worry if you aren't happy with only having him, I admit he isn't great company on his own, luckily for you he isn't. You can probably feel it already though. I must say, they are really interesting and I truly wish I could examine and dissect them, to find their secrets and see there essence, even though there not exactly to my taste I would love to look into them, even so they should still prove useful for the current situation, far better than anything the over thinking idiot could ever hope for at the very least." He finished well slowly walking forward, observing the struggling creature with detached interest as he crouched down to poke it. Its form remained vaguely human save for the leech-mouth head and many stitches, watching with interest as its hands slowly began stretching and hardening, becoming sharp and jagged bones with an almost broken appearance as the skin and flesh melted off of them.
Before Blade could respond to his cryptic words or try to strike again, a multitude of bony hands burst from the ground beneath her, grabbing at her ankles tightly but rather than trying to pull her down into the earth they seemed to be trying to use her to pull themselves up. She slashed wildly in a panicked surprise, each strike managing to destroy a hand yet they kept coming, a relentless surge from beneath the floor seemingly trying to use her as a means to pull themselves up. So focused on the skeletal appendages and the leech-creature she never noticed the corpse pile from before, the topic of discussion originally began to bloat and swell well seemingly melting and fusing together. From it two large, demon-like creatures began to take shape. Their skin was brown like soil and their faces almost pig-like but still more on the human side with two large, tusk-like teeth poking out from the sides of their mouths. One bore a pair of slightly curved horns, while the other had only a single intact one, the other a broken stub. Their bodies were massive and bulky, appearing overweight yet where actually strong and iron-like muscle with thick, matted fur covered their arms. One wore simple black pants and a bloody chef's apron, while the other had just a pair of pants and a torn-apart top.
Slowly and silently these monstrous figures lumbered towards Blade from behind, moving with a grace such creatures shouldn't have been capable of. They were directly behind her before she even registered their presence. With a mighty swing of their fists, one from the left, the other from the right, they impacted her form from both sides causing her to let out a scream of pure agony as her arms audibly snapped along with a few ribs from the monstrous blow, her swords falling uselessly to the ground as some blood dribbled from the corner of her lips. Miraculously, she was still alive, despite suffering such a devastating attack but falling to her knees, wracked with pain as more bony hands erupted and grab her, no longer being destroyed as more and more grasped onto her.
"My, my, I didn't expect you two to come." the rough voice mused with a hint of genuine glee now palpable. "Admittedly I thought it would be a big, bloated corpse beast that came from that pile as this body is far from used to actively using my, or any energy consciously so it was rather sloppy. Instead, you two seemed to force your way through using some of your own energies with this body as an anchor! How very very interesting. Were you bored or just felt you were needed? Either way it's absolutely perfect. I've always wanted to examine the pair of you in detail, that should prove much easier now that I have a physical form and you're both present." He received only a guttural grunt in response to his excitement as the two towering creatures grabbed Blade by her broken arms before roughly hauling her off the ground. The bone hands scratched at her, seemingly desperate to pull her back but the demon's grip and strength outmatched there's, ripping her free before slamming her down into the struggling skeletal grasp.
"Mercy!" She begged through broken teeth as blood dripped from her mouth, her gaze looking up at the hooded figure as he slowly hobbled closer. Her voice was raw, stripped of all its previous bravado filled only with fear and desperation.
"Do you really believe you deserve that? After all you had done?" the entity asked plainly, a cold assessment before nodding. "I am lenient though and killing often leaves a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth so I won't kill you." He said, watching her eyes light up with a mix of relief and hope that was quickly squashed. "Put her in that cage there please." He instructed, turning to the two demon-like creatures. They exchanged glares, looking at each other as if debating whether or not they should listen to him or keep playing with their prey before shrugging their massive shoulders and dragging her over to an empty cage. They roughly threw her in causing her to bite back another scream as her arm slammed onto the ground, the metal gate clanging shut with a finality that echoed through the room.
"You girls with the fierce looks," he addressed the other female captives, who watched from their own cells, trembling with a mix of fear and awe. "I'm going to be outside for a time to look around and clean house I believe the saying goes, but I'm not going to be letting you all rot till I return, rather going to be letting the ones with a fire in them out first so they may screen everyone else and do whatever is needed since all of you have been here together either for a long or a short time you should consider one another captives in arms. You can use your own minds and feelings to pass judgment onto this woman and each other as you see fit. Also make sure to choose a leader among yourselves for a discussion about a very big opportunity for all of you here once I return, Know I won't be forcing any of you though, those who choose to leave and go their own way are free to do so once the area has been cleared." He told them, his words carrying an odd blend of command and detachment as he walked slowly and unsteadily out of the room, leaning heavily on the chains which acted as crude crutches. As he departed, the bone hands slowly dissolved into motes of light, taking the leech creature with them well the two large demon-like beings followed him, breaking open the doors of the cages he had pointed out as the party of three left, each picking up one of Blade's fallen swords along the way.
"Wait! Who, who are you?" a timid voice, one of the female captives, asked in a trembling whisper that was barely audible. He paused for a moment and turned to look back at them, a shadowed head tilting slightly as if weighing if the question was worth answering or not. "Hmmm, I suppose the whole 'name' thing is a requirement when interacting with others isn't it? well I'm not Master John, nor am I that know-it-all bookworm Braedon so I will need to give you something unique to refer to me as that isn't my true name." He tapped his chin with a still-awkward gesture, contemplating a new identity.
"Lesh? Yes, I suppose you can call me Lesh. It's a shortened part of something I was called a long, long time ago." His voice, though coarse still carried a quiet, almost melancholic satisfaction to it. As he turned and made his exit a faint, fleeting image of a past life shimmered in his mind, a wisp of a dream barely held yet enough to stir a forgotten sense of self from energies long since integrated with the fragment of John he came from. It was an identity he thought irrevocably lost and for a fleeting moment, a ghost of a smile touched his lips as he lost himself in remembrance before he stepped through the doorway.
The fragile peace of that memory was shattered an instant later by a series of piercing, pain-filled screams that ripped through the air behind him, leaving no doubt as to the fate that had befallen Blade. Stripped of her ability to retaliate she was now at the mercy of her captives and was undoubtedly receiving the brutal punishment she had so often doled out. But Lesh did not flinch nor did he spare a single thought for her deserved suffering. His attention had already shifted; his gaze fixated on the two imposing, demon-like figures who had formed.
"So, Butcher, Carnage," Lesh drawled, his tone laced with amusement yet undeniably tinged with exhaustion, "how does it feel to be in physical form in our master's world as opposed to watching silently and unable to interact physically?" He asked before swayed slightly, a ripple of weariness passing through him as the drain of what he had done begun to wash over him, relying on the pair of chains to keep steady.
His question met with no verbal reply, only a guttural grunt from each as Butcher and Carnage settled themselves onto the cold ground well looking around. Their forms were a testament to their names – hulking and bristling with raw power, their skin proving to not just be an earthy brown but having taken on the shades of dried blood and shadow. The taken swords warping from their energy fed into them slowly becoming monstrously curved and smooth broadswords that looked like one handed blades in their grips, perfectly matching their new owners. Then, in a ritualistic silence, each plunged a hand into the flesh just below one of their massive tusks, drawing a dark, viscous stream of blood. It flowed freely, pouring over the blades and coating them in a sheen of vital energy that they seemed to greedily absorb, thickening and faintly tinting red.
Lesh watched, a flicker of grudging admiration in his eyes. "Not talkative, huh? Well, that's fine." He observed their grim dedication. "Hmm, taking your will and forcing the blades to become your own tools by using your blood essence after reshaping them through brute force of your own energy? Risky but admirable. It makes you both so much more interesting." His gaze drifted upwards, towards the expansive starlit sky that now seemed closer, more vibrant than it had any right to be. "I don't know if it will truly work as the very laws of this world are different from the various realms and plains we've known, even with the barriers weakened and many rules destroyed it's still questionable if what your doing will work. But then again, with how everything in this realm is crashing and fusing together I suppose anything should be possible."
He sat down heavily, the chains clinking softly as he settled into a comfortable position as he lamented everything, how this world, once so stable, was now a volatile tapestry woven from countless realities and energies. "Truly, this world has become a blessing and a curse," Lesh mused, his voice dropping to a solemn undertone. "It's what the master desired, the key to his grand design but its cost was immense pain for him. He should have paid enough through his life though, through his hardships and the crushing loss of good karma and yet instead when the change happened, he then lost his beloved family, his brother losing himself, his arm and then even suffering damage to his very soul. And now this world took even more, taking the precious time he would need to prepare and to heal. Even if we can now play active roles in helping him, I fear what more is this world will take from him to balance the cost of having us here, I know his will is strong and his spirit unyielding, but even mountains crumble down to pebbles when worn down enough by the relentless currents of fate. Truly his wish for change was one done on a monkey's paw."
His coarse tone, though quiet was filled with a profound sadness, a deep, aching pain for the master he served with unwavering loyalty. He saw the weary lines etched on his master's soul, the scars from countless battles both physical and spiritual as he would always do his best to try and mend them. The thought of further suffering was intolerable yet he could feel a lot was still to come. The air thickened around him, charged not with the energy of colliding realms but with the raw power of his own fierce loyalty and determination to do all he could for his master.
A sudden explosion not to far was heard, shaking the ground slightly yet his gaze remained locked onto the stary night. The sorrow in his eyes replaced by a burning and resolute fire, as if challenging the very universe. "No!" he roared, his voice gaining volume, echoing off the damaged and destroyed buildings as he shook off the chains of despair. "No, we will make sure things get better for him! He will have all he could ask for and more! He will thrive in these wastes! We will make sure of it one way or another! He will live and not just survive anymore!" His words were a defiant vow hurled into the cosmos, a promise etched in the very fabric of his being, a declaration that he would do all he could to try and make his master's suffering end or barring that limit it as best they could.