The Ultimate Lifeform

Chapter 13: The Pain & The Truth

Before anyone knew it, Mephiles had been there for about three months now and those months were quite painful, for Mephiles and the humans.

He still refuses to eat anything they gave him and they tried to feed him some of the things they already tried and some new things. Like: birds, worms, pet food, and even garbage since foxes have been known to be going through people's trash. He even began not to drink anything either so he was beginning to get a little dehydrated, but Mephiles still wouldn't eat and he was starting to get really skinny that you can actually see his ribs; he was still willing to fight anyone that tried to take him out of his cell for any experiments.

He has already bitten six human's wrists, clawed two human's faces, and he actually managed to kill at least one person. And that was before he started getting weak from hunger. Scarlett was getting tired of losing her workers that she decided to teach Mephiles a . . . lesson.

The next day, Scarlett had one of the guards bring Mephiles to the infirmary and strap him to the table. Mephiles didn't know what she was planning to do but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"You've been a very bad fox. You've already killed one of my guards and at least injured a few of my scientists. Now, I'm going to teach you a lesson," Scarlett said, as she was getting out a certain tool.

"What are you gonna do?" Mephiles asked, as he was afraid of what's to come.

"I'm going to give you a tooth extraction."

"A what?"

"It's something we humans do to get an aching tooth out. In other words, I'm going to pull a tooth out."

A guard held Mephiles' head as Scarlett opened his mouth and pulled a tooth out. Mephiles screamed in agony and that just pleased Scarlett. She had him returned to his cell and when Mephiles saw his reflection in the steel wall he couldn't believe what he saw. There was a scar on the left side of his snout and the blood was still pouring into his mouth that he just kept on spitting it out. Mephiles was in so much pain that he wished they would just kill him already.

He couldn't take all of the new feelings he was feeling: he has felt sad, scared, and in pain for the first time. And he had a feeling it wasn't just going to stop there.

Next, Scarlett had Mephiles branded and boy did that hurt. She branded his left hip and now there was a radioactive sign on it. Mephiles just couldn't believe Scarlett did that so he attacked her, trying to bite her. Scarlett was expecting this and finally had him muzzled, which he could still talk though.

Once they put him back in his cell, Mephiles used his ice powers to ease the pain on his hip. It hurt so much that tears began to slide down his face. He just couldn't take it anymore, he was starting to think that humans were the true enemy and not the animals like he was trained to think for the last few years.

When Tod saw him the next day he saw Mephiles lying down with his back facing the glass, he even saw a strap on the back of his neck. So he tapped on the glass and Mephiles turned his head to face him. But, when he did that Tod saw a muzzle on him and his front paws tied up since he tried to take the muzzle off earlier. Tod just couldn't believe what his aunt had done to the poor thing, he wished he could do something but there was nothing he could do, he was still trying to get Mephiles to trust him. And now, Scarlett decided it was time to really hurt Mephiles.

After a few hours of preparing, Scarlett had two guards go and bring Mephiles to her. But instead of carrying him or having him strapped to a table and rolling him, they actually had him walk there like a prisoner, since his paws were tied up like he was in handcuffs. Mephiles walked on his two legs and saw Scarlett in a room waiting for him. She had him sit on the floor, facing a screen.

"What I'm about to show you will make you just furious at Jared," said Scarlett.

"You know Jared?" asked Mephiles.

"Of course I know him, I helped create you. I was his girlfriend as well, but he broke up with me when I wanted to experiment on you. And now that you're here, I can finally do that."

Jared never mentioned Scarlett to him and that made him realize why Scarlett has been treating him this way; to punish Jared for breaking up with her and not letting her experiment on him. Scarlett turned the video on and it was about fox hunting. After the video was over, Mephiles couldn't believe what he just watched.

"This is what Jared never told you. Since you're a fox, it'll be very likely that you'll be hunted down when the event comes up," said Scarlett.

"You're wrong. Jared would never let this happen, I'm not an animal," said Mephiles.

"Oh please! Why do you think Jared is sending you to earth? To be killed. And you say you're not an animal?"

Scarlett brought out a mirror and put it in front of Mephiles.

"Take a good look at yourself. You have fur, pointed ears, a snout, a tail, and four paws. All of those features belong to an animal. Whatever Jared told you, he's lying."

Mephiles sighed as he came to the realization that Scarlett was telling the truth, but he still believed he wasn't an animal.

"You win, I'll behave. Do whatever you wish to do to me."

"With pleasure."