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This whole experience with these heretics gave me enormous pleasure. From hiding the elephant's coffin, to taking that inept pig to her education as an adept of the Prototype.
And above all, I loved that CatNap gave me the use and enjoyment of the bear girl's cell, and therefore, to do to her whatever I wanted!
He also told me that this prisoner was special; she gave information to the heretics in order to reach the Prototype, using a pseudonym; Ollie.
It was also in this way that I discovered that she had lied when telling me her identity. Now I know her name is Bobby Bearhug.
I was planning to kill her quickly, but then I changed my mind.
I hated that bear as much as I hated the elephant and the "leader" of the Smiling Critters, the chicken or the rabbit I found once I hid the box where the elephant was. I only liked this bear girl and the unicorn, since they reminded me of two of my friends, members of the disbanded group I called "the Rejected Critters".
Not having anything better to do, I decided to pour all my hatred on that bear. I wanted her to know how much I hated her and how much I hated her friends, but, at the same time, I wanted to enjoy her pain and agony, make her know in the form of slow torture the hate and resentment I had towards her group of incompetents.
I was outside the cell until I started to hear noise, to hear that she was waking up.
I walked in with my best smile, even though she was coughing and almost vomited. I approached her and stroked her hair, although I had the impulse to pull her hair and smash her head against the wall. But I held back.
BullyBull: Rise and shine, Bobby! Yep, now I know your real identity.
She looked up. She didn't look angry, but I noticed her unhappiness. I sat next to her and played with a lock of her hair. She turned my face away from me.
BullyBull: Why the long face, bear girl?
Bobby Bearhug: Isn't it obvious? Where are they?
BullyBull: The elephant asked for death; so, he's dying. And the pig is getting educated in order to become an adept.
Bobby Bearhug: Will I suffer when I die?
BullyBull: It depends on how you behave.
Bobby Bearhug: ...Will they suffer?
BullyBull: Yeah. They will.
She looked horrified. I shrugged.
Why would I sugarcoat the truth?
The poor thing lowered her head and burst into sobs. I petted her again, but she seemed to get angry. She pushed me away and I lost my balance, falling on the ground.
She realized her enormous mistake late. My anger was surfacing again, I already had insults prepared, I felt all the strength in my body, a red veil began to cover my vision.
And I got out of hand once again.
I heard her screams, her useless pleas for me to stop, that she was sorry, that it hurt. But I ignored her.
I wanted her to suffer. I wanted her life to go in blood, in tears and screams.
Soon my anger deflated and I saw everything in normal colors again. I looked at my hands and saw the tacks of my gloves covered in blood again.
I looked at my victim. She was lying on the cold metal floor, her eyelids slightly drooping, her body and the ground around her covered in blood. I saw her so small, so insignificant...that she made me feel a little sorry.
I gently took her shoulders and sat her on the floor. She was pouring blood from her nose. She opened her mouth and spat out blood, spilling over her lips and staining her clothes and the floor.
BullyBull: There you go. Imma get you something, I'll be back.
I came back a while later with a cup of coffee - there were still those machines working.
She didn't seem to like the taste, as she had swallowed it mixed with the blood, but she relaxed a little more after a tiny break.
I said I would leave the room for a while. I turned off the lights, closed the door and left her there alone.
Oddly enough, it was part of my plan to break her; continually leaving her alone to weaken her most defensive position, and from time to time entering with her and taking advantage of any bad gesture to make her regret having been born.
Thus the hours passed- maybe days passed, who knows-, she was getting more and more nervous, every little thing scared her and she panicked every time I entered the room.
I, on the other hand, took my time to be with her. We didn't talk because she wasn't in the mood, but I would sit next to her, give her food from time to time, play with her hair and try to make her laugh. When all that failed and she was more irritated than usual, I would wait patiently for her to lose her mind so I could have an excuse to hit her, even if it was just a slap.
Although normally, the blows were bigger than a slap. I punched her, kicked her, and once I slammed her face into the ground.
However, I never used the stun gun on her.
Well, I'm lying, I used it only once against her, but it was because of a horrible, yet unjustified anger I had with her.
When I did it, CatNap asked me to bring the unconscious Bobby to her because he needed something from her.
I was thinking about how I could knock her out without using more violence...when I entered her cell.
Despite the smell of blood, my pine tree fragrance, and her smell of rose, I smelled another aroma. An aroma...of vanilla, and peppermint...and...ylang-ylang?
It was a strange combination, but that wasn't the important thing.
Someone had been here.
Bobby was sitting in the corner, with something in her hands that she hid as soon as she saw me enter.
I approached her.
BullyBull: What are you hiding?
She shook her head.
BullyBull: I'll ask again. What are you hiding?
Bobby Bearhug: Nothing...
I saw some kind of ribbon or thin string between her hands.
BullyBull: Your pendant?
She nodded.
BullyBull: May I see?
She shook her head.
BullyBull: Then you're lying.
Bobby Bearhug: No, I'm not.
BullyBull: Then show me!
Bobby Bearhug: No!
I got angry, although if I'm honest, I don't know what made me angry. I pulled out the taser and shocked Bobby. I hit her in the neck with the stun gun, so not only was she stunned, but she was directly unconscious.
She released a pendant from her hands, but I don't think it was hers.
The pendant was of the shape of a lightning; it can't be hers.
Anyway, I already had Bobby unconscious and a lead to track whoever sneaked in.
I picked Bobby up in my arms and took her to the place CatNap and I agreed upon. When he took her away, I started searching around, on the lookout for any interlopers who had come here.
I moved stealthily through the hallways. I began to question why humans thought bulls were clumsy; Despite what the comparison that humans invented says, I would go into a china shop and not break anything.
In a corner, I saw a green silhouette, and two hushed voices that seemed to be discussing something sounded not so far from here.
I got a little closer and sensed the silhouette of the yellow chicken and the rabbit that I found next to the unicorn I wanted to electrocute, followed by...
...by DogDay.
The "leader" of this bunch of assholes.
Maybe, if I get rid of him, the problems will be over...I will finally feel calm with myself.
Finally have the place I deserved; the leader.
A respected leader.
A powerful leader.
Just...being what they took away from me.
They took my leadership, my power and respect...
But not anymore.
But...I won't do it directly. I'll better use a more useful channel to negotiate.
I got closer, gripping the taser with huge force. The rabbit girl had left her position, but the chicken was within arm's reach. It was just a matter of reaching out and grabbing him by the neck.
And so I did.
The dog and the rabbit walked away and the chicken was a couple of steps behind. I took advantage of the moment.
With one arm I pressed his neck and pulled him towards me, placing the taser on his throat, and with the other I covered his mouth, in the same way I did to his friend the unicorn.
He tried to scream, to bite my arm and to defend himself, but I was taller and stronger than him. I started walking backwards, dragging him with me. I heard the rabbit's voice calling for a certain Kickin. Possibly it was my hostage who she was calling, because he started shouting louder and kicking the walls.
Tired of him struggling unsuccessfully, I gave him a shock as I uncovered his mouth. He screamed and collapsed to the ground. I heard the rabbit's voice calling Kickin again, but closer this time.
Soon she arrived, furious and with the pipe in her hands. We made eye contact, and she gripped the pipe tightly. But as a warning sign, I placed my foot on the chest of her unconscious friend, and raised the taser to her face level.
BullyBull: Do I have to say in words what will happen to your little friend if you dare to do something?
She was furious. She lifted the pipe as if she were going to hit a ball, but I put my free foot on tiptoe, putting the weight of my body on the other foot, which was on her friend's chest, threatening to break his ribs.
She looked at me and lowered the pipe slowly. I stopped putting pressure on the chicken and smiled.
BullyBull: A wise decision, indeed.
The chicken guy began to regain consciousness. He quickly realized that he was in danger and tried to remove my foot from his chest, but I exerted some force. He grunted in pain, and she grabbed the pipe back. I stopped exerting force, the chicken was able to breathe and she lowered the pipe again.
DogDay has also arrived. He took a couple of steps forward when he saw the reason behind his friends' delay.
DogDay: KickinChicken!
But she grabbed his arm and held him in one place.
I gave those two sons of bitches my best smile and turned to the rabbit.
BullyBull: Your name? 'Cause I already know the dog's.
Hoppy Hopscotch: ...Hoppy Hopscotch.
BullyBull: 'Kay, Hoppy Hopscotch, if you do what I say, your friend will return to you in a piece. First of all, place the pipe on the floor.
Hoppy Hopscotch: I will, if you promise to keep your foot off him.
BullyBull: I will. If you drop the pipe first, darling.
Hoppy Hopscotch: Don't call me darling.
BullyBull: Sorry, I'll just do a favor. You choose what to exchange it for. Either his life or stop calling you "darling". You choose.
With a huff of annoyance, Hoppy tossed the pipe aside. And since a deal is a deal, I took my foot off Kickin's chest. He started coughing, and DogDay ran to hug him, helped him up, and walked away from me.
I smiled at Hoppy with a crooked grin. I showed her the pendant Bobby had.
BullyBull: Whose is this?
DogDay: And how do you know it's ours?
BullyBull: Definitely, it isn't mine.
Hoppy Hopscotch: That's a friend's pendant.
BullyBull: Nah, she doesn't look like she has this.
DogDay: We never said our friend is a girl.
Dang, a trap.
...Well, they got me. They are smarter than I expected them to be.
Hoppy Hopscotch: Where are you keeping Bobby?
BullyBull: I don't have her now, darling, ain't going to sugarcoat it. CatNap has her!
DogDay: What?! For what?!
BullyBull: Uh, I dunno! Ask him, if you find him.
Hoppy Hopscotch: Give me back my friend, you idiot!
BullyBull: Okay! Will you want her as a unit or the pieces separately?
Hoppy Hopscotch: I've had enough of you! If you touch even one of Bobby's hairs, I'll split your head in two!
BullyBull: Oh, yeah?! Should I split hers first?! Or should your friend, the fat elephant, die faster than expected?!
KickinChicken: Fat elephant?! Well, listen, you little shit! The elephant is alive and well!
BullyBull: ...Yes, of course! Do I have an idiot face or what?!
KickinChicken: What's wrong, you don't believe us? We took him out of the shit where you left him to die!
BullyBull: Okay...and when did you take him down from the pole where I hung him? Are you guys sure he was breathing? Or just because he had his eyes open you supposed he's alive?
KickinChicken: He wasn't hanging from a pole, you locked him in a box and buried him alive under a mountain of rubble; Don't set traps for us, we're not stupid!
BullyBull: ...'Kay, imagine I believe you. Prove it.
DogDay: Uh, come again?
BullyBull: Prove you have rescued the elephant. And so that you can take me seriously, I promise that I will deliver Bobby to you safely if you show me that your little friend is alive. Want me to take you seriously? Do it.
DogDay: ...Okay, we'll do it. But it will be difficult to convince Bubba to come.
BullyBull: I'll give you some time for it. I'll see you later, I guess.
They left the hallway, but DogDay looked at me one last time before leaving for real.
Did they really rescue the elephant? Until I see it with my eyes I won't believe it...
Several hours passed and they did not come. I made up my mind that those incompetents had given up and wouldn't show up.
CatNap had already given Bobby back to me, although she returned still asleep, wrapped in a towel and with her clothes folded next to her. I realized that if they arrived in the end, she had to be presentable, because things could be misinterpreted. So I decided to accommodate her a little.
I took the towel off; I noticed that she had a stitch at her back, as if she just had surgery. Still, I could hide it with the top and jacket.
I wanted to put her hair in her two buns, but when I combed her hair, it formed a frame around her face, and I even saw her prettier that way.
I had all the time in the world to observe her. I ran my fingers over her ears, her hair with my hands, her wounds with my fingertips.
I like to look at girls. It is not a romantic impulse, but a spiritual one.
Only the friend that I lost and was forced to devour in order to survive awakened an immediate feeling of seduction in me, although I flirted with her in a mocking way, because, after all, we were just friends.
And Bobby looked a lot like her.
...I missed my friends.
And only Bobby and the unicorn showed a tiny resemblance to my late friends.
Soon I heard the voices of these idiots.
I went out to meet them. Among them was also the unicorn, but no sign of the elephant.
I smiled at the unicorn.
BullyBull: Well, you guys come with new company from what I see! ...Hello, cutie!
CraftyCorn: ...CraftyCorn.
BullyBull: Whatever. Where is the elephant?
DogDay: He refused to come.
BullyBull: Well, if he refuses, we all refuse! Bye bye-
Hoppy Hopscotch: He's not here, but we have this! Here. A note, in his handwriting.
She showed me a piece of paper, which I snatched from her hands.
I read it.
BullyBull: If you read this quickly, you will notice a lemongrass smell behind- AHA!
I took the taser and pointed it backwards to deliver a shock to whoever was going to climb on top of me...
...It didn't work.
Shit, the batteries.
A blow knocked me to the ground.
I heard the desperate voices of all those sons of bitches who had stabbed me in the back to rescue their friend. I saw, in fact, the elephant, which was the one carrying an unconscious Bobby in his arms, and therefore was the last to run away.
I stood up, brushing the dust off my clothes and ignoring the trickle of blood running down my eyebrow.
I went back inside. CatNap was waiting for me.
CatNap: Where is she?
BullyBull: With her friends. They set a trap for me and they ran away.
CatNap: What!? Do you know the anger that the Prototype will get? He will impose the greatest punishment on you.
BullyBull: Nah, relax! We'll get them back in no time.
CatNap: How?
BullyBull: ...How's the adept doing?
CatNap: ...No, you're not going to do that! It's too early.
BullyBull: Why not? You said she- I mean, "it" was moving forward in leaps and bounds within the transformation!
CatNap: Bully, it is halfway through the process. In the same way that it turns against them, it can turn against us. It is not an option to let it go now.
BullyBull: Fine...
CatNap: I must go for a while. Keep an eye on it and, overall, don't release it.
CatNap left me a key and left. I approached the room where we had locked the pig.
I was present only a few times during her transformation period, but I was able to see the process CatNap used to corrupt her and "dehumanize" her, or so he called it; he didn't feed her, he called her by her name, but if we referred to her when we talked about her, we had to address her as "it". She left her great strength, her disposition and empowerment, and began to take the form of a monster; a monster without a soul, without a brain, driven solely and exclusively by a voracious hunger that would be capable of dividing a living body in two with a single bite.
I entered. The room had a foul smell of blood. There was an overturned bowl on the floor, which had traces of blood and pieces of what looked like a kidney.
Maybe that's why he needed Bobby? He needed a kidney donor?
And there she was, leaning on the opposite wall.
She was standing, with her head bowed and her wrists tied to the wall with chains. Her skin and hair had darkened and mitigated the pink hue they had. She had also grown in height, as before she was a few centimeters shorter than me and now we were the same height, and lack of food or intense torture had made her emaciated in just a few hours- or days, who knows.
Her clothes were too big for her and her ribs and spine were visible on her skin, just like CatNap.
She was breathing hard, with beastly huffs.
BullyBull: PickyPiggy, how are you?
She raised her head with difficulty. Her face was bruised, she had white eyes but with a diffuse black center, as well as black pupils, which unlike CatNap's and mine, hers had white frames.
She had a long, empty smile, from ear to ear.
Despite her strangely happy expression, she was extremely weak, she was gasping and sobbing, crying a strange reddish liquid.
PickyPiggy: I'm...hungry...
That made something click.
PickyPiggy reminded me of myself in a way. In a similar way I began to be what I am now.
I cannot consider myself a monster; but a while ago, I was a being that was more driven by hunger and the instinct of survival rather than by rationality. That's why I ended up eating my friends until I only left a few pitiful bones that the compressor reduced to dust.
I smiled a little at her.
BullyBull: Well calm down, today you are gonna pig-out, hehe!
I released the chains and grabbed both of her wrists. I dragged her to the exit.
BullyBull: If you find someone, devour them without mercy, the same way I once did. It's what they deserve! That's their fate! And after all, you gotta survive. Or do you prefer to continue being hungry?
I let her go. She staggered a little, but then she started walking normally again.
She was already disappearing down the hallway.
It was time for her to do her first mission as an "adept".
And me...
...what can I do?
Welp, I guess I can negotiate with DogDay for a bit...
But first, I'm going to look for batteries for the taser.