//------------------------------// // The Binding Of Isaac // Story: Subject 27 // by Phyrexian //------------------------------// Chapter 35 - The Binding Of Isaac         I charge at the kid, as all three demons come flying into the cave. One of the demons lunges at the unsuspecting kid. Time comes to a screeching halt as my tail yanks the kid back; sending him violently rocketing to the back of the cave. Wrath rips through my body, my heart stopping as he enters me. My breath hitched as he enters, the agonising pain caused from my heart forcibly stopping sends tears streaking down my face. I collapse to the floor of the cave, the world around me, the jungle just outside of the cave, the dull grey ceiling of the cave, S.K running towards me. All these fade to black as I lose consciousness. - - -         I feel like my soul just got run through an industrial meat grinder as I come too in the Darkness. My vision is twirling around, I turn my head to see the little white runed box only ten yards away. Wrath’s blood-curdling scream sends shivers up my spine as he brings down his claws with all his might on the box; his claws clashes with the box and it violently shocks him, but his attack wasn’t for naught; as I see a crack appeared on the side and a few pieces of wood splintering off, breaking one of the runes.         Wrath turns his attentions to me and charges, his claws ready to strike as his mouth hangs out. All I’m able to manage is say one word before he devours me.         “F-Fade...” He’s just ten feet away now and closing fast.         “DON’T you DARE lay a claw on him!” Fade erupts out of from the Darkness, A flash freeze follows her wake, turning Wrath and I into living popsicles.         “W-Who invited the banshee?!” Wrath’s stupid comment only fuels Fade’s rage.         “Banshee? BANSHEE?!” Fade takes a second to collect herself.         “You poor naive little demon, you have no idea what new level of hell you just entered.” She vanishes for a split second, and then reappears in between Wrath and I.         “I’ll show you hell!” Wrath thaws out and continues his attack as he lunges at Fade.         Fade simply stands there with a smile on her face, she grabs Wrath by the scruff of his neck and backhands him; before she sinks her teeth into him. His body violently twitches as he cries out in pain, Fade rips a massive chunk out from his soul, and he manages to escape from her grasp and flees the Darkness.         “Go 27, you have work to do.” She turns around and blows me a kiss, before kicking me out of the Darkness. - - -         I gasp for air as my heart starts to beat again. S.K. is kneeling over my body, her face lights up with joy as she sees me come to.         “Horror! You’re alive!” She leans in to hug me, but my tail stops her as I rise.         “Sorry S.K. there’s work to be done.” I get to my feet and turn my attention to the kid and see the three demons standing before him.         “You fucking asshole! How dare you sick your fucking BANSHEE on me! Do you know who I am?! I am Demon of fucking WRATH!” I walk towards the three demons, I can see Wrath shaking in fear as I notice a piece of him missing.         “Don’t care.” Bowel-voiding terror fills his face as I keep on walking towards them.         Pride and Cunning both look at each other and silently nod in some sort of agreement, they both grab Wrath and devour him before he even knows what’s going on.         “Kid, this is the true nature of demons, survival of the fittest. Consume or be consumed. You want power? Now’s your chance. Just a fair warning you two, I won’t hesitate a single fucking second to end the kid’s life if he’s not the dominant one after either of you decide to strike a deal with him.” My tail snakes its way to the kid, and ready itself to strike at his neck, decapitating him with one swift strike.         “What ever demon you are, you stand no chance against the both of us.” Pride chimes in as a sinister grin plastered itself on his face.         “I am no demon, I am the horror that lurks in the shadow. I’m the reason why every single species has a rational fear of the dark. Every single unpleasant dream or thought you have is because of me.” The spines of my tail unsheath themselves.         “You might want to think this through, Pride. There’s still a few unknown variables hiding within this one. He managed to take a fairly large chunk out of Wrath, weakening him enough for the both of us to consume him with ease.” Pride still radiates with power as he stands there listening to Cunning.         “Are we going to make a contract, or are you two too scared now to do anything? I thought you were demons, not fillies!” The kid yells that the both of them, they turn their attention to him and jump inside.         “Best of luck to you, kid.” He collapses to the ground, my tail wraps itself around his neck, ready to pop his head off at a moments notice. - - -         “You seek knowledge and power, little one. I can give you both, but.... at a cost.” Cunning and Pride both hover in front of Isaac in his mind.         “And I can turn you into a king! But power also comes at a cost.”         “What is it that the both of you seek?” Isaac sits up, looking over the both of the demons.         “I seek my freedom.” Pride says.         “I seek the knowledge of Madness.” Cunning’s words causes Isaac’s train of thought to hiccup.         “I thought the Demon of Cunning offered me unlimited power, or was that just a false truth?” Isaac’s brain lurches into gear as he sees Cunning simply nod.         “And if I do accept these terms, for one or both of your contracts. What would be the cost of calling upon your powers?” Both of them smile ear to ear as they say their answer in unison.         “Souls.”         “Whomever you decide to make the pact with, the more you use our power, the more souls you need to harvest to quench our thirst. If you fail to feed our hunger for souls, whomever is the one you decide to go with will become the dominant one until their hunger has been sated. Not each soul is considered equal, some are of a higher value than others. The higher the soul is on the social status ladder, the more it is worth. For example; Royalty is worth much more than a commoner. If the soul is powerful, like the demon Wrath was. It will be worth much more than anything else.” Cunning licks his lips at the mere thought about consuming another soul.         “We demons do not lie when it comes to our diet. We, like anything else, must eat to survive.”         “And there’s one thing that’s keeping the both of you from consuming my soul, and that's the demon and his tail awaiting to see who comes out on top. Now, there’s one logical option I see that the both of you have. Join with me. Pride, I can grant you your freedom, and Cunning I can grant you the knowledge you seek as long as I obtain the revenge for my father’s and sister’s death by the claws of the monsters who claimed their souls. After I’ve obtained my goal, you’re free to do as you wish, but only after I have that monster’s head on a silver platter. Do I make myself clear? Or should I just let that demon kill me and ruin your chances of completing your own goals?” Isaac smugly looks up at the demons; he knew that he had them by the balls and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do about it.         “Fairly well then, I agree to the terms of the contract. You grant me my freedom if I help you with your revenge.” Pride raises his hand and cuts his palm.         “I as well, you’ll grant me the knowledge I seek and I too will help you with your revenge.” Cunning raises his hand and cuts his palm.         Isaac raises his hoof and draws his blood, he shakes both of the demons hands, sealing the contract in blood, the energy of life. - - -         The kid starts to stir from whatever pitt the demons took him from, my tail slowly tightens around his neck as he opens his eyes.         “Who is the one I’m currently talking to?”         “We are one, we are Isaac!” He looks up to me, I can see his new found power burning in his eyes.         “So, Isaac is your name, kid? Glad you and whatever demon of your choosing was able to come to some kind of terms and strike a contract.” My tail releases its grip around Isaac’s neck and slithers back behind me.         “I was able to strike up a deal with both Pride and Cunning, their powers are intense!” I now wear a grim mask over my face as I see that damn smug look on the kid’s face.         “I see... Very well Isaac, I’ll be keeping a very close eye on you and your new friends. One wrong step and you’ll just be another corpse that won’t be buried.” My tail points at my eyes and then his before I walk to the back of the cave and just collapse on the ground.         I lay on my stomach, I can feel my muscles start to unwind as the soothing cold floor feels great. S.K. lazily glides over to me and perches herself on top my back and lays her head down. The weight of her body feels good against mine, my tail lays itself on top of S.K. as the Sandman does his work and sweeps me off to Slumber Land. - - -         “You’re a little too trusting, 27. If I were you, I would’ve killed the kid the moment I saw him, but that’s just me though.” The first thing I seek in the Darkness is Fade with her arms crossed; this is probably the first time I’ve ever seen her agitated at me.         “That’s the old me, I’m trying to see the good in people now instead of only profit. If he tries anything then he’ll be forcing my hand of being his shepherd to the Abyss.” Fade’s arms stay crossed as she moves in closer to me.         “It’s your call, you have yourself a good night sleep, I’ll be back before you wake.” She gives me a kiss on my horns as she vanishes from the Darkness. - - -         “Now’s our chance, Isaac! If we kill this demon who’s stopping us from reaching our true potential, then we can become the kings of this world!” Pride argues with Isaac as he and Cunning both stay silent.         “That’s what he wants, Pride. For us to try to kill him while he sleeps, we attack now and we’re all dead, because of your ignorance. If you want your freedom then you must be patient and wait for us to part ways with his guard dog.”         “I am Pride! KING OF THIS WORLD! I will not take any orders from a lesser demon! We’re doing this my way. We strike now and consume this ‘guard dog’ and our strength will increase by ten-fold!” Isaac and Cunning both look at each other and nod without saying a single word. - - -         Pride assumes control over Isaac’s body, his eyes become bloodshot and his horn flares up as he charges up for a magical spell. He slowly creeps his way across the cave towards my sleeping body with S.K. is passed out on top of me. The kid doesn’t notice the blackened cave floor that surrounds my body; each step he takes brings him ever closer to dark ebony pool around me.         Pride is blinded by his ego as he continues to charges up his magical spell, first layer with a flame red, second with a crimson red, the third layer is the color of dried blood, and the fourth and final layer is pure black. The kid doesn’t even break a sweat as he holds this over-charged spell, he steps into the void that pools around me; his spell fires prematurely and boars itself deep into the wall of the cave.         Fade wastes no time as she travels up his hoof and into his body as she envelops him in the matter of seconds. He collapses to the ground and Fade entries his mind and goes to work. - - -         “Now, would you kindly tell me why you just tried to assassinate the one you call Demon?” Isaac can’t withstand Fade’s frozen presence, Pride’s and Cunning’s movements become sluggish.         “How dare yo-.” Isaac tries to pony up, but Fade’s thousand yard stare silences the kid.         “Careful Pride, she’s no normal Banshee.” Both Cunning and Pride sizes Fade up.         “She’s no demon, therefore she’s no match for the might of Pride!” He charges in, his inflated ego clouds his judgment.         Isaac and Cunning simply stand by and watch Pride charge in head first, they both wear a sinister grin and nod silently to each other. Pride’s movements come to a snail’s crawl the closer he gets to Fade, her presence is too great for him to resist. Barely out of striking range, ice starts to encase his body, stopping him dead in his tracks.         “Banshee, why do you protect the demon with the tail? Whatever he has offered you, we can top it.” Cunning finally speaks up as Pride’s soul is now a popsicle.         “He has only offered me a simple contract, but what he’s given me though, no one can even come close to matching it.” Fade places her hand on her icy trophy, Pride’s eyes violently shake in terror as he’s now a prisoner in his new home.         “Is it safe to assume that this pathetic excuse of a demon was the one who took control of the little one’s body and tried to assassinate my Demon?” Fade digs her nail into the surface of the ice, carving out the lyrics of her lullaby.         “Yes, you’re correct with this assumption. Isaac and I had no say in the matter, Pride acted out on on his own due to his arrogance. May I ask a small request of you, Banshee?” Cunning approaches Fade and her trophy.         “You may ask, but doesn’t mean I’ll grant it though. Pride seems to be the more powerful one of the three of you, so I should have no problem freezing you as well, should you cross me again that is.” She finished carving out the lyrics of her lullaby and chuckles to herself.         “Give Pride over to me, let me decide his punishment. He broke the one thing ‘your demon’ told him not too, he doesn’t need to know about this. Isaac still has much to offer to him and I simply do not wish to return back to the hell I fought so hard to escape.” Ice slowly builds up on his soul, but he keeps on pushing on closer to Pride and Fade.         “Very well, you may do as you see fit, only on one condition. If I even catch you looking at Demon the wrong way, I’ll put the both of you in a frozen hell so cold that you’ll wish, no pray that you were never born.” She pushes the ice cube that is Pride towards Cunning, he licks his lips and devours him.         “Pride on the rocks, I thought I would never have such a luxury as this. You have my word, Banshee. Isaac nor I will cause your demon any harm.” Fade vanishes from Isaac’s mind and returns home.         “I’m glad you and I were on the same page there, Isaac. I’ll consider him as a down payment. Now, we’ll hold up to our end the bargain as long as we travel with the tailed demon. But as soon as we part ways, the deal is off.” He grins at Isaac and bursts into laughter. - - -         I wake up a few hours later, I can feel the heat of the sun seeping into the cave, but the current-like clouds block out the light. My tail slowly pets S.K.’s wings, causing them to expand outwards. She gives a low moan and nuzzles her head into my scales, my heart rate steadily increases as my urges come rushing back to the surface. My breathing becomes labored as my tail increases its speed of its strokes, with each new pass S.K.’s moans become louder.         Her talons digs down into my scales as my tail starts to move further down her backside. I concentrate hard, I put every fiber of my being being behind my focus; my tail comes to a crawl and lifts off her back and lays on the ground. I control my breathing and heart rate with ease and force the urges back down; I’m afraid that the next time I have these urges that I won’t be able to fight them.         The kid groans as he stirs from his slumber, as I turn my head, my horns scrapes on rock floor of the cave and I see the kid just fifteen feet away from me. It looks like the kid had a powerful nightmare as he looks like utter shit; the way someone looks like after a hard night of partying. S.K. rolls off my back and onto the floor, she hits the floor with a thud and wakes up.         “Aww, I was having such a good dream too. Why did it have to end so soon?”         “Atleast you got some sleep last night, I on the other hoof didn’t sleep at all.” Yeah, it looks like the kid had a powerful hangover.         “Inner demons giving you problems?” I can’t but help myself from laughing after I say this.         “Yeah... Something like that...”         “Take a few minutes to collect yourself, we need to get moving.”         The kid eventually collects himself and S.K. does the same. We leave the cave and continued deeper into the jungle. Credits Editor frieD195