//------------------------------// // Crush, Kill, Destroy, Swag... but mostly Swag // Story: Subject 27 // by Phyrexian //------------------------------// Chapter 58 - Crush, Kill, Destroy, Swag... but mostly Swag         Fade pulls away from my neck with a strand of saliva bridging from her mouth to the puncture wounds. Just the utter thought of letting her feed upon me gets me all hot and bothered; its not a vore fetish, no, no... It’s just the sheer blissful agony that came with it... And you know what? It was great! It was Goddamn spine bending! Not knowing if she’ll end it all for me right there and then, or just leave me dangling by a thread; bordering the line of life and death. I love, no I’m a slave to this feeling; I’ll do anything just to feel the sweet embrace of Fade’s bliss. I guess you can say that Fade is my drug, I’m nothing more than weapon without her.         “All better now, Fade?” Her body press against mine with her one hand on the back of my head and another following the lengths of my horns, her breath heavily beating against my goosebump riddled neck; my hands on her firm ass; if I died this very second, I would die a happy man.         She brushes her cheek up against mine and nips at my left earlobe before whispering into my ear.         “So, did you and Hyper have fun last night?” My ears begin to burn, I can tell that Fade is smiling from ear to ear right now.         “It was interesting to say the least... It was extremely awkward being on the receiving end... I would rather much preferred having sex with a female than a male, but yes, I did have a good time last night.” She pulls her head back, making sure our cheeks brushes up against each other again.         “Hey Fade, if you don’t mind me asking and PLEASE don’t bite my head off for this. But, what did Friend actually say to set you off into a frozen maelstrom?” The expression on her face is her subtle way of telling me to mind my own business.         “Okay, okay, I shall not pry into your feud with Friend. I’ll try my best not to get caught in the crossfire. Just promise me this, that you two won’t trash the place; I don’t mind you guys changing it up a bit, I just don’t want to come in to see someone crucified on a upside down cross with them ablaze.”         “Fine...” She pouts.         “You hear me Friend?”         “Oh, you must be new here. My name is Friend, it’s nice to meet you. I like long walks on soul sand beaches, mischief, and I never make promises. ” Both Fade and I shoot him an evil glare.         “Friend... You and I need to have a talk in private, excuse me Fade.” Unclamping my hands from Fade’s rear I turn to walk towards Friend.         “Ohhhh! Someone’s in trouble!” She teases.         “I’m quaking in my boots, oh lawdy lord, may you have mercy on this poor visual!” I grab Friend by his arm and drag him off deep into the Darkness.         “You know where this door leads?” I forcibly turn him to face the red door leading to the Abyss.         “Yeah, who do you think installed this door? Not Arkis, no siree bob.” He mocks.         “You can’t open it, can you?” He reaches out his hard and pulls on the door handle, but the door doesn’t even budge.         “Apparently not. Go-.” I grab his left arm and twist it around his back and pull it up to his shoulder blades, he turns his head and I take my right hand and open the door.         “If you don’t want to be a snack for the Abyss, tell me what I want to know!” I force him to walk, he grabs the door jam with his right hand and tries to push himself away from the door.         “Check out the gall on this guy!” I kick the back of his knee, forcing his leg to buckle underneath him.         “You and Fade’s little squabble I’m fine with, just some friction that was bound to spark an explosion.” I twist his arm even more, his moans of pleasure fill the Darkness around us.         “What is the plan for this world?!” I yell, inching him towards the open door to the Abyss.         “You really don’t know? Saddening.” His head is sticking into the open door, I look up to see the winding river of souls leading to a large light in the Abyss.         “Tell me!” His right arm still acting like a block, preventing him to be forced through the door any further.         “Look, you can see it from here Lad.” He tilts his head up and stares off into the Abyss.         “See what?”         “The Black City, home, our home.” Out of frustration, I kick his elbow, bending it in the opposite direction.         “No, my home is on Earth!” I feel the tension in his left arm fade away as he gives up his resistances.         “Poor innocent Lad. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You still haven't remembered, have you?” He gets to his feet, his left arm falling freely to his side; he turns to face me with a blank expression on his face.         “You’ve changed Lad. For the better? I don’t know; I preferred the old you; the old you was so much more fun. Oh the olden times were so grand! Murder them all amid laughter and merriment! Except for the few we take home to experiment.” Friend places his hand on my shoulder and sighs.         “I tell you what, the old you would’ve done some terrible things; unspeakable things to the life forms on this planet. But, I was told not to interfere with the development of the new you... Come on Lad, it’s not quite time yet for us to go home, we must continue on in this forsaken place before returning home to your old man.” Friend walks past me with cane in hand, I lazily push the door closed.         “Friend... Who am I?” Since he’s in such a reminiscent mood, I might be able to pray some information out of him.         “You promised me something if I kept your identity a secret from you until the time is right. That time is nearing, but until then, I’ll keep this little secret to myself.” That’s the only thing he says, we continue to walk back in silence.         “Hey Friend... What actually did you say to set Fade off? I’ve never seen her so pissed before, I was scared for my life...” He comes to a stop and starts to laugh.         “I called her fat.” I facepalm hard, then again, and once more for good measure.         “What? Haven't you noticed it? The Lass has been putting on weight, I would assume from the amount of snacking that I prohibited the both of you doing...” This is followed up by another facepalm.         “So, you blatantly call Fade fat? Either you have a death wish, or you’re hella dumb... You never call a woman fat, no matter the species... They’ll rip your head off and shit down your throat... You’re lucky that I was there to save your stupid ass.” That, and fueling my addiction to the lovely miss Fade.         “I’ll never understand women’s minds, too complex, confusing, and too much work. Just be careful Lad, any minute now and she’ll start rearranging everything, nesting, and worst of all... She’ll try to change me! I like the Darkness the way it is, desolate and dark; I don’t like change!” If she wants to change Friend in any sort of way; I say, more power to yah!         “Friend, I doubt that Fade will go and start rearranging everything...” My words fall short as we return to our area to see Fade and... And... And a jukebox?         “Work you blasted thing!” She yells, in frustration she smacks the side of the jukebox and it buzzes with new life and a song floods the Darkness around it.         “Aayyyeee!” - Kicks on, Fade turns to us and gives us two thumbs up.         “Okay, now that’s just pure irony right there...” I turn to see Friend’s jaw unhinging and detaching itself from his face and falls to the floor.         “What? I thought you'd like a little furnishing in here; was I mistaken?”         “Goddamn it Fade, I love you, but this, this is just too perfect.” I place my right hand on my forehead and begin to laugh.         “So, you do like? Good, because I had a few ideas for the place.” I walk up and hug Fade and give her a kiss on the forehead.         “I need to get back. I’ll let you two redesign to your hearts content.” With that said, I leave the awfully cheerly Fade with the shambling Friend. “-- Horror, I’ve already sent Silver ahead, before you head out for Talonpolis, stop by Gramp’s place; he’s been working on something for you.” I open my eyes to see Uncle setting behind his desk and I look down to see me standing on my own two feet and naked; this is awkward. I’m just glad that my unit isn't saluting Uncle.          “Stay calm Horror, I hid your Lunar Knight medallion in Hyper Crasher’s bags; and I’ve figured out how to work your nifty freezing trick. I didn’t bother to get your pants on.” I can feel Lighting Charmer inside my body. It doesn’t feel as cramped as before, he’s finally settled in, making it easier for my organs to be in functioning condition. “Uncle can’t hear me, only you. He doesn’t know of your true identity nor your purpose. The sooner we, no, you assassinate the Don; the sooner I can retire.”         “You there Horror?” Uncle’s voice pulls me out of my deep concentration.         “Yeah, sorry, there was something eating away at me.” The sooner I can get out of here and get my pants back on, the better.         “Go find Lighting Charmer, he’ll take you to Talonpolis. Although you might have to grease his hooves.” With that said, I dropped to all fours and crawled out of Uncle’s office and made my way back to the room which Hyper and I spent the night together.         Without hesitation, I throw on my boxers and pants; I reach into my right pocket to make sure my PDA, headphones and medallion hadn’t fallen out. I take another look through my colorblind eyes at the room and I’m grateful of the new, yet awkward memories that Silver, Hyper and I created in here. I crawl out the room, Tail closes the door behind us and we make our way to the entrance of the hideout.         “So, Lighting Charmer, how long will it take for my eyes to be fully operational?” I try to strike up some conversation between the two of us while I crawled to Gramp’s shop that’s tucked away in the back alleys of Cloudsdale’s bustling market place district.         “I don’t know, you tell me?” Like a flip of a switch, he turns on the coloring; still only able to see shades of red, bringing with it the hellish pain.         “T-Turn it off!” Blinded by pain, I smack face first into a nearby wall.         “You ask and I answered.” He bluntly replies.         “J-Just make me colorblind again!” The pain turns into a dull ache as the world becomes grey again.         “Alright, I’ll let you know when I’m done fixing you up.” I groan in pain and continue to enjoy the gorgeous day.         “Mind explaining, not showing, to me how you plan on getting me down from here and to Talonpolis? I can’t fly you know?”         “Let me worry about that, just make sure you get us to Gramp’s place without us falling off.” I turn down an alley and in a few turns I spot Gramp’s shop.         The guard out front nods at me and opens the door; the bell above the door rings out; Gramp looks up from behind a mannequin with a cigar in his mouth. I step inside the shop to meet Gramps; I’m instantly assaulted by the scent of cigar smoke and old fabric.; the gryphon closes the door behind me. and the bell gives off another soft jingle.         “Welcome back, Demon. Or would you like me to call you Horror?”         “Either one works, I was told to come here, heard you had something for me.”         “I do, but would you care for some tea first? No reason why we can’t be civil, is there?” I make myself comfortable and plop my butt down on the ground.         “Are you going to poison me again?” He simply chuckles.         “Sorry about that, one can’t be too careful, you should know.”         “No hard feelings. So, what have you been working on?” Gramps cracks a smile and trots in back to fetch my gift.         “Silver requested me to make this for you. She’s such a pretty fledgeling; just like her beloved mother.” He yells from the back, I can hear him rummaging through boxes trying to find something.         “By ‘beloved’, do you mean she no longer walks amongst the living?” He stops for a brief second, but continues on searching for my gift.         “Yes... I might’ve spoken to hastily, I didn’t realized that Silver has not mention a word of this to you.”         “I didn’t mean to pry, my lips are sealed; when Silver is ready to tell me, I’ll act as if it’s news to me.”         “Thanks youngster, I miss Silver’s mother dearly; I knew her when she was still with child. Oh bother, I’m rambling on again, forgive this old coot.” Gramps finally emerges from the back with a fairly large white cardboard box on his back.         “This was a challenge, but I needed something to test my skills and I thank you for it.” Tail relieves Gramps of the box and I open it; revealing an exquisite suit.         “The pants and jacket are both dyed black and made out of finely woven but breathable wool. The shirt is made out of pure silk, I was fascinated by the pattering of your scales so I adopted the pattern and applied it to the shirt; the scales are outlined in black, but the body of the scales remain white. The tie is made out of the same silk as the shirt. I applied the scaling pattern to it too, but instead, the scales are outlined in white and their bodies are black. The back of your pants and shirt have been slightly modified to accommodate your tail; allowing it to move without any restrictions. The entirely of the suit is crafted to be both stylish and flexible.” I’m just floored by stunning beauty of the suit.         “H-How... W-When... W-Who...” Gramps’ face lights up with pride and joy, I’m utterly speechless.         “I took the pleasure of getting your measurements after you succombed to the poison; with the help of a few members. My mind swarmed with new ideas the moment I laid eyes on you. The ‘when’ is just moments after I finished with your measurements. And the ‘who’, well then, I think that’s self explanatory, don’t you?” Two days, it took this old timer two days to craft this masterpiece? How? I don’t even...         “You must’ve worked through the nights just to get this done. I was only gone a mere two  and a half days... This suit is just... Just too much, I don’t know if I can accept such a work of art!” I run my fingers along the silky smooth shirt; the quality of the silk is just outstanding.         “I worked my hooves to the bone on this masterpiece, I put my sweat and blood, my very soul into making this! Do this old timer a favor and please accept this suit, if not for I, then for Silver.” He pleads. Knowing how I am with clothing, this suit would be torn to shreds in the matter of days; I don’t want to ruin such a glorious piece of work.         “Thank you Gramps for this gracious gift. Words cannot truly express my gratitude.” I get to my feet and grab the box that houses my suit, I look around the shop to find a changing room, but I only see bolts of cloth and mannequins.         “Changing stalls are straight on back, behind the counter, first door on your right.” He points with his hoof, I walk past the counter and open the first door and slip in.         The changing room wasn’t built to accommodate someone of my size; a little cramped but I don’t mind, but Tail on the other hand is having a hard time trying to find a comfortable position for himself. Eventually, after trying several different positions, he ends up against the wall and snaking up to the ceiling. I reach into the box and gingerly layout the four pieces of the suits on the bench; I remove my pants and place them next to the suit. First the suit pants came on: lightweight, comfortable, and surprisingly they don’t cling to my skin. Next, is the silk shirt; with a little finesse I slip the shirt on over my horns without tearing it. I love how the silk shirt feels against my chest: smooth, soft and light like a cloud, feels as if I’m wearing nothing at all. Before I can put the suit jacket on, Tail must come down from his perch. “Come on down buddy, you can just coil up around my legs now.” Tail drops to the floor and slithers around on his belly before coiling up around me. The suit jacket came next, and just as Gramps said, the wool is finely woven and breathable; it too is lightweight, comfortable, and they don’t cling to my skin; I button up the two buttons on the jacket, just leaving the tie to be done. I undo the collar around my neck and place it on top of my camo pants. I grab the tie and drape it around my neck; hesitation sets in as I can’t recall how to properly tie a tie. Tail looks up to me and shakes his tip, he uncoils himself and studies the tie. He pokes at my hands and motions me to place one on each end of the tie. With his help, I manage to successfully tie it. “Thanks buddy, would be embarrassing to go out to Gramps and tell him I need help with the tie.” I pat Tail on the tip and he wags in triumph.         “Now, what to do with my pants and collar? No need to throw them away, they're still in perfect condition.” While I try to think of a place to stash my belongings, Tail picks up the collar and shakes viciously; the ball inside the bell beats against its cage, causing it to ring loudly.         “What is it boy? Is Timmy stuck in a well?” Tail smacks me across the face.         “Hey now, no need for violence, it was just a joke.” Tail rattles the bell in front of my face and points to himself.         “I get it, you want the bell that Silver gave us, don’t you? Come on then, give me the bell and I’ll put it on you.” Tail drops the bell in the palm of my hand, I turn my back and equip the bell to his base.         “Happy now?” Tail pats me on my horns, obviously mocking me.         Tail grabs my camo pants and I fish through the right pocket, retrieving my medallion, head phones, and PDA; I place the medallion into my left pocket and the rest into the other one.         “Wonder if Gramps will be willing to hold onto my pants for me?”         “I am assuming control.” Lighting says in a steady tone.         “Okay...” Confused by his sudden decision to finally speak up.         He turns us to face the mirror in the changing room; boy do I look sharp in this suit. I feel my horns start to vibrate at a high frequency; a faint green glow illuminates them as they continue to hum with Lighting Charmer’s Parasitic magic. He folds my pants up into a small, tight square; he places my pants against my chest, slowly at first he pushes it against my body. I can feel Lighting Charmer manipulating my body as he parts my ribs; he applies more pressure onto my pants, forcing them into the makeshift chest cavity; it’s certainly a horrifying experience being forced to watch a foreign object enter your own body. I’m struggling to breath while Lighting Charmer continues to rearrange my ribs and lungs. After a few moments fighting for breath, he settles back down and relinquishes control.         “There will be some discomfort until I find a suitable place for your pants. Normally I can only house myself inside a host, but you have a little extra room to spare.” Feels as if there’s a ten ton weight on my chest.         “J-Just hurry up before I suffocate, I can only last so lo-. *Snap*” I’m struck speechless when the sound of a rib snapping echos out.         “Keep calm and carry on.” The weight on my chest is finally lifted, but it’s replaced with searing pain.         “D-Did you... Just break one of my ribs?” Fade quickly comes to my aid and numbs the pain for me.         “Perhaps, but it’s just another thing on my to do list.”         “...” I say nothing and just walk out the changing room.         “So Gramps, how do I look?” I stroll out with my head held up high and a smile on my face.         “Splendid! Absolutely splendid! You sure did clean up nice my boy!” I feel and look like a million bucks.         “Your craftsmanship is unmatched.” I do a quick turn around so Gramps can get the full view of me.         “Come now, you’re too kind, I’m just an old stallion who loves his work. You better get on going while the day is young.”         “You’re right, I’ve spent too much time relaxing, there’s work to be done. Thanks again Gramps!” I reach out my hand to shake his hoof, he grabs it and yanks me down, kissing me on both my cheeks.         “Now, if you ruin my masterpiece, I will kill you.” I don’t know if he’s kidding or being serious.         “I wouldn’t dare of thinking about soiling this suit. I shall protect it with my life!” Gramps simply smiles to my response.         “Good, now off with you.” Tail opens the door for me and I strut on out.         “Looking good, 27!” Fade gives a loud whistle after her compliment.         “Agreed, the Lad has some swagger now, better watch out Fade. Or else some other harlot might steal the Lad away from you. HA HA HA-” The next thing I hear is ice rapidly expanding and harding.         “Friend on the rocks, not my cup of tea, but it gets us there.” Fade purrs, she pushes lazily pushes Friend’s icy tomb across the Darkness.         “I am assuming control.” Lighting’s voice isn't his normal calm, collective self, but instead, filled with a fierce fire.         “You better hold onto your family jewels, because we’re going for a ride!” My horns fill with a burning sensation, they start to glow with a dark emerald green as Lighting Charmer channels his magic through me. The fracture-like blue scars on my horns turn into a sickly green with more power being forced into them; green electrical currents arc between both of my horns creating a sound; the sound is a faint hum, the arcs become more frequent by the second. After several seconds of channeling, my head looks like a tesla coil as arcs of electricity bounces back from back to tip of my horns. Lighting Charmer whips my head forward, sending off a chaotic green ball, the sound of thunder fills the air when the ball explodes; creating a dark green portal before me.         “W-What spell did you just cast?” Blown away by the light show that just played out before me.         “Spatial Slide. Think of it like Unicorn’s teleportation spell, but better.” Oh no, no no no no! If he thinks I’m going to be teleported, he’s mistaken.         “And, here, we, go!” With Lighting still in control, he forces my body through the green portal. Credits Editor frieD195