Topic: Legacy of Pain/Destined Misery (18+) (Penance SL)

This Dark One

Date: 2012-10-25 11:32 EST
Part 1: Speak No Evil

(For continuity reasons, this thread occurs immediately upon the evening of 21/10/XX, the evening Renna was captured by the Black Flame, and ends upon the 15/11/XX when she was rescued. This thread's story follows on from "Visceral Fear" located here: http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/viewtopic.php"t= 23132)

(Thanks to the players of Arthour, Katt, Brian Ravenlock, Andu and some others I can't quite remember for being involved in the Live RP scene that led to Renna's capture, and thanks to the players who are willing to come along for this morbid, twisty plotting joy ride I lead Renna down once more. If you have any questions about the SL, just PM me, and please, enjoy. Or don't. Either way I'm still going to keep writing :P.)

(Warning, the following post WILL be unsuitable for younger viewers. I have slapped an 18+ on this thread, so if you are easily screamish, under age or generally just don't enjoy mature-like themes then you might want to Alt-F4 the hell out of here.)

When they came for her....She felt terrified.

The initial attack by the two Black Flame Sisters that had shot her in the back when she walked with Arthour at the Marketplace, had been a calculative move. The moment those bullets entered her back, she knew there was more to the situation than meets the eye. Even as Arthour took her to the Inn for aid; even when she begged for Arthour to remove the bullets....She knew she could not stay at the Inn for long.

She knew they would follow her there. The bullets weren't meant to disable her. She felt her connection to the Manticore and Pathfinder become completely cut off the moment they entered her body. They were meant to prevent her darker counterpart to come to her aid, or even her lover, Kaius...

That was why she ran away from Arthour. She could not stand the idea that they would come to the Inn and more than likely harm her friends, all just to get at her. She knew they would slaughter countless lives just to get their claws upon her....If only she had ran quicker " or even flew out of the city....Maybe then her friends did not have to witness the scene of cold blooded automatons striking Renna down, and dragging her off into that portal...

Strangely....She was happy, when she saw the anger in Andu's face " the desperation in Arthour's actions. So very happy, that they came to rescue her....That was the very last thing she could remember, before uttering her final words, with her friend's faces contorted into a display of despair and rage in her sights, before her own voice reached out into a shriek, and the Vindicator's sword pierced her skull.

So this was the end"

Finally....Someone had taken revenge for all the wrongdoings The Betrayer had done.

Finally, she could rest....She would not have to worry about hurting any one, any more. Because if she's dead " then Manticore, surely, shared the same fate the moment that sword destroyed her brain.

Or so she thought.

Through the darkness that clouded her vision, eventually sensation returned to her appendages. They felt heavy. As if trapped beneath some impossible force.

Her world of darkness eventually lifted, as she found the strength to force open her eyes. The initial blast of light that attacked her sights, blurred her vision almost immediately, revealing little, except for a circular orb above her head, that shone down at her, ever so brightly.

And there was the mumble of voices. Distant. Robotic....Unnerving.

Each passing second allowed her sights to adjust to the level of lighting imposing her face, and allowed her to make out just what was that mysterious orb that floated above her head. It was a lamp, aimed directly onto her face; and because of that lamp, she could just make out two shadowy figures pacing around her, and a third smaller one, standing further back.

While she opened her mouth to say something, she could not formulate what was needed to be said. It was as if her lungs had yet possessed the energy to pass air across her vocal cords.

Where am I...

She thought.

Am I....Dead"

Regardless of what little strength she possessed, she attempted to lean up. Yet still, that force weighing her down " no....No, wait - it wasn't weighting her down at all....The more she wriggled against it, the further she realised that she was in fact bound to some kind of surface. She could make out cuffs around her ankles, arms, waist and neck....And she was laying on something cold and hard, that the cuffs were attached to.

It felt metallic. Smelt rather dusty....Or coppery' Like blood"

Ah, yeah....

That's right. It's probably her blood. She was stabbed in the head after all....But how did she survive" The sword must not had been made of the same Crystalline compound the bullets were. It might had looked to lethal to Andu and Arthour at the time, but as many will know, such a minor thing like being stabbed in the head would hardly prevent her regenerative powers fixing what was broken.

They....Didn't kill me....Why"

The conversation about her, served to only confuse her. Despite the figures' closeness, they sounded like they were hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Their mumbles and whispers, distant chuckles and thoughtful groans....They just made little sense. Quickly she closed her eyes....Resting them for a moment. Pretending she still had yet the consciousness to realize what was going on.

She focused on the voices....Trying to listen in.

"Mmmmmmy Viiiiiruuuussss issss worrrrking splleeendid. Disssssrupting her neurrrral pathwaysssss, wassss an eeassssy tassssk foooorrRrr me....But, muuuuch I rathhherrr skewer herrrr whillllle ssshhhe lays on thaaaat slaaaab."

That's....That's the....The one with the helmet....The one that....With the sword...

Renna resisted the urge to tremble.

"Easy, Vindicator. You will get your fun. For now, we have pressing matters to attend to. We need to discover how to wrestle control of her body, so we can use her to open the gateway to Negzarcurgis. If we do that, then we are one step closer to attaining Perfection....Of course, first of all....We might as well have our fun with her. She might know something about the runes on her chest....We need her to talk. And for that, I have reserved that right, to our dear Shadow."

Tor-torture"!

"Thank you, May. I have waited a long time for this. I can finally get my revenge for The Betrayer making me into this monster. I'm going to send her bits back to her friends. Like she did with me..."

Renna's eyes flung open, and quickly she thrashed against the bindings. She did not realize she was naked until now, but when her vision returned to her once again, she glanced down over herself, and then to those around her.

She froze.

Her mouth agape.

This wasn't just any room....No. The cold lifeless metallic box was covered in old stains of blood and gore....And....And...

Oh, Nemesis....No!

Body parts....Legs, arms, heads, torsos, feet - they all hung from meat hooks from the ceiling. And they were still twitching.

Renna screamed, "NO! Stop it! I don't....I don't know anything! Please!" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked to the three cloaked figures partially masked where the lamp's light could not reach. "Let me go! I'm not The Betrayer! I'm not!!!"

The Vindicator's shadow took a single step back, "Sssssssssheee's awwwwake"! How issss that posssib-"

"Amazing....Her regenerative capabilities far exceeds even Mother's....Or ours. What happened to her to become this....Powerful?" May's shadowy figure turned, walking some distance away from the slab. "We can't leave the opportunity to study her. Whatever happened to her, we must find out. So we can properly....Make sure, this never happens again. Shadow" Proceed with the operation."

Did she....Just say....Operation" Renna's terrified tear-stained eyes turned slowly towards the set of black gloved hands coming towards her jaw.

"Don't....D-d-don't....A-Andu....Kaius....Some one....H-help me!" All she could do to resist, was twist her head away. It was no use however, as soon as those fingers cupped under her chin, they squeezed hard against her cheeks, forcing her mouth to open. The other hand, moved into Renna's mouth, and pinched index finger and thumb upon Renna's tongue, and gently pulled at it.

"Shadow....We need her to talk." May spoke sternly.

Shadow, chuckled, "Don't worry, May. We won't need her to talk. I'll infect her with the Shadow Virus long enough for us to share a mental link. She'll scream down the connection, everything she knows."

Renna's eyes were not upon her tongue being stretched out of her mouth almost to the point of being torn right out from her throat, instead, she stared horrified at Vindicator's shadowy approach and the gleaming edge of a crystalline based knife, coming ever closer towards her tongue.

"Hheheheheeee....I'm gonna ennnnjooooy thissssss, Motherrrrrr! Oooooopen, wiiiiiiide-heheh-I'm gonna take youuuur EYYYYYES! neeeeeext! Yehhahahahahah!"

The Sister

Date: 2012-10-26 10:44 EST
Part 2: See No Evil

Once their dear Mother's tongue was successfully removed, they ran their on it tests to shed some light on various theories and questions they had about "Renna and Manticore's" physiology, in an attempt to piece together the origins of their existence. And what they learnt, did not exactly satisfy their curiosity.

Although Renna's body was flooded with similarly magically treated Crystalline-based Nanites that symbiotically lived within the hosts of the Black Flame's organisation, there was one distinctly unique difference that terrified May to the very core. While the Sister, Vindicator and Shadow Viruses forced to change and adapt their hosts to parodies of the late Betrayer; to recreate them in her image " body and mind, this virus on the other hand " this so called Manticore Virus served only to....Do nothing. It seemingly had no true function.

As the tongue sat there on the table in front of May while she experimented upon it, it remained pink and healthy. It still somehow retained some essence of life, after three whole days removed from Renna's mouth " inflicted by a knife, coated in the same Crystalline compound from Renna's homeland of Zarcurgis, that is purposefully designed to truly harm the woman, and cause permanent damage...

But still.

The cells of the tongue refused to die.

Evidently, The Betrayer had created something not even May could quite understand the purpose of.

Was it created to keep this Renna and Manticore alive indefinitely" Is the Manticore Virus a defensive mechanism to keep Renna's body alive even after subjugating it to massive trauma caused even by a deadly crystalline element'

Was this The Betrayer's solution to her one, and only weakness"

This theory seemed the most likely out of the pack....But then again, there is a lot more to this Manticore Virus than May could possibly comprehend. The only people she could get a straight answer from about this thing, Is The Betrayer herself, or Edward Batten. Both, an impossible dream to even attempt to garner information from, for The Betrayer was already dead, and Edward Batten knows all too much about the Technology behind the Black Flame. He did after all, help Renna improve the Vindicator Virus to a degree.

But asking Edward to aid them in their reverse-engineering of this Manticore Virus would be utter madness. He would more than likely subjugate the ranks, and rescue Renna during the process. Such a man such as Edward Batten, could not be trusted. No matter what.

While May has yet ascertained the complete purpose of the Manticore Virus, she makes a mental note of endeavor, to put more time towards understanding it, once they have achieved their true goal " the activation of that Pentagram Rune on Renna's chest, so that they could bridge (in theory) the two energies between their Crystal Tree, and the pocket dimension Negzaurcurgis, where the most powerful of all the Crystal Trees was imprisoned.

T'Barack Opalith.

Once May had studied the tongue long enough, she sent it away in a neat little paper bag for a certain someone Renna cared for very much, much to Shadow's satisfaction, so that too could enjoy in Renna's misery along with them.

Upon returning to the Black Flame's underground facility after the special delivery " and a confrontation with the former Shadow host Katt, she decided to pay her dear Mother, a little visit...

Returning to the chamber where Renna laid still strapped to the operating table, May stood at the doorway, basking in the glorious sight of Renna's blood drenching the floor, and the gargled groans of a shell she once called Mother writhing in agony.

The woman's blood still oozed from the wound within her mouth (even after a few days), where her tongue once used to be, all thanks to the diligent healing abilities of the Manticore Virus residing within Renna's form. The poor woman will continue to drown in a flow of her own blood, as it regenerated what was lost, but unable to completely close up the wound.

There was a certain irony behind that, that May found oh so satisfying.

May chuckled and called out to the figure laid out upon the metal slab. "My, oh my....I never thought I'd see the day where I would get to witness my dear sweet Mother bleeding before me, despite all the power she has at her fingertips....Unable and unwilling to resist. You know full well you could rip out of those bonds at any moment, right' You have that power."

The groan was incomprehensible, that gargled from Renna's bloodied mouth.

"But you've got an interesting bit of magic on your wrist there, huh' Although, the depiction of a rose is a little too feminine for the likes of you, I must say....Placing a ward that prevents you from doing harm unto others is simply....Unbelievable. I can't imagine why you would even think of doing such an unfathomable act. I bet The Betrayer is rolling in her grave."

May took the few steps into the room to stand beside the operating table. She looked down at the naked, bloodied form of Renna with little pity. "You know. I know you're not The Betrayer. Because....Her soul, is gone. Destroyed. I've known it for a while now, observing your actions over the past few months. But, you see....Our problem right now is that her power still walks freely in this realm, through you and your clone....I don't care who you are, or who you say you are, or who you deny to be....But you are wearing her skin, and that is a good enough of a reason for me to hate you with every fiber of my being."

She leant in close, and lifted a hand to stroke through Renna's wet, bloodstained blond hair, "Although I am thankful, at the same time. We have a great opportunity to use your power, to our advantage, and to achieve the vengeance we all deserve."

Renna's, blood red eyes opened, her mind reeling from her existence within a agonizing delirium. Every time she went to talk, she felt nothing but pain and a further rush of blood seep from the wound to fill her mouth. She looked upon May, not out of fear, or anger. She had gone past that threshold. She simply....Longed....For release.

Tears slithered down Renna's eyes, the expression upon her face, her only form of communication. She was begging the girl that called her Mother, to end it.

The hand that stroked Renna's head, slowly slipped away. "It's about time we continue. If you cooperate with us, and tell us all you know about that ward, the Manticore Virus, and anything else you know, that may be of a use to us."

Renna's face contorted into a vision of regret. She shook her head, and wept once more, coughing and gargling on her own life blood, sending droplets of the deep dark red liquid up onto her cheeks.

I....Don't....Know....Anything...

The young girl turned to the bloodied crystalline knife next to Renna's figure, and grasped it within a tight fist. She leaned over Renna, and drew the knife towards the woman's left eye.

"I don't need to be psychic to know that expression, Mother. Have it your way. I promised Vindicator she could take your eyes....But, I much want to remove them, myself. Those eyes of yours " those bloody, vile things....I think Brian Ravenlock will appreciate them the most. He did say your eyes were beautiful, once, didn't he?" May's smile contorted into a manic and frenzied grin, "Don't blink. I'd hate to cut out your eyelids, too."

This Dark One

Date: 2012-11-01 06:18 EST
How many times had they come and gone"

Renna had been counting to pass the time. To focus on something else other than the painful anguish coursing through her veins, to the very tips of her toes. But time seemed to move a lot more slowly than what she remembered. She felt like she had been here for years but in truth, she had barely been incarcerated in this place for less than two weeks.

How many days has it been since they took her eye"

She could feel the unnerving emptiness present within the left side of her face " a cold, icy loneliness as the stale air of the operating-transformed-torture chamber assaulted the raw innards of her eye socket, creating a migraine of the most unimaginable and unbearable of incarnations.

With each formulated word upon her blood-caked lips, her tongue-less mouth muttered the incoherent babbling of a woman in desperation.

In her mind, she was speaking normally. Each word formed perfectly with a lick of a phantom's tongue she felt that was present in her mouth. Her words should had made sense " it should had spoken the mantra that replayed over, and over in her mind, over and over again.

Kill me...

Each attempt to utter the two words drew more, and more physical and mental strength from her. The days of screaming, begging, pleading for them to spare her life and cease her suffering, merely served to support them in their attempts to break her. Not even the comforting daydreams of Kaius between each episode of torture; forcibly replaying all the loving moments they shared between them; like some crappy romance motion picture stuck on repeat....Not even that, could comfort her now.

He promised to protect her.

He lied...

Promised to be there for her when she needed it.

He lied! To stay by her side!

He's not here!

He promised...

He....H-he broke it...

Several times throughout her capture, she guiltily caught herself cursing every single one of her friends' names, and the very ground they walked upon. Renna's emotions was bubbling up chaotically inside of her. Through all she has been put through, she had started to entertain the concept that maybe, just maybe....

She will have to kill every creature in her way to escape this darkened place.

Renna would have to willingly submit to the warped visions of her latent desires that leaked through her psyche like a slow trickle of a poison, that she has thus far resisted these past few months....But the idea of killing children " children with HER DNA written into their foundations, both repulsed her, and....

Was this how the Manticore, felt"

Did the Manticore feel this repulsed with herself taking the lives of those children in the Marketplace that one time to protect her"

But yet at the same time...

Did Manticore get....Excited....About it"

About taking such an innocent, young life...

She shook her head, biting at her lower lip. She considered her options " weighed out all of the odds; she was desperately clutching at straws " trying to find some excuse or some other way to escape. There had to be some other non-violent means to this end " there just had to be! For her sanity's sake.

It just has to be...

With every drop of energy she had left in her reserves, she pressed forward against the bindings. The muscles in her arms and legs becoming taught, her body lurching up against the bindings as she arched her back against the metallic surface, placing all of the force she could muster to dislodge at least just one of the shackles encasing her body to that bloodied operating table.

Throughout her struggle against the bonds, she had started to remember something she had read in The Betrayer's diary.

This situation was eerily just like the evening she escaped Bloodstone, Von Gart's enslavement all those moons ago....

On that night, she made a choice between saving innocent lives, or putting them out of their misery....On that day she betrayed him; His precious little Pet Monster had bitten his hand, and laid to waste his glorious little empire.

The Betrayer led a rebellion against him, with all his other little slaves, and mindlessly slaughtered hundreds of his subjects.

She murdered them all.

Even her first born child, out of spite, Henrietta Crystal, the unnatural spawn of Bloodstone Von Gart and herself. She left nothing.

The vision of The Betrayer, standing proud in her black cloak among a sea of blood, carrying the half eaten corpse of a young girl in her claws, assaulted Renna's mind. She screamed against the bindings, as they groaned against her supernatural strength.

No! I-I won't give in. I can....I can get out of here without....Without having to spill a single drop of their lives....I won't....I-I can't....Oh god, I feel like I am loosing my mind....I have to get out of here! I have to....Th-they won't hurt me again " I won't hurt them....I....I won't...

The shackles that held, her tore from the table and were launched across the room, the shards of jagged metal embedding themselves into the steel of the wall.

Quickly she rolled to the side and fell onto the floor in a heap amongst her own blood, waste, and bodily fluids. Her naked form writhed and slipped upon the putrid amalgamation of gore, and finally, she pushed herself up onto her knees, and stared between the cracks of bloodied blonde hair, right at the closed iron door with a single; remaining, blood red eye.

I....Have no choice....Do I?

This Dark One

Date: 2012-11-02 10:55 EST
A simple routine check.

That was what Sister June and Jane were attempting.

However, the truth behind their visit is quite something far more sinister than that. They wanted to see their Mother as they have yet to meet her in the flesh, and now, they have that perfect opportunity to do so; all the while 'pretending to check up on her' for the Vindicator.

The truth is....They want, to have their fun.

They want the satisfaction in making their dear Mother bleed because; after all, why the hell do the higher command get to have all the fun" Why can't the ordinary Sisters - the grunts of the Black Flame - get a chance to cut off a body part or two. Or a bit of flesh here and there" It just wasn't fair.

Unfortunately, what they found when they got there was merely an empty room. Renna was nowhere to be found.

As the door creaked open, the two Sisters quickly sped up their paces into the operating room, both of their mouths agape, both equally stunned.

"H-how"! How can Mommy escape"!" Sister June spoke in a stammer first, her hands lifting to either side of her head, unsure as to how this could possibly be happening. "V-Vindicator is gonna kill us!"

"The room is sealed AND warded. There's no way that she could have left without the Black Flame knowing-" Sister Jane turned, her words trailing off into silence as she noticed bloodied footprints leading away from the operating table, and towards the door from which they came. But they didn't lead directly through the doorway.

They led to beside it.

Before any of the two Sisters had time to react Renna; who stood behind the door as they entered " was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Renna launched forward and grasped up Sister June around the waist with her handless arms, picking her up and holding her tight to her chest, drawing back away from Sister Jane during the process.

June kicked and writhed within the stronger woman's grip, and before the child had the chance to mentally contact the other multitude of the Black Flame agents of her dear Mother's attempt at an escape, Renna dashed forward towards the closest metallic partition, and swung the girl's head towards the wall with a force of momentum enhanced by the twist of her hips and the swing of her arms.

As June's head bounced off of the wall; the dull thunk and hallow crack; the sudden death spasm rocking the child's body, sent the stunned Sister Jane into a fit of tears and panic. She screamed her Sister's name, and made a move to help her, but caught sight of Renna's head, slowly turning her way....

Jane decided against fighting with the woman. She knew better.

Instead, she abandoned all hope for her fallen comrade and ran for the door, fearing for her very life. Praying she could get to the door in time and slam it shut. But Renna was quicker. With one child dead, Renna dropped the body in an unceremonious heap, and quickly dashed in front Sister Jane's direct path towards the open doorway.

Upon seeing the bloodied visage of her Mother panting excitedly before her " the woman's lips curled into a sadistic smirk, Jane pressed her bare feet upon the metal floor as hard as she could in an attempt to stop herself from running straight into Renna.

Yet, she found herself loosing her footing upon the sleek, oily congealed bodily substances that stained and stunk out the entirety of the room's floor, and fell back onto her rear, cracking her head against the floor....Dazed and confused, Jane found herself staring up at Renna, whose blood red right eye glared down wildly back at her.

Jane inched away slowly, kicking her feet upon the slippery surface, her hands extended up to shield her face in fear of the woman's impending attack. "M-Mommy please....My-my head hurts - please....I-I'm....I'm just....Following....What big Sister May said! I'd....I'd never hurt Mommy " never-GCKGHH!?" All air left her lungs rather abruptly. The poor girl heaved and wheezed as Renna calmly stepped onto the child's chest, pinning her against the ground, as she placed all her weight down upon that little body that flailed and coughed below her. The full grown weight of a woman bearing down upon Jane's chest, crushing her ribs, and breaking them with ease.

Sister Jane finally came to her unfortunate end, when Renna's other foot stamped down onto the girl's jugular, and snapped her neck.

Calmly as if nothing had happened at all, Renna stepped down from the corpse, stared at the motionless child for a moment or two and headed towards the doorway.

That was too easy.

So fragile....They both were so fragile...

The other Black Flame Sisters will soon realize that two of their precious Sisters have left their psychic network....Permanently. It was only a matter of time before they send a patrol out to find them, and discover their corpses. Worse still, maybe Shadow or even the Vindicator would come to personally investigate the issue.

She could not afford to run into them now, so early on in her escape. She was still to weak, too....Renna barely got to beyond the event horizon of her prison, before her body came to a sudden and abrupt stop. She twisted her hips, and glanced back over her right shoulder towards the still twitching corpses she left behind to rot.

If she was going to escape....Then she needed to regain her strength and heal her wounds. And there was only one way she could think of to do just that, given the circumstance of her lessened regenerative capabilities.

Renna turned back, drool and a mixture of blood streaming down her neck, the more she thought about the exquisite taste of supple, young flesh. She stopped before the corpse of Sister Jane, and slowly sunk down onto her knees beside it. A look of regret, lingered within her eye " but she had no choice....It was do, or die.

I-I'm a....A M-Monster....I-I can do this....I can....I am, a killer....Murderer....I am....I am...

She dipped her lips towards Jane's distorted, broken neck....

I am The Betrayer.

She feasted.

This Dark One

Date: 2012-11-03 13:56 EST
Judging by the tunnels and how crudely burrowed they were into the rock, she was pretty deep underground. She could had sworn she had been travelling up the same sloping tunnel for at least ten minutes without encountering an intersection, or even a fork in the path. From where ever she had just escaped from, the Black Flame wanted to make sure that it was stealthed from various forms of detection.

The discovery of the two dead Sisters within the operating room was much quicker than what Renna had originally anticipated. It was a shame; she had thought, that she could not roam about the underground base undetected and unafraid of frequent patrols a bit longer. But when they had found the leftovers of her meal, Renna certainly noticed an increase in activity within the walls of this underground maze.

She could smell more and more of the Sisters coming closer, and closer...

As Renna finally came to another cast iron door, she could smell something " or someone, on the other side. Pressing a ear against the damp icy surface, she tried to make out just what was being said. She could definitely hear two differing voices on the other side, their muffled words heated " laced with desperation and concern.

Somehow, she found herself smiling. Her bloodied teeth lathered in red and gooey spittle with tiny bits of flesh and hair wedged between her teeth. Her shaken, though excited breaths echoed eerily within the tunnel she occupied. She used all of her will power to prevent a manic laughter from rupturing from out of her lungs and into the very air.

Stepping back, Renna turned, and slowly stepped away from the door...

"

What was on the other side of that cast iron portal, would soon not matter.

As three of the Black Flame Sisters " dressed in their combat suits and helmed gas-masks, talked amongst themselves; brandishing weapons from knives to fully automatic pistols, they had failed to notice the growing howl animating from the other side of that door, getting closer, very quickly.

They had little chance to react. One minute they were alive, and the next....They were dead. The door had flown off its hinges due to Renna's unnecessary run up and vicious kick, crushing the three between the wall and the door on the opposite side of the corridor, splattering a spray of dark red in all directions.

So much strength had went into that kick, that the three Sisters and the door had practically become a single entity, and embedded deep into the partition.

Stepping into the pool of blood that grew and trickled from the mess she had just created, Renna glanced over the scene, and appraised her handiwork.

How....Beautiful....Red is such a nice colour....Warm....Warm is nice....I wonder if Kaius, likes red....Maybe we can redecorate our room, in this colour....That'd be lovely....Lovely...

Upon turning left to aimlessly wander this new path in her vein attempt to find her way out of this place, Renna paused, and felt her heart leap up to her throat.

Another Sister " albeit a more teenage variation " was standing no more than five meters away, having witnessed the abrupt end of the three dead comrades who had now become a permanent fixture of the corridor.

This one didn't run. Or attack.

This older Sister stood frozen in terror, dressed similar to the dead-three, in combat-costume and helmed gasmask.

Renna's nose wrinkled at the stench of ammonia, her eye trailing down the teenager's form as fear caused the poor girl's entire body to quake. Renna's single-eyed sight stopped upon the growing pool of liquid forming underneath the teenager's boots, and this, caused Renna's lips to curl. Steps were taken forward towards the teen, who had not a clue what to do with the situation that presented itself.

As Renna's arms slowly wrapped around the the young one's neck, and gently coaxed her forward to rest her face between the woman's breasts, that sadistic smile that had played upon her lips throughout most of her escape, had dissipated into a warm, and welcoming demeanour.

It's okay, little one....Mommy's here.

Renna pressed her lips to the top of the girl's head, and kissed atop there soothingly.

Shhhh, there, there....It's fine now...

The teen, could not move. Would not move.

"....I don't, want to die, yet..."

Shhhh, it's okay....Don't be afraid...

"I-I d-d-don't..." It was at that moment that the teen found herself again. She pushed Renna roughly, and took a giant leap out of the woman's arms. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The teen turned, and made a run for it. She had to escape " she had to flee, she had to run from that monster before she too would end up like the rest !

Don't you dare walk away from me when I am talking to you, young lady...

It was strange. For some obscure reason " no matter her desperation to flee, her legs came to a stop. They refused to work. "W-why"! W-what is going on"!"

Face your Mother, when she is speaking to you.

The teen turned, on command. The alarm in her features " the sweat running down her brow, something was making her body act on its own " something....Something was controlling her. "No....Not....Possible!" The gasmasked helm shook side to side frantically, "How are you doing this" May! Someone! Anyone!"

Such a foolish daughter I have created....You forget. You were merely an extension of my will. Henrietta may had disconnected The Betrayer from your Network, preventing me or the Manticore from ever controlling you again, but....Do you know why, no one will come to save you? Why you can't control yourself"

The teen shook her head. She could feel blood running from her nose, and from the corners of her lips. But she felt no pain " she felt nothing of the sort. So why was she bleeding....Why was she....Why can't she feel the Network, any more" The Sister Network was....Gone.

The Manticore Virus that courses through my veins is of a superior technology to your pathetic first generation Sister Virus. But don't worry....It'll be painless.

"W-what?s....Going....To happen....M-mommy??

The Manticore Virus is going to break you down so I can absorb you. Because that is what it does when it infects someone it deems inferior. It digests you from the inside, out....But before that, I get a moment of fun, playing with your body like my own little marionette....Penance is beyond you, now. Vengeance, for what you and your kin has done to me, is all that you deserve.

The Sister

Date: 2012-11-09 12:28 EST
At the command-platform, high within the grand, spacious underground cavern that was the true location of the Black Flame's Headquarters, the three leaders were locked within a heated debate, surrounding the towering Crystal Tree that sprouted from the metalwork at its center. The various images displayed across the crystalline structure revealed various parts of the deep underground facility, and varying bloodied states of its corridors and rooms, littered with the mangled corpses of many dead Sisters.

"Twenty-Eight....Vindicator. Twenty-Eight of my Sisters are dead because of your incompetence! Our facility might be large, but it is almost nigh impossible for any one person to avoid detection or capture for this long under our watchful gaze! And as such, I have directed you several times to the locations Renna has been spotted at in the last few days and yet you still return with nothing but excuses! How, can she be moving so quickly"! How, is she preventing the Sisters from raising the alarm " these are the answers I want, Vindicator! Find her! Break her! I don't care how you do it, but you will come back with her intact, or in pieces! Understood!?"

"Incommmmpeeetennnnnccceee"! Yooooou braaaat " I aaaaam the sssssstrongesssts hereeee! Whaaat makessssSs youuuuu THINK youuuu caan taaalk to meeee thissss waayyy"!"

"Sister May....Allow me. I believe this task requires one that is versed in the methods of seeking, and hunting an impossible prey. Vindicator is....Impatient. I suggest the abduction of Arthour " our dear Mother's friend, to be a sufficient task for her impatient attitude to take." "Sssshhhhaaaaadooow!!!"

"SILENCE! Both of you! As much as I want to believe you, Vindicator, I must agree with Shadow. You are too....Brash. Too destructive and headstrong. And thus far, Shadow seems to be the only one in this organisation other than myself capable of following orders....Due to that; Vindicator, you will instead seek out the capture of Arthour instead, and use his lover as a means to bring him to you. Once you have him, bring him here. We will prepare him for Infection, and use him as our ace in the hole, should Renna escape."

"Aaaan eaaaaasy preeeey....Soooo bee iit. I'lll be taaaking some Sisistters with meee toooo heeelp withhthth the capture....Buuut knooow thiiiissss, Shaaaadooow....If youuuu haaave nooot captuured our Moootherrrr by the tiiiime I reetuuurrnn... I'll, taakke oveerrRrrr..."

"So be it."

"And you; Shadow, you will scour the underground facility in the mean time. She has still yet to infiltrate the cavern and discover our HQ....Considering how much time has passed since her escape, I figure she is up to something..."

"She is a predator, by nature."

"I thooooought theeeeee wwaaaard iss suppossssed to ssssstop her frommmm causing vioooolencccce...?"

"As you can see on the screen, the few instances she was caught by an eye of a Sister, before their swift demise....The ward, as you can see here on this image, has changed."

"....Wasn't that flower-shaped mark, white, before?"

"Now it is black. Evidently certain conditions can be met for her restriction against violence, to lift. I don't know why it has activated now, and not when we tortured her; but, right now....That is not the issue here....She is luring us in, weakening our forces and using the narrow tunnels of the underground facility to her advantage. The only solution at present to her evasion is more than likely that she is using the air ducts to move around."

"Whaaaat iss shseeee essscapes and enttersss the low levvellls of the Caaaveeern?"

"We must see to it that she does not see the Crystal Tree. If she even so much as glimpses it, we'll have to forgo our experiments upon her and the Manticore Virus and speed up our plans....Shadow. Put a stop to her escape. Cut her to pieces if you must but please make sure she is alive long enough for the ritual to end....If she dies now, we have no way in attaining the power of Negzarcurgis for ourselves, or command of its twisted armies."

"No prey has yet escaped the Shadow Virus thus far, Sister May."

"Go. Both of you. I must prepare the wards, and prepare Mother's Negzarcurgis infused crystal seed within a suitable vessel. Do not return until your tasks are complete.?