{Hello fellow spooky scary skele pirates in outer space, grunts returning from somewhere in Nevada, gas-masked troops coming from the trenches and chaotic forces against a sterile anti-chaotic order. Today I write a good ole story between two contests, an attempt between a @tygertyger and @dirge contest. Click here for @tygertyger’s contest and here for @dirge’s horror contest... On a unrelated note: I want to celebrate the fact that my two lady friends finally clocked in one month of their gay relationship with each other, yay!... Getting back on track, today’s music-aides: ”Madness 6.5” [1.] and ”Madness Combat 10” [2.] (Madness Combat OST, Cheshyre).}

Image source here.

- Incident 111a -

[1.]

Clunk, clunk, clunk, ratatata, huff, puff, huff, puff, ratatatatata, boom, boom, boom.

That dream refused to cease replaying, yet my carcass jolted awake as I tumbled around. I felt the bruises forming and soon realized I was trapped inside a coffin, still in my military fatigues with a gas-mask on, and left to rot here without even a combat knife. Was it a mistake? I tried wriggling around in this coffin for a radio but accidentally poking myself. No. I, even if I could call myself an I, was this black gaseous being since I could shove my... black gloves? Black gloves and wiggle it around without physical consequences. Yet soon as I was discovering myself, I held still as I smelled angelic incense. But why it burned my carcass while smelling ever-lovely in the smell, I couldn’t fathom the contradiction.

But nothing came out of it and I soon decided to prop open the coffin hatch. Sliding it carefully, I tried worming out, but first with a slim entrance. That attempt, though however much I squeezed my head and arms out, had failed. So I opened it slightly more, with barely an opening I expect my body to survive a squeeze from, and slipped right through just fine. Switching my focus to inspecting the room, I saw flickering lights and other coffins chained to the table. Apparently I had gotten lucky, yet why?

However, my answer was close as I ran to the table that had no coffin. And whatever scared me of having no sound while running, I was more frightened of the “gear” on top of what used to above my coffin. It consisted of medical knives, a laser-cutting drill and pickaxes. Reaching to the medical knife that had a laser for its blade-component, the machine snapped at me but stopped mid-way through the plunge. Reaching again, I grabbed the hilt and yanked off the knife - sparks flew out but the laser still worked.

There I noticed mirrors where aligned on the walls, standing right next to where the coffins would be. Hovering the laser light, I soon saw myself: a weirdly contorted gas-masked figure in black military fatigues and supposedly black gloves. I undid my blouse and inspected my body, as I suspected: a smoky, black mist that was constituted into whatever I was, I figured some gaseous yet solid humanoid figure. Redoing my blouse, I jumped back as I noticed my gas-mask was contorting around as I felt different emotions. Checking back, I tried emitting different emotions and I saw a mirror reflection of each.

But soon the lights corrected themselves and flickered not, which coincidentally the “mirrors” became panels of running code and data. There I saw a report detailing the ship struck a whale; the true damage and error causer being that, as the report stated, “it comes in pink and vomit green.” My guess being the pink whale vomited acid and struck an engine component, but not enough to keep the ship dead. As I was pondering, the screen finally projected medical data and I read carefully:

[Ex-military Terran that died in combat on the planet Terra by the [expunged] year, aka “Earth” by 2018 Anno Domini to them. Transformed into [expunged] through means of atomic rearrangement and captured [expunged] particles; purpose: [expunged].]

I backed away, trembling in my steps as I soon hit a coffin and collapsed to the ground. I attempted to get up, but placing my pseudo-arm on the ground only gave my body support for puking out black vomit and I saw my reflection in the puddle. More importantly, I saw red-tints on the gas-mask eye ports. Upon the realization, the red tint brightened up the room and I began seeing the incense I smelled earlier. Footsteps finally echoed about, though soft in their steps, and I could detect the echos while spotting an angelic glow through the walls. Which caused the glowing redness to simmer down and shift the burning flame from my eyes to my ex-stomach regions.

I looked for a light switch, still sensing the angelic figures approaching ever closer and I soon snapped the lights shut. I then tried sensing a crack in the wall to hide in, but I soon resorted to my coffin and slipped in just fine. Clutching my laser knife, I waited for their approach; every step they took only highlighted them less to where I could only see a bodily glow. The lights were flicked back on and they inspected the room, only two came in while one waited outside. One approached the far-end, the other went for my coffin; that “angel” sticking its damned grey fingers in, attempting to poke for a body. I smelled its breath, full of angelic incense, yet I thank the gas-mask for blocking most of the incense. Then it tried to move the coffin hatch, there I popped out and attempted a knife-lunge, but instead piercing through it and instinctively slicing it in half when I pulled away. I looked at the other angel, but it was more bothered with the screen. I saw its eyes widen and utter some angelic gibberish:

”Spar... mysts... spara... Mysts! Sparagmos!”

Yet with its incessant freak out, I was able to sneak by and lock it in a choke-hold. However, it fluttered its wings crazily, causing me to flutter around with it. I sliced its wings off and soon that grey-faced peckneck tried gnawing my fatigues off. I then stabbed the knife in its cerebellum, but it just jerked even harder. Which then I retracted the knife to only stab faster and harder. Finally, I killed it off by head-twisting it, which allowed me to approach the door guard freely. Yet, when looking at the door, I couldn't sense an outline and thought it impossible it moved without a trace. I decided to inspect the screen and saw what the "angel" freaked about, I decided to release one of the "sparagmos" and interview it.

Then the door opened as I opened a sparagmos coffin - I clutched the knife harder. Still I kept an eye on the door, but a keener interest on the coffin. And to see a perfectly preserved, female-looking human that had Hellenistic features shocked me - I tried to wake her up, yet a fruit bore not. So I decided to close the coffin slightly and picked up the "angels" to hide them in my coffin, yet so soon I heard the coffin jolt open and sprang out her. I chucked the corpse at her and she latched onto it and began feasting away at the corpse. Laughter came about in the room and I sprang my attention at a group of sparagmos, even seeing one leaving the vent to join the others. One stepped away and spoke:

"Ah, so you finally been reborn and had your first kills - I digress to a more serious topic. It's clear you aren't a corrupted human nor a New Angel, so fret not. However, seeing the carnage you dealt here, we do take some interest in your talents..."

I attempted to speak, the last thing I imagined doing as soon as I woke up. As I tried speaking, they gestured to take my time and one even commented that it takes a while for those reborn to speak. And as I tried speaking, I decided my time was best spent unlocking the other coffins lying about. The last coffin hitting me in the head and soon I found an option to speak in pictures, and soon a speech bubble full of characters popped up. That caught their attention as I yammered on about what the hell is going on.

"Ah, we forget some... turn into your types. Feel not bad, but your screwed with speaking last you learn sign language and do expert gesturing. Any of which, seems their translator improved massively. Anyways, the year? 'Tis only a week after they just killed you off. Destination? Why to the New Angel's dominion, or "Heaven" as they insist."

I calmed down, yet only realized my gas-mask had been reacting as I emotionally reacted as well. So using that to my advantage, I asked how to get revenge. They all smiled with their blood-stained teeth and one spoke out:

"Ah, seems they even got the blood lust trait down to a T. You see, this facility is armed to the teeth and those pecknecks don't die easily - at least they've been upgraded in general. The grayer and taller you are, the more punishment you can receive and deal out. So stealth, distractions and darkness are friends in our lil' hunt. Ready to use that knife?"

I was surprised that I had even clutched the knife still and smiled through my shape-shifting gas-mask. After they cleaned up the last bone, we snuck through the vents to various parts of the facility - I in particular was left to deal with the personal in the armory. Getting to the vent, when the lights died and the alarm system went off, I kicked the hatch and started my assault. The "angels" were scanning the unlit area like packs of wild dogs, yet I crawled on the roofs of the locker. I tapped across, tricking their senses into investigating the area - of course I shifted around the room to confuse the armory personal.

[2.]

The first few I managed to stiff their corpses to the vents after I successfully snagged them and hacked them to death - thankfully their blood reeked of the angelic incense they polluted the whole ship with. As I moved to the next few ones, I heard them whimpering and screaming why an emergency was going on - I felt a tentacle but it soon faded away as I readied the knife for the next batch. But realizing a problem, I sensed the limits in my areas of kills, the vents were getting to clogged and generated too much noise. Yet with even so, I managed a fair few bodies after I twisted their heads when they least expected it and shifted them to the top of lockers. Yet whence the area became quiet, I leaped down and cracked a bench to mere wooden bits, which gotten three "angels" to rush towards my position.

As I saw the first one, my red light lit the entire row and they stumbled back instantly, crashing into the lockers and trying to scratch its eyes off. It screamed in terror of the immense bright light to the two others, for which the next two rushed while covering their eyes. I chucked the knife to the one I saw and began about-facing to the one behind me; as soon as my boots clicked and faced the other rusher, I heard the knife plunge into the "angel" and its eventual collapse. By the same moment, I rushed towards the other one and tackled it to the floor - mushing it as soon as ground contact was made. Yet the tormented "angel" from before attempted to strangle me, yet I hurled backwards and began elbowing it without care. It screamed that I was "a dæmon" and I "should be purged from the Universe like the rest," yet the tentacle sensation cropped up again and soon I felt like I was strangling it back while my free limbs elbowed it.

And then I heard a head ejected out with blood squirts flying about, and, as soon as that, I felt its grip weaken and I began to stand up again, picking up my knife for the next group of "angels." Before I went in and torched the weapons, I jammed the door shut with an "angelic" arm inside the access panel. Rushing now, I made it to the door and began feeling my body extend into tentacle vestiges independently; each piercing the door and forcing it to open, eventually popping the door outta frame and grasping it as a frame. Lasers began pummeling the door, yet I moved forward without stop. Thinking cleverly, I anchored the door down and began pushing with my arms; which my free tentacles began snatching guns next to the door and popping shots away at them.

I heard screams and then utter silence, so I chucked the empty guns for other ones. Now feeling secured, I peeked out and saw my bloodbath, only one remained there semi-conscious. I approached that one and it winced at the sight of me, I chuckled a bit and communicated, symbolically, that it had gotten the wish in all its might. So why the scare? It then began to puke out and tried ending its life through its sharp claws, I snatched the peckneck and raised it. I asked the question again, this time looking me deathly and now begging for its misery to end. It lamented ever guarding the scientists that made dæmons like me for whatever lil' projects their sick heads liken to find out - I asked simply where the laboratories where and it pointed at the map. I quickly jabbed the knife at it and began finding for any burning material as I approached the map; I spotted some fuel and noted it for after I studied the map. Taking a mental picture, I mapped the fastest vent route to the labs and began gassing the armory - leaving not one corner behind. Thanks to the mask I cannot smell, but certainly my alien senses can detect the fumes. Preparing a lighter the sparagmos gave me, I remembered to retrieve that knife and cleaned out the vents for easy travel.

With preparations done, I finally noticed the loud banging on the armory hatch and didn't wait for the fire to erupt. Soon the armory was a blaze and I was snug in the vents, with such I heard the armory hatch blown open which backfired and spread the flames outside the hatch. Whatever fuel the "angels" used, it sure damn spread fast. Hearing the roasting "angels" from below as I low-crawled away was satisfactory and more of them panicked about. But I moved on to get my real revenge, the one I've deserved due to my unfortunate and forced transformation - I didn't asked to be reborn. Travelling about, I saw the sparagmos munching on the fallen "angels," some toying with their food and prey and others using the limbs as weapons against the frightened "angles." Still moving on, I finally saw the labs and they worked heavily to place their subjects back into their cages - I shot with a free tentacle and the whole shit show started again. Which allowed me to find the atomic reassignment scientists, yet at the price of free movement I saw giant agents move about. These Goliath figures began pounding about and protecting the fleeing scientists, yet they were just like the "angels" beforehand.

But I kept quiet when slithering around until one chucked a table at me, for which I saw it sprinting at me. So I turned about and blew through my ammunition, soon it had so many holes in it that people would think it as Swiss cheese. Returning my pace towards the large doors before me, I heard many sparagmos cluster around me and stated that it is time - thus I dropped the weapons and began to force my tentacles on the gate door as to pry it open. I soon saw many of the sparagmos help as well, but eventually we unlocked the door and began slowly forcing it open. Purposefully, I picked up the giant corpse and readied it as shooting bait - it worked perfectly. Which then we rushed in as I forced slam the doors open and I began piercing "angels" left and right while the sparagmos began ripping and tearing through the rest. Again the giants came out, but the name of "mags" for they seem suited and with a face-plate augment. They started shooting about but I forced the guns away from them and began shooting their weaponry as they charged to retake their weapons.

Soon the room was in utter chaos, but orderly as everything had went to plan and the inflicted violence was done without a waste in time. I stepped into the room and saw the scientists squeezing the triggers of the guns, but only empty magazines was I all I heard. They began shaking immensely and crying in their corners and huddles, but then I saw a white light and a flame crackle behind me. The figure behind me congratulated my effort and granted me the honours to off 'em - which I did without a moment's notice but with delicate goring I had the most fun with. Soon I had exhausted the possible ways to finish them off and I turned around to see a blue myst with a white flame, the figure talked once more:

"Ah! Seems like 'twas correct to leave yah alive. Come hither, we shall escape through a galaxy hopper - this ship is bound to explode if the alarm continues on for another hour... And nae worry, you'll get answers soon, but know this: I be Blue Myst of White-Flame. Hither! You'll need to know the other mysts, especially since yah have Dark Myst in yah."

And soon we all left through the galaxy hopper, spinning around I finally lost my blood lust and began feeling queasy of all the slaying I have executed so far. Yet I felt strengthened and managed fine in this spinning spiral tube that managed to make me appear inside a grassy plains area. With such, the skies were bright blue, many buildings dotted the greenscapes, dæmons and the like chattered and laboured about and I saw three portals of distinct colours: black, red and blue. I humored the connection to the mysts, yet I shall keep my ears peeled on them later, as White-Flame called for me. Whatever shall happen next, I humour my new life shall not end so soon - however much a hunch that can be.

Cited posts:

@tygertyger - "Electric Dreams, week thirteen."

@dirge - "Sparagmos contest"

Cited images

@Gjomlez - "Gasmask trooper"