Latex Lore Chapter 3: The Pop-Marked Man
Latex Lore Chapter 3: The Pop-Marked Man
By shadowlugia249
Author's Note: I'm on a roll with this series, so I might as well start on the next chapter in the "Latex Lore" mini-series. That's about it. Enjoy!
In the back room of the magical shop of Plushtopia, an aged, wrinkled old man known as Karmen Aridos was on the phone with one of his special contacts. He was rather nervous because the "situation" was already starting to get out of control. The "problem" had already gone beyond his reach and he was starting to worry that things would escalate from there.
"...and how do you know where he's headed next?" Aridos muttered into the speaker. He paused, listening his contact. "Are you sure? ...I see. I guess I should know better than to doubt your intellect. Uh-huh... Yes... Is that right? This is bad. If they get their hands on that device and get it operational, who knows what they could do to the country? Do you know where it is at the moment? ...It's not here yet? Well, who has access to it? ...I don't think that they would be going for just anybody. It has to be someone they can manipulate and use to their advantage. Do you know one such person? ...No? Well, it would be a good idea to find out who it is and which one of them he is going to send. ...You do? Who? ...That doesn't seem so bad. She's not likely to present a problem. ...Oh. If she's that loyal, this could be a bad thing. ... Oh, you will? Now? Okay. But... Hmm... You have a point. No, I don't think it's fixable. We'll just have to work fast before they can get everything together. ...I'll do that. In fact, I'll get right to work to find a way that that can happen. I don't know if they'll like it after that happens, but it's the least I can do. Alright. I'll get right on it. Thank you for telling me this. Uh-huh. Good-bye."
He hung up the phone and began working on a solution to their problem. He had to work fast. If they had already filled the oceans with the "cure", then he was running out of time. He had to find a way to fix the cure and to do that, he needed to do some research. Time was of the essence and something that he did not have much of.
He went to his potion-making kit and began whipping up a solution to their problem.
My name is Rio Caster and I have a fetish that most people would find disgusting. No, I'm not like that. I'm actually one of the people who can work with this kind of fetish and not suffer the consequences. And way out here in the wilderness, I see plenty of them and have even made a few friends among them.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about the local wildlife. More so being the skunk variety. Yep, I dig skunks. I tend to go out in the woods in my spare time to see if I can attract the smelly mammals.
But to call them smelly would be an insult to their nature. True, they reek like hell if you happen to be on the wrong end of them. But that's only if you give them a reason to. I consider myself one of the few rare people that can walk up to a skunk with enough kindness not to get sprayed.
I guess I just have a knack for keeping them calm without really trying. I'm just that kind of person that they seem to trust naturally. I can approach them gently enough that they want to be near me. All of the other animals seem to be wary of me, but the skunks don't seem to mind me at all. I've even managed to get a fair number of them to eat from my hand.
I toke up roost about three miles from town and about six miles from my job at a private government project at a secluded and underground bunker. What do we do? I'm not supposed to tell you, but you didn't hear this from me.
We were testing and monitoring a brand new kind of satellite called the Omega III. It's not one of those basic GPS satellites or space telescopes that can look at the stars. No, this kind of satellite is the first of its kind. It is able to fire a special microwave-type sound wave that has the ability to instantly vaporize water.
Yeah, I know. It sounds kind of corny and pointless. But there's a reason we are working on it. This is a private government experiment that was being tested to help reduce the levels of water in the event of floods.
Before you question it, let me explain (but don't tell anyone!). When a river tends to overflow or a city is swamped by a flash flood, we just position the Omega III directly above said disaster area and fire off a beam of microwaves at various intensities to help vaporize the water within a random area and dry up the flooded area, turning the floodwaters into harmless mist that eventually evaporates into the atmosphere. Granted, visibility is limited for a while, but we're working on a way to make it evaporate faster.
But our success is limited at the moment for one reason - disease. The contaminated floodwater mist tends to carry any and all diseases that can taint water resulting in people breathing it in and getting sick. But we're working on that as well. We're monkeying with different intensities and wavelengths to try and destroy any possible bacteria that might be in the air, turning the contaminated floodwaters into harmless mist. So far, we've managed to get a lock on a way to turn simple rainwater into harmless misty, but it's a work in progress and we're always working on it.
In the end, we're trying to help the environment and save people money for flood-damaged properties. Wasn't that nice of us to think of the working man like that?
Anyway, we're still working on it and I'm not allowed to tell anyone except my immediate family (of which I have none), so let's just keep this between us, all right? Good.
At first, I thought my life was rather dull except for my job as a programmer for the Omega III, but then something happened that completely threw my life and my status for a loop. It all started with a dream...
Was it a dream I had or was it a dream I heard about? Was it a dream I can't remember or was it a dream I won't remember? Was it a daydream or was it a nightly dream? All I know is that there was a dream...
I was inside the Dream World in a scenario that looked just like the mountain area that the bunker where I worked lied underground. I was sitting on the raised ventilation shaft that delivered fresh air to our bunker, just chilling and kicking my legs without a worry in the world. There was nothing to suggest that anything was going to go wrong.
Boy, was I wrong. As I looked off in the direction of the bunker entrance, I saw two strange figures stealing across the snow towards the entrance. There was something odd about them, so I hopped off the ventilation shaft and ran after them.
They were at the front door and were talking between them. From what I could hear, the first voice was dangerously calm, cold and dark while the second one was more of a sweet, mischievous female one.
"I don't think anyone saw us," said the first voice. "Not that it would matter anyway. I am more than capable of dealing with them on my own."
The second figure smiled and bowed before the first one. "That's why you're the master. We got here without being detected and we have you to thank for it. It's not like (...) and (...) could do any better."
The first figure sighed and shook its head. "You should not doubt them. True, they may be cowards when they are faced with their backs against the wall, but they are still loyal and that's all that matters."
The second figure paused for a moment before speaking. "What about (...)? Your plan only comes in two parts and there are three of us. Will she be of any use in the end?"
The first figure sighed again and turned to look off in a different direction. "I am not sure about her. She does not seem to have much use for me. She and (...) may be in league to overthrow me - not that they could. I'll consider her uses and make my decision after this next part is taken care of."
The second figure chuckled to itself. "If you want my opinion, I suggest that you get rid of her ASAP. She really doesn't have any uses once you think about it." But a look from the first figure shifted its mood. "But that's just me, sir. The final decision is yours and yours alone."
The first figure nodded. "That's right. And don't you forget it."
With that, the subject was dropped and the two of them turned back to the front door in front of them.
"I think to gain access to this place, you're going to have to do a little... change of perspective on this one."
"What do you mean?" The leader whispered the plan in her ear. Unfortunately, she was less than impressed with the idea. "Are you sure it's the only way? (...)'s not really my thing."
The leader nodded. "It's the only way you'll be able to gain his trust. But that's not all. Here's the second part..." As if he knew I was here, he whispered the second part of his plan to his follower. When she heard it all, she was not impressed whatsoever.
"Aww... Do I have to?" She didn't need to wait for a response to that. "They're such primitive creatures, And I am clearly above such pathetic lifeforms."
The leader shook his head. "Don't worry. It's only to gain his trust. Once he believes you, you may change back."
The follower huffed a little but finally gave it. "Alright. But just because I'm so determined to see this through. See ya." And with that, she walked off into the woods, leaving just her master in front of the bunker.
But just as I was about to wake up, the figure turned to look directly at me. I realized I was spotted and tried to run. But it seemed to move like greased lightning and appeared in front of me. I was looking up into the face of a monster and froze solid.
"You have seen too much for your own good. Allow me to relieve you of these memories."
I was powerless to stop him from sending a blast of white light into my mind, wiping the dream and my memory of this event completely clear.
The next thing I remembered was waking up that morning without a single memory of that particular dream. I was lying in my bed, looking up at the ceiling without any idea what had happened last night.
But even though I was mentally in the dark, I found that I was itching to go outside. It was like I had an obsession with the outdoors today and I couldn't wait to go. Crawling out of bed, I got ready for my day and then went out for a walk like I always did. I had a feeling that something extra special would happen today.
While I was out, I decided to visit the den of some of my skunk friends. I knew from experience where they lived and made straight for that area. They were always happy to see me and I was always happy to see them. They had taken up residence in an old, hollowed-out log, which is where I was headed.
But when I got there, I was greeted by a strange sight. My regular skunk friends were nowhere to be found, but there WAS a skunk there that I could see. But when I saw it, I thought I was seeing things.
The skunk that was sleeping in the log wasn't the regular black-and-white-furred kind. Instead, it was colored a bright rose... PINK!!! I thought something was wrong with it because I had never seen a pink skunk before. Everywhere that it should have been black, it was a rich, rose-pink and where it should have been white, it was a lighter pink than the rest of it. This was truly a strange sight to behold.
The skunk heard me coming and woke up to look right at me. I froze, fearing it would attack. But after a tense stare-off, the skunk seemed to warm up to me and meandered over to me. I put my hand on its head... and immediately withdrew it.
I had thought something was wrong with it. There wasn't a single hair to be found on it. Instead, its "fur" was made out of a kind of rubbery material. It felt like I was touching a balloon! (Author's Note: Ding, ding, ding! What do we have for him, Johnny?! *smile*)
This was the most bizarre skunk I had ever seen in my life. It was like I was looking at a living, breathing balloon. I had to get a feel for it for myself. I had picked up many skunks in my life without getting sprayed, and this one posed no threat.
Sure enough, its weight could be measured in feathers. It was super-light and the feel of its "fur" on my arms confirmed that it was made of rubber latex. I held the skunk up to my eye level and stared at its shining, blue eyes.
"Well, little guy..." I said, trailing off for a moment. "You're really something else, you know that?"
The skunk simply looked at me, its expression blank.
I sniffed the air around the skunk and it was confirmed that it was a balloon. But suddenly, the smell of it seemed to knock something loose in my mind. It was like I had just been thrown into auto-pilot from the rubbery smell of it, but I couldn't be sure. I simply shook my head and stared at the skunk again.
"Would you like to come home with me? I could use the extra company."
As if it had understood me, the skunk nodded and purred a little. I smiled. Something told me that this was no ordinary skunk and I wanted to find out what it was that made it so special. So I placed the rubber rodent on the ground and walked off with it cantering after me.
When we got back to my cabin, I noticed that the skunk had fallen behind. It was nowhere to be seen and I was standing at the door in disappointment. I had thought that it would have trusted me and followed me home - it certainly had been excited to come home with me. I sighed and made to open the door.
"Are you going to leave little old me out here in the cold?"
I hesitated for a moment before turning around. I had heard a voice and... oh... my... god...
Coming out of the woods was a rather impressive figure colored the same pink shades as the skunk that had followed me home. But this figure stood on two legs and looked more "human" than the animal I had first seen.
The figure looked skunk-like in nature - I could see that from the huge, bushy, striped tail that was curled up behind it. Its tail was roughly twice its height and was certainly the same design as a skunk's. I could see two pale-pink stripes along it that matched its animal form and it was frayed at the tip to give it a "furry" appearance.
But its tail was just part of the wonder that stood before me. The figure was feminine in nature; I could tell by the two ample swells on its chest. But unlike regular females, they were bare, giving it a kind of "censored" look. Its front side was the same pale-pink as its tail stripes were and went up to its cute, skunk-like muzzle. Unlike real skunks, this one did not have a pink nose (there was plenty of that on the rest of it). Instead, its muzzle was more fox-like than what it was supposed to be and its nose was colored a shiny black.
The creature stood on two, long, lean legs with just four clawed digits on each of its digitigrade feet. Its arms and hands, though, were humanoid in appearance, but all ten of its fingers were each tipped with a pointed claw.
Finally, the creature's eyes were gorgeous clear-blue color and it had a head of long, violet strands of rubber hair that looked like a mane of violet tentacles. They went down to juts below its shoulders and each strand took on a life of its own whenever it moved its head.
I stared at the new balloon (yes, it was still made of rubber) as it looked back at me with a smile across its face. The creature (I guess I could call it a "she" now) simply grinned and shook her hair like a hair model. I gulped and tried to find my voice, but my tongue was currently in a knot and I couldn't speak.
The balloon giggled and crossed its arms. "Aren't you going to invite me in? It's getting rather chilly out here."
I swallowed hard and then held the door open for her to come inside. "Sure..." I said, barely believing what I was seeing. "Come on in..."
The pink skunk chuckled and walked past me, pausing for a moment to wrap her enormous tail around me and pulling me inside with her. I was so amazed at her beauty that all I could do was go along with her wherever she brought me.
Once we were finally inside, the balloon placed her paws on my shoulders and gently pushed me into a chair. "You should relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I doubt I could hurt anyone at all."
I nodded blankly and allowed her to stand over me. There was a faint smell in the air that I could not recognize that rendered me defenseless to stop her. It was like she was giving off a kind of balloon pheromone that I could not fight. Finally, she went to go sit down on another chair, her tail wrapping over the top of the head-rest.
"So... I hear you are quite the skunk fanatic."
I blinked and then nodded. That smell was starting to make my mind go blank. The pink balloon seemed to notice this and muttered to herself, "I'm getting nowhere with this. Please snap him out of it."
I failed to understand what this meant as I continued to gape at the marvel of nature.
(Meanwhile, on the outside, a shadowy figure heard her words and used its powers to snap Rio out of his trance so that they could get on the same page.)
All of a sudden, I finally got my head on straight and looked at the pink rubber polecat as if she had always been there. She smiled and tried speaking again.
"I guess I have that kind of effect on people. Not too many people see a humanoid pink rubber skunk out in the open, I guess."
Now that I was finally seeing straight, I could respond clearly. "Yeah, you are one of a kind. Might I ask you..." I gulped. I had never spoken to a woman like this before. "Who are you?"
The skunk looked impressed with something. "You're the first person to ask who I am instead of what I am. I admire that. Just because I like you, I'll answer both." She stood up and bowed politely. "My name is Shannon. I am a Synthetic Skunk and it's very nice to meet you."
She walked over to me and held out her paw. I looked at it for a moment before smiling and holding out my own hand to shake it.
"My name is Rio Caster. I guess you know about my skunk fetish."
Her paw felt like I was grabbing a liquid-filled rubber glove. It felt warm and cushiony under my firm grip and she was rather soft with her handshake.
"I do, actually. I saw you hanging around a den of some friends of mine. I followed you here because I think that I can trust you."
I smiled. "Of course. I'm always willing to take wild animals in and give them a good home until they're ready to leave."
I didn't notice it, but there was a faint squeak like rubber stretching as something in her face contorted before she regained her composure. She smiled and sat down on the arm of my chair.
"I'm glad you are so understanding, but..." She looked down at her stomach, which gave a distinct grumble as if on cue. "You wouldn't happen to have anything I could eat around here, would you?"
I looked at her for a moment before shrugging. "That depends. What do people like you eat?"
Shannon wrapped her tail around my shoulders affectionately. That tail was starting to become a nice distraction. "I eat latex. Anything rubber or latex-made that you have. Balloons, gloves, raincoats - anything of the sort. Just not tires. I can't stand the taste of tires of any kind. Do you have anything?"
My expression fell slightly. "I'm not sure. I might have something, but it won't be very much."
Shannon shrugged. "Whatever you have will be fine. I can make do with enough until you can go into town."
She was assuming a lot, but at the moment, I didn't care. She was hungry and she wanted latex. And since I had never denied a hungry animal food, I decided to see what I could dig up. Shannon moved as I got up and started looking for anything made of latex. And I had a good idea of where to start. I had some rubber dishwashing gloves under my sink, which should be enough for her. Unfortunately, the insides of them were lined with a thin layer of cotton, so I was unsure what she would think of them.
Regardless, I went straight for them and pulled them out to offer the skunkie. "Will these do?"
Shannon took one of the gloves and examined it. Her expression when she saw the cotton was inconclusive, but her answer was definitive. "They'll work. I'll just cough up the parts I don't need." She then looked at me and smirked. "Why don't you watch? I'm sure you'll like what you see."
I didn't know what to make of this, but I did as she said. Shannon rolled the glove into a rubber version of an egg roll and she stuffed the whole thing in her mouth. She chewed it for a moment, her rubber teeth shredding the glove like it was candy and then swallowed it. I could see the remains of it sliding down her "throat". Even though I couldn't see her innards, I could see them moving along a preset path. It then stopped at the part of her where her stomach would be for a moment. Then it began to stretch, warp and "goo-ify" as it was being reduced to a strange white liquid. It lost all of its yellow coloring and became nothing but milky-white goo. And then, it moved from her "stomach" and began to spread out throughout her body. It looked like it was being absorbed into an invisible bloodstream and was spreading out more and more until the liquid vanished altogether. The final result was that Shannon's pink body became a little more opaque. It wasn't much, but it gained a little more darkness to it to tell me that she had gotten a little stronger from her meal.
"Wow..." I said, speechless. "That was cool. Does it always do that?"
Shannon nodded and patted her belly. "Every time. Soon, I'll be all but impossible to pop."
"You can pop?" I said, amazed. "But won't that kill you?"
Shannon was about to answer when her stomach started making noises. "Heads up. Here comes that cotton." I quickly pointed to a trash can and she ran over to it. Instead of kneeling over as if to vomit, she stood over it and her insides gave a loud squelch before she spat out a large white ball of fluff into the basket. She then stuck out her tongue and shook her head.
"Cotton-lined gloves always give me indigestion. Let's not do that again."
I went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll try to find ones that don't have cotton on them next time. In fact..." I looked at the clock to see that it was only noon. "I can head there right now. I'll grab what I can and bring it back for you."
"Can I come?" said Shannon innocently. "I promise I won't be a problem."
"I'm don't think so. Not a lot of people will like the idea of a giant pink rubber skunk walking around with me."
Shannon frowned. "Then we'll go together as one." When I looked at her with an eyebrow raised, she smiled and grabbed my shoulders. "It'll be easy. Come here!"
Before I could respond, she had spun me around and wrapped her paws around my waist, pinning me against her front. I wanted to squirm away, but all of a sudden, I felt cold all over and my nerves froze up. I couldn't move and Shannon was holding me even closer to her. In fact, it felt like she was holding me too close. I could feel her warm body starting to overcome me and my skin was being invaded by a warm, rubbery material.
It was then that I realized that she was absorbing me! Her body was melting and she was pulling me inside of her! I couldn't move an inch as her gooey body wrapped all around me and pulled me all the way inside of her. I was practically being eaten by a living balloon!
But when it was all over, I was standing inside Shannon's body like a full-body pink suit. My legs were surrounded by her own and my arms now had hers around them with my fingers inside hers like some kind of rubber glove.
When I finally regained control over my body, I looked out through the distorted pink skin at "my" hands.
"Shannon! What did you do?! I can't go out like this! Let me out of here!"
But Shannon "borrowed" control of me to pose a little as she looked at a mirror on a nearby wall. "You're simply wearing me now. You and I are sharing the same body, except I'm the one on the outside."
But before I could complain, Shannon simply held "our" finger up to her lips. "Shh. I can fix this so that no one will know the difference. Watch."
Shannon opened her mouth and I was greeted by the sound of escaping air. I could feel her starting to deflate, restricting my moving space even more. I realized that I was going to run out of oxygen very shortly, but to my immense shock, I felt fresh, clean air enter my lungs as if there was nothing wrong.
Pretty soon, Shannon had wrapped herself around me so tightly that the only way to tell I was inside of her was a thin, flexible extra skin all over my body. Her skin had even changed color so that it matched every single shade and detail of mine to a "T". If I could see myself now, I would have looked even better. And when I looked behind me, I was relieved to see that I had no tail to speak of. Neat!
"See?" she said, speaking directly into my ears. "This isn't so bad, right? Now you and I can go into town together and no one will be any the wiser."
"Yeah..." I said, feeling slightly more energetic than before. "You're right. You feel great! I don't know why I was against this at all! Thank you, Shannon."
I could "feel" Shannon's pleasure as I went to go get my shoes on. But when I did, I felt Shannon's feet mold around them as well.
"I don't want anything to stick out, love."
I suppose that made sense, so the two for us left the cabin and drove towards town to go on a little shopping spree.
Three hours later, Shannon and I returned with several bags of balloon goodies. We had located a number of rubber gloves of the dishwashing and disposable kind along with bags and bags of party balloons and a couple of bottles of rubber cement that Shannon had told me were a balloon's candy of choice. Also, we had grabbed a couple of Silly Putty containers. She told me that it was something that she could chew on like gum and contained enough nutrients to keep her going for a few days for each one.
No one had noticed at all that I was wearing a living, breathing balloon. Despite my body being slightly thicker than before, no one noticed a thing. It was like it was the perfect disguise. The only problem now was, how do I get out of her?
"I can fix that," Shannon said when I brought this up. "Hold on a moment."
Shannon opened her mouth again and took several deep breaths, once again reinflating herself and regaining her pink hues. Now, I was once again standing in a giant rubber skunk, but that was soon remedied.
I felt a sudden push underneath me and I was starting to lose my footing on the inside of her. Shannon opened her mouth wide and gave an enormous heave, expelling me out of her body like a regurgitate meal. I flopped onto the floor and lied there for a moment, trying to get over the strange sensation of being thrown up.
I managed to sit up, but I soon realized that I was completely covered by the same milky-white liquid that had been inside of Shannon. I was completely drenched and I smelled rather ripe of rubber.
"Ohh..." I groaned, trying to flick the slime off my body. "I'm a mess. I think I need to take a shower."
Shannon nodded. "It looks like it. You go on ahead. I'll find a snack in these bags for the time being."
"You do that," I said, walking as lightly as possible to avoid sliming the floor. Once I got inside the bathroom, I removed every piece of clothing on me and threw it all in a pile. I would wash it later. Right now, I just needed to get clean.
While I was in there, I heard a small knock on the door.
"I'm in here, Shannon!" I called out to her.
But against all common sense, Shannon opened the door and slid inside. I did not understand why she didn't take the hint. And when she threw back the curtains, I nearly had a heart attack.
"Shannon! What are you doing in here?!"
"I can't stay away from you, my love. I need to be with you always."
"But... But..." I couldn't get it out. Shannon had climbed into the bathtub and had closed the curtain behind her.
Now, I was on my own. Never in my life had I been naked with a woman in the same room before. I knew that this was no ordinary woman, but still, it made me feel uncomfortable.
But Shannon seemed to know what she was doing. She turned around so that her tail was pushing me away and opened her muzzle to drink in the water coming from the shower head. It was a little odd to be standing in a shower and not be getting wet, but I said nothing as Shannon continued to quaff more and more of the running water.
I could see her body filling up with the water, starting at her feet and working its way up her legs. When it reached her backside, her tail started to be filled with the amazing liquid. Within three minutes after starting, Shannon's body was completely filled from head to tail with water, slightly plumping out her features and turning her into a giant water balloon. Then with the water sloshing around inside of her, she climbed out of the shower and gave me a small smirk.
"Just you wait until tonight. I've got something special planned for you."
I was unsure what to make of this, but I finished my shower and got out like I always did.
But when I got to my room to get dressed, I saw the bloated Shannon sitting on my bed, looking smug. I was embarrassed to have her still see me in the nude, but Shannon didn't seem to mind.
"I've been waiting for you, love. Now you and I are going to have some real fun!"
I did not understand this, but when Shannon stood up and turned up her tail on me, I was too shocked to respond. Shannon raised her tail and expelled the water she had guzzled through her backside at me. But when it hit me, I realized that it was no longer water. It reeked of latex and was of the same consistency as the slime that had covered me earlier. I tried to block the spray, but the thick slime was still coming and it was starting to slow me down. It was starting to build up and I dropped to my hands and knees, trying to look up through the spray. But still, it kept coming. It had covered me in such a thick blanket of it that I could no longer see or breathe properly. I dropped to the ground and finally gave up. I was being cocooned by the rubbery liquid and I had lost the fight.
And still, Shannon continued to spray until every drop of milky-white goo had been expelled from her body. In the end, it looked like a scene out of "Alien" with my room looking like a giant hatchery, although there was only one egg. I did not know what she had planned, but as far as I knew, I no longer had any say in the matter. I was defeated and Shannon was free to do what she pleased with me.
Shannon stared at the milky-white sack in the middle of the slime-covered room and breathed in the smell of the latex that it gave off. She felt a sense of accomplishment for her mission. She gotten it done much faster than her "sister", Krystal had and she hadn't left any margin for feelings to develop for him. She was the best there was next to her master and soon, she would be commanding her very own Synthetic slave. She had outdone Krystal by converting her target without having to wrap her lips around that vile human flesh. She had barely gotten the taste of him out of her mouth from when she regurgitated him earlier, so she was not sorry that she would never taste him again.
Shannon was ahead of schedule at the moment - her master was not scheduled to check on her for another few hours, so she decided to make the best of it and perfect her slave for when he hatched. Kneeling down on the slimy floor, she plunged both of her hands inside of the sack and began to sculpt. She knew that Rio could no longer feel her, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. She could care less on what happened to the human version. Right now, she wanted to perfect her minion while there was still time.
Like some kind of sick artist, Shannon inserted and removed her paws at various points in the liquid, molding her slave to her perfection. It left no impression in the outer skin, but on the inside, strange and unusual things were happening to Rio's body.
Shannon had to work fast. The shell was starting to crystallize. If she didn't perfect it now, it would all be undone when it finally did. Either she had to set a new form in the chamber before it hardened or it would be undone and take on a default form that she was rather unimpressed with.
Just in the nick of time, she pulled her hands from the chamber and allowed it to finish hardening. It wasn't going to harden like an egg would. Instead, it was just going to get just thick and viscous enough that she could no longer manipulate it. All it needed now was time.
Shannon got up and let the sack sit in the mess of the room so that it could soak up all of the nutrients from the latex slime surrounding it. She then left the room and made her way back out to the kitchen to find a bite to eat. She had "forced" Rio to buy far more than she needed because she knew that he would be converted soon after they had gotten back to the cabin. She may be evil, but even she wouldn't let her own slave go hungry. Besides, that rubber cement looked rather tasty.
As she sat on the chair, painting her mouth with rubber cement like butter on toast, Shannon watched the news on an incident that had happened in New York. According to the reporter, millions of gallons of treated water at a local waste treatment facility had been reportedly tainted by an "unknown" chemical. She gave a small chuckle of satisfaction when she heard that the water had been dumped into the ocean before it could be treated. The oceans were now laced with the chemical, but experts were saying that apart from the immediate area, the oceans would not carry the chemical all over the world, although the cleanup project was going to be enormous.
Shannon basked in a moment of personal victory. It had been her fellow Synthetic, Krystal and her slave, Vexx that had tainted the water supply. Those pathetic humans had no idea what that "chemical" was REALLY going to do. It was a concoction of her master that was going to be used to turn humans worldwide into Synthetics. It was not created to infect the local wildlife, which the humans would find out too late, but the humans were all going to feel its power soon enough. She just needed to wait for Rio to hatch and then they could proceed with their plan.
Shannon turned of the TV and laughed darkly to herself. Life was good and it was only going to get better in time.
She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she heard was a familiar voice speaking in her ear, prompting her to wake up.
"It's time to awake, Shannon. I've come to check on your status."
Shannon promptly opened her eyes. Standing in the middle of the room, towering over her was the figure of her master and fellow Synthetic, Darkheart the Shadow Lugia. Darkheart normally took the form of a great bird of destiny, but to fit into smaller spaces, he had adapted a slightly different form. His rubbery skin was mostly a deep, shadowy-violet except for parts on his torso, back plates, tail spikes and dagger-shaped eye masks. Those parts were a pale, lavender color.
Darkheart stood on two long, digitigrade legs with three-taloned feet on the ends. He had a long, thick, flexible tail with two lavender-colored spikes on the end. And on his back were ten similar-colored rectangular plates that he could use while in the air to adjust his speed. On his torso was a tall, V-shaped lavender-colored mark that was slightly rounder in his true form. He also sported a pair of lean, slim arms with five slim, slender, nail-less fingers on them. They were the part of him that he liked the less, as they reminded him of the scum he was trying to "purify", but they still had their uses. And on his shoulders was a pair of large, broad, flat, flipper-like wings with five distinct "fingers" similar to a human hand. In his real form, they still functioned to serve as his wings, but in this form, they gave him a slightly more draconic look to him.
Darkheart's skull was pointed at the top and he had a curved beak with two pointed fangs sticking out of the top of it with two more on his lower jaw. And under his masks were a pair of red-lined, silver eyes that radiated his malevolence to all those around him.
The Shadow Lugia Balloon looked down at the second of his three "daughters" with an impressed look. "You've clearly outdone yourself, Shannon. The way you initiated the human's conversion is very ingenious. I would have never thought of that.
Shannon blushed and smiled wickedly. "I guess that's one of the benefits of being a skunk. I can just spray whoever I want if they get in my way."
"Impressive. But where did you get all that fluid? That was far more liquid than I used to create you and your sisters."
Shannon went on to explain how she had filled her entire body with water and then used her natural fluids to turn it into liquid latex.
"I see. Again, you have my gratitude on your originality. But..." He turned to look in the direction of Rio's room. "The form you have given him is a little... much for one made of rubber. So I took the honor of converting him to a more... durable material."
Shannon looked at him. "What did you make him out of?"
Darkheart glanced at Shannon and chuckled once. "Plastic."
Now it was Shannon that was impressed. She had no idea that he could do that. "Did you do it to anyone else?"
Darkheart shrugged. "I tested it out on Seryn before I came here. She still has her uses as a Synthetic before I dismiss her."
Shannon smiled. "Yeah, I never really liked her. Good riddance, I say."
Darkheart made to speak to Shannon, but suddenly, he looked back in the direction of Rio's room. "Young Rio stirs. Let us witness his rebirth. Fetch him for me."
Shannon nodded and got to her feet. Hustling over to Rio's room, she saw that the birth sac was already stirring. She was amazed at the speed in which it had developed, but she severed it from the floor nonetheless and carried it back to the living room.
The two of them stared at the milky-white sphere as it began to stir and tremble. Rio Caster was about to be reborn and Shannon was all but ecstatic.
I awoke somewhere in the dark. I could not remember who I was or where I had come from. I could not remember happiness nor sorrow nor pleasure. My mind was completely blank except for the thoughts given to me by my master. I existed to serve her as Slave and only she and her superior could command me.
I tried to break free of my surroundings, but I was immediately met with resistance. Something was preventing me from escaping, but I would not let that stand in my way. I kicked out with my feet and pushed out with my arms to weaken the walls of the chamber. Soon enough, I felt the chamber tear and fresh, clean oxygen entered my lungs. I tumbled out of my birth chamber in front of two figures in the room. I opened my eyes and looked around, my mind still as blank as ever. There was a figure that looked like a massive humanoid pink skunk - my master and superior. There was also a second, more intimidating figure standing next to me - my master's master. I was at the lowest point in the superior food chain and I would not forget it.
"Welcome to your new life..." said the shadowy-violet figure. "...Ranshiin."
I took in the power of the name and basked in its meaning. It was my new name and I answered to no other. From now on, I answered to "Ranshiin" and no other could command me to respond to any other.
(Author's Note: Isn't a coincidence that Darkheart, Vexx and Ranshiin are all together for the first time since Dreams Come True 4 and 5?)
"Ranshiin... that's... my name..." I said in awe. "Yes... that's who I am."
I looked at myself to take in the body that came with that name of power. My body was made of the finest plastic material that was out in the world. It was much richer, thicker and more durable than my masters' own latex bodies. I also wore a pair of black three-digit gauntlets over my talons that seemed to be meld together with the rest of my body, although it looked like I was wearing them separately. Around these gauntlets were a pair of golden-colored bands with red-colored plastic gems that looked like I was wearing bracelets that kept my gauntlets "in place".
Apart from my gauntlets, I also had on an impressive black vest over my torso that might have looked like leather to the untrained eye. There were also a number of black straps around my thighs that were connected to my vest, along with a couple of black tails off of the bottom of it.
The rest of my body was a rich, bright white except for the three black talons on each of my feet and a jagged black stripe running from my forehead down to the tip of my long and thick tail. Looking in the reflection of my master's body, I could see my face, although it was a little distorted from her rubbery skin. It looked slightly draconic with a pair of wing-shaped "ears" atop my head. My eyes were a deep, sapphire blue, but they weren't the kind of eyes that were caring and considerate. They were instead full of fierceness and blank determination. Since my mind was almost always under my master's control, there was little emotion behind them. And to top it off, I had a long, slender mane of glossy, pale-yellow hair that ended in a long ponytail in the back. And although you couldn't see it, there was a small plastic stopper buried underneath my mane, giving me the final touch to mimic a plastic animal.
But the best part about me was my massive, black, "feathery" wings. It looked like I had the wings of a fallen angel, although my "feathers" were just plastic in a feathery arrangement. But they still looked impressive nonetheless. To top it all off, I had a pair of golden bands near the bases of them by the wing joints.
In all, I reminded myself of a fallen angel in dragon form. I was the figure of evil, but not as dark or as intimidating as Darkheart.
Darkheart turned to me and looked down over my small form. "He's small, but he'll grow into his new form in time. But for now, let us proceed to the base and confiscate the Omega III."
I was about to follow Darkheart out of the cabin when we both noticed that Shannon was not proceeding.
"Is there something wrong, Master?" I said calmly.
Shannon sighed and looked at Darkheart. "Sir, you said when I came through with my mission that..." She took a deep breath. "...you would change me back."
Darkheart looked his creation up and down for a while, weighing up his options. He seemed to be recalling this "promise" he had made to her.
Finally, he nodded and said, "I remember that very well. Yes, you may have your old form back."
Darkheart spread his wings and raised his arm to place it on Shannon's forehead. She was immediately surrounded by a dark aura that immediately engulfed her. It looked like she had been swallowed by a black vortex before she suddenly came back into focus. The main difference was that she had gone from rose-pink to jet-black and her pale-pink parts had changed into pure white. Her hair was still the same length, but it was a slightly richer black than the rest of her body. In all, she looked exactly like a skunk should look, Synthetic or otherwise.
Shannon looked over herself and smiled. "Thank you, Lord Darkheart. I appreciate this."
Darkheart folded his wings again and put a hand on Shannon's shoulder. "Remember, you earned your old form back. You may be the most loyal of my servants, but remember what I can do to you if you betray you."
Shannon's face suddenly went blank. "Yes, sir. I will not disobey you."
Darkheart nodded and turned back to leaving the cabin with me and Shannon following close after him.
"This place... I've... I've seen this place before..." I stood in front of a door half-hidden by a snow bank in the middle of nowhere.
"Yes, Ranshiin," said Darkheart. "This used to be your human job. And you will help us achieve our goal by allowing us in."
I looked at Shannon in confusion, but she nodded and my blank mind was filled with knowledge that I had never known before. It was like I had known this information back in a previous life, but I could not remember. But that was beside the point. I lived to serve my masters and nothing else.
I was still a little small to reach the door, so I had to flap my wings to get level with the keypad. I then inputted a code that I was getting from nowhere. Surprising enough, it beeped and slid open. Without a word, the three of us entered the bunker one after another.
When we got into the main complex, I walked around the room, looking around. I couldn't place it, but I was starting to have flashbacks about this place. But try as I might, I could not see the images my mind was trying to project. It was like I was being forced to forget what I was trying to remember. I finally got a grip on reality and went back to obeying my masters.
"Ranshiin!" called Darkheart. "Come over here. I need your knowledge of how to program this thing!"
I cantered over and climbed up on the console. In a former life, I knew exactly how this mechanism worked, but right now, I was living off of pure instinct.
"Okay," I said, bringing up a map on the main screen. "In order to activate the satellite, we need the main key and access codes from the Head of Security. The key should be in that vault behind us." I indicated the eye-shaped stone door behind us.
Darkheart turned to Shannon and nodded. The two of them traded places and Darkheart went over to the vault. Without even bothering with the lock, Darkheart's eyes flashed bright red and the keypads were instantly fried. The eye opened up and revealed a glass shelf with a giant orange disk and two key cards. Taking them casually, he carried them over to the console and gave them to me.
"Thanks, sir." I took the large key and inserted it into a drive I then took the cards and placed them in slots on each side of the drive. "We need to log on at the same time. Master, will you help me with this?"
But Shannon was looking around nervously. "Darkheart, have you noticed that there is nobody here whatsoever?"
Darkheart simply smiled and shook his head. "I have already dealt with the other employees. I drew them out of here while you and Ranshiin were busy and then sealed them out. By the time they reach town on their own, it will be too late. We will be long gone and the satellite will be ours."
Shannon let out a sigh. "That's a relief. I thought we would have been spotted by now."
Darkheart grinned and patted Shannon on the back. "Have I failed any of you yet?" It wasn't really a question to be answered, so none of us did.
Shannon went over to the other slot where I had inserted the second card key. There was a button on the console that she needed to press along with us.
"On my count," I said, getting ready to press my own. "Three... two... one... go!"
Once the two of us pressed the button, the satellite was activated and it showed its current position in space - just over Russia.
"It will take some time to charge up to fire, but we should be able to fire a warning shot in just a few hours."
Darkheart nodded. "Not too bad, Ranshiin. A warning shot will surely get the humans' attention. Set its course for the Arctic." I did so and the satellite was on its way there as we spoke. "Prepare to fire it as soon as it reaches its mark. We'll be long gone by then."
I wanted to ask why, but Shannon beat me to the punch. "Where are we going, sir?"
Darkheart chuckled and spread his wings threateningly. "That's for me to know and for you two to find out. We just need to take the key and leave here as soon as possible."
I finished programming the Omega III to fire over the Arctic Circle and ejected the keycards and the main key. Handing them to Darkheart, he patted me gently on the head and pressed them into his torso. Like sticking fruit in gelatin, the keys were inserted into him and hung in the middle of his body, suspended inside of him for the time being.
"This will do. But to keep others in the dark, I think I'll hide them a little better."
His eyes glowed bright red again and like Shannon, he was engulfed by a black aura. But when it dissolved, there was a distinct difference between him and Shannon.
Instead of changing color, Darkheart's body had "solidified" in a way so that he now looked as flesh-and-blood as a real human. I somehow knew that while he may have looked real on the outside, on this inside, his flesh was still latex-based. Neither of us said anything as Darkheart beckoned for us to come closer to him. The two of us pressed up against his fleshy body and he spread his wings wide before draping them over us. They got significantly bigger and enveloped us like a shroud. I had a distinct feeling of being deflated internally and all of a sudden, the three of us vanished. When we reappeared, we separated and went to go get ready for Darkheart's ultimatum. It was only a matter of time before the Synthetics ruled all of humanity. And I was going to be there when it happened.
Back in Minnesota, a lone figure was sitting on the step of Plushtopia - the place where her master had been sold to a human that had given his life to create her. The store had long since closed up after a "magical mishap" with its owner. She was full of sadness and grief. Darkheart had not only injected her with an untested liquid to turn her from rubber to plastic, but soon after, he had dismissed her and cut his mental connection with her.
She could not understand why he had abandoned her; she hadn't even gotten a chance to go on her own mission to help out. It didn't make any sense why he had created her without giving her her own mission. He had given Krystal and Shannon ample opportunity to help him out, but he had mutilated her and then had cast her aside without a single care in the world. It wasn't fair!
As she sat there, an aged, decrepit old man came out of the store and stood next to her. "I understand your pain, Seryn," he told her.
She looked up at him. "You do?"
"I do. When I sold Darkheart and learned about what he did to that poor teenager, I had no choice but to close up shop. I lost everything I had and now, I'm living on my own to help rebuild my life. Darkheart took my life from me the same way he took Alex's and yours. So as a friend, I want to help you get back at him."
Seryn sniffed and looked away. "What can I do? I'm just a balloon turned plastic animal. I'm no good for anything anymore."
Aridos slowly sat down next to Seryn and pulled one of her wings over him like a blanket. "You can do more than you think. You may not know this, but Darkheart's creators are on their way to help out. While they are coming, you can help out by--" And he told her. Seryn listened very intently. Her sorrow and grief was soon forgotten as he told her exactly how he could fix this mess. Pretty soon, she was filled with new hope and determination. She was going to get back at Darkheart for abandoning her like this and soon, it was all going to come together.
To be continued...