Schyyrtzi Takeover ch4
#1 of Schyyrtzi Takeover!
Oh my god, it burns!
I ask someone to teach me something and he jabs me in the throat with a freaking needle! With what's inside I have no idea, but it feels like every bone is being snapped in two and repairing itself, just so it can do it again.
And again.
And again.
Torture isn't a close enough word to describe this. Sweat was pooling at my bed, my body up in flames; I could feel that liquid he put in me coursing through my veins setting each part of me it reached on fire. I wanted to rush out into the cool night air, but my body just wouldn't respond. I was pinned by imaginary restraints. It felt like I was going to die, and I started to welcome it. My brain screamed for mercy, to let death take the pain away and end my suffering. I could feel it... yeah, I can feel my cells getting destroyed one by one. Death was close...
Come on and hurry up! I ain't got all day!
"..."
What?
".... ...... ...... .."
What is that noise? It sounds a lot like whispering... but with my head pounding like it is it's more like nails on a chalkboard. Through the pain I managed to assume that it was Allen making the noise.
Tch... Allen. That bastard probably thought I was annoying so he decided to get rid of me. That needle probably had some ninja-grade poison in it or something. Why would he be whispering...?
Probably wishing I'd die faster.
.... But I couldn't tell for sure.
"......."
God! What the hell is he saying?! I trying to focus through the ringing in my ears and the searing pain that was annihilated my body. My body managed to make my head turn so that my left ear was in his direction.
"........."
Is he speaking some other language? I can hear him now but I can't understand any of his words. Catching a glance at Allen's face, I could see he wasn't enjoying watching this. He could just leave me here to die. But he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again.
...Was he regretting this?
Then why would he do this in the first place?! I had to know before I died!
So through my body's destruction I listened to his chanting, trying to get some clue as to what he was saying. I listened hard, keeping my body alive now that death was right there in front of me.
"......."
I wanted to ask him what he was saying, but my voice was lost. Come on, give me a clue! Anything!
"...pl....on...d...."
Wait! I got some of it! But he was still speaking the same weird language...
"Ple...don....ie...."
I think I'm starting to understand him! Although not one part of me thought the fact that I could suddenly understand a new tongue was odd.
"Please don't die."
Please don't die....? Wait... DON'T die?
"Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die, oh god don't die on me!"
He... doesn't want me to die? But why did he do this in the first place? Was there someone else pulling his strings?
"Ken, for once in your pitiful life don't be such a weakling!"
Weakling?! Is that what he thinks of me?! Pain or no pain he was going to have it!
"You bastard of a lower life form! I will not be degraded by anyone, not even by the Impure Legion himself!"
Wait...
What the hell did I just say?!
What the hell did he just say?! The likes of him have no place to talk back to someone of my standing! I'll kill him for such imp-
Wait...
He spoke back! In Kryyan! Only Schyyrtzi know that tongue!
"Ken...?" I asked tentatively.
He wasn't responding. He had a shocked look plastered on his face, as if he was surprised those words came out of his mouth. It made sense; he just spoke a different language fluently without any training. And the way he spoke...
He sounded a lot like a Schyyrtzi.
"Ken... can you speak again? Anything?"
He hesitated, as if trying to decide what words to say.
"Y-yes?"
My heart nearly skipped a beat. It was working! I don't know how, but the serum is actually being accepted into his body and mind!
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS!! BREAKTHROUGH!!
"Quick!" I asked excitedly, "Say something else! Tell me what you know! Are you ok? C'mon don't keep me waiting!"
He shut his eyes hard. "Shut.... up... man... Giving... me ... headache."
Oh yeah... I forgot he was still in pain. It's just so exciting; if this works... we can finally put our plan into motion! Practically bouncing in my brain in decided to give him peace, in exchange for the view of the most important phase of the serum.
It started on his hands; small blotches of midnight black appeared on his skin and slowly began to creep outward, steadily covering his fingers and his forearms. The spots merged with one another, coating his entire arm now and moving up his arms to shoulders. The dark areas began to form a scale-like exterior, with such sheen that even in this darkness you could see them reflect the smallest of light. My focus was drawn to his fingers, where the nails were slowly replaced by long, sharp claws. Bones creaked as the fingers became thicker, and as the pinky and ring finger fused together. He clenched the claw into a fist, making the sharp nails cut through the palm. I had expected there to be red blood, but instead was blue, and it was running down the edge of his knuckle.
I was so enraptured by the change in his hands, that I barely noticed the black areas that appeared on various parts of him, covering him completely, save for the face. Well, that may not be entirely true, he still has clothes on, so there may be exposed areas underneath. Closely watching, I saw the blackness move up his face, the Caucasian skin being engulfed by it. His mouth was open, screaming silently as the serum took over. His face began to elongate into a canine like muzzle, sharp teeth protruding his gums. The ears started to fade into the skull, while horns emerged above them, curving backwards. He managed to catch me watching, and I looked into his eyes, which morphed from light brown to blood red.
Out of nowhere, Ken thrust into the air, a thick tail bursting through his spine and the back of his pants. His face was twisted into a silent roar. I transform every day and even that looked painful to me. I shot a glance over to his feet, which now had three large toes and long curved claws. Right now he has the basic form, so if things go well, next should be the forming of the armor...
As if hearing my thoughts, dark grey bone-like armor rose from the skin, appearing on various limbs. Hard and layered, they could honestly be described as parts of medieval gear; a gauntlet on both forearms and backs of the palm, grieves on the shins and upper feet, a tasset above the waist and over the base of the tail, shoulder plates, breastplate, and a spiked helm covering only the top half of the head.
Haha! Victory! The serum worked! Now we can stop the human's self-imposed damnation!
But Ken still appeared to be in pain... What's going on?
Was it backfiring on him?!
The newly born Schyyrtzi lurched forward violently, as large wings erupted from his back and smacked the corner walls around him.
A Divinus Schyyrtzi? The Technus on JACKEL's personal team must have programmed their traits into the nanobots. It's a risky move, as it heightens the probability of death over the procedure.
Not that any have survived the initial stage anyway.
But even so... the wings looked a little too large form someone of his size.
Ken was gasping for air; it must've knocked the wind out of him. I stopped examining the leathery wings to ask of his condition, but didn't get to before he lurched forward again, hugging his stomach. I went to grab his shoulder, but pulled back quickly as the muscle there lurched outward then relaxed to normal. I had to take a few steps backward to examine his whole body; individual muscles were pulsating at irregular rates.
Goddamn! He was gonna blow!
Taking a defensive stance, I watched that when the muscles rose, they started to stay that way. Right before my eyes he was packing on muscle, and rapidly. His arms filled out, forearms and biceps rapidly flexing and relaxing until they looked like they belonged to a professional bodybuilder. Not heavyweight, but still big. The rest of his body didn't shirk; his shoulders were thick and round, legs were as big as a young tree, and a large v-shaped torso. Ken signaled the growth had stopped when he let a breath he was obviously holding throughout the change.
That build was a mutation for the Heerus Schyyrtzi; battle prone and made for the front line. About half of the Seed Addiction is made up of them.
So they put Heerus traits in there too... No human should've been able to survive two mutations, no matter how lucky they are with the odds. They should know this. But somehow he's alive through it all...
SCRIIIRTCH!
Wha...? I was lost in my musings and failed to notice that Ken sprouted two additional arms below the originals, and was bending the bars of his bend frame experimentally.
What? Now Grallus traits? That's the other half of the Seed Addiction! He's the definition of our entire army!
.............
Just how many traits did they put in that serum...?
"ALL OF THEM!!" Zien shouted at the sky, "EVERY SINGLE ONE! OOH THAT BASTARD WILL PAY TEN TIMES OVER!!"
It's quite a spectacle when Lord Zien is mad; makes me desire a camera for just these moments.
It's a good thing he suggested that we venture outside to "Stretch my wings," otherwise the whole university would have heard him rant.
"Would you keep it down? Are trying to alert the whole world?"
He turned and glared. "Don't give me that! No one besides us can understand me anyway."
"You can never be too careful Lord Zien."
"You sound just like JACKEL," He said throwing his arms into the air,"Give it a week and you'll loosen up; and stop calling me 'Lord,' that's a given to the underlings."
"Why? Am I not your underling?"
"Well..."
The serum that had changed my body apparently had nanobots in it, and the Technus that made them ensured that the knowledge needed to be in their society was programmed into my brain. It's unusual; it feels as if it's any old memory, like I've known them all my life. Like Lo- erm... Zien has been my superior for as long as I can remember; even though I clearly recall being a human. The irony of it all amuses me.
An hour ago I looked up to Zien (formally Allen) as some sort of hero. He was obviously more skilled at many things more than I.
Now I view him as my higher-in-command. But this time I'm thrice his size and have every mutation known to the Schyyrtzi race.
Zien gave me an overview about all the abilities I've gained:
Technus traits; the dome-like extremity that contained bladed tendrils (five of them).
Divinus traits; the large set of wings
Heerus traits; the increased muscle mass
Grallus traits; the extra set of arms
Comnus traits; extra set of eyes
Asnus traits; small retractable blades under my wrists
Salbus traits; venom glands
Regnus traits; ability to heal quickly
Zien sliced my hand to make sure I had the last one.
"Technically, yes. But I have a feeling that will change once we confront JACKEL," he faced his back to me and but his arms behind them, "That is... if you are willing to aid in our cause."
I was slightly taken back by that statement, though I wasn't sure why. I was once human, and this advance will go against human society, but I don't feel all that caring.
"Of course I will Zien," I took the customary bow (even though he can't see it), "My body and mind are now yours to use as you see fit... or to be more exact, belong to the Schyyrtzi."
When Zien turned back around I looked up, only to find him smiling. But it wasn't the kind of smile I had expected; a smile of acceptance. Instead it was a smile I was all too familiar with; it was the very same one he had when he spoke to those thugs. It was the "I know your every move and can read you like an open book, you can't fool me" smile.
He walked up to me and put a hand on the plating on my shoulder. "Feh, you claim to fully submit to our cause, but I know some part of you still regrets it."
"But..."
"No matter have much your body changes, or how messed up you get in the head, you can never forget your origin. The part of you that you once were will never leave the back of your mind, no matter how hard you try to push it away. Which you shouldn't. Not only is it fruitless, but it keeps you from being nothing more than a hollow shell for which the new you will consume. It makes you a better being."
That's not in Schyyrtzi logic...
"Zien...?"
"Yes?" he was speaking English now.
"Forgive me for being so rude as to ask such a question... but-"
"Was I once human?"
I couldn't help but be a little shocked. Even now he could still predict my thoughts. I may be stronger in a lot of ways physically, but he obviously had skill and experience on me.
I bowed low, "Please forgive me, you don't have to answer."
"But it's a valid question... and no, I wasn't a human before becoming a Schyyrtzi."
"Oh, but you seem so... down-to-earth."
"You misunderstand."
"Huh?"
Zien turned around once more so his back faced me.
"I wasn't once a human..."
He turned his head to look at me.
"I still am."