Exterminate

Hey, hey, hey! Anyone remember me? PitFTW, author of the extremely long and depressing Guardians Arise? No? Okay…

This is a piece just to show that I'm alive! And that I'm suffering from the world's heaviest writer's block… Essentially, I ran into Writer's Tree which was growing atop Writer's Soil that was laid atop Writer's Block and that is currently being fed by Writer's Fertilizer. That and college.

WARNING: Not at all happy. In fact, this is pretty depressing. This is what happens when you watch Schindler's List, then Casablanca, then The Avengers, then Requiem for a Dream on a bunch of days in a row. It also shows you that during my winter break, I had absolutely no life.

I really hope I don't offend anyone with this piece... if I do, let me know! I'll try to fix it as best as I can!

Let's go! KIYA!

It was a cold winter morning. Snow gently fell down from the bright gray skies. At a train station not too far away from a tiny town, a small green dinosaur stuck out his tongue and tasted the falling flakes. He found that he liked the taste, a bizarre combination of sweet and bitter.

It was freezing, but this green dinosaur had no coat. He couldn't afford one. Ever since The Regime took over, he, his friends, and his family had been unable to find work with a decent wage. He had managed to get by through owning a convenience store. Of course, said store was marked specifically to show others that a non-human species owned it, but at the very least, his fellow non-humans (or sub-beasts, as The Regime enjoyed referring them as) often shopped there. Business didn't exactly boom, but at least he was able to have some form of a living.

"Hey, Yoshi," a small voice beside him whispered, trembling from the cold.

Yoshi blinked and looked down, smiling at the small yellow mice that had shuffled up to him. "Morning, Pichu. Morning, Pikachu."

Pikachu and Pichu were two brothers whose mother had died in a freak kitchen fire long ago. Their father had been taking care of them, but he had been called away on a train exactly like the one they were about to board. That had been three years ago and the brothers had been wandering about ever since, occasionally staying at the homes of their fellow sub-beasts. Pikachu was the older one and he worked as best as he could for money to provide food for the younger Pichu. Yoshi helped them as best as he could, always giving the brothers the meager, yet respectable portion of one loaf of bread a week.

"It's cold outside," Pichu said quietly. "Can we go inside, Pika?"

Pikachu sadly shook his head. "Sorry, bro… but the soldiers told us to wait out here and I don't want to get them mad."

"But I'm cold…" the younger brother sniffed.

Yoshi removed his jacket, wincing as he was hit with the biting cold. The thin coat was little more than a rag, but it did well in warming up Pikachu's younger brother. The boy wrapped it tight around him and snuggled close to his brother for warmth. Pikachu remained silent, but the look of gratitude in his deep black eyes was enough to greatly warm Yoshi's heart.

The gentle purr of a train filled the air, the stench of smog reached Yoshi's nose. As the locomotive arrived at the station, shouts could be heard over the roar of the brakes. Shouts that did not belong to the non-humans.

Human soldiers stepped out of the cars.

"Alright, you lousy sub-beasts!" one of the soldiers, obviously the leader from the number of stripes on his sleeve, shouted. "Get in these cars and get to the back! We gotta haul as many of you dirty animals as possible over to Smashwitz!"

Yoshi studied the man as he moved along with the Pikachu brothers. He was tall and broad-shouldered, clad in a military uniform of dark forest green. A bright red band encircled his arm, bearing the Smashball, insignia of The Regime. Under his cap, Yoshi could clearly see his dirty blonde hair. The sharp features of his face were accentuated by startlingly blue eyes and pointed ears, standing out against a complexion of milky white.

"You're Hylian…" Yoshi murmured quietly as he passed.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his spine, the ground rushed up towards him, and the sickly taste of mud entered his mouth. The Pikachu brothers stopped and gasped as Yoshi shakily got to his feet. Before he could so much as attempt to run, there was another sharp pain, this time across his face. Yoshi stared in horror at the soldier through tear-filled eyes, his vision blurring more and more with each painful throb from the red mark on his face.

"Don't you dare speak to me again," the Hylian soldier spat. "You are a sub-beast! Know your place! You're lucky to still be alive!" he shoved Yoshi with a powerful hand. "Get in the damn car!"

Yoshi scrambled away, the Pikachu brothers following close behind. Before he knew it, he had been pushed and shoved into the very center of the cart, pressing up against numerous bodies of his fellow sub-beasts. There was crying and shouting, screaming and sobbing. But no matter how much they cried out that the car was getting too full, more sub-beasts were forced in. Finally, when there was barely enough room for Yoshi to draw breath, let alone move, the door of the cart was closed.

The train ride was long and horrid. The cart was drafty, water leaked through the roof. Many of the sub-beasts smelled horrible, as the soldiers had neglected to place any form of relieving themselves in the car. Most of them went in their pants. The best they could do as far as water was open their mouths and wait for the blessed leakage from the roof.

There was a woman in the car. A beast-woman named Jigglypuff, who murmured about her husband and son. In spite of the sub-beasts' telling her that both of them had left on a train very much like the one they were in long ago, she kept begging for them. Crying out. Sobbing.

On the first day of the journey, she had begun to moan. They were annoying enough, these moans, not at all helped by the fact that there were many others in the car moaning as well. But her moaning was loud. Desperate. Almost pleading.

The third night brought hysteria. She had been sleeping, along with many others. The car had been mostly quiet. Suddenly, she shot up and let out a piercing cry. It sliced through the silence like a knife.

"Fire! Fire! I see fire!"

There was a brief moment of panic, then a groan when it was discovered who had screamed. Yoshi and the rest of the car watched as she pointed out the window, howling.

"Mercy! Mercy! Please, get rid of this fire! Please!"

Yoshi squinted outside to see. But there was no fire. Only a dark, stormy night.

"She's gone bonkers," Pikachu breathed, shaking his head. "Poor Jigglypuff…"

Her screams ripped through the night. There was no calming her. Eventually, Yoshi and the others learned to tune her out.

By the time they arrived, she was dead.

They were told to form ranks. Soldiers walked up and down, examining them. Out of the corner of his eye, Yoshi saw two mustachioed men- one short and chubby, the other tall and lean- kicking the corpses of those sub-beasts whom had died on the trip around like soccer balls.

After examinations were over, they were told to march. And march they did. They followed two soldiers- the same blonde one from earlier and a tall, blue-haired one- over to a tall building.

The first thing that struck Yoshi was the smell. The horrid stench of burning flesh. A few steps closer and he felt the flames. They were all over his green skin, spreading faster and faster, burning brighter and brighter. He saw another blue-haired soldier, this one wearing a strange headband-like object instead of the usual cap, overseeing numerous thin sub-beasts as they threw bodies into a huge roaring furnace.

Bodies of fellow sub-beasts.

They veered left and followed a path. More orders. They had to get in line. Taking Pikachu and Pichu by the hand, Yoshi led them to the line.

It was a split path. There was a man in a white lab coat at the fork, who looked very similar to the short and chubby mustachioed man. His blue eyes were deep and piercing. In his hand he held a thin white baton. At the very sight of him, many sub-beasts behind Yoshi began whispering.

"It's Dr. Mario!"

"Dr. Mario? You don't mean…"

"The Angel of Death!"

"We're doomed!"

Women and children were automatically sent to the right. Men and boys, however, were examined and questioned first. Some went right and others went left. Yoshi felt Pichu's grip on his hand tighten.

"Your age?" he asked when Yoshi stepped up.

"Thirty-one," Yoshi answered, voice trembling.

"In good health?"

"Yes."

"Your profession?"

"Convenience store owner."

The baton pointed left. Yoshi followed it.

But the brothers were sent right.

He snuck over to the right.

"Yoshi!" Pichu chirped, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Pikachu remained silent, only pursing his thin lips into what Yoshi assumed was a smile. Once again, the green dinosaur took the brothers' hands and led them down the path.

At the end, they were told to strip. They were to have a shower. Yoshi felt a little embarrassed at first, but then again, except for the soldiers, everyone here was naked.

Slowly, they were let into a huge building. Though the sub-beasts trickled in as fast as they could, shots rang through the air to get them to move faster. Many of the soldiers who were supervising smiled at the younger children. Some of them even offered sweets.

As Yoshi was passing through the door, he caught the eye of a soldier standing near it. He was a youth with a mop of brown hair and a clear complexion, emphasized by wide, clear blue eyes. He looked much too young and innocent to be a soldier. He smiled at Yoshi, showing even white teeth.

The look in his blue eyes spelt murder.

The last thing Yoshi saw before he closed the door behind him was the snow curdling around that soldier's back. The closer he looked, the more the snow seemed to form the wings of an angel. But before he could look closer, Yoshi was staring at a door made of steel.

There were shower heads on the ceiling. Many of the sub-beasts were chatting, glad for the rest after so long a trip. But no matter how hard Yoshi tried to relax, he simply could not.

The soldier's eyes haunted him.

Suddenly, there was a gentle hiss. The sub-beasts looked expectantly at the showerheads on the ceiling, waiting for the gentle pouring of water that was to come. But the longer they waited, the more it dawned on them that no water would come.

All the while, the hissing only became louder.

Then there was screaming. Choking. Crying. The sounds of bodies hitting the floor.

Yoshi tried to take in air to call out to the brothers. But nothing came into his lungs. His entire body burned with pain. Black lines danced at the edge of his vision.

He collapsed to the floor, the lines drawing in closer. He felt his body twitching, convulsing…

Dying…

He was dying…

Pikachu, Pichu, where were they…?

He felt tiny paws, furry bodies.

Here they were.

Were they dying too…?

No… he couldn't let them leave… not like this…

No…

No…