A/N:
I had this dream last night, and decided to write it down. I'm not really sure where it's going, so bear with me, and I hope you like it.
Iggy: You must have weird dreams.
Rain: -sigh- if any of you have read my other stories, you'll know that I kidnapped Iggy from the Maximum Ride fandom a while back. Long story, but eh.

Yeah, I incorporated the shock collar in this OC story, too. Whatever. Iggy?
Iggy: Rain doesn't own Teen Titans or anything else mentioned in this story. She only owns Shift Tapio.
R & R.

The ground felt rough on my feet, but I barely winced as rocks stuck to my heel and jabbed at me. No, pain didn't bother me anymore. Physical pain was just a message- it was the emotional stuff that left me broken and bleeding. The metal gates swung open, and I was blinded temporarily in the bright light. I was shoved forward into the stadium, and cheers erupted all around me. I didn't bother to look at my audience; my focus was on the other side. Slowly, those doors also opened, and I wondered who would be my victim this time. A human, monster, or some kind of alien? Anything was possible- the people who ran this place 'recruited' from everywhere.

I felt my hands curl into fists, and I bit my lip as I felt my nails dig into my skin. I was acutely aware of the metal collar that hung around my neck, forcing me onwards, else I would be shocked. I closed my eyes as the screams around me grew louder- my opponent had entered the playing field. The announcer and creator of this place began talking- Rick Worthington. I didn't know if that was his actual name, or just one of his many aliases. In his business, you couldn't reveal anything, for understandable reasons.

"-the so far undefeated champion; Shift Tapio!" Judging by the hoots and yells, a lot of people had bet on me winning this fight. My name had become a legend- Shift Tapio; ruthless and deadly in the ring. If only these people knew it was a giant scam, that I'd once just been a normal kid, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, with a normal name and no reputation.

When I was ten, around five years ago, my Mom ran down to the shops for five minutes to grab something for dinner. Five minutes was all it took for my life to change irreversibly. I knew I wasn't supposed to answer the door while she was out, but I thought it could've been my Dad. My parents had divorced a few months earlier, and I was still praying for him to come back at that point. I didn't even have time to scream as a man grabbed me and stuffed me in some bag. I was knocked out soon after, and when I woke up, I was in a cage. Apparently my Mom had some debt she hadn't paid off, and I was the repayment. I finally got why my dad had left us; she must've been a bad person if she had let this happen to me. My Mom's debt collectors made a deal with some scientists, who paid them a large sum for me. I was traded off as an experiment.

It was years before any of their serums had an effect on me. They tried something they called 'Tapio X' on me; Tapio for some god of animals. After a bunch of painful changing of DNA, they managed to give me the ability to shift into any animal I wanted. After their success, I was sold to Rick Worthington a few months later. Rick ran a freak show fighting league, where he pitted two fighters against each other and people placed bets on who would win. I was perfect for a new technique he wanted to try- he called it 'primal mode'. One of his investors wanted the fights to be wilder, and so they gave him something to use on us that would make us run completely on instinct- if we got mad, we went primal, basically. The idea was to make us angry before the fight, and then the battle would be more bloodthirsty. When this was all happening, I was probably around thirteen years old. Of course, due to my new genetic makeup, that wasn't considered. As time went on, I forgot my old name, and was forced to adopt the name Shift Tapio. I lost more and more humanity each day, and was forced to take on bigger, stronger, more powerful opponents. There was no way I could escape this place.
Somewhere in the midst of all that, I lost all trust in everyone but myself.

My opponent was a middle-aged man who might've looked completely normal, except for the giant, no-way-in-hell-are-those-natural muscles that bulged out from everywhere. He had long dark hair, and his eyes narrowed when he saw me.

"-And her opponent... Roberto Strongman!" I almost rolled my eyes. Rick was sure one for originality. Roberto clenched his jaw, and I heard the screams go louder. So far, 'primal mode' had definitely had the wanted effect. I crouched forward, morphing into a white tiger as I went. I bared my teeth, snarling at Roberto. Already I was feeling the Primal Mode serum working- I'd been cramped in a tiny cage with a loud, high-pitched noise making my eardrums bleed the entire morning, and all my animal instincts were telling me to rip, tear and get the hell out of there. Thanks to being combined with animal DNA, I'd not only been given the ability to become them, I'd been saddled with their heightened senses, agility and the stupid instincts.

Roberto Strongman rushed forward, and I was seeing red. The tiger was feeling threatened, and the tiger didn't like that. I leapt into the air, my claws raking across his chest as I landed. He roared angrily and swung at my head. I stumbled backwards dizzily, unable to make coherent thoughts. Unless I let go, I was going to die. I let myself sink, and the tiger took over. I only heard his screams as I slashed him again and again, until the fight was over. Wearily and feeling sick, I tried to take control of my mind again. I morphed back and turned away, not wanting to see what I'd done again. The stadium erupted into cheers, and a tear slid down my cheek.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to Roberto Strongman's lifeless body, before I walked off the field, leaving another opponent behind me.

"Great fight, Shift! That was amazing- man I love it when you deliver like that!" Rick as suddenly beside me, keeping up with my quick pace. I growled at him, and I saw him flinch slightly. That gave me a sense of triumph- I could kill him if I wanted; he was puny, with slicked back hair and a smirk that was always plastered on his features.

"Piss off." I said, my voice flat. Rick rolled his eyes.

"I didn't think that Italian buff would take you out, Shift-o. You're too tough for that, a real survivor. The kind of fighter I need more of, frankly." He said. I wanted to punch that stupid smirk off his face.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment? I kill people well?" I asked sarcastically. "Golly gee, thanks a bunch Rick-o. I'm probably fifteen this year, and my greatest achievement is that I can kill people well." Rick laughed.

"Probably fifteen... sweetheart, we don't think about ages here." he reminded me.

"Well I don't want to be here." I shot back. Rick sighed.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that." He said, and I laughed darkly.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're really sorry. Your sympathy meter must be through the roof. If you're so sorry, why don't you let me go?" I asked. He frowned.

"Maybe your Momma shouldn't have played the cards so much, because then you wouldn't be here." I snarled and swung at him, but with lightning-fast reflexes he pressed a button on his watch and I crumpled, tears springing to my eyes as I was shocked. "Don't test me, animal girl. I'm the one with the real power, not you." He reminded me, before walking away. Still feeling the little zaps, I got unsteadily to my feet, glaring at Rick's back. I walked towards my tiny room, with a single bed and a bathroom, and collapsed. Tears streamed from my eyes and I bit into my pillow to stop anyone hearing me.

This wasn't how life was supposed to be.

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