WARNING: Contains excessive gore, mental torture, and bad jokes. Not for the faint of heart or young of age.
XXXXXX Return And Rebirth XXXXXX
Falling apart. That is what It felt as it clung to the edge of the massive downward drain it had partially retreated into. Oh, not falling part as in emotionally. No, It most literally felt its physical self crumble. The self-titled Losers looked down at It, triumphant in their quest to stop It from feeding, waiting for It to fall. He could see their thoughts. They all either surmised, or hoped, It was dying.
It hated all seven of those blasted children, but blamed itself. All the years of frightening and feasting, and never before had It thought of what would happen if the prey fought back. What was that phrase It had heard on a radio It had unceremoniously tossed into Its tower of kill trophies? The times, they are a changin'. Evidently, the people were a changin' as well.
Perhaps, the thing that primarily called itself Pennywise the Dancing Clown thought as more of Its cranium departed and evaporated, while I have my long rest, I should dream of new ways.
The creature felt something alongside the starving. Something It was a master of, but had never experienced.
"Fear."
With that said, It let go. As It fell into the deep darkness, It let out a sound that nobody, not even Itself, could figure out if it was screaming or laughing.
As It fell, gravity proved to be no more nicer to It than the Losers. The slightest shift of Its body sent it off to the side, slamming into concrete, which in turn made It bounce off into the other side of the cylindrical drain. Down It went like a pinball, Its pain increasing more and more with every bump. There was no pattern, no rhyme or reason to the strikes. Spine. Head. Right shoulder. Left knee. Backside. Chest. Head again.
Finally, It reached the bottom, slamming onto concrete, feeling exhausted and broken while surrounded by darkness and agony. It didn't ask why It had landed on a solid floor rather than an underground stream or runoff of the canal within the city.
As more of Its body vanished, the disintegrating clown let out a noise that would made any listener surmise that It was about to throw up.
Pennywise was ready and willing for the long rest waiting for It, but the sound of a tongue clicking made the flesh-eater realize It still wasn't alone.
"You look like shit, Ronnie." When the last word faded, the room lit up. The clown, on its back with the half-gone head to the side, saw a pair of cowboy boots. Its remaining eye drifted upward, and saw blue jeans attached to the boots, the pockets stuffed with who knew what. Further up came a jean jacket. And finally, the man wearing it all. He had an ageless face with long dark hair and a look of delighted bemusement. "Whatcha think, boss?"
The denim enthusiast moved to the side, and It saw an elderly man covered by a brilliant red cloak. His beard was thick and his crimson eyes hypnotic. He crouched down and looked over It like a vet would a run over dog.
"You'll feel a lot better..." The old man's voice sounded like it could cover the world. His brought up his hand and opened it, revealing what was either a tattoo or fresh burn of a red eye on the palm. He brought it over and place his fingers on the clown's forehead, making it so It could only see the scarlet eye. "... when you wake up."
XXXXXX Twenty-Seven Years Later XXXXXX
"I really like you, Issei," Amano Yuuma said with her soft voice as she wrapped her fingers around the back of her boyfriend's neck while he in turn gently grabbed the sides of her waist.
"I like you too, Yuuma," he said with a smile. She looked positively lovely with the setting sun.
She leaned closer to him. He followed suit and closed his eyes.
He was in bliss, sharing a kiss with his girlfriend. He enjoyed being ablebto say that he had an actual girlfriend. All the magazines and movies had not prepared him for this, and it felt amazing. His arousal grew when he felt her bite his bottom lip. He would let out a triumphant laugh if he didn't want to ruin this moment. However, his shot open and his excitement gave way to concern when her teeth increased their grip on his flesh. He was not unfamiliar with kinks, but this was his first time after all. And it only got worse.
"Ow," he said simply, hoping she would get the message and release him. Much to his shock, Yuuma did the opposite, and bit down harder, making him squint from the discomfort. Instinct kicked in and he quickly moved his hands from he back to her shoulders and pushed himself away to where they still held each other, but just barely. Unfortunately, this made the pain even louder when they had space between them again. He could taste blood seeping past his teeth; she had taken a piece of him. His focus turned from the pain to his girl, and her appearance made him want to run. His blood was flowing out of her like drool, and she wore a grin that belonged on the villain of a slasher film. His vision drifted for her stained maw to her eyes, which quickly proved to be a bad decision. Her irises had turned into a harsh gold.
"You didn't like it?" She asked with what could have passed for concern. "But we're just getting started."
The pervert within Issei made him want to see just what he thought the sentence implied, but it instantly died away when Yuuma opened her mouth. Her teeth had become daggers, curved and yellowing. Before Issei could react, she had practically jumped forward and dug her fangs into her boyfriend's shoulder.
He screamed as the pain registered to his synapses, stinging and hot. It was the worst thing he had experienced so far in his life.
Finally, Yuuma removed her hands from his neck, letting him fall to the ground, feeling the blood seep down his arm to his fingers.
"Did I hurt you, my love?" She asked with a tone that made Issei all the more scared.
Yuuma began to shake like a paint mixer. It got to the point where she was a standing blur. She let out a high-pitched scream and arched herself so far back Issei could no longer see her face. As he grabbed the wound, his mind flip-flopped between focusing on the bleeding and his cannibalistic date's behavior. As she continued quaking, her clothes changed. The dark blue uniform shifted to silver-white, and the skirt stretched down, split, and wrapped around her legs forming pants. Gloves seem to sprout from the now frilly ends of her sleeves, covering her hands. Her shoes shifted and expanded into curly boots. What Issei initially failed to notice, either due to blood loss or being more involved with the changing getup, was that her arms and legs had gotten longer by roughly a foot each and that her breasts had vanished.
Finally, she stopped. Her arms fell limply to her sides and swayed lazily. For a moment she just stood there. Finally, she forced her muscles to make her return to an upright position, revealing her head to Issei once more, and he was horrified by what beheld him. No longer was it a beautiful girl, but a clown. Wild orange hair covered its chalk-white head and red coated its lips and lines went from them up to over its eyes, putting a bloody U on its veneer. Along with the assault on his sight, Issei's sense of smell got a punch as well. This guy smelled like... a circus that set up the big top in a sewer.
Back in its favorite form, It leaned forward towards the young man, who was too shocked to move.
"I think proper introductions are in order," the clown said with a sadistic glee. "Issei, meet Pennywise."
Issei just panted in response. He began to feel lightheaded and dizzy.
Pennywise continued. "Sorry your Angel couldn't be here. She had a slight run-in with me."
Angel? Had this freak killed Yuuma?
Not waiting, the clown reached down, grabbed the collar of Issei's blazer, and yanked him up to his feet. Even standing, Issei dwarfed before the performer.
Pennywise bent his upper half forward to the point where he and the young human were breathing the same air. The clown whispered one word. "Run."
Why Issei listened to Pennywise, he couldn't explain. Perhaps it was hypnotism, or a want to get away from the clown, or most likely just standard self-perservation. Whatever it was, the youthful pervert took off in the opposite direction as his unwanted company.
He could feel his heartbeat increase, which in turn made more blood gush out of his shoulder. The pain hit him like a truck, but he forced himself to focus on running.
Pennywise looked at the receding human and momentarily got lost in thought. So far, It was enjoying the sojourn to this place. The town of Derry would always be Its personal hunting ground, but even immortal murderers from beyond the boundaries of space and time needed to take a vacation once in a while. There was a reason Pennywise had smacked the Angel around earlier and sent her packing to that overgrown Church. He had happened upon her and her obvious prey, disguised of course, and instantly became enthralled with the boy's reek. It was... delectable. And It was not about to let such an hors d'oeuvre go to some simple agent of holiness (whom It also planned to consume eventually). After roughly twenty seconds of nostalgia, Pennywise cracked Its neck and prepared for the final preparations for Its dinner.
Part of Issei wanted to stop, but the rest of him refused. His lungs burned. His legs ached. He forced himself to quickly take a look back to where he had sprinted from. The clown was gone. Relief flooded into him, but he didn't slow down. This course of action led to him colliding with something in front of him while his eyes were focused on where he had already been. Whatever it was, It had not give way and he was on the ground with even more agony making itself known to him. His eyes shut and his teeth grinded on themselves as he cradled his still bleeding shoulder.
He looked to whatever he had hit... And he wanted to scream. There was Pennywise, smiling down at him with a bright red balloon in his gloved hand.
"Which way you going, Issei?" He asked knowingly. He raised a foot as a massive spike formed on the heel, and pressed it into Issei's chest, literally pinning the now-pale student to the grass.
Is this the end? Issei thought with dread, remaining silent. The balloon, with no explanation or reason, popped. The sound of it bursting filled the air and bounced off the trees. He could feel the blood loss beginning to take hold. I wish I could die under a beautiful woman. Not like this... anything but this...
"No protectors here." Pennywise drooled with the words. It dragged its foot to the side, slicing deeply and long into Its meal. With that complete, It crouched down and wrapped his fingers around the boy's head. He was flatlining, but terrified. "No Turtle. No Losers. And no Other." It grinned wickedly and opened Its mouth far greater than a normal person should have been capable of. The gums extended outward with rows of jagged teeth growing into monstrous chompers.
Though he was all but gone, the boy's terror increased at this sight, making Pennywise laugh inwardly. Tasty, delicious fear...
Just as It was about to take the technically third bite, he retracted and looked to the side, his teeth returning to normal. Still barely among the living, Issei wondered why.
It could feel it. The magic, the energy, congealing on the spot.
"Devils." It spat. Having walked amongst the populace of this backwater planet for centuries, It was familiar with those who most humans called unholy. "Ruining my fun..." For the briefest instant, Pennywise reminisced about how long ago, It had run afoul of an irritating toy mogul and his Hellish butler.
It had learned a valuable lesson the last time It was awake. Groups, especially tightly-knit ones, were problematic, even dangerous.
As Pennywise contemplated on Its next move, an epiphany came to It. The Angel... The smell...
He smiled down at Issei, running a finger along his jaw.
The last thing Issei saw before everything went black was Pennywise standing up and lumbering off.
XXXXXX
A gasp of breath.
Issei opened his eyes, something he didn't think he could do. They rolled all over as he took in his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was... a clown in the park. It felt so real... And yet...
He was back in his room. And the pain was gone. Was it all a dream?
He was still here, and he was breathing. He could not help but smile and push himself up to a sitting position... until his alarm went off.
Instead of the the usual threats and banter, a sadly familiar voice emitted from the clock.
"Gooooood morrrrrrrrning Hyoudou household! It's your old pal Pennywise here! And I'm with a few friends, who have an important message for you."
Static filled the air for a second before a distorted chorus of children replaced the killer clown's voiceover. However, their "important message" left Issei wanting Pennywise to come back...
"You'll float too! You'll float too!" The disembodied youngsters said in a demonic unison, increasing the tempo steadily. Issei desperately hoped he was still dreaming, and found himself unable to lift his arm to try to stop it. "You'll float too! You'll float too you'll float too you'll float too you'llfloattooyou'llfloattooyou'llfloattoo!"
Finally, the cacophony stopped. The shaken pervert felt air enter and leave his lungs in heaves.
Rias Gremory high ranking Devil currently nestled on Issei's side, had been spared the proclamation of floating. Pennywise had a way of being both unseen and unheard by those he didn't having in his sights. But the Devil had set back Its feeding time on the male, so It had her see what came next.
She rose from her slumber, expecting her newest peer to ogle her assets, but he didn't even notice her. He was staring at the window with a look of absolute horror. Her sight drifted to it as well, and was confused.
A red balloon had drifted in through the open window, and was somehow making its way over to the bed. Issei followed its ever inch, as if expecting it to turn into a bomb. Finally, It stopped right in front of him, and she saw that "GET WELL SOON" was written on it. After a long moment, the balloon, despite not being touched by anything or either of them, popped.
What happened during and after was different for the pair. Rias just saw confetti thrown into the air, but for Issei, blood burst into his face, making him let out a sound of choking; Rias just thought the whole surprise of it all had caught him off guard. It was only after his head turned to her, his eyes filled with dread, did he notice her.
XXXXXX
Closing Notes: Well, that was probably the darkest thing I've ever written. I'm going to take a wild guess that most of you who have not read The Stand and/or The Dark Tower don't know who those two men in the sewers were; they're Randall "The Walkin' Dude" Flagg and The Crimson King, the former of which will have a considerable role in this tale.
The pronouns regarding Pennywise intentionally change with each shift in point of view; the clown is fully aware of being an "it" while most who see It in clown form would assume It to be a male.
Originally, I intended for this to be just a one-shot with an infinitely bleaker ending. But after thinking ahead and seeing the possibilities, I decided to change it. If anyone wants to see how this originally concluded, I'm happy to oblige.
