Chapter nine: Impressive
Erik stood in front of Tilly with merciless brown eyes. She could not move. Her body was as heavy as lead. She was terrified and she tried desperately to move away from him. He grabbed her shoulders tightly and then his hand made its way down her thigh. Every time he touched her the skin on her body experienced a sharp unbearable ache.
She had to get away. If not to stop the emotional hurt, then the physical. It was just too painful for her to take.
She tried to remove his hand from her upper thigh, but the pain increased. She cried out in the darkness. Only the sound of Erik's satisfaction replied. Her attempts began to be more and more desperate. She knew she was asleep, but she couldn't wake up.
His hands found a more personal spot to torment and her body racked with a cracking sensation. She called out to her alter and to Slade, but only saw darkness. She had to move.
"I can move. I can move." She said and ran away from Erik in slow motion.
Erik grabbed her and her body racked with pain again. She yelped and then was pushed to the ground. She looked up to see Slade's steel-toed boots and clung to them as if her life depended on it.
"Matilda, what are you doing?" He inquired. "Stand up."
She stood up and held onto his arm like a clingy child, afraid to be taken at any moment. She looked, but Erik was gone. She relaxed, but still held onto his arm just in case.
"You're safe now. He's dead." Slade said, but for some reason those words hit her hard.
He's dead.
She looked back away from Slade to find Erik's corpse hanging in front of her. She screamed and turned away. Slade put his hands on her shoulders and She looked up at him.
"I won't let anyone hurt you again." He said, now the smell of blood becoming unbearable.
She heard a strange clicking sound and suddenly Rage leaped from the darkness and ripped the masked villain apart. Gore splattered over her body. Her body racked with the cracking sensation again and she began to break into a million pieces.
A demonic roar emitted from her lips as she leaped from her new bed. Her body reshaped itself into Amorian form as Rage took over.
Rage lunged at the door. A loud bang echoed throughout the haunt as the fowl beast continued to beat the door. She bellowed loudly, desperately trying to gain someone's attention. She wanted to be feared. She wanted that now.
Slade leaned back in his chair and watch his pawn take her anger out on the door. He had been observing her through the night as she tossed restlessly in her sleep. Obviously nigh terrors triggered her alter. He wanted to bond with this side of her tonight, but he knew that he should wait until she calmed down. He wouldn't want to be torn to pieces by that thing.
He glanced at Wintergreen, who eyed the screen wearily. He had been warning him about Matilda, but this girl was weaker than Terra. She was fractured and on the verge of shattering completely. This was the perfect pawn. Weak, fragile, naïve and in need for someone to care. Slade would be that person. Well, at least he'll make Matilda think that he was.
Rage settled down and sulked in a corner. She was tired of this. She wanted to be feared by these beings, not held prisoner.
She sensed someone approach the door and she growled. She figured it was Slade since she smelt no fear. She hated that man.
"Rage, I would like to speak with you." She heard him called and she snorted.
She walked over to the door. "Sh-yes?"
"It's good to see you again." He said indifferently.
"Pea-sure's hh-all sh-yours." She smirked.
"Why don't I offer you a deal?" Slade said and at this her head perked up. "I'll let you out of here to take out your frustrations on my robots, but only if you'll be on your best behavior."
She smiled wickedly at this. She had been wanting to get out of the cell for a while now. This was her chance.
"But… vat hh-if hh-I D'ange my-hh mind hh-and be nasty?" She inquired just to see what the consequences were, if she were to be caught that is.
Slade leaned in closer to the bars. "Well, then I'll make you that you will never come out of this cell again."
At this she growled. This inferior being had her trapped. She hated that. Now he was controlling her. Giving her freedom whenever he wished. How disgusting.
Still, she would hate to be cooped up in here. She had little to do in the cell and she would love to rip something apart with her claws again. It seemed like a nice deal.
"Hh-it sounds nice hh…" She replied breathily.
"Good. It's a deal then." He said and opened the door.
The towering beast bent down to go through the door and towered over him. She looked down on him like he was an insect. Her disgust was quite obvious.
He knew this was risky. She did try to kill him the other day, but he knew that Rage trusted him enough not to kill him. He needed to bond with the thing, anyway.
"Right this way, dear." He said and she snorted at the word 'dear'.
He lead her down the hall. Surprisingly the massive creature made little sound as she followed him. Just the normal clicks and growls, but no footsteps. He lead her to the gym area where robots were waiting to be ripped to pieces.
She sniffed the air cautiously and looked upon the robot army before her with little interest in her eyes. Having her fight his robots was a good idea. It would help with their thrust and it would give Slade a good idea on how she fights. That would tell him where her strengths and weaknesses were.
"I assure you that my robots will prove to be a challenge for you." Slade said as he noted Rage's disinterest.
She snorted as a reply and then lunged toward the army. Immediately they sprang to life and retaliated. She smashed a group away from her with her massive tail and then used one as a shield as another fired at her. She stabbed that one and then flung it to another group with her tail. Slade-bots leaped upon her to hold her down, but she used this as her advantage. She used the robots as armor as others fired.
A few on her back exploded and she was knocked to the ground. She groaned and stumbled up painfully. With a wrathful roar she lunged at an approaching group. She ripped them apart with amazing speed, using whichever part she could use as a weapon to impale other bots.
Finally, she looked around with a thrilled look on her face and then sat on her haunches. No more robots to fight.
"I take it that you had fun?" Slade asked and in less than a second she was in his face.
"Sh-yes… but-hh hh-it would have been-hh more fun hh-if hh-it vere hu-man flesh…" She growled and then walked away from him.
Slade had been thinking about a way to approach Rage. With Matilda it was easy. He appeared to her as a father figure, which was what she needed. With Rage that wouldn't work. Rage didn't see him as an equal. He needed to be seen as one in her eyes. He needed to impress her.
"You seem bored." He said as he noted the jaded expression on her face. "Why don't we have friendly sparring match?" He asked and she looked at him haughtily.
He knew that this was even more risky from what she said a minute ago, but he needed to impress her sooner or later. She approached him and smirked slightly as he took out his bow staff. The two circled around each other.
Slade made sure that he made the first move. She dodged effortlessly, but then her legs were knocked from under her by the weapon. She roared and swung her tail at him. He flipped over the attack and then charged at her. She leaped up and blocked his staff with her tail. Swiftly, she swung her claws at him, but he moved out of the way.
He delivered a powerful kick to her gut. It knocked the wind out of her, but for only a second. Angrily she struck her tail at him. Luckily for him he leaped out of the way. In his place the floor cracked under the immense force.
"It's only a friendly match, dear." He said and she frowned.
She swung at him, but he quickly dodged the attacks. She swung her tail at him and knocked him to the ground. Swiftly, she lunged for him, but he was too fast for her. Again he knocked her feet from under her and pressed the bow staff to where her collar bone would be.
She looked up at him and a menacing smirk spread across her face. She laughed and got up on all fours. She brushed herself off and sat down. He was an impressive little being, wasn't he? He must also be a hybrid to be so strong and fast.
"Good fight-hh." She said and crossed her arms.
"Yes, you were very impressive. You were just a little rough around the edges. With some more training you'll be unstoppable." He said matter-of-factly.
She glanced at him with a new look in her eye. It wasn't a look of disgust or anger. It was more of a considering look.
She walked away from him and snorted. She didn't like the fact that she had just been beaten by a man. He called after her, but she ignored him and continued toward her cell. She noted the sound of his footsteps following her, but she didn't really care. She was done with this world for now.
She entered the cell and sat in a corner. Without bothering to check if anyone was in the room with her she switched by to Matilda.