Chapter Ten (The Bird and the Worm)

"He wears his heart safety pinned to his backpack, his backpack is all that he knows. Shot down by strangers whose glances can cripple the heart and devour the soul."

Ward stumbled down the endless hallways of the Playground in a blind fury, the shadows leading him. Darkness slithered on his skin in their tendril state, his eyes a blinding, fierce, blood-red. Murder and abhorrence flowed off of him in massive waves.

His mind was jumble of seething thoughts and crying out pleas for help and mercy. He twitched as the conflicting thoughts pounded his mind into agonizing insanity. He stumbled again in his blind, insane, rage.

The shadows started to morph him again into a monster, forming his hands into knife-like claws. As he stumbled again, he tried to hold onto the wall, but he missed. His claws of shadow slicing through the wall, creating long, jagged marks.

His erratic gait marked his fleeting control of his mind and his actions. The darkness was trying to obtain complete control over him. His Inhuman side was attempting to completely eradicate his human side. If it won, only a monster would remain of him. There would be no trace of humanity left in him.

And everyone in the base would be slaughtered, all skin and muscle stripped from their bones. Blood would splatter the walls and the floors. Nothing would remain of the agents. Nothing but blood and bone.

Ward stumbled again as more agonizing thoughts assaulted his still-fleeting mind, shadows morphing more of his body. He screamed out, but it wasn't a human scream. It was a scream that sounded like it was formed in the deepest pits of hell, a scream that would make anyone drop dead from fear.

'Find them… Kill them… Slaughter them all… Till nothing but their bones remain in piles...'

'They offered a haven for the man who threatened unspeakable things upon you… Show them no mercy...'

'Stop! What are you doing?! You promised to never hurt them again! Look at what you are doing!'

'Kill them all…. Bathe in their crimson blood...'

Ward stood frozen in place, a dark, grim, deranged smile plastered on his face as the last of the shadows melded his body into the monster. "I will… Kill them… All…"

"All alone he turns to stone, while holding his breath half to death. Terrified of what's inside. To save his life, he crawls like a worm from a bird. Crawls like a worm from a bird."

Fitzsimmons, Triplett, and Mack all stood as Hunter and Bobbi quickly escorted Skye into the lab.

"What's going on?" Fitz asked.

"Something's on the base." Hunter said quickly. "Lock down the lab."

"Coulson's orders since you're all here." Bobbi added. "Lock it down. Now." The two left in a flash.

Fitz looked at the others with a confused look, but went ahead and locked down the lab. Fitz looked back at Skye, "What's going on?" he asked.

"Something's on the base, and it killed Whitehall in the Vault." Skye said, leaving out the part that the thing was Ward.

"Huh?" Simmons asked.

"What?!" Triplett exclaimed. "I don't believe it. Fitz, pull up the footage from the Vault on the tablet."

"Uh, uh, ok." Fitz stammered, setting up the tablet and pulling up the footage.

The five agents watched in horror as Whitehall's brutal murder unfolded right on the screen. All trembled at the sight of the monster and as the monster morphed back into man.

Mack frowned, "Hold on." he said. "The guy looked at the camera. Fitz, can you rewind it to there and zoom in?" he asked.
"S-Sure."

They all froze as Fitz managed to freeze on the red-eyed man glaring at the Vault's camera.

"Oh my word." Simmons muttered in horror at the sight of the man on the screen.

Triplett straightened up in his chair, "Hold on, is that who I think it is?" he asked.

"It's Ward…" Fitz mumbled.

"Wait, isn't that the guy that was locked in one of the Vaults then escaped?" Mack asked. "Your old teammate-turned-Hydra or whatever?"

Skye nodded numbly.

"Oh my word." Simmons repeated.

"I-I was afraid that this was going to happen." Skye said softly.

"What?" Triplett asked.

"Just a little bit before Bobbi and Lance came running into my room, Ward… He appeared out of nowhere." Skye said. "Something's wrong with him. He had this crazed, pain look in his eyes. I asked him what happened to him. He only said something about being a fool and picking up the Obelisk. Something about it changing him and being 'one with the shadows'. He was out of his mind.

Then he said something about killing Whitehall. And of course I said that he wasn't dead and was locked in the Vault being interrogated. And Ward.. He just snapped. He went from dazed and confused to being in pure rage. Then he disappeared, just like that. After screaming something about Whitehall being dead."

The other four agents blinked, scared looks on their faces.

"So, Ward is some kind of psychopathic monster that probably wants to kill us now?" Fitz asked.

"So he was the monster on the island that Coulson was talking about?" Simmons asked.

Skye gulped, "Yes, he was. I didn't tell anybody this, just because I didn't have a chance to. I ran into him there. More like I ran into my crazy father. He tried to kidnap me. A cloaked man came out of nowhere and attacked him, told me to run. That's how I messed up my ankle.

When I looked back, I saw a monster. It killed my father with a single something through his chest, just like Whitehall. Didn't know it was Ward until I ran over to his unconscious body after some light engulfed the two and my father was gone from sight." she explained. "Once I got to Ward, he shot up. Started shaking and mumbling things about 'I couldn't see him like that' and 'he was a monster'. Then he disappeared. I didn't get a chance to tell anyone about it because then Coulson and Bobbi came out of nowhere, got me back to the Bus and got me full of painkillers because of my ankle. I was too out of it. Then I got here, ankle fixed up, and sent immediately to my room."

"My God." Simmons said. "Wasn't the Obelisk that thing that turned Hartley's hand to stone?" she asked. "And that lady at that diner? How did it change Ward into a bloodthirsty monster?"

"I-I don't know. And he's losing his mind, and that's when I saw him last." Skye said. "There's no telling to how he is now, after murdering Whitehall."

Mack glanced at the back wall, "Uh, guys?" he asked, pointing at the wall. "You might want to check this out."

"What?"

The other four agents turned to look at the back wall of the lab, all freezing in place.

"What the hell is that?" Triplett asked.

Swirling, black masses were slithering down the wall from the ceiling, piling onto the floor. The mass grew, melding into the shape of a man. But that's just it, only the shape of a man. It was a completely black figure, only with glowing, red eyes poking out of the darkness.

"What the hell?" Skye muttered, stepping back with the other agents. "No… I-It can't be…"

"Is that?" Fitz mumbled.

"My God…" Simmons murmured.

The creature stepped forward, knocking over a lab stool. It growled, which was a demonic sound. Shadows lashed out from around its feet, some starting to inch their way towards the five agents.

Mack, Trip, and Skye grabbed stationary ICERs, aiming it at the beast.

The beast roared, rattling the bones of the five agents. It started to charge towards them, they started to fire the ICERs at it, but it was useless against the beast.

But the the beast stopped frozen and started to tremble. It growled again, but this time it was weak and small. The black on its face started to shrink away, stopping when it revealed half of man's face. The fearful, trembling face of their once friend stared back them, his one, revealed eye shrunken in fear and in pain.

"Please… Help me…" he muttered weakly.

"W- Grant?!" Skye asked.

"He's still there." Fitz said. "He's still there."

Skye stepped forward.

"Skye, don't do this." Simmons warned.

"Skye." Triplett quickly said.

"Please… It hurts… So much…" Ward pleaded again, the shadows starting to cover his face back up again.

"Fitz is right, Ward's still in there." Skye said. "I-If we can get to him, maybe we can stop him long enough to at least ice him and get him somewhere safe. He's no longer in control of himself anymore."

"Please… Skye…" Ward cried out. "So much… Pain… Darkness…. Please hel-"

Ward's cry was cut off as his face completely morphed back into the monster. The monster growled at them and started to charge at them, shadows following it.

Skye stepped back, trying to get out of the way, but a tendril of darkness grabbed her injured ankle and pulled her to the ground.

"Skye!" Triplett yelled, starting to run towards her. But a tendril shot out of the ground. hit him square in the chest, and sent him to the ground as well.

The agents all froze as the force of dark murder that held Ward hostage inside of his own body charged towards them. They were like deer in the headlights, staring at the face of death.

"Out of his mind away, pushes him whispering. Must've been out of his mind. Mid-day delusions of pushing this out of his head, maybe out of his mind. All alone he turns to stone, while holding his breath half to death. Terrified of what's inside. To save his life, he crawls like a worm from a bird. Crawls like a worm from a bird."

Author's Note:I don't own AoS, Marvel does. Song is 'Bird and the Worm' by The Used. Using lyrics for the last few chapters to add an increase to the mood or whatever. So... All of that happened. Ward completely loses to the darkness, and his Inhuman self attacks Skye, Fitzsimmons, Mack, and Triplett. But Ward's still in there? Can they break through to him before it's too late? Keep reading and please favorite, follow, and/or review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.