AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanx Koneko Tenshi and Thanx4reading for your words of
encouragement. I'm hoping that the chapters get exponentially better, so
stick around for more. ;) Anything between these symbols: ^words^ is a
flashback. And the term "bloodlust" here doesn't refer to the acquired
taste for blood but rather the addiction to the kill.
241 timeline 12-20-2023 Washington, District of Colombia, United States
Isolation. She was locked in isolation. She could handle the torture. She could handle the rape. She could handle starvation. But the one thing that destroyed the Hound's resolve was isolation. She paced the wall of her cell opposite the door, corner to corner, thinking, contemplating, plotting, scheming. She had to kill.
The Hound had quickly become Ahab's best subject, and his pet. She had murdered more mutants in 2 years than the top 3 hounds before her combined in their entire careers, and, with Xavier and her mother dead, she was easily the strongest telepath in the world, which made tracking down her assignments no harder than a snap of the fingers. But something happened that her master hadn't expected.
The Hound developed a bloodlust, which grew stronger with every kill she made. It was so severe that, if she went more than 3 days without an assignment, she would murder her walker and fellow hounds, despite frequent attempts to brainwash her against the habit. She would then be locked in isolation for as long as a week. Without any way to release the adrenaline in her body, she would slowly lose her sanity, until the promise of another assignment came to her.
This was her present fate. Waiting for an assignment; waiting and losing touch with reality. She heard whispers and saw images that she knew weren't a result of her telepathy, as she was bound to an inhibitor collar when stationed at the Kennels. She often drifted into flashbacks of her previous life, as Rachel Summers.
^Raye!^
She snapped her head around with a start. Before her stood a 6-year old girl with short, brown hair and a big smile, lacking of a front tooth. She looked up at her without fear, and put forth her hand eagerly. "Let's go play." The Hound shunned away from her, curling into the corner, willing the stupid girl to leave her alone.
^What's the matter, Raye?^ asked the girl. ^Don't you remember me? It's Kitty. Come on, I'm your best friend. Don't you wanna play X-Men with the other kids?^ The Hound snarled at the child, but she was still fearless. ^I'm gonna be Storm, and I'll fly-WOOSH-like that, and make thunder and lightning-BOOM, BOOM!-like that. And Alex says he wants to be Gambit. He thinks he can speak French, but all that comes out is 'Phsvoo poo tranchi, mon ami'.^
She put her hand over her mouth to giggle a bit, but stopped with a worried look when she saw that her friend wasn't responding to her. ^Rachel? Don't you wanna play Phoenix? C'mon, you *always* wanna be Phoenix.^
The Hound was bombarded with visions of the legendary Phoenix Force, an all- knowing, all-powerful cosmic entity that had inhabited her mother years ago, and had since sworn to protect the Summers family. She threw her head to the sky.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?" She must have screamed harder than she meant to, because the walls shook with the echo of her cry.
^That's the spirit!^ Kitty piped up, to her great annoyance. ^But, just so you know,^ she lowered her voice to a whisper, ^Frankie wants to play Cyclops, so you might have to kiss him.^ The Hound turned to punch the child, but there was nothing there; just an echo of a little girl's laugh.
Rachel suddenly noticed that the ground beneath her knees was rumbling. She heard a rolling quake, growing louder as it approached, until in encompassed the Kennels, and became an explosion of noise. Somewhere within that noise, she heard a shriek, like a screeching eagle.
The door of her cell burst open with a crack, and a blinding light flooded the room, hurting her eyes. White flames poured through the tiny chamber. The fire decreased dramatically, taking the form of a bird of prey, hovering before her with an aura of divine beauty and wisdom.
~Rachel Summers.~ The Hound recognized the voice of her mother, and wondered if she was somehow contained inside the small bird, watching her. ~I have come to take you from this place, not out of my own discretion but because you have called upon me. I answer your beckoning out of respect to an oath I made centuries ago. I must warn you, however, that my aid will not restore your life, for your illness stems not from your trials but from your tribulations, which will follow you through whatever circumstances, if left to grow. With these words in mind, do you still desire to become my host?~
The Hound, who was desperate to leave this hell, despite the misgivings the creature's words gave her, nodded vehemently, and the bird entered her body. In a split second, her senses of sight, hearing, and smell extended from a minuscule dimension to the entire universe. She could taste the emotions of life forms 100's of galaxies away. She could feel the very seconds of the life stories of each individual, past, present, and future, throughout time coursing through her body. She not only had power; she *was* power.
But the Phoenix was right. Her newfound capabilities didn't mitigate the rage and hatred that burned through her countenance. She still yearned for blood, and she suddenly realized that she could have the ecstasy of the kill to the infinite degree. She flew out of her cell, through the maze of the Kennels, past thousands of hounds, until she came to a large, glass building in the center.
She sent a pulse of electromagnetic energy through the air, breaking the 2- inch thick glass, and killing every employee inside. There would still be one human left within that building. She flew through the destruction to the inside corridors, where she found an office made entirely of titanium- alloy. She raised the atmospheric temperature within a foot radius to 600°C, melting the door before her.
When she stepped into the room, Campbell was pressed against the opposite wall, his eyes wide with shock and horror. "What do you want?" he asked her shakily.
"You don't remember me?" she taunted. "I'm shocked. I thought I was your pet." She feigned disappointment.
"You." The shock on his face dissipated into utter fear. "Please, you have to understand-" She stopped him short by grasping hold of his body. She could sensse every particle of every molecule of every cell of every vein and muscle and bone and organ in the man. She slowly, and very painfully, began to move, mismatch, and transform the particles that made up his body. Vital minerals in his digestive system became hardened metals. His blood lost all its oxygen. Some of his tendons and ligaments became embedded into his brain, eyes, and lungs.
The man screamed, partly out of the horror of seeing his body deteriorate before him, and partly out of the torture of unfathomable maim. But the Hound's lust only intensified through his pain.
241 timeline 12-20-2023 Washington, District of Colombia, United States
Isolation. She was locked in isolation. She could handle the torture. She could handle the rape. She could handle starvation. But the one thing that destroyed the Hound's resolve was isolation. She paced the wall of her cell opposite the door, corner to corner, thinking, contemplating, plotting, scheming. She had to kill.
The Hound had quickly become Ahab's best subject, and his pet. She had murdered more mutants in 2 years than the top 3 hounds before her combined in their entire careers, and, with Xavier and her mother dead, she was easily the strongest telepath in the world, which made tracking down her assignments no harder than a snap of the fingers. But something happened that her master hadn't expected.
The Hound developed a bloodlust, which grew stronger with every kill she made. It was so severe that, if she went more than 3 days without an assignment, she would murder her walker and fellow hounds, despite frequent attempts to brainwash her against the habit. She would then be locked in isolation for as long as a week. Without any way to release the adrenaline in her body, she would slowly lose her sanity, until the promise of another assignment came to her.
This was her present fate. Waiting for an assignment; waiting and losing touch with reality. She heard whispers and saw images that she knew weren't a result of her telepathy, as she was bound to an inhibitor collar when stationed at the Kennels. She often drifted into flashbacks of her previous life, as Rachel Summers.
^Raye!^
She snapped her head around with a start. Before her stood a 6-year old girl with short, brown hair and a big smile, lacking of a front tooth. She looked up at her without fear, and put forth her hand eagerly. "Let's go play." The Hound shunned away from her, curling into the corner, willing the stupid girl to leave her alone.
^What's the matter, Raye?^ asked the girl. ^Don't you remember me? It's Kitty. Come on, I'm your best friend. Don't you wanna play X-Men with the other kids?^ The Hound snarled at the child, but she was still fearless. ^I'm gonna be Storm, and I'll fly-WOOSH-like that, and make thunder and lightning-BOOM, BOOM!-like that. And Alex says he wants to be Gambit. He thinks he can speak French, but all that comes out is 'Phsvoo poo tranchi, mon ami'.^
She put her hand over her mouth to giggle a bit, but stopped with a worried look when she saw that her friend wasn't responding to her. ^Rachel? Don't you wanna play Phoenix? C'mon, you *always* wanna be Phoenix.^
The Hound was bombarded with visions of the legendary Phoenix Force, an all- knowing, all-powerful cosmic entity that had inhabited her mother years ago, and had since sworn to protect the Summers family. She threw her head to the sky.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?" She must have screamed harder than she meant to, because the walls shook with the echo of her cry.
^That's the spirit!^ Kitty piped up, to her great annoyance. ^But, just so you know,^ she lowered her voice to a whisper, ^Frankie wants to play Cyclops, so you might have to kiss him.^ The Hound turned to punch the child, but there was nothing there; just an echo of a little girl's laugh.
Rachel suddenly noticed that the ground beneath her knees was rumbling. She heard a rolling quake, growing louder as it approached, until in encompassed the Kennels, and became an explosion of noise. Somewhere within that noise, she heard a shriek, like a screeching eagle.
The door of her cell burst open with a crack, and a blinding light flooded the room, hurting her eyes. White flames poured through the tiny chamber. The fire decreased dramatically, taking the form of a bird of prey, hovering before her with an aura of divine beauty and wisdom.
~Rachel Summers.~ The Hound recognized the voice of her mother, and wondered if she was somehow contained inside the small bird, watching her. ~I have come to take you from this place, not out of my own discretion but because you have called upon me. I answer your beckoning out of respect to an oath I made centuries ago. I must warn you, however, that my aid will not restore your life, for your illness stems not from your trials but from your tribulations, which will follow you through whatever circumstances, if left to grow. With these words in mind, do you still desire to become my host?~
The Hound, who was desperate to leave this hell, despite the misgivings the creature's words gave her, nodded vehemently, and the bird entered her body. In a split second, her senses of sight, hearing, and smell extended from a minuscule dimension to the entire universe. She could taste the emotions of life forms 100's of galaxies away. She could feel the very seconds of the life stories of each individual, past, present, and future, throughout time coursing through her body. She not only had power; she *was* power.
But the Phoenix was right. Her newfound capabilities didn't mitigate the rage and hatred that burned through her countenance. She still yearned for blood, and she suddenly realized that she could have the ecstasy of the kill to the infinite degree. She flew out of her cell, through the maze of the Kennels, past thousands of hounds, until she came to a large, glass building in the center.
She sent a pulse of electromagnetic energy through the air, breaking the 2- inch thick glass, and killing every employee inside. There would still be one human left within that building. She flew through the destruction to the inside corridors, where she found an office made entirely of titanium- alloy. She raised the atmospheric temperature within a foot radius to 600°C, melting the door before her.
When she stepped into the room, Campbell was pressed against the opposite wall, his eyes wide with shock and horror. "What do you want?" he asked her shakily.
"You don't remember me?" she taunted. "I'm shocked. I thought I was your pet." She feigned disappointment.
"You." The shock on his face dissipated into utter fear. "Please, you have to understand-" She stopped him short by grasping hold of his body. She could sensse every particle of every molecule of every cell of every vein and muscle and bone and organ in the man. She slowly, and very painfully, began to move, mismatch, and transform the particles that made up his body. Vital minerals in his digestive system became hardened metals. His blood lost all its oxygen. Some of his tendons and ligaments became embedded into his brain, eyes, and lungs.
The man screamed, partly out of the horror of seeing his body deteriorate before him, and partly out of the torture of unfathomable maim. But the Hound's lust only intensified through his pain.