Chapter 1. Bad luck, demonic arm.
Jack felt weak and hurt. He opened his eyes, seeing destruction all around him. Destroyed walls, wrecked cars, and fallen wires. He felt liquid soak into the fur of his chest and his upper right arm. He looked down to see blood flowing on the ground. He looked to the direction of the source and choked. His right arm, from the elbow up, was torn off, blood pouring off from his flesh, a broken bone sticking out. He screamed and grabbed his stub, feeling the pain of his lost limb. He could only wretch in place, unable to move due to the broken moped on his back.
"Ouch. That has to hurt." Said someone.
Jack looked forward and saw a tall red jackal with black sclera and red dotted eyes. He wore a large black shirt that went down to above his knees and had tears in the ends of it that were colored red. Jack also noticed that the world around him turned gray.
He grinned at Jack. "Oh? Can you see me?"
"Wh-who are you?" Jack asked.
"Man," he knelt down, "you seeing me must mean you're close to dying but not willing to give up."
"D-dying!? I'm gonna die!?"
"Seems like it. This just isn't your lucky day."
For Jack it never is.
Earlier
"Nice work everyone!" Kayla said. She was wearing a light green shirt and a white skirt today.
"Thanks Kayla!" Zill responded. He flew down next to her. He was wearing a red shirt and white khakis. "Nice job with lyrics as always, Spam."
Spam laughed. He had on a red checkered flannel shirt and Jeans. "I made them up!"
Vanessa, who wore a black shirt and a purple skirt, replied saying, "You Always make them up."
Zill nervously chuckled. "I think we're set for next month, right Jack?"
Jack, wearing a white t-shirt and brown shorts, nodded. "I think so, but let's keep practicing."
They five of them were in the empty auditorium, having been practicing for an upcoming musical for next month. They just finished practice for today. Spam and Vanexa took their instruments and left while Jack got up and started grabbing his drums.
"Need a hand?" Zill asked him.
"No I got it." He grabbed his syllables. The top part of it fell and landed on his foot. "Ouch!" He took a step back and tripped over his seat, falling back and kicking one of the side drums. It went high in the air and nearly fell on his face until Zill caught it.
"You ok!?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." Jack answered. Getting up. "Usually it's worse."
"I'll say. I'm surprised an anvil hasn't fallen." Zill jokes.
"Yeah. My bad luck seems to be giving me a small break."
"Maybe it's finally going away?" Kayla responded, optimistically.
"I doubt it." Jack replied. "But it is nice to avoid a hospital stay."
"I bet." Zill laughed.
They all packed up and bid their goodbyes before leaving in separate directions. Jack got on his moped and headed home. It was a peaceful ride home, Jack was weary because of his bad luck but to his surprise, nothing bad had happened yet. He stopped at a red light and surveyed his surroundings. "Wow, halfway home nothing happened. Maybe my bad luck is going away!"
He spoke too soon. As soon as the light turned green and he drove forward. He drove forward and from his right side came a truck, coming straight towards him. He saw it and the driver saw him. They both swerved to avoid the other. Jack swerved to the left, hitting the hood of a car and flipping forward. The truck fell to its side and whatever it had inside created a small explosion that sent Jack and his vehicle flying with great force. Other vehicles swerved and wrecked into each other, creating a chain of destruction. Jack flew forward and his right arm got into some wires that were above. It slowed him down but at the velocity he was going, and how strong the wires were tangled on his arm, it ripped off. His moped hit some skywires and sun in the air before crashing and rolling on the ground. Jack fell on his front and his roll and fell on his back, pinning him there. He lost consciousness due to the pain, but only for a minute.
Present
"I...I don't want to die!" Jack yelled.
"Sorry, but if you can see me it just means your soul is slipping." The red jackal stated.
"No…."
"Here. Let me ease your suffering." He reached out his hand.
"What are you- HERCK!" Jack felt like something was getting pulled out of him.
"This'll be easier if you don't fight back. I'll just take your soul, thank you."
"No, no!" He fought back and pulled back whatever was being forcibly removed.
"Huh?" The jackal pulled harder. "Give it up."
"No!" Jack gritted his teeth.
"C'mon dude. You're dead."
"No!" He pulled his soul back in even harder, surprising the red jackal. "I. Won't. Die!"
"...heh….interesting." the red jackal dropped his arm and stopped pulling.
Jack panted and looked up at him.
"I'll cut you a deal." He pointed at his wound. "My name is Damian. If you can write that with that arm then I'll give you a second chance, But be warned, you most likely won't be the same. You got thirty seconds."
"Huh?"
"Startiiiing now!"
Jack looked down to his ripped off flesh and the bone sticking out of it. 'He wants me to write my name using this arm!? He's crazy.'
"Twenty five seconds left." He said.
'How am I supposed to write with this!? There's...there's no way!'
"Twenty seconds."
'Am...am I gonna die!?...is this it!?'
"Fifteen seconds."
'...no!...I will-' Jack raised up his left arm and wiped away as much blood as he could. He next dragged his bone shard across the small veil that was left over.
"Ten seconds."
It hurt but he bit his lip and dealt with it, scribbling the best he could. "I will survive!" He yelled as he scratched the words Damian into the blood.
"Wow. With six seconds to spare. I'm impressed." He stood up. "Alright! A deals a deal." Damian went to where Jack's severed arm was. He picked it up and ate it, startling Jack. Damian walked towards him and knelt. "This is gonna hurt though." He grabbed Jack's bone and slid his fingers into his torn flesh.
Jack screamed in pain as his fingers got deeper and heat spread from his stub to the rest of his body. He felt something come out the finger of Damian and worm through his body and the red Jackal began to melt with a big sadistic smile.
"Excuse me, miss!?" Zill asked the front desk lady. He, Kayla, Vanexa, and Spam, rushed in when they heard news of the accident.
"Yes?" The front desk lady, a red dog, answered.
"Our best friend Jack was in that accident and we heard he was taken here, is he ok!?"
"What's his name?"
"Jackson Wells!"
She typed onto her computer. "Let's see...ah! It says here they just finished checking him up."
"Can we see him?" Kayla asked.
"Yes. He's in room 205."
"Thank you!" Kayla thanked her. They all left for the room Jack was in.
"Jack!" Zill called out, shoving the door open.
"Ah!" Jack screamed in surprise.
They all surrounded him. "Are you ok!?" Spam asked.
"A few broken bones and a broken moped. Besides that, I'm fine."
"Only a few!?" Zill gasped
"Yea. Doc says I'm lucky my spine didn't break with the moped on my back, messed up my knee though."
"I jinxed ya." Kayla said. "This happened cause I said that your bad luck was going away."
"It's not your fault Kayla. If anything I jinxed it cause I said it was going away right before the accident." He smiled warmly at her, placing his right hand on her shoulder.
"How long ya gonna in here ya think?" Spam asked.
"They say about a week." Jacksons stomach growled and he blushed. "Sorry. I'm kinda hungry."
"Heh, let's get you some food from the cafeteria. What would you like?" Zill asked.
"Thanks. Well first off I'd like two double cheeseburgers with fries."
"Two?"
"Maybe more than a little hungry." He said a bit embarrassed.
Spam, Kayla, Vanexa, and Zill looked at Jack with widened eyes as he finished his fourth small pizza.
Jack licked his lips free of any cheese and pizza sauce before placing the paper plate on the top of a pile of paper items next to him. "Ah. That was great!" He looked at his friends and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"What? You ate four burgers, two tacos, three burritos, two full plates of fries, and four small pizzas and you're just gonna say what?" Zill said to him.
Jack looked at his pile. "Guess I was hungrier than I thought." He said.
"Yea…"
"Well, it looks like visiting hours are almost over." Vanexa mentioned.
"Darn. Well we should get going." Zill stated.
"Well come see you tomorrow after school." Spam promised.
"Sure." Jack replied.
They all left and bid Jack farewell. While alone Jack raised his right arm and gave it a look. "Was it a dream?" He asked himself. He shrugged and laid back, turning on the tv.
Jack softly snored in the medical bed while the tv played a sitcom.
"Hey."
Jack mumbled in his sleep.
"Hey."
A small trail of drool went down his cheek.
"Hey! Wake up!"
Jack startled awake. "Wha- who!?"
"Finally you're up." A familiar voice said to Jack.
"Who...who's there?" Jack surveyed the room and saw no one in there.
"What are you looking for?"
"Who's talking to me?" He looked under his pillow.
"Really? You forget about me already?"
"Show yourself!"
"I can't really hide."
Jack's right arm moved on it's own and his hand opened in front of his face. Lips formed on his palm and smiled. "Hey there." The newly formed mouth said, smiling and baring its Sharp fangs.
"AH!" Jack yelled.
"Woah! Relax man!" The mouth smiled and his hand came closer to him. "You're gonna wake someone."
A wolf nurse walked in his room. "You ok?" She asked.
"M-m-my hand!" Jack said pointing at his right hand.
"Lemme see." She walked up to him and took a look at it. She examined the appendage. "Is it hurting?"
Jack looked and saw nothing on his palm. "Th-there was a mouth right there!" He pointed to where the mouth was.
"There's nothing there."
"I- it was- it was right there!"
"Maybe you need some more sleep." She said, rubbing his arms. "You were in a rough accident and fatigue can make you see things."
Jack looked at his naked palm. He sighed. "You must be right." He laid back.
"Sleep well." The nurse said before leaving him alone.
Jack began to close his eyes and his right hand got into his face again and spoke. "Ah ah ah! Can't sleep yet." The mouth on his lips said.
"A-" Jack almost screamed again before his right hand covered his mouth, a new mouth appearing on his backhand.
"No screaming!" It told him before moving off his mouth
"Wh-who are you!? What are you doing in my arm!?" Jack asked.
"I'm not in your arm, I am your arm," his right hand grabbed the scruff of his gown shirt and pulled him up, "and did you already forget about me? I'm hurt!"
"What!?"
"You wrote my name and everything so it's kinda rude not to remember me."
"Wrote your...Damian!?"
"Correct!"
"H-how did you-"
"Explain later." Damian reached to the railings on his left and lowered them. "Our prey is coming."
"Prey?"
"Yea. Let's go."
"I-i can't, I messed up my knee! I can't walk for a while."
"It healed, same with most of your injuries."
"Yep. I'm hallucinating."
"Here, I'll prove it." He yanked to the side and pulled Jack off the bed.
"Oof!" Jack grunted, landing on the floor.
"Up we go!" Damian rose up, pulling Jack up with him.
"I already told you, I can't…" he looked down and saw himself standing on his feet with no pain, "walk…"
"See. Healed, mostly."
Jack examined his body. Most of his injuries disappeared as if they were never there. The only thing left was a few bruises and fractured bones. "How?"
"I'll explain later, cmon!" He dragged Jack to the window and opened it, pulling him outside on the roof. "Move it!"
"Ok ok!" He walked across the side roof and onto the patio of the hospital.
"Alright, I'm going to the layer now."
"Layer?" Just then a red wave emitted off his arm and the world around him turned gray. "What the-?" He looked around, startled by what's going on. He looked below and saw hazy silhouettes of mammals. "I'm really losing it!"
"Oh quit being a drama king!" Damain told him.
Jack glared at his hand. "You dont exist, I'm dreaming, and I'm going back to bed to wake up!"
Damian reeled back and slapped Jack in the face. "That feel real?"
Jack rubbed his sore cheek. "But...this has to be a dream…"
"No dream. Now, let's get ready for battle!"
"Battle?" Jack suddenly felt light headed. He stumbled back and laid his head in his hands. He felt his body change and his right fingers get bigger. "Urrg." He moved his hands back and gasped. His right forearm grew to be twice its size, its fur became black, and his claws became sharp. "What the…" he said in shock, examining his arm.
A mouth appeared on his forearm. "You look kinda scary!" Damian complemented.
"What?" Jack looked at the window beside him, seeing his reflection, and his jaw dropped. His eyes sclera was black and his pupils were replaced by raging red insignia circles, several strands of the fur on his head twisted together, turned red, and had an arrow-like tip. Under his eyes was a black strand going down his cheek and his fangs grew sharper. "Wh-what is this!?" He rubbed his eyes and looked again, seeing no change.
"It's your demonic form."
"Demonic form!?"
"Yea. Heads up."
As soon as he said that a large being crashed onto the padio. Jack looked back and saw a giant black toad with three red eyes, bone arms, and three tendrils coming out it's back.
It looked at Jack and smiled, revealing that it had sharp teeth. "You look tasty!"
"Huh?"
It whipped its tongue at him, to which he barely dodged, then it whipped one if its tendrils at him. Jack jumped to avoid it but was startled by how high he jumped.
"Woah!" He saw that he jumped seven stories high. "How did I-" he was cut off by the toads tongue wrapping itself around his waist and pulling him towards its mouth. Jack yelled, closed his eyes, and swung his claws on its middle eye.
It yelled and recoiled in pain, swinging Jack over its back. It turned and glared at Jack, swinging its bone arm at him. Jack got scared and flailed his left arm at it, punching it in its side and sending it flying away.
"Whoa, Nice punch! And that was with your regular arm!" Damian complemented.
Jack observed his action with surprise. He saw the toad jump towards him and he responded by jumping back and accidentally jumped off the padio. "Oh crap!" He fell, scrunched his eyes and braced for impact. He was surprised when he saw he landed on his feet with no problem or pain. He stood up. "What's going on with me!?"
"Look up!" Damian warned.
"Huh?" He looked up and saw the toad dive at him.
"Jump back and punch me at him!" Damian commanded.
Jack hoped back, avoiding impact, gritted his teeth and punched it straight in its back, sending it crashing through the lobby of the hospital.
Jack looked in horror. "Oh no!"
"What?" Damian asked.
"What do you mean what!? Who knows how many mammals I hurt!"
"None."
"Huh?"
"You didn't hit anyone, cause there's no one to hit. We're in the lower layer, and the dips low so we're not affecting anyone. Look." Damian pointed to the broken lobby.
Jack looked in awe as the lobby slowly repaired itself. "Wow…" that awe was quickly replaced with surprise when the toad's tendrils broke through it and wrapped around him. "Uh oh!" He got pulled into its growling face. "Let me go!" He squirmed, trying to wiggle free, and a few of his red fur strands extended and cut at its face. It roared in pain and released Jack, who looked at the extended strand as it reeled back.
"Nice! Finding out more and more about your powers!" Damian said.
The road roared and lunged at Jack. It managed to get him in its jaws but Jack was holding them open with his hand and feet, fighting back against it chomping on him.
"Alright, this is a good position." Damian said as he reeled back and aimed his claws at the toads throat. "Time to finish this!" He rammed himself down the throat of the beast, cutting into its throat.
The toad jostled and choked. Jack felt blood splatter on his hand as his claws sunk deeper before yanking itself out, blood splashing on his face. The toad fell, lifeless, and Jack got out of its jawed grip. He took a step back in shock. "You….you killed it!"
"We didn't have a choice. It woulda killed us if we didn't kill it, plus you need the sustenance of its soul." Damain stated.
"Its soul?" From the toads corpse rose a red orb the size of a bowling ball with a white inside, pulsating with life, and a small tail at its top. Jack looked at it with curiosity. "What is...that?" He got closer to it.
"The soul of a demon beast." Damian told him.
Jack got closer to the globe, marveling at it. As he approached it, his mouth started to water. He began to look at it with less marvel and more with hunger. He took a hold of it. His mouth slowly opened and he brang out his teeth, opening his jaw wide and wider, the corners of his mouth stretching back to allow his jaw to open up further, getting wide. He drooled as he brought the orb closer to his mouth, his tongue slipping under it as he closed his jaw on the soul, his jaw and mouth returning to normal. He chewed on it, the globe squishing between his teeth. He swallowed, a huge lump going down his throat.
"How'd it taste?" Damian asked.
"...Delicious…" Jack said in a daze as he reverted to normal. He shook his head and got out of his daze. "What...what did I do!?"
"You ate a soul, for sustenance."
"I...ate a soul!?"
"A demon soul to be exact."
"Why...why did I-"
"You needed to, You needed the nourishment. The food from earlier wasn't proper nourishment for a mutant demon, so it only would've had temporary effects."
"What did you just call me?"
"A mutant demon."
"What's that?"
"It's what you are now. You're now longer a regular mammal, Jack. I told you, your life wasn't gonna be the same."
Jack fell to his butt, processing what was told. "Im… a demon now… "
"A mutated demon, which is quite different. Better get used to killing things like this, cause you're gonna do it alot more often." Damian smiled.
"...this...is how my lifes gonna be?" Jack looked down on the ground, slowly realizing that his life has changed starting now. "I have the worst luck."
End
Next chapter. Beginning life as a mutated demon.
Zoophobia characters all belong to Vivziepop