Brooklyn was struggling still to keep his mind sane the following morning, his skin dirty and burned from the previous sun, face still miserable from having the muzzle latched onto his face.
He tried to take it off since his hands weren't tied behind him, ignoring his 'owner's' warning, feeling it suddenly zap him and his face.
The red male gave a whimper of agony from the surges piercing his skin on his arms and beak, letting go instantly, collapsing against the tree, tears coming down from the pain.
How am I gonna get this stupid thing off if I end up escaping without barbecuing myself? Brook thought in sadness, knowing that if it came to it, he may have to ask for help. But who would want to? His ears lowered, as his master's chuckling hit them.
"Well, greetings to you, Diablo. Your time outside has now ended. But I see you have been zapped. I warned you…" Shadow Man threatened, pointing a finger at Brooklyn, who just looked away, closing his eyes.
Shadow Man then pulled his spear out, poking Brooklyn's shoulder. Brooklyn flinched from the point. "Look at me, Beast. You are my property, that means you look at your Master when he talks to filth like you!" he hissed. Brooklyn trembled, looking at his eyes in fear. Shadow Man smirked.
"So it would see that you're still scared of my spear. But you still need more discipline before you can earn my mark of ownership upon you, like cattle. Take him inside, boys…" smirked Shadow Man, nodding to his goons. The two thugs moved in towards Brooklyn, who did his best to resist.
'Oh, get your hands off me!' Brooklyn pleaded in his head but those thugs won, uncuffing the cuff from Brooklyn's neck but leaving the rest bound, dragging a weak Brooklyn back inside. It was hard for him to move, exhausted from stress and struggling to resist being tortured by these terrible men.
They pulled him down to the lab where Thomas waited, a pleased look on his face at the sight of their exhausted and malnourished property. He took Brooklyn's head, looking him over.
Thomas saw that the gargoyle's breathing was fast and his eyes were obviously full of fear. "How's your stomach this morning? Still hurting?" he mock asked Brooklyn, who couldn't answer back.
Brooklyn could feel he still had some remnants of nausea from his poisoning yesterday, but he wasn't going to let it get in the way right now. He tried struggling.
Then Shadow Man stepped in, "Enough. Get him in the cuffs." He ordered.
Brooklyn looked around for what cuffs the man was talking about. Across the room, there were cuffs hanging from the ceiling. The two men holding his arms began to move him there. He whimpered as he tried to avoid being taken there.
The cuffs on his wrists were taken off as his arms were held bound first. Shadow Man came over too and he held his pistol at Brooklyn. "Hold still, Devil, or I won't hesitate to shoot you." He warned him.
Brooklyn held still while the two men got his arms in the cuffs on the ceiling. He was close to the wall, but he wasn't right at the wall. His master took the gun off of him when his hands were tied up. His right shoulder hurt from being held up from his wounds there.
What are you going to do with me? Brooklyn asked in his mind.
"You are going to be tested upon, Freak and you'll earn my mark." Shadow Man explained, then walked away.
The henchmen all went over to a spot and collected some weapons. Brooklyn looked over and waited for what was to come. He knew any of their tests he would undergo would be bad.
When the men came back over, some had spears, others had special guns with arrows or spears inside them. This really made Brooklyn's breathing pick up. He began to pull at the cuffs. He wanted to get away. He also didn't want the evil brand Shadow Man was wanting to mark him with.
"Get him, boys!" The boss ordered.
The men laughed evilly and they began to charge at Brooklyn. They spread out. There were five of them that were 'testing' him.
The first one had a spear and he ran up using a spear and he tried to get Brook's left thigh. He instantly jumped to the side, the length of the cuffs at their limit.
Then another from his left ran up and tried to use his gun spear to get it into Brooklyn's stomach. The gargoyle instantly dodged out of the way. He grunted in despair.
The third tried going for the right wing and there was a scratch from a crossbow from Brooklyn's dodging. He came forward a good deal and the fourth man came up from behind him and drew a knife and took a swipe at Brook's other wing.
Brooklyn used his left wing to knock the man away in self-defense, growling. His tail was still tied to his leg so it wasn't getting any action.
The fifth man ran up to slash at his back as he cried out in pain from a shock that he got there. It distracted Brooklyn long enough for Shadow man to sneak up on Brooklyn, then the red gargoyle felt a sharp prick to his belly. He opened his eyes and it was his master.
Shadow Man began pushing the arrow spear from his taser gun into Brooklyn's belly and it made the gargoyle back up toward the wall. Soon, he was against the wall with the spear pushed into his belly. His teeth were bared in pain and his eyes full of fear, fear of being gutted or worse.
The evil man had an evil smirk on his face when he then pressed a button and Brooklyn felt a stab of electricity shock his stomach. It made him cry out in pain even though his mouth was tied shut. He jumped in terror at it.
Oh! Stop! Let me go! Brooklyn screamed in his mind. He tried to get his hands loose. If he could get free, he would show this maniac what pain really was and he would get out of here, but sadly that wasn't the case.
Shadow Man zapped his belly a couple more times. Soon, he decided to quit and say it, "The test is over. Now for your reward, Diablo, being my willing volunteer."
Brooklyn's nerves were at an all-time high as he shook his head. He didn't want this reward. Shadow Man pointed his gun at his belly but didn't shoot. "You will get your reward and like it!" He spat. "Tie him to the table, men!"
The men did as ordered; uncuffing Brooklyn's arms from the ceiling, pulling him to the table. Brooklyn kept up fighting, the men sometimes hitting his sides to make him cooperate, finally getting the red gargoyle strapped onto the metal table. He looked at them in fear, eyes terrified. One of the men laughed.
"We'll soon get to see ya cry, devil freak!" he mocked heartlessly. Brook bit his lip, doing his best to keep his tears and dignity in further, but it was getting hard to do it in front of these terrible humans. His master came closer, now eyeing his clothing.
"You know, Diablo, since you'll soon be permanently mine… perhaps you don't really need your precious clothing. Pets and cattle don't really wear them, after all…" Shadow Man jeered. Brooklyn cringed, struggling in his bonds. He didn't want that, anything but that! He needed his loincloth to wear to travel home in if he escaped!
His master's hand moved near the belt buckle, unclipping it, and taking it off. Brooklyn was close to letting his tears fall, breathing erratically. The men laughed at him while Shadow Man set the loincloth on a nearby table, grinning sadistically.
"Yes, much better, wouldn't you agree?" he asked mockingly. Brooklyn's ears lowered, eyes starting to water, while another man got the branding ready to put on him. Shadow Man was so ready to get this done. He held up the branding iron.
The red gargoyle's ears were still flattened, shaking as he saw what was on the branding. It had two letters; an A and an R surrounded by two other symbols. He swallowed his dry throat, the iron getting closer and closer.
Shadow Man smirked at the sight of his toy's frightened muzzled face. This was a perfect moment. He looked even more submissive than before, tears almost showing.
"Now, Diablo, I shall bestow my mark of ownership to you. Because that is what you are; nothing but my slave. If you even do escape, people will see this mark, go to phone me, and return you to my side. You have no chance of freedom anymore. But where to put it, hm? What about your belly?" Shadow Man asked, swiftly moving it close to Brook's belly. Brooklyn retracted his belly muscles to avoid being burned.
But then Shadow Man's smirk grew. "Hm… maybe the face instead? How sweet would that be? And without your sleep, it wouldn't heal it right away." Brooklyn choked a cry of fear, not wishing for his face to be scarred in such a way anytime soon, leaning back into the table.
Thomas came up. "May I recommend the left shoulder? It's healed up enough to accept the mark," he suggested. Shadow Man then rubbed his hand along it, before nodding. "Excellent, Doctor, thank you. And now, for it to be done…" Brooklyn felt like screaming his head off when seeing that branding iron getting near his left bicep, wiggling violently. Two men grasped his arms tight, Brook letting go some choked, frightened cries, closing his eyes and bracing himself.
The branding iron made contact, and Brook tensed up in agony from the fire hot metal, which sizzled the skin on his left bicep. Brooklyn was breathing raggedly, tears nearly coming, until at last a couple fell. Several men laughed and sneered from it.
"Yeah, freak! I knew you devils could cry like losers!" yelled one nearby. Brooklyn was too busy with his own pain to notice. It was only a couple minutes but it felt longer, until at last, Shadow Man removed it, smiling triumphantly at his symbols on his gargoyle.
Brook felt too weak to move now, the searing pain in his arm too much to handle, now sniffling quietly, hating that this happened to him. He hardly felt Shadow Man's hand petting his belly, that burn mark on his shoulder was too much for him to think about at the moment.
"That felt good to get the branding on you, Diablo. Take off his muzzle. I want to see if he would respond to me correctly this time," he ordered. A thug came forward and took the muzzle off.
The red male panted, flexing his jaw muscles once the horrid thing was off again. Shadow Man took his spear, poking it under his chin. "Now Diablo, tell me who you obey," he demanded.
Brooklyn shivered but felt himself answering croakily. "Y-you, M-master…" he whispered, eyes so sad and heartbroken. Shadow Man nodded in approval. "Correct. You're learning your manners well. And you will continue to obey me, yes? Like the animals you really are?" This made the young Second swallow but nodded. "Y-yes…" he responded, throat cracked and dry, feeling his honor disappearing. It hadn't been that long since he had been taken but these horrible men made sure Brook would be given the worst new life possible and keep him stressed up.
Shadow Man looked happy, as he petted Brooklyn's hair. "That's right, Diablo. And you will continue to wear your muzzle, too. You only talk unless I wish for you to. Put it on again," he ordered. The goons did so, strapping the muzzle onto the heartbroken red gargoyle's face, whose eyes were shining with tears at being reduced to this, head lowered after that.
They took Brooklyn back outside, chaining him to the tree once more. Brooklyn cringed from Shadow Man's touch against his cheek. He hated his 'master' greatly. "We will allow you to rest until we have need of you again, Diablo. Understood?" Brook nodded, eyes feeling dull and saddened. Shadow Man nodded too, smirking at his prize before leaving him be.
Brooklyn curled there under his tree, tears flooding his eyes again, flinching from his still sore branding mark. Brook didn't want this to have happened. He gazed at it once, wiping his eyes, and trying to keep it together. But his heart felt broken beyond repair. The red male sniffled from his trauma, wanting to be home again still.
I understand that this is punishment for my words and actions, Goliath. I understand now… please forgive me, I'm terribly sorry! I'll never, ever leave your side or disobey you anymore, please…
He wept tearfully under his muzzle, curling up tighter. The sun began to set whilst the young beaked gargoyle continued to cry silently, wishing to go back in time and stop himself from running away and getting captured.