Shell Shock

Writers:

Denny and Leila
Rating: PG-RG
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us. What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.

Chapter 29

"How dare he do this to us?"

The entities did not even bother to levitate; rather they wanted to take out their anger on the ground, leaving deep marks behind. Mouths twisted to ugly grimaces, eyes gleaming with fury, they headed to the center of their home quarters.

"Teleporting us to the farthest periphery of the facility," the leader snarled, "Almost dumping us into a container full with poisonous energy – and then making such narrow paths that getting here took us hours over hours! Who does that dysfunctional robot think he is?"

"The doctor will receive proper punishment in time."

A Shapeshifter behind it answered as the guard had to try hard not to let anger obscure all of its face.

"Yes… He will pay for this," the Superior hissed in his mind with a snarl accompanying it, "When the time is right, I will make this robot pay!"

"I understand your anger,"

one of the other guards suddenly replied surprisingly calmly as it brushed over its sleeves, "But it is not worth losing your grace for it. Take it as… a reason to perfect your plans as soon as possible."

The Superior came to a halt. For a moment it motioned to snap around and to attack the Shapeshifter that had addressed it – but before it lashed out, it pulled its hand back and narrowed its eyes, nodding in agreement. "You are right. It should be much more of an incentive rather than an obstruction in our plans." A giggle. "Miraculous how you can change my sentiments with well-chosen words, just like we are able to shift our shape to our mind's content. I suppose my choice to entitle you the Shifter was not absolutely inappropriate."

"I am honored."

The guard bowed. The other entities did not see the tension in its hands.

"I am sure you are. Now…" The Superior turned away again, folding its hands behind its back. "I can't wait to meet my darling entity. It will be such relaxation to my stress, as it has been ever since it came to existence -"

A deafening explosion tore the words away.

The Superior's head snapped in shock, realizing where the explosion had come from. It raced down the corridor instead of floating, all thoughts and emotions of shock now wildly flowing, evoking a sentiment of disgust in the entity. What weakness in itself, the Superior!

Smoke trailed out of the exact room it had – NOT feared– suspected the blast to originate from. One Prideful was leaning next to the deformed door frame, hands clutching its bleeding sides.

"Drop the act!"Lashing out against the Prideful, the Superior hit the other guard with such force that its head snapped under a loud crack. Some of the 'blood' was smeared over its palm now, making the entity shake its hand idly.

Only that the hand started bleeding as well.

"What in the world-"Pain jolted through the guard as its structure was falling apart. Eyes widened, its gaze dashed from one side to another before it realized what had happened. There had been an explosion that had destroyed one, no, two of the energy vessels. This alone was already a loss that would have driven the Superior to the brink of immeasurable fury, but something else vanquished that sentiment with complete shock. There was no energy scattered around the hall, not even the slightest bit –

Realization hit the Superior. It had never been five energy vessels. Two had been filled with explosives, mixed with the most poisonous, disgusting substance in the entire universe to kill whoever would approach the supply first –

Nanotech.

A snarl left the entity as its hands clenched to fists. The robot had tricked them. The robot had tricked itand so dangerously at that.

"Get away from the vessels! NOW!"The Superior hissed at the other guards and growled lowly as it looked at the extensive damage done to the room. The remaining energy vessels were still intact, still good… But how to get to them? They were covered in that god awful substance, and to make things worse, it felt like its arm was dying on it already; the amount of energy needed to repair the damage would be considerable, yet to speak of the other entities that were wounded. How many needed supplies anyway?

Again it let its gaze turn around. Who was injured? Hopefully not thatone guard… Oh by Orvus, not that guard! It tensed up, lips pressed together as it looked at each creature in the hall.

Some of the lesser entities were crawling around. One of the Loving was hissing at the pain of a wound – but the Superior did not care for them. They did not matter, not at all… As long as that guard was all right, it couldn't care less, and since it was not in danger—

The entity stopped. What was it thinking? Why would it even carefor any other creature but their precious? It had to focus; the only one that it was interested in was that Lombax. That was their collective mind, will, desire – as the Superior it would be preposterous to suddenly forget it….

It was then that its most precious Shapeshifter appeared, looking at its leader's bleeding hand and hurrying to the energy vessels.

Had it had a heart, it would have stopped that instant. "What—get away from them! Don't!"The Superior yelled in thought as a scream tore from its lips before it rushed to the entity. A peculiar, dreadful sensation rose in it. What if something happened to that entity? To its finest entity? Absolute dread drove the Superior mad as it hurried towards the other, forgetting everything else – indignation, collective desire blown out of its thought the moment it saw the guard putting itself in danger. It had to prevent it from touching the poisonous substance, it had to –

But too late. The creature tore the seal open, its hands' matter starting to evaporate, only to reach into the vessel and rush to the leading entity.

"What… What are you doing?" The Superior stared at the other, completely confused by these actions."Foolish creature! Why would you do this to yourself?"

The entity did not listen. Shivers were shaking the smoking hands, but without fail it treated the injuries that the Nanotech had inflicted on the other entity. It was gentle, really gentle as it lined the contours of the wounds, making sure the energy healed the Superior. When it was done, it looked at the limb in its hands before raising its head to shyly look at the other entity.

"You were hurt,"was the short, but clear answer.

That caught the Superior off guard. As much as it knew that the lesser entities worshipped it, it was certain that none would willingly harm itself to treat its leader's wounds. It was against a Shapeshifter's nature to aid when it would lead to pain. And yet… this one here, that one precious entity that could lift and break its spirits without even knowing the effect it had on its mind, unlike any other creature, was setting its Superior above its own safety? What kind of reasoning was this?

So foolish. Such actions, they could be, no, they were so misleading, stirring up things that the leader did not understand. What enigma this entity was to him! Its gaze wandered along the lesser creature's arms. They were still smoking…

The Superior turned away. "Fool. Complete and utter fool."

"What else should I have done?"

the Shapeshifter asked, cautiously turning the leader's hand in its grasp. "Is that enough for your wounds?"

"Idiot."

Yanking at the entity's arm, he first made a turn to the energy vessel, careful not to step on or touch Nanotech when it took more energy to heal itself, before it pulled the other towards its private quarters. "I leave the distribution of the energy resources to you," it addressed the Shifter, "Don't overuse the resources. Who knows when we will retrieve another one of these. And you," it hissed without any hostility to the guard who had healed it, "You come with me."

A bow of acknowledgement was given before they left the hall behind them. The entity let itself be pulled along with the Superior, neither head bowed nor any other sign of submission or fear. A sharp watcher, however, would have noticed the subtle tension since the Superior had touched it and the way the entity just jerked the tiniest bit in what seemed fear as a certain door appeared.

The door was opened roughly. "Get in."

The entity obeyed wordlessly, fingers flexing nervously as it looked around in the room. Warm light revealed the fine furniture in the Superior's quarters; a simple, yet elegant table with fitting chairs, a couch that looked so invitingly comfortable, cushions shimmering as if they were made of the finest fabric, and a bed with decorations that matched the fine, yet not overbearing style. Certainly all of the Superior's possessions spoke of an understanding of matter that could barely be rivaled by any scientist; But this was all positive that Shapeshifters counted to their traits: To understand everything down to their molecular structure. Yes, beneath all the violent and cruel pleasures they indulged in, they were driven by an undying thirst for wisdom. Sadly this side was hidden beneath all the layers of entertainment they sought.

The guard tensed up. It was not the first time it had entered the personal quarters of the Superior, certainly not – but this… privilegeof entry, as the other Shapeshifters had put it, had been more harmful than advantageous. It remembered with a shiver how the other guards had reacted to the special care it received; and had it not been for the Superior to make sure nobody harmed it, to give it enough strength to defend itself, who knew if it would have been alive now.

A hand was placed gently onto its shoulder. The guard turned around, facing the Superior who was, to the entity's surprise, not bearing even the faintest of grins. Instead a frown, an expression they deemed distasteful at times, had appeared on the leader's face, lips slightly pressed together. Gently pushing it towards the couch, the Superior sat down, patting the space beside it.

"Sit down,"it commanded, the tone harsher than what the entity was used to.

The guard nodded with rising nervousness. The Superior's words and actions, and the tone it spoke with contradicted each other. It was better to comply than to raise its ire although it didn't know why the Superior should be angry.

"Relax, you fool. I did not bring you all the way here to harm you." It reached out for the guard's arm, turning it cautiously in its palm. There was still faint smoke coming from the spaces the Nanotech had touched the entity; something that disquieted the Superior. "It still hurts, doesn't it."

The entity shook its head hastily. Of course it didn't hurt, no, nothing hurt, everything was all right.

The Superior raised one of its brows and looked at the guard with a gaze saying more than thousand words. Then it casually scraped its finger over one of the sizzling spots.

A stifled yelp left the guard as it winced under the pain. The leader lifted its hand, brows pulled together.

"Don't lie to me," it whispered into the other's mind. "If not for anything, then because I am your leader."

"Of course."It didn't want to worry the other, that was the only reason. Still, the Superior watched it with focus and the entity wished the Superior would stop it. Why? That it didn't know. Despite the other Shapeshifters' envy, being in this situation was the highest privilege possible. Worth any discomfort.

"You are an idiot, you know that? A terrible buffoon, even,"the leader continued. Raising its hand, it started to pulsate in a lighter purple tone. Cautiously it spread its fingers and placed them onto the other's arm, faint waves of energy entering the limb.

"You can't use energy as well as the others do; you are unable to regenerate as fast as the others can, and you are unable to heal without losing lots of your reserves." A low sigh. Slowly the damaged structures were healed, bit by bit. It was a process the Superior wasn't terribly familiar with, at least not in such a… tame manner. "You know that very well. The reason why I spent so much time mending you is that you have limits the others don't have – and yet…" The thoughts it whispered became less and less audible in the guard's mind. "Yet you simply did it. You tore the vessel open even though it was covered in Nanotech. As if you didn't care." A pause. "So foolish you are, you terrible idiot; so very foolish." A giggle without any malice or condescendence, but with a strangely hollow note to it reached the guard's senses. "Perhaps I should nickname you the Foolish since I couldn't decide on a name for you yet anyway."

"I am sorry, your Excellency. It shall not happen again if that is what you wish."

"You give me more work to do, too,"

the Superior went on, now taking the other arm into its hands. It lowered its head so that the guard couldn't see a quite peculiar expression on its face. "Seeing how I have to mend your injuries."

The entity straightened up, shaking its head hastily. The last of the wounds closed, but the Superior did not look up. "I… I am sorry, I-"

A hand cupped its cheek. As the guard only now realized, its leader had raised its head with a wondering and incomprehensive gaze its eyes. "Don't apologize." A frown appeared on its face; one that was not directed at the guard, but rather at the fact that it was not able to understand. "Don't make yourself even more puzzling than you already are to me."

"Your Excellency? I don't understand, am I upsetting you?"

The affectionate gestures confused the entity. The Superior regularly kissed and stroked it but it was usually... more forward and passionate without meaning it. Detached, one could even say. This here seemed so… tame, no, more intimate. Hesitantly, the Shapeshifter laid its palm over the Superior's hand cupping its cheek.

"You are not upsetting me," the entity replied lowly, "You are confusing me." Cautiously it moved a bit closer. "I wonder why I don't understand you," it continued. "I know your structure, yet I cannot say that I know how your mind works. Frankly, your actions delude me."

"They… do?"

What was so special about what it did?

"Yes. They do." The Superior stroked idly over the protection around the other's head with its thumb. Silence came over them, even if only for a moment. "Why would you do something as reckless as this to yourself?" it whispered into the other's mind, "I am the Superior. I would have been able to take care of myself one way or another, but you…" A pause. It pressed its lips against each other before it continued. "You seem too precious to me to do that." It looked at the visor of the protection, hoping that it was locking gazes. "I wonder why you are so precious to me, though; there should only be one creature I deem as such."

There should have been jealousy. Envy. Any emotion that worked in hand with its mind rebelling against the idea it wasn't actually meant to be liked by the Superior, and that there was somebody else the Superior wanted. Because the Superior had chosen it. Nobody else should have this honor.

The minor entity froze however, fortunately not noticeably, as it realized whom the Superior meant. All it felt however was both some kind of relief and dread for the Lombax.

"Why again did we want him?" The other continued, unaware of the turmoil in the guard. It pulled its hand away and turned aside. "It was because he had an interesting structure. Something that promised the sensation of life whenever we would indulge." A low sigh. "So naturally I want him. Naturally I want him, and make the other despicable creature suffer at all times. Or rather: I should." A pause as it folded its hands before its mouth.

"I-I am honoured to be deemed worthy enough that you would see me as a precious thing."The Superior luckily didn't see its face twisting the lightest bit.

"… Hah." The scoff that left the leader was disapproving. It turned to the entity with a saddened smile. "You aren't a precious thing." Somehow it seemed… discontented about the choice of words the guard had made. "A thing would not evoke this awful sense of worry for its well-being." It looked away again as if it was trying hard to find the right words for something it wanted to say yet could not express. "At least not to the extent where I would forget the importance of my plans and the purpose of it in its entirety."

"Oh."

The guard blinked. "You are right. I'm not that precious." It did not notice the sudden tension in the Superior's posture. "I couldn't be that valuable to you, especially since you have that Precious to worry about—"

"No, you buffoon."

Before the entity knew it was grabbed at its shoulders and pushed down into the couch. Orange eyes gleamed at it, lips curled slightly. "Listen well. I said you are not a mere thingto me. You are more."

"Y-your Excellency-cy!"

The guard froze at the Superior's expression. How should it react? None of the Shapeshifters had ever shown this- this- The guard began squirming at the idea.

"You confuse me," the Superior hissed in thought, "You make me worry, make me feel things I should not feel, and to top it off, make me willingly push away all reason. But why?" Its thoughts became louder with every word."Why in the blasted universe can you do these things to me?"

Silence followed. It let its head hang down and breathed in deeply as if it had screamed at the top of its lungs. "Why," it whispered, "Why? I don't understand anymore. I don't understand what I'm thinking, or why you are so… so… different even after all these things that I did, or what I am even doing here right now. I shouldn't even be telling you these things, since it is so unbefitting for a leader, and yet-"It broke off its thought. The tension fell off the Superior as its body relaxed. Arms giving in, its head rested against the other entity's shoulder.

Carefully the guard curled his arms around the other's back only slightly, should the Superior want to break the contact or be averse to more. Since it didn't show any signs it wanted to move however, the guard tightened its hold a bit.

Silence followed. The leader, though initially startled, did not object to the embrace at all. Burying its face in the other's neck, it let itself lie on the guard. Slowly its hands loosened their grip around the shoulders and stroked idly over the surface. "Why can't I understand you?"it murmured into the guard's mind.

"I don't know. My thoughts aren't that exceptional. I can't make plans, I just can fight well and that is because you taught me."It drew circles on the other's back, mind shouting at him for being foolish as it considered what it would try to do to ease the Superior's mind.

Foolish. Daring. Outrageous. Maybe. But maybe it would want it in return…

The guard lifted a hand, laying it across the Superior's head. The first step was a success when it drew its attention, looking down to the guard's face.

Now to distract it completely.

"May I…" Why did it feel so conflicted about this? "May I kiss you?"

The leader's eyes widened in surprise. Pushing itself up a bit to get a better look at the other, it did not move enough to have the hand on its head slide off. "What…" it began, "What did you just think?"

The guard shifted slightly. "I… asked if I may kiss you."

Again the Superior just stared at it, eyes blinking in a startled manner. Then surprise morphed into a smile of an almost endearing note. "You are so frustrating at times," it told the other. One hand cupped the guard's cheek again and caressed the protection around its head. "I know every single part of your being, broke it down and rearranged it. You are the finest, the most cautiously handled entity; perfection as far as I can reach it. You are mine, the one entity whose being I know to its very core - and yet… I don't understand you."

It moved a bit further up, motioning the other to let its hands slide to the Superior's waist. "Your bold actions and words… They irritate me. They irritate me so much that I want to shove all the other things beside to find out why. I couldn't have cared less if that one Lombax had appeared when I saw you rushing to the vessel; I even forgot about Nefarious, despite the humiliation we received – and that all because of your actions. Your preciously confusing actions."

Both hands trailed along the protection, slowly revealing the face beneath. "Even now you puzzle me, demanding something from me that is not meant to be casually exchanged. No…" For a moment it just looked into the other entity's eyes with a smile that spoke of hidden contentment. "I believe what you demand is different from what we define as kiss. Something… That should be exchanged only if there is certain infatuation existent." Fingers trailed gingerly over the finely formed lips. "And do you know what the worst part in this is?"

"… What?"

The Superior giggled lowly before it leant in, halting only a breath away from the entity's lips. "That I don't mind at all."And with that, it cautiously closed the distance between them.

The first detail the guard noticed was that the contact felt different. All the times it had been kissed had felt familiar, up until the one during the 'audience' between the lower Shapeshifters and the Superior. It never lacked in passion or expertise, no – they could also be gentle although that happened less often.

What was different… it felt... less playful? Like this wasn't a game of sorts to the highest entity?

Slowly the Superior pulled back, eyes heavily lidded. Its hand stroked gently over the other's cheek, its lips were still slightly parted. This was not a kiss it normally exchanged – normally a kiss had the one purpose to give it information about the other creature, access to its structure and rearrange it to whatever it wanted. It always did this, should someone seem too useful to be simply killed or be taken in. But this time, there was no such intention behind its actions. It held itself back, did not want to invade the other's mind. It gave energy and received in equal amounts, leaving none of them dissatisfied by any means. Even though it felt so vexed that it could not understand this one guard, it refrained from simply taking. Why it did not know.

The guard blinked up at the Superior. Lips curling, it leant up and molded their lips together again.

A startled sound left the entity at the renewed kiss. Soon surprise melted away, however, and left it leaning into the kiss, arms wrapping around the other's neck. Fingers trailed gingerly along the guard's back, curling and scraping over the surface. Lips smoothed over each other and parted, only to find each other again. Whenever they did, they would seek contact more eagerly than before. Before long, tongues came into the play, although not even the Superior would be able to tell later who started.

Fingers clawed at their clothes-like shells, heated gazes were exchanged occasionally. Suddenly the guard was pushed into the cushions of the piece of furniture, heavy-lidded eyes gazing at it with a playful smirk. The Superior shifted positions, now fully on the couch with legs positioned so that the other entity could not escape it. Slowly it raised one hand and lifted the other's chin as it leant down again, stopping only a breath away from the guard's lips. With amusement it noticed the disappointment in the other's face.

"I suggest," it whispered, "we move to a more comfortable surface."Its other hand reached behind its back and let its fingers smooth lightly over the entity's thighs.

"I could move but," the guard groaned at the sparks the touch on its thighs set off in his mind. Then it did something no Shapeshifter would have ever dared to do towards the Superior. It grinned with smug seduction. "What do I get for it? I find it quite comfortable here."

To "show" this, the guard lolled beneath the other, stretching along the couch. The movement highlighted shoulders and hips, arms and legs…

The Superior raised its eyebrow, lips formed to whistle briefly, even though it was louder than it had thought it would be. "A good question, my dear, but a Superior never gives." Before the other could reply, the entity placed a finger over its lips. "But if you move swiftly, the Superior might make an exception…"It leant down, cautiously connecting with the other's perception to create an illusion similar to whispering into an ear.

"… and reward you with all the kisses you can muster and desire."

Well, if that wasn't an incentive. It couldn't care less for the amused chuckle as it scrambled from beneath the Superior and to the bed.

"And thus," its leader said melodiously as it slowly rose from the couch, fingers scraping gingerly over the frame and hips swaying with each step it took, "You win. You captivated my mind completely… but only temporarily." Giggling lowly, it stopped one step away from the guard sitting on the edge of the bed. "I wonder if you can do better?"

"I will try with all I have."

Reaching up, the entity tugged at the Superior's collar. Now it was its turn to tease, one finger feathering over those finely shaped lips. "But only if there is a chance to win the highest prize possible."

Something peculiar went through the leader's body; excitement? Not quite. Desire? Perhaps, but not it. It only knew that right now, at this moment, all it cared about was the creature before it. Nothing else mattered. Could it simply promise something like this though? It would never have regrets to give empty promises to anyone else, but this guard… made it want to speak truthful words. "There might be," it finally replied. "As for now, though, I-"

Nothing else had to be said. Yanking the Superior down, the entity brought their lips together roughly – and before they knew, all they could feel, see, think of was each other in their peculiar play, neither aware of nor comprehending the sentiments that had led them to that situation. One entity understood, however – and as it silently closed the door it had opened so cautiously, the Shifter walked away again, eyes gleaming dangerously as the words the Superior had accidently disclosed rang in its mind.

It would not let the Superior lead them into demise. And it would make sure the right measures were taken to bring their leader back onto the right path.