Chapter Ten. It's the perfect length. exactly how I wanted it to be. Too bad not all my chapters can end up like this.
I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine.
Chapter Ten
Near-Death
Digit thought Max's change from borg to gargoyle was both terrifying and interesting. And he thought this for a variety of reasons. First of all was the fact she had retained pretty much all of her personality and brainpower. At the same time, she also obtained a few gargoyle-esk personality traits which could have been considered scary. If she was pleased, she would start purring and licking. If she was upset, she would growl, snarl, and snap. Usually she purred and licked Digit. She growled at Buzz and Delete and saved the snarling and snapping for Hacker.
The reason behind the strangeness was because even though Max had retained a lot of her old self, Digit still woke up in the morning next to something that wasn't the borg he remembered. But he had to admit the new Max was a bit of an improvement from the borg one in a strange, majestic sort of way. When he saw her for the first time in the florescent light of the Wreaker, Digit had to admit she was impressively built, though since he had never seen a gargoyle before, he had nothing to compare to.
Her body was beautifully streamline, light, and muscular; perfect for running and flying. But while there was an impressive and majestic side to her, there was a sinisterly dangerous side to her, too, as Digit overheard Hacker tell Buzz and Delete.
"A gargoyle has the jaw pressure of seven-hundred pounds and can crush a steel rod between their molars." Hacker told his two henchmen when they asked what was so dangerous about Max now. "A gargoyle's claws can tear through sheet of iron and the tail barb will rip through a plate of platinum like tissue paper. If she gets a hold of you two, her teeth will do short work of you."
The two bots had been sufficiently frightened of Max after that. But not enough for Delete to ask about the reason behind Max's horns.
"It's part of a territorial threat display. Gargoyle horns vary between male and female. Females – or cows – has a set of shorter horns. Males – or bulls – have longer and thicker horns that curl around their ears." Hacker said. He was obviously annoyed the two duncebuckets knew nothing about gargoyles. "If she were to ram you, you would be crushed flat."
After that, the robots were officially afraid of Max. At least when she was loose. Even Hacker had reason to fear Max now that she had changed size and species. For that reason, alone, he felt the need to keep Max under his thumb. To show her who was boss. While he was reading up on old battles between borgs and gargoyles, he came across a popular weapon. A weapon which made him smile. At the same time, it caused Digit to worry and Max to lose much of her sanity.
0
Max had no idea how she ended up on the deck of the Grimm Wreaker when she had fallen asleep in the dungeon with Digit cradled in the hollow of her throat. She also had to wonder how anyone managed to haul her 246-pound body out of the dungeon and up the stairs to the deck. While those thoughts disturbed her, what she woke up to disturbed her even more.
All four legs, as well as her tail, were chained and fettered to a wall. Her wings were fully-encased in a sheet of heavy metal which pinched the joints together – making it impossible to move them let alone fly – and were held to her body with a thick coil of steel cable which was wrapped around her shoulder, chest, back, stomach, and waist; effectively pinning the membrane to her body.
Max struggled against the straps wound around her head, holding a metal rod behind her molars; creating a crude bridle. Max knew the bridle served a double purpose. Not only did it keep her from talking back, but also prevented her from biting – as she was prone to doing without warning.
Hacker leered at her, a two-pronged pole clenched in both hands. Buzz and Delete sported similar poles. Max didn't like the look of this situation.
"You've caused me a lot of trouble these last few months, Max. A lot of trouble. I don't like that. You cost me a lot of time with all your trouble-making, and that's time I should have been spending trying to take over Cyberspace."
Max opened her mouth as far as the bridle allowed and let out a low growl – a difficult feat as the rod in her mouth blocked much of her esophagus, thus forcing her to resort to breathing through her nasal passages.
Hacker smiled at the strangled sound she managed through the bit. "Aw, what's wrong? Can't threaten me like usual?"
Max gave no response except letting her eyes narrow to cold, ruby slits.
Hacker began pacing, a gloating smile hovering over his pointy chin. "I'm sure you'll find this punishment to be far worse than the ones I had ever done to you before."
Max still gave no response. The slitty-eyed, I-kill-you look continued. The fact Max did nothing more than glare at him annoyed Hacker. He stopped pacing and began tapping the pole in his hand. Buzz and Delete took a step toward Max.
"Ever since you received this new look, Max, I started looking into ways of hurting you since the old ways simply won't work on you any more. You'll be interested to find that gargoyles have one major weakness."
He pressed a button on his pole and the tip sparked. Then, Max knew the poles were really cattle prods, and high-voltage ones at that.
"Electricity." Hacker said. "They say electricity is deadly to a gargoyle. Voltage like this could scramble your nerves. That ought to be fun to watch."
Max managed another strangled growl as the two bots and the funnel-chested borg approached; sparking cattle prods aloft. After that, she didn't remember too much except trying to scream. She alternated between strangled screams and choking on her own vomit. Unable to stand the pain anymore, Max lost consciousness.
1
Digit was deeply concerned when he woke up to cool metal and no warm gargoyle body behind him. He didn't know how long Max had been gone and he couldn't hear anything except for a sizzling sound somewhere on the deck. Then, there was silence.
Digit unconsciously began chewing on his wingtips. What's going on up there? What's happened to Max? What is Hacker doing to her?
Just then, the dropshaft opened again and Max fell through the hole. Her body made a dull thud as it hit the floor and the shaft closed above them. Digit reached out a wing and touched Max's immobile shoulder, shocked when he felt deep indentations in her skin, especially across her muzzle. Aside from a soft growl – which sounded choked – Max made no sounds and Digit leaned against her.
Max. What's he done to you? Digit thought as tears brimmed, unbidden, to his eyelids.
He lay over her prone form, waiting for her to respond. Her body heat and harsh breathing the only indication she was still alive. He didn't know how long he lay there but he wished Max would at least move. He knew Hacker wanted to kill Max, but whenever Hacker took Max away, he always returned her in less-than-perfect condition. But, at least he knew she would be okay. This scared him. She wasn't responding. She wasn't even moving. Her chest barely rose and fell.
Digit pressed an ear to her chest and heard the dull thump thump . . . thump thump . . . thump thump . . . thump thump of her heartbeat. He wrapped a wing over her neck and buried his face into her thick mane.
Please be alright! Please! I beg you, Max! Don't die and leave me here all alone! I don't know what I'm going to do without you! Please! Wake up!
He didn't know how long they lay there, Digit silently sobbing over her – silently so as not to draw Hacker's attention to them. He didn't know what he would do, but he was sure that if he saw Hacker's leering face he wouldn't be able to stop himself from throttling him.
Finally, Max gave a grunt and her head moved. Digit looked up and rubbed a wing over his eyes.
"Max?" he said.
She opened one ruby eye and looked at him. "I feel terrible."1 she said.
Digit gave a weak laugh and sniffed with relief. "You look terrible." he said. He smoothed back a long lock of colorless mane from her face. "You look like you were in the middle of a static storm."
"You could say that. He and the duncebuckets just attacked me with cattle prods." Max said.
"What? Why?"
Max explained that electricity was dangerous for gargoyles. Then told him about how Hacker had her tied up, even mentioning the crude bridle and how she almost asphyxiated on her own vomit.
"Are you okay?"
"It'll take more than that to kill me." Max said.
"Max, he almost did kill you. You've been out for hours and I've been worried you were dead." Digit pointed out.
Max stretched out her neck and gently licked Digit's beak tip with her dainty, pink tongue. "I'm sorry I worried you Digit."
He leaned against her. "I'm tired of this. I want this all to end and I want it to end now. I'm tired of you vanishing all the time only to come back in worse condition than when you left. I'm tired of worrying about you all the time. I'm tired of trying to take care of you all the time and wondering if you're going to be okay. Max, I want to run away and I want to run away now."
Max looked up at the slim light peeking through the gap in the drop shaft. "I'm tired of all of it too. He's been trying to prove to me he's in control, but I won't bend to his will. He wants to kill me, but doing it would be too easy. I'm not exactly sure if he has the gall to do it yet."
"He almost did. Just now, he almost did." Digit said.
She looked at him. "I know."
He grabbed her paw. "Max, please. Let's leave. Let's get out of here now."
"We can't right now, Didge. I'm sorry. I'm too weak. Moving and talking hurts. Remember, I almost asphyxiated on my own vomit. Everything hurts." She took her paw away and gently patted him on the head. "We will escape, Didge. But not tonight. I'm not strong enough right now."
"When?"
"Soon."
"How soon is soon?"
"I'll let you know."
By Max's tone, Digit knew he could trust her.
1"I feel terrible." - Direct quote by Han Solo in Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back