After their short ride to the Library, the both of them sprinted in through the south entry way.
"Batter, we're gonna be late! I don't know if I should be concerned or relieved!"
Zacharie ranted worryingly, irking The Batter with his constant chatter.
"It's 7:55. We have time."
The Batter replied back, panting because of all the running. Zacharie hacked a few times, tripping and trying to keep up with him.
"THAT'S FIVE MINUTES!"
The Batter clutched onto Zacharie's face and dragged him.
"If you can't keep up, I'll make you keep up."
Zacharie's pleas came out as muffled screeches as The Batter made his way up the stairs. He slammed Zacharie into the wall a couple of times, but he would always find a way to snap him out of it. Half way up the stairs, The Batter decided that he should take out his weapon: his baseball bat. He let go of Zacharie and he stumbled down a flight of stairs.
"Come on, Zacharie. It's 3 minutes 'till 8."
"Well EXCUUUUUUUSE ME! I wasn't the one groping a man's face while running up 50 flights of stairs!"
"Stop you're complaining, you're irritating me."
"It's not my fault!"
"It is."
They argued until they reached the top of the last flight of stairs and to the top of the library.
"Here it goes, Batter. Don't scare anyone."
Zacharie whispered to him, poking his shoulder teasingly.
"Don't push your luck."
The two of them walked out the door and saw Dedan and Japhet standing there. Well, Japhet wasn't exactly standing, but you get my drift.
"Well well well. If it isn't the proud salesman and- Oh! Who do we have here? The Asshole? Why the hell did you bring him along, Zacharie boy?! I said to COME ALONE!"
Dedan rushed, bellowing angrily.
"Do you think I care about what you want? No. The Batter is here because he's my friend."
"That man is no friend. A slave, more like it! How about you use him for a good ass whipper, eh?! Son of a damn bitch!"
Dedan laughed. Japhet was silent for the time being. Dedan cleared his throat loudly, ready to continue.
"Zacharie, why don't you walk on over here and let me show you a little something."
Zacharie looked at The Batter in utter confusion, and all The Batter did was give him a nod. Zacharie approached Dedan and Japhet, tightening up his mask.
"Good boy, good boy! Listening to your old man!"
Dedan waited for Zacharie to approach closer before he spun Zacharie around to where he was facing The Batter in a straight line, to where if they ran forward, they would collide straight on. Dedan grabbed onto the string keeping Zacharie's mask in place and attempted to untie it. His large claw-like hands were far too large for this task, yet, he managed to untie the tight knot on the mask. He gently pulled it off Zacharie's face, exposing the horrid damage done to him underneath. The Batter didn't seem concerned, not like he was about anything, but Zacharie was cautious about how The Batter would react to everything going on. He took it in more fine than he thought.
"Japhet, you wanna have the honors of showing Zacharie here our little toy?"
Dedan asked Japhet, who did not look at him in return.
"I would prefer you do it. I am not the bird to ask to summon such dangerous creatures."
Japhet replied.
"Dangerous creatures? What?! What in the world is going on here?!"
Dedan covered Zacharie's mouth with his large claw hand and gripped onto his neck with the other. The Batter quickly reacted, as he attempted to charge at Dedan, but Japhet stopped him.
"Keep the asshole still. We're not quite done here."
He tried to move, but he seemed almost frozen in his spot. Did Japhet paralyze him? Zacharie tried shouting The Batter's name, but it resulted in him chocking as Dedan clenched his wind pipes. He began to hypervelliate, not because of pain, but because of what they might do to The Batter. He knew well enough what they did to himself, and he didn't want to see that same thing happen to The Batter. Japhet nuzzled himself in his large wings and stared The Batter down, which was how The Batter couldn't move in the first place.
"Now, Batter, I would like to show your dear friend here you're little secret that not even YOU know about! Ha! What a shame. I guess you humans are mindless assholes after all. Oh wait, neither of you are human!"
Dedan said, laughing at his own joke. The Batter remained silent, as Zacharie stared at him, tears filling his eyes.
"Get on with it, Dedan. We don't have all night."
Japhet spoke up.
"Hold your horses! Damn, you guys rush. Anyway, Zacharie, meet the true Batter! Ahem…,"
He leaned over close to Japhet.
"What am I… Supposed to do?"
"Let me handle this. It takes a lot of time and concentration, certainly not something in your limited patience span."
Japhet replied, as he slowly eased himself into The Batter's mind, triggering the one memory that was needed for this to work. It was a normal ordinary thought, but something about it triggered The Batter in a way that was unimaginable. The Batter was with Vader Eloha, his beloved wife, and his child, Hugo. The two of them, Eloha and The Batter, got into a fairly large argument.
"I will make a new world. A better world. Without you!"
She shouted at him. His eyes were filled with tears, yet he was keeping his emotion in fairly well.
"I will destr-… I will destro-… I will purify that land of yours, and I will not stop until my last breath."
He stuttered. Vader Eloha picked up the child from the ground and held him in her arms.
"You are a terrible, terrible man! Curses on you! Bad Batter! Bad Batter!"
She scolded him, as The Batter froze. All that was left of that memory was the sight of his monstrous hands that were then claws. It was a horrifying day for The Batter, not much Eloha, and the child, Hugo. Hugo should never have had to see what had become of his father, but lucky for him and his mother, they escaped before the Bad Batter could charge at them. In the present time, Zacharie, Dedan, and Japhet were staring anxiously at The Batter (Japhet had a content glare on his face, aside from a devilish smirk).
"Did you do it?"
Dedan whispered to Japhet.
"Yes. Now, all you need to do is scold him."
"Scolding is what I do best."
Dedan cackled, lifting up Zacharie and hovering him over the ledge. Zacharie attempted to scream, but he was muffled.
"Alllllright, Batter. You show yourself, or Zacharie's gone."
Zacharie struggled under Dedan's impossibly tight grip, and felt himself growing dizzy, his sight getting blurry.
"Not exactly like that, Dedan. That's not scolding. That's threatening."
Japhet interrupted.
"Oho. Damn, you're right."
Dedan cleared his throat
. "Okay. Batter, I want you to fucking DIE. AWAY WITH YOUR PITIFUL PURIFYING SCHEMES! BLOOAHAHA!"
Japhet facepalmed.
"You seriously do not know what you're doing. You're embarrassing yourself. Let me handle this."
He approached The Batter slightly and took the voice of Vader Eloha. The Batter was already staring up at him, still frozen in his spot. He spread his wings and looked down at The Batter.
"Curses on you! Curses on everything you've ever desired! You are dead to me, dear Batter. May your soul be fed to the fallen angels of hell! Bad Batter! Bad Batter!"
The Batter's muscles stiffened at Eloha's scolding voice. Every thought about that day came back. All the pain, and all the fury he felt. It all returned.
"Nnnnn- STOP IT!"
The Batter shouted, hunching over slightly, as his legs arched in an awkward position.
"Bad Batter! You are nothing more than a monster that deserves to be misshaped! Bad Batter! Bad Bad Batter!"
Japhet shouted once again in Vader Eloha's voice, watching as The Batter slowly spread his fingers apart, letting them transform into demonic claws. Zacharie turned his head over to face The Batter, and he stared at him in horror. He was still being hovered over the ledge, but that didn't prevent him from trying to escape.
"BATTER!"
He attempted to shout, but it came out as an array of miscellaneous sounds. The Batter began to snarl, almost like an angry dog fighting with a chew toy. Japhet backed away, returning to Dedan's side.
"You're welcome."
He said, and Dedan howled with laughter.
"This is exactly what I wanted!"
Dedan removed his hand from Zacharie's throat, first pulling him away from the ledge, and he immediately gasped for air. Dedan moved both of his hands away from their original location and placed one on both sides of Zacharie's head, so he had no choice but to stare at The Batter quaking with pain. He fell to one side, keeping himself up with his large claw about the side of 3 base plates (as in baseball). His fingers were very thin, which gave him the advantage of very lengthy fingers, times the length of his claw-like fingernails. Zacharie stared at the poor Batter in horror, as he witnessed what looked like an overly dramatic deformation of The Batter as a whole. His skin now looked like a river of tar, running down like a melting chocolate bar. His face had formed into one of a crocodile, with blade-like fangs for teeth. With eyes as white as purity, and with a festiveness of a coyote, he stood before Dedan, Zacharie, and Japhet, letting out a treacherous roar. Zacharie flinched at how loud The Batter had become.
"This is your friend, Zacharie. Behold! The baddest of the bad.- Japhet, I know baddest is not a word- The BAD Batter! GYAHAHAHA!"
The Bad Batter dragged himself over to the three, specifically eyeing Zacharie.
"Ah, you remember him? Good good! The puppeteer… A puppet himself! With a damn snappy attitude to match."
Dedan nudged Zacharie. He was referencing him when he said 'The Puppeteer, A Puppet Himself.' Zacharie had come from a bloodline filled with individuals who specialized in puppet crafting. He had only inherited the selling part of the whole puppet crafting industry, for after they perfected their puppet/s, they sold them to children worldwide. They had a company, a wealthy one at that, which was intended for Zacharie to run, but his career was cut short after the incident. He used to craft puppets with his mother and father, whom were the ones who acknowledged him for his skill in puppet making. After their son had mysteriously disappeared, they decided to close the business down and start anew, except their session was cut short after they were anonymously murdered. Zacharie had forced himself to forget everything he ever learned from his psychotic family who led him to believe that he was a 'puppet monster', and went on a different path in his life, alone and forgotten. He decided to make masks instead of puppets, for he knew he couldn't walk around looking like some sort of serial killer. He made a mask of a toad and of a cat, his mother and father's favorite animals. He used the still bleeding-a-sort-of-black-ooze cheeks to paint on the faces and extra details. He painted smiles on the masks on purpose. Hearing him being called by The Puppeteer after years of never being mentioned of it gave him the burning sensation in his throat, which told him that he was on the verge of tears. The Bad Batter growled lowly at Zacharie, as if he knew he was going to cry. Japhet stood proud, enveloping himself in his feathers once again. Dedan was silent as he watched what the Bad Batter might do to Zacharie.
"I'm not…. I-I-I'm not… IIIIIII'M NOOOOOOOT THE PUPPETEEEEEEEERRRR!"
He wailed, throwing himself onto the concrete surface. A large crack was heard as his elbow hit the ground, which made Zacharie scream in such a high pitched tone, it set off the Bad Batter. He stormed over to Dedan and slammed him onto the ground, pinning him down with his enormous strength. Dedan stared up at what had become of The Batter and let the Bad Batter slay him. Japhet crept towards Zacharie and picked him up, noting that his left arm was dislocated. He hissed through clenched teeth at the sight.
"We need to get you to a hospital."
The Bad Batter looked up at Japhet and growled at him.
"Sorry, Batter, but Zacharie is in too critical of a condition for you to meddle around with."
Japhet gave one last look at Dedan and flew off towards the hospital. The Bad Batter roared at him, and turned his attention towards Dedan. He walked on over to him and began ripping away pieces of his flesh with his teeth, eating a meal provided by Dedan's flesh and blood.