Welcome to Chapter Two, ya'll!
I'm betting that you want to know immediately what happened with Spike, since he and the voice would get along very well.
Well, I hope you enjoy it. Having to keep Spike on a chain isn't fun. He keeps pulling on it and snarling at everything. I swear that he dislocated my arm at one point. O_o
But before we let him go, you have to sit through this. Ha ha!
Thank you, all my readers and reviewers. I mean, 9 on one chapter? I squeed and scared the crap out of my guinea pig, I was so happy. :3
Moonlit: Old habits die hard, I'm afraid.
Mia-Teresa-Davenport: Yes, Adam, run!
AllAmericanSlurp: ._. Demonic…hypnotherapy….
DisneyXDGirl: Well…Spike is a bit harsh…
Gg180000: I laughed so hard when I read this. Not kidding. Made my day. xD
DarkestKing: Wait until you see how much more destructive Spike is.
UnknownForNow: Something tells me you're making a suggestion…don't rightly know what it is, though…(xD Thanks.)
RissA15: "Psst, Douglas: How long can fangirls go without water?"
"About 6 - 8 days, max. Why?"
"We should wait them out. This war might yet turn in our favor!"
So, want to find out what's going on? Spike?
"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. Or me. Let me off this chain, bitch! Oh, and if you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."
._. Everyone, take cover. *Lets Spike off the chain and runs*
"In life, there are no mistakes, only lessons."
Vic Johnson, Day by Day with James Allen
"I learned in an extremely hard way that the accountability falls with me."
Stephen Baldwin
Chapter Two – Lesson Learned
Leo
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Douglas was ranting. "You could hurt somebody throwing them like that! Chase isn't a frisbee; you can't just –"
The loudest, most unholy growl sounded from the kitchen, cutting him off. The noise made the hair on the back of Leo's neck stand up in fear. He almost didn't want to look.
But, as everyone else was blanching, he knew he had to. Knowing already what was waiting for him, he glanced at the counter that had hidden Chase's landing.
With bared teeth, lashing tail and pinned ears, Chase had risen and was glaring at Adam with a cut-throat expression. Where he would normally be yelling by now, Chase was deathly quiet. Although he was silent – save for the growl – Leo knew immediately that Spike had come to play.
Douglas jumped up from his seat and started to back away slowly, his eyes flashing with alarm. He was the closest to the murderous half-demon, after all.
Speaking of half-demon, how in the hell would Spike act now? Would he just engage in random destruction like he used to, or would he actually tear someone's head off? The evil mental voice that Chase had mentioned a while back would be right up Spike's alley.
"What's up with you, Half-Breed?" Oly asked, jumping onto the counter in front of Spike. "Pissed that you're weak enough to be thrown around or something?"
Spike snarled, picked up an apple from the bowl of fruit near him, and shoved it into Oly's beak. She coughed and stumbled back in surprise, spitting out shredded bits of fruit as Spike's deep, gravelly voice sounded for the first time. "I am not weak, bitch."
"Holy crap, run!"
Bree's declaration was followed by chaos as everyone scattered, running for cover. Leo himself dove behind the television, Ysthry leaping off of his shoulders to take cover under him as he flattened himself on the floor.
"I didn't say that you could go anywhere!" Spike roared. Seconds later, incredible heat and orange light filled the room, accented by loud crackling. Leo chanced a look from his hiding place only to find – to his horror – that the entire couch had burst into flames. Spike leapt onto the counter, crouched low with his hands raised. The firelight playing with the shadows on his face made him look like a total bat out of hell as he pointed at something, his tail lashing. "You!" He took a flying leap off of the counter, roaring like a mountain lion. When he landed behind the flaming couch, a terrified scream sounded – Adam, Leo realized as bile rose in his throat – and was intensified by a loud crack. Leo struggled to stop himself from jumping out of hiding to find his downed brother – if Spike killed him, too, then where would everyone be? – but was rewarded by a howl of pain.
Spike's, to be specific.
Said demon was suddenly backing out from behind the couch, shaking his arm as hard as he could to rid it of the furious Yahn, who had bitten down on his wrist and wasn't letting go for anything. A figure – nothing but a shadow in the firelight – dove towards the spot where Adam had to have been.
Fire, he suddenly thought. The whole house is going to burn down if someone doesn't put that fire out! Even as he thought it, the flames were starting to move along the carpet. "Ysthry," he decided quickly, "help Yahn, but don't poison Spike!"
The little imp scurried out from under him and dove into the fray just as Spike managed to get Yahn off of him. The dragon imp hissed and flapped her wings in Spike's face to disorient him as Oly rammed him between his wings, knocking him forward.
While Spike was distracted, Leo jumped to his feet and bolted towards the kitchen, his eyes locked on the fire extinguisher. He had no idea how to use it, but he was going to get it, by god! He grabbed it from the counter top and turned around only to see a blur running circles around the blaze, killing it in seconds.
Thank god for Bree and her vortex – creating speed!
"Hey, kid: Give me that!"
Leo glanced at the yowling, snarling mess that was Spike against three imps only to see Oly holding her hands towards him. Without thinking, he threw the fire extinguisher at her. She caught it and – with an unnerving grin – cracked Spike over the head with it. The loudest of the fighting ceased as Spike collapsed, the room reverberating with the dull, metallic thud the fire extinguisher had made when it collided with his skull.
"Oly!" Bree snapped. "You could kill him doing that!"
Oly glanced at Spike – unconscious on the floor – and shrugged, casually throwing the fire extinguisher over her shoulder to land somewhere near the door. "I'm sure he's fine."
"Who's fine?"
Leo was relieved to hear Adam's question. He looked at the couch only to see his eldest brother sitting up and favoring his arm. Beside him, Douglas had one hand on his back and was looking at Adam's injury with a critical eye. "So, Adam: What have we learned about throwing Chase?"
"Don't," Adam answered, wincing as his arm moved a bit.
"Lucky for you, you're getting off lightly," Douglas continued. "Just a broken arm, it looks like."
"What happened?!"
Leo jumped at Mr. Davenport's voice. The man in question was standing at the bottom of the stairs with Tasha behind him, gaping at the scene. Between the scorched mess that used to be the couch, Adam obviously hurt on the floor, and Chase lying face-down near it all, Yahn and Ysthry perched on his back, Leo could see where someone would be shocked.
Shocked was actually an understatement. Mr. Davenport looked ready to explode.
Douglas decided to speak at that moment. "Before you lose it, I would like to go on record and say that the Commando App works perfectly. Just throwing that out there."
"When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?"
Kristin Cashore, Graceling
" 'Yes, yes,' said the Beast, 'my heart is good, but still I am a monster.'
"'Among mankind,' says Beauty, 'there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart.'"
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Chase
Why did it feel like I was hit upside the head with a brick?
Whatever the reason, I did not appreciate it.
Groaning, I rolled onto my back only to be overwhelmed by nausea and dizziness. Swallowing down the threat to vomit, I waited until my head cleared before I finally opened my eyes to find Mr. Davenport and Leo crouched over me.
Okay, so what happened?
Oh, kill them!
What? No, I thought angrily as I rubbed my eyes a bit.
I liked that other you better, my voice muttered. What was his name? Spike, I think. He was destructive. A proper demon.
Spike?! I sat up rapidly – despite the protests from Mr. Davenport that I should be careful – and winced as the dizzying nausea returned. This time, I actually did throw up – disgusting, by the way – on the ashes near me.
Ashes? What?
My vision cleared to reveal the charred remains of the couch not five feet from me, the upholstery creating an acrid scent in the air.
What did Spike do?!
I flinched suddenly as someone touched the back of my head, causing pain to radiate throughout my body. "Oly hit you hard," I heard Leo say.
"Oly did what?" I asked, frowning as I rubbed the back of my head. I could feel dried blood matting my hair.
"Apparently, Oly hit you over the head with that," Mr. Davenport answered, nodding towards a fire extinguisher.
"Technically, she hit Spike with it," Leo corrected.
"What did Spike do?" I asked, dreading the answer. I probably didn't even want to know, but I would find out eventually. Better now than later, I supposed.
"See, he lit the couch on fire and broke Adam's arm," Leo began. "But that's about it."
Holy hell. "Oh, god," I muttered, rubbing my eyes with my palms and lowering my ears. I had been afraid something like that would happen eventually. It was the main reason I ran away in the first place. Now that it had….
Adam must hate me, at the very least. Everyone else would probably walk on eggshells. All that effort to avoid a situation like that, wasted. Damn it!
"I'm so sorry," I mumbled dejectedly. It didn't feel like enough, but it was all I could do right then.
"Why?"
I glanced at Mr. Davenport. "I…did this," I huffed helplessly, gesturing at the living room.
"Spike did this," Leo corrected.
"Who's in charge of reigning Spike in?" I snapped. When nobody answered, I sighed. "Where's Adam?"
"Down in the Lab with everyone else," Mr. Davenport answered quietly. "Douglas is making a cast." After a second's hesitation, he added, "No one blames you, you know."
"I blame me," I growled. Because it was my fault. I didn't have a good enough handle on Spike, and it bit everyone else in the ass.
"You shouldn't," Leo said firmly. "Besides, Oly handled it before Spike got too out of hand."
"Speaking of, what happened to your wrist?" Mr. Davenport asked, picking up my hand.
I frowned and looked at it. A couple of triangular lacerations graced both sides of my wrist. "I have no idea."
"Yahn bit you," Leo answered.
"Yahn bit me," I echoed. It really didn't hurt compared to the concussion, but I figured that it would scar later. When Yahn bit, it was usually pretty hard. "So…what are we going to do about the couch?"
"Replace it," Mr. Davenport answered. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb when I sighed. "Listen to me: You didn't do this. It wasn't your fault. Understand?" He took hold of my chin and made me look at him when I didn't answer. "Understand?" This time, I nodded half-heartedly. He nodded himself and let go of me. "Good. Now, let's find out how Adam's coping." He stood up and rolled his shoulders a bit.
Leo stood up beside him and offered me his hand, which I took. Once he had helped me stand up – a bit more vomit joined the rest – and my head had cleared, we started towards the elevator.
Hopefully everyone would be as understanding as Mr. Davenport and Leo were.
They won't be. You are a demon. You were meant to destroy. This is who you are, and they all know it. This is all you can be.
Stupid little voice.
What bothered me about what it said was that somewhere – way, way deep down - I had a horrible feeling that it was right.
Okay, got that son-of-a-bitch under control and back to Chase.
Poor Adam. And Chasey.
Screw it: Poor everybody.
That little demon voice is one manipulative son-of-a-bitch, isn't it?
I'm not too pleased with my portrayal of Spike – too enclosed a space for me to unleash him fully, which pisses me off – but I tried, damn it. :P
Anyways, feel free to review. Or don't. I don't care.
And enjoy. :3
*Bows and exits*