Chapter 26 - Ruination of Perspective, Pt. 3
"...who said that?" Polio asked out loud. Looking at the glass floor metal framing, she was only able to see Sars. Ignoring the female stoat and young boy hedgehog, she moved quickly to the right to capture who else was down there.
Seeing more and finding two other silhouettes, one was distinctively her sister Malaria. The other figure seemed shorter and nothing about its shaped was deemed recognizable other than being another hedgehog breed. Seeing movement from her left peripheral vision, she remembered what she was doing. Pivoting around, the fox woman darted back to them. By the time she got back to where she was, both the woman and the boy had jumped through an open panel. Doing an arm swipe to capture at least the child, she missed.
"..." the three standing below heard noises from above.
The two sisters only did a partial glance to see two new people drop down from the second floor. They focused back on the amputee given that his growing malicious expression made them more cautious. Watching what was occuring in their side vision, both new visitors landed and latched onto one of the cage. Without delay, both slid off of the containment cells and fell to the floor. Seeing them land the drop hard from the height, a third set of feet impacted the ground harder.
"..." Polio spoke with mild grunt.
Getting up from crouching after the fall, she saw the boy and woman get into defensive stances. With alarmed and apprehensive looks, the eye patched woman darted her head to look behind her. Focusing her attention back forward to the vixen, she and the child slowly backed up to where the disfigured adult hedgehog was. Focusing her attention on the remaining individual that was facing her faith siblings, her mind was trying to process who it was.
'...an injured male rodent?' the fox woman thought to herself confused. '...that can't be Vermi.'
'Vermi doesn't speak...there is no tongue for him to speak,' she continued having a rigid perception of the long lost soul of Sanctum.
'If that is the case...why are my sisters wary and boring at him?' Polio pondered. Given the capabilities of her brethren, a disabled being should not be of a concern. Centering on the amputee, his stance and murderous closed fist seemed to indicate intimidation and asserting authority. Shaking her head and about to scoff at the odd silence and awkwardness, the man's grave mild raspy voice spoke again.
"...I..." he began.
His figure suddenly began vibrating by itself as if to fade out of existence. Noticing both Sars's and Malaria's eyes widen a little, he began walking. After his first step, two more clones of himself appeared. Each one was facing one of the sisters as it began their slow walking stride to them. The sudden action caused the sisters to become ruffled and take an immediate defensive stance. Glancing at the two other lost souls, both of them were not wary of what Speed was doing.
"...A...M..." the amputee continued. Getting closer to the sisters, his images began to have small glitches the further away they got from where he stood.
"...Vermilion..." the bat woman spoke feeling a blend of wonder and apprehension building inside. "...what is...this transgression?"
'...this isn't...our work...whose experiment was he from?' the bird woman pondered. Gripping her blood-stained mace, the slowly approaching image of the one arm man stirred her feathers. In some odd way, their seemed to be a pulsating draft of air emitting from him. The closer he got, the more she could feel.
"...R...E...V...E...N...A...N...T..."
"You..." Polio began watching the incoming ghost like image. Her eyes were wide and stared with cold, possessive eyes.
"You came back Vermi...who..." she continued. Directly staring at the female stoat and boy, only Chiara seemed to stiffen from her gaze.
"Who are these cattle?...why...is she with you?"
'For freakin' shit sake,' Chiara thought immediately side stepping to get next to Sonic. 'Why the hell is she starin' at me like a psycho? She isn't-'
"Did you commit a conception with that rodent?...why..." Polio claimed. Turning her creepy stare towards the glitching image, it stopped in front of her and look up. Seeing the crimson ring bore back at her with bleeding tears seem to make her heart pound faster; however, the menacing expression on the right side of his face caused her chest to ache.
"...Polio...under god's name...what are you preaching?" Sars questioned feeling uncomfortable from hearing the words coming out of the fox woman's mouth. Seeing the vibrating image of the amputee, a chill went down her spine from trying to understand what was occurring.
"...revenant...you say..." Malaria began.
Holding firm to her position, she was shocked from feeling a sense of anxiety. Having emotions that she long buried resurface made her perplexed. The aspect that they returned from the appearance of an old prisoner meant something broke inside her. Feeling it in her mind and body, the concern of her going primal never came. Oddly, it made her want to ponder and question things she deemed to be sacrilege.
"Vermi...only belongs...to Polio," the feynard proclaimed. Reaching behind her white blouse, she pulled out a gut-hooked knife. Impressions of old red stains painted the dull metal blade.
"You must be...discipline...repent...and ask for mercy...and forgiveness."
'Psycho possessive bitch of the three,' Chiara thought trying to steel herself. Despite seeing that Speed was controlling the situation, the aspect of still being in a nightmare dungeon was on the forefront of her mind. Looking down at the boy, he was very tense while watching around him. What seemed to keep his willpower up was the three after images Speed was doing from pure speed.
"...L...E...T...P...A...S...S...O...R...E...X...E...C...U...T...I...O...N..." Speed spoke and proceeded to get closer to the three sisters. To both the woman and orphan, his voice almost sounded like it came from everywhere.
"..." the fox woman responded with a grin. It amplified the creepy persona to that of a crazy killer.
"To make sure you can't leave me...your remaining limbs will have to be removed," she proclaimed.
Seeing his image get in front of her, she raised her knife. Doing a fast slash at him, it went through his image. Not seeing blood and his malicious expression remain, she gripped her weapon harder and swung in reverse. As if time slowed down a fraction, there was no knife in her hand. Darting her eyes back at the hedgehog, the gut hook blade was in his left hand.
"...!?" Polio reacted startled from seeing his glitching image get more distorted.
As if a hailstorm of needles stabbed her everywhere from her head down to her legs, she did not see any of the attacks. Blinking and seeing that the amputee vanished, the two vibrating images of him were still in front of her sisters. Seeing many eyes staring in her direction, only her faith siblings seemed to be more alarmed than the other two lost souls. About to speak, Speed's figures faded away to nothing. Opening her mouth, she coughed out reflex.
"...!?" Sars and Malaria reacted with shock. They saw the morsel of blood that splattered out of her mouth and to the floor. Seeing the surprised look on their sister's face, apprehension began to build. They could not find where the one-armed hedgehog vanished to. Seeing Polio bend forward and lift her arms to look at her hands, crimson from hundreds of lacerations started leaking out of her body.
"POLIO!?" the bird woman shouted in distraught and darted to her.
"SARS! STOP!" Malaria yelled reactively from hearing a hailstorm of rapid feet.
It was coming from the tunnel passageway behind where Polio was near. Just as Sars got to the fox woman's side, almost all of her body was bleeding everywhere. Seeing her feathered sister grab hold of her injured one, she saw the panic on her face while the other seemed shell shocked from what was happening to herself. Noticing a silhouette coming out of the tunnel, it was wearing a black cloak. A single glowing red ring emitted from where the person's face would be. However instead of walking, its legs never moved as it seemed to levitate toward her two siblings.
'...why...' Malaria thought as flashbacks of the past came to her hard.
In the time that Vermilion was a captive soul in Sanctum, she never kept her eye off of him. Despite Polio's sadistic romantic vision and possession of him and Sars never paying him too much attention, something about the hedgehog caused a seed of question. Many instances were from the amputee taking torture and captivity without registering pain like the others. His hoodie was always on and his dead look expression never changed regardless of the situation. The terror and horror of being in Sanctum and seeing others suffer did nothing. Even personal interrogation did not sway the tongueless man.
'...am I being reminded...of those visions...?'
"YOU BLASPHEMOUS PILE OF MEAT!," Sars screamed from seeing the incoming silhouette. Knowing it was the lost soul from the past from the characteristic red eye, she coiled her arm back with her mace in hand.
"YOUR BLOOD WILL-" she barked.
Her voice was cut short from getting Polio's knife shoved brutally into her forehead. Time slowed down as she the predator look on the hedgehog's face as he let go of the blade. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head with crimson pooling out of the wound. Falling backwards, she dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. Spasming as her life was slowly fleeting from her, the grip on her mace became weaker and weaker.
"..." Malaria spoke in ambivalence.
The act of seeing one of her faith siblings perish instantly did not seem to shock her as she thought it would. Instead, a weight seemed to ease off her mind as if a burden has been removed. Blinking from being startled by her initially reaction, she decided to not battle. Keeping herself planted on her defense position, she kept one hand on her weapon behind her. Viewing what would occur next, she looked at her other sister. Thinking that Polio would have much fight left from just getting surface cuts, the female fox was still standing in the same stop.
"...V...e...r...m...i..." Polio whispered in both suffering and relief.
The sight of the cloaked man brought back hope. Watching him turn around after picking up something near the bird woman, he turned around. Seeing the robotic eye with the cloak on gave the confirmation she needed. Closing her eyes, she prayed to her god. Thanking the deity for returning to her lost soul, she opened up her eyes. Seeing the covered silhouette closer, she gave a blood coated grin.
"...y...o...u...c...a...m...e...b...a...c...-" she muttered. Not noticing the large movement in front of her, something heavy and forceful impacted on the top of her head.
"...god damn..." Chiara cringed with a soft voice.
Watching the fox woman's head get bashed with the mace, the impact sounded gruesome. Instead of the head and neck acting like a spring, her head seemed to lodge itself into the neck. Without a gasp of air, the bleeding out torturer's arms became lifeless. Dropping to her sides, gravity took control and flopped her on her back. Hearing a metallic object drop to the ground, it clanged and echoed throughout the lobby area.
'...if these senses of relief...occur after their death...then,' Malaria wondered.
Looking down at herself, she lifted her hands. Seeing that they weren't shaking, she felt an odd tranquility infest inside her. Figuring Speed would be in front of her, she looked up to see that he was only halfway to her. Blinking, he was now in front of her. The instant materialization of him moving did not bother her anymore.
"...so Vermilion..." the bat woman began. Crossing her arms over her chest, she resisted the urges to take flight. The thought of escaping made her angry at herself.
"...you finally came to give penance...you spoke of fallacy about escaping the surface."
"...Sister Malaria...I am not...your judgment..." Speed stated and removed the hood. Looking at his face, the act of murdering two of his former wardens did not register anything.
"Ha," she exclaimed with a scoffing laugh. "I am not a fable fool Vermilion. You executed my sisters without hesitation nor give them a last pray."
"...the question...let pass...or execution..."
"...was directed...at them...not...to you."
"...you what?" Malaria asked with unbelieving eyes. Hearing footsteps getting closer to them, it was the other hedgehog and female stoat. Though they treaded cautiously to him, their fear had been severely reduced from earlier. Ignoring them, she turned her focus back at Speed.
"Your pilgrimage...does not end...it begins," he clarified.
"There is no pilgrimage for the Sisters of Suffering. The Sanctum is a center to reform lost souls."
"The night you drank...from a lost soul...with alcohol seeping...in its veins," he spoke then gave a rare cruel and sadistic large smile. "Do you remember...your influenced dream?"
"..." the bat woman blinked a couple of times. Staring at him like he said something bizarre, her mind began to turn. The flashbacks from before kept coming and going as if she were trying to filter all of them out. Trying to find the right vision that he was talking about.
"You mean," Chiara finally chimed in. Standing a little behind Speed and holding Sonic's hand, she continued.
"She got drunk from drinking a person's blood?"
"...more or less..." Speed answered in his normal voice. His expression changed back to his stoic one and turned his head to the right. Seeing both there, he looked down at child. Seeing him staring back, a little bit of blood was trickling down the corner of his mouth. Giving a half mild smirk to the kid, he turned back to the Sanctum ruler.
"How wasted was this person?"
"He drank a jug...of Mobishine," he answered and stared back at Malaria.
'...Mobishine...that doesn't...bring a vision...' she thought. Still having her arms crossed, she stared at the ground in front of her and tried recalling.
"...how much of a canteen we talkin' about?"
"...size of a kicking ball..."
"...size of a..." Sonic muttered to himself.
Readily thinking about the probable size mentioned, he brought his hands in front of his face. Thinking about how big were the ones back in the village, he made the gesture of holding an invisible sphere. Looking up, he saw two pairs of eyes staring at him. The amputee was still facing the bat woman.
"That's enough to lay to rest any light and medium weights...completely," Chiara remarked with mild surprise.
Based on how Speed and the bat woman were behaving, the fear she had of this place was slowly dissipating. It seemed that the real threats in this place was the zealot sisters. Also, the conversation seemed to imply that the amputee had dirt on the black skinned winged mammal. Which made her believe that she was not as big of a threat when they initially met. Regardless of the whole situation, she still kept the possibility of the blacked skinned breed attacking in her mind.
"Also, ya can't get that brew locally. It's shipped over the water far north."
"It's from beyond the water horizon?" the boy asked quietly. In looking at the female stoat, he quickly glanced at the bat woman. She was too preoccupied with the looking at the ground. It seemed she was trying hard to think about what Speed was trying to get her to remember.
"Is it like pop?"
"Nah. It is not something a kid should drink," she informed looking back at him.
"Is it an adult drink only?"
"...it can...kill most people...if you drank...a jug full of it," the one arm hedgehog answered. Blinking with one eye and watching Malaria, she was still boring at the floor. Deciding that because of how she holds herself, she wouldn't remember unless he lent her a line. Knowing that his voice could not mimic at all, he spoke in a little higher and airy pitch.
"You know Vermilion," he spoke. The different voice immediately made everyone look at him. Seeing that it did not conjure anything, he continued.
"Assss much as I...enjoy thisss line of...*hic*...holy work...there issss...sss...ssss..."
"Ssssomething lacking...do you hear what I am...preaching?"
"Sssssilence of the lampssss..." Speed voiced.
Walking the short distance to Malaria, he moved as if he were plastered. The sudden and dramatic change from the stone face and murderous hedgehog was black and white. His out of character captured all the prisoners attention as they silently watched. His reinactment not only made their torturer remain still, but she was acting opposite of her dominate persona. It was as if they could see her slowly grow in anxiety.
"Youuu...youu'llll," Speed continued.
Stopping in front of the bat woman, his body leaned to the left while his head was tilted to the right. His expression remained the same though his voice portrayed a different person. Malaria watched him reached out his hand to her. Despite not allowing anyone to touch her even her faith siblings, her curiousness and wonder seemed higher than normal. Also given the character of the former prisoner, he did not do things to be deceptive. Allowing him to grab hold of her blouse, it was firm.
"You'll be...my confesssssionssss box," he said then threw his head up. Airy laughs began to emit from him like a drunkard would. However, his expression was more deranged than amusing to Chiara and Sonic. It made them feel awkward.
"...hey sport..." the female stout whispered at the corner of mouth. "...Speed do this before?"
"...no..." the child answered staring in wonder.
'I can't tell if he went bat shit crazy or not...despite thinking this to be amusing,' she thought in her head. Swallowing, she cautiously stared at him and the bat woman.
'He freakin' sucks at acting funny.'
'...confessions box...' Malaria repeated to herself. Staring in mild bewilderment at his laughter, nothing was triggering in her head. She would have thought of him mocking her if it wasn't for his deadpan face. Seeing his head come back down to look at her, he continued.
"Vermilion!...Wit...nesssss...I must confesssssssnnnmmm...a...s...i...n..." he shouted then got softer and softer to a whisper. Hiccupping and making an airy giggle, it sounded more unfriendly than being cute.
"I...have always...HAVE ALWAYS...BY THE GODS NAMES!...AAALLLLWWWAAAAYYYYSSSS!" the amputee shrilled rapidly with loudness.
"...!?" everyone else reacted with widen eyes. Small hairs of fur on the back of their neck began to rise from the echoing sound bouncing off the walls. As if grabbing all of their attention, the adult hedgehog faked a loss of balance. Quickly recovering and hiccupping again, he continued.
"...wanted to...experienccce...a commoner...praccccticcccce," he continued with a slurring tone.
'...commoner practice...' Malaria pondered. Strangely, a part of her felt like she heard this before. Where and who she heard it from was not coming to mind. The other part that puzzled her, her fingers were getting tingly.
"...issss it...tooooooo much of...sssssin...to be...enlight...t...t...ened...of it?"
"Vermi...lion...have you...committed the act...you came...from outssside?"
"...sssssppppeeeaaakkkkkk...I...mmmuuussstttt...k...n...o...w..." he slurred. All the sudden, he stopped and lifted his head up. It gave the impression that something became an idea.
"Why...confessss...more...when the communion...can be done...here," he stated. Feeling the motion of being pushed, Malaria saw him backed away a step instead. Seeing his eyes looked down at the ground in front of them, an unattractive grin appeared on his face.
"Do yooooou...*hic-up*...know what pilgrimage I...am partaking?" Speed continued to mimic. An awkward silence passed by when suddenly his face became unpleased as if quickly irritated.
"BY THE UNHOLY GODS OF THE DAMN VERMILION!" he savagely roared at the floor.
'...wait...this...act...' Malaria questioned with alertness.
Something blurry appeared in her mind's eye in which gave the impression she was staring down at something. Instead of the floor, she was inside one of her chamber's prison cells. The other ones were not upkept well; however, there is one that was purposely better as a means to be deceptive of prisoner treatment. Recalling that she did put the amputee in there before, for what reason she had was lost from happening a couple of years ago. The aspect of having a flashback from his acting made her begin to replay all he just did in her mind.
'...how the hell...' Chiara thought feeling tense from the portrayed reenactment. 'Can this guy monstrously scream...when he had no tongue before?'
"TAKE YOUR SYRINGE!" Speed shouted harshly. Grabbing the air around his waist and drunkenly ripping it off, he took a wider standing stance. It was at that moment that both Chiara and Sonic saw the bat woman's face. As if something triggered, she had a look of horror and embarrassment across her face.
"AND PEN-" he began. In one quick step and motion, Malaria cleared the distance between her and Speed. Covering his mouth with one hand, she got nose to nose and toe to toe with him. Her expression was murderous.
"YOU WILL CEASE THIS DELVING AT ONCE VERMILION!" she screamed viciously in his face. Raising the tension again in the environment with everyone, the adult hedgehog stopped his acting drunk. Straightening himself a little, he was not fazed by her outburst. Her sudden aggression did not make him falter.
"So...you do remember your...influenced dream."
"What was the point of reminding me of that...regretful memory?" she asked. Staring hard into his eyes and not moving away from him, she pressed herself against him as if to dominate.
"As a value remembering...is shows...you are...normal."
"Normal?" Malaria repeated with a small pull back of her head. Blinking at him confused, she let go of his mouth. Producing her claws with the same hand, she connected her nails to the right side of his face.
"Pray tell how...normal I am. Do you know how long this faith has been going on? How long the Sanctum has been preaching and reforming lost souls?"
"The lost souls...were all of them...criminals?" Speed asked with a stoned face.
"They were sinners," she corrected.
"Sinners...based on what your...faith preaches as...evil," he emphasized.
"...yes..."
"...all sinners...came from above...and in the tunnels...?"
"...what are you driving at Vermilion?" she asked trying to figure out where he was leading this conversation.
"Tell me Sister Malaria..." Speed began and took a step forward. Ignoring the feeling of her nails digging a little, he got in her face again.
"...do you know...what is above your Sanctum?"
"..."
"...how did the lost soul...upstairs...live in the wall?"
"..." she answered with continuing to stare at him.
"...why were your...sisters always...missing...during your sleep?"
"...what...?" the bat woman spoke. With her eyes widening a little, she removed her clawed hand away from his face. Her action made Chiara and Sonic feel uneasy. Both have seen when the amputee begins questioning, he has gotten under people's skin effectively.
"...how did you...not know..." Speed spoke then cocked his head to the left. He continued to give his stoic expression and stare with unblinking eyes.
"What they...concocted alongside...the Sanctum faith?"
"You are saying grievous and blasphemous claims Vermilion," she stated holding her ground.
"...why...have you not...ventured into your...sisters' chambers?"
"We established this ourselves...taken an oath that-"
"That you blindly...took to heart..." the amputee injected then raised his head back straight. "...you are...a fool."
"KNOW YOUR PLACE-" Malaria shouted and curled her clawed hand into a fist.
Seeing him glare at her, his figure vibrated violently. Within a second, her vision began to bend as light zoomed passed her sight. Blinking from being startled, everything stopped moving. Closing and opening her eyes rapidly, she was transported somewhere else. Feeling a hand let go of her fist, she saw the one arm hedgehog was in front of her.
"Here...Sars's dwelling," he stated with an unamused tone.
"...!?" the bat woman reacted with fearful wonder. Not looking at anything in the room, she solely focused on his eyes. Boring at her with the same intensity as before, he moved his left arm.
"The sister who...orchestrated..." he began. Putting his hand on a light switch, he flicked it on. Illuminating the interior of the large room, the horror inside was shown.
"...the fruits...of your faith's deliverance...of penance."
"...holy fuckin'..." Chiara breathed in disgust.
From the crimson stained operation tables to the wall-to-wall-to-wall display case of body parts and organs, it was a nightmarish version of a doctor's office. The only place that seemed relatively clean was the small concavity in the left wall. An administration desk was set up inside along with other items. A filing cabinet with blood-stained feather prints were seen all over it and on the handles. Hearing someone hurling onto the floor, she saw the boy had thrown up. Hearing him wheezing and shaking, the stoat went to him and put a hand on his head.
"...what's...wrong...Sister...Malaria...?" the amputee asked evenly. Staring at her, the look of disbelief registered on her face. Seeing her trying to process what she was witnessing; he did not let her.
"...more is needed...to enlighten you...here..." he said as his figure began vibrating fiercely.
"St-" Malaria reacted. Attempting to reach her hand out, she went through another vision bending tunnel.
"-op!...!?" she finished. Blinking from she saw, her eyes opened wide with a wild flabbergasted state of mind.
"...!?" Chiara reacted with holding her mouth. Hearing a small thump of a body hitting the floor, the three saw the blue hedgehog had passed out. Glancing back at the scene of another chamber room, the stoat turned around in revulsion. Going to a bare wall that was not splashed with red, she put her hands on it. Trying to breathe, the pungent and vile scent in the air was overwhelming. Unable to hold it in, she regurgitated on the floor.
"...Polio's chamber."
"...no...this is..." the bat woman spoke and slowly shook her head.
The sight of the torture chamber with lost souls still chained to them was not the problem. It was that everything was dripping with red iron liquid. Also, a theme of unquenched lust was attached to all contraptions, prisoners, and objects. Even the corpses that were piled up in different areas were in various states of being whole or butchered. Those bodies had heavily accented themes of carnal desire.
"The sister...who let sins...become her faith."
"...t-t-this is...w-we..." Malaria began.
With voicing denial, the revelation of what she was seeing was too grand. Unable to turn away from what the room represented; she darted her eyes at Vermilion. His expression never changed. His gaze never changed. The aspect of naming him the red witness of the Sanctum suddenly became a deeper meaning.
"...w-w-when..." the bat woman stammered. Looking at him as she felt her foundation and psyche crumble, she walked to him. Placing her hands on the sides of his face, her legs gave out. Gripping his face while slamming the ground on her knees, she didn't react to the pain. Staring in front of his face, she began to shake.
"...h-h-how...l-long...has the devil's work...b-been here?"
"...documents in...Sister Sar's chamber," Speed began.
Hearing Chiara spitting and wheezing, she remained holding herself against the wall. Seeing her legs give out, she slid down the wall. Watching her try to push herself up, the nauesa that infested inside of her took hold. Falling backwards to the ground, she was out cold. Focusing back on the bat woman slowly losing her sanity, he continued.
"...show the convergence...was before...you joined the sisters...crusade."
"...no...no-no-no-no-no...no...NO!" Malaria shouted in denial.
"Deception Sister Malaria...carries...many...faces..." he mentioned looking down on her.
"THIS IS BLASPHEMY! VISIONS OF THE HUMAN DEVILS!"
"...no Malaria...this is not human...this is primal...sadistic...animalistic...behavior."
"THIS IS NOT REAL! VERMILION! THIS CAN'T BE REAL!"
"...if that is your confession..." the amputee began. Reaching to her face and placing a hand to cup her right jaw, he gripped.
"...then we must...go to the shrine...to enlighten you...even further..."
"N-N-NO! VERM-" she shouted in fright. Seeing everything around her tremble in place hard, light and color bent and folded on itself. Forming a tunnel to which she was traveling through, it all stopped after she blinked.
"ILION!"
"...welcome..." Speed began and firmed his grip more. "to the embodiment...of your sisters's...faith and longing."
"...!?" the bat woman reacted with her lips quivering.
Only glancing at what was surrounding the shrine and its statues, an overwhelming environment of despair, suffering, death, and necrophilia. It was a site for bio-experimentation to which fusions of multiple corpses' skin and barbaric surgical structures were made. Seeing the site of hell in front of her, the only constant that was out of place was the one-armed hedgehog. Seeing his eyes look down on her, there was no sympathy or pity. His synthetic eye of black and red fitted the environment with its non-organic gaze.
"...what's wrong...?" Vermilion asked in a cold hearted tone. "...look at the faith...you swore to."
"...I-I-I...I d-did not...t-t-this wasn't our-" Malaria stammered and looked down. Feeling his hand jerk up from still holding onto her chin, she looked back at him.
"LOOK AT YOUR FAITH!" he screamed in her face to what sounded like rage.
"..." she reacted with tensing up and staring into his eyes.
"LOOK AT YOUR SISTERS' WORK!"
"..." she reacted with only opening and closing her mouth. No voice was coming out.
"THIS SHRINE! THAT BIO-MASS OF LOST SOULS! ALL FOR YOUR GODS!"
"..." the bat woman physically cringed as her ears folded down.
"SISTERS OF SUFFERING...WHICH GOD ANSWERED YOUR S.O.S. CALL!?"
"..."
"...silence of the lamps..." Speed spoke in a normal tone. Letting go of her jaw, her hands began to slip down his face. Weakly grabbing onto his cloak, she felt lifeless and an ignoramus.
"...trying to repent...Sister Malaria...?"
"...no god...no faith...no one...not even a human...will allow me to..." she stated in a defeated and dismayed tone. "...to say...I am ashamed...is too light of term...to be a zealot without questioning...without seeing...is no different from a cretin."
"...if that is your judgment...then I shall reform you..." the amputee spoke turning to the left beyond 90 degrees.
"...you'd...reform...m-" the bat woman began with puzzlement. Not seeing it coming, the gray ash hedgehog viciously slugged her on her right temple. Instantly falling to the ground to her left, she was knocked out.
"..." Vermilion commented standing back up straight. Clearing his throat a little, he put his hoodie back on. Looking up at the bio shrine and finding the one statue that was supposed to be him, it had a red lens inserted into a dead person's skull. Shivering from seeing what Polio really used it for, he turned toward Malaria. Grabbing one of her ankles, he began to drag her away.
