MPD Mission Log 2 (TZ)

Second Mission Log in the MPD Archives.
== Losing Identity ==
Sometime much later, the two are traveling in a transport van owned by the MPD Enforcers Division, with two armed guards sitting opposite them by the van doors. There is not a threatening air, but neither are they comfortable. Lux sits in the front seat driving, rather adept at the task.
"We will be at the main branch within the next few hours. I would suggest you try and rest while you can." For some reason the Administrator had begun speaking via a robotic text to speech device, and had refused to elaborate on why.
"Please keep yourselves calm, the process will not take long if you follow our instructions. Remember that once you are registered, you are forbidden from public displays of power or transformations that would endanger any adjacent civilians. You may not use superhuman abilities or force against a human or engage in combat against another Myth, especially if human lives are at risk. Violating these rules may result in permanent containment, use of power suppression and mind controlling collars, or termination."
Mordecai rolls his eyes and mumbles. "I doubt i'd be more likely to attack people just because i'm a Myth now." Despite his thorny attitude its clear that Mordecai is unnerved.
Mariel seems to have fallen asleep again, having had not much sleep the last 24 hours. She is resting against Mordecai's shoulder and side, her body completely up against him. Her ears occasionally twitch in her sleep, while her tails passively swish from time to time, occasionally brushing up against his cheek, tickling him. He can hear a light snore from her as she breathes.
He doesn't actually seemed bothered at all by this, and instead lets her rest peacefully. Every time one of her tails lightly swishes his cheek however, he does his best to keep from turning a light shade of red. 
Eventually he feels her tail rest against his face, particuarly his nose.
Not only does Mordecai get a little more red, but he starts to feel a sneeze coming. "Come on not now, don't do this to me stupid body of mine!" He barely manages to hold it in.
The tail continues to rest on him, though it twitches randomly, not helping the situation.
Mordecai turns his head ever so slightly so that the tail can no longer reach his nose. "Oh thank god sweet release."
The tail is now resting on his lap, plushy and fluffy, occasionally twitching in her sleep. The fur seems to be rather glamourous in terms of quality, most foxes would kill to have fur as soft and fine.
Mordecai makes nothing of it for a second before he notices. "Don't pet the tail, don't pet the tail, don't pet the tail...." It takes a few seconds for him to give in as he pets the tail for a small second. "SHIT."
She moans in her sleep, murmuring, "Oh Morde I wanna bite you~ ...no, too cute..." She continues to snore.
Mordecai turns brick red, mouth agaoe as his soul has left his body.
Mariel continues to snore, as if unaware of the events thus far.
Mordecai snaps out of it, and decides to wake up Mariel while never ever speaking of this ever. He gently shakes her.
"Nooo... I don't wanna party..."
He shakes her a little bit more. "I'd rather go to a party than what we're doing right now. Just wake up, please?"
She snorts before beginning to rouse. "Why is the room shaking so much...?" She grumbles.
"We're going to get registered, remember? You decided to rest your eyes along the way."
Her eyes darken. "...I wanna sleep now."
"You've been sleeping for awhile now, im not that bad to spend time with."
"...I don't want to think about what we're about to do, Mordecai... ...it feels wrong."
"I just want to make sure we're safe. I doubt things will go our way if we don't do this."
"And how will it go any better if we do? We're still like this, and it's not like we really get any rights as people. We're going to live life possibly getting stabbed in the neck with every person we pass, and getting hateful looks every which way. ...Plus other Agencies might just ignore our registration and still attack us, and what if this Agency runs out of money? What then? We're putting ourselves in people's hands that might not even deliver!" She seems deeply worried.
Mordecai seems both annoyed and worried at the same time. "I don't know Mariel, honestly. I just don't want to think about these things yet. We've already been through hell, we don't need assume theres more waiting for us along the way. Maybe we'll get a break. Can you just please put trust in me?"
"We'll be coming up on the facility soon. I don't reccomend any funny buisness once we arrive." Lux speaks.
Mordecai rolls his eyes. "You heard him. No funny business." Mordecai has his eyes crossed and his making circle around his head with a finger in mockery.
A paper wad smacks him in the forehead. "I saw that."
The van begins to slow.
Nordecai shrugs. "Think you'll be okay Mariel?"
She shakes her head slowly.
He sighs, looking both annoyed and bad. "I'll hold your hand throughout the entire time if you need me to."
She seems to instantly grab his hand when he says this.
He meant it as more of a joke, making him rather surprised. "O-oh wait um, really? I...okay." He holds her hand, oddly seeming nervous. "Uh...come on, lets get this stupid shit over with. Then we can do whatever you like, i'll treat you to your favorite restaurant, okay?"
She reluctantly stands with him, not speaking. The van has come to a stop, and Lux gets out, and they can hear guards on the other side of the van doors walking up.
He massages her hand a little bit to comfort her. "We're strong, don't worry."
The doors open, and a group of ten guards standing behind Lux awaits. "Come with us, quickly. Let's get this going."
Mordecai steps out of the van, leading Mariel along.
She follows him slowly, as Lux leads them toward a large facility and its front entrance.
He walks through the front entrance as Lux leads them, not really bothering to take everything in as he usually would.
He leads them down into the lower levels, into the basement areas. He eventually arrives at two doors, and motions for Mordecai to go through one, but makes Mariel go through the other. She does not seem to be happy about it at all.
He reluctantly lets go of her hand. "Again, sorry im pretty much making us do this. Like I said though i'll treat you to whatever you want after." Mordecai walks through the other door.
He sees her guided into the other room, the door closing behind her. A guard prods him in the back with a gun. "Hurry up."
He scowls. "I'm going, fucks sake." He speeds up a bit, continuing through wherever the door leads.
Once they are both seated in a small white room with a small chair and desk, they are given sheets of paper to sign, up until the very end, fully agreeing to be registered and accept the full control of the MPD over them and their affairs. Mariel stares at the paper, at the signature line, knowing what it will mean to sign it. She begins to quiver and shake, every fiber in her being feels a deep wrongness that makes her borderline ill.
Why does this have to happen to me... I don't... I can't... ...I just want to be human... Why can't I be human? ...I'm... I'm... ........I'm not human... I'd rather die than continue on like this... I feel like my heart... ...my heart is tearing apart...
After what feels like an eternity, she stops shaking and slumps in her seat, a dead look in her eyes.
...I'm no longer human... ...I'm a Kitsune... ...and I'll never have my life back again...
Her hand begins to shake as she signs her name, sealing the contract. A light wave of pain begins to circulate in her body, a strange heat emitting from her, soon developing into a sort of fever, and she finds it hard to concentrate as she is slowly lead to a strange station with a needle, which soon jabs itself into her shoulder and injects a black sort of ink, which spreads into her shoulder, forming a sort of barcode.
"Registration complete. You now answer in all affairs to us. Your life is in our hands, don't forget it," The guard intones before escorting her out of the room, her eyes dead from despair.
Mordecai seems to speed through the registration until the last line. "It'll be fine. Besides, theres not a life waiting for me if I don't sign this. Just accept it." He breathes in and signs.
He is lead to the same sort of machine and injected with a similar kind of barcode, then lead outside, where he sees a very much dishearted if not depressed Mariel, he can't even see her face but he can tell from her posture that there's little strength left in her after all of this. He can clearly see the barcode on her shoulder.
His own heart starts hurting while he sees her like this, unsure of really what to say.
"On your way. We got more people to register." The guard intones again.
Mordecai tries to take Mariel's hand again to lead her away from the area. 
Her hand feels incredibly warm, and as he takes it he feels no resistance, Mariel just seems to abide by his guidance for now, having nothing to say, her head clouded from her misery and the strange sensations taking place in her body and mind, on top of the fever.
He leads her out, before speaking. "Mariel I'm really sorry. Can you please just say something?"
"...I'm not human anymore... ...I'll never be me again. What more do you want me to say? I'm just an animal, to the people I belonged to only a mere day ago... ...an animal with a barcode, so I'm not even given any value as a person now..."
Mordecai looks a little angry, but not directly at Mariel. "Mariel please! You're not an animal and never will be. Whats happened to us hasn't stripped us of everything we know and love, im sure everything will turn out alright. If we're here for each other im sure things will be okay."
She looks away. "...I need to lie down."
Mordecai sighs. "...I guess where can we lie down is the question now."
She seems to be swaying on her feet, unbalanced. He can distinctly tell she is unhealthily warm.
He looks confused. "Oh, shit Mariel are you okay? You're heating up again, do you have another fever?" 
She pants as she nods. "Feel like I'm gonna lose my stomach..." 
"Oh jesus, shit okay. Lets find a garbage can or a bathroom or an alleyway, I don't know!"
He manages to find a remote alleyway where almost no one even traverses in the shadows, where Mariel finally collapses, he can see as the sun is setting that Mariel's face is scarlet, and she is sweating profusely. At this time, she lets out a cry of pain as a sharp crack! Can be heard from her body, with additional snap! Sound retorting from her in quick sucession, her body jerking violently. This continues for a good while, as her cries continue well into the evening, and during this time, he sees a third tail sprouting from her body, tearing its way free of her clothes.
The cries of pain continue well on for a while, eventually being replace with moans, but not nessisarily pained ones. In the morning, with little sleep due to her condition, he is more properly able to see what had transpired.
Many would never had been one to say Mariel was blessed with much physical attributes, in fact the most insensitive individuals (which Mordecai would probably punch in the face), often remarked that she was 'straight and flat as a board'. Now looking at her, he can see her waist is far more pronounced than before, giving her a more feminine figure. He doesn't notice this at first, but a faint bulge of her chest can be seen, not impressive, but it's undeniable she has grown more feminine, even her face is softer.
Mordecai was barely able to watch the initial transformation period, extremely upset that he didn't know what was going on, and even more upset that he couldn't help her. When the transformation is over he is both relieved, scared, curious, and surprised. "M-Mariel is everything...alright...oh...um, wow." He turns extremely red before taking off his hoodie, and placing it over her.
She soon wakes up, moaning and sitting up, stretching. It doesn't take her long to notice the new tail, which she seems to grab hold over and seemingly examines, he can't see any form of upset expression on her face, merely a neutral expression. She seems to become a bit more surprised when she sees her figure.
"...I guess mom was right... ...I am a late bloomer," She makes a weak attempt at a joke.
Mordecai, expecting a large freakout is essentially dumbstruck, and actually does a combination of a laugh and snort when she says that, extremely embaressed. "Oh my GOD."
She yawns, stretching again and dislodging the hoodie from her form. She pauses before becoming slightly annoyed.
"I don't think I should wear pants and such if my tails are going to obliterate them like this each time. ...Fuck, might need to wear dresses. Maybe will help hide these things." Her tails swish around, noticeably more naturally than before, as though Mariel was actually getting used to them. He also notices she is making mention of her new limbs without seeming displeased or otherwise stressed, almost as if she's fully accepted their presence.
He turns red, grabbing the hoodie. "Wait wait wait wait hold on you're indecent!" He turns around, not wanting to upset her. "But.....you never wear dresses? I mean you'd probably look good in one but....oh boy. You're not...mad? Or sad?"
"Well maybe it's time to change... ...I mean, I'm already a fox girl with three tails, probably four soon with how fast they've come in so far... ...and it's never going to stop being that way, you know? ...I've just given up Mordecai... ...we're not human anymore. ...And we're never going back to that life, you can feel it too right?
...There's only so much you can take before you just give up on being who you are. ... let's just get some new clothes that are not vulnerable to tail spurts." She swishes her tails some more. While her tone is soundly defeated, he can almost sense a weight gone from her, as though letting go of humanity has brought a sense of peace.
He looks surprised, but he's clearly showing signs of agreement. "I, well....yeah we're clearly not human anymore. But that doesn't mean we're different people, right? You're still Mariel and im still Mordecai. You're still my friend and that wont change. You clearly like me too much to let go of me." The last bit was a joke clearly, laughing a little after saying it, before turning serious again. "...Sorry. Lets get you some new clothes though, you're right."
His remark brings a noticable redness to her cheeks as he says this. "Uhh, y-yeah, l-let's go get some new clothes! Ha ha..." She stammers, pulling the hoodie over herself in a flurry.
Mordecai seems a little confused by her reaction, but shrugs it off. "I never thought i'd see the day when you'd willingly put on a dress to be honest. But I guess tails kinda force you. I suggest keeping the stockings though. Oh yeah, I actually wanna try something when we're done, Kaiju stuff. Do you remember how my arm changed when I punched that guy in the restaurant?"
"...Yes...? ...I'm not that socially awkward am I Mord?"
"Well, no but, nevermind. Look basically I wanna try that again just without needing to punch someone. Who knows, maybe i'll grow three tails too."
"...Ok, did you need my permission to mess with your arm? Don't complain if your arm gets stuck that way Mord."
He rolls his eyes. "I'm just telling you on something cool I wanna do. And don't joke about that! I don't want to have a permanent crocodile arm. I'll just mess with electricity I guess."
She opens her mouth to say something but turns deep red and closes her mouth again, tails swishing furiously as she walks. It doesn't take long to find a clothing store, as they had passed on the way there, but Mariel is not allowed in due to her state of affairs, plus her fairly obvious Mythic figure.
"Alright I guess im gonna have to shop for you, do you want anything specific? I really don't know what im doing here if im dress shopping."
"...You'll..." She pauses, before attempting to speak, only achieving a tiny mutter, "Have to measure me..."
He turns around, not quite hearing her. "Speak up, I can't hear you."
She grits her teeth as she speaks louder. "...You'll have to measure me."
"...Oh. Right. That is something I definitely have to do uh, yeah. Maybe not right infront of the store? I'll do it as quick as possible."
She sulkingly walks back toward the hidden alley. "...Hurry up please... ...this is embarassing..."
He walks after her. "Its embaressing for me too, I..I never really thought i;d be doing this in an alleyway." He stops talking and considers what he said. "Oka NEVERMIND, completely ignore what I said, jesus. How am I even supposed to do this?"
"..." She doesn't respond or let him see how red her face becomes, and tries to avoid crossing her legs when unwelcome thoughts slam into her brain.
"...Uh... uh..." After clearing her head, she tries again, and proceeds to explain the process quickly.
He reddens a little bit, mostly due to how shes acting along with what shes describing. "Um...okay, I-I think I got all of that, let me just..." Mordecai starts to do exactly what she told him to do, trying not to get too close to save embaressment for the both of them.
She waits, desperately trying to control the strange hormones in her head from causing her to do something stupid, made more difficult by the nature of his task, reliefed to be free from the situation when he finishes, almost letting a sigh of relief escape her lips.
"We-well then, let's get that d-dress!"
He nods rather fast. "But again um....you can't come in, so...a-anything you want specifically? Like uh, describe what you want I guess."
"...Something simple please, no wedding dresses. I'm not into floral shit. ...And uh, don't get anything revealing please."
"Of course of course, nothing too exposing or well, out there, gotcha. I'll be right out!" Mordecai walks into the store, taking a rather long time looking, before he eventually comes around with a dress that somewhat fits what Mariel wanted, albeit probably not exactly.
She critically examines it, trying to decide how far it deviated from her instructions.
"...Something wrong? I don't have to return it already, do I?"
She quietly tries it on, retreating to the alley to do so. When she is done, she turns to Mordecai for his opinion.
"...Well?"
The dress is a little simple in design, mostly black with some blue accents here and there. Due to his hesitance to get close during the measurements, it fits a little too tight but not enough to make it overwhelming. The length appears to be just right, albeit a little revealing in the back. "I uh...actually got you this, as well." He pulls out a long blue scarf from behind him.
She blushes with the dress a bit, but seems to appreciate the scarf. "...Did you get me a back up dress?" She asks hesitantly. "I just have a feeling that if something more drastic happens, it would be good to have a second one."
"Oh, shit. I'll get another, Sigel gave us a lot of money, anything different you want with this other one?"
"Maybe a tad looser size. Not too loose, just a tad. This one's a little too right on the money if you catch my drift." She observes her figure, not used to being curved.
"...Do you think I look nice?" She wonders aloud.
"Oh okay. Little looser it is." He's about to walk away before hearing her last remark and turning around. "...Well yeah, um...of course. You look....pretty."
She turns cherry red and becomes weak in the knees. "Y-you think so?"
He pulls his hoodie up a little bit, as if to cover his face. "Well....yeah. Im surprised you're not punching me for saying that. But you do look really good."
"Thank you..." She relaxes a bit.
He throws her a cheasy smile with two thumbs up before entering the store, coming out faster than he did last time with another dress, this time a little more accurate as to what she wanted.
She gives him a weak, grateful smile. "Thank you Mordecai. You're..." She pauses and swallows hard as a thought begins to burn at her mind, almost a compulsion. She fights it down, fights the strange alien feeling in her body, a growing lust within that whispers fantasy into her head from surfacing.
"You're the best friend I could ask for Mordecai."
He looks surprised, turning a light shade of pink before smiling. "I...thank you Mariel. Im happy to say I think the same about you. Now how about we finally have dinner like we planned?"
"Yes. That sounds wonderful." Together they head to a decent restaurant, and for once have a long night of being themselves and relaxing. But the night would be one of only a few respites, the trials would only continue....
== The Feral Nature ==
It is late in the evening several weeks later, time for them to retire for the night most certainly, and they are now walking in the direction of the alley when something strikes a cord within Mordecai, a strange sense of danger is present. He feels a tension as though he is being watched, a cold, baleful presence.
He stops dead in his tracks. "Hold on, something isn't right." He looks around, clearly wary.
He begins to hear many footsteps echo in the dark, soon their owners, dirty, gruesome looking men that look like demons from their sheer malevolent expressions, their unrelatable coldness. Many wield wicked looking weapons.
"Well well. What have we here, a boy and his pet fox. Your type isn't welcome here," The leader of the man speaks.
"We'll let you off with a warning to straighten up and keep away from these filthy animals. But as for foxy, well, I'll have fun with her before I rip her open like a highschool disection lesson." He grins with rotting teeth.
Mariel is shaking in fear, backing up only to be grabbed by a man from behind them.
"You ain't gon' nowheres you filth. Boss wantsa playmate to tear up like a Christmas present."
She begins to scream and squirm, only for him to gag her, muffling her voice.
"Wonder how hard she'll scream before she goes..." The leader chucles before head towards Mariel.
The moment Mordecai hears distress from Mariel, he roars and undergoes a transformation. He grows in size and height slightly, retaining his humanoid form as his skin is replaced with scale like dermal armor.  He looks mildly animalistic as he drops to all fours, pouncing at high speed towards the closest one to Mariel.
The one next to him points his gun at Mariel's head.
"Back off or I pop her head like a melon!"
Mordecai stops in his tracks, merely snarling. There is electricity circling his body, but he just glares at the man.
Mariel begins to moan, her head beginning to swim as the terror begins to cause son inside her to begin to stir, like a dark river of malice. She begins to squir as the feeling ignites pain in her cells, calling to the dark corners of her mind.
Without warning as Mariel's head droops as though going unconscious, her entire body explodes in blue and black flames, they melt and reshape her form as though it was wax, finally resulting in her being transfigured into a huge black furred Kitsune with three tails, though it doesn't take long to sprout a fourth tail. Strange blue flame like tattoos emit blue fire across her whole body.
With a powerful roar it suddenly bites a man, grabbing his head with her jaw, which it alone is bigger than a man's head to begin with, before flinging him, setting him on fire, turning him into a flaming projectile that smashes into dozens of them. She then tears into several men with her fangs and claws, ripping them like one does to wet paper.
However by this time the mob has regathered their courage, dividing into two groups. The one that surrounds Mariel beats her repeatedly, despite her clawing, maiming, and blasts of blue fire. They appear to gradually be winning, and soon get her down, and one prepares to smash her head with a heavy club.
Despite Mordecai's animalistic form, there is clear shock and awe as Mariel tears through the gang. At the last moment however, he notices Mariel is starting to lose, so he attempts to jump in to save her from the attack from the man with the club.
Before he can reach her, a blaze of emerald fire erupts around Mariel, turning all of the men to ash. Behind him, the heads of the men behind him fall off, cut clean as though a blade severed them. Even after the fight, he still feels great danger, and the source reveals itself in the form of a man wearing a peculiar mask, with what looks like eight fox tails sprouting from behind him, who without a word picks up the now humanoid Mariel and flickers away in emerald fire on top of a rooftop.
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"Such a sweet flower bud, just at the start of its bloom... ...I cannot wait to taste the nectar. Thank you for rearing such a flower, that I may relish its delights. You may depart, plebeian." They quietly speak.
Mordecai roars at the newcomer, surging with even stronger green lightning as he quickly starts scaling the building to reach her, moving much faster than one would expect.
"These Kitsune females are naught but hormones and desires," He says leaping to the next roof about as quickly.
"You waste your energy on such simple creatures, when aplenty are to be found. I will even share some of mine with you if you truly fester on not having one," He says leaping away yet again.
"Such a mindless brute. How do you expect to hit me with such clumsy a form?"
Mordecai roars once more, but ceases his chase as he rears up. A tail quickly forms and points upward, with both the tip of the tail and his mouth charging up massive amounts of electricity, which soon quickly fire fast bolts in the male kitsunes direction.
The first few hits him, causing him to growl before turning shadowy and move back. In his place, a clone appears and appears to take a combat stance. Meanwhile the real one manifests and observes as the lightning that aimed for him appears to be disappearing into Mariel, who almost seems to grow in size as the strange flame like tattoos appears on her skin, the electricity flowing into the marks. Her wounds heal, and it seems like she is waking up, still in the enemy's arms.
He slides the bottom of his mask off and begins attempting to kiss Mariel, though she is feebly resisting. He finally secures a grasp of her and he can see her squirm, her breathing heavy but only able to make muffled displeased groans, too weak to escape him. There is a faint redness to her face.
And with that, something snaps in Mordecai. He lets out an ear splitting roar that emits such force is visibly cracks the surrounding buildings. His forms shifts as lightning completely covering him until his form is encased by it, his speed multiplying by an insane amount as he darts forward in the blink of an eye, lightning trailing behind as he manages to slam a fist into the mans face.
His fist only manages to hit the mask, partially breaking it, enough to send him flying, but not killing him. Mariel drops and rolls onto the ground, coughing and hacking, as though nauseated. He sees her claws digging into the ground, creating gouges, seemingly out of anger.
Mordecai quickly positions himself infront of Mariel, between her and the man. However he appears to still be enraged, contiuing his chase as he shoots sparks of electricity from his body.
Mordecai begins to hear something that throws him off, akin to a distant siren like screaming. The sound is incredibly loud, and incredibly shrill, and appears to be the work of some manner of creature howling in the distance. At this particular moment, it begins to rain incredibly hard, with thunder and high winds raging into the area, even hail begins to fall.
Mordecai looks to the skies, before back down to the man. A simple storm wouldn't stop him from revenge. It surely must be just a simple storm.
The man seems perturbed, his ears twitching, his face almost crestfallen. "...That noise..."
Mordecai can swear he can see some manner of glowing lights in the sky getting bigger in their direction.
He tilts his head, slowly backing off. "Something isn't right..." He darts back to Mariel.
He notices that the lights seem to be 'blinking' almost exactly like eyes. Then he realizes. They are eyes. He starts to notice the faint shadow of a gigantic head amid the heavy dark clouds along with the glowing eyes.
He slowly reverts back to his standard human form as he calms down, the sight taking his mind off his rage. "Holy..."
Mariel begins to crawl backwards. "That th-thing... ...it's huge!"
The masked Kitsune finally realizes what he's looking at, and as he moves to run, Mordecai and Mariel are impacted by a colossal impact that sends them flying into a distant building. When they look back, they can more clearly see that something akin to a massive millipede with a hammerhead like head has just slammed its head and jaws into the location where the masked Kitsune had stood just moments ago.
The colossal creature looms at least 30 meters tall when reared up, and possibly 80 meters long with thousands of insectoid legs on its underbelly, and three black eyes on either side of its head, huge aquatic fins adorn its back, its huge maw filled with hooks, grabbers, and needle like teeth. Two gigantic horns on its forehead loom, the creature's imposing form easily intimidating them. It appears to then slowly turn to look at them, its eyeballs blinking at random, rather than in unison. Mordecai cannot tell its intentions, though he begins hearing an odd clicking from it, akin to the sounds of a creature using echolocation.
Mordecai stands infront of Mariel. "The fuck is that thing?"
The echolocation sound gets much deeper and heavier in tone, almost angered, the creature seems to loom much closer now, they can hear the incredibly heavy rumbling of its deep breaths.
A heavy pulling sensation occurs on their minds as the creature's eyes begin to glow multicolored, and a neutral toned voice speaks:
Is that how you say thank you?
The creature begins to almost shimmer.
Mordecai steps forward, oddly intrigued. "Um...thank you? Although I really wanted to kill him myself..." He turns to Mariel. "Are you okay?"
She stays quiet, and points as the giant creature disappears in a huge cloud, emerging from it is a strange woman with insectoid legs, with oddly waterproof fur adorning it, a sort of shell like covering over most of her body, with dull browns, blacks, and highlighted areas of white skin peeping through the shell. She appears to have black eyes and multicolored eyes, similar to the glow seen earlier. Her body is incredibly curvy, and Mordecai catches Mariel eyeing the female's impressive figure with extreme jealousy. As if reading her mind...
"...Judging by the fact you've grown your fourth tail now, I'd say you will have nothing to be jealous about by the time you're finished 'growing up', Kitsune." The woman remarks with a strangely melodic voice, soft and quiet.
She turns toward Mordecai and presents a giant clawed hand, as though extending her arm for a handshake. He cannot help but eye the colossal limb adorned with fur, and the wicked claws attached to it.
"I won't hurt you." She says softly.
Mordecai seems rather confused, extending his hand out and shaking her hand to the best of his ability. He thinks for a second before speaking. "Are.....are you a kaiju?"
"...Aye. If my hunch is correct, you're not human anymore either, are you boy?"
He nods, but he looks a little annoyed, probably because he was called boy. "How did you know? I mean, that I was once human."
"You have this air about you. It's rather like my own. You don't understand what's happening to you, and it terrifies you... am I correct? But to be honest, after seeing so many others, it's hard to not see that someone has lost their humanity. ...Especially after my own humanity was lost."
She looks about as the storms begin to fade.
"You can't stay here anymore. You both killed this night, the Agency can't ignore that." She looks back to Mordecai.
"Come with me, I can take you to a safe place. ...Where you can live out your final days of humanity."
Mordecai glances back to Mariel, again turning back to the newcomer. "Doesn't sound like we have much of a choice if the agency is gonna be on our backs."
She nods, before beginning to walk off, seemingly unconcerned when several people scream at her appearance as she walks among the streets.
Mordecai hesitantly follows, checking if Mariel is coming along.
She is reluctantly following behind, it doesn't long before he feels her hand closing around his, and for her to press herself against him.
The people around them seem too busy fleeing the woman to notice that Mariel's dress is torn. Her scarf seems undamaged.
Mordecai ignores the people, just wanting to leave as soon as possible.
Eventually they start to make their way into tall grassed areas, with sights of forests beginning to appear. "We've got a long way. I recommend you brace yourselves."
Mordecai was starting to get a little antsy. "Look I don't want to be rude but I think we deserve some more info than you taking us to a supposed safe place, plus we don't even know who you are."
"You're right, you don't know who I am, but neither did you ask." She says without stopping or turning. "My name is Áshilda." Her tone has noticeably changed from a quiet, peaceful tone to a more ridged, authoritarian one, almost reprimanding.
She finally does turn as she walks. "I am much like you Mordecai, once human, now I am not. All I am is someone waiting until the day they fully become a monster, as we all shall."
"To be fair its probably only us waiting since we're actually both giant monsters." Mordecai has a dumb cheeky grin on his face. "...Too soon?"
He sees her blink, before a faint smile crosses her face, but only for a moment. "...There are others who have become Myths, Mordecai. Some of them... ...have completely forgotten their humanity. ...Even who they are. In their entirety. Some took a few days, a week, a few weeks. ...But the result is the same. ...The human identity was completely overwritten." Her voice is hollow as she says this.
"...And most of them have even forgotten their own comerades surrounding them. ...Even some of my own friends have disappeared now, too."
The grin disappears on his face as she delivers this news. "Am...am I going to forget Mariel?"
"...It's not impossible. ...To the best of my memory, only intimate lovers really remember each other, and even then their memories are still altered beyond the scope of remembrance. In short, your human self will disappear forever, and even the details of the bonds you do form will no longer exist as they were. ...She will also forget you, most likely."
The look of horror on Mariel's face is practically soul crushing.
Mordecai stops walking, instantly feeling sick to the stomach. He can;t even make himself look to Mariel. "She'll...forget me?"
"Yes. At best you will have a few weeks. If you're lucky, months. ...You're more lucky than I, at any rate. Everyday I find that I've forgotten something, and soon there will be nothing left except the Myth that has been growing inside me ever since. She's all but eclipsed me now."
For the first time since the incident, some tears stream from Mordecai's eyes as he quickly wipes them away, and his tone has darkened. "Just take us to the place you mentioned, please."
It has been quite a number of hours since they left, and it is in the middle of the night. Ashilda instead chooses to sit down and make camp, starting a small fire. She gestures for Mordecai to come sit down with her. Mariel meanwhile curls up with her tails and quietly tries to sleep, but is too disturbed.
"Come, sit with me, Mordecai." She says, more in her gentle voice. "I will help you rest and watch over the two of you, and keep your dreams light." She sits against a tree, a bit further away from Mariel.
Mordecai looks back to Mariel before looking to Ashilda, still looking a little hurt as he walks over to Ashilda.
She takes his hand and gently pulls him next to and against her. Once she has done this, she wraps an arm around him gently.
"You're hurting inside, let me be your confidant."
He looks rather uncomfortable. "Im sorry but, I...I don't really know you? Im not sure its best if I explain how im feeling..."
"So when did you intend to confide in someone? When it was too late?"
He opens his mouth to say something before closing it, gently laying into her arm. "...I...Im afraid. I don't want Mariel to forget me and I don't want to forget her, she's..she's practically all I have..." There was strain in his voice. He was clearly hurting far more than he was letting on.
He feels her stroke his head with her hand in a comforting manner.
"...When I sensed that you were a Kaiju, I was overjoyed to finally meet an equal to me, someone I could have as a partner, a friend, maybe even a lover. ...I am a selfish being... ...forgive me. I should not have spoken such words. ..." He feels teardrops from her face.
"...Do you love her?" She says after a long pause, as if afraid of the answer.
Mordecai doesn't know what to say, both because of the question and the slight confession he was being given. "...You don't need to say sorry, im not going to condemn someone for wanting love....and...I don't know...i've known her for so long and I know I really did at some point but I gave up. I always considered her a close friend and nothing more but...I guess I've always wanted something more still but...everything is just so fucked now..."
"..." After a long silence... "Then if you desire it so, it may yet be able to come to pass. Your Mariel strikes me as one without desire, at least that is how she might have seemed prior to the events of Worldfall as some refer to it. In any case, that has already begun to change. Stay close and involved with her and don't leave her side. You may find that she is beginning to change, undergoing a metamorphosis, and this change will enable her stagnated heart to grow. The question is, are you truly willing to love her no matter what she becomes?"
Mordecai can't help but laugh quietly. "I think...the better question is if she'll love me no matter what I become. You and me we're...we're actual monsters. I try to put on this face that might show her im strong willed about all this, but im terrified of what I am. I don't think my personality has changed as much as Mariel's but I still remember the fucking TERROR on her face when the first time I was in my giant form...but to answer that question, what if she becomes someone who would never bother themselves with me....?" Tears began to form in his eyes, slowly streaming down.
"I don't want to lose more than I already have."
She sighs. "She feared what anyone would fear given what circumstances we all were in during Worldfall. She couldn't have known what was inside. Few lack such clarity."
To his surprise, she picks him up and rockets across the wilds. For a few long minutes, it passes by in a blur, until finally they arrive at the edge of a large grass field of tall grass.
She soon sets him down. Across the grass is what looks to be a large camp. Ashilda seems to notice something in the grass, which abruptly jumps out and lands atop Mordecai, what emerged is a well endowed blonde Kitsune with nine tails and eyes that blaze with a sense of abandon and lust. She presses herself against him and coos, surprisingly strong even for him. She tries to kiss him on the lips but he is able to briefly push her off.
In that moment he sees the lust crazed Kitsune bares the face of one of his college friends Tamara, now warped by her new form and the madness that comes with it. Even the grown wild hair is still similar enough to recognize. He can feel her making another advance, this time with an even stronger hold on him.
"Play with me?" The Kitsune Tamara chirps in a far more pretty, alluring version of his friend's voice.
Mordecai's eyes dilate with intense shock as he recognizes his old friend, struggling underneath her as he begins to roar out both in despair and fear. "T-Tamara? Tamara please its Mordecai, what are you doing?!"
The Kitsune pins him down with a giggle and presses her lips against his, he can feel her intrusion into his mouth, and all at once he begins to feel heavy, a blur goes over his vision and his thoughts grow sluggish, his only thoughts are about the sensation of the kiss, her body against his, and a strange feeling of desire growing within, as though sprouting in his mind like a tumor.
Just before he feels himself surrendering to the tranquil state of being and becoming her thrall, Ashilda rips the Kitsune off of him and into the grass, where she flees in terror.
"That is the fate of a Ninetails Kitsune, the fate that awaits Mariel. You remember that Kitsune from before?" She asks, getting him to his feet.
"Regards of if it is, you saw for yourself what kind of changes becomes of us afflicted by the Worldfall. If you truly love Mariel, remember that sensation that passed over your mind. That was the girl imparting her desires unto you, you would be her mate not a moment longer. However you can restrain and retrain the minds of these Kitsune and make them obey your desires. You have a choice, wallow in despair over your lot, or strive to help her as your own journey moves towards the abyss. You saw the power of desire, the same grows in Mariel now. But while it is still not too late, you can infuse her with something purer than desires: love."
Mordecai sits up and wipes his mouth, still somewhat shaken from recognizing the Kitsune. "That was...Tamara, she would never have..." He shuts up and listens to what Ashilda has to say, as he stands up when she finishes. "So...its possible to stop what happened to her. I just...What if the only reason she would actually like me now is because of this change? Not because she had any previous feelings?"
"From what I have seen those who undergo the process have something in common, they lived repressed and were incapable of romance, simply because they lacked the ability to feel that side of themselves. You might call this a reincarnation into a more vibrant individual at the cost of their original persona."
She thinks for a moment. "You can't stop it, but if Mariel falls for you now, she will remember you in her new self. And if you truly love her, you will too."
Mordecai looked less pained, and actually somewhat hopeful ."Thank you, Ashilda. Again im...sorry I can't exactly be what you wanted but...I really appreciate your support." He looked back out in the direction the kitsune ran from. "Tamara's turned so quickly..."
"She was one of our first losses. She fought against it for a week before it claimed her mind. We had to pry her off a male before she took his mind, he didn't snap out of it for several days." Ashilda says quietly.
"There is very little we can do now. Only if she is dominated can she be brought out of this wild state. ...And you already have your heart for Mariel."
"I mean Tamara was cute but we were never like th- okay you know what i'd uh, rather drop Tamara. I feel bad for her though. Do you uh, do you mind if you can take us back? Im a little too emotionally drained to walk." He gave a faint smile. "Again, thank you. Im uh, i'll be around if you ever want to talk about anything, I might as well return the favor."
He sees her slowly blink before weakly smiling. "Thank you, I guess..."
She picks him up and takes off once more.
He gazed through the forest as they darted across it. "So...how..how come you always look like that? I don't mean anything by it of-of course, im just wondering. Its like the form I had when I was angry."
"...Before I was a scientist, who had a deep love of the ocean. ... I was always wanting to know. ...So when I became a Kaiju, the fear became curiosity. Then it became an obsession, I was consumed for weeks... ...And so were my friends. Slowly, one by one, they began to turn, they destroyed their humanity through how much they studied and indulged in their new potential. ...By the time I noticed what had happened, I had woken in this state and despite my best efforts to resume human shape, I can never go back. And with this transformation I began to rapidly lose my memory.
...I have forgotten so much... ...Even my parents."
Mordecai looked solemn as she was telling him what happened to her. "Oh im...im sorry. You look good though, who needs a human shape?"
He feels her grip tighten, and his face feels wet from a tear from her face.
"I..."
He seems a little nervous, almost bad about what he said. "Oh my god, sorry I, I didn't mean to make you cry. Is everything okay?"
"...I wish you could be mine..." She lands, just a bit away from Mariel. She seems to be shuddering, holding back what seems an emotional breakdown.
"Ex-excuse me..." She disappears into the forest, after which the sounds of her Kaiju form crawling through the trees can be heard, a storm begins to pour down on the area.
He watches from afar, holding a solemn look as he lays down near a tree, trying to sleep.
Mariel looks at him for a moment, before finally joining him, her tails laying on him to warm him.
Mordecai appeared only slightly startled before smiling, laying into the tails gently.
Mariel blushes faintly before falling asleep.
Late in the morning, they find that Ashilda spent the night alone, seemingly dry, but sleeping in a position that indicates she had been crying. She doesn't seem to wake up when they do.
Mordecai sighs. "Im sorry, Ashilda. Maybe...maybe if the circumstances were different."
He sees her start to wake. "...Shall we head on?" She asks quietly.
"Sure. I've been wanting to try something though, is anywhere near the camp safe to go colossal? I kinda wanted to keep my reigns on it."
"We might as well do it here. Pandra will be annoyed if we do it close to the camp."
He cocked his head. "Who?"
"The leader of the camp. She is a lamia. One of my first friends to turn." She replies, a twitch of bitterness to her voice.
"...Oh. Well, the experiment can wait, i'll try it another time. To be honest I just want to reach somewhere safe as fast as possible."
"Then follow. She will want to greet you soon."
He turned to Mariel. "Ready to head out?"
She nods quietly, her mind filled with deep worries, then walking up him and wrapping her arm around his arm, pressing against him lightly.
He turned a little red. "Lets uh...get moving, then. Lead the way Ashilda."
Category:Story Arc
Category:Saga