My first Oddworld fanfic

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

I've been editing my first Oddworld fanfic in microsoft word to post here. You might recognise some of my roleplaying characters in it. I'm still trying (procastinating) to do that other story thing I posted, but oh well...I made it a bit angstier since I was listening to angst music when I typed it. Critiques plz.



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CHAPTER 1 INTRO

The story begins after Abe's, Munch's and the Stranger's adventures. It takes place in the more modern parts of the continent Mudos, away from the side Stranger is on, in whatever side Abe and Munch were on. It will progress to the more exotic "east side" way much later on, where more different and exotic species live, and more land is untouched by glukkons.

After the events of Munch’s Oddysee, the economy has collapsed – modokun slaves and fuzzle test subjects are in scarce supply, moolah isn’t enough where needed or wanted, research was lost in the exploded and crashed Vykkers Labs 13 (with Lulu to blame), crime has risen greatly as moolah is ever lusted after in robbing and stealing, food is scarce with most animals extinct, near extinct or just badly endangered and a slig’s treatment gets worse and worse. Glukkons and vykkers question and debate wherever they should just enslave and put queen Skillya on fertility drugs so her unwanted children can take the place of mudokons and fuzzles, or wait until Sam lays more eggs, more fuzzles are caught and the whole disaster situation blows over.

Vykkers Labs 13 wasn’t and isn’t the only research facility run by vykkers, in fact, some vykkers don’t make companies and just prefer to research by themselves or with partners. Because of two vykkers that worked like this, they made the story start. With much struggle, loss, suffering but finally a victory in the distant end.

-~.o0*0o.~-

Thunder roared and lightning thrashed around the polluted sky. In the distance, the lightning flashes could be seen making out the dark shape of a building, atop a high cliff. The square building, in this weather in the night, was like something from a horror movie, a madman’s laboratory, which it was. Home to two hermaphroditic madmen, conducting experiments on whatever they could find alive. That usually died painfully and was thrown out like trash. Being vykkers, they didn’t care about their test subjects feelings, and took delight in the animal’s suffering like the sickos they were.

A purple vykker with a badly stitched-up head, with a thick black series of stitches travelling around it like a bent equator passed a broken jagged window, walking through a dark corridor. It was nearly pitch black in there except for a flickering light bulb that hung on the ceiling by a damaged wire for dear life, but he didn’t care. He was used to the darkness, the ratz scurrying by, the cold lack of central heating and the general poverty in the old building. Into a room he went, as the the automatic metal doors shut behind him without silence. He walked past a table in the room with the ceiling high up, the roof, leaking water and acid rain with drafts flowing through the unattended torn holes in it. A newspaper lay still on the desk he passed, yellowed with age, the main headlines screaming "DR. BRAINWAVE STILL MISSING". He proceeded to walk into another room, which was darker and larger, the ceiling still the leaky damaged roof, with various machines and control panels along the right wall, gathering dust on long untouched buttons and bulbs and rusting from the dripping water. A glowing green glass pod was in the centre, with a strange figurine that seemed to float in the liquid inside, the centre of his attention, as he stopped abruptly beside another vykker, similar to him with black stitches on his head, but more neatly and professionally done. They both stood there in an eerie silence in the old scruffy room, before he spoke.

"Is it... Ready, Dr. Jekyll?" He asked nervously. The last tries at making this thing had been tough, and not all had gone according to plan. The other vykker stared at the pod in the awkward silence. "... Yes...” He answered him, after what felt like a long wait. After that, both of their hopes rose. “The breakthrough in vykker technology! Which will make us rich! Our glukkon-funded plan which will earn us billions of moolah! Is! Ready! Ready, Dr. Hyde!" There was excited girly screams between them like teenagers, as they held their four clawed hands and skipped in a circle together like children, laughing and shrieking in joy.

The intern in the next room, his room, with a scruffy grey insect-ridden bed he lay on, with just a broken window to let in whatever little light was outside, turned down his headphones briefly at the sound of the vykkers, then rolled his eyes as he heard what sounded like children playing, and turned them up again.

Dr. Hyde suddenly stopped the dance, looking less fulfilled and more serious. "We must test it to see if it will kill, if it doesn't, we might be doomed." Said Dr Hyde bluntly. "The last couple were too good and the only bad one is too screwed up. Now, release the experiment! The zrilufet!...” Dr. Jekyll was about to, but instead froze as he saw Dr. Hyde’s face. Gone was the serious look, and now his small beady eyes blazed, looking at him like he’d just punched him, like he was insane. His mouth quivered as his eyes darkened, as he grabbed his friend’s shoulders with his clawed hands. “WHY ARE YOU NOT PRESSING THE SHINY BUTTON?!?" He screamed manically, making Dr. Jekyll jump and shriek at the same time.

Again, the intern turned down his headphones as he heard the two vykkers again. Only this time one was screaming in fear and another was yelling. Listening, he could hear Dr. Hyde screech about him wanting to kill Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll whining and shrieking about not wanting to be killed. Turning up his headphones, he acted like he didn’t hear it and lay down on his back to listen to his blaring headphones, closing his eyes. He hated the two for how they treated him, but put up with it because of a lack of self esteem. Even when they’d stitched his lips tight together, them proceeded to pointlessly remove his voice box so he couldn’t even mumble. He’d been raised by them, and if he disobeyed, he’d be thrown out into the cold, in the middle of nowhere, with no where to live and nobody to take him in. He didn’t see them as parents, just the source of his misery and his superiors. He half-wished that vykker would just go kill the other in his state of catatonic hyperactivity.

The vykker screamed as his friend gone mad chased him around the otherwise silent room, quickly opening a cabinet whilst being attacked and scratched on his back. He yanked out a large syringe, running around Dr. Hyde in a frantic circle like two dogs sniffing each other. He finally got behind him and grabbed two of his arms to keep him still, jabbing the needle in Dr. Hyde’s arm before pushing the back of it, injecting the green liquid. Dr. Hyde froze upon the chemical entering his blood, his gaze going from mad to dull and sleepy as he swayed slightly on the spot. "Odd damn it Norbert, you forgot to take your medication!" Dr. Jekyll scolded. He walked across the metal floor to return the syringe back to the cabinet. "Oh, sorry Frankenstein". He replied calmly, wincing at the bleeding hole in his purple wrinkled skin. “We still have to press that button to release the experiment for a test.” He spoke in a monotone voice. Dr. Jekyll looked at the large pod, the figure still floating in there slowly. “I ain’t touching that, what if it’s like the last one and tries to shred us?! I don’t wanna get an artery torn again, it hurt, I thought I was gonna bleed to death!” He whined, scared. Norbert examined the still creature in its case, then the large, dark room. A Mudosian bird flew by the window, black against a flash of lightning. He blinked as the after effects of his medication wore off suddenly, and grinned cruelly. "Well, if you won't press the button, and I won't press the button, then there’s only one solution!"

The intern was still listening to the blaring yelling dark song from his headphones. He head bopped in tune, ignoring the faded-out sound he barely heard. As it grew louder and more frequent, he turned them down slightly, hearing one of the vykkers he hated so much call on him. "Miiiike! Get over here, we need you to do something we don’t want to!" Hearing the voice, he turned the dark grey headphones off, rolled his red eyes, and exited his small, cramped and freezing cold room through the broken door. He walked through the automatic doors, as they clamped closed behind him, into the big, dark room, only briefly lit for less than a second at a time by the flashing lightning. He looked questionly at Norbert Hyde, unable to ask what he wanted, who sneered back at him with the other vykker. “Make yourself useful and press that red button right there, or we’ll surgically remove your kidneys without anaesthetic and wait for you to die from blood poisoning or pain.” Resisting the urge to stick up two fingers at them or glare in their direction, he kept his hateful look to the shiny floor and waddled over to the control panel. He pressed the hard button with a long bony finger, and then walked off to watch, behind his superiors. The cylindrical glass and the top of the pod came down like an automatic door, green liquid spilling all over the metal slippery floor.

The creature, now visible, fell limp and unconscious to the wet base of the container. Her soaking wet body, like a newborn baby from being in liquid so long, had two floppy meep ears at the sides of her head, and two purple rat ears on top. She had the torso of a scrab, with a fluffy head like a fuzzle, but albino white furred with pale pink closed eyes, with two more slurg eyes on stalks above them. She had the light brown shoulderless arms and legs of an elum, with two scrab legs hanging behind them. She had an inactive fleech head for a tail and light brown paramite mandibles around her pale pink fuzzle lips. She wore no clothes, with nothing reproductive to cover up anyway. Her body was sort of more delicate, younger and less muscular, and her eyes were closed. The two vykkers grinned to themselves. What would happen next?

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CHAPTER TWO THE ESCAPE
(Warning: Some violence and angst)

She gained her senses and life in her body. She felt too weak to even open her eyes or lift an elum finger. Just in darkness with no thought in her mind. Her eyes slowly opened voluntarily, gaining strength and seeing just the slightest bit of light and more, as the storm in the sky flashed at the dirty dusty window.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a panting smiling slog rode past her on a unicycle. Shocked and surprised, she darted up onto her elum hands and feet in a leaping bound, quickly falling back on her belly from lack of strength and balance. She gazed around weakly, having wasted some of her energy, but it had vanished. Her eyes swivelled in front of her, seeing about ten slig valets linked arm in arm doing what looked like the can-can. In more shock and fear, she suddenly leapt up and fell back on the floor, lying on her side. She looked up after two seconds of groaning from minor pain, and they were gone. Wary of her unpredictable surroundings, she slowly got up like a newborn deer, carefully and weakly looking around the huge dark room. She jumped again when she saw a huge scrab cake and a paramite pie floating in front of her, a couple of yards away.
"Careful Norbert." said the pie. "She might be a bit delusional."

She stared at them in shock, then heard a rumbling behind her as the pie pressed a button on the rusty control panel. She turned around quickly to see a long dusty metal pipe that came winding down the wall and onto the floor, and a small light brown blur roll out. She tried to focus on it, straining her electric magenta pink eyes, then it came into much clearer focus. It was a fuzzle. It looked up at her, bewildered, as she warily walked closer to it, kneeling down on her paws and legs so her face was as close to it as possible. She nervously reached out a brown bony paramite mandible to the paranoid fuzzle. It sniffed her outstretched mandible cautiously, looking up at her. “Meenimee…” The fuzzle squeaked. She looked delighted before squeaking a high-pitched “Meeeee meee mee!” After that, the two appeared to be in a squeaky conversation.

"WHAT ON ODDWORLD!?!?" Screeched Dr. Jekyll. Mike smirked in his eyes as the vykker ran around in a circle around Norbert yelling in a panic, as the fuzzle and the zrilufet played together. "What are we gonna do Norbert!? We have a due date for these things Odd damn it! You said it yourself, if this thing can't kill, we're doomed! What are we gonna do?! We’re so screwed!" He whined. Norbert watched Frankenstein run around, completely unconcerned as he thought for a moment. “Hmm.” “‘Hmm’ what?!” Frankenstein snapped as more lightning outside flashed. “Do you have any ideas right now?! Because I don’t! You said it yourself, if this thing doesn’t kill on sight, we’re probably doomed!” "I said we might be doomed.” He corrected, his face lighting up in the flash of lightning and evil glee. Mike shook his head sadly upon seeing this. He had an idea, that meant the experiment was going to suffer like the others had, and he’d be forced to take part in the torture again. “We can clone her, and make more advanced zrilufets and tefulirz! We'll have an army!" Norbert announced happily, voice raised and madness in his yellow eyes. "YES! It's a brilliant plan! It'll work for sure!" Jekyll shrieked back in joy. They held hands, and skipped around in a circle again, cheering and shrieking with pure excitement.

The fuzzle was sucked away back through the old pipe, as Mike pressed a button on the control panel on command, leaving a disappointed and lonely zrilufet. Norbert gave a slight evil laugh, sneering in Mike’s direction. "Mike, take her to the DNA extractor!" Dr. Hyde ordered. “Or you won’t get fed a dead rat like you normally do, ya useless lump of flesh!” Frankenstein cut in. They both laughed cruelly as Mike’s face said hurt and looked disappointed, like he was sighing sadly silently. He carefully approached the zrilufet, watching it in case it went psycho on him like the last few had. She looked nervously at him, walking close enough to him as he froze in fear to sniff him. Deciding he wasn't a threat and meant no harm to her, she squealed happily. He, on the other hand, looked guilty, knowing he did. Nervous. Squeamish even. He took her by her small right arm, and lead her like a horse by the reins through the room, ignoring requests to play or chat as he entered the other dark room with a block table in the middle, fixed to the floor, and various complex machinery around it.

Dr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll followed behind him as he stood there, still with the curious Zrilufet, and looked at Mike. “Get her on the table Mike…” He commanded bluntly. He was furious as the intern slave just stood there, too scared and guilt ridden to move. Reaching over a desk, Frankenstein watched casually, chewing a sharp grey claw as he took a sharp scalpel, caked in dried blood with a glinting blade. Mike was nervous as Norbert approached him with that weapon without hesitation, clutching the Zrilufet’s paw in his bony grey thumbless hand for comfort. She didn’t mind as Norbert stood close to the intern, letting him see the anger and madness in his eyes. He threw his arm back with the scalpel in it, and then forward and sideways as he slashed it across Mike’s face. The Zrilufet squeaked a high pitched squeak in fear, running to the back of the room as Mike turned his head from the pain and shock of it. He reached a long hand to his painful face that felt like it was burning across his mouth and cheek. Moving his hand, he could see blood running down his palm and fingers. He looked in shock at the two vykkers. They didn’t even laugh at him about it. Their faces were cold and serious, as the lightning lit them up briefly with a roar of thunder.

“Get her on the table Mike. Now.” He ordered, in a monotone voice. Still in agony and upset, Mike walked over to the creature that cowered away from the vykker. She spoke to him in a faint squeak he paid no attention to, tears welling up in his eyes that kept themselves to the floor. He struggled to lift her onto the table, moving her body so she lay down on her back, squeaking quietly and staring up at the ceiling. Taking the ropes he’d used numerous times before, he tied her there around her arms, legs and waist in silence, refusing to look at her or anyone as the thunder rumbled, the rain starting to fall like his tears, feeling it on his body as it leaked and fell through the ceiling. Stepping back, he watched in silent, crying, bleeding guilt and sadness as Frankenstein went to the control panel. Seeing a robotic arm reach out towards the zrilufet, with a large needle and syringe on the end, he adverted his gaze to the floor, as it pierced her arm, draining blood through a vein. Her screams and wails of the creatures she was made out of broke the silence in the room as the climax of the guilt struck him after the long wait. Unable to sob, his red eyes just cried harder and closed themselves, not escaping the harsh reality. “Make sure she doesn't escape. Me and Frankenstein have to discuss matters." Norbert said calmly, like nothing had happened. He left the room, as the automatic doors shut behind the two vykkers.

Mike finally looked at the zrilufet howling and screeching in pain. His face was that of shock and horror as he looked on unwillingly. She continued to yell, ending in a yowling shriek. The needle had withdrawn from her arm, spilling excess blood across her and the surgical steel table as she cried like a hurt child. She looked over, still sobbing uncontrollably, to see the intern that had let her suffer, leaning his arm against a rusty lever beside the metal wall. Wiping more blood from his face, he walked over to begin working on the ropes that bound her to the table, struggling with the tight knots he’d made. She whimpered in pain, the two crying quietly, as Mike threw the rough ropes away. Helping her off the table, Mike led her out of the room silently, looking around the hallway for those sick vykkers. If they caught him doing this, he could be dead, experimented on or stabbed for all he cared, they’d been working on the new zrilufet experiment for weeks. If it went well, it would get them moolah, and everyone was crazy for moolah right now. It was scarce with a ruined economy. Looking around the hallway nervously, and trying to block the blood flow on her arm with his long fingers, he looked at the windows as rain continued to flow through that roof and ceiling that needed fixing. He had no idea what he was going to do. He couldn’t hide her, he couldn’t run away, the doors to outside were all locked, and the windows weren’t the kind of windows that opened.

Out of ideas, he went through a neglected door, into to a dark unused room. Some ratz looked at him from a corner in the room and scattered out of the open door as lightning flashed light through and thunder rumbled outside. She was nervous as her paw clutched his hand tight, still bleeding at the wrist, but felt relief when there was no apparently dangerous machinery around. Just some unused things and something that looked like a container with icy thick air in it against the wall. He took an old cloth, wrapping it around her wrist tightly, before going to get one for himself, wrapping it around his bleeding face like a surgeon’s mask. He signalled to her to be quiet, hoping she’d understand what he meant, whilst he looked for a possible means of escape. He picked up a dusty spanner, examining it, and looked at the large window, spherical, with thick metal frames holding the numerous slides of glass together. He knocked it hard, testing the glass’s strength, whilst trying to bash it hard as quiet as possible, not wanting to alert those vykkers. The zrilufet jumped as a strong cold draft blew the door shut and lightning flashed, trying to hug her cold, bare body

Bored, she looked around for some ratz to play with, seeing none. Knowing Mike was busy, she waddled over to the strange machine container that gathered dust. There was some complex buttons on the side of the front, none that she understood, as she poked at one with a mandible. The doors suddenly shot open with a creak, spilling out icy thick air, before a frozen, limp and lifeless vykker body flopped out and to the floor. Mike whisked around from beating the window senseless to see what happened as he heard her scream like a scrab. He'd only been away for a moment, and she'd already found herself a dead cytogenetically frozen body! Rolling his red eyes after overcoming the fear of seeing that corpse, and hoping the vykkers hadn’t heard, he went back to bashing the window as she calmed down and walked over to watch him curiously. He thrashed hopelessly at the glass as the lightning and thunder continued to tear at the dark sky and the rain fell, dripping through the roof. The body moved, jerking a hand slightly. The zrilufet and Mike were oblivious to its presence as it straightened out an arm with a crack of its elbow, reaching out in their direction and straightening out its clawed hand with another crack of bones. Mike thrashed on hopelessly and afraid with the spanner, then stopped abruptly as he saw a shadow cast over his. The lightning flashed, pushing it away for a moment, before the two turned around to see it.

The zrilufet screeched and Mike jumped as they saw the vykker standing there like a zombie, his eyes cold and dull, his skin even looking cold. It wasn’t dead, it was alive, and had awoken from being frozen. Lightning flashed through the window, highlighting its still and emotionless face as its icy purple skin warmed in the new temperature, and his frozen yellow eyes thawed, leaking bodily liquids. He turned his neck suddenly, back and forth, making loud snaps of joints, before he stared coldly back at them, his pale skin gaining colour as he stretched his long unused body, with more snaps and cracks that could make a squeamish person sick. They stood there in silent eerie fear as his face slowly bended to a smile, looking at them both like a child to an amazing creature. "...Ooooooh! Eeedeebooooo!"

The zrilufet jumped in fright, and Mike slapped his head, being careful to avoid his wound, at the vykker’s first words. He was brain damaged, and badly, his childish happiness, nonsense words and black stitches on his head said it all. They all suddenly froze, upon hearing footsteps come down the corridor and a familiar whiny angry voice. “Miiiiiike! What the Hell is going on?! Where is that Zrilufet?!” “If we find it hasn’t eaten you already, we’ll just butcher you ourselves and feed you to the ratz!” Terrified like he’d heard a cry in the dark, Mike panicked and kept on battering the window at the sound of his superior’s voice, hearing them come closer and closer down the hall. The storm raged on in the climax as the glass only cracked from his frantic efforts. Realising that they were in danger, the vykker’s face lit up. He had an idea. "Dah!" He babbled, approaching the Zrilufet, wobbling like a zombie from his numbness. She backed away, afraid of the strange man, her scrab legs brushing against the corner of the walls, making a rat scuttle away to the other side of the room. Facing his back to her, he hoisted the zrilufet onto his back with his scrawny arms, as she squealed and held on tight with her paws. Afraid of falling, she clung on, as he snuck up behind the panicked and frustrated Mike, still thrashing at the window in the storm. He grabbed Mike, holding his legs and neck with his four arms as he struggled defiantly, and positioned him so the top of his head faced the wall. Mike looked on in horror as the vykker ran as fast as he could whilst bearing all that weight, to the other side of the dark dusty room, as Norbert and Frankenstein’s fast footsteps grew closer and closer to the shut door. That vykker was going to use him like a battering ram against the window!

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The vykker cried pointlessly as the zrilufet screamed and Mike ducked his head, not wanting to smack his face against hard glass. Upon contact with his head and the cracked glass he had battered, the glass shattered everywhere like a swarm of flying insects, hurling outside, as they too all went flying out of the building. She smiled thankfully at the two as they soared. There was a return of good feeling in their eyes, before gravity struck and they all came down.

They crashed on the mountainside the building stood atop on. The force of impact cracked the vykker’s right leg, denting it, as the intern and vykker were thrown helplessly away from her. She bounced, rolled, smacked and bruised herself badly as she fell down the cliff as the storm raged on, rain pouring down from the black thundering flashing sky. She was tossed over a cliff edge, waving her arms and legs helplessly against gravity as she dropped into a raging river that passed by, and was dragged underwater.... She thrashed madly against a powerful current, screaming and wasting her breath under the river, before she tossed her fluffy head above the white water, lungs burning and gasping for air. Thrashing around in a panic, she grabbed a piece of passing driftwood, and clung on for dear life, slipping with her elum legs and paws. The vicious flow of the water got faster and faster, as she strained her neck and saw an end to the river ahead. She screamed, howled and shrieked madly at the top of her voice as she was hurled off the edge of the waterfall, falling faster and faster towards the water far below whilst still holding onto that wet wood that slipped from her fingers. Upon crashing to the continued river, the force of impact pulled her under the water, then shot her up like an inflatable toy again. She clung on to the driftwood and yowled as it continued to make its way downstream, the water merciless and faster.

Hours later, the driftwood floated through shallow muddy water, and onto a muddy bank. She coughed and threw up river water weakly on the mud she lay on, looking over with half-closed eyes to the distance. A big pile of buildings and junk was in the distance, black with lights dotted on it like a city and barbed wire surrounding it. It looked like a barracks type place, not that she cared. She rolled off the soggy driftwood, and onto the bank. It was dark, wet, cold and muddy, but she was too tired and weak to care. She was exhausted from fighting with a river, and went to sleep...

[Splat]

Sorry I was so long replying to this.
It's great! I loved the atmosphere you created for the lab, the characterisation of the zrilufet (nice word, by the way) and the turn of events. Poor intern though!

And poor zrilufet, out of the fryingpan into the fire (or should I say out of the slogpit and into the electric wall!) Finds herself on the edge of a city. Can't wait for more!

[Venks]

You have very nice imagery, any chance you can draw the odd creature?
I have trouble imagining her in my head.

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Thank you for the comments....I thought I'd never get any....I might try and type more when I get home. I suppose I could draw her or something if I overcome my laziness and figure out how to attach an image.

[Slig 7665]

That was great can't wait to find out what happens next

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

She's not in a city, just outside of the barracks....:PThere was a picture of ther Zrilufet on my DA account, but she's had some design changes since then.....Well here's the next chapter, but its gets violent, I like being morbid I guess.


CHAPTER 3 GOING ON DUTY

He sat by himself at a long rectangular table in the stained steel cafeteria, keeping his head low and not eating. He preferred it that way, being alone. He wasn't like the other sligs, who sat together, talking to one another, laughing and chatting with friends. The laughter and chatting of other sligs around him in the heavily crowded room only activated his paranoia. He had no slig friends, didn't fit in, was different. The closest thing he had to a friend was his slog, he avoided other sligs as much as he could. He was shy and scared of other sligs, scared of being laughed at, rejected, or messing up. Another slig had taught him that through bullying, and an accident that left him guilt ridden and afraid to use guns of any sort. He poked at the cold slimy grey ‘food’, that could be recycled trash for all he cared, with a black nailed finger. He wasn’t going to eat it, despite the acid burning in his stomach telling him otherwise.

A female slig in a black top with less detailed shiny silver metal pants walked past him, stared at him for a moment, and carried on walking, her pants making that mechanical sound slig pants usually did. She was in a higher position then the rest of them, partly due to the fact there wasn’t enough big bro’s to order them around after that mysterious steroid shortage. Coincidently, another smallish slig at the time the steroids seemed to have went grew into a ten foot tall big bro, but no one had been smart enough to suggest to the boss that ‘Tiny’ could have used those steroids on himself. Or they just didn’t want to. It seemed obvious to him, but he wasn’t the kind of person to tell on someone to a person like Natzo the glukkon. After Dripik was apparently assassinated by being blown up, being Dripik’s closest friend and with Dripik’s other two partners dead, Natzo took over the Slig Barracks. Rumours said that all they found was Dripik's decapitated remains, but that was just a rumour, like the rumour that Abe the escaped mudokon terrorist was involved. He was seen as a threat, and a strict rule was that if you saw him, shoot him to kill. If he survived, you shoot him again. He didn't see him as a threat, though. After all, he was just a normal mudokon, right? He'd be really scared if he saw him though. Fear played on his mind on a dark night and rose illogical suspicions in his head. But mostly said ‘mudokon serial killer terrorist’ had just been that slig chasing and shooting at him for fun again.

That slig in the shiny pants was probably a female slig (she had a female tone about her voice and features the other sligs didn’t), but she was dead serious, had muscles bulging like a miniature big bro and demanded respect like one, so they feared her all the same. Usually. A few idiots tried to 'chat her up', but they ended up in the cheap hospital wing with broken arms, so they soon learned that she was a killing machine, not a meal ticket. She hadn’t killed anyone yet, but she had caused injury. He wondered why they didn’t just report her to Natzo. Then he remembered seeing her hold a slig off of the ground by the tentacles and threaten to rearrange his face. Despite all that, she did have her ‘good days’ where she didn’t half-kill other sligs. Luckily, she hadn’t killed or threatened him yet, though that was mostly due to the fact he didn’t act like an idiot or talked about her behind her back.

He watched as the big bros started coming in, in little groups scattered around the place. Terrified, he got off of the cheap plastic seat, knowing he was expected to do something. The big bros would just go nuts or pick on the smaller sligs for the smallest excuse, like, ‘Yo lookin’ at me, punk?’ or ‘Are yo not listenin’ ta me wussie?’ He slipped away through the moving crowd with his head low, trying to avoid eye contact, before bumping into another walking slig. The two fell over as he got up quickly, seeing that female slig glaring back at him, waiting for an explanation.
“Ummm, uhhh, sorry sir, it was an accident….” He took a nervous step back, nearly tripping as she glared at him like a big bro towards someone that had nicked their blitzpacker can, before figuring out what he had done wrong. “I-I mean mam!” He apologized sheepishly as the other walking sligs sniggered. She shot them a look that silenced them, before beginning to talk.

“Right, all of you slackers are going on duty, and due to a new change, I’m meant to waste my time showing you how-”
He stood there silently, watching her and paying attention. His eyes swivelled to her tight shirt, before he looked away quickly, red faced and hoping she didn’t catch him looking. She hated anyone looking below her collarbone, for obvious reasons that he didn’t find obvious. She used to be more territorial about who looked in her direction, before she got that recycled black shirt from Natzo for good behaviour (he didn’t know she punched half of the people who looked her way). He was distracted as some of the other sligs continued to talk in whispers. He looked her way and avoided eye contact as he saw her glare at them like death. “PAY ATTENTION!” She screeched, making him and half of the other sligs jump. He felt shaken up as she continued to ramble on, terrified like it was him he had told off. He just heard a whisper from another slig, and saw her reach at the gun holder on her pant leg. “Psycho bitch…” He heard a slig hiss to friend who sniggered, before covering the sides of his head.

Although he expected it, he still jumped as high as he could in heavy cheap iron pants when he heard the loud bang of her small hand gun go off. He slowly lifted his head from his bent crouching position, daring to look to see if she had shot that slig. Through the gaps in between his yellowy brown fingers, he could see her still looking in the slig’s direction with blazed eyes
"I know your serial number, 8912..." She spoke suddenly, her face dark and angry. "Just for that, you can be the first to test our new technological advancement..." He heard a sort of whimpering whine, before looking to see that the slig was still alive, and didn’t have his brains scattered all over the floor. The other sligs seemed scared though, and the big bros were looking for who fired that bullet as she put her gun back in its holder by her side.

"Right, this way, follow me, march!" She ordered as they walked, more strictly since Natzo’s rule. He was even stricter than Dripik was and crankier, more sligs got fired over more minor things, and more pointless rules were added. Even she hated him, and she was pretty strict herself. He was harder on her for some reason, snappy and moody when he called on her. He scuttled along quickly, dodging past the big bros who yelled in their deep voices and rounded up the other sligs. He slipped through the doorway, feeling panicky as the place began to get crowded with walking sligs. He shivered in fear as a huge, bigger big bro, over 11 foot tall and near twelve, stood near him, watching the commotion. Curious and nervous, he tried his best to get past the other sligs without causing hassle to no avail, getting sworn and shoved at before making it to the front.

In the rusty room was a new, less rustier machine with a complicated control panel, a cylindrical set of doors that led to a space inside, and something like a canon that stuck out of the gap in the wall, letting the cold day air in. A slog dispenser tube was placed next to it, bending and touching the floor to let the slogs roll out. He could see she was in a bicker with the slig she had shot at, as the big bros and pretty much everyone else watched. “I don’t care who you are boy, you’re going in first for thinking I’m a psycho bitch!”

“Who doesn’t?” He heard another slig snigger, rolling his eyes. She was too busy to hear that, and no one really cared what was said behind her back. Except him, it annoyed him a bit, knowing they had partly annoyed her in the first place. Though some days the word psycho fitted her well, out of control and angry. He watched as she grabbed the protesting slig by the shoulders, shoved him in the open doors, then pressed two buttons. He fell down to the steel floor, lifting himself up as the doors snapped shut quickly. The slig’s yells were muffled against the glass as he shouted her, before the floor inside seemed to spring up and launch him out of the canon at high speed. He was seen flying away into the distance through the gap in the wall around the steel canon, heard yelling as his voice faded and he landed somewhere else. The other sligs laughed, squinting their metal eyelids as they went hysterical at that slig’s fate. Another new mask made for them had ‘eyelids’ to show emotion. Even the lone slig sniffed in a humoured way, and smiled behind his tentacles. He didn’t know why the masks were changed again though, since Natzo was always trying to scrimp and save and there hadn’t been another mass slig suicide incident.

"Aww, I don't see why your laughing boys, because - you're all next!" She ordered, still standing by the door. There was some what?!'s, gasp's and complaints from the walking sligs, and the lone slig's face fell.
"I said he'd be the first to try it, not the last!" She barked. "So quit your whining, get your weapons, your slogs and go! This machine is built to make you get to your destinations quicker, and as long as it works, it's good enough for Natzo to consider it! Line up!"
They went to the nearby box reluctantly, being handed their guns and batons by the nearby big bros, who happily gave them a shove as they went. He nervously walked slowly closer, waiting for one of the two big bros to hand him his weapon. He recognized his blunderbuss instantly, seeing those marks and scratches on it, but waited for the big bros to give it to him, too shy and scared to breathe a word. The big bros stared at the label on it, clearly irritated and confused.

“Wha’ th’ hell does this say?” One snapped as the female slig commander looked over. “Looks like…Dimimi? Wha’ th’ hell kinda name is that?!” He muttered to himself and waited impatiently as she stalked closer. She reached up a hand to one of the big bros, who handed her the gun. She rolled her eyes after reading it. “It says ‘Dimitrio’… knuckleheads…” She whispered under her breath. “Can’t you guys read? Alright, who’s Dimitri-” She caught the attention of the slig shyly raising a hand. “Ah, right, here you go…” She said, handing the blunderbuss to him with two muscular green arms. Walking closer to that slig launcher device, he remembered someone.
“Slobber…” He whispered faintly, not wanting to attract attention. He heard a familiar ‘Woof!’ and saw the slog limp up to him, with his robotic leg.

Slobber was his slog, and he'd named him that because of his drooling problem caused by his deformed mouth, which also had no teeth. The happy panting slog was never beaten by him – he tried to, but his conscience wouldn’t let him – and his left leg had a mechanical replacement, which he got after being in an accident involving a slig and a vehicle, which that female slig had paid for.

He didn't know why she favoured him sometimes, when he didn’t even like himself. He hated himself for being nicer than other sligs. He couldn't shoot a fly, or beat his slog, which was why Slobber was friendly instead of vicious. The other sligs didn't notice though - they were too busy to pay attention to some slog that wasn't their own. They had better things to do. That supervisor slig had taught him he was worthless, and he had taken that lesson with him his whole life.

Dimitrio carried his weapon as he walked slowly, as Slobber ran into the pod, obediently, knowing he was expected to follow his master. It was his turn next, as a big bro laughed and shoved him closer to it, nearly making him fall. He tottered towards it nervously, seeing her stand there next to the door.
"Right, Dimitrio, you're next!"
She meant to shove him in gently, but grabbed his hand by accident. They stared into their red electronic eyes briefly, before some other sligs laughing at them ruined the moment, embarrassing them both. She swore at one and raised a finger, before looking at him again, still red faced.
"Umm, just make sure you land on your feet, you... Won't get hurt that way..."

Confused and still embarrassed, Dimitrio walked in, the slightly cramped space with his slog, freezing as the doors snapped shut behind him. The sound of other sligs laughter and that female slig’s furious shouting was muffled out before he was launched away out of the smallish tight canon, the air rushing against him as he was fired like a gunshot. He waved his arms and legs blindly in a panic, before smacking into a hard, pillow-like object.

He slid down it like a cartoon character against a window, dropping on the ground with his slog. He rolled his beady eyes behind his mask as he saw the target mark on the big dart board like ‘pillow’, looking around the desert-like area surrounding the Slig Barracks. The high barbed wire fence and building were in the distance, against the cloudy green sky, as he picked up his gun that lay on the ground, holding it properly and walking back and forth. He was on guard duty, and would be for a long couple of hour’s time.

CHAPTER 4 THE ATTACK
(Warning: über violence)

It had passed hours and hours as Dimitrio had just sat there all day. The sun was setting in the green cloudy misty sky, and not a breeze blew by in the silence. He was sitting on a rock in a remote place, dozy and not alert, tempted to sleep like the other slacker sligs. Slobber was fast asleep, snoring loudly and grunting, his gaped open mouth pouring a pool of saliva onto the earthy ground. The Slig Barracks sat silent in a huge pile in the distance, against the swampy yellowy green cloudy sky with some of the lights already on. There had been no trespassers so far. He doubted anyone would trespass anyway. Who would want to break into the slig barracks? There was nothing valuable there, it seemed pretty pointless. It didn’t look likely that Abe would come back with no mudokons to save. That Abe guy was an insane evil psycho he thought, like all the other sligs did. Worse still, Mr. I-like-to-kill-sligs-for-no-reason had his own personal moon with his sidekick Munch’s moon next to it, like a creepy monster in the night and reminder of the mass slaughter of some sligs he knew. He was also responsible for destroying the economy, the slaughter of hundreds of sligs, blowing up places, killing Dripik and other glukkons...

There was a sudden rustle in the tree next to him, high up in its branches. Slobber stayed asleep, but Dimitrio shot up into a standing position with his pants, alert and afraid, and grabbed his blunderbuss that he’d left lying beside him. Was it him? Abe? The mudokon serial killer terrorist? With his intern and vykker killing, fuzzle freeing friend Munch? The fear played havoc on his mind. Until the rustling of leaves stopped. He slowly sat back down, trying to calm himself. Maybe he was just imagining things. It was probably just a bird or something. He hoped he was, even if it meant he was insane. The thought that a killer nearby, that could posses him and make him get splattered without anything he could do about it, panicked him further. He tried to forget about it, but was in such a state, he continued to hold tight to his gun, just in case.
‘What if he's there?’ He thought. ‘Am I gonna die like the others did?’ He screamed and half-jumped as he heard a twig above him snap. He instinctively grabbed his gun, loaded it with a double click, and darted the barrel upwards to point at the tree’s mass of branches.

His beady eyes beneath his mask widened with shock, when he saw it wasn't an insane escaped serial killer terrorist, but some kind of monstrosity. A larger than him body, hanging by a thick old branch by its long tongue, looking back at him with watery eyes like a cartoon character. He could see it looked like a mix of wildlife creatures he was familiar with. A fuzzle, scrab, paramite… He forgot most of the rest that wasn’t food. She was wet, cold and muddy, showing in her stained brown skin and ruffled fur on her head, and the way she shivered and tried to cling to her body with those difficult elum arms.

She was hanging from the tree by a fleech tongue out her mouth, when the branch snapped. She fell and landed on her back, just missing a blow to the head. They stared at each other for a moment, both of them equally bewildered as Slobber woke up with a confused whine. She smiled as her purple slurg ommatophores stretched back out, climbing up onto her elum feet. She waddled over to him slowly, arms outstretched like a baby trying to walk, one of them with a loose, muddy, soaking wet, and slightly bloodstained bandage around it. Dimitrio held his gun in shock and fear, shaking like a beaten mudokon and not knowing what to do. He couldn’t shoot a fly, not after that incident that left him too guilt ridden to ever use a gun again.
"Wh... Wha... You... You're...Not allowed here, this is the slig barr-" He stuttered, terrified, before she whimpered like an attacked paramite and leaned over, crouching and holding her head as she whined, like she was in pain. His fear was overcome by worry and pity.
"A-are you alright?" He spoke softly, walking slowly closer with his robotic legs making mechanical sounds as Slobber watched silently, picking up random animal scents from the hybrid.

She lifted her long haired head quickly. Her pale lips had curled into a sick evil smile as her pink eyes had a cruelly happy look about them, a look he was familiar with from that bully slig he knew. She bared her assortment of carnivorous teeth against her fluffy scruffy head and walked slowly closer, with a menacing scrab hiss.

He leapt back in surprise and fear, walking away backwards as he was terrified. Slobber suddenly whined like he’d bean beaten, waddling backwards with his stump between his legs, before the slog suddenly broke into a load of yowling and barks as he took off. He felt unnerved at Slobber’s unusual behaviour, before looking back at the mysterious creature. There was a sick and twisted lusty look in her pink eyes, as her mouth drooled like she had smelt… Food. The word screeched a warning in his mind. She was made of scrab, fleech, paramite and fuzzle, looked like she was lusting after something she wanted, and was looking at Dimitrio. She wanted to eat him.

She advanced forward, slowly and menacingly, before common sense partly overcame Dimitrio’s fear and he ran, throwing his blunderbuss to the ground in a blind panic. He ran as fast as those heavy iron pants would let him, running towards the Barracks for help. Like a cat, it took chase, with the shriek of a paramite, gaining sudden grace in its movements as it caught up with him, sprinting in great strides and dragging its scrab legs behind it as he screamed. Leaping in front of him, it howled a scrab call before braking into a scrab shred, spinning gracefully on an elum foot with its muscular scrab legs outstretched. A talon slashed his side and flicked blood as he made a sudden turn to dodge her spins. He cried out in agony with that bad gash in his side instantly flowing blood, but kept on running away as the predator continued to give chase. With her shred power up, she hissed like a fleech as her tongue shot out of her mouth, whipping Dimitrio on the back to weaken him as he carried on screeching at the top of his lungs in fear and pain. He cried out yet again as the predator hybrid leapt on him, knocking him to the dusty ground. He wrestled in vain against her larger and heavier body as she snapped at his face and hands viciously, roaring like a scrab every time he tried to push away that hungry, teeth ridden mouth.

-~.o0*0o.~-

The female sit sat on a high rock as other sligs wandered around, examining the stretching horizon like a meerkat. A distant scream and barking of a slog broke the peace. She glared at the slog who snatched a slig’s baton and ran wildly as the cursing slig chased after him with some friends. She dropped down from her high position and followed quickly with some others, seeing the slig give up chase and wander off, swearing and kicking a rock in frustration. She sprinted in her lighter aluminium pants, following that voice and slog that ran with a wobble from its longer robotic leg. “You guys come with me!” She ordered to a group who moaned, before reluctantly leaving their spots and running after her, weapons in hand. As she went on, the screams grew more desperate, before they escalated suddenly to more horrible shrieks. She’d never forget that scream, the awfulness and torture in that voice that cried out, followed by a scrab howl. Nervous and worried, she ran faster as the sligs grew more motivated in interest and sped up, batons and guns swinging in their arms as the slog continued to lead the way. ‘Just what the hell is a scrab doing here?!’ She thought desperately, before freezing in shock horror.

She could see the monster on top of another slig in what looked like an attack or fight, and finally recognised the voice as Dimitrio’s. She felt horror, not wanting to believe what was going on, as she saw that beast maul at his shoulder, with blood staining the fur around its lips. She let out a whining gasp, unable to cope with the shock of the situation as she heard his tortured cries and saw him try to fight that monstrosity off with his uninjured arm. Then what innocence she had was ruined as she saw the worst part of the gory assault.

Its mouth went in his skin deeper, before it pulled its head back hard. The psycho had Dimitrio’s left arm in its mouth, dangling by the shoulder, as blood sprayed from his torn place where it used to be held on his body.
He screamed in unbearable pain. It was the most painful thing he'd ever felt.

With what sanity she had left, she quickly drew out her gun and shot at the Zrilufet. It roared like a dying scrab after a fight, before running off with that limb shaking in its mouth. The other sligs with guns shot at it as Slobber tried to chase it away with frantic barking and limping, but only a bullet skimmed over its scrab back. She barked to the others to get medical help, before running over to him. The two screamed as he felt all of the pain and she tried to block the rushing blood flow with her hands, as it only squirted out where it could, between her fingers and around her hands. The other sligs ran and yelled to others, as medical help finally did come. They wrapped his spraying wound quickly with instantly bloodstained bandages, carrying him off as fast as they could as she fell to her knees and bloodstained hands and howled, covered in his blood, before more sligs dragged her off and the smell of blood lingered in the air.

To Dimitrio, everything was blurred out as his mind only focused on the agony. The last thing he remembered was that monster, his slog barking and her, made insane by the horror, before he fell into the black of unconsciousness...

[Marvak]

This is awesome. I'd love to see more of Mike and the estranged Vykker

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Thank you master Marvak, they'll appear in future chapters....And the self claimed award for having the most morbid fanfic where people lose arms, break leg and witness near fatal violence goes to...Me! Kidding, enjoy the chapter.


CHAPTER 5 A GOOD START AND A BAD START

She woke up suddenly. She was in a thick forest, and had no idea how she'd got there. She couldn’t remember the day before, wandering into the Slig Barracks, slipping by unnoticed past sligs with guns. She got up clumsily, falling over three times, and looked at her plant ridden surroundings to find a clue as to why she was there.

The bugs buzzed in the air and the Mudosian birds whistled and chirped high in the trees. The polluted green and yellow sky was visible through the branches that stretched out at the mass of clouds. She looked over instantly as a horde of paramites leapt and ran out of the trees. She squealed and squeaked joyfully for attention, but they didn’t notice her. Nothing was unusual in this wilderness, something limited in Mudos. She scraped at the dirt ground with a scrab talon, looking around. Looking down, she could see there was a splash of dark red dried blood on the ground.

She leapt up in panic, listening for predators. Someone had killed or severely injured something, something that had been hurt so badly, it had bled. She shook in worry and fear as she saw the blood had a trail that went through the leafy trees. What kind of monster had done this, killed something and dragged it away as it bled, possibly to death? She sniffed the air, smelling something like raw meat, and waddled over to where something on the ground swarming with flies lay.

She knelt down to look at it, falling on her yellow belly and face. She wrinkled her mouth and eyes in disgust as she smelt it close up, but ignored it and looked at it. It looked like a bone, with torn meat and skin attached. She shrieked like a paramite that had been shot, leaping up and landing on her back. Rolling around and struggling with those tiny arms, she eventually got up onto her brown feet and walked back wards away from it, stopping and squealing as a scrab claw nipped at one of her elum legs. It had fingers, it was an arm. An arm that had been half eaten by a carnivore then left to the flies. She started to get extremely concerned as she no longer felt hungry like she had yesterday. Seeing a muddy puddle as thunder crackled and rain fell down, spotting the ground with water droplets, she curiously waddled over, nearly tripping and peered into it.

She had no reassurance as she saw blood on her furred face, mostly around her mouth. She gasped and looked down at her scrab torso, which was covered in dark dried blood. Her hands and her legs were too. Licking around her mouth with a long purple fleech tongue, she could taste the blood around her sharp teeth.

A bad feeling sunk in, a realisation as the moments of yesterday came back to her. She could remember waking up, cold, wet and alone, and sneaking into the Slig Barracks out of curiosity. She snuck past the sligs on guard duty, and the ones that flew through the air like they had been shot out of a canon. She had climbed into a tree to amuse herself, and rested there for a long time, before wanting to come down. In doing so she met that slig, before her head had hurt like she’d been beaten by a baton. She struggled to remember more, before the unwanted truth came to her.

Her pink eyes and slurg eyes on ommatophores went wide as she remembered the horror. With the headache gone, she had an urge to murder him and eat him. After a chase like a cat and a mouse, she no longer had patience with killing him, and decided she’d just go ahead and eat him, piece by piece. It would of gone as planned if she hadn’t of been caught and shot at. She only got an arm, and had ran as far as possible as the other sligs shot at her. She had survived. As for him, he was probably dead. That arm over there, the blood that had dripped on her and the ground, it was his.

She tossed back her head and screamed, howled, shrieked and made whatever sound she could from her hybrid self. She had made him suffer in agony and probably killed him, she thought, as she continued to wail, scaring birds out of their nests.

-~.o0*0o.~-

The group of walking sligs cheered on the two big bro's in the alleyway, a space made by loads of surrounding and piled high light brown tents as they wrestled in the shantytowns, in the slig barracks. A thing the less serious or mature big bro's did to have fun and impress other sligs, a thing that Natzo would send them to Skillya over if he found out about it. The larger big bro slig, about two foot and four inches taller than the other big bro, pushed the smaller but still larger than normal big bro hard, flipping him onto the dusty ground on his back like a turtle. The pushed big bro crashed to the ground, sending dust flying up, and the other sligs cheered. The winner showed off, doing poses to show his muscles that bulged everywhere on his huge green sweat coated body. He walked slowly over to a vending machine that stood against a tent, smacked the button hard, and drank from the blitzpacker can that rolled out of it. Two flying sligs cheered as they hovered in the audience, one an adult with a different and more advanced flying harness, and the other one smaller and young with one that looked identical. The younger slig flew after the older slig as he left the ‘arena’ though the alleyway. Whilst the older one was calm, the younger one wasn’t, excited and deliberately steering his wings in whatever direction he could as he flew past the untidy tents at high speed.

"Did ya see then?!” He nattered on, talking fast. “They were like, raaar! And then he went, RAAAR! And he went, WHOOSH!" He squealed, flying as fast as he could in a spin. The older slig rolled his eyes as his younger companion spun out of control, and crashed into a pile of rubbish left to rot. The older flying slig tutted and laughed, holding the handles on his harness and pushed them to hover closer.
"Frisbee, you need to calm down before you break both your arms, kay?" He spoke in a non sluggish voice. Frisbee pressed the buttons on his handlebars to get up from the trash pile, and flew back to him. The older one chucked and dodged as Frisbee flew at him in a missing tackle, the two chasing each other playfully around the tents, stacked together and on top of each other like dirty unfolded washing.

A walking slig ran in a hurry through the alleyway, stumbling over another walking slig that swore as he nearly tripped over his head as he tried to crawl out of his tent. He pushed past the crowd, running up to the huge big bro without fear.
"Brutus!" He gasped, holding his chest as he stopped for breath. The bigger big bro slig turned to him slowly, his four pant legs moving like a spiders legs.
"Some guy – lost his arm – and he's in the hospital wing!” He gasped. “Wanna – come – see!?" He panted. The other sligs muttered together in agreement. Interested, they all ran through the shantytowns as the two big bros tottered after them, Frisbee and the other flying slig swooping above them.

"What’dya think happened to the slig?!" Frisbee shouted to the older flying slig over the sound of loads of mechanical legs charging. "Do you think they was lots of blood and stuff? D’ya think they would of cleaned it up?" The older slig looked ahead with his goggled eyes as he dodged past tents that stuck out from their piles. "I doubt it, we don't exactly get special treatment!" He answered, seeing a commotion ahead. His eyes went wide behind his mask as he grabbed Frisbee from mid flight and ducked behind a metal platform.

Frisbee shrieked and struggled whilst being gagged and held by his friend, thrashing at him before he hissed at Frisbee to be quiet. “Shhh! Don’t let her catch us!” He whispered harshly, pointing ahead and downwards to the dusty ground. Looking ahead through his goggles, Frisbee could see most of the sligs had snuck away or were running off with the smaller big bro, scattering around and behind him. Looking to where they were running from, he saw a small crowd of sligs. They wanted to run, looking nervous and trying to sneak away, but couldn’t. One of them was being held against his will by the tentacles, forcing him to kneel to the ground uncomfortably as he whined. The older flying slig winced as him and Frisbee’s flying harness’s hummed and clicked, as he hoped not to get noticed. He watched the slig that had the guy’s tentacles in her thick strong hand, holding his breath. He recognised who it was, in the black sleeveless shirt and bulky body.

“Agent 80085…” He mumbled solemnly. Frisbee held his hand tightly, as he hovered back a little, still watching her from behind the raised platform. “Why is she-” The older slig signalled to him to shush. “I don’t know…” He whispered in reply. “She hasn’t been the same since yesterday, some sligs said she’d witnessed a violent accident where a guy nearly died…” He spoke quietly, not wanting to draw her attention. He grabbed onto the support beams holding up the metal platform and ducked behind it with Frisbee as she screamed.

"WHO'S IDEA WAS IT TO COME SEE A GUY WHO’S GONNA DIE FOR FUN?!?!" She screeched, squeezing the terrified slig’s tentacles tighter. She shook more violently and breathed more deeply and unevenly as the sligs stayed silent in the breezeless outdoors, not wanting to own up for obvious reasons. Some of then at the back of the group ran back through the alleyway, dodging sprawled out tents. The others remained trapped and terrified as the two flying sligs watched and the trapped slig struggled. She froze for a moment, her traumatized digital eyes staring up at the towering tents and cloudy green sky, before shaking again.
"OH, SO IT'S MR. NOBODY'S FAULT THEN, IS IT?!" She screamed, yanking the guy upwards so his robotic feet hung off of the ground. He cried out in agony as no one dared to own up to the gossip or stick up for him, not wanting to face her insane wrath. "WELL LETS JUST SAY IT'S THIS GUY'S FAULT!!!" She roared, as loud as she could and hurting her throat. She threw her free fist against the slig’s stomach, then let go of him and punched his face brutally. The force threw him back to the ground and made him instantly bleed from under his metal mask. The other sligs had already taken off, apart from the flying sligs, who watched in horror, disgust and fear as she continued to rain punches down on him as he curled up on the earthy ground and screamed in terror and agony.

[Marvak]

Damn, them sligs have a hard life, eh? o-o; Moremoremoremoremore!

[skillyaslig]

Oh...LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

[LadySlig]

Took me a while to read, but over all, a fantastic and interesting read!

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Damn, them sligs have a hard life, eh? o-o; Moremoremoremoremore!

Coming up! Thank you all....Well its only one chapter instead of two, but oh well. I kinda rushed it towards the end too. Yep, their lives sure do suck for some reason. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 5½ A HELPING ARM

She carried on beating up the slig. She breathed deeply in frustration as she punched mercilessly at the badly bruised slig, grabbing him every time he tried to crawl away and pulling him back to continue beating him. He screamed as the punches rained down on his badly hurt body, curling up to protect himself in vain as the two flying sligs watched, horrified. She’d gone from calm and strict to an insane monster. All because of that accident she’d saw that had driven her insane. Frisbee cried and held onto his brother, as the two watched in terror. They were guilt ridden as they did nothing to help the screaming slig, for fear of being beaten up themselves.

Eventually, the slig broke free from her tight grasp, and ran back down the alleyway between the light brown tents. She screeched and gave chase, but a large hand picked her up by her robotic left leg, making her dangle over six feet in the air. The two flying sligs looked and saw the bigger big bro slig had came back. The massive 14 foot tall slig held her leg in his huge green hand, looking unimpressed as she thrashed and struggled to try and get free to no avail. "PUT ME DOWN YOU STUPID MEAT HEAD!" She screamed, trying to grab at his masked face that just looked at her. The two flying sligs giggled from behind the support for the platform that rose high up above the dusty ground and against the cloudy green sky and skyscraper piles of tents. "She's gone nuts, Gadget!" Frisbee sniggered. Gadget chucked from where he hovered as she continued to screech and punch at the slig more than twice her size.

"Inuff ulready!" The big bro’s deeper than normal voice boomed, making her stop attacking for a moment. "Jus’ bicuz yo dun't know who diddit, dusn't mean yo c’n give each one uv dem dih recycler treatmunt! Someone wiz bound tih find out anywuy!” He spoke, tapping the side of her head with his finger. Because of his size and strength, it came out like a slap. She rubbed her sore reddened cheek, having gotten out of her madness.
“Uh, what happened? Brutus, what are doing?! The blood is going to my head!” She snapped.
“Yuh went crazy an’ startud beatun’ up ah guy!” He answered. She froze, having remembered her brutal assault. “Oh…My bad.”
“Yuh bad? Yuh bad?!” He exclaimed. “’E wiz screamun’! Yuh beat ‘im up ovah sum normal slig sum body spoke about! Ah dun't see why yur getting’ so emotionully invulved!"

Her masked face darkened in her eyes, scaring the big bro. She signalled to him to move his head closer to hers, which he did out of fear. When his smallish head on the end of his long neck was close enough, she grabbed one of his thick muscular face tentacles, and pulled his face closer to hers so her red eyes glared straight into his.
"I. Am. Not. Emotionaly. ENVOLVED!" She screeched. "I HATE EVERY ONE OF YOU SLEEP ON THE JOB IDIOTS! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD LIKE HIM?!" She yelled, her female voice echoing through the outdoor Slig Barracks. Startled, he accidentally dropped her on the ground. She landed with a thud on her shoulders, flopping onto her back. "Ack!" She cried out in pain, before looking up at Brutus darkly.
"Um... Am... Gunna... Go git sum blitzpackuh!" He answered quickly before trying to run in his loud four legged pants, half-charging down the alleyway and knocking scruffy tents over. He'd seen enough of her rage.
"Ugh!" She tutted, getting up to her aluminium feet. She muttered insults under her breath along the lines of 'lousy useless wimpy meathead', stepping over the knocked over tents in the dusty alleyway as she left.

The two flying sligs flew out from their hiding place, and lower to the ground.
"Man, she's as mad as a scrab today!" Frisbee said, looking at the ‘building’ she had been guarding. “What do you think is wrong with her, big brother?" Gadget flew to the door of said ‘building’, and tugged it open. The ‘building’ was a scrap heap of metal that looked like it would fall apart, if it weren’t for the botched and bent nails that stuck out in places to keep it together. The rusty scrap heap was a ‘hospital’ of some sort for the lower class sligs, the ones that couldn’t pay for good treatment. Rumours spread of sligs that had died of infections from the unhygienic conditions there. Most sligs that got injuries would rather use their tents as a place for rest before being forced back to work, but they usually got infections too. Natzo was the blame for this torture the sligs thought, making things cheaper and worse for them and rules stricter. Only the higher paid sligs like big bros got any decent treatment or recovered in most cases.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing it has something to do with that slig's injuries! Let's go!" Gadget spoke, slipping through the open door. Frisbee hovered nervously after him, looking around the scruffy medical area. The walls of the hallway looked rusty, bent and like they were going to fall apart. The sound of sligs moaning in pain or screaming in agony could be heard through the doors that bended off their aged hinges. There was a smell of lack of hygiene and blood that drifted through the bent or half-open doors.
"What if she catches us, Gadget?" Frisbee said, fearful. He opened a door, before shutting it quickly as he didn’t see what he was looking for.
“Ouch, needles…Well anyway, she beat up that that guy just because someone told!"
"She won't catch us." Gadget reassured him, looking through more doors. He winced as he saw bad injuries consisting of skin tearing scrapes.

"She's gone away, and if she does, I'll take the blame." Frisbee opened another metal door and hovered through.
"Really?" Frisbee replied, unsure. The room was large and rectangular, with rows of brown scruffy beds. Light came in through the gaps in the bent walls and ceiling. Sligs lay on the beds laid out like coffins, some unconscious, some muttering in insanity, and others still as a still-life, starting to smell and losing colour in their skin. Those ones were dead. Upset at the sight, the two flying sligs tried not to look at them.
"Are you sure you wanna take the blame?” Frisbee said, hoping to change the subject and take his mind off of the lifeless bodies in the rusty room. “She's nuts!"
"'Course I'm sure, Frizz.” He replied, flying in after him. “I’d rather she killed me than you, you’re younger." "Oh…” Frisbee said, hovering higher up. With a better view point, he looked over the rows of dirty beds. “Thanks big brother!" "No problem." Gadget replied solemnly. He was enlightened, knew people were born and died, but wasn’t used to seeing it for himself. A slig on a bed closed his eyes, gave out a dry gasp, and stopped breathing. He’d just witnessed someone die.

Frisbee tried not to think about it and blocked the tears that welled up under his mask. “So how will we tell which one it is?” He said, trying not to sound teary. His throat hurt as he tried not to sob. Gadget pretended not to take notice to save him the embarrassment. He thought for a moment, trying to remember what that gossipy slig said, and those rumours. “We’re looking for someone who’s missing an arm…”
“Found him!” Frisbee nearly yelled.
Gadget followed his ‘brother’s’ voice, swooping down by a bed.

The pantless slig lay still on the cheap brown bed with his metal eyelids closed. He was covered by a blood stained blanket, with a tourniquet wrapped around his left shoulder where his left arm should have been. His only arm left lay draped over the bedside, without a movement, with a thin tube pierced through his skin that was hooked up to a drip that hung by his bedside. A tube was down the sleeping slig’s throat, to feed him in his coma. They stared in shock at the state of the slig. The room would have been silent if it weren’t for the tormented moans and screams of other slig patients and their flying harness’s humming and clicking.

"Who... Could it be?" Frisbee whispered. Wondering the same thing, Gadget hovered closer to said patient beside the bed, and looked at the only arm he had left. A paler-green scar ran down his shoulder to his wrist.
"It's... Dimitrio..." He replied, shocked and saddened. Dimitrio’s scar was something he had for as long as he was young, no other sligs he knew had one like it. He was saddened in part due to the fact he knew him a little and that he was one of the rare nice sligs. He didn’t deserve it in his mind. He looked at him, observing the state he was in, trying not to believe it. A tormented mental slig screamed from across the room.
"Why is he asleep?" Asked Frisbee. "Is he gonna wake up?" Gadget looked saddened.

"I don’t think so... They're probably keeping him like that to see if it’ll grow back or he wakes up..." He answered solemnly.
"But won't he be fine without it?" Said Frisbee, confused. "I thought losing an arm wouldn’t kill you."
Gadget froze. He couldn’t deny him the truth, it would come out sooner or later. Frisbee could tell by looking at him something was wrong.
"What's wrong?"
He know he couldn’t lie or ignore him, so he finally spoke up. "... If he only has one arm, he'll be no good for work...” He began, filling his younger sibling full of dread. “So they'll..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. They would just shoot him like a rogue mudokon and leave his body to rot somewhere. Natzo found it cheaper. A one armed slig couldn’t use a gun, couldn’t do most things a slig with two arms could. The industrial world was cruel and unsympathetic to those low in it.

He might of not said what would happen, but already Frisbee had figured it out. "Get rid of him!?" He screeched. "They can’t do that! He’ll live!” He protested. Gadget looked at him, wanting to reason with his brother. “I can’t change Natzo’s mind…” He tried but failed. Already the six year old was furious and upset. “They don’t have to!” He snapped, like his brother was to blame. “IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAAIIIIRRR!" He screamed in a vicious strop. The sound scared some of the psychotic or half-asleep patients, making them moan or shriek back in the scruffy metal room.

He cried in hopelessness, pressing buttons on the levers attached to his flying harness, and flew into Gadget's arms, sobbing uncontrollably and whining against him. Gadget tried to stay strong for his younger brother, but cried a bit too. He was right, it wasn't fair at all, and it was a tragedy. He wasn’t used to it, he heard about sligs dying or going to die, but never thought about it until now. He tried to hide his sobs as tears flooded from their masks and dripped onto the floor, the two oblivious as to how much it tickled their faces.
"I wish we could just get him an arm..." Frisbee sobbed. “Than that Natzo idiot wouldn’t shoot him…”

Gadget froze suddenly, his crying halting. Frisbee continued to sob as he thought. He had a brainwave, an idea. An idea that could help. Save a life.
“Get him an arm…” He whispered. His face lit up instantly. He grabbed Frisbee by the arms, and swung him around at high speed.
“Gaaadgeeet!” Frisbee howled unevenly as he was spun. “Whaaat aaare you doooiiiing!?”
"Frisbee, you're a GENUIS!" He beamed, before losing his grip. Frisbee went spinning away uncontrollably and bounced off a scruffy brown bed, nearly hitting a patient.
"What are you happy about? I thought you were sad!" He snapped, still depressed and flying back to his brother.
"You just gave me the best idea right now!" He yelled, ecstatic. "What idea?" Frisbee muttered, still sobbing. “I can’t believe you’re happy when someone is gonna die and you’re in a room full of dead people!”
"We can build him an arm out of scrap!" He answered, flying around the room like he’d just gotten his wings.

"Really? Cool!" Frisbee squealed, in a better mood. "But how? Won't that be hard?" Gadget partially ignored him as he flew over the sleeping Dimitrio and sang in joy, the sleeping slig not uttering or stirring in the slightest.
"I have robotics manuals written by vykkers, I have brains, and there is loads of scrap metal around here!” He beamed. “We could take some pants and try and rebuild the legs!” He nearly yelled. “I'll do the building, and you can help get the stuff!” Frisbee had stopped crying altogether, with just sniffles left.
"Okay, lets start now!" Frisbee squealed. "I'll get stuff, and you'll get the books!" "Right! Let's go!" Gadget shouted in agreement.

They both whizzed out at high speed of the miserable death-ridden medical room and above the shantytowns, in search of the things they'd need.
“We have to hurry though!” Gadget said less cheerfully as he flew against the polluted sky, dodging pipes and tent tips. “There’s no telling when Natzo could decide he’s done with him!”

[skillyaslig]

Love it! Great bit of writing there!

[Marvak]

*chants* WE WANT MORE!

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

*chants* WE WANT MORE!

(Chases bumped away thread)
YES MASTER MARVAK! Well having a week off the computer got this bumped away to the next page, but I'm back, with two more chapters! Whooooo, I'm awesome....Obey me....Now I can center the thingies to make it more noticeable...

CHAPTER 6 M.O.M

The sligs sat inside the Slig Barracks building, in a place where they went on their break. Sligs sat in the bar and drank and talked and smoked in the smoky, crowded and noisy room. A gang of sligs was with an older slig, forty-something in slig years and with ripped tentacles with holes. He looked over at the female slig that sat by herself against a cheap stained steel wall. Her traumatized eyes stared into space and she didn’t move an inch. She’d been in and out of that kind of state for days. Ever since that rumoured accident. There was all kinds of rumours about it after she was seen screaming and covered in blood. Some sligs said a slig finally gave her what she deserved, among other sick things that had left her traumatized. Others said she had killed a slig with her bare hands and was scared of getting caught for it. Some said she’d had an encounter with Abe or Munch. More unbelievably, the sligs at the scene said the blood came from another slig who was attacked by a hybrid carnivorous monster, and that she had gotten covered in his blood when she tried to help him. They didn’t know what to believe, so they kept on making up rumours or stories about it.

A slig looked her way as she began talking to herself, and fidgeting with her hands.
“Think she’s alright?” A walking slig asked. His baton leaned against his chair.
The oldest one sniffed, taking another drink from a can. He slammed it on the table, swallowing the alcoholic liquid.
“Who cares, she’s been screwed up ever since that day…” He said harshly, taking another drink. One of the sligs sniggered.
“Think it was that Dimitrio loser she attacked?” They laughed briefly. “I haven’t seen him in days…” Another slig sniffed.
“He probably made himself useful and finally jumped into a recycler.”
They laughed again in the smoky chatty bar.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, he’s been staring at those things for weeks before he disappeared. Odd damn emo.” One walking slig added. Another laughed.
“I saw him lookin’ over the edges of platforms too.”

They laughed again, before hearing a familiar tune on the old dusty tv, that hung from the ceiling by a mechanical arm-like support. A slig was on the dusty tv screen, on a circular platform with circular screens to his side and a red curtain in the background. Each of the screens at different angles said NEWS BULLETIN, with a picture of the slig on them. He pretended to bat invisible baseballs with his microphone, before turning to face the camera.

“The Magog On the March. News to give you blues.” He began.
“A hybrid vykker experiment-” A 2D cartoon-styled picture of it came onto the screens. “That two vykkers were paid millions of moolah to create has escaped!” He said, putting more drama into his voice. “In its escape, an intern disappeared-” The sligs looked interested as a picture of Mike’s head went on the screens. “And a window was found smashed in the lab.” The sligs watched as a picture of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde’s lab atop a cliff appeared, against a daytime sky. The female slig and all of the others had their full attention on the small screen. She recognised the picture of that bloodthirsty monster, and watched to try and learn more about it. She needed answers.

“The two vykker creators themselves, Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde, are here to give more information on the situation.” The newscaster slig said.
The screen switched to show Frankenstein and Norbert. Some of the sligs recoiled upon suddenly seeing two vykkers faces up close with stitched heads. The cameras flashed around them as a bundle of microphones were held near their huge purple heads on the small screen.

"Testing, testing!” Norbert yapped into the microphone. “Now, the reason why we're is because of some complications in our zrilufet project!" Frankenstein announced.
“We already knew that!” A glukkon off-screen snapped.
“Shut up!” Norbert shrieked back viciously.
“Anyway!” Frankenstein cut in, not wanting the subject to be changed to an argument. “Apparently the creature isn’t as soft as we thought…” he began nervously.
“We don’t know what happened to Mike, our intern assistant that went missing with it, but the creature was reported to have been seen and eaten some slig guy’s arm off and he hasn’t been found.”
The slig lady perked up her head. She looked up at the hanging tv from her seat, looking a paler green around her mask.

"Zrilufet?..." She whispered, still in a psychotic stage. The monster, the monster that flashed through her horrific memories, with a bloodied face and the slig she liked better than the others as its victim, had a name. She glared at the screen darkly. On her personnel hate and/or shoot list in her mind, along with Abe, Munch and various sligs around the Slig Barracks that had gotten on her nerves, was some new names. The Zrilufet to shoot, and those two vykkers to hate for starting all of the trouble.

“How did it escape?! Didn’t you lock up the damn thing?!” A female yappy vykker voice off screen shrieked. Frankenstein rolled his eyes and looked at the screen as Norbert looked expressionless, and started twitching, jittering his arms and eyelids with no pattern.
"The experiment is believed to have escaped through a broken window we found newly broken. An attack by some unknown monstrosity on a slig was reported a day later, which was probably the Zrilufet, judging by the description."
All of the sligs had their eyes fixed on the screen, not even drinking or speaking. Silence lingered in the metal bar, broken by the tv speakers broadcasting the voices.

"I’ll kill…That b****…" She whispered, glaring at the tv like it had made another 80085 = BOOBS calculator joke in front of her. She hated that old insult as much as being ogled for being a monotreme.
“So why’d it suddenly go vicious now?!” An off-screen glukkon called to the two scientists. Frankenstein waved a hand in front of Norbert, who continued to twitch and fidget without notice of anyone or anything around him on live tv.
"The Zrilufet must of went into Zachorax mode.” He said casually. “It’s something we created the hybrid experiments to be switched to under control, for our project. It must of had a glitch and went into it for some cause.”

Agent 80085 continued to twitch like Norbert in her seat, not being noticed by the other sligs. Her fidgeting and shaking turned into sudden jerking, like a violent epileptic seizure. She hissed in shaky breaths, and hit and kicked at her recycled metal table.
"The… creature...” She blurted out in a shaking, manic voice. “It... Mutated!..." She whispered in a whine.

“So what the heck does the Zachorax mode do to it?!” An off-screen walking slig demanded. Frankenstein rolled his eyes, irritated, while Norbert casually walked out of the camera’s view. The camera’s kept on flashing and the microphones remained held close to their faces.
"It will temporarily lose all of its memories and conscience and develop a strong lust for killing, any other questions?!" He snapped back.
"Yeah, why are we here?! What’s the main reason?!" A moody glukkon ordered.

Frankenstein’s nervousness showed in his face. His lower jaw gaped and shivered as he tried to think of an answer, how to say the answer that would get them the least annoyed. He would of tried to manipulate Norbert into doing it, but decided not to when he heard a crash in the distance and couldn’t see him around the room.

"Welllllll...." He began, shaking with nervousness.
"Ummmm, it appears for our experiments to continue without the Zrilufet we made…” The glukkons groaned and the vykkers whined upon sensing the bad news. Something they didn’t want to hear. Not a slig stirred or made a sound in the room, except for Agent 80085, who carried on fitting like an tired epileptic person who had watched the banned Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon, so much that she was about to fall out of that chair any minute and was kicking and hitting the things around her. One of the slig’s in the oldest slig’s group rolled his eyes at her.
“Seizure freak…”
“Tell me about it…Why the f*** is she doing that?!” Another hissed.
The oldest torn tentacled one sniffed.
“Probably just not used to watching tv. Butchy b**** exercises all the time, why would we care anyway if she’s spazzing out?”
Not knowing how to answer that, the sligs silenced and carried on watching tv as the female slig carried on jerking violently in her chair.

“…With what little DNA we have from getting a small blood sample, we need…” He paused, before bringing the worst news for the industrialists.
“Six million moolah..."
The glukkons, vykkers and whatever other industrialist species there booed in an uproar, upon hearing the news. With moolah scarce, it would take a fortune from more than a couple of rich people to give them that amount of cash, and no one there was willing to give what ‘little’ money they had left. It would mean they would be deprived of their luxuries for a while, and like spoilt children, they were strong against giving that up. An empty zap can was thrown off Dr. Hyde's head.
"Ow! Odd damn it, it ain’t my fault!" Frankenstein Jekyll shrieked like an irritated child.

Just then, Norbert came back into the view of the camera, his face with an eerie calm expression.
"Well anyway, you must report any sightings of the Zrilufet you see.” He spoke in a monotone voice. “Make sure no one helps it evade capture, call your local slig if you see it, bla bla bla, have a nice day, now turn the cameras off before I throttle my best friend."
The sligs and various people off camera raised eyebrows before the surprised and non catatonic vykker spoke again. "So then our plan will work, you'll get what you want. and we'll rule the east side!"


There was a cheer from the people off screen as the sligs in the bar were just plain confused.
“’East side’? What the Hell is that?”
The slig’s question was left unanswered as none of them had a clue.
"And remember kids, flush your own fleech!" Frankenstein said cheerfully. Norbert remained silent for a moment, before looking insanely furious. Norbert grabbed Frankenstein’s neck, and began shaking the terrified vykker. Frankenstein screamed as his best friend strangled him, and Norbert yelled in fury as he strangled his best friend. He shrieked “I’LL KILL YOU!” Before the camera view changed back to the Newscaster Slig.

“And that’s what the two scientists have to say about their project!” He said cheerfully, as if he hadn’t noticed the on camera attempted assault. “Coming up next, The Mr. Happy the vykker’s Show!” He said. The ending theme of the M.O.M news came on, before a live action animation with childish music and a smiling vykker with puppets played with the logo of the children’s show. The sligs immediately lost interest, apart from the large big bro named Tiny, who pretended he wasn’t watching his favourite show.

The slig lady, who with luck hadn’t fallen off her chair, got up and left the small building.
"Where’s she going?” A slig muttered to the old slig. The oldest slig resumed drinking, slamming the can down hard when he was done with the can.
“I don’t think any of us here gives a f***.” He answered coldly.

Once she was outside, she froze, ran over to a small bin and threw up inside it. Done with that, she took a used tissue from inside it to wipe most of the vomit off her tentacles. She put it back in the bin before carrying on back to the main building. Her face around her mask was pale, her eyes were shocked and sickened, and her emotions miserable as she walked slowly to the towering Barracks building.

CHAPTER 7 SHE RETURNS

The Zrilufet lay on her red scrab back, looking up at the green cloudy sky through the trees, their branches reaching out and grabbing at it with leafed twig fingers. A group of paramites ran by, shrieking as they noticed the unfamiliar creature with mixed scents containing paramite, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care about other things. She blamed herself for what happened. She didn't know if that creature, who hadn’t told someone to jab her with a needle that still left a scar, was alive or dead, critical or stable. Her stomach was full from her overindulging herself on leaves – she didn’t want to get hungry again in case it happened again – her losing control and turning into a bloodthirsty monster. Her fur was dirty from lying on the ground, the bandage on her elum arm from the first person who had helped her was soggy and hanging off short limb, her lips and throat begged for water but she did not move. She wanted to punish herself for what happened. It was her who had did it, probably killed him, and she had no one else to blame. She continued to lie there miserably, wasting another day in her own self punishment.

A positive thought passed her mind. What if he… Forgave her? Highly unlikely, but not impossible, right? After all, she had just ‘blacked out’ and hadn’t been acting of her free will, during the slaughter. He seemed like a nice person… And she longed for another companion, after losing the two that could have been. She had no idea where they were. Perhaps she knew where that man was…

Freeing herself from punishment, she got up, falling over three times before getting to her elum feet. Her fuzzle eyes glared while her slurg ones strained themselves, lacking in vision. Running past trees and tripping over four times, she made it to the edge of the forest, and saw the Slig Barracks stand in the distance against the green clouded sky. A heap of tents, pipes and buildings, that she began to familiarise with in a memory.

Her eyes looked strained and puzzled as she peered at the industrial facility. She tried to remember what had happened, whilst keeping the gory bits out. She remembered chasing him, as he ran towards the place, trying to escape her.
She squealed happily, a fuzzle squeaking sound. That place was where the other guys had taken him to. There was hope. Maybe he forgave her, maybe he was alive. She got her hopes up.

She longed to have a friend – with the vykker and the intern’s whereabouts unknown, this could be her last chance. She began running towards the facility in the distance across the desert, regardless of how hungry or thirsty she was.

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Whoops, double posted....Ah well, double the fun....Darn loading times....

[Flamefox]

Oh, thats a really good story! *claps*

[sosha]

very nice i loved it you are very talented.........i can't wait to read more!!!!!!!

[Marvak]

Yayness! I was almost going to PM you saying to hurry up... now I on't need to! *hugs*

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Yayness! I was almost going to PM you saying to hurry up... now I on't need to! *hugs*

Well ya should of.

Okay...I spent most of the day trying to type up stuff...I've done more of Kico's Oddysee, and one chapter of The Oddball's Oddysee....Which I give you now! Well its one chapter instead of two but....Better than zero!

CHAPTER 8 BACK TO LIFE

Frisbee, the young flying slig, cheerfully flew through the Shantytowns at ground level, singing, whizzing along and dodging deliberately around pipes, tents and lamps. He held a large piece of scrap metal in one arm whilst piloting his wings with the other. The plan to make Dimitrio an arm was going perfect in the two adopted brothers eyes. Gadget had already done most of the work, taking apart a pair of mechanical slig pants and fixing them together. It would hopefully have the ability to move like a pair of pants. If not, back to square one. Frisbee had metal suitable to attach the arm to Dimitrio’s stump. When they attached that to the mechanical arm, the arm would be made. If it could move voluntarily with Dimitrio’s mind, like a pair of sligs pants when attached, their work was done.

He happily whizzed through the air rushing against him, when he saw the female slig boss standing there on the ground, right in front of him. Her hands were on the sides of her pants, and her eyes bore a demanding look. He screamed a high pitched scream, making his wings come to a halt in the air. Terrified, he froze like an animal in the headlights of a car, before trying to fly around her, past her and down the alleyway to meet Gadget in the hospital.
“NOT so fast!” She demanded. Out of fear, he hovered still and obeyed the command. He whimpered and whined like a scared sloggie as he expected the worst. The things he had seen and heard about her. Her having gotten into fights with other sligs, having the upper advantage while other sligs watched. The sligs that had battled her ending up with their arms in slings. She usually manipulated them so the management didn’t find out, or fired warning shots with her small gun when she was up against something like a big bro. Manipulation was usually a preferable option, since most sligs had a room temperature IQ.

“Where do you think you’re going with that scrap metal?” She ordered sternly. Frisbee shook as he hovered, trying to think of a good lie. He looked around the shantytowns, like a city with tent skyscrapers. Scruffy tent skyscrapers, home to slaves that worked for the glukkons, whether they liked it or not. Tent apartments of one bedroom, a lump of blankets for a bed and nothing else.
“I… Uhhh… Was gonna get it for my tent! To!... Help hold it up and stuff!”

She ‘raised an eyebrow’, giving him a suspicious look as the metal eyelids on her mask narrowed.
“Your tent is fine, like everyone else’s, none of them have collapsed.” He broke out in a cold sweat as she walked closer to him, ready to further interrogate him or take away the metal he so desperately needed to help the wounded slig. He shook and turned his head away from her like an unconfident dog as her demanding look bore on him.
“Well, uhhhhhh!…” He stuttered and muttered, as she began tapping her mechanical foot on the dusty ground in impatience. “I wanna!…. Make it better!”
She looked unimpressed. She knew he was lying. She was good at seeing through people, and his clear nervousness, refusing to make eye contact and wanting to get away gave him away like a neon sign pointing to him. She’d seen it all before. A slig, say, stole something from her, like her gun. Some threats of violence and/or discipline from Natzo later, and she usually got her stuff back. Or just beat them up.

“W-well I better be going!” He uttered quickly, taking hold of the handle bars on his flying harness. Furious, she lunged forward and grabbed him by the back of his flying machine. He struggled in her powerful muscular grip before giving up, knowing his struggling would just make her madder. He daren’t leave his wings – he knew a crawling slig couldn’t go far or fast, and he probably wouldn’t see then again if he did. He whimpered, close to tears.
“You’re NOT going anywhere until you tell me where you’re going, and what you’re doing with that scrap metal!” She almost screeched in his face. “You tell me right NOW!”
“Nothing! Honest!” He nearly cried and bawled. There was no one else there in the otherwise silent shantytowns to dare help the young slig. She seethed as she glared into his trembling face like a snarling dog. She didn’t like other people wasting her time, she hated it. If trouble for her came from someone lower than her, people would be hurt. With no escape, Frisbee just stared up at that face he feared so much.
“Look…” She hissed. “I’m not in a good mood today, and I might get a little annoyed, and end up hurting you, so-”

The moment he heard the word ‘hurt’, his eyes widened like saucers behind his red mask goggles, his face twisted like a baby about to cry and he began wailing like a baby that had a party banger go off when it had been sleeping.

“NOOOOOO!!!” He howled out like a gunshot. “DON’T HURT ME!!!” He begged for his life. “I’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU!!!”
He then leapt ungracefully out of his flying harness, thumping on the old ground, and crawled away at the speed of a remote control car. A comical chase began with her chasing a much younger crawling slig in a circle in the alleyway. Luckily for her, no one witnessed the situation.
She made a grab for his tail but missed. “Wait! I didn’t say I would!” She panted. “I said I might if you make me mad!” She snarled and got up as he sped straight into a tent. She reached her muscular hand in and hauled him out. A squeal followed before he found himself staring at her upside down. His tail hurt as it bore his weight like a thread as she held it tightly in a sore grip. He whined as he began his hysterical crying again as she glared at him.

“Just tell me the truth and I’ll stop hurting you!!” She growled remorselessly.
“ALRIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEGHT!” He screamed. She dropped the slig child and held the sides of her head instantly in defense from the loud high pitched sound.
“Mother of Odd!” She complained, feeling like she had been deafened. That had been louder than some older sligs she’d heard yelling.
“I’ll taaaalk!” He bawled and breathed uncontrollably, before crying out loud again. She peered at him in interest as she waited for a reply.

“M-me an’ G-Gadget!-” He was cut off by his own sobbing. “Have been – been building Dimitrio –” Her mind was all ears at the sound of his name. But he was too occupied with crying to continue.
“Well go on, tell me!” She demanded desperately. It only got her more bawling from the child, and took him a minute that felt like an eternity to cough up the rest of his answer.
“– a robot arm, s-s-s-s-so he wouldn’t have to die, and could still work!”

She was silent in shock and didn’t know whenever to laugh or cry. Be happy surely, but the shock of positive news against the odds and the shock relating to the attack left her numb and insane. Her mind was in another place but could still hear the outside world of the young slig speaking.
“I-I-I-!” More crying - “I’ve been g-g-g-g-getting the metal for the arm, and Gadget did the smart stuff! It’s nearly done! We were just tryna be nice!” He pleaded. That said, he carried on crying his heart out and giving his throat an ache.

He remained on the ground, holding his masked face and bawling loud enough to wake the dead. While she stood as still as a statue and stared into the distance like a cat. The only muscles that moved were in her head as she spoke to herself, like she was trying to tell herself what was going on.
“… He… He’s gonna be okay.." She blabbered randomly. Staring in the direction of the hospital, she snapped like a twig back into reality. Her eyes were wide and her breathing faster as she now had the sense to realize what was going on – he had a fighting chance. He possibly wouldn’t be shot and die. The bad emotion in her was, she got her hopes up unrealistically. He could already of been shot, died from an infection and the arm might not work.

"HE'S GONNA BE OKAY!" She cried out. She broke into a sprint like a gunshot, and dashed off towards the facility faster than a herd of scrabs. Frisbee sighed as he watched her go nuts, before realizing something.
“Hey! You took my wings!” He whined. He would of carried on whining if she hadn’t of thrown the flying harness back at him. It clattered and skipped across the ground, barely missing him.
“…Least I got it – oh snap, GADGET!” He threw himself into getting the machine on, before taking flight again.

A group of sligs talked to each other ahead. They all stood in the middle of a small alleyway, where the tents blocked the light from the sky from reaching the ground.
“D’you think they’ll send him to Skillya, or let one of us shoot him?” A walking slig spoke while others laughed. “Because I love live target practice!” another slig shook his head.
“I seriously doubt it, bet they’ll only let the ‘special’ sligs do that…” He didn’t bother to hide the jealousy in his voice. The other sligs nodded and whined in agreement.
“Yeah, like that pansy valet Namanchier…” One complained.
“And all because he’s Natzo-b******’s valet…”
“You know what guys?” One began slyly. They leaned in closer to listen.

“I think he’s gay…”
“………”
“What?!” He demanded, “It makes sense! He’s always following that lousy gluk around!” A slig ‘raised an eyebrow’ in an unimpressed look.
“Wow, yeah, sure that isn’t because he’s his valet, and because he has to help him pull levers and junk?” He growled as he tried to think of more evidence.
“Well come on! The guy acts like a sissy!”
“So does Tiny the big bro; I suppose you’re gonna say he’s gay too?” Another answered bluntly.
“Yeah – I mean no! Look, what about the fact that he’s always sucking up to him, doing exactly as he’s told and never leaves his side?! Huh?! Well?!”
The sligs just plain looked at him.
“First of all, he kissing *s* like any other slig so he gets promoted and not fired; our wages have gotten smaller since Abe ruined our lives. Second, he does as he’s told so he doesn’t get fired. Thirdly, he’s sucking up to him and it’s probably in his job description to be with him a long time for Natzo-b******’s convenience.” The other sligs muttered in agreement.
“Yeah man…”

“Any other chaos theories, genius?” The irritated and well debated against slig thought.
“Right. What about the time Natzo said,” He put on a deeper voice in mockery. “‘come Namanchier, time for my bath’, and he’s all like ‘hiheeheehihihaheehi!’” He pretended to giggle in a higher voice.
“………”
“Alright, what now?! I proved my point!”
The sligs moaned like drunk mudokons as they held their heads.
“You sir, have gotten the most disgusting images in my head that will leave me scarred for life!”
“Quoted for truth!”

Before they could continue to whine, the slig lady crashed through them in her mad sprint, knocking a heap of them over. They yelled as they fell down like bowling pins as she went on like a bowling ball. They got to their mechanical feet in a rage to take a piece out of whoever had done it, but saw that female slig running away. If they all tried to beat her up, she’d just fight them off.
“Why I ougta!-…” A weaponless slig muttered along his gunless companions.

They ducked again as Frisbee flew through the gap she had made. He frantically dashed far behind her to the hospital, hoping to get there before she did. If he was in trouble, he’d have to warn Gadget to fly fast or watch him become another of her punching bags.

She crashed through the hospital doors. She didn’t even stop to open them or care about the aching bruises she got on her arms, head and body. She knew the way there by heart from previous visits, none as fast as this one. The way there seemed to stretch longer in her desperation to get there as she approached the last pair of doors in the scruffy corridor. The neglected doors swung amongst the eerie silence behind her. She stood there at the end of his bed, in shock and disbelief.

Leaning against Dimitrio’s red raw wound and the bed, with the tourniquet removed, was something robotic. It looked like parts of a taken apart pant leg, which it was. Parts of pants and scrap made the hand. The real arm, and only one left, lay over his chest that lifted and sank as he breathed. The metal eyelids on his visors were shut as he still lay there unconscious, like he was sleeping peacefully. A tube went from the nearby machine and down his throat to feed the coma-suffering slig.

Gadget stared at her in surprise as she just stood there and didn’t take notice of anyone else. His attention was taken from her when Frisbee pushed the doors out of his way and flew in.
“Gadget!” He panted. “I swear, she made me talk! I!-”
Gadget rose a hand to him to signify silence. He slowly and ‘quietly’ (trying to minimize the humming and clicking sounds his wings made) hovered to his younger adoptive sibling.
“I think we should leave now. That way, she’ll forget we were here…” he whispered. They more quietly hovered out of the doors, leaving the two walking sligs and a bunch of neglected whining patients alone.

She walked closer to him, examining his pantless body. There had to be a way to take him out of a shock and blood loss induced coma, but she didn’t know how, let alone had much knowledge on medical things. Her hopes shattered, she burst into tears and fell to her mechanical knees to cry her heart out.

She took no notice of his eyes that flickered and opened slowly. Or of the fact he had awakened and that he could hear her crying. He had been doing this for a while now. Waking up, then falling back asleep. Some days he just lay paralyzed and awake, not even able to open his eyes. Until recently. He could now hear the patients moaning or shrieking in the hospital ward, and now a female crying hysterically next to him. He tried to reach a hand to his head, but something wasn’t right about it. It didn’t seem to move or exist. His slig eyes looked over slowly in horror at the limb. It was gone.

“What…Happ…ened…To…My arm!?” He finally gasped in his weakness. There was a stunned silence as he tried to get his head round it in the shock horror and the crying near him ceased into silence.
“YOU’RE ALIVE!” A voice screamed as loud as Lulu yelling after the Gabbiar Auction. He would have jumped out of that bed with whatever energy he had left, but two strong muscular arms were crushing him against a breasted body. He gasped as he thought desperately if he would die from loss of blood circulation or air. A hoarse long gasp escaped his throat as two flying sligs tried to restrain her.

“Hey, get away from him! He needs air, not broken ribs!” Gadget protested as he and Frisbee wrestled with her. They struggled to pry her hands off him and get Dimitrio free, before she heard what they said. She loosened her grip, accidentally dropping him to the metal floor.
“Oops…Sorry Dimitri…”
Gadget sighed and picked up the slig, hovering over to his bed and dropping him. Dimitrio began to gag as he felt the tube down his throat, and wanted rid of it. The sligs refrained him from yanking the polyurethane tube out of his body.
“Don’t; we’ll have to get a doctor to remove the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube out of your throat.” Gadget said sternly. Dimitrio looked at him in bewilderment.
“W-what?”
Gadget sighed at the confused slig.

“Let me explain what is and was going on.” Agent 80085’s face was sad as she knew the news would upset him. A patient slig cried out like a baby in the background. The hospital was still filthy and miserable, with dying patients. Dimitrio and the rest wondered why he hadn’t died in that coma.

“About a week ago or more, you got attacked by a vykker hybrid experiment. Your left arm was savaged and taken away by the experiment that attacked you, then you went into a coma out of shock and blood loss. We’ve been building you a robotic arm, and just need to attach it to your stump. Then you can go back to work as normal.” Gadget finished. He waited for a response from the patient slig.

Dimitrio stood staring into oblivion as the news settled in. He remembered being horrifically attacked. Then being carried off. Then just blacking out, and occasionally waking up, his waking periods getting longer and longer. Then today’s events. He didn’t know what to say.
“Do you not like the arm we made?” A disappointed Frisbee spoke up. Dimitrio just stared at his bare stump as tears welled up under his mask.

Gadget hovered behind Frisbee. The younger slig looked behind him at his older brother, who put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
“Its okay, he is thankful…” He whispered to the younger flying slig. “He just misses having a real arm…” Frisbee looked at him for a moment, then at the female slig. She stood there staring at Dimitrio in a sort of desperation, like she had to get explosives off him.

Gadget hovered over behind Dimitrio, who sat on the dirty floor. Agent got the idea and lifted him, dropping him on the bed while Gadget went to get some things. The female slig stared in a traumatized way at Dimitrio as he lay there. He shuffled closer to the pillows, feeling small and pathetic about not being in his pants. Gadget came back with the tools and set to work. Silence was in the room, apart from whining, gasping, moaning and shrieking patients. Eventually, he heard a click and moved his new arm unintentionally, staring at it like it was an amazing animal. He wouldn’t die; he would live and work again.

“Th… Thank you…” He managed to speak in his weakness. A warm smile from the two flying sligs beamed at him.
“Anything for a good guy. Now we’ve gotta to back to work, you make sure he gets a doctor to remove his feeding tube.” Gadget inclined to Agent 80085. They left quickly as he waved weakly at them. It was just him and her.

An awkward silence fell, broken by a slig screaming about being attacked by larva and embryos, before quickly falling back asleep. She watched him with wide eyes as he looked around the awful room.
“Looks like I’m gonna have to get new pants…” He sighed. He looked around the room again. Patients, alive and dead ones, laid on blood and sick stained beds. A bin had slig bodies in it, that made him sick. There were no windows, just holes in the strewn together rusty metal that made up the hospital of horror. No medical people were in the ward, let alone usually there. He wondered how he had survived.

Scratching his head with his flesh arm, he looked at her from his bed.
“Say…I lost blood, how did I… Live…?” He felt further unnerved as she walked slowly closer, still looking demented. He backed against the tattered pillows on his bed in a crawl, before he saw her arms. Little holes, from needles that had pierced her skin, ran along her veins. It became apparent to him, her blood was in his. She was obsessed and insane. She lifted him into her arms off the bed, and held him in still silence that they thought would never end.

[Marvak]

That was... both sweet and very weird. I love it! More! Must see mooooore

[Flamefox]

agent is off her nut. Still, she cares. Sweet!

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

agent is off her nut. Still, she cares. Sweet!

Yep, she's lost her nut for good, though mostly she keeps it with her. But it breaks loose. And she has a soul, yay.

Dimitrio: (Looks around room) (Sees mirror) (Looks around suspiciously) (Does pose in front of mirror) Oh yeah, you sexy thang!

Agent 80085: -_-?

Dimitrio: (Embarrassed) Uhhh...

Eh, I've been wanting to type that here for a while....Well here is chapter!... Its probably short, but oh well....I think I've been loosing detail, it was all fancy in teh beggining, then it went (Makes falling whistling noise) Any critiques? Here goes!

CHAPTER 9 MORE NEWS

The high ranking important sligs were lined up. A lot of big bros, some walking or flying sligs with better rankings, like the slig lady. They stood strictly still, nor slouching or scratching. They didn’t bother to talk, or tilt their heads to look around the dark rectangular shaped room. Light beamed in through a paned window. Out of the window and black frames was a view of the Barracks. Tents were piled up below, the sky was still blocked from view with green clouds and the room was silent. Until the two metal doors were pushed open.

An angry glukkon entered the room, followed by a slig valet. The glukkon looked old and moody, was taller than most glukkons and his skin was an X11 purple colour. His figure was stronger and he wore a uniform like general Dripik had done, with more medals from more work experience and he smoked a thick brown cigar. The valet looked like a normal walking slig, if it weren’t for his fancier pants, navy blue and gold top hat and jacket. He also had a stick, with a fancy intricate carving of a glukkon on top of it. The slig was silent as he walked apart from the sound his pants made. The glukkon too, apart from his feet that made a sound like dogs nails scratching on the floor. He walked straight up to the female slig and leaned lower to glare into her eyes with his red ones. His valet glared at her too, as if trying to help his master in what he was about to do.

“You!” Natzo the glukkon began furiously. “Have been wasting your wages and time on someone who is going to die anyway!” He scolded. “What is your excuse?!” The valet slig posed with his stick as he glared at her, like he did to everyone else except Natzo. She gave him daggers back as her tentacles quivered, trying to think of a reply.

“Sir, he’s alive!” She protested frustratingly. “We don’t have to shoot him, he’s!–” She was cut off as Natzo’s glare intensified and he leant closer, letting her feel the tobacco-reeking breath on her tentacles.
“I can’t have sligs with special needs!” He snarled in front of the other sligs in the room.
“I’m on a low budget!” The valet slig gave her dirty looks silently at her, in agreement with his master.
“He’s alive; he’s out of his coma!” She went on daringly and disobediently.
“These two sligs!...” She cut herself off in common sense, knowing he wouldn’t believe her.

He just laughed in her face, letting her feel the tobacco on his breath. His mood swinged suddenly to rage like a domestically abusive person.
“Do you really expect me to believe that?!” He yelled scornfully. “Do you think I’m stupid?! I wasn’t made general when Dripik died for nothing!” He spat. Agent 80085 cringed as other sligs began to laugh, with full permission from the cruel glukkon. A sly smirk crossed Namanchier’s face as his master had more on his side and was winning the argument. She stood there frozen, feeling helpless and defenceless with no where to run as they all laughed at her. The glukkon’s large purple head came nearer to hers again.
“He’s just another slig, nothing special!” He yelled amongst the laughing crowd.
“We’re gonna shot him, and that’s final!”

Suddenly, a loud creaking then a slam made them jump and silenced them in suspense. Natzo’s head was out of her face and turned in the direction of the source of the sound, along with everyone else. Agent looked too.

The door was off its hinges, and lying on the metal floor. A walking slig stood there in the wide doorway. He was also shocked to see he had somehow knocked the door down, and was being stared at by superiors. He stood glued to the spot, before nervously scratching the back of his neck with a hand. An iron hand. On an arm made from a leg from a pair of slig’s pants. He scratched at his neck before daring to make eye contact with the group, which he quickly took away.
“…. Ummm” He mumbled. “…… I…….. Thought this was the……” He felt too nervous to carry on, and just stared shyly at the floor.

The sligs stared dumbly, Namanchier looked up at the glukkon for an answer, Natzo had his mouth so wide open in disbelief, his cigar fell to the floor, and Agent just stared strongly at Dimitrio. The evidence was there, she was right – now to see if Natzo thought a robotic limb would be good enough. Silence lingered, before she spoke up in the room.
“Well, I did try to tell you…” She said to Natzo, hiding the smirking and joy in her mind. The glukkon just continued to gawp with a dropping lower jaw. Namanchier looked worried at his master, before picking up the cigar. He offered it back to the glukkon, who didn’t react.
“Ah well…” She ended the one-sided conversation and began towards the open doorway. “Better bring him to the cafeteria…” She sniggered under her breath. Namanchier glared at her darkly as she left through the doorway, walking over the door. He vowed vengeance on her, for today and the time she attacked him and his master whilst under possession. Dimitrio stood there in confusion, before one of her thick muscular arms reached out and yanked him away from the groups view.
“Come on slacker, your special treatment is over, back to work!”

They quietly walked through the stained steel halls, too shy to speak to each other. They had both been involved emotionally with each other, but didn’t know how to go about admitting it or talking about it – she had saved his life and he was alive and grateful for it. Yet their shyness of admitting something close to something, a strange fear of rejection, and embarrassment over the recent dramatic events, made a part of them rather not speak to each other, even though they really wanted to. They kept on walking through the scruffy corridors, past pant vendors and wing vendors with no one else around. When they made it to the tall wide cafeteria doors, she finally spoke.

“Well…” She began sadly. “This is it… back to work, I…”
A melancholy silence fell between them as they still felt too awkward to speak to each other. They felt disappointed too that they couldn’t. Dimitrio scratched at his neck again with his flesh arm.
“W-w-well…” He stuttered nervously. “Thanks for…Helping save my life…”
They smiled slightly with red faces like opples.
They laughed a bit in nervousness, before she looked at him funny. She smiled in her eyes, then lunged at Dimitrio who flinched. He opened his eyes to find her squeezing him tight against her in an emotional hug. He stood glued to the spot as she shook in quiet sobs.
“Don’t leave me again…” She pleaded.

His eyes swivelled nervously over her bulky right shoulder around the room, in case anyone was watching. The last thing she’d want was for someone to see her like this. He shared that feeling. He figured it would go on for 45 minutes again, and so he broke it so they wouldn’t be late for work and told off. She looked at him with her hidden eyes, wondering why he had stopped their embrace.
“We both have to go…” He answered softly. “Or we’ll get in trouble…” Silence fell before she sighed sadly in agreement. Her head was low as she reached out towards the old metal door handle and gripped it reluctantly.
“Softie…”
She turned to a smirking Dimitrio, before giving him a more serious glare.
“I am not…”
“Liar.” He teased, earning him a sharp poke in the ribs. He burst out with a laugh as it tickled, before she whacked him playfully on the head.
“Ah, just get in there already…” She muttered, rolling her eyes playfully underneath her mask. She opened the door, peering inside, before pulling him in the direction of it.

He felt butterflies inside him before realising he’d be seen by others. Usually he’d just keep his head low and they’d leave him alone, but after what had happened, gossip would of spread like wildfire in a dry barn and he had a robotic armed to be gawped at. He breathed deeply as he tried to gain courage, before Agent 80085’s hand snatched his wrist and he felt like he had to follow through the doors.

As he blindly followed her with his head facing the floor, his ears picked up the whispers that spread around the tables aligned with walking sligs. He heard her and his names being mentioned, the word Zrilufet, various things being asked about his mechanical arm… He didn’t notice an annoyed female slig swipe her gun out of its holder and shoot the ceiling. He screamed and leapt like a rabbit when the gunshot banged through the metal room.

“Lousy sons of a…” She cut herself off when she realised she’d be insulting Dimitrio too, and just sat down at a random desolate chair. Dimitrio timidly sat next to her, having followed her like a toddler to mummy too much. He flinched as he heard sniggers in the cafeteria as Agent growled, but tried to ignore them for the time being. Agent was about to bring out her gun again much to Dimitrio’s dismay, but was distracted as a crackling was heard and the room went dark.

An age old projector flickered onto the steel wall, making them all turn their heads. A black and white coloured projected video came clearer into view, as the JPEG picture brightened and black lines and specs flickered over the introduction video. An animation with the familiar two slig heads Slig Barracks logo came on with crackling fizzing sound, before the actual music could be heard.

The black and white animation showed a picture of the Zrilufet, before nattering strange voices spoke up.
“This is the Zrilufet, you don’t shoot it or you’ll get screwed.” A too-high vykker voice squeaked.
“Someone swallowed a fuzzle…” Dimitrio remarked while she sniggered in the dark. Their moods changed as they saw the creature that had changed them. She gripped the table edge hard to try and keep sane and not let her insanity taker over.
“Don’t kill it and bring it back to a superior!” The narrator squeaked as more pictures of the Zrilufet popped up. Sligs sniggered as a random picture of Mike cleaning the lab in an apron showed up on screen, having been put there by accident.
“If you do, you’ll get rewarded! That is all!” The voice shrieked before the projector went off. The room was dark as a slig tripped and swore as he tried to find the lights.

Dimitrio looked at Agent 80085 for an answer while sligs muttered in the background.
“Honestly, our attention spans aren’t that bad…” A torn tentacled slig whined. “Right guys?... Guys!”
“Huh? What?” A slig spoke up. “Can you tell me what happened on the vid? I was too busy trying to figure out why the room went dark and then I thought I saw a guy move.”
“…” He was too irritated to answer.
“Most of us are stupid and don’t pay attention, so they make it fast like that to try and get your attention.” She answered him. She frowned and gave him a sharp poke.
“Dimitri?”
He had his head on the table resting in his arms. Perhaps he wasn’t fully out of his coma yet. Knowing he was a light sleeper, she gave him a hard nudge and hissed, but he was already out like the lights. She groaned as the big bros began coming in. It was time to herd the lot of them into nightshift or their beds.

She got off of her cheap plastic seat and hauled him over her shoulder. He didn’t even stir, and just flopped over her back. She walked in the direction of the doors, ignoring the stares and big bros who said she should be herding them like the rest of the higher ranked sligs.
“I am, I’ll come back and do the rest…” She answered a larger one. She didn’t want to take her chances, knowing what Cecil could be like. So she slipped through the doors and tried not to get noticed.

She strolled down the corridors with ease. She only saw one small group of sligs, which she fired a warning shot at for talking about her ‘behind her back’. The corridors were rusting, metal and just seemed to get cheaper like everything else since Natzo took charge. She swore in her mind that the corridors had less holes in them when Dripik was around. She shivered as gusts blew through almost deliberately and gripped tighter at Dimitrio’s limp body and metal pants.

She carried on shivering and walking outside the main building. The tents rose high like a city of cheap fabric and reached out at the pitch black sky. The ever stretching clouds covered up the stars, but had a gap. She gazed up and screwed her face in disgust as she saw an insult. A reminder of the mass murders that had occurred there in the Barracks, all by the same person, who had also unintentionally brought a worse and poorer life for the sligs there. But had intentionally killed Dripik. The clouds swept and revealed another moon, Munch’s moon. The gabbit responsible for killing sligs in other areas, helping to kill them…

“Ba**ar*s!” She found herself yelling at the sky and no one. She realised what she was doing, and carried on through the darkness of the night. She looked around in paranoia and breathed in fear, remembering a bad time where she had ventured out alone at night. Her walking grew slower and her hearing more concentrated as she tried to find a potential attacker. There was no one but Dimitrio and herself, but she almost wanted someone to come out so she could shoot them and get it over with. The only comfort was the silence, which didn’t seemed to help at all. She shook the walking slig she held, but there was no response or movement not done by her shaking. She swallowed, and pressed herself to keep going and get it over and done with instead.

She breathed in relief when she finally made it to his tent, recognising it from where it was. She peered inside but only saw darkness in the darkness. She struggled inside and shoved him quickly under a blanket, knowing he wouldn’t wake. He remained silent and still like the night, limp and lying against tangled blankets. She sighed as she knew she would have to go out and get back to her own sleeping area, inside with other big bros and higher ranking people. At times she couldn’t stand it packed in a room full of stronger males, so she slept with her hand at her gun. She couldn’t bring herself to leave the tent, out into the imaginary danger of the night, so she sat to think. In her drowsiness, she lay down beside him for comfort. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep where she shouldn’t of, and snored like a growling slog.

[Marvak]

Ooh! Yayness!
Mike in an apron, rofl
I really liked this one, keep um goin'! <3

[skillyaslig]

Me like, very nice feel to it.

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

I thank all those that have commented.

And I'd like to say sorry for having temporarily stopped this and the other one for....Ages....Plz don't necrum the thread, I plan on using it later. I'm trying to do my Stranger fanfic at the moment, you may all kick me till I can't sit down.

Since I've kept you waiting and probably still will, I thought give a...Erm, present. My fist Oddworld fanfic BEFORE I edited it so fancy-fied-ly.

Please note, I KNOW OF TEH TERRIBLE TYPOS AND GENERAL NO-SENSE-NESS, I thought I'd just put this up here for humour....You may laugh at its badness, but please do so nicely...If that makes sense....Well here ya go.

The story begins after Abe's, Munch's and the Stranger's adventures. It takes place in the more modern parts of the continent Mudos, away from the west side(Stranger's side), in whatever side Abe and Munch were on. It will progress to the to the more exotic "east side", where more different and exotic species live, and more land is untouched by glukkons-a greedy rich industrial race race who "eat rainforests for brekfast".

The species are divided into three categories-industrial, native and wildlife.

Industrialists are those who live a more modern lifestyle than natives-proper housing, technology, rich, have a job-like us people. But they tend to be to be selfish, and and not care, or give a toss about natives or wildlife, making them slaves or meat products, and taking their land for their own. Such species are glukkons, the rich, vykers, the scientists, sligs, the ones with jobs, and clakkerz-the western consumers.

Natives are the ones with human intelegience, but live without technology-wariors, religious species, spears and facepaint-you get the idea. They might not have electronics, but they tend to be nicer, and not see wildlife as meat products all the time. Such species are modokuns, gabbits, and scyodians and deraxions, which live in the east.
Wildlife species are the animals of Oddworld, slaughtered for their meat by industrialist. Such species are scrabs, paramites, elums, meep, and fleeches, a vyker experament. But lately, they've made a new kind of experament, and for what reason?





A three-legged light purple four-armed large headed ugly creature walked through a corridor, and into a room. The automatic doors shut behind him. He walked past a table with a newspaper on, it saying "DR. BRAINWAVE STILL MISSING". He walked into a anther room, which was dark and large, with a a glowing green pod in it. He walked up to another creature like himself, and spoke.

"Is it... Ready, Dr. Jekyl?" He stared at the pod. "... Yes... The breakthrough in vyker technology! Which will make us rich! Our glukkon-funded plan which will earn us billions of moolah! Is! Ready! Ready, Dr. Hyde!" "We must test it to see if it will kill, if it doesn't, we might be doomed". Said Dr. Hyde. "Now, release the experament! The zrilufet!... WHY ARE YOU NOT PRESSING THE SHINY BUTTON?!?" He screamed manically, making Dr. Jekyl jump. "Because, I'm scared for two reasons-one, this experament could kill us, two, you need your medication, Norbert Hyde". "Oh, sorry". He winced a bit as he injected the green liquid into his arm. "Well, if you won't press the button, and I won't press the button, then theres only one solution!"

A creature with stitches on his mouth, was lying down, listening to rock music from his headphones. "Miiiike!" Hearing the voice, he took them off, rolled his eyes, and went to the big dark room. He pressed the button, then walked off. The glass from the pod came down, and liquid spilt everywhere.

The creature had two floppy ears, and two purple ears. She had a red torso, with a yellow belly. Her head was fluffy, with pink closed eyes. She had light brown arms and legs with no shoulders. Behind her legs were two more red legs with a claw on each end. She had a green worm-like head for a tail. She had purple eyes on stalks, and light brown "fingers" around her pink mouth. She wore brown rags. Her body was delicate-looking like a pretty female animal in mythoology. She fell when the tube came down, and lay limp on the floor. The vykers grinned to themselves.
What would happen next?

Chapter 2

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

Excuse the bump, but I'd quickly like to update it and continue later. Its 06:03 and I don't wanna wake my parents. In short, thanks to the commentators, here's the unedited version and a new chapter 8)...I need sleep >_>.

I named my word document THE UNEDITED HORROR for a reason. Contains swearing and strangling violence in the new chapter. No one dies.

Chapter 2 The Escape
(Yeah behbeh, it gets worse...)

She gained her senses. She felt too weak to open her eyes. Just darkness with no existence. Her eyes opened just the slightest bit to notice light. Slowly. Gradually. They opened, and finally, she could see.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a two-legged pink dinosaur rode past on a unicycle. Shocked, she darted up onto her hands and feet, and looked around, but it had vanished. In front of her were about ten green cybernetic valets linked arm in arm doing what looked like the can-can. In shock and fear, she leapt up and fell on her behind. She looked up after two seconds of groaning from minor pain, and they were gone. Wary of her unpredictable surroundings, she slowly got up like a newborn deer, carefully looking around. She jumped when she saw a cake and a pie talking to eachother.
"careful Norbert" said the pie. "She might be a bit dillusional".

She stared at them in shock, then heard something behind her. She darted round to see a small blur. She tried to focus on it, straining her eyes, then it came into focus. It was a small fluffy cream coloured creature, with just a mouth and eyes. She wairily walked up to it, and felt it with her 'feeler'. She looked exited, her tail wagged, and she pounced around the fuzzle like a playing puppy.
"WHAT ON ODDWORLD!?!?" Yelled Dr. Jekyl. He ran about yelling, as the fuzzball and the zrilufet played together. "I mean, what are we gonna do, Norbert? You said it yourself, if this thing can't kill, we're doomed!"
"Hmm."
"What is it?" He said, still panicked. Norbert thought for a moment.
"I said we might be doomed. We can clone her, and make more advanced zrilufets and tefulirz!We'll have an army!" "YES!It's a brilliant plan! It'll work for sure!" They held hands, and skipped around in a circle, cheering.

The fuzzball was sucked away in a tube, leaving a dissapointed zrilufet. "Mike, take her to the DNA extractor!" Said Dr. Hyde. He looked dissapointed, like he was sighing silently, and carefully aproached the zrilufet. She looked nervous, and sniffed him, then decided he wasn't a threat. He, on the other hand looked guilty. Nervous. Squeamish even. He took her by the arm, and lead her like a horse by the reins to a dark room with a table in the middle, fixed to the foor, and various machinery. Dr. Hyde pressed a button. Suddenly, mechanical arms grabbed her, and slammed the shocked zrilufet on the table. Metal bands locked her shoulders elbows knees and wrists to the table. She screamed and howled in fear, as Dr. Jekyl pulled a lever. A machine injected a large needle in a vain in her arm near her elbow, making her scream all the more. Make sure she doesn't escape. Me and Frankfurt have to discuss matters" Said Norbert. He left the room, as the automatic doors shut behind them.

Mike looked at the zrilufet howling in pain. His face was that of shock and horror as he looked on. Enough! He slammed the button, and the needle and bands withdrew, the needle leaving excess blood on her arm. She whimpered in pain, and cried quietly. She got of the table, and Mike lead her away to a dark unused room. She was nervous, but felt relief when there was no dangerous machinery around. He signalled to her to be quiet, and looked for a possible means of escape. He picked up a spanner, and looked at the window. The zrilufet looked at a creature that lay dead, or at least unconsious, on the floor, the same species as the scientists. She ignored it, and looked at the machine with some buttons. Curious, she pressed one.

ZZZZAAAAPPP! A bolt of electricity shot out of the machine, and zapped the unconsious creature. It shook violently in the air, then dropped to the ground. Mike whisked around to see what happened. He'd only been away for a moment, and she'd probably killed someone! The body moved. The zrilufet and Mike watched in shock, as it got up...It looked at them...

".........Oooooooooooooooh! Eeedeeboooooooooo!"

The zrilufet jumped in fright, and Mike slapped his head. What. An. Idiot. Suddenly, there was footsteps. Oh no! If Frankfurt and Norbert found out he'd released the experament!-it didn't bear thinking about... Realising that they were in danger, the weird creature's face lit up. He had an idea to save them!
"Dah!"
He hoisted the zrilufet onto his back. Instead of jumping off, she held onto his big head, scared of falling off. He picked up Mike, ran to the other side of the room, and positioned him like a battering ram.
Oh no...

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Mike looked on in terror. This idiot was using his head as a battering ram! SMASH! The glass shattered everywhere like a swarm of flying insects, as they held eachothers hands in a triangle. She smiled thankfully at the two creatures. They'd let her escape... They smiled back...

SMACK!
They crashed on a mountainside, the force of impact separating them. She bounced, rolled, and was tossed down into a raging river, and was dragged underwater....
SPLASH! She submerged above the water, and thrashed around in a panic. She grabbed a piece of passing driftwood, and clung on for dear life. The flow of the water got faster and faster...
WHOOSH! She screamed in fear as she was hurled off a waterfall...
SPLASH! The force of impact pulled her under the water, then shot her up again. She clung on to the driftwood as it continued to make it's way downstream...

Hours later, the driftwood floated through a mud pool, and onto a muddy bank. She had ended up in a wasteland military-like training ground. A big building was in the distance, and it looked like a barracks type place. She rolled off the driftwood, and onto the bank. It was wet cold and muddy, but she didn't care... She was exausted from fighting with a river, and went to sleep...

Chapter 3 Going on Duty

(Look! A nice slig! And he's so very emo and angst! And there's a big Miss tough Mary-sue who pwns all!)

He sat by himself in the stained steel cafeteria, at a table all by himself. He preffered it that way. He wasn't like the other sligs, who sat together, talking to one another. He had no slig friends, didn't fit in, was different.

A female slig in a black top walked past him, stared at him for a moment, and carried on walking. She was a high-ranking police agent type thing, and the boss of his sector, since Natzo the glukkon was in charge since general Dripik's mysterious death, and he was on a low budget, and couldn't spend too much on steroids, and she had no work to do at the moment, so they got 'the next best thing' instead. Rumours said that all they found was Dripik's decapitated remains, but that was just a rumour, like the rumour that Abe the escaped modokun terrorist was involved. He was seen as a threat, and a strict rule was that if you saw him, shoot him to kill. If he survived, you shoot him again. He didn't see him as a threat, though. After all, he was just a normal modokun, right? He'd be really scared if he saw him though.

She might of been a female slig, but she was dead serious, and demanded respect, so they feared her all the same. A few idiots tried to 'chat her up', but they ended up in the hospital wing with broken arms, so they soon learned that she was a killing machine, not a meal ticket.

She always seemed to stare at him, but he didn't know why. At first he thought he'd done something wrong, but she never went up to scold him or anything, so he just got used to it, but he still he never figured out why she did that.

She went up on stage to give out orders like she usually did.
"Atention!" She barked.
He turned his head to listen, and a lot of them did, but others didn't, and kept on talking. He put his hands over his head. They'd asked for it...
"I saiiid, ATENTIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOON!" She screeched.

They were all silent in fear, except for one.
"She's a right nutter!..." A slig whispered. BANG!!! A swarm of bullets shot over his head. He slowly lifed his head from his crouching postion to see her as mad as a slog, wielding a machine gun.
"I know your serial number, 8912..." She said, her face dark and angry. "Just for that, you can be the first to test our new technological advancement..." He whimpered. If Mudos had good technology, and technology was punishment, then it didn't bear thinking about.
"Right, this way, follow me, march!"

They got up, and followed her to a room with a machine with a control panal, a pod and a canon, and a slog dispenser tube next to it. She grabbed the slig, shoved him in, then pressed two buttons. "Hey! What the?!-" The pod doors closed, and he was shot out the canon, and away into the distance.
"DAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaah!" He yelled in fear, as he dissapeared into the distance. The other sligs laughed, and squinted their eyes, since new technology meant they had metal eyelids to show emotion. Even the lone slig sniffed in a humoured way, and smiled behing his tentacles.

"Aww, I don't see why your laughing boys, because - you're all next!"
There was some what?!'s, gasp's and complaints from the sligs, and the lone slig's face fell.
"I said he'd be the first to try it, not the last!" She barked. "So quit your whining, get your weapons, your slogs and go! This machine is built to make you get to your destinations quicker, and as long as it works, it's good enough for the barracks! Line up!"
They took their weapons from the box, called on their slogs that dropped out of the dispenser, and got shoved in the slig launcher by the boss. The lone slig's slog ran up to him, panting and smiling.

His name was Slobber, and he'd named him that because of his drooling problem caused by his hollower mouth, which made his saliva out of reach to swallow most of the time, so he constantly drooled. He also had no teeth, and a robotic leg, which he got after being in an accident involving a slig and a vehicle, which the boss had paid for.

He didn't know why she'd did that either. It was like he was special in some kind of way. He didn't feel special though. He hated himself for being nicer than other sligs. He couldn't shoot a fly, or beat his slog, which was why Slobber was friendly instead of vicious. The other sligs didn't notice though - they were too busy to pay attention to some slog that wasn't their own. They had better things to do.

He took his weapon, and Slobber ran into the pod, obediently. It was his turn next.
"Right, Dimitrio, you're next!"
She meant to shove him in gently, but grabbed his hand by accident...

They stared into their red electronic eyes, but she quickly realised they weren't alone, and withdrew her hand.

"Umm, just make sure you land on your feet, you... Won't get hurt that way..."

Comfused, Dimitrio walked in, and was launched away through the air with his slog, the air rushing against him. He bounced off the ground, skidded, then got up. He was in the desert area surrounding The Slig Barracks. He held his gun, and walked back and forth. He was on duty, and would be for a long couple of hours time.

Chapter 4 The Attack

(Well I kinda lost the text after putting the edited text in on DA, sooo...Yeah, dare you make your eyes burts all the more? Well no, unless you like popping your eyes in a gorefest)

Chapter 5 A Good Start and a Bad Start

(Omg, uuber vykker experament sue and sliggy sue had their feelings hurt 8O)

She woke up. She was in a forest, and had no idea how she'd got there. She got up, and looked at her surroundings to find a clue as to why she was there.

There was bright red blood on the ground...
She leapt up in panic, listening for predators. Seeing a puddle, she curiously peered into it.
Blood on her face...
She was getting really scared now, this didn't make any-
She remembered...

Growing taller, running, chasing him, attacking, meat, blood everywhere, heart-freezing screaming...

She remembered...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEE EEERRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!" She screamed.
What had she done?

The sligs cheered on the big bro's as they wrestled in the shantytowns, in the slig barracks. It was just a thing the less serious or mature big bro's did to have fun and impress other sligs. The larger big bro slig lifted the other big bro, and tossed him onto the ground.
"NYRRAAAAGH!"
He crashed onto the ground, and the others cheered, except for the tossed guy. The bigger one showed off, doing poses to show off his muscles. He walked over to a vending machine, got some blitzpacker, and drank it at an angle. Two flying sligs cheered in the audience, and the smaller one whizzed around, hyper and excited.

"Did ya see then?! They were like, raaar! And then he went, RAAAR! And he went, WHOOSH!"
He spun out of control, and crashed into some trash cans. The other one laughed.
"Frisbee, you need to calm down before you break both your arms, kay?"
He got up from the rubble, and flew back to him. The smaller one had a toy spaceship on his back, and remote control atattched to it by a tube. The other one had a pack with different fans on it, and a flag.

A walking slig ran up to them, out of breath.
"Brutus!"
The bigger big bro slig turned to him.
"Some guy lost his arm, and he's in the hospital wing! Come see!"
Intrested, they all ran through the shantytowns, Frisbee and the other flying slig swooping above them.
"I wonder if it's covered in blood!" Said Frisbee. "Do you think they'd bother to clean it?" "I don't know, we don't exactly get special treatment!" Answered the other flying slig.

When they got there, they saw a female slig walk out with her head down, looking upset. When she saw them, her face was shock, then dark dark anger, worse than they'd seen her before...
"WHO'S IDEA WAS IT TO BLAB?!?!" She screeched.
Everyone was silent in fear, even Brutus, and the other big bro slig, and some of them took a step back...
"OH, SO IT'S MR. NOBODY'S FAULT THEN, IS IT?!?!"
No one dared to own up, she was mad enough already...
"WELL, LETS JUST SAY IT'S THIS GUY'S FAULT!!!"
She grabbed a nearby slig, punched him in the face, the force smacking him to the ground. Everyone gasped, and the slig bled from his mask. They were all terrified, and wanted this to stop. She could kill someone in this mood!

Chapter 6 The Meeting

(Oh Mah Gawsh, things come together and more important people appear and feelings are hurt)

MATURE RATINGS: (Violence, language etc) None that I can think of




Dr. Jekyl and Dr. Hyde went up on stage. A lot of glukkons were in the audience, mumbling to eachother, impatient. Frankenstein took the microphone.
"Testing, testing! Now, the reason why we're is because of some complications in our zrilufet project! Our creature... Escaped..."
There was some groans and mumblings from the crowd. This obviously meant inconvenience.
"Our intern Mike also dissapeared" Norbert began, "Believed to have been... killed... By our experament"

The slig lady perked up her head. She was sat at the back on a balcony, sandwiched between Brutus and Natzo, amongst other big bro sligs.
"There's... Other victims?" She whispered, worried and upset.
"The experament is believed to have escaped through a broken window. An attack by some unknown monstrosity was reported a day later, having attacked a slig, and... Eaten his arm..."
She looked upset and angry...

"This is... Their fault!" She whispered, with a grudge.
"Anyway!" Frankenstein interupted. "This must of happened while the creature was in zachorax form!"
"The creature... It... Mutated!" She whispered.
"It will go into this form when it's... Starving... And will-" "Grow to enormous sizes, turn all carnivore and lose any sense of control it has over itself, killing and eating whatever it can!"
The glukkons sounded nervous. The slig lady looked a bit sick, pale, worried and scared.
"We can only hope it was a big arm, that way it'll stay fuller for longer, and won't kill again soon" "If you see it, call your local slig, it needs to be captured for our experaments to continue!" "And if anyone is seen helping it, kill them! It's an uninteligent creature, and can't escape unless someone is helping it to do so!" "We need someone to pretend to be it's, paaaal, then bring it to us!"

"So what's the main reason for this meeting?" A glukkon yelled.
"Welllllll...."
The two vykkers whispered to eachother...
"You tell them!" "Nuh-uh! I did it the last time! You owe me!" "Ack, fine! I'll die young anyway!"
"Welll, it appears for our experaments to continue, with what little DNA we have, we need......... Six million in moolah..."
The glukkons booed, and a can got thrown off Dr. Hyde's head.
"Hey! He said it, not me! Gosh, do we look that much the same?!" "Well anyway, you must report any sightings you see. Kill it's friends. Be it's, 'friend', then bring it to us! You get the idea!" "So then our plan will work, you'll get what you want. and we'll rule the east side!"

There was a cheer from the glukkons.
"And remember kids, flush your own fleech!"
The slig lady got up.
"And where do you think you're going?" Said Natzo, the purple glukkon.
"To get some air"
She went outside, froze, and ran over to a bin and threw up
"Urrrrrggggghhhh!"
She wiped her tentacles with a tissue, and carried on back to the main building. She looked depressed, sick and worried, and the glow seemed to fade from her eyes...

Chapter 7 She Returns
(Well this is short.)

She'd just been moping around the forest depressed. She blamed herself for what happened. She didn't know if he was alive or dead, critical or stable. She got up, and stared at the barracks in the distance. They were surrounded by yellow mist, and looked old and metal-ish.

Something in her mind changed. What if he forgave her? What if he wasn't mad? What if this was her last chance? Mike and the other guy were gone, and she didn't know where, or even what direction. She looked at the barracks, and got another flashback.
He was running towards them, trying to escape her...
She squealed happily. The barracks! They took him there! Maybe he forgave her, maybe he didn't, maybe he was alive, maybe he was dead, but there was only one way of knowing. He seemed nice enough-maybe he would understand that she had no control over it?

She had to have a friend-and this could be her last chance... She got up, and excitedly started to run in the direction of the mist in the distance, her hopes up, raring to go... Would things go according to plan?

Chapter 8 Back to Life

(...Meh, whatever, my head aches and I ain't bothered reading)

MATURE CONTENT: Description of a wound

He cheerfully flew through the Shantytowns, singing and whizzing along, holding a large piece of scrap metal. It was a week later, and the plan to make Dimitrio an arm was going perfect. Gadget had already given it the ability to move, it just needed a rust-proof covering, and it was done.

He was happily whizzing through the air, when he saw Dimitrio’s boss standing there, hands on her pants, with a demanding look on her face.
“EEEEEEEEEK!!!” Frisbee screamed, coming to a halt, then trying to fly around her. “NOT so fast!” She demanded. “Where do you think you’re going with that scrap metal?!” “Ummm…. Uhhhh!…” He looked around himself at the buildings in the Shantytowns.
“Build my house!”

She gave him a pathetic look. “Your house is just fine”. “Well, uhhhhhh!… I wanna!…. Make it better!” She looked unimpressed. She knew he was lying. She was good at seeing through people, and he was really nervous looking, refusing to make eye contact.

“Well, I better be going!” He said, wanting to escape. She grabbed him by the neck. “You’re NOT going anywhere until you tell me where you’re going, and what you’re doing with that scrap metal!” “Nothing! Honest!” She looked mad. She didn’t like other people wasting her time. “Look, I’m not in a good mood today, and I might get a little annoyed, and end up hurting you, so-” The moment he heard the word hurt, his eyes widened, and he started panicking and screaming.

“NOOOOOO!!! DON’T HURT ME!!! I’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU!!!” He started frantically screaming and pulling, but she held on, getting dragged around like she was water skiing. “Wait! I didn’t say I would! I said I might if you make me mad! Now stop!” “Alright, I’ll talk!” “NOOOOOO!!! DON’T HURT ME!!! I’VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU!!!” He started frantically screaming and pulling, but she held on, getting dragged around like she was water skiing. “Wait! I didn’t say I would! I said I might if you make me mad! Now stop!” “Alright, I’ll talk!” He screamed, too panicked to take notice of her reassurance. “Me and Gadget have been building Dimitrio a robot arm so he wouldn’t have to die, and could still work! I’ve been getting the metal for the arm, and Gadget did the smart stuff! It’s nearly done! We were just tryna be nice!”

He crouched down, covering his head, whimpering. She stood there, staring into the distance, in a kind of shock.
“… He… He’s gonna be okay.." She looked even more shocked, and broke out of her trance.
"HE'S GONNA BE OKAY!!!" She broke into a sprint, and dashed off. A group of sligs were talking to eachother up ahead. “D’you think they’ll send him to Skillya, or let one of us shoot him? Because I love live target practice!” The slig lady crashed through them, knocking a heap of them over. “Hey! Why I ougta!-” “Wait! That’s the boss! You can’t shoot her!” “Grrrrr, well I wish I could!”

Frisbee flew through the gap she had made, and frantically dashed to the hospital, hoping to get there before she did, so he could warn Gadget to fly fast…

She crashed through the hospital doors, which swung in eerie silence behind her, as she stood there in shock and disbelief. Covering Dimitrio’s red raw wound was a robotic arm, with lots of bits and pieces to it. He still lay there unconscious, like he was sleeping peacefully, hooked up to a machine.
Gadget stared at her in surprise, then Frisbee flew in.
“Gadget, I swear, she made me talk! I!-”Silence. Gadget slowly and quietly hovered to him.
“I think we should leave now. That way, she’ll forget we were here” he whispered. They silently whizzed out of the doors.

She walked over to him, and pressed a button on the machine. There was a charging noise, and a flash of electricity blew her against the wall.
“Ack… Wrong button…”
She got up, walked over, and pressed a different button. Nothing happened for a while, then slowly, Dimitrio’s eyes opened.

“Ummmmm…… What…… Happened?” He groaned. Her face lit up, then fell. She’d have to tell him about his arm….
“Umm!… You!… Ummm……”
He didn’t like the silent nervousness about her…
He reached to up to his head to rub it, but felt cold metal instead of his arm. Comfused, he looked over and saw the robotic limb…

“AAAAAAHH!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ARM?!?!” He screamed in shock. “Do you not like it?” Said a dissapointed Frisbee, poking his head through the door. Dimitrio just stared at it in shock…
“Wh… Wha…” “We couldn’t save your arm…” She began. “It… Was too mangled, and there wasn’t much left of it, so… We had to remove it, or it would just get infected…” She said. “I’m… Sorry…”

“Did we not do it right?” Said a worried Frisbee. “No, we did okay” Reassured Gadget. “He just misses having a real arm” She wanted to stay, but heard Natzo the glukkon calling.
“Agent 80085! Get your oversized pants over here!” “You better go now” Said Gadget. “Or you’ll get in trouble” She nodded, and ran out.
Gadget flew over, and started attaching the armour to Dimitrio’s robotic arm. “We decided to help since it didn’t seem fair to just let you… Die, when you could live, so we decided to help” he said, attaching the armour with a screwdriver and screws. Dimitrio was silent.
“Th… Thank you…” “Ah, it’s okay! Besides, you survived something even more deadlier…” “What’s that?” He smiled in his eyes.

“You slapped your boss and got away with it!” “What?! You mean!-the mark on her face was!-oh, yeah…” He looked shocked and saddened. “Brutus told everybody what happened! It filled the whole cafeteria with laughter! They had to get your boss to make everybody quiet because Brutus was too busy laughing his head off! Some of them thought that she’d put you in hospital after you’d hit her, and the whole monster-attack thing was just a cover story to save her job!” “WHAT!?” He said, shocked. Frisbee was laughing his head off, Gadget was trying not to laugh and Dimitrio’s eyes were wide with shock. “How do they!-” “There was a meeting, all the important were creatures were there, Brutus is important, Brutus was there, Brutus hears gossip, Brutus blabs to all his sliggy friends…” “Oh, yeah…”

With a big clicking sound, the arm was complete. “Well, I better get back to work!” He said. Gadget and Frisbee flew out the door. “I hope you get used to your arm!” Frisbee called. The slig lady walked back in.

“Natzo just needed me to confirm some reports” She saw him trying to get out of bed, struggling, and holding onto the machine. “Ughh, let me help, you’re still attached to the thing!” She disconnected the wires, and tried lifting him a bit. He stumbled a bit, and grabbed the bed. “Do you need any-” “no, I’m fine, I just need to get used to walking again” “well, okay…”
“Ageeeent!” Natzo yelled in the distance. “Sigh. I better go” “Okay, bye. You know, I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve been electrocuted”
She froze, then walked out of the door. Dimitrio looked at the control panel on the machine and sighed.
“She must of pressed the electrocution button by mistake again…”

Chapter 9 Another Meeting

(This is what's coming to you if you wear a boob tube and beat up guys on a regular basis)

Everyone was lined up. All the big bro sligs and the slig lady. An angry purple glukkon walked up to her. He looked old and moody and wore a uniform like general Dripik had done, and smoked a cigar.

“Sir, he’s alive!” She protested. “We don’t have to shoot him!” “I can’t have sligs with special needs! I’m on a low budget!” “He’s alive! Two sligs made him a robotic limb!” He just laughed in her face, letting her feel the tobacco on his breath. “Do you really expect me to believe that?! Do you think I’m stupid?! I wasn’t made general when Dripik died for nothing! He’s just another slig, nothing special! We’re gonna shot him, and that’s final!”

BANG!!!
The door was knocked over, and Dimitrio stood there in the doorway, looking embarrassed shocked and lost.
“…. Ummm…… I…….. Thought this was the cafeteria……”
All the big bro’s stared, the slig lady looked shocked and Natzo had his mouth so wide open in disbelief, his cigar fell to the floor. She was right!
“Well, I did tell you” she said, rubbing it in. “Ah well, better bring him to the cafeteria!” She walked away, sniggering under her breath. “Come on slacker, your special treatment’s over, back to work!”

They quietly walked through the stained steel halls, too shy to speak to each other. When they made it to the cafeteria doors, she finally spoke.
“Well… This is it, back to work, I…”
“Well, I guess Brutus must of blabbed about this to everybody already!” They laughed a bit. She smiled in her eyes, then walked into the room. He felt a bit funny and happy on the inside. She seemed a lot less vicious when they were alone. Then again, that was probably because he behaved, unlike other sligs.
He looked at the door nervously. He’d have to go in sometime…
He walked in, and froze. They were all staring and whispering.

“Ehem! Pay attention!” She yelled on stage. “We still have the meeting!” He took his chance, and ran to the table. “Anyway, this meeting concerns a valuble vykker experiment that escaped, mutated and attacked a slig” There was whispers…
“Don’t make me get my gun out! If you see a strange creature which you’ve never seen before, don’t shoot it! It’s valuble, and needs capturing! That’s all there is to say, so get to bed now! The lot of you!” They all groaned, and walked out of the door.

She was gonna go, when she saw Dimitrio head-down, asleep on the table.
“Sigh…”
Not wanting to wake him, she hoisted him over her shoulder. “Better get you to bed” She walked out, through the cold dark shantytowns, and went to his house. She put him in bed, tucked him in, stroked his head a bit, then left for the door. She stopped, and turned around to gaze at him one last time.
“Goodnight”
She went out, and back to wherever she slept.

CHAPTER 10 MUD SLAVES

The blaring horn alarm sounded, echoing throughout the dirty Slig Barracks. Time for work. His robotic red visors opened slowly, as he lay awake in thought and procrastination. His bed was a mass of old brown tattered blankets and a scruffy pillow. They had definitely been used before. There was numerous stains, some aged brown and red blood from unattended injuries from past sligs. Nothing was new or good for slave species in industrial society. It would be his first day of work with his robotic arm. Sligs would stare, he’d still have to adjust to it and possibly get into hassle for breaking things again. He’d snapped a door off its handle just yesterday. Imagine him trying to lift guns and grenades. He knew as he stared at the sunlight peeking in from outside that there would be trouble ahead. Before he thought to move, a deep snarling growling sound emitted beside him.

A strong chill ran down his spine as he assumed what it was. A slog. Fear seizing his heart like he was a child, he dared turn his head slowly towards the source of the angry vicious sound in his tent. He felt a muscular hand grip his arm tightly. It couldn’t be a slog. They had no arms. A mudokon terrorist perhaps? A slog with claws? That zrilufet again? Fear wasn’t a logical emotion, and imagination only made it worse. As he turned around, he saw the red glow outside the creatures’ eyes, the built up muscles in the maniac’s arms and six pack, and hear and feel her warm breath on his face. It was one, that was feared by many and capable of breaking arms that you could hear snap. Her heart was locked up and coated and hanging with icicles, and her ridiculously large chest nudged him.

Yet he wasn’t afraid anymore. Relieved, in fact. It was ‘just’ Agent 80085 the slig. She hadn’t snapped his limbs off before because he didn’t deliberately slack off or bother her. If anything, she seemed incredibly tolerant to him. As she grunted in his face, he wondered what in the blazes she was doing in his tent. And why she snored as loud as a heap of firecrackers being run over by a lawnmower. He slowly tugged his arm out from her hand, and proceeded to try and get up and out of his bed. It was hard - it felt comfy after sleeping in it.

A sudden loud snort and two wide open visors made him freeze. She was awake, lying on her side on the lumpy covers beside him closely. He was under them though. But she still assumed the worse. Though he couldn’t see, her black eyes under her mask were pierced with fear, and a terrible memory swept her mind. She lay there frozen and stared at him in horror. He didn’t know what she was thinking. He didn’t know why she was there. Her tentacles quivered as she couldn’t think of what to say. Only a pathetic whimper escaped her throat. It reminded him of a runt sloggie.

Before he could elaborate on these thoughts, he was forced to think about the fact she had him pinned underneath him with one hand and choked with the other. She glared into his face like death, and tightened her strong grip on his throat and belly. Already he could feel his head go heavy as she suffocated him with her bare hand. She seethed fiercely in his face in rage. He whimpered and sobbed hysterically in terror. It looked like she was trying to kill him.

He was forced to look into those red visors of rage. He whimpered and cried like a child to a slog as she tightened her already too tight grip. Those visors hid her seething glaring black eyes. It provided no comfort. Sligs, wearing face-concealing masks, didn't use their faces for communication and emotion. They had to look at their posture and hear the tones of their voice to guess their mood.
“What. The f***. DID YOU DO TO ME?!” She screamed and yelled at the top of her voice. She seemed to be unaware in her madness, that other sligs outside would hear. She had learnt that showing her angriest out-of-control state usually provoked humour in others, not fear. But countless illegal beatings changed that. Already the crying and angry shouts could be heard from outside, but no one dared to help. It sounded like the commonly nicknamed and infamous ‘psycho b17ch’ was involved. A lot of people wanted her shot in the head at a long distance. But they were too strangely scared of her to do it.

Dimitrio bawled like a slig baby, who had been dropped on a hot hob. The low brown tent seemed to spin and vanish into the black around him.
“I-I-I-I didn’t do a-a-a-a-anything!” He begged. “I swear!” He had to say what she wanted to hear and fast. He was already feeling like he was half conscious and in a dream from the lack of oxygen to his brain. He wheezed and gasped harshly under her grip that loosened. He took his chance and had a long gasp, before coughing and spluttering. She still didn’t let go. There was a different look in her eyes, like she would cry.
“…D…Dimitri?” She whispered like a scared child. He could of hugged her in relief. He sobbed, gasped and looked thankful. But then her eyes darkened and her robotic eyelids narrowed again.
“I…Trusted you...” She hissed before screaming in her returned rage. He cried out as she deliberately snatched his throat in her hand.

His mouth gaped and fought but no air came through. After throttling him with one hand, she dropped his pantless body that flopped limply onto the ragged covers. He struggled to gasp weakly. He sounded like a dying old person. She only glared coldly at him, before realising she had just made a big mistake. She desperately sat him up and slapped his back in an attempt to help him breathe. It only gave him more bruises and provoked yelps of pain.

“Are you alright?!” She panicked. After bringing himself back to a regular breathing pattern, he looked at her like she had stabbed him and apologized. He couldn’t work out why she had attacked him in the first place. He flinched away from her. With a mood like that, she could just as well strike again.
“You…You just tried to kill me!” He shrieked. Her face was riddled with honest guilt. Her robotic eyelids bent forwards, showing stereotypical sad eyes. Strange, he thought, considering she could beat up others that just bugged her and not give a toss.
“I…Thought I was in the inside room…” She admitted sorrowfully. “I forgot I fell asleep here…Sorry.” He shivered and sniffled hysterically on his blankets. He half expected a hug like she given him before, but she kept her distance as she leaned in a crawling position. She was also shaking in terror. But why? She had attacked him, and he had done nothing to her. He couldn’t make sense of it. He already had bruises forming and was bawling his fly-like eyes into fits of tears. She refused eye contact as she shivered, and crawled in her pants over soft tattered fabric towards the exit. He looked at her like an upset kid. She noticed this when she dared look at him again.

“Wh…What – what could I of possibly –” He lost control of his voice like a crying child. “Done to you to deserve that?!” He held his masked wetted face and shrieked. He also expected an honest answer from her. She only turned her head to the daylight-lit-up exit of the tent and shivered more.
“We better get to work…” She refused to answer in a negative tone. His tentacles quivered as he thought desperately to interrogate, but he only output a “but –” before she climbed out and left.

He eventually summoned up the courage to leave. He clambered around his scruffy light brown tent, and towards the daylight peeking through the entrance. Upon exit, he could take in the high stacks of piled brown tents and the heavily green clouded sky. He covered his face with his hands, as he sobbed and got up to his iron feet. Other sligs had already awoken and came out of their blanket beds. Paranoia ensued as they noticed his robotic arm and crying. He hated it when people stared. His attempts at avoiding eye contact seemed to attract looks. Keeping away from them, he kept his head low and scurried away on his robotic legs. The noise of those robot pants rang in his ears. Everyone seemed to hate him in his mind. He had no friends like other sligs. He feared everyone. He was lonely, but at the same time avoided social contact at all costs. His first lessons in life were lies but had already been absorbed as a child. He was worthless, useless, no one liked him and through the course of that, all sligs would only hurt him. He never had the 'guts' to just close his eyes and fall into a recycler, so he picked a more comfortable option: a slower way with no chopping up or blood. Starvation. He could do it himself without much notice from others, apart from his bones attracting attention and showing through, and could just back out on the days he felt like it. He was barely getting enough to live nowadays. He made his way around a dusty corner, into a sort of shaded alleyway. Running around a corner to exit the city of tents, he heard a deep voice and loud pant noises behind him that made him jump.

“Hey, you!” A slig with an overly deep voice called for attention.
He froze at the sight of the massive lingering shadow sweeping over him, and turned around. It was a big bro slig, Brutus the big bro slig. Anybody who had heard about Brutus knew he was probably the biggest big bro in the whole Slig Barracks. Most big bros were only eight and a half-feet tall – Brutus was 14. He’d been given too much growth hormones and steroids in a miscalculation that had him on life support and nearly killed him. His muscles bulged from everywhere, looking painful. His pants were huge and wide too, to support his gigantic bulk. It made some alleyways inaccessible to him, unless he knocked over tent piles out of the way. Which he was surprisingly too caring to consider. He was another one of those nice sligs. A slig who didn’t beat mudokons senseless, threaten people or blow the head off a mudokon who spoke. He was a major drunk though, a blitzpacker addict. He drank dry whatever cans he had before shooting with them.

“Yuh gunna luk aftuh th’ muds at th’ edge of th’ Barrucks, since no one else is availubul.” He instructed him, and pointed his heavy metal blitzpacker gun. “Ovuh there. At th’ fensus. Tha’ nutty slig chick supuhvisuh ‘ull have ‘um. Lil’ muds thuy aur, too.” He processed this overly thick big bro accent in his head for a moment. Brutus wanted him to go watch some young mudokons at the edge of the Slig Barracks, close to the barbed wire fences that prevented any desperate sligs making a break for it. Agent 80085 would be there. He squinted his eyes in disgust at his chunky thick muscles. Wearing a mask, Brutus only saw his robotic eyelids narrow.
“Oh…Okay…” He answered shyly, before heading off and away to there. When he felt like it and the alleyways were desolate, he would run to get there faster. When it was crowded or at least one slig was around, he lowered his head and walked so as to not draw more attention. Sligs whispered at the sight of his new donated left arm.

Outside the tent cities and main building was dry flat cracked earth. Forests had been mercilessly destroyed to make materials and space for the Slig Barracks. Erosion by rain had wrecked the topsoil. The earth spread out light brown and far, far past the anti escape fence in a desert. He could make out the group of sligs up ahead. Some regular walking sligs huddled together, in the desert-ish area on the dusty ground, and the female slig supervisor stood yards away from them. Fear tinged when he recognised her, his bruised neck still aching. Strange thing about her; she was a foot shorter than the average slig and lacked that slouching when standing up in her pants. It was awkward, looking down at a bulky slig and still fearing her. She looked bored standing there, probably because she had nothing better to do. When he reached the group, he saw her turn away at the sight of him yet again. He felt rejected and sniffled. Sure enough, there was the group of green, bony ponytailed mudokons walking in front of the sligs. There were two taller teenagers, one of them had his head turned, and three smaller children. The smallest mudokon child squealed as he was kicked swiftly to the ground by a metal leg. Whilst the other guys found this tasteless black humour hilarious and the female slig just snapped away at them, Dimitrio felt past anger build up inside him. Something in him snapped as he seethed and his arms rattled and shook.

“STOP IT!” He shrieked so much like the female. The laughter and other yelling stopped. Agent was surprised and taken aback. A public outburst like this was very out of character for him. She temporarily forgot her remorse and stared wide eyed at the bony slig. When she recalled it, she looked away in shy guilt, like they had switched personalities. He still feared her wrath, all thanks to her jumping to conclusions. The gang of sligs also peered, some with anger or question as to why he cared. He immediately regretted it. The gang of sligs were now glaring right at him. He was in for it now. The mudokons could only find it in themselves to gawp at him. The kicked one on the ground looked up from a crouching position, those little hands and feet on desert dust. It had been a while since Dimitrio had last seen a mudokon, since Abe had a freeing and killing spree in the Barracks. He slightly recognised these ones from previous experiences, one involving Agent being possessed and ridiculed. The other sligs were just random usual walking sligs to him, sadistic and siding with the popular jock-esque guy. He knew that one all too well.

The oldest slig that had kicked the mudokon child walked briskly up to Dimitrio, making those familiar slig pant sounds. They all prepared themselves for this confrontation. The young green mudokon scrubs cowered. The slig friends and fiends watched, seeing if there was anytime they could be of assistance. Agent growled a low howl like a mad cat. Her hand locked firmly onto her tiny dark silver gun. Sligs could get really stupidly abusive, even among each other She knew that by experience and her own actions. Dimitrio couldn't prepare himself for the one he recognised instantly, and whimpered whilst frozen. That slig had two torn and damaged tentacles, looked forty-ish in slig years and had a dark sneer in his concealed eyes. Dimitrio felt absolutely terrified. His eyes widened, he started shaking, his face sweat, and he felt like he’d fall over or swoon at any second. It was him. That slig he knew all too well.

A dark non sliggish-accented chuckle was spoken so close to him as his mask eyelids came down in a glowing sneer, like sunlight blocked by a hand. He laughed harshly, looking Dimitrio straight in the face. He knew the depressed slig hated that, suffered paranoia, that it came before most of the bad moments between the two. Dimitrio's eyes, organic or visors, daren't open.
“Aww, haven’t we met before?” He spoke to him, cruelly and with a strong sarcastic tone.
Dimitrio didn’t reply. He had tried making comebacks in previous years, but that only made people like him, not as bad as this guy, laugh all the more. Remaining silent didn't work wonders either, when they saw your lack of confidence it egged them on. Emotion bypassed the logic in his head. He wanted to avoid trouble and any social contact. Other sligs could be heard jeering and laughing. A tear escaped his hidden beady eye.
“Was there something you wanted to say, Dimitri?” He talked to him like he was a stupid child. The background sounds of a lightly whimpering mudokon child, a scolding snapping supervisor female and the overwhelming dark laughs of sligs weren't sensed by him. He was too terrified to speak, to run away. He would only be jeered at more in his mind. Like a horrible corpse, he was mentally forced to look into those hidden eyes. Something he found so horrible, with so many awful memories. The slig's final answer was a harsh laugh.
“I didn’t think so!” He reached out and pushed him in the chest. Dimitrio fell backwards onto his pants. That sicko laughed at him with the other sligs as the mudokons helplessly looked on. They could relate to such cruel treatment. Dimitrio just sat there shivering, on the verge of tears, as evil sick laughter echoed around him. He stuck up for people that suffered like him, and got a mere beat down in return.

The bully wouldn't get away with this though. Not without a slap on the wrist at least. Agent 80085 was furious, as would be expected. Seething with a vengeance, she shoved right through the subservient group of sterile males. She didn't care what lethal weapons they had, what they swore or threatened and socked one in the face as she barged past. She had heard her infamous nickname being uttered too close. She stamped right up to that older man she cursed over and over in her mind. It didn't matter to her how cocky he was or that she looked up at his foot-taller self. Agent glared powerfully up at him, only being infuriated by his irritated glance. The mudokons watched and flinched.
“You leave them alone YOU F***ING B@$*@** SON OF A B!***!” She screeched into his ears. A slig's vocabulary contained spicy words, and she wasn't afraid to use them. She never really pondered on how bad her karma was. He scowled down at her like a spoilt brat. He wasn't going to be belittled in front of his 'friends' without a challenge. Especially not by a shorty no one liked.
“I can do what I want to those mudokons!” He shouted in her face, lacking the volume she did. “They’re just filth!” He strutted over to Dimitrio, not caring what she said and shrugging off her attempts to block or restrain him. He looked down at the sitting slig. He sniffed smugly at him as he shuffled back and whimpered with tears.
“Just. Like. You.” He hissed, relishing in his suffering.

Instead of crying on the ground, so pathetic in his abuser's eyes as they played their old games of victim and destroyer, Dimitrio was angry again. How dare he...Tell him what he was worth, and do that to others within his view? Why should he get away with it now? He'd already gotten away with five to four years of this abuse! He'd beat him down physically and emotionally. He wasn't going to just stand and let it happen again. At least not while he had others there...It provided a strange comfort, having others on his side of the battle, and not just that sadist's cronies. He slowly and shakily got to his robotic feet. He half-expected to be shoved back down by his tormentor. When he too stood up, Dimitrio gulped. He received a laugh in his face of disbelief.
“My Odd...” He caught his breath in-between hysteric bursts. “You actually want to go fight me?” He looked at his sligs who were also cackling their heads off, then back at him. “Over some stupid muds? You can't be serious! You look like a skeleton with skin attached you freak!” Dimitrio shook with rage and upset. Smug people had to be some of the worst individuals to walk this planet. They both flinched when that bossy boots stamped up to their side. Dimitrio half-expected to be strangled senseless again. The torn-tentacled one predicted a smack in the gut for misbehaving.
“Both of you stop it; ESPECIALLY YOU SCARFACE!” She shrieked at them. Truly she felt in grave debt to Dimitrio, plus she didn't want to see him getting hurt again. She knew he couldn't handle a brawl. She didn't know if she could handle seeing a beat up or worse Dimitrio.

The slig nicknamed Scarface tolerated his given name by friends. He'd gotten that title from the 'accident' he had had. It gave him his messed up tentacles. However, he tolerated it by friends only: it was an irritating reminder of his bloody incident and an insult to him if used by others, or not in a friendly fashion. He saw that shorter supervisor as a mere annoyance, not a threat or authority to be listened to. He gave her a hard shove to the head instead of any obedience.
“Oh lighten up, you stupid b!***!” He snapped. He screamed next and was smacked to the ground.

Scarface yowled, held his face and thrashed and rolled on the dirty earth. His repetitive yells sounded like crying. He was yowling, swearing his head off and sounding pretty upset. A line of blood slowly trickled out from under his mask. The force of impact didn't go too well with the metal mask and his organic skin. He wailed as he held his painful head and lay squirming on the ground. His friends didn't know what to say. Agent 80085 just stared down at the humiliating state he was in. She twiddled her thumbs while the mudokons stifled giggles. Scarface's pride had taken a blow. It wasn't her who had socked him in the face though. Dimitrio stood there, his robotic arm shaking. He gawped at the mechanical appendage and the bullyboy like he expected an answer. He really underestimated the power of that device that saved his life. He had made Scarface, an alpha male jock who made little kids upset, cry. He was crying because his face hurt that much. He didn't know whenever to feel like a hypocrite, accomplished or just plain confused like he did now.

It was a short-lived moment. Scarface was already up and trying to make him suffer again. He was furious. Pride was one of of his biggest sins next to sadism, and Dimitrio had taken a swipe at his. He glared down at Agent like it was all her fault. She glared back up and crossed her arms. She wasn't about to let things go his way.
“Did you see that!?” Scarface ranted in her face. “He just hit me!” He pointed at his ugly mug she'd rather not look at. “Look at my face, it’s bleeding!” She couldn't even bring herself to waste the energy to scoff at him. She stared blankly with a sort of calm expression like he was yapping naked in a different language.
“Well you asked for it.” She answered bluntly. “Besides, he doesn’t know his own strength with that arm! Just yesterday, he broke off a door trying to open it!” Scarface looked at his friends. They were more than amused and couldn't help if they wanted to. The mudokons found it more hysterical then they did, seeing a perfectly murder-capable slig get pwned. Dimitrio wouldn't help him now for all the moolah in Las Mudas. He was defeated, and there was nothing he could do about it. So he resorted to what most people did in an argument - mud slinging. He scowled down at her busty butchy self.
“Oh, well, if he gets special treatment from you for breaking things, you must reeeally like him!” He snapped. He saw the look in her suddenly narrowing visors and took off.

He yelled as she chased him shouting and screaming around the lot of them. It was like some off-stage act. Dimitrio timidly ducked away whenever they charged past. The sligs were too distracted to shoot the mudokons for laughing. After one last cry of “WHY DON’T YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE, PUNK!?!?” She leapt and dived on the screaming slig elbow-first, like some professional police officer. Dimitrio just fell on his mechanical behind and sat there. He felt uneasy and liked to deny he was shaken by the experience of nearly getting a beating by Scarface, and seeing his sneering face again.

The slig lady was sat on Scarface's back, twisting his arm behind his head. She wasn't bothered how silly she looked to the spectators as long as Scarface yowled and whined.
“Who’s ya momma?! Who’s ya momma?!” She looked as cheesy as she sounded. Scarface yelped pitifully.
“Y-you have to b-be kidding meeee!” He yelled out in agony. His pride had already taken enough damage. He wasn't going to answer that question. He heard and felt a click in his hinge joint.
“Answer me!” She demanded.
“N-no waaay!” He cried. She twisted it back surprisingly further. They all winced at a cracking sound.
“I saaid, who’s ya momma?!” She wouldn't take no for an answer as she tightened her grip.
“You’re my momma!” He yelped, tears flooding back. She still didn't let him go.
“Not me you idiot!” She scolded. “I mean who’s ya real momma?!” She bent it just a little bit more. It appeared just a little too much, because then he really howled out to the great green sky.
“SK-SKILLYAAAAAA!!!” He screamed and wailed in the sheer growing agony.
“And who’s every sligs momma?” Her questions seemed to never end to him. He cried, he was killing his dignity and had just been punched painfully in the face – what more did she want?
“SKILLYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” He screamed. It partly translated to “I'll do whatever you want if you just stop!” She seemed satisfied because she let go of his searing-sore arm, stood up and walked away from him as he just lay there and moaned.
“Exactly!” She made her point, also glaring at his pals so they would get the message.
“So we’re all equal, so you better learn to get along!”

She gave the group a look which made them run before she screamed, pointed to the Barracks and swore. Scarface ran the fastest, his reputation soiled, his arm still dent, his face aching and his his group sniggering behind him. She sniffed, still furious as usual. The mudokons had quietened down now, apart from the odd snicker they just couldn't hide. She wasn't bothered shooting them for uttering a sound. They were in short supply, plus it seemed a crazy rule for her. She wasn't into killing or sadism anyway, just dominance. She already had that over mudokons like everyone else, so it was the sligs all around her who could prove a challenge. Trying to rule over a glukkon would just get her fired. Vykkers didn't come to the Slig Barracks, and even if they did, bossing about guests could get her into trouble with Natzo. Vykkers meant moolah. All glukkons lusted after the stuff.

Dimitrio was just sitting there, not laughing, not blinking, just looking solemn as usual but sadder. The incident had clearly shaken him up, even if it had turned out better for him. She still felt her conscience nag and scold her. If she could just turn back time, if she just recognised him sooner, or remembered he was a timid soul who wouldn't hurt a fly...There was no use angsting about how she could of done better. It was over now, permanently in the past and she couldn't change it. She slowly approached him, leaned down and plotted what to say. Only the obvious sprang to mind.
“Are you okay?” She spoke softly, and in an out of character tone when compared to her usual raging moods. He darted his head to look at her and screamed. She almost fell forwards or jumped.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” He breathed faster and faster, weeping out of control. “It was an accident!” He sobbed and looked pleadingly at her. “I didn’t mean to do it!” He panicked. He was hyperventilating on the spot. She wasn't familiar with signs of severe fear, despite causing it herself. He seemed to be reacting in strange ways other sligs didn't. She looked at him like he was crazy.
“What? Calm down!” She grabbed his shoulders. That just made him flinch and look at her like an animal caught in the headlights. “No ones blaming you! He had it coming!” She seemed to try to stare sense into him, then stopped. He was shaking under her grip. She loosened her hands and removed them from his arms. He was still shaken up by her attack too. Her eyes narrowed to a sad look. She turned her head away.
“Sorry...” She said again in regards to her assault. Hurting him was one of the last things she wanted to do.

She thought carefully for a moment. What to say...What to say that would make things all right again, or at least better?
“Are you sure you’re fit to work?” She said in a deeply concerned whisper. He looked at her face. It would take some time before he could look at her the same again. He then saw the five young mudokons. If another slig was left to look after them, they would be pistol whipped, or worse, shot dead for talking. He couldn't stomach that and had a strong conscience. He emphasised with them, suffering at the hands of sligs. He wanted to just crawl back to his tent, lie down, forget his aching neck and cry himself to sleep, but he had to put the safety of five others before him. He swallowed shakily.
“I’ll… Be fine,” he lied with a voice weak with hunger, pain and depression, “you just get back to work or something…” She didn't believe him one bit, wanted to give him whatever made him happy, but it looked like what he wanted went against her wishes. They stared at each other for a moment. When Dimitrio could tear his eyes away from hers, he realised she was staring straight at him. Why did she have these staring problems fixated with him?
“… What?” He was finally able to ask. Her reaction confused him. Her face went bright red around her mask. Her tentacles shook as she struggled to think of what to say.
“Ummm! Uh… Nothing…” She looked away. He still shivered fearfully in her presence, but was getting better already. He raised a brow.
“Th-then why the staring?” She daren't look him in the eye.
“You have a bug on your face!” She said suddenly.
“Wha? Where?” He felt around, but nothing scuttled off him or buzzed away. She was already walking away back to the Slig Barracks, leaving him kneeling and staring at her back.
“Uh, hello?! You’re supposed to look after us!” A moody voice interrupted. He flinched, wondering who it could be out there in the desert, and saw the young five young mudokons. Two teenagers, one with his head turned away, and three little kids.
“Oh... Right.” He stood up, shy around new people. Even mudokons.

[MA]

i've been meaning to read this for a while, and glad i have! them news scenes genuinely made me laugh out loud.

hope to see more!