Beast: Chapter 1 - Worm

Hello everyone! I'm super sorry for the lack of updates but things have been rather hectic recently. To make a long story short, my brother got arrested and I've been having to deal with the fallout from that for the past few days.

This story is one I've been working on between other chapters so it was the easiest to finish with everything going on. It'll be a shorter story, around four chapters or 20-30k words, but I hope you'll enjoy it regardless! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming soon!

~~~

Eric sighed as he stepped out of the warehouse into the alley just outside. The sounds of shouting, barking dogs, and pitiful whining were muffled as he closed the door behind him, and he let out a sigh of relief as the migrain that had been persisting all night went down just a bit.

“I don’t get paid enough for this stupid shit.” He muttered as he leaned against the wall, digging into his coat for his cigarettes, “I thought it’d just be kicking some stupid mutt around. Didn’t sign up for all that blood. Shit gets everywhere.”

He sighed as he pulled out his pack. Joining the Empire was supposed to be his ticket out of this boring shit. He was supposed to be running drugs or drinking with his buddies, not babysitting some stupid dogs because some other guy didn't feel like it.

A sound to his left made Eric look over, and he paused, his cigarette halfway out of the pack as he was met with a figure standing at the end of the alley, only a few feet away. It was too dark to make them out fully, but he could tell that they were pretty short and more importantly, had a long coat and a hood pulled over their head.

Slightly freaked out, Eric called out to them, “Hey! Who the hell are you? What do you think you’re doing?”

No response. They began to walk towards him Eric tensed, a creeping suspicion in his mind. Was this guy a cape? One of those freaks who thought that just because they got some powers, they could go around busting people’s shit in without any consequences?

He wasn’t going to find out. Tossing the pack of cigarettes away, Eric reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, popping it open with a click and brandishing it towards them, “Hey, you better stay the fuck away from me!” He shouted at them. They still didn’t speak, continuing to grow closer and closer, and Eric’s confidence began to falter.

He looked back towards the door, ready to call out for help, but the freak suddenly lunged at him without warning, catching him off guard. They knocked the knife out of his hand and before he could even scream, a gloved hand was wrapped around his face with enough pressure to hurt. His head was pushed backwards, slamming against the brick wall hard enough that his vision went black for a few seconds. Or at least it felt like a few seconds. In reality, it was probably much longer because when he opened his eyes, the freak was crouched over him, going through his pockets.

Panicking, he weakly tried to push them off but they snatched his wrist in a lightning fast movement, holding it in a bruising grip.

He winced, trying to pull his hand away but they just tightened their grip until he could hear a pop and pain radiated through his forearm. Eric cried out in pain but his screams were immediately muffled by a hand slamming over his mouth, and he flinched back as they got into his face with a snarl.

“Shut up!” The freak hissed, glaring at him from under her hood. She wasn't wearing a mask, allowing him a full view of her slitted green eyes and… green skin?

As Eric wondered whether or not he had hit his head too hard, the girl growled at him. Literally growled. It was a rough, guttural noise that he could feel in his own chest, “Where are your keys? The ones to the door behind you?”

The words broke through the fear as Eric realized what the freak was trying to do. Glaring at her, Eric kept his mouth shut even as she loosened her grip enough for him to speak. He wasn’t going to betray the Empire just because some angry bitch decided to rough him up a bit. He took worse during his initiation.

His silence only seemed to make the freak angrier, and he winced as she pressed her hand against his face harder, “Tell me!”

Jerking his face out of her grip, he glared at her, “I ain’t gonna tell you shit! Do whatever you fuckin want to me, it ain’t going to change anything!”

He screamed as she put pressure on his wrist again, and this time he was sure that he felt something break. Her eyes seemed to glow in the dark as she snarled at him, revealing sharpened canines, “You're going to tell me because if you don't, I'll break every bone in your body!”

Eric panted as he stared at her. She looked young, younger than his little sister, and for some reason, despite the fact that she had literally just knocked him out and broken his wrist, he shook his head. “Nah. Not happening.”

The freak snarled again and tightened her grip on his broken wrist, getting even more into his face until they were practically touching noses. For a moment she just stared at him, and he sweated as he started to wonder if she was actually about to make good on her threat.

After a moment though, the freak pushed him away, getting off of him with a huff, “Alright, fine. I’ll just do it myself. Not like I was going to be quiet anyway.” She looked down at him, scowling, “Scream for help, and I break your jaw.”

Eric slowly propped himself up on the wall, watching as she walked up to the door, “You’re gonna fucking die, bitch! Just cause you beat my ass doesn’t mean you’ll be able to get past all our boys inside!”

His words were completely ignored as the freak pressed her hands against the door, feeling it. Eric watched her, clutching his broken wrist with one hand as he wondered how the hell she thought she was going to get through a locked steel door. She was strong, but not that strong.

She stepped back until she was pressing against the wall of the alley, and Eric was about to call out to tell her that she was an idiot when she changed. One second there was a short teenager in a trench coat, and the next there was a massive, musclebound animal dragging its knuckle on the ground.

Eric scrambled back against the wall he stared at the massive fucking gorilla that the freak had turned into. It turned to him and he nearly pissed his pants in fear as he locked eyes with it. After a moment, it huffed, looking away, before completely ignoring him and turning towards the door with a furious expression.

Running forward, the gorilla brought both of its fists back and, with a shout, slammed them into the steel door. It offered basically zero resistance, flying off of its hinges to crash inside the building.

Without giving him a second glance, the freak walked into the building and left him behind. Eric stared after her, before standing up and running out of the alley as fast as he possibly could as panicked shouting and thunderous crashes began to sound out behind him.

He had done all he could to stop her. He wasn't fighting a fucking gorilla.

~~~

“Angelica, Brutus, Slow!” Bitch commanded her dogs as they grew near the location of one of Hookwolf’s dog-fighting rings

Bitch had been tipped off to this specific ring for about a week now. She had spent that time staking the place out and had picked tonight to finally take care of the place. She had prepared carefully, making sure that Hookwolf or anyone else wouldn't be showing up, and was sure she was only going to be facing some skinheads.

Which was why, as she came to a stop outside of the building and stared at it warily, she wasn't sure what to think.

There was a massive hole in the wall, like someone had rammed through it with a truck or something. A few skinheads were laying around the opening and not moving at all. Barking and shouting came from the opening, and Bitch's expression tightened as she wondered if someone was hurting the dogs.

Just as she prepared to spur Angelica forward with the intent to find out what was happening though, something came flying out of the building, landing right in front of her with a groan and stopping her in her tracks.

It was a skinhead. He was shirtless and there was a massive, bleeding bruise on his chest that was only growing darker by the second. One of his arms was broken, twisted the wrong way so far that the bone was actually sticking through the skin.

He groaned and Bitch eyes him, wondering if he was going to try and get up,before her attention was taken away by the steady thumping of something approaching through the hole in the wall. Angelica growled underneath her in the way that meant she smelled a threat, and Bitch's whole body tensed at what she saw next.

A massive rhino, just as big as Angelica if not bigger, walked out of the building, its muscles bulging with every step. Its entire body was a deep green, from its horn to the tip of its tail, and as it locked eyes with her, Bitch could tell it wasn't just an animal.

Gripping onto Angelica’s bone spurs tighter as Brutus growled in warning beside her, Bitch glared at the rhino, not backing down, “You gonna fight me?”

Her question rang out, a silent threat behind the words as both of her dogs bristled at the word ‘fight’. The rhino stared at her, unblinking, and Bitch felt herself tense the longer the silence stretched.

In a flash of movement that nearly had Bitch order her dogs forward, the rhino disappeared. Standing in its place was a figure in a dark, shaggy coat that hung around their knees, a hood over their head obscuring their features.

“That depends.” The person finally spoke. Their voice was feminine. Young, but with a strength behind it that reminded Bitch of her own. “Are you going to try and hurt the animals behind me?”

Bitch’s scowl deepened, but she placed a hand on Angelica’s neck, causing the dog to stop growling. Brutus, keying in to his master’s desire, stopped as well, “I’m here to help them. Are you a hero?”

The cape didn't answer immediately, “...No, I’m not a hero. Just someone who can’t stand things like what was going on behind me.”

The cape reached up to her hood and pulled it down. Bitch didn’t react to the sight of her bright green skin and hair, nor the large pointed ears on the side of her head. Her hair was messy, even messier than Bitch’s own, and she looked like she was around Lisa’s age.

Something about the girl's appearance was almost animalistic, feral even, and Bitch almost felt like she was looking at one of her dogs and not a human being.

“I’m Eve.” The girl spoke, baring her teeth. They were sharp, “And you’re Hellhound, aren't you?”

Bitch scowled at the name, “Bitch.”

Eve raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

“My name’s Bitch.” Bitch repeated, “Not Hellhound.”

Eve nodded slowly, “Alright then, Bitch. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help the dogs.”

“Is that so?” Eve stared at her and Bitch stared back, not willing to lose the contest of dominance to the animalistic cape. They stared at one another for several moments, before Eve’s eyes widened minutely and she looked away. Bitch relaxed, satisfied.

“Do you have a way to transport them somewhere safe?” Eve asked, not looking her in the eyes, “I could get them out, but I don’t have the ability to bring them anywhere.”

Bitch nodded, “I can.”

Eve scrutinized her for a moment, before shrugging and turning around, “Alright then. Follow me. I’ll lead you to them.”

Watching as Eve walked back into the building, Bitch decided that if it would get her to the dogs, then there was no reason not to follow. She slid off of Angelica. “Angelica, Stay. Brutus, Follow.”

Angelica immediately sat on her haunches, prepared to wait for Bitch to return, while Brutus, much smaller and able to actually fit into the building, followed after her as she walked inside.

The place was completely torn apart, the stench of copper and piss hanging heavy in the air. It looked even worse than it did when Bitch usually came through.

Pretty much all of the chairs sitting in view of the lowered ring had been scattered around, broken and mangled as if something massive had rolled through on a mission to destroy them all. The ring itself had several holes in the ramped walls, all of them leading deeper into the building where Bitch could hear the sounds of whining and barking dogs. They didn’t sound hurt, at least not more than usual.

She couldn’t say the same for the skinheads. If the one outside looked bad, then these guys looked ten times worse. The better looking ones still had broken limbs or bloody faces, while the worst ones weren’t even moving, lying motionless or draped over whatever they had landed on in clearly painful positions. They deserved worse.

Bitch looked down as something grabbed onto her leg and she scowled as she was met with a skinhead attempting to cling to her. He muttered something in a pitifully quiet voice, but Bitch slammed her boot down on his hand hard enough to break his fingers. That caused the man to scream loudly, lifting his head to see who was responsible. He was met with a boot to the jaw and his head went limp as he was knocked out cold.

Further ahead, Eve looked back at the noise, tilting her head as she saw Bitch knocking the skinhead unconscious. “Huh. Nice one. Come on, they’re back here.”

“You did all of this by yourself?” Bitch asked as they made their way back, Brutus lowering his head to follow them deeper into the building.

Eve nodded, “Yeah, well mostly. Some of them took each other out. Hard to aim at a spider monkey jumping around gouging your friend’s eyes out.”

“Why? You just hate the Empire or something?”

“Of course I do, who doesn’t?” Eve asked in a weird tone, “But no. That's not why.”

Bitch furrowed her brows, following behind Eve as she walked through one of the holes in the wall towards the sound of the injured dogs. “Then why?”

Bitch wasn’t even sure why she cared but she felt compelled to ask. She couldn’t explain it, but something about this girl reminded her of… herself.

Eve paused at her question, looking back at her. Bitch didn’t understand the look on her face, but she had seen it before on Brian and Lisa when she did something that they couldn’t understand. She didn’t like it on them and she didn’t like it on this random stranger either.

The look went away quickly and as Bitch relaxed, Eve turned away, “I don't like people.” She said simply.

“That's it?” Bitch asked bluntly, “Pretty stupid reason to do all of this.”

Eve shook her head, “You didn't let me finish. I don't like people. I’ve lived long enough to know the one trait about people that reigns above all else is their endless capacity for cruelty. They hurt for no good reason or for the simple reason that it makes them feel good. It's disgusting.” She spat.

Her voice became softer, “Animals though, they rarely do anything out of cruelty. Most of them simply aren't capable of it. In the wild, every action they perform, from the day they are born and the day they die, is done out of instinct for survival. It's the natural way of the world. They don't deserve to fight, to die, for the enjoyment of these bastards.”

Her words made sense to Bitch. People usually didn’t. They said confusing things and did things that made even less sense. Dogs were much easier for her to get. She understood them in ways that the people around her failed to understand her, but if there was one thing she’d learned in her years of homelessness, it was that people didn’t need much of a reason to be horrible to each other.

“When I learned about what the Empire was doing, I wasn’t just going to do nothing. I had to help.” As they neared the room where the cages were kept, Eve looked at her, “Is that a good enough reason for you?”

Bitch nodded, “Yeah. It is.”

Eve eyed her at the quick response, before her expression softened and she looked away, “Right, well I’m glad. We're nearly there. The dogs are just through here. I'm warning you though, it's not pretty.”

“I'm used to it.”

“That's…” Eve frowned but didn't finish her sentence, going silent. They passed more bodies that were just as beat up as all the others, until finally they came across a large, open room lined where the dogs were kept.

The dogs began barking as they walked in, and Bitch scowled as she took in the sight and smell of dozens of tiny cages stacked on top of one another. All of the dogs present were too large for their confinements, and each of them were just as malnourished and wounded as the ones she had rescued from the other rings.

One of them nearby looked particularly bad. A dachshund that was much smaller than it should be for one that age. Its ribs were showing like all of the others but it wasn’t shaking in fear or pain. Instead, it was just laying there, its muzzle resting on its forelegs as it stared blankly into the difference. Bitch had seen this before. Its spirit had been broken and it was just waiting to die now. They probably stopped feeding it days ago.

Bitch moved forward, deciding that it was in the most need of her help, but she was beaten to it by Eve who opened the cage without hesitation, gently pulling the dog out. She checked it over expertly, doing everything that Bitch herself was going to do as she made sure that it wasn’t in danger of dying any time soon.

As Bitch watched Eve work, she frowned as she suddenly noticed just how quiet things had gotten. The persistent whining and barking of the other dogs had gone completely silent, and now they were all just staring at Eve from their cages, prompting Bitch to do the same.

“What did you do to them?” She asked.

“Hmm?” Eve looked up, and immediately realized what Bitch was asking, “Oh, that. My power has a weird effect on most animals. It’s calming or something, I don’t really know. When I leave in a second, they’ll go back to normal.”

Bitch frowned, “You're leaving? Why? The dogs aren't safe yet.”

Eve looked back at her, “If my power’s affecting them, you won't be able to tell which ones are the worst off. And besides, you said you can take them somewhere. I assume it's somewhere safe?”

Bitch nodded, “Yeah. I've got some people who can take care of them.”

Eve bared her teeth again, though it was slightly crooked, and Bitch found herself tensing at the gesture.

Almost immediately, the look went away. Eve studied Bitch’s tense posture and tilted her head, “You know… I think we might be pretty alike, Bitch.”

Bitch gave the green girl a weird look, confused by her words, “What are you talking about?”

Eve stared at her for another moment before shaking her head, “Nothing. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I should probably get going. I still need to find a place to… I should get going.”

Still confused, Bitch didn't resist as she was handed the now-sleeping dog. Eve gave her a small wave, “If you're anything like me, then I'll probably see you again. Till next time, Bitch.”

Bitch watched her go, leaving the building through a doorway that was missing the actual door.

Once outside, she gave Bitch one last nod before she changed again, becoming a large owl and taking off into the night with silent flaps of her wings.

Bitch stared after her, before returning her attention to the dogs around her as they began to bark and whine with the cape's disappearance. Seemed she wasn't lying.

Bitch whistled sharply and Brutus heeded her command, turning to walk out of the room so he didn't frighten the dogs any more than they already were. She leaned down and gently placed the Dachshund on the ground, before pulling out her phone and dialing a specific number.

“Mark. Get the vans ready. We're ready for pickup.”

“Already? Damn you work fast.”

“Wasn't me. Some other cape dealt with it before I got here." Bitch grunted.

"Huh, is that so... Well anyway, where are ya at?"

As she directed the man to her current location, Rachel found herself looking out the door as she thought back to what Eve had said, about them meeting again.

The idea didn't bother her as much as she thought it would.