The Forgotten Zodiac

By the time it finished, it looked like someone had torn off part of Rush - half of his face down to about his knee on his right side - and attached this twisted, monstrous form. Any further and very well could have killed him. He squirmed around in his own blood for a moment, then caught the Phantom by the leg.

There was a crack and a painful ripping noise as Rush tore the demon's leg off from just above the knee. Rush let out a roar as the Phantom fell backwards, grinning madly. The chimera-thing's roar sounded like a mix between a scream and a very loud growl. He ripped his claws along the leg he had torn off, snarling and thrashing and roaring every few seconds. His eyes fell on L'arc and he looked up at the bound Druid. It became obvious that the teeth on the right side of his mouth had grown larger and more pointed. He tried to talk for a moment, but only wound up making odd coughing sounds.

He settled for biting down on L'arc's shoulder, instead.

((Haha, I tend to write more when it comes to the suffering of my characters...9u9

It's fine. >w<))

L'arc let out a shreik that came out as a strangled whimper through the gag, trying to hold still even though it hurt... horribly. But he knew that if he struggled or tried to twist away, he would only make the wound worse. He looked at Rush in horror, his breath comming in short, shallow gasps. Was this, too, part of the Phantom's plan?

Rush proceeded to claw at L'arc's arms and wrists, biting down on L'arc's shoulder to the point where an audible crack was heard. The Phantom left at this point, locking the door behind him.

Rush stopped, slipping his claws under the ropes and slashing through them. He let go of L'arc's shoulder, and threw aside the covered stick he had broken behind the pole L'arc had been attached to. Rush fell back and proceeded to slit his own wrist. "Keep screaming...it'll buy time..." He murmured, putting his own blood on L'arc. "And...play dead soon, okay? The demon who'll come in here to collect the body...he's a good man. If...he hasn't been replaced. Let's hope not. Tell him I told you his name...'Ashun'. Okay? Good. Keep screaming," Rush insisted, spilling his own blood for the forest prince.

L'arc looked confused, but slightly relieved as Rush's character changed when the Phanom left. He nodded slowly, then then started to shake his head and grabbed Rush's wrist while using the other to extract the gag from his mouth. "What'll... happen to you?" he asked.

Rush looked down. "I dunno. I'll probably go back to being a test subject." He rubbed his new, scaly and clawed arm. He wouldn't be surprised if they turned all of him into this monstrous form. "Scream, for both our sakes, L'arc, or I'll bite you again," He hissed, forcing his bleeding arms over L'arc. He made a few light scratches on his dear friend and bled over them, to make it look like more of a serious wound. He carefully made more bite marks.

L'arc looked upset, but conceeded. He let out another shriek or two, then asked softly, "Where did they take Sylas?"

L'arc screamed again, a long, drawn out cry. He slowly sank to his knees, then laid down on the floor. "What about Eve?" he asked. "And Manny? What happened to them?"

"No idea. But I can sense them, they're in the research department. I think the Phantom is trying to see how Eve made Manny. And what all Manny can do..." Rush sighed, then let out a low growl and bit lightly down on L'arc's neck, making it look like a fatal wound had been caused.

The door opened then, and the Phantom peeked in just as Rush sat back and started to cry. Crocodile tears, really, but they were real tears, indeed. "Ah, you're done. Look at the mess you've made," The Phantom laughed a bit, then looked at the door. "Send the clean-up guy in. Come along, Rush. I think it's time I reinstated you as my pet. This time, you can be more than just a watchdog...how about an attack hound?"

Rush snarled and snapped at the Phantom, furious, but he had no choice but to follow. The demon king chortled and let Rush walk beside him. Oh, the plans he had...

L'arc laid on the ground limply, his eyes closed. He tried his best to keep still as Rush left, though he wanted desprately to get up and fight the Phantom, make him pay for everything he had done and was planning to do, but he knew that if he did... it'd probably be the end of all of them.

There was quiet for a long while, and then the door was opened again. A demon with a large bag, a bucket full of steaming hot water, and a mop walked in. He took one look at L'arc and sighed heavily, shaking his head and moving to pick up what he thought was a corpse. He muttered something to himself and put L'arc on a table so he could clean up the floor first.

L'arc's eyes opened a bit, watching the demon for a moment before deciding to take a chance on what Rush had told him. "...Ashun?" he called quietly, his voice barely over a whisper. If this wasn't the demon Rush had told him about, he wanted to still have a chance at playing dead, so he kept his voice low.

The demon paused. "No...Ashun was executed a month ago for treason. I'm his younger brother, Althos." He murmured, continuing to scrub at the floor. "I'm sad to see you here. But...I'm going to get you out. I'll put you in the bag and carry you out. When you're in there, don't make a sound or movement, okay? If you do, we're both dead." He looked over at L'arc. "I don't know why you were left alive...but I'm willing to help you." He thought for a moment, remembering who had been following the Phantom around. "Was it Rush? That kid's pretty good at playing the mean-and-nasty card, but he's really kind at the heart. It makes sense, then." He nodded thoughtfully, finishing up cleaning the floor.

"Rush... has been part of our group for a long time," L'arc said. "He's one of my closest friends." L'arc sat up slowly, wincing at the pain in his shoulder, but managing to get up well enough. "You'll really help me?" he asked, quietly.

L'arc nodded, settling into the bag as comfortably as he could manage, then looked up at the demon. "Can you..." he hesitated. "Is there any way that you can get Sylas, too? I... he's my best friend, I don't want to leave him, I need to protect him," he said.

L'arc looked up at Althos with gratitude. "The Manakete Palace," he said softly. "He should have been taken to the Manakete Palace. I just... I hope he didn't make it there... oh..." the druid's face darkened, but he said nothing more.

Althos sighed heavily. "I saw the bomb. That's not just any bomb...they stole part of that mass of dark matter. Cut his hand right off, and the Phantom made the girl turn it into a bomb. If it doesn't explode, it'll kill that boy. Humans aren't supposed to be exposed to Dark Matter, much less have it inside them." He saw the look on L'arc's face, then shook his head. "It's fine. I know the Manakete Palace. I can make a portal to just on the edge of the mountain range. I have good aim, believe me..." He sighed, then did as he said he would.

"O-oh, wait," He paused, then took a knife and carefully cut a thick lock of L'arc's hair off, then held a match to it for a second. "Gotta have proof that I burned the body. The Phantom prefers fingers, but--" He stopped as an arrow landed in the back of his neck. He fell forward, nearly landing on L'arc.

"Get him!" The Phantom shrieked. More arrows flew, and Rush bolted at L'arc. His tail swung around and caught the forest prince in the back, but that only threw him forward, into the portal.

L'arc let out a terrified shriek, but quickly closed his mouth as he entered the portal and fell still, not wanting to be ripped apart from the portal. He shuddered as he watched the demons swarm into the clearing, whimpering softly in fear.