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“Number twelve. Destroy my enemy.”
He took a step forward, the floor shaking beneath the weight of his foot as his body shuddered. Dark splotches blossomed on his skin, and he groaned as they spread, bringing with them the feeling of being squeezed through a too-narrow tube. Even as his shape started to distort, growing larger and more monstrous within the confines of the cellar, his very bones ached, crushing his flesh as if they were made of lead.
But he had no choice but to obey the voice as he turned on the intruder, his jaws opening impossibly wide to reveal a dark, cavernous maw. The other man didn’t seem to be surprised at all, even as a spot of pure, jet black appeared in the darkness and started to grow, seeming to absorb the light around it.
“My business is not with you,” he informed the beast as a yellow glow started to spread out from him, seeming untouched by the living weapon’s own ability. It quickly filled the dingy cellar, spreading over the walls, floor, and ceiling until it appeared that they were all contained within a glowing box.
Still, the miniature black hole continued to grow, and the creature roared, its voice laced with fury and pain as the man took a slow, deliberate step forward. More translucent yellow cubes floated around his hands, unaffected by the distortion caused by the growing gravitational forces… and the monster’s own pain seemed to have eased.
“What are you doing? Obliterate him!”
Again, a command. It pressed down on him, heavier than the weight of his own cumbersome body. With another roar, he launched the compressed ball of gravity at the man… only for it to be deflected all too easily by one of the yellow cubes. Bemused, he hesitated as more orders fell upon his ears, and he lumbered forward, trying to follow them. But then his target flew away, soaring into the air and nimbly avoiding his grasping hands.
"Do not worry. I will free you," the man stated, his voice reassuring as he flicked his wrist, sending another cube toward him. He dodged it, but it suddenly expanded, capturing him around his neck as he screamed his fury and began to flail, trying to throw it off. But it might have been fused to him, for all the good that it did.
And then it contracted, and he screamed again, but this time in vicious triumph.
He wheeled around, a monster carved from shadow, as his creator backed away, eyes wide. Whatever it was that the other man had done, he had snapped his collar, freeing him from that oppressive control. And before he could be enslaved again, he would guarantee his freedom.
The golden light shimmered as it faded, but he barely noticed as the too-heavy weight of his body returned. Another ball of gravity formed in his jaws, and he spat it at his former master, listening to the man's desperate, panicked orders cut off abruptly before he made another, throwing it at the wall. And another. And another.
His body screamed in protest, but he continued to rampage as his cage collapsed around him, intent on destroying every last fragment of his prison and reducing it to nothing more than dust. Destroying all the evidence of his existence and how he could be controlled.
By the time he stopped, panting heavily, he could see the moon that had risen high into the sky. The shadows on his skin began to contract and fade, his body returning to its smaller form, as he fell to his knees.
But the sound of footsteps made him snarl, whirling around to see the stranger approaching once more. He still demonstrated no fear of the monster as he reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder.
"My name is Paul Verlaine. Will you leave this place with me?"