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The room was enormous. A Destroya could fit inside. The walls shined a metallic white and lines in the metal revealed each piece put together.
Thousands of monsters littered the ground taking up the entire floor space. Separated in lines divided by walls, they were organized by species and animal type. At the front of each line was a scanner they’d have to walk through that analyzed every cell in their body, and if all their data presented was authentic, they were sent off. If not, well, it’s back to the lab to figure out what was wrong. And if it couldn’t be fixed, their creator would have to make a new one.
In the center of the room was an aisle full of dog-like beasts. Wolfwraths, Rottenweilers, and a bunch of other devilish hounds all stood one behind the other, sniffing the air, scratching their ears, barking and huffing as they waited to reach the front.
They didn’t understand the purpose of being here, they just knew to move forward when the line moved up. The men above would yell from the tops of the walls to keep them moving.
Those men, the guards, held rifles and stared down at the demonic animal atrocities inspired by delicate, harmless creatures long extinct from another planet. Most didn’t have the DNA that came from the original creature to make them. Each one was birthed in a tube of nitrogen water, organic chemicals, and magic, then thrown into a habitat where they’d grow with the instincts programmed in their minds.
One dog in the middle of the aisle twitched. It rocked back and forth in its spot, huffed and yapped. It was antsy from standing in one spot for so long. It looked up at the ceiling, then at a passing guard, following him with its head as he walked away.
It turned around to the other dog behind it. This one looked normal; fur, ears, gnarly teeth. Only it had these long, thin appendages coming out of its back. They looked like bug legs, each with thin patches of hair and sharp points on the underside.
It sat sluggishly as the dog turned around and went up to it, sniffing its face. The other did the same. Though they were demon beasts, they were still animals, and curiosity is a natural flaw. Most of them were designed after extinct animals because something about bringing a thing back from the dead and giving it a new purpose made Nightmare feel godly.
He would study the crumpling history books and cracked media players of these animals so he knew how he would build the skeleton, then the supernatural abilities, then their flesh and the color of their skin or fur. Nightmare liked playing deity.
The dog up front stopped sniffing and turned back around, facing the front of the line. A sudden itch tore up its leg, and it whipped its body to bend down and bite the back of its foot. The line moved up but it didn’t notice. The one behind it did, looking back and forth between the open space and the dog.
A guard up top started yelling down.
“Move forward!”
The bug-legged dog looked at him then back down. It woofed and stood up but the other was still biting away. Another guard walked over and started yelling.
“Let’s go! Move down the line!”
The beast bit harder at its foot, growling between teeth and fur.
The guards kept yelling to move and the bug dog rocked anxiously, letting out a quiet whine. There was no space to go around so it stepped forward and used its head to give the other a slight push.
That push must’ve had the force of a megaton because the dog flipped over and fell on its side in an instant. It flopped like a fish before looking at the bug dog. It growled and stood up, facing it.
The beast's muzzle wrinkled as it showed its teeth, snarling and arching its back. The bug dog bent its ears back at the now threatening demon and hissed, lowering the front of its body to the ground.
“Move. Down. The line!”
The beast jumped at the bug dog. Chaos ensued.
The two bit and wrestled, hitting the walls and the other dogs forward and behind them. Those beasts pushed back as far as they could in the limited space they had, scrambling over each other to get away.
Loud howling came from the beast as the bug dog bit its leg. It flipped over and bit the bug dog's side, tearing through the skin. Guards came rushing over from each side yelling at the beasts to stop. They didn’t listen.
Fur flew in the air and the other dogs were piling each other so high they could almost reach the top of the walls. The fighting beasts suddenly tore from one another and stopped to stare each other down. The bug dog growled dangerously and the other barked ferociously.
The bug dog stopped growling and hissed. Its body began to shake violently as it stared down the other. The guards up top kept yelling and the other beast kept barking.
Then, the bug dog’s body began to shake uncontrollably and the sound of buzzing-clicks meant for an insect came from it. It didn’t sound natural. The other dog stopped barking, sensing the change in body language. It watched as the other shook more rapidly, moving its head about in eerie ways.
The dog, getting a sense that this isn’t right, started barking at it widely. Before it had no hesitation to charge, but now, it didn’t dare go towards it, but it barked nonstop. The other dogs noticed this change too and started barking as well, pushing away from the beast.
The bug dog screeched. A high pitched, unending wail came from its mouth as it opened its jaws. Movement in the aisle stilled momentarily as all attention centered on it. Its bug legs writhed around on its back like they touched poison, and the flesh around its head and neck moved under the fur.
The bug-dog's head flexed and its face split open.
Four separate petals of muscle spread and widened from the beast's head. Droplets of blood fell to the floor from its exposed insides and migrated to the beast's feet to dissolve back into its body. A tentacle emerged from a hole in the middle of the petals and whipped in the air. Blood and saliva splattered as it did so.
The other beast whined, stepping backwards into the pile of dogs. It was scared.
Every beast in the aisle wailed as the open faced dog moved around the aisle grotesquely. It stepped from side to side disoriented and whipped the tentacle around aimlessly. It buzzed loudly and freakishly, moving closer to the other beast.
The beast pressed back into the other dogs away from the monster coming toward it. It cried helplessly, watching as the tentacle whipped around, nearly hitting it.
The thing could almost reach it- BOOM!
The bug dog was thrown to the ground as a mechanism wrapped around it. A net tightened and immobilized it, leaving it to wriggle and whine on the floor. The air eased in the aisle. Other dogs slowly stopped trampling each other and climbed down from the piles on either side.
The other beast who started the fight stared at the monster thrashing on the ground. It growled. Now was its chance, so it pounced. A guard up top caught his eye with the beast and shot another net. It fell to the ground, wrapped in a cloth that couldn’t be torn, and whined helplessly.
The dogs were dragged into a room by giant demon guards. Leash poles held their necks as they squirmed about, still constrained. The guards yanked and pulled them closer to a wall lined with doors.
“All right, get ‘em in there!”
One demon guard pressed a button on the wall and a door ascended. Inside was a small space, barely any room to move around. There was a mechanism in the shape of a head placed on the other side and another room could be seen through an opening in the wall. The guards gripped the poles, flipping around to push the bug dog inside.
They shoved it in and it hit the walls trying to get out of its restraints. The door descended behind it, lowering to the ground and the guards released the leash from its neck right before it fully closed.
They pushed the other dog in a separate box right next to it, closing the door and pulling off the leash. Mechanical arms fell from the ceiling pulling off the nets and the dogs went wild. They stood up, jumped up and down, and bit the metal bars in front of them while shrieking to be let free.
The arms gripped the dogs and pushed them into the mechanism. Metal bars clasped around their heads, locking around their necks and holding their jaws to keep them from biting. The arms held their bodies in place.
Looking through the bars was a large room with the same small boxes lined across the walls on the opposite side, a few having their own demons inside. Scientists with grey coats walked around and observed each monster, writing things on a clipboard, then moved to the next.
The Detention Center.
One scientist came over to the two dogs. He stood in front of a tablet mounted in the wall next to the cage as it loaded with a report:
LatranWolf:
Started a fight with a Canis Imitator.
The scientist frowned in distaste, looking at the LatranWolf then the Imitator.
“Mm.”
He moved to the Imitator, whose face was still split, watching it closely with hesitance, noticeably leaning his body away, and stayed a few feet back as he squinted his eyes at the other tablet.
Canis Imitator:
Fought with a LatranWolf and attempted to imitate.
The scientist frowned further from the thought of the Imitator trying to assimilate the other. Its open face leaked with blood and drool from the tentacle awkwardly trapped in between its head and the bars.
The scientist scrunched his nose, “Nasty.”
He stepped forward, stopped and looked at the Imitator, a little nervous to get close to it. There was plenty of room between the beast and the tablet but he was still doubtful.
Canis Imitators are one of the most vile monsters Nightmare has created. They’re demons that can take over and imitate other lifeforms by absorbing their bodies and copying it perfectly, transforming and reshaping its cells to imitate its victims. The process is heinous as the imitator tears apart flesh and breaks bone to take over the body and transform.
Nightmare came up with the idea when he found ancient media clips from a movie made thousands of years ago about an alien that can imitate life forms. Dogs were in the movie, and a dog just so happened to be the first reveal of the alien.
Originally, the monster's abilities would be infecting other creatures by making contact with its cells, ultimately taking over singular bodies one by one. He made the monster with the intention that it would imitate the GSA army and turn them against each other, but it went horribly wrong. Yes, the monster infiltrated GSA armies, causing blackouts and trust issues between soldiers, but it also took over Nightmare’s own armies. He didn’t think the biological cells could infect his own forces.
Who knew organic cells were universal.
It nearly assimilated his entire fortress in a matter of months. Millions of demons and workers became imitations overnight. It took control of all his stations, his monsters, his employees, attempting to overthrow him and make a civilization of its own.
Nightmare had to call a standstill in the middle of the war because some of the imitations left his base and had taken over entire planets, a point which nearly had no return. He was justified in halting the war because it didn’t affect only him, but literally every living creature in the universe, so if he wanted to stop it he couldn’t risk spreading it when he wanted to invade and take over a planet. There would be no point if the imitations took control once they touched ground.
Things pretended to be his monsters, assimilating lifeforms without him even knowing.
His reign of victory was squashed in a fraction of the time it took to accomplish it. This mistake set him back by decades. Arthur found his mess amusing and thought it was a miracle. He couldn’t believe his enemy had made such a mistake so widespread that hurt only himself and his own. All because of a movie. But it was frightening; who knew if some of his own men were infected…
Nightmare had to sacrifice many of his own creatures' lives even if they weren’t positively infected and a lot of time to kill the assimilators to be sure none of them survived. It was so much harder than he thought it’d be. Some of them pop up every now and then, even though this incident happened centuries ago.
But he liked how they looked when they transformed so he kept the ability to reshape its own body into anything it previously imitated, albeit grotesquely. But it can’t take over multiple organisms that survive separate from the original body. Whatever it captures can only be killed now, not infected and used as another imitator. And he took away the imitation of making contact with cells and replaced it by completely digesting an organism via swallowing it. This way there could only be one imitation.
This process worked for imposing as someone else and smuggling into foreign territories. It was much easier to control them now. But Nightmare’s face and reputation will forever be painted with this incident.
No one will ever forget it.
Hence why anyone who’s near a Canis Imitator will stand as far away from it as they can even though they’ve been assured they can’t be assimilated unless they’re fully swallowed. They still won’t go near one.
The scientist reached for the tablet and pressed it. Recommendations popped up for what to do to fix the beast to make it behave and it included harsh discipline. It shouldn’t be too hard to fix the dogs since this seems to be just a petty fight.
He clicked some more, reading the instructions and making plans to send it off to the correction facility, when a slimy tentacle wrapped around his arm.
The scientist jumped and immediately pulled back. The tentacle locked in place and tightened. He pulled, digging his feet into the ground when the tentacle was quickly yanked into the bars and down the throat of the open faced Imitator, his arm with it.
“Help! Somebody help!” he yelled. Other scientists in the room turned toward the screaming, seeing as the man’s arm was slowly getting pulled down the beast's throat.
“HELP!”
Men and women of different alien species ran over and grabbed the man. They pulled harshly, playing tug-of-war with the beast. Everytime they pulled his arm came out slightly but was immediately dragged back in.
It started making the insect noises again, causing the LatranWolf to tremble and whine. It shook inside the restraints, banging against the bars, but it was too confined to move.
Multiple scientists grabbed the man and pulled all at once. The tentacle loosened a little and half his arm came out, covered in slime and blood. The tentacle swayed suddenly, whipping side to side with the scientist still attached.
The other men and women were thrown around with him, and the tentacle whipped to the side, throwing a scientist into the tablet, unintentionally pressing the release button.
The bars of the face mechanism lifted and opened and the Imitator thrashed its way out.
Chaos ensued once again. People screamed and ran, others held onto the poor scientist with his arm still wrapped in the tentacle. The beast picked up the man and swung him around, making the other scientists lose their grasp and fall to the ground.
Those scientists leapt and ran for taser sticks sitting on the side of counters in the middle of the room. They turned them on and pointed them at the beast, zapping it with electricity. It howled from… somewhere, and more tentacles broke out of the skin from the sides of its body and grabbed anything it could reach.
More scientists were wrapped in the appendages and swung through the air. They screamed and cried, trying to pry themselves free when one was thrown into the tablet next to the Wolf who started this whole thing in the first place.
The tablet glitched and the face bars opened. The dog jumped out and barked at the beast.
The Imitator eerily turned its open head to face the other and dropped the scientists, including the one who was about to be swallowed. It buzzed louder, its bug legs staggering through the air and its tentacles whipping widely. The other dog stepped back but barked louder, growling and hissing. The Imitator pounced.
A wrestling match between them started once again and they rolled around the floor as wild animals. They bit and snarled and tore anything they could get their teeth or claws on. The Imitator wrapped a tentacle around the other's neck and proceeded to choke it. The dog whined helplessly, pulling and thrashing.
The scientists scattered around the room heaved for air and hid under tables, clutching the taser sticks as the two dogs fought. The one who was almost swallowed crawled under the table, shaking uncontrollably.
He gasped and cried, holding his slimy bruised arm and looked at the other scientists with terror dripping off his face.
“Someone get Lord Nightmare!”
Through a large window, his city glowed neon green and blue. There was no sun, so the sky was always black. Stars above could be seen despite the amount of light pollution, as though there was no atmosphere. But he built it with an artificial bubble of protection to keep air inside at a certain height.
The wizard towered over a tiny table in this small room he found himself in. A ball of chemicals and magic floated in his hands as he morphed and shaped it to look like a brain. Something was incomplete though. He grabbed a bottle of oxytocin on the table and tried pouring a few drops, but the bottle was empty.
He sucked his teeth and put the bottle down. The room was empty. The hallway was empty. He was in a corner somewhere on the edge of a tower and could see the city outside. There was no one around but he could feel the approaching manifestation of a-
“Lord Nightmare.”
His solitude was gone and somewhere inside his cape he felt the urge to gag.
The little speaker on the wall lit up red as someone on the other side had searched for his presence for a matter that would be found out in a few seconds.
“What.”
“The officers in the north east detention center are asking for your aid in controlling a Canis Imitator. It’s currently trying to assimilate another demon.”
Nightmare sighed through his nose. “Have they tried tranquilizing it?”
There was no answer for a few seconds, the person on the other side presumably looking for one. A few seconds later, “Yes, sir, but they failed.”
Of course.
“The officers are skeptical of going near it and urgently request your assistance.”
What’s the point of making demon-control officers if they’re not going to do what they’re made to fucking do…
Nightmare stood up straight and worked his jaw, irritation seeping from his form. He stowed the brain away in his cap and turned and floated to the doorway. “Fine.”
“Thank you, sir.” The echo of the voice drifted through the empty room.
Screaming was the first thing he heard as he neared the entrance of the detention center. There were workers standing outside, trying to get an eye on the mayhem but quickly moved as the giant form of their extremely annoyed boss turned into the doorway and saw a freakish looking flesh monster wriggling about in the middle of the room. He had to bend down to get inside, the tips of his horns hitting the head jamb, and observed the scene in front of him.
Tables and counters were smashed and groups of scientists huddled fearfully in a far corner. A demon dog and a wet red thing with fur and large tentacles wrestled on the floor. The dog was pinned to the ground, howling as it was constrained by the monster on top of it.
The monster's face, now a giant mouth with enormous razor teeth, opened and roared down at the one underneath. It brought its mouth to the dog’s head and slowly closed around it as the dog writhed for freedom.
Nightmare, clenching his jaw, floated over to the beasts. The two immediately froze, sensing something dark and cold looming toward them, and looked up to see their master angrily approaching.
Nightmare lifted his hand and harshly smacked the flesh dog on its back side.
“KNOCK IT OFF!” He roared. The flesh dog shrieked and ducked, releasing the other and cowered against the floor.
The other dog sprung to its feet when Nightmare brought down his hand and smacked it as well. The dog whined and cowered, lowering to the ground and bowing its head.
“Lousy mutts!” The wizard seethed, hissing through his teeth. These things would fight and kill each other before they could step foot on a battlefield.
The beasts cowered, lying low to the ground, whimpering fearfully. The Imitator transformed its body back to what it was before. Flesh and bone morphed and cracked back in place, and a big coat of fur covered its skin in a moment's time.
The scientists felt relief in the air and came out of their hiding spots. They kept some distance though, both from the Imitator and their fuming boss, who looked about ready to blow up, which he was.
“Get up! Outside!” He pointed a skeletal finger to the doorway of the room, looking down at the cowering dogs. “GO!”
The beasts hurriedly ran to the door, slinking against the ground as they went.
Nightmare turned to the scientists and officers in the room who froze in place as raging attention was put on them. He bent down some to get to their level while still managing to tower over them and got a little too close in their faces for comfort.
“What the hell is the matter with all of you?” He snarled darkly, in a low voice. “You’re given everything you could possibly need to control these animals and yet you still can’t do your basic fucking jobs! Look at this mess! All because you're scared of some stupid dogs!”
They lowered their heads, shame eating their gut. They should be ashamed, having to ask their boss for help when they’ve been trained for exactly these types of situations and allowed it to get out of control. The Imitator never should’ve been put in that opened barred cage in the first place.
“Why was an Imitator put here in the first place?” He questioned accusingly, as if the scientists were the one that put it there.
No one could give an answer other than quiet ‘I don’t know's and ‘we don’t know, sir’.
“Morons. I should throw you all in a pit and make you eat your own shit for the rest of your lives!” They all kept quiet, opting to keep their current position rather than risk it by upsetting their boss with useless pleas of mercy.
Nightmare huffed, a deep scowl molded his face and his glasses had a slight tinge of red. He stood up straight and turned to the door, his cloak fluidly wrapping around him. He raised an arm and gestured to the broken tables and equipment.
“Clean up this mess and reconsider your position because you may not have it tomorrow.” The scientists and officers moved fast, grabbing pieces of wood and metal and putting them in a pile.
“This is so stupid…so, so stupid…” The wizard mumbles. There’s always something. Always has to be something that pisses him off.
The scientist whose arm was swallowed stood close to the door. Worry washed over him as he cradled his arm. He looked at Nightmare pathetically like a child, wondering what might happen to him since he went shoulder deep in an Imitator's mouth. He may be deathly afraid of the wizard but there was a sense of security he felt toward him. His boss was a problem solver, after all.
“S-sir.” He forced himself to speak even though something screamed in him not to. Sweat dripped from his face and he felt faint. Nightmare approached the exit, but didn’t acknowledge him.
“Sir.” He said again, louder. Nightmare still didn’t acknowledge him. He was at the doorway ready to leave.
“L-lord Nightmare." He sputtered out, swallowing. Nightmare stopped and looked down at the man, curling his nose.
The scientist held up his slimy arm, shaking. “I-it swallowed my arm, sir. What do I do?”
Nightmare stared. Instead of giving the poor schmuck an answer, he asked, “Why was an Imitator admitted here instead of an isolated room?”
“Uh-h,” he stammered, shaking, “I don’t know, sir.”
Nightmare hates these people so bad. Years and years were spent on training with Imitators after the incident so it should be common knowledge that it's handled differently in times it acts out. Otherwise someone will be swallowed and the thing will walk around pretending to be something it's not, which is extremely dangerous if it gets to the wrong person who potentially knows a lot of secrets and has a lot of power..
The wizard looked away in disbelief. “Okay,” he said through his teeth, “why was it admitted in the first place?”
“Um, a-apparently from an eye witness in the Affirmation facility, the Imitator pushed the LatranWolf causing the Wolf t-to feel threatened and retaliate.”
Nightmare looked through the doorway at the demon dogs, eyeing the Imitator.
“It ‘pushed it’.”
The scientist rocked on his feet, “Y-yes sir, from the eye witness report.”
The Imitator whined.
Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. A push caused the LatranWolf to start a fight which in turn caused an Imitator to transform and nearly kill it. Such fragile egos.
The dogs could feel Nightmare’s anger targeting them. They bowed their heads and looked anywhere but him. The man below him held up his arm once more.
“I-it swallowed my arm, sir.” He stated as before. “What should I do?”
“Wash it.” And with that the wizard left.
The scientist stood there, letting out a shaky breath.
In the hallway, the dogs stood up as their master approached. He pulled his hands from his cloak and fabricated two leashes from his fingers.
“Come here.” Aggressively, he grabbed the LatranWolf by the scruff and yanked it towards him, throwing the leash over its neck and tightening it almost to a choke. He did the same with the Canis Imitator, tightening the leash around its neck.
Then suddenly, he harshly slapped both of them on the head, causing the dogs to howl and cower to the floor.
“Listen to me. I don’t care what happened, or how you may feel, but this is a ridiculous reason to be taken to the detention center.”
Demon beasts are not unaware of words and sentences and what they mean. They understand verbal instructions and phrases to an extent for the sake of convenient communication if they’re given an order by a superior. They’re not entirely unsophisticated or simpleminded. It helps in matters such as these because sometimes words work better than abuse.
He continued, towering over the beasts. “Now, I’m taking you back to the Affirmation Chamber, and you will not attack each other, you will not threaten each other, you will not attack other demons that cross your path, and if I so much as hear one growl I will rip your esophagus out and boil you. Do you understand?”
The beasts nodded their heads once, quietly whining.
“Good.”
With his death threats making an imprint, he yanked the leashes and pulled them down the hallway. “Move. Now!” The dogs were quick to move their feet, scurrying along frightfully.
With one dog on either side he pulled them down the hallway and absently listened to the clicks of their claws against the ground.
More often than not, this situation is a reason for most of the demon beasts sent to the detention center. It was a place for behavioral correction to keep them in control, and anger is a huge factor for disobedience. Monsters naturally thrive off anger, but when it's targeted toward another monster it causes casualties and forces the lab to make more.
Which then requires more energy use and more supplies and more magic…
Nightmare stopped. They were at a junction and it was here that he remembered he needed more oxytocin. There was a chemical supply room on the way to the Affirmation Chamber, but he would have to detour through a civilian travel terminal to get there. Oh well.
Soon, sooner than anticipated considering how ginormous the base was, they arrived in an octagonal lobby with entrances that lead to different corners of the base. It was normally populated for traveling, and the many aliens and Nightmare-made workers hurrying about very quickly caught sight of the wizard and made it a priority to either move out the way, get as far away as quickly as possible, or pretend they didn’t see him.
The lobby also wasn’t an area for demon beast transportation. War monsters don’t mix well with regular working-class, non-fighting citizens, but if there was anything Nightmare liked, it was attention. He savored when people looked at him and felt the instant rush of fear travel in the air. He was getting a lot of it right now and it tasted so good.
He approached an entryway, the citizens practically spinning the other way around, and Nightmare stopped in front of an elevator. The button was already pressed by an alien who hastily pretended like he had somewhere else to be, and Nightmare waited. The dogs stood next to him looking at the doors. The numbers up top glowed and decreased as it got closer to them. Every time it dinged the hounds’ ears perked and they looked up.
Finally it arrived.
“-I know, then there’s rumor he’s having an affair-,” the woman inside gasped and looked up horrified as she and the occupants froze. Without waiting, Nightmare floated in, pulling the beasts with him. The woman and the other aliens quickly exited, even if some weren’t meant to get off this floor, pressing against the wall as they passed to not get too close to the very dangerous, highly deadly demon beast just casually walking in the elevator.
The doors closed and they went down. The demon dogs stood uneasily next to him, curiously looking around. The LatranWolf caught its eye with the Imitator and let out a small growl.
Nightmare yanked its leash, “Quiet.”
The LatranWolf lowered its head, quieting.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened.
“Let’s go.”
Pulling them out, they moved down a hallway until he reached a divot in the wall. An alien sat at a desk next to a decently large door, mindlessly glued to the screen.
Nightmare looked between the alien and the doors, waiting. Nothing happened.
“Open the door,” he called out, just slightly harsh. A jump and yelp came from the alien, paling when he made eye contact, obviously not realizing the wizard had been there.
“Sorry, sir. Right away.” He stammered in his seat, eyes darting across the computer. His mouse clicked and slid across the desk. Looking over the desk, he eyed the dogs, more notably at the Imitator, and quickly ducked back down when his boss looked at him.
“Any day now.” Why couldn’t these people just do their jobs? What is going on today?
“Yes, sir. Apologies.” He clicked once more and the door slid open smoothly.
He pushed forward leaving the alien behind to watch them leave. It questioned if a janitor should be called in to torch the floor.
Beyond the door was a maintenance and storage area. Pipes, radiators, birthing tanks and chemicals lined the walls and filled the space. There was more lab equipment and machinery further down. Nightmare stopped next to a boiler and sat the dogs right next to each other and dropped the leashes. Then he turned around and floated to a shelf with bottles and bottles of chemicals.
The LatranWolf started hissing.
“Ah!”
Nightmare turned his head back to snap at the beast, shutting it up. He then turned back to the shelf.
There was no oxytocin here. There were more supplies further into the room so he turned to look at the beasts, pointing a finger. “Don’t move.”
Slowly, he turned away, and floated further in the storage area, disappearing behind a large radiator. His absence created uncertainty. Now the dogs were alone with each other. The Wolf tried looking at the Imitator from the side, and it caught its eye. There was a silent resentment between the two, but they did not move. They waited, a little impatiently, for their master to return.
Maneuvering between spare birthing tanks, water pipes and furnaces, Nightmare scoured the shelves, looking through dozens of bottles for oxytocin. This storage room was directly underneath one of the many monster making stations and all the supplies needed to power and operate it were found here.
Oxytocin is a chemical that can only be produced in the brain and body of living creatures. Many, many experiments were conducted to learn how to mass produce the chemical, and it was put in plastic bottles and stored on a shelf in a dark room until it was needed to be used. Most of the time the monsters produce the chemical naturally, but when you meddle with science and try to create life in a tube, organic bodily chemicals are needed to give that life. Oxytocin being one of them.
Where was it?
He didn’t hear the dogs making a ruckus, and could feel their impatience as they sat in the other room, waiting for him.
If he was being honest, he didn't want to be doing this right now. It was annoying retraining his animals and hated when they didn’t listen to him. He’s mastered the creation of life but the thought of free will manages to find itself in some of the monsters' heads, and the only true way to keep them obedient is fear and harsh discipline. He’s spent quite the amount of time abusing some demons to put them in their place. Most times it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In the times he was unsuccessful, death was the only option he could tolerate.
It was no use keeping something around if it wasn’t going to work and he could spend less time making a new one and figure out where the disobedience is originating and destroy it.
Then he would rewrite his spell, reform the biology, throw it in a tube and wait a few days. Animals to Nightmare are expendable, but allowed learning and discovery.
After digging through the shelves, his irritation seemed to summon a bottle and he saw a gallon of oxytocin hiding in the corner on a lower shelf. Grabbing it, he stuffed it in his cape and left.
Exhaling through his nose, he went back to find his hell hounds sat in the same exact spot, having not moved an inch. He stared at them a moment, then a toothy smile plastered across his face. He went up to the dogs, leaned down, and lightly pet their fur with a skeletal hand.
“Good dogs.”
They listened to their master and didn’t move from their spot. Their heartbeats quickened and tails wagged, rewarded with praise.
Something in Nightmare sneered, but he didn’t press on it. He knew what praise did to his animals, and gave it only when it was earned.
“Follow me.”
Grabbing the leashes, the wizard guided them out of the storage room and kept up a leisurely pace. They were back in the elevator when he forced the demons to look at him.
“Do you remember what I said?” He spoke slowly in a hushed voice to give the dogs a moment to understand. They nodded.
“Good. Keep it up.”
To get to the Affirmation Chamber they needed to go back to the octagonal lobby and take a different route. Again, people stopped in their tracks and stayed as far as possible, walking around the cosmic wizard and his pets by hugging the walls.
Nightmare eyed a different entrance and pulled the demons along as they went through. It was like a school of fish averting a shark as the wizard seemed to have his own forcefield as every employee, alien, and international traveler avoided him. One unfortunate soul genuinely didn’t know Nightmare and the demons were nearing and had the pleasure of walking straight into the LatranWolf as he turned, dropping all his files and computer.
He screeched and backed against the wall once he noticed what it was, and the demon dog stopped to growl at him.
Nightmare halted, turning back to observe. The Wolf got close to the man’s face and gave him a threatening bark.
Swiftly, Nightmare slapped its back side. The Wolf cried, cowering against the ground as it looked up to its master helplessly.
“What did I say?! Do you want to be thrown in a boiler?!” His roars echoed down the hall and everyone froze. The dog whimpered against the ground; no.
“Get up! Listen to me when I tell you to do something!” He yanked the leash and dragged the demons away.
The worker shuddered as he watched the wizard float away, shakily picking up his items.
“Idiot. When I tell you to do something, you do it.” They stopped in an area with special entry elevators meant for demon making employees, which also led to the deep center of the base where the majority of monster activity took place, including the Affirmation Chamber. Nightmare pressed one of the buttons and grabbed the LatranWolf by the jaw, forcing it to look at him. “You do not attack anyone. Anyone, unless you’re told to. Every living thing on this planet is my creation and I don’t need it killed because you felt your ego get bruised by this mutt over here!”
Nightmare pressed a finger against the Imitator, giving it a push.
“Whatever you feel toward this thing, bury it. Whatever it did, whatever it might’ve done, won’t matter because you probably won’t be here for very long. Your life is trivial and momentary and your purpose is to serve me until you die. Do you understand?”
The Wolf gave a whimper, a sign of understanding. Nightmare let go of its jaw.
“And you,” he turned to the Imitator, who froze under the sudden attention, “don’t attack other demons, don’t touch other demons, don’t attack my employees, and keep that maw shut until you’ve found a suitable star warrior to digest.”
The Imitator lowered its head, and they both sat there in shame. They didn’t move as the guilt ate their insides. Nightmare stood straight, huffing.
“I am so sick of dealing with this shit.”
Stars, he hates everything and everyone.
A minute went by and the elevator was still descending. The scolding seemed to work as the two dogs eyed each other, giving a mental agreement to get along. They didn’t understand the complexities of their purposes, but if their actions were enough to make their master this mad, they’ll tolerate each other and let go of any reluctant emotions for the sake of their breath.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Nightmare stared inside for a moment, not moving. It was long enough for the doors to start closing, but he stopped them before they could, his hand following as it slid back into the wall.
He sighed deeply, stretching his neck.
“Have you learned?” The dogs looked up for a moment then quickly looked down; yes.
“Good. Now, we are going to walk back to the Affirmation Chamber, and you will be processed, and you will not fight until you’ve stepped onto a battlefield against an army of star warriors. Understand?”
A nod.
He pushed them into the elevator and pressed the button that would lead back to where this mess started.
Despite his fascination with animals, they can make him so mad. He loves control, he wants control, and control feels best when it's over something living, because he can feed off it and torture it and conform it to obey him.
When animals obey him he feels a rush of power because they have developed codependency for him and run back to him no matter how cruel or abusive he is. These dogs are the same; he can yell at them and hit them and threaten them with death but they still adore him and feel happy when he gives them praise and pets for listening and being good.
His animals love him, for how much a demon is able to love.
He scrunched his nose as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
The affirmation facility was very crowded and loud, demons of different types and elements were scattered about in single file lines, pushing through a multi opened gateway to enter the facility, roaring, whining, and making whatever noise they made to express their lifeform. There were many, many guards throughout the area, keeping the lines and demons in order, shouting and yelling.
Nightmare entered from a side doorway against the far wall, and immediately upon entering every demons’ senses perked, feeling his dark aura and looked around rapidly. It wasn’t long until the wizard was spotted, and every demon and guard froze in place. It got very quiet very fast.
Nightmare floated further in, and the demons cowered to the ground, lowering their heads. The guards stood straight at attention, keeping their heads forward and averted eye contact. Everything in Nightmare’s path parted like he had a shield around him, conforming to shape a circle, flowing fluidly around his form, along with the two dogs. Once he passed the guards were quick to get the demons back in their correct line.
Soon he was at the line for canines. He stopped where it met the opening to the chamber and squeezed the dogs in once there was space, dispelling the leashes. The guards controlling the line accepted them without word, halting the dogs behind them so they could get in.
“These two needed behavioral correction.” That was all Nightmare said before turning and floating away.
“Yes, sir.” One of the guards nodded.
The two demon dogs looked back at their master as he left, the LatranWolf letting out a small huff, feeling a pinch of yearn for its master. The Imitator behind it whined quietly.
“Move forward.” The guard motioned for the demons to move. The LatranWolf gave a quick look back at the Imitator before stepping forward into the chamber.
The moment he left, he felt the urge to go back. He didn’t understand why. It didn’t feel like he needed to, but something deep inside made him want to. He hasn’t observed the scanners in a while so he thought he might as well do that and see if it satisfied the sudden urge.
There was a balcony above the scanners and he watched demon after demon step through and be sent away for extraction of their assignments. Everyone quickly realized Nightmare was watching and acted on their best behavior.
He could feel the life of their souls and the vibrations in their feet when they touched the ground. He could feel the millions of other souls moving around the base and the hum of every machine, every train, and every ship as it functioned and traveled. He could sense the heat coming out of the computers and the cold water of the birthing tanks. He could feel the magic in his fingers itching to be used for something and the horns on his crown had a faint tug. He could feel the oxytocin is his cape, waiting to make a brain filled with trust and social connection.
He could feel the steps of the LatranWolf and Canis Imitator as they neared the scanner.
“Good afternoon, sir.” Customer Service was tiny compared to the wizard, appearing out of the blue with a smile and tablet snug in his elbow. “How has your day been so far?”
Nightmare didn’t turn to him and exhaled quietly, continuing to watch his demons. He didn’t feel like doing small talk.
“Fine.” He lied.
“Well, I just thought you should know we’ve reached a new record for our demon beast production and already have half of our current body assigned for planetary invasion.”
“...mm.”
“We’ve also got our latest planets embedded with monster transporters for expedient access and eighty-seven are currently in construction.”
The LatranWolf and Canis Imitator arrived at the scanner.
“I heard you were assisting two canines in the detention center. How did that turn out?”
The Wolf and Imitator walked through the scanner.
“Fine.”
Some guards to the side started yelling.
CS pressed his tablet. “One of the officers seemed pretty disturbed. Claiming an Imitator tried to swallow him.”
The wizard was growing annoyed. All this little man did was talk, talk, talk. “It's his own fault. He shouldn’t have gotten too close.”
More guards started yelling and a red demon down below began to glow bright and enlarge.
CS kept tapping away. “Why would an Imitator be put there in the first place?”
Nightmare snarled, scowling down at the salesman, “I don’t know. Why don’t you go there and ask since you’re so concerned-”
Nightmare was able to catch at the last second as his LatranWolf and Canis Imitator were blown up as a bomb demon exploded down below in the middle of the crowd of monsters walking through their scanners. The wizard stood there, frozen, as chaos and terror took over. Monsters were shrieking, guards were yelling, and wounded demons howled and cried in pain.
CS ducked down and covered his head with his tablet. He looked over the balcony, “Holy…”
Nightmare didn’t move. He stayed there, face blank, and watched his animals cry for help.
CS sighed and looked down at his tablet, “I’ll call for clean up.”
Nightmare looked to the spot the Wolf and Imitator had stood and there was nothing but ash and fire. He felt a pinch in his throat. He couldn’t feel their souls anymore. He couldn’t feel their vibrations.
He floated down into the smoke and fire, blocking out the voices and howling. He spotted a Wolfwrath with a missing back leg limping away from the mess, blood pooling out at a very fast rate.
The wizard moved to it, and, sensing its master's presence, it whined, shakily cowering to the floor. Nightmare reached down and it cried.
“Hush,” he soothed, quietly. He hovered his hands around the Wolfwrath, barely brushing the fur, and casted a spell. The wolf’s leg slowly grew back, and its injuries disappeared. In a moment's time, the Wolfwrath was healed and it shook its body like nothing happened. It looked up at its master, expecting an order, but Nightmare only stared back.
He saw another injured demon limping some distance away and floated towards it, his hands sparkling with magic.
Trust and social connection weren’t something demon beasts thrive on, which could be the reason so many are admitted for aggressive behavior toward other demons.
Maybe he should use more oxytocin.