1-3 and the others of the -3 series were different than those that came before, he was very much aware of that. He was also aware that the lab was aware of that fact as well. The doctor with the dark-rimmed eyes barely left him alone it seemed, constantly in and out of his cell to run various tests or having him pulled out and put into simulations. 1-3 had shown a natural command of a wide variety of magic, and that fascinated the doctor, much to 1-3’s masked annoyance. While he wanted to burn the vampire into ash, he knew there were bigger targets. He’d overheard the doctor yelling at the guards and interns to prepare for a visit from the doctor’s boss, and seen the doctor rushing about making certain everyone and everything was in its designated place. 1-3 knew there was someone above the doctor’s boss, but he also knew his visits were extremely rare, so he opted for the strongest target he could get to in the shortest amount of time. They wanted to see how strong he was? He planned to show them, and then tear his way out of the lab.
He didn’t have to wait overly long before he heard the doctor’s regular footfalls accompanied by the click of hooves against the cold floor.
“Hopefully this one is as skilled as you’ve promised…” 1-3 heard the unfamiliar voice in the hall beyond as the footsteps came to a stop.
“Oh, it is. I assure you, Azazel, you won’t be disappointed with this one’s performance.” Wagner’s voice sounded tight, more on edge than 1-3 had ever heard it. Clearly, the doctor had a lot to prove. The cell door was opened a moment later and the demon stepped in ahead of Wagner, looking at the shapeshifter who was kneeling on the floor with a skeptical raise of his brow.
“You had best pray I’m not disappointed.” Azazel scoffed. 1-3 stared back at Azazel, keeping his expression carefully blank, just studying the demon for the moment.
“Bring 1-3 to simulation room two,” Wagner ordered the guards. 1-3 got to his feet, falling into step with the guards as though he was familiar with the routine, the doctor and demon moving to follow.
“You like this one quite a bit, don’t you?” Azazel asked, reaching out and tracing his fingertips through the gray feathers that lay against Alto’s scalp.
“Yes, sir…” Wagner answered reluctantly.
“If it’s as good as you say, perhaps I’ll take 1-3 with me when I return to my lab. Before you can screw it up.” 1-3 could hear the smirk in the demon’s voice without shifting extra eyes to see him. The demon’s claws traced down the back of his neck and down his spine between his wings before falling away, evoking a shiver from the shifter.
“He is yours to take if you so choose,” Wagner replied in a resigned tone.
1-3 headed into simulation room two without prodding from the guards. He waited until the room’s program kicked on, a simulated cityscape forming around him that indicated that Wagner and Azazel had reached the adjoining observation room. He couldn’t see it, but he’d been in the rooms enough to have an idea where the observation room was positioned in relation to each.
“1-3, find and eliminate the targets.” Wagner’s voice came over the intercom. 1-3 spread his wings, flying up to the tallest building and landing on the roof. He held his hands up, channeling magic, causing water to pour in vast quantities from the top of the simulation’s skybox, flooding the city below. It didn’t take long as the buildings filled before the humanoid targets began to flounder their way out to swim to safety. When they all were exposed 1-3 brought his hands down, summoning lightning to electrocute the targets floundering in the water, leaving floating corpses in the wake of the attack. For a moment there was silence, and then the rushing of water as drains opened up in the floor of the simulation, the water draining away as quickly as it had been summoned. The bodies despawned after a moment, leaving only the glistening streets.
1-3 furrowed his brow as there was a pause where no new targets were being spawned in, wheeling in the air as he scanned the ground below. Then a moment later the streets and every rooftop were populated with soldiers and war machines that opened fire, aiming a barrage of rocket and tank fire at the airborne shapeshifter. 1-3 gave a hiss, tucking his wings in sharply and plummeting toward the ground to avoid the concussive blast as the ammunition collided where he’d been. He could hear more shots whistle past him as he rocketed toward the largest cluster on the ground, aiming himself for a tank amid a group of soldiers.
As his form was about to collide he shifted rapidly into a mass of metallic vines that ensnared the tank and the soldiers around it, crushing them as the vines spread through the streets and began to wrap around the skyscrapers. The buildings gave way, sending those on the rooftops plummetting downward and crushing those below in a mass of rubble and writhing metallic vines.
When he couldn’t feel any more struggling bodies 1-3 shifted back to his humanoid form, looking straight for the observation room as he reached up to his neck, shattering the enchantments on the collar and ripping it off before taking flight once more as the buildings and corpses despawned. He didn’t wait for a third wave, flying as fast as his wings could carry him toward the spot in the sky his true target was hidden behind. He opened his mouth wide, spell circles wreathing his head like crimson haloes, firing a beam of magic ahead of him that shattered the reinforced glass and blasted through to the room beyond, vibrating everything in its path to the point of exploding. 1-3 shot through the opening, skidding to a stop in the wrecked room and taking a quick appraisal. Wagner had dodged the beam but wasn’t without damage, clutching his bleeding ears in a corner of the room, scrambling to try to get to his feet. He set eyes on Azazel who was still on his feet on the other side of the room, watching him with a wide grin.
1-3 launched himself at the demon, shifting forms into something that was a mix of feline and octopus, each tendril that lined his back terminating in a harpoon-size serrated barb. The demon opened his arms wide, laughing as 1-3’s momentum slammed him to the floor. The shifter stabbed with the barbs into Azazel’s side and torso repeatedly, tearing one of the demon’s arms off with his powerful jaws yet he kept laughing, offering no resistance.
“You think this is humorous? I’m going to kill you!” he snarled in Azazel’s face, bewildered by the lack of resistance. The tip of his tail shifted into another mouth that began to tear chunks off the demon’s legs. Azazel smirked, leaning his head up slowly toward 1-3’s muzzle.
“Good.” Azazel gave a ragged laugh, more droplets of blood spattering 1-3’s nose. 1-3 gave a roar and was about to close his jaws around Azazel’s skull when he felt a series of thuds along his side. He whipped his head around to see Wagner standing behind a cluster of guards, and then at his own side, seeing the tranquilizer darts that’d found their mark. He knew there were too many in him to make it out now, his head swimming as he whipped it back toward Azazel, intending to finish what he started if he couldn’t escape. Before he could close his jaws another shot went off and everything went dark as he collapsed atop the demon, dimly hearing Wagner screaming orders as consciousness left him.
1-3 groaned softly as he came to, his arms and wings ached and he dimly realized his wings were bound and his arms suspended above his head. He stared up at the cuffs around his wrists, trying to channel his magic to melt them but the markings on the cuffs blazed bright, absorbing and nullifying the magic.
“You’ll find you can’t break those like you did your collar.” Azazel’s voice drew 1-3’s attention away from the cuffs. The demon glared at him, moving over to him with a bone saw in hand. “Such a fucking waste… you would’ve been perfect. Let’s get this over with.” the demon spat, moving to circle around behind the shifter.
“Wh.. why’re… you still… alive?” 1-3 slurred through the grogginess of the drugs being pumped into him.
“Because you didn’t do a good enough job making sure there wasn’t enough of me for all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to put me back together again, so perhaps you should be asking yourself that.” Azazel spat, grabbing the shifter’s bound wings roughly, and digging his sharp nails in.
“Are you… disappointed?” 1-3 furrowed his brow, grimacing as he felt the demon bring the saw against where his wings met his back.
“Clearly.” Azazel snarled, beginning to saw through the shifter’s wings, 1-3’s screams echoing in the procedure room. When the saw cleared the bone Azazel dropped the wings, setting the saw aside and holding a container beneath the stumps, collecting the blood that gushed from the severed appendages as 1-3 tried to suppress his whimpers, not wanting to give the demon the satisfaction.
“At least you’ll retain some usefulness.” Azazel hissed. Once the container was full to the brim with blood the demon dipped a nail into it, beginning to draw out infernal symbols upon the shifter’s nude form.
“I’ll kill… you for real… next time…” 1-3 murmured, following Azazel with his gaze as the demon worked.
“Mhm.” Azazel rolled his eyes dismissively, finishing off the last few symbols before stepping back and moving to a briefcase, pulling out a book and bringing it over. 1-3 thought the demon was going to use some sort of magic to kill him off in a way he couldn’t regenerate, but as Azazel activated the spell with a trigger word the sensation he was met with came unexpected, like a sharp tug. The pull felt so intense, and then with a pop that he felt in a way he couldn’t describe his soul came untethered. In the next moment, he realized with dawning horror he was the book in Azazel’s hands. He could see the world now in a dizzying sort of three-hundred sixty-degree perception, could see his soulless body where it hung from the cuffs.
“I’d calculate your actions better in the future, this new body isn’t so indestructible as your last one.” Azazel hissed, tossing the book into the briefcase and slamming the lid shut.