Mark stood with his back against the wall, away from anything that could easily come into his reach. He was untied, but it wasn’t as if it mattered. Where would he run? The metal door at the entrance of the cave wouldn’t open for him, and the ferals in the forest would just eat him.

That did not make the situation inside the cave any better.

He was trapped with the two monsters here until whatever business that held them here came to an end. Fortunately, their focus was not on him this time around. They were holding the black crystal sphere that had caught Noah in that horrifying light-show during the time of their meeting. Mark had thought the device had killed the guy, but apparently it wasn’t the case.

Because they were going to open it.

“Get ready,” Brye commented with a growl, looking serious for a change. “Last thing we need is a fuck up here.”

“Ready when you are.”

The fox leaned forward, naked body becoming still, her two black vulpine tails rising into the air. Her whole body vibrated with a dark energy, tension creeping through her as her hands glowed a deep purple. She looked just about ready to explode in a shower of black sparks.

“Go,” Shery spoke right as she smashed the black sphere, her grip making the glass ball shatter into a million little pieces.

Several things happened at once.

First, a blast of purple light surged out from the point Shery had been holding onto the device, shooting straight forward and coalescing into something that was becoming more solid by the second. It was something in a humanoid form, with hands and legs.

Second, said form didn’t even wait to fully solidify before it was hauling itself towards the metal door at full speed. It was a short figure, but fast. Incredibly so.

Third, Brye vanished into thin air.

No matter how quick the glowing figure moved, Brye had been faster. She’d popped into existence squarely between the door and the glowing figure, jumping to tackle the still-glowing creature to the ground while her body glowed with the dark power. Her claws came down upon the being with ruthless abandon, one claw, then two, then four, then five. In quick succession she shredded skin, blood splattering in every direction. “Shery!” The fox called out, not stopping her assault as the one under her was somehow still able to wriggle and desperately fight back, clawing as well.

Cuts appeared all over Brye’s front, her chest, her face, shallow and light compared to what she was doing to her opponent.

“Mousegirl,” Shery proclaimed, moving forward to assist.

All the seriousness in Brye’s face melted into a sadistic grin. “HA!” She balled her hands into fists, striking the creature’s face. “Did you hear that, Noah? You’re a fucking rat now!” There was a snarl hidden in those eyes, anger and resentment that burned bright, her fists now moving to pummel away at the body that was becoming increasingly unable to fight back.

Mark could almost feel her sense of vindication; it frothed and bubbled like a soda bottle that was ready to pop. The fox’s tails were wagging madly, her fists bloodied and her grin unperturbed.

Brye didn’t slow down, and five punches became ten, then twenty. The creature underneath her had stopped moving entirely, each blow driving it into a greater state of stillness. “Bitch. That’s what you are now, Noah! Enjoy it, you fucktard!” More and more, she laughed, punching and punching and punching some more, blood splattering on her face and chest, wild eyes and an unhinged grin playing on her lips. “This is for every little…”

Mark shuddered, a jolt of fear ran through him.

She was a monster.

Brye’s words stopped suddenly, both hands raised in the air and ready to come down once again, blood dripping down to her elbows. Her head snapped towards Mark, gold eyes meeting his own. Her brows furrowed ever so slightly, the grin loosening, confusion and surprise briefly crossed her face, the manic smirk gone instantly. The scowl deepened, she turned to look down at the state her victim had been in.

The creature had a faint resemblance to a female form, but it was hard to tell considering how much of it had been bruised or clawed. To say nothing of how much closer to a mulch she appeared to be. Brye snapped out of the fugue, her tone clear and calm. “Shery? Give me some of the good juice.”

“Aye, aye.” The gray-skinned girl tossed a glass bottle at Brye. “But don’t go wasting too much of it, I’m going to want my turn.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The fox rolled her eyes, pulling the cork out and turning the bottle upside down, pouring the purple liquid down on the creature she’d been assaulting a moment ago.

The liquid splashed all over Noah, the reaction was instantaneous- a gurgled squeaky cry followed by a deep gasp, then a shriek. Mark could not believe his eyes, the that had been drenched in the fluid seemed to move on its own, it sprung to action. The creature’s face was all too suddenly pulling itself back together, the blood washed away by the juice, it was becoming clearer it was a woman as her face became more and more recognizable, the swelling receding and bone snapping back into place. It took a little over three minutes of the juice being poured onto her, but it was becoming clear the wounds were quickly vanishing.

The monster was… of a breed Mark had seen before in the forest- short, almost barely a meter and a half. Large round ears were atop her head, gray hair, and she was a lithe figure that lacked in curves compared to the fox that was currently straddling her. A mouse woman. Her skin was mostly a chalk pale color, but a great deal of it was tainted in the same purple the juice had. As if the juice had made up for the missing flesh.

“Fucking fuck, Brye, you bitch,” the short woman spoke with a shrill tone, her voice practically a squeak. “When I get out of this shit, I’m going to tear your throat out.” She was panting, pinned to the ground and heaving hard, grimacing as the juice kept doing its job.

“No luck for you, rat, you’re a maiden now, welcome to the cock-sucker team.” Brye splashed some of the purple juice on her own body, the scratches that had been left on her body closing, leaving thin purple lines behind.

Corking the bottle and tossing it over to Shery, Brye wasted no time to move off the mouse and forcefully twist her around, face down against the ground. “Wire?”

“Right here.” Shery was prepared, offering the metal coil.

The fox moved with purpose, taking mere seconds to hog-tie the mouse and leaving the naked girl entirely unable to move, hands and ankles almost joining together behind her back. The metal wire dug into the monster’s flesh and kept her from being able to struggle too much against her bindings without risking cutting herself in the process.

“There we go.” Brye threw a kick at the smaller woman’s gut, the mouse coughing and groaning, the smaller woman’s eyes were vivid. “Now, Noah, we have some questions.”

“Up yours, if I talk you’ll just kill me.”

“Good guess, but I’m not really that interested. We do have someone who might be more invested in choosing your fate though.” Brye pointed over her shoulder at Mark.

The mousy woman took a moment, looking over her shoulder towards Mark. The glare had a hint of confusion lingering there before the anger came back in full. “Fuck him too.” Gray eyes locked on him fully, a snarl on the diminutive woman’s lips. “What kind of freak is immune to the Eve’s Hex?”

Mark frowned in return, arms crossed and keeping close attention on the exchange, trying to figure out where this was headed.

“And that’s exactly why we’re taking him to the Boss after this mission,” Shery commented coldly, moving to crouch next to the struggling mouse. “You’ve made us do this kind of thing before, so you know how this will go down.”

“You’ll break my fingers first, then my arms and legs, then heal and repeat.” Noah growled. “And it’s not going to work. I’ll go feral before I say anything.” A smirk showed up on her lips.

“I don’t really see the fucking sense for theatrics.” Brye stomped Noah’s head against the dirt. “We don’t really want to kill you, it would cut our fun short, but we are gals of our word. We promised the cute human over there your head.”

“You hexed me, what else do you fucking want!?”

“Did you forget the punishment for harming a human woman is death in this here kingdom?” The fox laughed, turning towards Mark. “What do you say? He gave the order to kill your woman, sorry, ‘She’.”

Mark scowled at the fox, suppressing the urge to jump when she vanished and reappeared in front of him, her face mere inches away. A broad smirk on her lips as she grasped his hands on her own.

“Here.”

The human looked down at the item that had been put on his hands.

It was a disk, a piece of metal about as thick as his thumb and as wide as his palm. Dull gray, the object weighed more than it looked, enough he almost dropped it. On both sides of the disk there was a single inscription, ‘5’. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a fiver.” Brye smirked. “Press it against a maiden’s forehead, and they go… poof. You kill them.”

“I… what?”

“It’s a powerful curse, it erases all memories and personality.” Shery eyed the human warily, but more specifically, the item he was holding onto.

“Boss must have found a stash, kinda surprised there aren’t alarms going off all over the place.” The fox chuckled. “Anyway, you interested? All you have to do is press it against this one’s head, and Noah will be no more.”

“You bitch,” the mouse sneered.

“You were never going to tell, anyway.” Brye shrugged, grasping the mouse’s hair and dragging her towards Mark. The mouse tried to fight, but with arms and legs tightly bound with wire, it was fruitless. “Go on, beg.”

“The thousand armed God flay you one strip at a time.”

“You never struck me as a believer, nice tidbit to find out about near the end.” With barely an effort, Brye yanked the mouse up, leaving Noah kneeling, looking up at Mark with wide gray eyes. The fox caressed the smaller woman’s cheek, avoiding the attempted bite that was thrown towards her fingers. “Now.” Brye looked at the human. “Make your choice.”

Mark’s grip tightened on the disk, eyes flickering between Brye’s forehead and the mouse’s. The mouse that had been a human only a couple days ago. That had ordered to get him shoved to the ground and to have Veronica killed.

Noah glared. “If you five me, you’ll be fucked, I’m the only one that can help you. These two will ditch you the moment they find something better,” she spoke with a squeaky voice, using slow and deliberate words.

Mark’s eyes flickered to Brye.

Would he be able to press the thing against the fox’s head before she stopped him? Would the device work quickly enough she couldn’t just yank it off? And if he succeeded, what then? The gray skinned one would still be there, and the ferals outside would not be gone.

“And this squeaky toy was the one who wanted to turn you into this.” Brye gave a condescending pat to Noah’s cheek. “You wouldn’t be the first he’s done this to. He’d have his fun with you, get all the information he would’ve wanted, and then pressed the fiver into your forehead without a second thought,” the fox whispered with a wide smirk. The words made Noah scowl. “Go on, fuck her up, she knows she deserves a whole lot more than just this. Do it, little boy, become a man.”

Those words made something inside Mark snap. “Fuck you and your games.” He threw the disk away, the piece of metal bouncing against the far wall. “Play your games with someone else.”

For the briefest of moments, there was a flash of disappointment in the fox’s expression. It didn’t last long. “You heard him Shery, suggestions?”

“I haven’t gone a round yet.” The gray-skinned woman approached with a scowl.

“We’ll five her when we get bored, then.” Brye laughed, tossing the mouse at her companion and turning to focus on Mark entirely. There was a dangerous glint of those golden eyes as she smirked.