Transformation (Scoria)

Styx knew what he was saying was true. Still, he was not going to run away. He would rather die than surrender to this beast, it would be the perfect death for him. He may never have another chance to fight such a powerful warrior, and if he ever did run away... he would spend the rest of his life hunting him down again. No, he wasn't going to give up.

If he could guess correctly, he only had several minutes before the stimulants were no longer effective. He was surprised the reptile figured out what he'd done so easily, which left him a little ashamed. He didn't like resorting to the stims because they weren't his true power, but against something so strong he simply had to use them. Although they did serve as his medicine, permanently increasing his strength by a very small amount, they could still harm him when overused. With the apparent possibility this monster had an ace up his sleeve, that was a risk Styx was willing to take.

“Listen, Tuariv, I've got respect for you.” His hand fished around in his satchel as he spoke. “You're stronger than any other opponent I've faced, and that's a big deal. I've fought and killed quite a bit of people, all of them far weaker than I. There was one who I thought could compare to my strength, but in the end he turned around and quit.” He paused, a smirk falling across his face. “Not you. You're driven just as I am to finish this fight, I know it. I can see it in your eyes. I can tell you're rather benign at heart, but there's still that bloodlust you can't quite quench. I saw it in you earlier. Every time I hit you, you grew stronger. Your eyes showed just as much hunger as mine probably do right now...”

Styx's hand flew out of its satchel, a fist filled with three syringes, each one uncapped and prepped for injection. His eyes were bugged out, crazed, mindless. He'd lost all sense of logic. All he wanted was blood. “... But now I'm f****** starving!”

When he saw what Styx had in hand, Tuariv lurched forward, sprinting toward his opponent to stop him. Styx's hand swooped down into his leg, all three syringes finding their mark. The lizard reached him one second too late. His giant, scaled fist connected with Styx's stomach, sending the vampire high into the air, crashing clean through a redwood tree, then finally skidding to a halt in the mud.

Splinters and leaves flew in every direction. One hungry vampire was standing in the debris, apparently unhindered by the heavy blow he just received. Pebbles and dirt fell around him, the initial blast from the wrecking ball was still settling. He put one foot in front of the other, then began a full sprint before the broken redwood had a chance to hit the ground.

He hit the lizard like a bullet, his feet propelling both of them high off the ground. He'd gripped Tuariv by the shoulders with each hand, and now gripped him by the neck with his teeth. The two monsters broke through the tree tops just for a moment, before plummeting back down into the woods, Styx still trying to puncture the reptile's scales with his teeth once again. He yanked his mouth free and kicked outward from his enemy, taking a mouth-full of scales with him, but no punctured skin. They both hit the ground at the same time, clouds of dust knocked into the air.

Both of them growl, Styx trying to cut deeply into Tuariv's skin in a vain attempt for blood. But the lizard refused him time and time again. By now he had caught on, Styx was hungry and he really needed to feed, but Tuariv only pulled his foot back and kicked out into Styx's chest, sending him flying outwards into a very small cliff wall.

Tuariv moved to stand up quick, spinning around into a battle stance where he then punched right through the base of a tree, palming the end as it fell and sent it flying straight at Styx who promptly sidestepped out of its way so that his head wasn't a pancake. He bore his teeth and charged again, running right towards Tuariv, but as he approached more objects flew past his head, legs, and whole body as rocks, logs and boulders the size of an elephant.

Styx dodged them all, except for the boulder, he smashed right through that one to show off his own strength, skidding to a halt after breaking it into a thousand pieces with his shoulder. He smiled and dusted himself off but only frowned when he saw his opponent without a change in expression, tossing a large rock up and down in his heavy claw. He full well knew that the rock posed no threat, and so did Tuariv, but it went straight into Styx face anyway. The vampire only took it, his head going backwards for a few moments before he just stared back at Tuariv who's eyes were narrow and yet completely unimpressed somehow.

This only boiled Styx on the inside as he blasted again into the lizard, jumping into a curl a few feet before contact like a wrecking ball into Tuariv's chest, sending them both flying again. Again they were sprawled over each other, every attack now destroying a large area of the forest as one threw a blow to the other.

A familiar feeling came over Styx neck, this time thicker than before and taking up a lot more of his body. Tuariv snaked his tail around Styx's neck, pinning both arms to his sides with two talons scraped all over.

"I'm giving you two minutes," Tuariv looked Styx dead in the eye with something almost like a smile, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth as he scraped a claw over his own bare chest, hissing in excitement. Blood trickled slightly out of the long, thin scrape and the smell immediately assaulted Styx's smell. It sent him into a frenzy of jerking and growling as he bit at empty air to try and get a taste, it was sweet smelling and like a combination of the purest blood and thickest adrenaline combined. The lizard stared each crystal of an eye into Styx's, "You think pumping yourself with a couple tiny needles will help you? My body is like an adrenaline factory!............ Two minutes and then you shall die."

And just like that, Tuariv flung Styx as far as he possibly could into the tree tops, far into the air.

That smell. That exquisite aroma! It was the only thing rummaging through Styx's mind as he broke through the tree tops, soaring through the air like a missile. The scent, that powerful fragrance. It imprinted itself on his mind. He could taste it, one of the most tantalizing morsels he could dig his fangs into was just out of reach. Before the day was through, no matter which combatant stood victorious, he would drink from that fountain of adrenalin infused blood.

Styx landed perfectly on his feet, the very ground cracking beneath him. His hunched back straightened, his knees buckling, elbows tightening. The sheer distance his enemy had launched him was astounding. If his mind hadn't been so racked by hunger, he would have taken a moment to appreciate the maneuver.

A second familiar scent was close by, one that was actually more akin to his own stench. He zipped through the wood toward the source, the trees reacting to his movement long after he passed them. As expected, his favored blade, Bones, was sticking partway out of the trunk of a tree. He grabbed his friend by the hilt and pulled him free, neck twisting toward the source of the other smell he'd treasured. Roughly a mile away now.

Styx threw his head back, an inhuman roar booming from deep within, one loud enough for Tuariv to hear loud and clear. A sonic boom popped as his feet rapidly flicked across the Earth's surface, gone in the blink of an eye. The ground behind him flew off the planet, breaking into a wave of dirt and grass. Faster than the speed of sound, yet his dilated eyes His blade was craned back in both hands, eager to be used once more. He could smell him now. He had captured the lizard's scent. There was nowhere in the world he could go without Styx being able to track him down.

The lizard had no time to react. The sword connected with his torso in one deafening crack. The ground buckled beneath the beast as he was driven into the dirt. In a rapid twist of his waist, he threw Bones into a nearby tree to be used later, but now he had a fresh scaleless chest he could possibly sink his fangs into, seeping with that succulent plasma.

The dragons claws seemed to move so slow, the juiced vampire easily moving his body out of the way from the lizard's rapid attempts to hit him. Tuariv began to climb from the hole he'd created upon impact, still attacking, still trying to land a hit, but the cheating mutant he faced was too fast. It seemed physically impossible, but even Tuariv's keen eyes were working to their limit to keep up with him.

After multiple dodged strikes, spending just enough time for his enemy to stand to his full height, Styx threw an earth shattering fist into his target's head, driving him back through the ground. He would get that blood. He would drink him dry.

And that's when Styx finally did...

The two thrashed around on the ground, Styx moving around over the dirt floor as Tuariv moved one way, and then another. Just trying to get a hold of the vampire as he bit, gnawed and scratched at his body. Styx was just completely insane now, his every thought, desire and sense was consumed by the blood that trickled out of the lizards body. A beautiful line drawn over his muscular chest in a thick and delicious liquid. And it was all his.

The vampire rushed around circles, narrowly dodging a tail swipe before launching into nearby tree and then pushing off from it, the force splintering the tree immediately from his legs. It was all just a mess after that was the two fell over, but Styx had claimed his prize as he lapped up the blood from Tuariv's chest and tried to suck the wound dry, completely entranced as he tasted the sweetest blood he'd ever had, savoring every drop as it washed over his tongue.

But Tuariv refused him his complete meal. A sharpness pierced into Styx's back, the lizards claws going deep into his flesh before flinging him into a rock at the highest of speeds. In disgust Tuariv wiped his chest, saliva all over him and the wound which he promptly forced closed.

"It looks like you got a good taste there..."

Styx replied with only laughter as he pushed a rock off of his right arm, he couldn't believe the wondrous taste from that blood. And he was unable to calm down from the high that he felt, his whole body numb as he barely stood up, walking like a drunk towards Tuariv. That is until his face contorted into a weird image showing a feeling of confusion... and then a slight numbed pain resonating from his center and spreading out into the rest of his body.

Something was wrong and he knew it as he fell to his knees and threw up all over the floor, but nothing except stomach acids came out... and that's when Styx began to panic, his body falling into pain and as he immediately tried to force himself to throw up the blood he'd just ingested. But he never saw the thick green liquid appear again.

Styx had become an animal. He was a ravenous carnivore under the influence of a medication overdose. He wasn't even in control of himself anymore. His metabolism had been sped up by his stimulants, hunger thrown completely out of control. The unique smell of Tuariv's reptilian blood had driven him to the brink.

Like a starving beggar with inhuman strength, Styx wrestled his meal to the ground. The two struggled only briefly before the lizard was overpowered. The crazed vampire lapped up the blood like a thirsty cat would milk. He sank his fangs into Tuariv's skin and began to suck as much as he could, but he was denied that pleasure. Claws pierced his back and pulled him away from his prize, throwing him sharply into a large boulder. He cracked his head in the process, for a split second blacking out.

Styx's sanity was suddenly thrown back into him, the collision jogging his brain just enough for him to regain control of himself. Still, he could taste that succulent blood, a flavor unlike any other. It filled his body, and now flowed through his own bloodstream. It was pure bliss in liquid form. It reminded him of when he first became a vampire, drinking his first body dry. It was exquisite.

Styx chuckled softly, moving the shattered boulder off of his arm. Fresh blood was coursing through his veins; no longer was his starvation tearing away at him. His eyes were vibrating wildly, his body coursing with adrenalin and medicine, but he still had conscious thought. He imagined the stims would have been wearing off soon, but he didn't feel the least bit drained. Something about the reptile's blood had his own pumping. It energized him.

He took a step toward his opponent, feeling like he was ready to tear the behemoth apart. In one glorious moment, he'd finish the fight.

He stopped in his tracks, the maniacal grin fading from his face.

Something was happening to him. At first it was barely noticeable, but it had steadily begun to grow. A numbness was overtaking his heart, a subtle pain just barely detectable. It wasn't a side effect of having overdosed on stimulants, somehow he knew that. It was the lizard's blood. It tasted wonderful, but his body didn't seem to be absorbing it.

No, that wasn't it. His body was definitely taking it.

The pain shot through his body like an electric bolt. He dropped to his knees, puking all over the ground. He stared down at the vomit, surprised to see that none of it was the lizard's blood. He puked again, and again, each time emptying more and more of his stomach. He continued to vomit until there was nothing left. One final heave and a mouthful of crimson blood hit the ground, mixing with the dirt. The pain, however, didn't subside.

Styx slowly began to rise to his feet, but was thrown back down again. The pain, this time, was permeating through his skull. Styx had learned to endure unrelenting pain in the past, but something about what he was feeling actually scared him. His entire body was being racked with intense agony. The thing that bothered him the most was that he didn't know why he was in so much pain.

His eyes began to burn. He pulled his glasses off with both hands, rubbing at them in an attempt to soothe them. It didn't work. His spine bent backwards in an intense contortion. He slammed two powerful fists into the earth, jaw pulling back in a pained roar. His eyes were wide open, staring up at Tuariv who just looked down at him; speechless. His scream was held out long and hard. His eyeballs slowly slid from their sockets, plopping to the ground in a bloody mess. The shocking thing about it was that a new pair of eyes were now in their place: two intense yellow ones; nothing but slits for pupils.

The vampire's body lurched back to the ground, several powerful coughs emerging from his chest. His teeth flew freely from his mouth, scattering across the floor. New, razor sharp canines had pushed their way through. Blood was seeping from every orifice. He felt like he was dying all over again.

The immunities he'd built from mutation and vampirism were desperately trying to fight off whatever was plaguing his body, but they were inevitably failing. Whatever was happening to him was going to happen. There was nothing he could do about it.

Styx suddenly jumped stood to his feet, a new series of pains overcoming him. His arms began to sting and burn. He could feel something shifting just beneath the skin. The feeling went down into his legs, then up into his head. His hands began to claw at his own face. He'd begun peeling his skin off, trying to relieve the pain that simply wouldn't leave. Each scratch took layers of skin with it.

Each scratch unveiled a fresh covering of sharp, gray scales.

He quickly switched his clawing to his arms, pulling away the flesh like wrapping paper. When he hit his adamantium scales, he tried to pull those off too, but it was useless. They were too strong. They felt like they were burning, like his artificial scales had dissolved into his bloodstream. Looking down at his arms with his new eyes, he saw they weren't the same scales he'd had before. They were something completely different.

It was then that the realization hit him. He knew what was happening.

The deteriorating mess of a man let out a final scream, flesh falling off his corpse and bones snapping apart and into place. The scream somehow had a hint of joy to it, almost being a sort of laughter. It was as if he was goading on whatever was happening to him. Like nature itself couldn't do anything to truly upset him.

The shaking mess of a man finally collapsed next to the body of his former self. He'd quite literally shed his old skin, and had gained a completely new layer. His entire person was covered in gray scales, his yellow eyes unblinking in startled curiosity. His breathing was heavy. Each inhalation was something new, each exhalation something old. He laid motionless for what seemed like hours, the pain slowly fading from his body until it was finally, and completely, gone.

Styx turned over on his belly, pushing himself slowly to his feet. His body was shaking, completely unnerved by what had just happened. He was bewildered, astounded, and lost. He wasn't sure what was happening, or what had just happened, but he was still alive. The pain had vanished entirely. All that was left was the alien sensation of being in another body. A new body.

The transformation was complete.

This is the new s***.

Flashbacks rushed into Tuariv's memory as he watched the destruction of Styx's body. Every horrendous scream ached the lizards head with a thump. Thump. Thump. He took a step forward, and then another. Approaching this new being very slowly as his form twisted into a new shape before Tuariv's eyes, each sickening crack of bone reminding him of what happened to himself in the beginning. The weak gray form in front of him like a smaller less monstrous version and horrid version of himself, at least in appearance.

Styx shook every few seconds, his arm limply moving down to pick up his glasses and place them over his nose, having trouble even grasping at the side of it. The feeling of this body simply overpowered his will, he could hardly even stand right now. He was completely at the mercy of Tuariv, and the lizard knew it. And yet his head wasn't a separate piece from his body, yet. The green lizard towering over his slunched form.

......

Tuariv didn't know what to do with... it. This new thing that had been created. He'd killed many a vampire, sometimes for money even. Not once had one gotten a taste of his blood. It's a good thing too if this was the outcome, this... thing. He brought his talon down to grab the naked monster by the neck, but he didn't squeeze his fist shut. Only lifted Styx into the air so that he could stare into each yellow eye, each looking near identical to his own. Flashbacks flooding into his mind as he saw every agonizing second of his own brutal descent. A single claw dug into the gray scales, seemingly testing the strength of them until it pierced through and then stopped to pull out.

He could only growl, his upper lip quivering over his gums as he let go of Styx, watching him struggle to catch himself on the landing. The new creature had a rash breath, deeply pulling air in and out as if he'd never used lungs before. His gaze moved up to meet Tuariv's, who only could stare back down at this mess, narrowing his eyes before letting a deep sounding breath leave his throat and signaling Styx to follow as he turned around, tail slowly surfing in the wind as he walked away towards the river...

Something unspoken was created, Styx clearly couldn't comprehend it with the attitude he had, but the sudden silence after his transformation and Tuariv's now slowed movements changed the atmosphere between the two of them. He had no choice really, he could only really struggle to walk, picking up Bones would be impossible right now... and he was naked with no clothes. Not much other choice than to follow the lizard.

***

No words were spoken, at least by Tuariv. Styx on the other hand spoke quite a bit, well, at least he tried to. Most of what came out of his mouth was a harsh and scratchy voice, it was hard to talk without cutting his gums with every syllable which he learned the hard way with a now bloody mouth. But Tuariv didn't respond to anything he tried to even attempt at saying, all Styx saw was the beast walking slowly with his tail swooping from side to side the whole way back down to the river.

The mess of their battle was everywhere, the earth was in shambles, mini craters dotted the shore. Styx could even see where he'd landed after the backhanded slap he received which sent him across the river.

Tuariv was bent down as he searched for something in a bush on the edge of the forest, Styx learned what it was when it slapped him right in the face. Clothes.

"They'll be a bit loose but put those on." Tuariv said very solemnly.

Styx only stared at him, almost in an anger. They had just been in an all out death match and now Tuariv was offering him spare clothes! He stared down Tuariv as he was collecting his cloak and placed it over himself. "Whuh..... whruh.... why?"

Tuariv knew it wasn't the question of put on the clothes? "Because I feel compelled to help you, considering what you've just become."

Styx clutched the large, black cloak in his clawed hands. He stared down at it blankly, trying desperately to find his voice. He slipped the shroud over his head, the smell of the reptile plaguing the cloth's every pore. It almost made him cringe. He had never smelled anything with detail of this level before. It was curious.

After the cloak was on, he still struggled to speak. His vocal chords were alien to him. They felt like they were made of stone. He opened his mouth, taking in large gasps of air. “Whuh..... whruh....” His voice sounded more like the growl of a beast than coherent language. Finally, he managed one word. “Why?”

"Because I feel compelled to help you, considering what you've just become." The lizard responded simply.

Styx clenched his fists at his sides, razor sharp teeth gritting together in pent up anger. Was he really showing sympathy for him? After everything they just went through, the lizard was trying to show compassion? He growled again, trying to form coherent words. He shook his head hard, trying to focus in on forming sensible sounds. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Tuariv waited patiently for his response.

As if something snapped inside his head, Styx's lids popped open, his golden eyes stabbing into blue ones. His lip curled up in a slight grimace, bearing one of the vampire fangs that still somehow stayed with him through his transformation, despite the fact it looked just like the rest of his teeth. He straightened his spine and stood to his full height, a height a full five inches taller than he'd ever stood before. The giant dragon that stood in front of him no longer seemed as enormous as he had before. He wasn't even a foot taller than him now. “You bastard.” He muttered. He took another deep breath, each word a chore. “Don't... don't... show... me... your....... sympathy.” He coughed without breaking eye contact. He spat and wiped some sort of black liquid off his mouth, his scaled arm making a metallic screeching sound across the scales on his face.

Styx grabbed a small piece of twisted metal that was still slung across his shoulder, something Styx had never bothered to draw attention to as it didn't have much use in his current state. He threw the hunk of machinery to the ground, clearly recently crushed from the battle. “Do you see this?” He had given up talking without harming his throat now. There was no avoiding it. He spoke anyway, pushing the thought of pain to the back of his mind. “This... used to be an artificial leg.” His expression was grim as he stared down at the twisted metal, thinking back to when he first received it. “I could have chosen one made from flesh, but I chose this one... forged from metal.” He spoke slowly, drawing out each word. “I wanted to remember what some very bad people did to me, against my will. This was a reminder...” He grunted, a sharp pain stabbing up his spine. “... A reminder to take vengeance.”

The lizard stared at him with those same painfully sympathetic eyes. “What of it?”

Styx let out a short laugh of frustration. “What of it?” He mocked. “YOU CHANGED ME!” His roar tore through the sky, louder than any noise heard that day. His breath was still heavy, shoulders now arched, eyes still locked with the dragon's. “You tampered with me, you... altered my body... when I didn't want it.” His stomach began to burn. The pain in his spine increased. “Vampirism was something I chose.” He broke eye contact, his vision falling on the battered mechanical leg at his feet. “The fake leg I chose.” He said softly. He chuckled as if recollecting a fond memory. “Filing my teeth to points was my choice.” A strangely human smile showed itself for a brief moment before fading. His yellow, reptilian eyes met with Tuariv's once more. He frowned, his brow furrowed. “I did not choose this.”

Tuariv's expression didn't change. If what he was thinking of Styx at that moment had changed, his eyes didn't show it. They were still sympathetic.

“Don't you dare feel sorry for me. Don't you dare...” He hissed through his teeth. “I can feel an intense power within me that was never there before; I probably have greater strength than I've ever wielded before, possibly twice as great as yours.” He smirked at the last sentence. “I am a mighty force now, that much I don't mind.” He took a step toward the lizard, body barely able to keep itself upright. “But this... this is not my strength. This was not my choice. That much... I do mind.”

His heart lurched within his chest. He clutched at his side and fell to his knees. He stopped himself with a fist, cracking the earth as he caught himself. The animal-like growl within his throat shook his body. He was feeling immense pain. He thought he'd already felt the most pain he was ever going to feel. Going through vampiric transformation had pushed every nerve in his body to the breaking point. Now, after gaining this new body, his sense of touch had been increased ten fold. Pain was more than ever a much greater thing than he'd ever experienced before.

He forced his quickly weakening neck to stare up at his enemy. His mouth bore a large smile, a sickly grin that even surprised Tuariv at that moment. “Unless you kill me now... heh... I will kill you.”

He blacked out even as he spoke, but his posture didn't change. Even unconscious, his body had the strength to remain in a kneeling position...

... bowing to his superior.