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ICE QUEENS

CHAPTER 4

Fangs Are Earned

The Den

Late Afternoon

On any given—normal—day, Chaos would have woken up to the sound of her internal alarm clock. It was pre-set to go off and reboot her processor at six ‘o clock on the dot, but her body became so accustomed to slapping her own “snooze” button that she usually didn’t wake up until thirty, sometimes forty minutes later... which was problematic, noting Blanc Base’s rigorous militaristic schedule. All units were to report to the bridge for daily debriefing even if said units weren’t even Neotopian (as Chaos found out the hard way several times) or already had the day off.

“Punctuality is the foremost important form of discipline,” Chief Haro said once, scolding Chaos during her first week at Blanc Base. It was better than being chastised by Commander Sazabi with the Funnels looming nearby, but the words still stung all on their own. “You may have been able to get away with tardiness in the Dark Axis, but it will not be tolerated here. We have a mission to defend Neotopia from invaders, and the city cannot afford to rely on lazy defenders.”

It was one of the few times she missed the Dark Axis. As a squadron leader, she got to sleep in as late as she wanted without facing ridicule. High ranked officers in the Axian army were allowed greater freedoms than their Zako underlings, and having a few extra hours of recharge was part of the bundle. Zapper was usually up and about at the crack of dawn regardless, but Grappler and Destroyer usually rebooted late morning or early afternoon if there wasn’t a mission to attend to. Even Sazabi usually didn’t wake up until fourteen hundred hours after a long night of paperwork (or “questionable” late night activities with Professor Gerbera during the science chief’s inspections).

Primus, she missed sleeping in that late.

Her internal alarm had gone off at approximately six, and feeling more exhausted than usual, Chaos switched it to snooze against her better judgment. It went off again at six-ten, then six-twenty, and so on. When no one came barging at her door or threatened her with some kind of punishment (often times in the form of going out on patrol with Guneagle), the Axian-Gundam counted her blessings and turned the alarm off altogether. Maybe this was her day off and she had forgotten about it. Her bed was just so comfortable that she couldn’t even bother herself to get up for breakfast, and she drifted in and out of recharge for almost seven more hours.

That, of course, was until Herra shook her awake with enough energy to scare the living shit out of her.

"...wake up...wake up...! WAKE UP, FOR GODDESS’ SAKE!"

Her optics snapped open.

Something hit Chaos across the face—a silken laced pillow with oriental Lacroan designs. It wasn't painful, but it was certainly enough to jar her into a full reboot. The femme screeched, flipping onto her side in a defensive position and hissing... and that was when she remembered. She wasn’t in Blanc Base in her own room or staring up at the pristine white ceiling of her quarters in the Gundam Musai. She was in a cave, surrounded by strangers, with a set of vampire fangs dropping from her top jaw. Instead of RAIMI’s chirped hello or good morning, she was greeted with rocks and a harsh looking vampiress, Herra, staring down at her. To the younger femme, the past two days had been nothing but a blur.

"Relax Spitfire, it’s just the failed Ice Queen herself," Clout said, seemingly detecting her panic. She swiveled her head at the sound of his voice. Clout was still hanging from the ceiling, stretching tiredly as he began to wake up himself. He dropped down and landed on his feet elegantly, popping the pistons in his neck. He was frowning. "What do you want, Herra? Chaos and I were still napping!"

“Primus, you call that napping? What time is it?” Chaos blinked as her mind caught up with her. “Wait, Ice What—?”

“It’s in the middle of the blasted afternoon. You two have been sleeping all day.” Herra hissed, looking at Clout. " Thiesel wants us all out in the main chamber. He and Hesk went scouting this morning and we found food!"

Clout sputtered. “FOOD!? Why didn’t you say so sooner!?”

It all came back to her in a rush. She was now a vampire, living amongst other vampires in a clan, and this clan was led by a ruthless monster. Chaos felt sick to her fuel tank, but as a second hunger pang rolled through her, she realized that it was from fuel deprivation rather than renewed terror. "Food? What food?"

"We found two mechs out in the north pass tunnels—they're wounded and bleeding out, but if we hurry, we can make it before they expire and ruin our chance at a meal. Tarma is going to have a spark attack if we don't get there in time—"

Clout cut Herra off, snapping his mask back into place. “We're going now?"

"YES, RIGHT NOW."

“THANK THE GODDESS~!”

Chaos went to slide out of bed and stretched... and then it hit her. What if those mechs were members of the Gundam Force? She felt her fuel tank knot again, but this time it was from terror. "So what do we do? Just run out there and, you know, take them out?"

"Depending on if they're armed, yes," Herra said, helping her up. She began leading her out of the chamber, practically dragging her. Judging by Clout's swearing and awkward shuffling, the other mech wasn't far behind. "Although Tarma will likely be doing most of the taking out. He's unstoppable when he's hungry. Thiesel is trying to keep him restrained as we speak..."

After a short walk, they came out into the main chamber. Felch was pacing back and forth looking anxious. Hesk was nowhere to be immediately seen, but Thiesel was already with Tarma in the center of the room.

"Tarma, PLEASE—restrain yourself," Thiesel grunted, looking up at the rapidly pacing mech.

"HOW CAN I RESTRAIN MYSELF? SUSTENANCE IS SO CLOSE—I CAN TASTE IT." Tarma looked like a wild animal as he tried to push past Thiesel as though he were a small toy. The clan leader barely held his mass back, and Tarma’s optics flared a dangerous shade of wild, uncontrolled crimson. "I CAN SMELL THEM ON YOU."

"If we're not careful, he'll suck both those mechs dry and let the rest of us starve..." Hesk abruptly appeared from a dark corner of the chamber and stood at Felch's side, folding his arms. The air looming about him was agitated, at best.

Chaos could smell something very faint in the air. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make her fuel tank churn in the best—and worst—way possible. It reminded her of Shute’s mother’s homemade peanut-brownies. Keiko would sometimes leave a plate in the kitchen window while she and the rest of the Gundam Force loitered around Shute’s house. She wasn’t particularly a fan of the peanut-butter, though. It was gross and clung to the roof of her mouth like old, diluted low-grade energon, but her olfactory sensors were able to pick up on the smell lingering in the air. This was hauntingly similar, but the scent in question smelled much better—a hundred times over. Her stomach knotted, her mouth felt dry, and her throat clenched.

She was starving.

Herra was immediately at her bondmate's side, tugging on his arm and looking very small next to him. She stroked his shoulder, standing on the tips of her pedes as she tried to calm her trembling mate down. "Shhh, easy my love. You can have your fill soon, but you must show restraint. Remember everything I taught you about CONTROL—”

“Ooohhh," Clout was wringing his hands together, suddenly seeming... not like Clout. His voice was deeper and much more menacing. His irises were slanted to slits and his facemask was drawn back, revealing his now fully extended fangs glimmering with saliva. The ex-knight was starting to vibrate in excitement. "I can smell them too~ not femmes, but they both smell lovely...”

Felch whined. “Primus, could you maybe save us just a little energon, Tarma...?"

Tarma was shaking violently, barely even able to acknowledge Herra. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH SELF-RESTRAINT. I'M GOING TO RIP THEIR THROATS OUT AND DRAIN EVERY LAST DROP OF THIR ENERGON...."

Hesk rolled his optics and looked to Felch with a snort. “I think that means no."

Thiesel looked around at everyone. "QUIET. ALL OF YOU. We are going to do this in an orderly fashion. I will take the lead, and Herra will keep Tarma under control until we can properly assess the situation. Both mechs were injured when we found them. They appeared to have been in a fight of some kind and are wounded—which gives us the upper hand. There is not enough for everyone to go around. Tarma will have at least one mech completely to himself—the rest of us WILL share and we will ration ourselves. CONTROL is the key. If we try to tear them apart, we'll lose more energon than absolutely necessary. Understood?"

Clout cackled gleefully. "Of course—oooh, I'm getting all revved up just thinking about it. Can I at least play with one of them? Just a little fun—”

"CHESSY," Thiesel glowered at him. "NOT. NOW."

Chaos proceeded to take another very large step away from Clout. She wasn't quite sure what was going on with him, but she didn’t like it in the slightest. “Chessy...?”

Her passive question went unanswered. The group was just far too riled up to acknowledge her. Hesk let out a groan, clearly 'happy' about the announced rationings. It wasn't like he could argue with their leader, though—especially after what happened with Chaos, with him and Felch attempting to have her all to themselves. "Whatever you say, boss."

"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!" Tarma roared, practically vibrating. "LET'S GO GREET THEM."

Thiesel hissed. "One at a time—ONE AT A TIME! Oh for Primus' sake, STOP SHOVING—”

The group started making their way out of the Den towards their prey. Chaos trailed behind nervously. She didn't know what to expect, what she'd do, what she'd feel: all she knew was that she was hungry and would do anything to sequester her hunger pains. She just prayed that it wasn't one of her friends. Let it be someone else—anyone else.

The Deep Caves

Early Evening

Years later, she would regret not being more specific about her prayers. She should have wished for the mechs to be someone she didn’t know period. She wasn’t religious by any means, but if Primus did exist, he was a morbid, cruel deity.

The group of starved vampires followed Thiesel deep into the cave network, heading further down into the labyrinth that made up the majority of Lacroa’s underground. Despite her improved vampire-sight in the dark, her sense of direction failed her after barely ten minutes: the network was just so dense that she couldn’t hope to keep up with how far they had gone at all. Ten minutes in, she stuck closely behind Herra, not wanting to get left behind. She would have stayed closer to Clout in fear of getting accidently mauled by Tarma, but the ex-knight was radiating a strange, terrible vibe. He looked insane—more insane that Tarma.

Herra seemed to sense her anxiety. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she softly spoke to Chaos. Over the sound of Tarma excited whining, no one heard them. “Clout has a split personality—we call him Chessy. He’s not dominant, but he is violate. It’s... a long story.”

“I've got time.” Chaos wasn’t sure she really wanted to know, but it was a distraction from the hunger—and she was willing to take any distraction she could get.

Herra was hesitant, pausing. When she did speak again, it was even more hushed. “Clout was turned thirty years ago by twin vampyres, Mara and Dibella. They’re vampires that were born with their affliction, rather than being infected. Pureblood vampires. Clout loved them dearly. He was going to be their Harem Master, and they his Ice Queens. They were carrying his sparklings when one of Clout’s old friends from the Lacroan Royal Guard found their hideout and turned them all in. They were due for execution... Mara and Dibella were burned at the stakes. Clout’s own stake was damaged so they postponed his execution, but watching the deaths of his mates broke his mind as well as his spark. He couldn’t cope with the loss, so his spark developed an entirely new personality. He broke out of prison and murdered King Ulfric Tyorgg and his queen, setting fire to his chambers and the entire East Wing of Lacroa Castle. One hundred and fifty-one people died. After that, they referred to Clout as the Cheshire Cat—because of that awful smile he wore when he slaughtered everyone.”

Herra gestured to Clout. He was, in fact, grinning that awful smile from before. Chaos shuttered. “That’s... that’s horrible.”

“And the worst part is that Clout, Mara, and Dibella had done nothing wrong. For the most part, they fed on the slave traders that would sometimes pass through their territory. Above all else, they were doing Lacroa a service.” Herra shook her helm, looking at Clout—Chessy—again. “Chessy rarely comes out, but going for so long without food has affected all of us... and really, the last time Clout went so long without food, it was shortly after Mara and Dibella died.”

Mara and Dibella. Chaos kept the names at the back of her mind for future reference. Poor Clout...

It wasn’t much longer until they made it to an outcropping leading down a cliff and deeper into the cave, opening up into wide, jewel encrusted chasm. The group of ragtag vampires huddled around its edge behind several large boulders for cover, peering down over their targets. Chaos, since she had taken up the rear, was the last to arrive on the scene. She was almost too afraid to look and see who the fellow vampires were drooling over, but she had to know. If it was one of the Gundam Force members gone astray from the ship and hurt, she was going to have to do something drastic. Despite having sworn allegiance to Thiesel, the Gundam Force was still her family, and she would protect them by any means necessary.

There was no room for her elsewhere, so she reluctantly laid down next to Felch and peered over the boulders. She immediately recognized the two unfortunate mech, much to her horror—but it wasn’t who she was expecting. "Mercurious and Vayeate?"

Herra looked over at her. "You recognize those two?"

Thiesel jerked his attention to Chaos critically. “You know about the Storm Twins?”

Said Storm Twins were lying at the bottom of the chasm against a boulder, unmoving and in a slow growing pool of their own energon. The last she had seen of them was in Neotopia when they lost Fenn in the Magic Square, along with the twins’ leader, Talgeese. That had been almost three months earlier. She assumed they survived following Zero’s explanation about the Magic Square’s ripped vortex, which was further supported by Talgeese’s reappearance in the Minov with the Evil Sword... until Talgeese revealed he had absorbed the twins in the sword in order to utilize their powers.

Chaos had briefly met the twins on a personal note several times when she was in the Dark Axis, but knowing they were supposedly destroyed at the hands of Talgeese’s insanity saddened her. Neither one of the twins was truly as wicked and cruel as Zero frequently described them as—they were just lost. Mercurious was relatively quiet and soft-spoken, while Vayeate was his younger twin’s ever vigilant, protective shadow. Supposedly they had joined Talgeese to avenge their decimated village-tribe that had fallen prey to the Royal Family’s most recent territory expansion, causing the slaughter of their entire family when they were barely infants. They were survived by their mother who raised them alone before passing away herself, leaving the twins with nothing but the companionship of an exiled mech who found them one day: Talgeese himself. How they had managed to survive the explosion that destroyed Epyon was beyond her.

And as awful as it was to think, she wished they had died. Being consumed by the Evil Sword was surely a fate better than being cannibalized by ravenous vampires.

Chaos peered down at them, unable to move. She was horrified. They were going to eat Mercurious and Vayeate. They were going to EAT Mercurious and Vayeate. "Y-yeah, I've met them a few times when I was serving the Dark Axis for a little while. Mercurious is the orange mech and Vayeate is the blue one..." She twiddled her digits uncomfortably.

Tarma didn't break optic contact with the two downed pseudo-knights, drooling. His voice was a hoarse, growling whisper. It was positively predatory. "T-they look delicious..."

Clout cackled, swaying back and forth. He reminded Chaos almost of a cobra—and not in the Cobramaru cobra way. Cobramaru was probably more pleasant to have around than Clout (or was it Chessy?) at the moment. "Oooh, the little orange mech is cute... I like him..."

Chaos wanted to vomit.

Herra kept her voice down, looking at Tarma worriedly. For his own safety—and for THEIR safety, Chaos realized—Thiesel had him hitched up to a heavy chain that was being held by Herra. She honestly doubted the femme could hold him, but Tarma was at least staying put. "Steady, love..."

Tarma growled, beyond words.

"I remember hearing their names uttered during the War, but I heard they were sealed away in the Dark Hole before the end of the Axian siege and Stone Curse...” Thiesel frowned. “They look nothing like the monsters they were made out to be. It’s downright pitiful.”

Chaos briefly wondered if she should mention what happened with Epyon and Talgeese, but she decided against it. "I wouldn't know about that..."

"Does it matter?" Hesk was shaking violently and his pupils her dilated. He had a horrid grin stretched across his face. "They're here and begging to be taken. B-boss, we have to get them. NOW."

"I-I CAN'T SIT HERE MUCH LONGER LIKE THIS..." Tarma began pulling on Herra slightly, eager to feed. The chain clinked ominously as he pulled on the slack.

"Patience my friend," Clout cooed, moving alongside the other mech. He heaved heavily, salivating. "Just think—the longer you wait, the better it will taste. Just think, all that warm, sweet energon pouring down your aching throat, into your knotted fuel tank, filling you like a good interface with your pretty little Herra. Their throbbing, pulsing throat cables like her warm, tight little—"

"CHESSY," Thiesel hissed, reaching around and suddenly seizing the other mech by the throat. "Not. NOW. He's getting too excited—"

"H-hello?" The broken voice, Chaos recognized, belonged to Mercurious. The poor orange mech was lying against Vayeate in a heap, who was just barely supporting him himself as he tried to sit up as well. They looked seriously injured, but Chaos couldn’t quite make out how badly from such a long distance down. "Is someone... th-there...?"

Chaos visibly cringed. Like it wasn't going to be hard enough to watch them be killed, but now that she heard their voices again... it made her spark ache. They sounded broken.

Hesk was nearly gone as well, no better off than Tarma. From what Chaos could see out of the corner of her vision, he was resorted to biting down on his own glossa to stay somewhat sane. “Soooo close...”

Tarma, meanwhile, looked monstrous. He just started at the two like a dog would a squirrel, waiting for his master's release. Tarma pulled more on his chain, slightly jostling Herra. “The blue one. The blue one is mine.”

Felch, despite having fed the day before, was looking ready to snap as well. He whined, shifting back and forth, not daring to move in fear of Thiesel's wrath. "Boooosssss..."

"I-I'm feeling it too," Herra suddenly admitted, snapping her own faceplate back. She whined, biting her bottom lip, pinning it under a slowly extending fang. "By the Goddess, Thiesel, it's too much..."

"No," Thiesel said evenly. He was in complete control, glancing over at Chaos. "You. Go down there."

Chaos jerked at the sound of her name, staring at him. Oh no.

"WHAT?" Felch had to bite on his own hand to keep from drawing more attention to themselves.

Chaos' engine sputtered horribly. "W-why me?!"

"Because I said so." Thiesel hissed. "Kill one or both of them. I want to see you take another mech's life."

Clout—Chessy—whined. "Sheeeee's gonna have all the food? Come oooon, I could do it faaaaaster."

“She’s not going to have all the food.” Thiesel looked at Clout, glaring him down bitterly, before returning his full attention to Chaos. His optics were like daggers. “I can’t have a vampire on my team who can’t kill prey on their own—isn’t that right, Chaos?”

She would have protested, but the look Thiesel gave her made her keep quiet.

This was actually happening.

And she didn't have a choice. Refuse his challenge and she'd surely be slaughtered for being the weak link in the clan's chain. But if she went down there and followed through with Thiesel's prompt... she didn't want to think about it.

She inhaled deeply and carefully made her way around the boulders—and down the side of the cliff, trying hard not to make any sound that would draw their attention. She—she couldn’t really go through with this, could she? She knew them. The descent down felt like it was going to last forever, and part of her almost wished it would stay that way. She understood fighting to defend herself, but fighting to kill—mercilessly—was a new story altogether. It wasn’t right. She could just try to run away again so she could avoid watching them die, but there was no other way—Thiesel would kill her if she tried a stunt like that again, and it would just be worse for Mercurious and Vayeate. She was trapped.

She slowly appeared out from behind a boulder to face the two mechs.

"Mercurious? Vayeate?"

Mercurious jerked to awareness. The poor mech had a deep stab wound in his chassis that looked agonizing. He was leaning up against his twin with a fading look on his faceplate. He turned, seeing her and struggling to sit up. "C-Cammerce—? Wh—what are you—AURRGH!" He sagged with a whine, reaching up weakly to clutch at his injuries.

Vayeate shakily looked to her, his visor flickering weakly. He had a stab wound that went right through his midsection and he was doubled over. He was in just as bad of shape as Mercurious. "W-what are you doing down here?!"

"It's a long story," she rasped. She stood there and stared at them for a long while. Oh the smell of their energon just hurt her fuel tank and she grit her teeth. She was nearly tempted to pounce on them, that was until she looked into their optics. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. She could feel the Thiesel's disapproving optics on her as she knelt down and huddled close to them. "You two have got to listen to me... you have to get out of here. Now."

Mercurious whined, almost sobbing—he was in so much pain it was difficult to watch. "G-get out...? I can't e-even walk..."

Chaos was desperate. "You have to try..." She went to help him up by his arm. "Trust me, you two are in danger if you stay here. You will die."

Vayeate groaned as Mercurious was moved. "I duh-don't understand. What are y-you getting at with this, Cammerce?"

Mercurious suddenly gagged, sputtering. He looked up at Vayeate, voice barely above a whisper. Chaos figured she wasn’t supposed to hear. "It—it really hurts Vay..."

"No, you have to try!" The femme couldn't pull either of the heavier mechs up. "You two are being hunted. Right now, as I speak!" She threw a heavy hand up in the clan's direction. "There are vampires up there itching to come down here and rip you two to pieces!"

Vayeate looked up to where her finger was pointing, and against her better judgment, Chaos looked too. Now that her vision was adjusting in the dark, she could make out the clear glint of Tarma’s shoulder from behind a rock cluster. He was shaking harder—hard enough to send light refracting off his armor from the glowing crystals above them. He was losing control—and the twins were rapidly running out of time. Regardless, the reaction Chaos received was... underwhelming. Vayeate dropped his helm slightly, and the defeated look on his pale face spoke volumes.

"Let them come."

Mercurious also followed his brother’s gaze. He whimpered, although it quieted to a low whine when the other moved his gripping his younger twin’s forearm. It was a comforting gesture. "Oh. Well, that's not so bad... how did you know...?"

He paused.

"...Oh. I get it."

"They sent me down here to—" She inhaled. "I can't."

The blue mech looked to her and nodded slightly. "At least you tired to... help us." He began shaking more, clearly struggling to stay conscious. “This actually isn't so bad.”

"Yeah," Mercurious said, settling heavier against his twin. "We've been down here for almost three days without fuel or water... we're too tired and hurt to do anything. If—if a bunch of vampires are looking for food down here, then I guess it’s better we die now than for no reason, right? Plus most vampires hate the Royal Family as much as we do, so... so it's like w-we're still helping out, r-right V-Vay...?"

Vayeate looked over his shoulder and weakly nodded. His visor flashed. "R-right. Some things m-must die for others to live..."

Chaos couldn’t believe it. As hungry as she was herself, this was too much. She tried lifting them up by their arms, gritting her teeth, holding back the tears welling up in her optics. This couldn't happen. This couldn't happen. "NO! I S-SAID GET UP!"

Mercurious clutched to Vayeate. He looked up at him, flashing his visor silently—whether or not it was a bondlink or their twinbond speaking for them, Chaos couldn't have been sure. She never would be sure, even years—decades—later. They held each other tighter and didn't move.

And hell broke loose in that one, explosive second later.

"THAT'S IT! I HAVE HAD IT. HERRA, LET HIM GO."

There was the sharp sound of a dropping chain. Chaos looked over her shoulder in time to see Tarma stand up and roar like a vicious animal, flying down the side of the embankment and charging at the downed mechs like a war horse. He had moved so fast that Chaos didn't have any time to react. One second he was at the top of the hill, and in the next, Tarma grabbed her by her helm and threw her to the side like a rag doll, grabbing wildly for Vayeate. With a mighty blow from his forearm and a roar, Vay's neck was snapped like a brittle twig and he was killed instantly. Mercurious recoiled from the shock, but Tarma grabbed him firmly by his helm, plunging his bare hand into the orange mech's chest and crushing his spark chamber beneath.

It was messy.

It was gruesome.

And it was too much for Chaos to handle. Despite her fuel tank being nearly empty, she rolled over and dry heaved painfully, unable to watch the carnage. A part of her was relieved that it was a quick end for them—that she didn't have to hear their agonized screaming. Still, they were gone. Their carcasses were being fed on like a formal meal that would be served at formal Dark Axis event—just like the one she'd met the Storm Twins at for the first time.

Those were good times...

She didn't have a long time to reminisce. The other vampires were down in a flash: Clout was suddenly in front of Chaos clawing for Mercurious, bitterly muttering something about Tarma "not leaving him alive" and plunging his fangs deep into his throat. Herra was behind him, biting for the other side of his neck as they both pinned his body to the floor of the cave. Felch swamped over him next, fighting for a spot along with Hesk, both mechs squabbling over one of Mercy’s wrists.

Something hefted Chaos up by the scruff.

“You," Thiesel's voice growled, "are a disaster."

Chaos squirmed in his grip. "I-I couldn't do it! I knew them!"

"And now you don't get to feed," Thiesel hissed, forcing her to look at Tarma with Vayeate. "You see THAT? THIS is your future—showing sympathy toward your prey will earn you NOTHING."

"B-but you don't show sympathy towards anything!" She was disgusted by the sight, and then at herself... because her fuel tank knotted even tighter with hunger. "I can pick my own future, NOT YOU."

Clout made a sick squelching sound, drawing off the feeding frenzy to bare his fangs and arch his back—like a cat stretching. He was shaking violently, covered in energon and licking his fingers. "S-sooo good, so—so good..." He dove back into the frey, tearing at Mercurious’ throat. Herra made a squealing noise, Felch was sucking loud enough to make Chaos' stomach churn, and Hesk growling and gnawing at the part of Mercy’s wrist he had finally gotten hold of... but when Felch had moved too close, the desert-mech he snarled and snapped at him like a rabid dog.

This is what Oblivion must have looked like.

"What a pity—then you can STARVE!" Thiesel threw her back to the ground, huffing angerily.

Chaos hit the rocky ground with a clank and a grunt. She picked up her helm and torso by, shakily, propping up herself up on her hands. "I'd r-rather starve then cooperate with you..."

She finally got a good look at Tarma feeding, and he was by far the worst. Energon was spattered everywhere, and he had bitten multiple holes into Vayeate’s hollow shell, showing just he desperately hungry he was. Her optics suddenly trailed down, down to the little pools of still-warm energon that leaked from the blue twin’s broken body. She took in its brilliant cobalt color, that little bit of steam that rose from it when it hit the cool air... it suddenly looked so good.

Good enough to lap right off the floor.

Thiesel must've noticed her staring. He hissed, glowering at Chaos as she surveyed. "WELL!?"

His voice snapped her back to reality. With disgust—mostly in herself—she looked away from the sight and snarled at him. Chaos fumbled at the ground, gripping a fist-sized rock and swinging it at him with as much force as she could muster, hard enough for Thiesel not to expect it. It ended up striking him upside the helm, leaving a nick. "YOU HEARD ME, YOU BASTARD!"

Thiesel squawked, staggering backward from the blow. He glowered at her, baring his fangs, making as if to lunge for her. "Why YOU—!"

There was a loud hiss, followed by a dark, menacing growl. It didn’t belong to anyone Chaos recognized, and the sound itself carried over disorder of the vampires’ feeding. The rock formation behind Tarma started to shift as the rubble parted. It wasn't until the second head lifted from the debris that Chaos was able to recognize what—who—it was...

Her engine skipped a rotation. This day was just full of nasty surprises. "TARMA! MOVE!"

The larger vampire, now that he had fed, was more cognate and in control. He was almost back to his calm, collected self, and with Vayeate’s prone shell still suspended in his arms, he slowly turned to Chaos—unaware of the rapidly rising threat behind him. "What—?"

Epyon moved faster than he could react—faster than Chaos could properly warn him. The wyvern was considerably weaker without the powers of his victims, but his jaws were sufficient enough. He latched down onto Tarma's shoulder before the vampire could move away, hefting him up easily while the other head lunged for his arm, attempting to tear him in two.

Chaos should've known better. If Mercurious and Vayeate were still alive—after they had previously been ABSORBED by Epyon—then that should have been enough of a hint that Epyon was still alive, as well.

Thiesel swore. "THE BESERKER EPYON!"

"ARRRGGGHHHH!!" Tarma howled in pain and dropped Vayeate’s body to pry the dragon's jaws off of his shoulder—and even with his tremendous strength, he still couldn't pull the wyvern off of him. He grunted in pain, trying to free himself, catching sight of that second head aiming for his arm. The mech froze—terrified.

Everyone watched in horror.

Except for Chaos.

She was trained for battle. This is what she was made for—to fight on a whim's notice and win. Professor Gerbera had programmed her excellently, and she wasn’t considered one of his better creations for no reason. Her battle computer flashed online faster than she could comprehend, and before she could even keep tabs of her own body, the small femme was charging for Epyon's second head. Professor Gerbera had designed very her well, indeed.

Before the second head could clamp onto Tarma’s arm, Chaos leapt up and latched onto the monster's neck. She clawed at the base of Epyon’s second head viscously, roaring. "PUT. HIM. DOWN!"

Epyon must have recognized her. He immediately tossed Tarma into the wall and tried to shake her off, his first—now freed—head trying to snap at her. The angle was awkward however, and rather than snatching her up and killing her, he could only snap his jaws and flail awkwardly. His greatest assets in wyvern-mode, his two heads, were now his undoing. Given the position of his necks, he couldn’t quite turn his heads properly toward one another. There was no way—unless he rolled—for him to get Chaos off. His optics flared furiously, albeit weakly. He was in no better shape than the twins had been, and now he had bitten off more than he could chew. "De...vour..."

Herra shrieked, dodging out of the way as Tarma came flying for them. As did Clout and Felch. Hesk was not nearly so fortunate as the much larger vampire slammed into him full force, smashing him into the wall. The desert-mech swore when his larger clan-mate slammed into him, smacking his helm into the wall. "DAMN IT TARMA!"

Clout staggered. He suddenly sounded a little more sober—a little more like Clout and less like Chessy. "Is that EPYON!?"

Chaos hadn't noticed the action going on around her: she was completely focused on the task at hand—whatever the task was. She wasn’t strong enough to snap his neck, nor did she have access to her peep-saber or handgun. She clung to Epyon and struggled to stay on for dear life, her only advantage being her newly acquired vampiric strength. Desperate to force him out of his dragon form where she could more easily subdue him, she retracted her faceplate and bit down onto the soft plating just beneath his head hard, causing warm energon to spray everywhere as she hit something important. Epyon was beaten before—she could beat him again.

But then the warm, sweet energon hit her neglected, dry mouth. It... it tasted so good...

Epyon screamed—and it was a scream. Not a roar, not a howl, a scream. The dragon-spirit began thrashing violently, throwing his heads back and forth in a much more desperate attempt to shake her off. His dangerous sword-tail slashed and whipped upward to try and hit her, succeeding only in destroying several boulders and nearly taking off Felch's head as the green mech ducked out of the rampaging spirit’s way. "Get off! DEVOUR!"

Clout screeched, and before anyone could stop him, he was jumping into the fray as well. He latched to Epyon's front, sinking his own fangs into the shadow spirit's armor to give Chaos some much needed back up. He drew off only to shout to her—his voice frantic. He had come to her rescue. "SPITFIRE!"

Tarma struggled to stand, holding his damaged shoulder. "Clout, don't—ARRGH!" He fell back down onto his knees, clutching his injury.

"CLOUT?!" Chaos sputtered. His voice pulled her away for a brief moment.

Someone else was in harm’s way. Her friend was in harm’s way. Yes, she would admit that now without hesitation—Clout was her friend. The epiphany gave her clarity, and luck.

Primus was on her side now—she pulled away, bit down again, and hit the main fuel line for the head she was assaulting. Epyon roared in pain, throwing his head down in a powerful stroke. Chaos couldn't move in time and she was slammed into the ground, grinding her back plates against the stony surface and forcing her to let go.

Herra shrieked, rushing forward to aid into the melee as well. She latched onto one of Epyon's wings as the dragon-spirit began to transform into his mech form. This only caused him to bleed faster as he tossed Clout off... only to have the smaller vampire mech, roll, lunge back, and reattach himself seconds later. Epyon now had two vampires hanging off of him as he struggled forward, dragging his sword behind him.

"Must.... must..."

Chaos used the momentum of being dragged to her advantage, rolling gracefully onto her knees. She bled horribly as her back arched, but she hardly cared. The taste of Epyon's energon lingered on her glossa. That and her clan mates—her friends—were in trouble. She looked up and locked onto her prey, and her optics flashed red.

Predator mode.

The Newborn snarled and leapt at him like a wild cat with her fangs bared. Epyon saw her coming and raised his sword to impale her through the belly, but he missed. His sword just scraped past her side, leaving nothing but a neat, perfect little slice. Had he been at full strength, she would have been absorbed—but Epyon’s weakness was his undoing. The purple femme was on him in seconds, opening her mouth wide, and biting down. Hard. Her fangs easily severed dozens of fuel lines, including his primary fuel line—the one leading directly to his already frail fuel pump.

Epyon staggered. The mech stared straight up, already drained from his previous injuries. He stood perfectly still for a moment longer before falling to his knees—the fight in him completely gone.

Clout hissed, immediately latching onto the back of his neck. Herra latched to his shoulder. They immediately proceeded to feed on instinct.

In the background, Thiesel simply stared.

Chaos wouldn't pull away. She gripped Epyon's helm and bit down harder before sharply pulling her head back, ripping his throat out cleanly. The dark mech let loose a hideous screech and flailed weakly as the smaller femme refused to stop her assault. With the bulk of his neck cables gone she dove back in, latching her fangs onto his air-intake cable. She bit down harder and harder. Epyon let loose a wheeze, his optics flared...

And then the wyvern spirit fell to the ground, face first. There was an exhale, then nothing. Chaos Cammerce, the newborn vampire of Thiesel Thyme's Clan, had snuffed Epyon.

Hesk, after managing to wiggle out of the tight space between Tarma and the wall, let loose a terrified stammer. "Holy—holy shit..."

Felch was shaking—both from the combined urge to feed on the new mech and from fear. "She just killed a shadow-spirit..."

Thiesel, again, continued to say nothing.

Herra finally snapped back first—completely full, both from Mercurious and now Epyon. She stood up and stepped back, wiping her mouth, watching the scene as she became fully aware of what was happening again. "P-Primus..."

The Gundamess that had stolen everyones' attention was completely oblivious to it. Chaos pulled off of Epyon for some air, standing—heaving—as she wiped her mouth clean with her forearm. Now she looked like the predator she'd feared of becoming, stained in bright blue, scuffed, sweating... at least until she looked down.

The sight of energon smeared on her arm made her sputter with a start. Her optics, previously narrowed to slits, rounded again. Her face paled and her killer instincts were snuffed in an instant. She looked horrified. She'd killed with her teeth—like an ANIMAL. What the hell was wrong with her? "Oh-- oh PRIMUS. I'm s-so sorry! I didn't mean to--!"

"You just saved Tarma's life and you're apologizing?" Herra looked stunned. "Chaos, you..."

Clout pulled back from his own feeding frenzy, finally full as well. He grinned brightly. "THAT WAS AMAZING! Spitfire, THIS was a quality kill! Why are you stopping? You don't nearly look half-full!"

Felch was making an indistinguishable noise in the background, looking between Epyon and Chaos frantically. He went mostly ignored, although Hesk shot him a glare.

Above everything else, Thiesel perhaps looked the most shocked. He was STILL staring, completely lost for words.

Tarma clutched his shoulder and was quite a bit of pain, but he was finally able to stand. "Y-you save me! Chaos, why are you s-sorry for that? I... I owe you my LIFE."

"And why the hell are you not feeding?!" Hesk suddenly sounded annoyed. He pointed to Epyon's corpse accusingly—they'd starved for months. Like Oblivion he was going to let the newest wimp let it rot! "Don't you dare tell me that you're going to waste that!"

"Yes.” Thiesel said slowly, looking off to the side. He wasn't looking at anyone. "It's your kill after all, Chaos."

Clout was cackling. "Mmm, Chaos needs to kill high ranking spirits more often, this one is DELICIOUS~"

"I... I'm not hungry," Chaos said quietly—submissively. She locked her sights to the ground and stepped away from her kill. "I want you guys to have it. I... I don't want it."

Hesk's optics brightened as he exchanged glares between her and their newest meal. He grinned. "Well if you say so~"

Tarma snorted and puffed out his chest. He gave the smaller mech a thud on the back as a warning. "Hesk, you nasty leech, finish one of the others off first! Let the femme have her prize, for Goddess' sake..."

Thiesel snorted, turning and glaring at Chaos. "Yes. Chaos, it’s your kill and you're still hungry. Feed until you're full, or you won't get anything next time."

"You knooooow you want to~" Clout sniggered going in for a second bite, his mouth dripping with energon. "C'moooon Chaos~"

She didn't have much of a choice. Chaos, with an uneasy look on her face, got down on her knees and picked up one of Epyon's wrists. She was hungry, and she didn't want to go hungry. It was time to stop avoiding her destiny—she was a vampire now. Nothing was going to change that. Not a nonexistent cure, not the Gundam Force, nothing. Either she could accept it, or she could starve and be snuffed like poor Mercurious and Vayeate... and after what they went through, after she couldn’t save them, she couldn't let them down like that.

There was a moment of hesitation on her part... and then she slowly bit down into Epyon’s wrist and inhaled.

She had finally accepted what she'd become.

Herra had already retreated to Tarma's aid. Felch, meanwhile, regrouped with Hesk. Clout giggled and patted Chaos on the helm before resuming his own newfound meal, leaving Thiesel to stand—alone—in the middle of the room with a stupid expression.

Things had changed.

And they would keep changing.

TBC...

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