Survive the Monster (Hamilton fic)

APPRENTICE ENDING/BEAST ENDING

The Monster caught James, and his friends were forced to retreat without him. James squirmed and struggled in The Monster's grasp. He screamed insults and curse words at him as loud as possible. Eventually, The Monster got extremely tired of that and summoned a purple bubble around his head. It muffled him, but he could still slightly hear him.

"Could you get any more annoying?" The Monster hissed. He grabbed both of James's wrists in one hand and was about to drag him to the dungeon but stopped. The Monster looked at James. "You may be an annoying mortal... But you have potential."

"I'm not mortal!" James shouted at him. The Monster reluctantly got rid of the bubble and grabbed James's cheeks.

The Monster whispered, "Have you ever wanted to be like the rest of the people at your camp? Look at you. Always stuck as a human. You can learn as much magic and fighting as you want, but you'll always be just a little mortal." James struggled in his grasp, but not as violently as before. The Monster smirked. "You know that, don't you, little sheep?" He let go of James, seeing that his struggling ended.

James huffed, "I'm fine the way I am! I don't need to be changed to be better than you!" The Monster laughed at that. His laughing was quickly replaced with a scowl as he levitated James and threw him at the opposite wall. James yelped like a kicked puppy.

"You're weak! Even with the powers you hold now, you're just a weak human with vulnerable skin and a shriveled up soul." The Monster watched James slowly get back to his feet. His stance was shaky however. Rather than attacking him again, The Monster simply levitated James over and held him still. "I was like you once."

"Oh yeah I bet did you cuddle a pillow at night too?" James snapped, not realizing that he just outed himself on cuddling with a pillow at night.

The Monster snickered and, to make James' stupidity seem less extreme, said, "Oh of course. I still do."

"Ha ha real funny." James snapped.

The Monster got serious and said, "James, I could give you all of the powers you want. You have more potential than I've ever seen in anybody else. You have a gift that could be something amazing if you'd just let me unlock it for you. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be this powerful?" He gestured to his castle and guards. "To have everything you want and need in life?" James was considering it, like a fool.

He thought of what Aaron would do in this situation. "It would get boring," He blurted, "And lonely. If you refuse to let anybody be your equal then you'll have nobody brave enough to talk to you." The Monster almost faltered at that. James was spending too much time around Aaron if he was saying smart things like that off the bat.

"Listen, James," The Monster sighed, "Listen to your heart. Honestly, have you thought about this before? This kind of power that everybody else has but you? Being able cast magic without thinking about it? Being able to learn something without training for weeks on end?" James looked away. "James, I am giving you a one time opportunity to be an equal with me. To run this place maybe even as good as I do. I know I'm asking a lot of questions like this, but have you ever thought about being an apprentice to somebody in power?"

James, when he was younger, used to have reoccurring dreams of Washington adopting him and him being his favorite son. Sometimes even dreams of his family and Alex's switching spots. "I mean," James mumbled, "I- I did think about leading the village once. W-With my family." The Monster sighed.

"Right, your family. Your father was a businessman, walked out when you were only 5. Your mother died four years later in a mysterious fire that was caused by seemingly nothing." The Monster said. James squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to listen to that. The Monster continued, "I can't speak for them, but I am sure that they would want you doing this. They would be so proud of you to be doing something like this. Running a kingdom! A whole entire wood listening to your order." He shrugged, "Well, that is if you worked your way up as my co-king. Which probably wouldn't take long."

James whispered, "I don't wanna hurt people."

The Monster whispered softly, his eyes glowing brightly, "You won't. Join me, James. Let me awaken that power that I know you have in you." James stepped a bit closer. The Monster chuckled and grabbed James's wrists. He dug his nails into his skin and bit down on his neck. James screamed in pain, his eyes wide open with fear. The Monster put half of his soul into James' body and then took part of James's soul and put it into his own body.

The Monster pulled away and James collapsed on the ground. He held his chest and head in pain, groaning and whining. His eyes filled with tears. "Wh-What did you- AH!" James's hands changed. They grew into sharp gold claws. James felt his teeth grow sharp and his body get bigger. He gasped for breath. His sight changed, and now everything was in different shades of a soft gold color. The Monster simply watched from the sidelines, his grin wider than ever.

The transformation was complete. James was bigger, and bit more buff, but was still shorter than The Monster. He had horrible claws, teeth, and wings to fit the whole look. "Why don't you have wings?" James asked tiredly.

James yawned as The Monster replied, "I keep them hidden, but I do in fact have wings." The Monster summoned a collar and leash around James' neck and ordered, "Come. We have to get you trained as my new apprentice." James obediently followed The Monster downstairs to his study.