A Tragic Creation 3: At Pepperland's End

Chapter 6: Danger

Jeremy shook uncontrollably in Randel's arms as the creature rose before them all, staring down at them with a seething hate.

"So, I take it that all of you would like to see what this liquid, as you so call it, is?"

Max's body tensed.

"L-listen to me! It's not good! It... It's-"

"Shut up!"

The creature snarled at Max, making the Chief hide the blue meanie behind him.

"I don't know what it is that you plan to do, but you really think that you can bring us down? We all know your weakness!"

It laughed.

"Oh, I'm going to do something different this time, but.... first..."

Randel shook as the creature turned to face him.

"There's something I'd like to do. Just to make myself look... more interesting than this."

"W-what!?" John shouted, not knowing what the figure meant.

Before anyone else could voice their concerns, an orb of darkness quickly grew outwards from the creature's chest, covering it within seconds. 

Loud grunts followed as the orb became larger, causing everyone to step back even further.

Once the orb was about as big as a person, it receded quickly, and the sight almost made Randel drop Jeremy in shock.

The figure's grey body was gone, replaced by Randel's own body, even though its colours were very dark and faded. There was a black sun on the tie, and that alone brought chills down everyone's spine.

 The creature's arms remained the same, but the most striking feature were the bright, sharp teeth and dark grey eyes, which stared Randel down.

"See?" The creature spoke, "I like this form a lot more."

Suddenly, the four-headed bulldog began to bark wildly, stopping just in front of the puddle as each head glared up at the figure.

It tilted its head.

"Ay, get away from there!" A blue meanie shouted, going towards the dog.

But, before he could get to the animal, the puddle's shape shifted, causing it to become much narrower as it flowed toward the dog.

"Here's what I'm going to do now," the creature stated darkly.

Everyone froze as the thick black liquid engulfed one of the bulldog's paws, and it let out a whine in response.

However, colour quickly began to drain from the animal.

"N-No!" Max shouted, and the Chief had to stop him from rushing forward.

Once all of the dog's colour was gone, it lifted its paw up, only for the liquid to make its way up its leg.

The dog suddenly broke out in a panic, falling onto the ground as the liquid seemed to grow in size, and it now covered the entire leg as it made its way over the dog's body.

Screams began to echo throughout the area as more puddles of black liquid appeared everywhere.

The Dreadful Flying Glove suddenly found itself lack energy to move, and only then did it sense something gooey drip off of its greying body.

It took off flying, trying to throw it off.

"L-lads..." Paul quivered, shaking John out of his trance.

Slowly, John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Randel all turned around, only to see that the yellow submarine, which rested atop the pyramid structure in the far-off distance, was slowly being covered with more dark liquid.

When a loud whine emitted from the bulldog, they all turned back.

Paul covered his mouth and screamed.

The dog was in a massive dark puddle, only one head sticking out it. It whined, even as the liquid slowly covered its mouth.

Far away, the Dreadful Flying Glove fell, now nothing more than a giant ball of dark slime. As it hit the ground, the liquid spread out, and the implications of that finally let everyone break out of their frozen state.

Shaking, Randel looked up at the figure, tears of fear starting to form in his eyes.

It was only then that he noticed that the mountains in the distance were half-covered in the same liquid.

"I told you that you didn't have a chance."

Ringo took a hold of Randel's shoulder and started to pull him back.

The creature flew up into the air, and it let a loud laugh as the liquid came spilling off of the mountains.

George took in a deep breath.

"RUN!"