==> NI: Be the Heiress [Bel]

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]His fingers were starting to go cold and numb, blackness pulsing at the edges of his vision as if it wished to consume him whole.

"Hah. I guess that's fine if...," he began, a wave of dizziness hitting him from nowhere.
He could taste the salty sting of blood in his mouth. Not much, but enough for him to notice.

"If I don't..."

He let his eyes close. It was simply too much effort to keep them open. As he tried to inhale he began falling forward, unable to keep himself upright. He caught himself only by reflex, reaching out to grab onto Isixis and causing her to stumble back a few inches.

He rested his head on her shoulder, careful not to skewer her with his horns.

"Fuck it up," he rasped, pressing his now bloody lips against her gilled neck.

[isixis]

==>

Isixis watched as Belial started to get weary and weak. She tilted her head and reacted accordingly when he stumbled forward, shifting her weight to try and support him. He was mumbling something, and Isixis strained her ears to hear. She wasn't sure what she was doing, what he was doing, or what was going on at all. She just knew that strange rust-colored blood was getting all over him and all over her.

And it kind of excited her.

She felt his lips against her neck and wondered if that intentional or if he was just collapsing into her. Either way the warmth of the blood masked the deathly cool that was setting in and she felt what she could only describe as enjoyment from it. There was a moment of pause as she looked down to consider him.

A wry grin spread across her face. "1f y0u c011apse 0n me n0w y0u're g01ng t0 wake up w1th r0b0t1c appendages." she promised with a soft and breathy tone she wasn't expecting.

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]"Then I'd better not collapse," he mumbled, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

He struggled to pull himself back up, blinking a few times and fighting off the exhaustion. He'd been worse off than this before, so why now? Why did he want nothing more than to collapse and never move again?

He weakly raised a hand, rubbing his face and leaving a long smear of blood behind. Ah, his head felt awful. Everything was pulsing now and he could feel what blood he had left rushing to his face. Dark red tinted his cheeks, making him look a bit more alive than he felt.

Leaning in closer, he clumsily pressed his lips against Isixis', his large teeth getting in the way of a proper kiss.

[isixis]

==>

Truthfully she kind of wanted him to collapse. The thought of extracting his arms, of that rust-colored blood all over her operating table, all over her clothes, and then the glorious robotic arms she could create for him. The stuff she could load into them. Blades, guns, a grappling hook, smoke screen, he would never lose a fight in his life!

He would be her champion, her best creation! From lowly rustblood to the chosen of the heiress. A story for the ages.

Then there was a bitter, salty taste against her lips and she realized exactly what was happening. Her eyes opened wide as he awkwardly kissed her and she found herself, oddly, not utterly repulsed by the act. In fact she did nothing to stop it, maybe even a little to encourage it, her eyelids lowering as her surprise softened. She might have to do something about those teeth, too, when he was on the table.

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]Belial closed his eyes once more. What little light there was in the room was hurting his eyes and his eyelids had grown heavy. His whole head was heavy.

"Can we... talk about you not disassembling me later?" he slowly inquired, pulling away.

He raised a hand to his throat, carefully running his fingertips over the shredded flesh. He hissed and quickly pulled his hand away. Yeah, that wasn't going to be pretty in a few days, if he didn't totally bleed out that was. He hoped Isixis knew the basics of using medical supplies and that she didn't turn him into a monster while he was unconscious.

And then everything was black, his body heavily falling over.

[isixis]

==> NI: Make your champion

He drew away from her and asked something sluggishly. Isixis blinked as he fell forward limply. She reached out to catch him but he was far too heavy for her so all she managed to do was get herself covered with that exquisite rust-colored blood. She stared down at her hoodie as he landed with a thump and considered it, then thought about what he said.

"Sure, we'11 ta1k ab0ut 1t 1ater," she murmured with a wide grin, staring down at his prone form. She had told him what her intentions were, so this was basically a form of consent, right? She already had specs running through her head for what kind of gizmos and gadgets she could load into an animatronic arm. She would take a rustblood and turn him into something mighty, and show the rest of Alternia how dated and useless the hemospectrum was.

They should all unite against the greenbloods anyway.

A few quick commands into the computer set a large group of skuttlebots to work. Moving as one they picked up Belial's limp form and carried them toward her lab. As a second thought Isixis quickly caught up to them and reattached the air filtration mask, and tied the rag around his neck to stop the bleeding. Couldn't have him dying on her. Her hoodie was already covered in bloodstains so she wouldn't need an apron. "Y0u'11 be thank1ng me f0r th1s, Rusty," she murmured as she began to collect parts.

--fade out--

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]He knew something wasn't right, even before he was fully awake. It started as the darkness slowly creeping away and his consciousness slowly surfacing again, him becoming aware that he wasn't at home in his recuperacoon or passed out on the couch. Soon he opened his eyes, squinting against the lights above him. He tried to push himself up but only managed to fall over. A strange sensation came to him, like something was missing. Something was wrong, horribly awfully wrong.

Hitting the ground, he heard a metallic clang and looked down in horror at the things coming out of his shoulders. All he could do was stare, eyes wide in shock. He couldn't even force a scream out of himself he was so completely shocked. All he could manage was collapsing onto the floor, his cheek against the cold tile.

This was just a nightmare. That had to be it.

[isixis]

==> NI: Greet the champion

Isixis was there when he awoke and she watched his awkward rise. Okay, maybe that was not the kind of rise a true champion deserved, but he had new limbs, it would take some getting used to, some adjustments had to be made. It may not be as great as it would've been in a story, but this wasn't a story! This was real and she had the beginnings of the Rusty Champion in the works right before her.

She squat down on the ground beside him and grinned. Isixis was covered almost head to toe with the rust-colored blood and it was glorious. Such an exquisite color that she had never seen before, she couldn't get enough of it. She didn't even bother changing after she had performed the operation, though that was because she was also a bit weak by the time it was all said and done.

"H0w d0 y0u 11ke them? 0h, and, um, d0n't pan1c 0r anyth1ng but y0u d1d d1e f0r a m0ment dur1ng the 0perat10n," Isixis explained, rubbing the back of her head bashfully. "1 th1nk 1 n1cked an artery 0r s0meth1ng. Y0u b1ed 0ut rea11y fast, as y0u can see." She tugged on the front of her hoodie to display the bloodstains. "But d0n't w0rry, 1 r1gged up a qu1ck transfus10n. S0me sa11ne s01ut10n . . . we11 s0me seawater kept y0u g01ng 10ng en0ugh f0r me t0 get my 0wn b100d pump1ng. Turns 0ut we're a pretty g00d match."

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]"I..." Belial spluttered out, struggling to sit up, "I..."

Words were lost and he was having trouble pulling any coherent thoughts together. He finally managed to push himself up, his arms shaking. He hated them. He hated them but he just felt so numb right now. He couldn't even properly express how he felt.

"Why," was all he could manage to choke out.

[isixis]

==>

Isixis stared into her champion's face as he no doubt had an existential crisis around how awesome he had become. From a lowly rustblood to this. She smirked as he struggled to find the words to thank her, but she didn't need any thanks. When his question came out she knew he felt honored to have been chosen by her. They were close now; she had created him and her blood ran through his veins along with his own.

"Why? We11 why n0t? Y0ur 01d arms d1d n0th1ng but hurt y0urse1f, as d1sp1ayed ear11er, and they were weak. These are awes0me. They're h00ked up t0 y0ur centra1 nerv0us system s0 w1th s0me pract1ce y0u'11 be ab1e t0 use a11 the1r features w1th 0n1y a th0ught! 1 a1s0 have synthes1zed nerves runn1ng thr0ugh them 1f y0u'd 11ke t0 get s0me fee11ng. 1 f1gured 1t was best t0 have that part turned 0ff t0 start." She explained it all with a matter-of-fact tone, like there was nothing wrong.

Because there wasn't. "Y0u were a 10w1y rustb100d and n0w y0u have my 0wn fuchs1a b100d 1n y0ur ve1ns, y0u're my ch0sen 0ne and y0u sh0u1d be h0n0red!" She paused for a moment, reveling in her own mastery, and perhaps still a bit euphoric from the blood loss she'd incurred during the transfusion. "Y0u're my champ10n!"

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]He hesitantly raised one arm and then brought his fist down, smashing the floor and leaving a small crater.

"Holy fucking shit," he stated, staring at the shattered tiles, "I think... I think I need to go home and..."

God, this was fucking... upsetting in the most profound way. He was pretty sure he was close to just flipping the fuck out like there was no tomorrow. And if he did flip and murder Isixis, there might not be a tomorrow.

"You know. Get used to this," he stated calmly.

[isixis]

==>

There was a large hole in her floor where his fist landed. Isixis watched calmly as he adjusted himself to his new strength, a wide grin across her blood-smeared face. She didn't care about the damage, she had bots that could fix that when they left the room. A lot of greenbloods had found themselves in there and fought to get free, so she'd long ago learned having some maintenance was very handy.

His words, though, caused a small sting somewhere in her chest. She pouted at him as he rose, straightening herself out alongside him. "But . . . what ab0ut . . . us?" she murmured sadly, wondering if he really wanted to go home. Perhaps it was just him feeling dizzy or something. He probably wasn't quite himself yet after such a major operation. She'd been clean but perhaps he needed some time to recover.

"1 have a guest h1ve 1f y0u want t0 stay there. 1 can dra1n 1t f0r y0u. 1'm n0t sure 1f S1enderb0t w111 be w1111ng t0 d0 a p1ck-up and dr0p 0ff," she offered, hoping he would stay around so that they may continue exploring whatever was happening between them. "And y0u m1ght need s0me ca11brat10ns and f1ne tun1ng d0ne bef0re they're perfect," she pleaded as a last resort.

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]He inhaled and held his breath for a few seconds, slowly exhaling and trying to keep himself calm.

"If I don't leave I am going to end up killing you," he stated flatly, voice devoid of any emotion, "Don't take that the wrong way, I just... need to sort things out. We can talk later."

He looked down at his arms again. He sort of wondered where his real arms went. Having these cold metal things attached to him felt wrong, like part of him was missing. Which in fact, part of him was missing. Even if, logically, his new arms were superior he just couldn't adjust to them. He hated robots. He hated all but the most basic of electronics. The fact that these things were a fairly permanent part of him made him feel all kinds of wrong.

"I assure you I'll come back," he stated, staring down at his hand as he moved his new fingers.

[isixis]

==>

Isixis blinked for a moment at Belial's words, then started to laugh. "That's a sweet n0t10n and a11, but y0u can't k111 me," she said, clearly stifling a much more robust fit of laughter that wanted to burst out of her. "Y0u're we1c0me t0 try, but 1 mean 1t's phys1ca11y 1mp0ss1b1e f0r y0u t0 k111 me n0w."

She reached over and tapped on of the arms. "1 add safety pr0t0c01s t0 a11 0f my mach1nes s0 that they can never harm me." She shrugged, her hands falling behind her head to rest against the back of her neck lazily. "Y0urs were n0 except10n. 1 can't have my greatest weap0n turn aga1nst me after a11!" It was pretty obvious to her, but then he clearly didn't understand robots or he wouldn't be so revolted.

[al]

[style=width: 400px; align: center; padding: 10 15; background: url(http://i.imgur.com/eWZa5.png); border: 10px solid #0a000a; font-size: 11px; font-family: Lucida Sans Unicode; font-weight: 0; color: #000000; text-align: justify;]He rolled his eyes.

"I would find a way, I'm sure," he said, dropping his hand down to his side, "And if I don't leave soon you are going to regret it. Unfortunately I've no clue as to how to get back to land from here, so I kindly ask you to call Slenderbot back or find another means to return me to my hive."