zondag 11 december 2016

Story by Thijn Vrieling

Lieve lezers,
Op deze aparte blog van de schoolkrant is het verhaal van Thijn Vrieling, waarvan telkens een stukje in de krant verschijnt, verder te lezen! Het boek is nog niet af, dus het heeft tot nu toe nog een open einde, maar dan hoef je in elk geval minder in spanning af te wachten! Veel leesplezier!


Story: The Great Huminal War - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Personal Problem (Prologue)

After a long day of work, a short man with glasses named Victor finally left his office. His company, VicMeat, had suffered a great loss during the months prior. Despite this, Victor was still determined to deliver the best meat he possibly could. However, Victor knew that if he kept working as much as he did to get his company back on track, the stress would eventually get to him. Because of this, he planned on taking a few weeks off and going on a vacation with his family.
“Hey, Victor!”
Victor turned around. The person talking to him was Jonathan Campbell, the vice-CEO of VicMeat. Victor gave him permission to lead the company during the time in which he would be gone.
“Hey, Jonathan. What is it?” Victor asked.
“I just came to say goodbye, that’s all,” Jonathan said. “You must be really tired.”
“You bet,” Victor replied. “Managing the company has been driving me nuts lately. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to keep working without taking a few weeks off, so I did just that. Let’s just hope everything goes well while you’re in charge.”
“Don’t worry, Victor! I can assure you that nothing will go wrong under my leadership! Who knows, I might even be better at this job than you are.”
“That’s a good one.”
Jonathan laughed. “Victor with a great sense of humor, as usual! Well, I’ll see you in a few weeks!”
Victor made his way towards the exit. When he arrived at his car, he entered, and rested for a while. Finally some silence. His rest was cut short thanks to his phone, however. It was his wife, Olivia. He picked up his phone.
“Hi, Victor!”
“Hi, honey. Are you home yet?”
“No, we’re still at Tim’s house.”
Tim was Victor’s best friend, who he had known since college. He was also a good friend of Olivia.
“I’m driving home right now,” Victor said. “I’ll be there in a while.”
“In that case, I’ll be leaving Tim’s place in a few minutes.”
“Can I speak with Jenny for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Victor heard Olivia calling Jenny, Victor’s six year-old daughter. He waited for a moment.
“Hi, daddy!”
“Hey, Jenny! Are you excited for the vacation?”
“I sure am! It’s been such a long time since we last went on a vacation! Will you finally tell me where we will be going?”
Victor hadn’t told Jenny where they would be going, because he thought that keeping it a secret until they arrived would make it more fun for her.
“Sorry, but that would ruin the surprise,” Victor told her.
“Aww, please?”
Victor figured that a hint wouldn’t hurt. “Okay, I’ll give you a hint. It’s a place you always wanted to go to.”
“France? It’s France, isn’t it?!”
“That’s the only hint you’ll get. Can I talk with your mom for a second?”
Victor heard Jenny letting out a sigh. She was clearly disappointed that Victor didn’t tell her everything. “Fine…”
After a short silence, Olivia was on the phone again.
“She figured it out,” Victor said.
“Let’s just hope it makes her happy. I better be going. See you at home! Love you!”
“Love you!”
Victor hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

Victor pulled up in front of his house after a short drive. Thanks to the fact that he was a millionaire, he was able to afford one of the most fancy mansions in the world. He noticed something strange when he left his car, however; nobody seemed to be at home. Victor unlocked the door to his house and entered.
“Honey, I’m home!”
Nobody responded. He figured that they were probably still at Tim’s place, which was only a few blocks away, so he decided to wait for a while.

Fifteen minutes had passed, but Olivia and Jenny were not home yet. Victor started becoming slightly unnerved. What if something had happened to them? He decided to call Tim. Perhaps they were still at his house. The phone rang three times before Tim answered.
“This is Tim. Who am I speaking with?”
“Tim, it’s me, Victor.”
“Oh, hey Victor. Is something wrong? You sound nervous.”
For a second Victor didn’t know what to say.
“Are Olivia and Jenny still over at your house?” Victor asked.
“No, they left about an hour ago. Why?”
Victor started panicking. If they weren’t at Tim’s house, where could they possibly be?
“Victor, please tell me what’s going on. You don’t sound like your usual self.”
“They’re not home yet, Tim!”
There was a short silence.
“Seriously, Victor? That’s it?”
“What if something has happened to them? Maybe they’re...”
“Relax, Victor. They’re probably shopping downtown, or something. I think the stress has gotten to your head.”
Victor thought about what Tim had just said for a second. Maybe he was right.
“Hey Victor, I have to go. I need to get ready for my nightshift. Have a good one, and don’t worry too much.”
“I won’t, thanks.”
Victor hung up.

Another fifteen minutes of waiting had gone by, but Olivia and Jenny still weren’t home. This is driving me insane, Victor thought. He realized he had to take some form of action. But what could he do? Victor was almost completely helpless in this situation.
“Call them. Of course, just call them! Why didn’t I think of that before?”
Victor rushed towards his phone, almost tripping in the process. He quickly dialed Olivia’s number and pushed the call button. Victor waited for a few seconds.
“Hi, this is Olivia. I’m busy at the moment, so leave a message.”
"Damn it!" Victor almost threw his phone at the wall out of frustration, but he managed to hold himself back from actually doing it. He decided to leave a message.
“Olivia, this is Victor. Where are you two? You were supposed to be home already. I’m worried about you. Please call me back as soon as you can!”
It was then that Victor noticed a sealed letter lying on his desk.
“What the hell?”
Victor walked towards his desk and opened the letter. The person who had written the letter had a strange handwriting, almost reminiscent of one you would see in a horror movie. However, the message that was written scared Victor even more:

Come to the basement.
The clock is ticking, Victor. They’re waiting for you.

Victor wanted to scream. Was this some kind off sick prank? Victor was hoping that it was, but he was starting to fear that some sick individual had actually locked Olivia and Jenny in the basement. Victor ran towards his basement as fast as he could. When he arrived, he violently knocked on the door.
“Olivia?! Jenny?! Are you in there?!”
There was no response. However, Victor heard something coming from behind the door. He heard someone crying... His daughter, Jenny.
“Oh my god… Oh my god!” Victor yelled. He needed to get that door to open, and fast. He tried opening it the regular way, but it seemed to be locked, so Victor tried to open it with force. After a few minutes, Victor managed to break the lock. What Victor saw inside was something he wished he would’ve never seen.
“It’s okay, I’m here!” Victor said.
Victor saw Olivia and Jenny both tied to a chair. They both had wounds all over their body. Blood was everywhere. Their mouths were taped shut. Victor quickly untied them and removed the tape.
“It hurts, Victor...” Olivia said.
“I'm going to get an ambulance. You two have to stay here,” Victor said.
"That monster... He did such horrible things to us, Victor..."
"Who?!"
For some reason, Jenny stopped crying. Then, all of the sudden, she started screaming.
“Jenny, what’s wrong?!” Victor asked.
“He’s behind you, daddy! He came back!”
Victor turned around. Someone was standing in the hallway. Victor knew it was a man, but he couldn't make out what he looked like. Then, he started moving towards Victor. His footsteps echoed through the hallway. It was at that moment that Victor realized the person he was looking at wasn't a man at all, or even a human for that matter. What he was looking at was something else entirely. Somehow, this creature was entirely human, except for his head, which was that of a horse. He was wearing a brown hoodie, with the hood obscuring his eyes. With each step the creature took towards Victor, he started becoming more and more terrified. Victor took a few steps backwards. He was shaking. Then, when the creature was only a small distance away from Victor, he stopped. A large grin appeared on the creature's face. Then, the creature opened his mouth.
“Hello… Victor. I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” the creature said.
Victor could see the creature's eyes. They were completely black. Victor felt cold looking into them. Just from seeing those eyes, Victor knew: this creature was a complete psychopath.
“Let’s get the obvious question of what the hell you’re looking at out of the way first," the creature said. "Actually, you know what? Let’s not do that. You’ll get the answer to that question one day. After all of…" The creature looked at Olivia and Jenny. "Well... This, is over."
Victor's anger starting building up.
“Why are you doing this?”
The creature scoffed. “See, that’s another one of those questions that I can’t be bothered to answer right now. All you need to know is that I have a personal problem with you, and that this is the only way for me to solve said problem.”
“We’ve never even met before, you damn freak!”
“This is indeed the first time we’ve ever met face to face, if that’s what you meant, but you’re mistaken if you think that you and I don’t have any history together. I don’t have all the time in the world to explain everything right now, so I’ll save the details for another day.”
All Victor wanted to do was to wipe the horse's foul grin off his face.
“What did you do to them?!”
“Do you really want to know, Victor?" The horse looked at Victor, waiting for him to confirm his request. He laughed. "Fine, then. I made them live through a whole new world of pain, worse than anything you could imagine, even in your wildest dreams. I beat them to a pulp. Punched them, kicked them, cut their skin like pigs in the slaughterhouse. And of course, no torture session is complete without..."
“You... Rotten…”
“I wasn’t done yet, Victor. What I was trying to say… is that I raped them!”
Victor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His wife and his little girl were raped by this vile creature. Victor wanted to bring the creature’s life to a painful end.
The horse walked towards Jenny.
"Don't you dare!" Victor said.
The horse touched Jenny's face.
“Get your dirty hands off her!” Victor yelled.
“Tell me, little one…” the horse said. “How did it feel? To have your innocence ripped away from you?”
Jenny started crying.
“How did it feel?”
“Daddy, please! Make him go away!” Jenny said.
“Stop it, you damn monster!” Victor yelled. “I will say this once, and I won't say it again. Get out of my house this instant, or I will make you!”
“Victor, no!” Olivia yelled.
“Daddy, please don’t! He’s too strong! He’ll kill y…”
Jenny was interrupted by the maniacal laughter of the horse, sending chills down Victor’s spine.
“You’re insa…”
“And then what?!" the horse said. "Wait until I return to torture your family a second time?”
Victor squeezed his fists. “I won’t let that happen.”
“I’m sure,” the horse sarcastically replied. “I don't know how you still don't realize this, Victor. I'll spell it out for you, clear as day. Someone’s going to die today, Victor. It's going to be either you..." the horse turned around, looking at Olivia and Jenny. "...or them. Who it's going to be is your choice.”
That was the last straw. Victor wasn't taking this anymore.
"You think you can come into my house, torture my family, ask me to give my life to save them, and actually get away with it?"
Victor took a fighting stance.
"Are you challenging me, Victor?" the horse said.
Olivia and Jenny started freaking out.
"Daddy, don't! Please!" Jenny said.
The horse laughed. “Are you sure, Victor? Really sure?"
Sharp blades covered in blood came out of the horse’s fingers, further proving the fact that this wasn’t just some ordinary creature.
"Victor, don't do it!" Olivia said.
Victor remembered his martial arts training. All of that work had been leading up to this moment. Victor ran towards the creature, and jumped up in the air, attempting to jump-kick him. However, the horse easily dodged Victor's attack. Only a split-second later, Victor felt the creature’s sharp, cold blades cutting in his back.
“You fool!" The horse grabbed Victor by his head. "Did you expect me to actually fall for a pathetic technique like that? Are you really that dense?!" The horse threw Victor face down to the ground. Victor stood up, and tried to punch the horse. Before Victor was able to land his attack, however, the horse grabbed Victor's arm. He then stabbed Victor in his stomach. Victor screamed in agony, and fell on his knees.
"Stop hurting my daddy!" Jenny said.
The horse stopped. He slowly turned around. Angrily, he looked at Jenny.
"Do you want to have your throat slit, little girl?"
The horse slowly walked towards Jenny, who looked like she was more scared than she had ever been. As the horse's grin slowly appeared on his face again, he prepared himself to kill Victor's daughter.
"Stop!"
The horse stopped dead in his tracks.
"You win! Come on. Kill me. Isn't that what you want? I don't care what you do to me. But please... Leave them out of this. I beg of you."
"Are you actually trying to bargain with me?" The horse started maniacally laughing again. "You made the wrong decision, Victor. I'm afraid that this is the end of your beloved wife and daughter."
"What?!"
"No!" Olivia yelled.
“You can't do this!” Victor yelled. "They've never done anything to you!
“Victor, do you realize that by attacking me, you’ve proven to me that you don’t want to die? I told you, it’s either you or them. You chose them.”
"I won't let you..." With his last power, Victor stood up. "Do you hear me? I won't let you kill them!"
Victor ran towards the horse, once again attempting to stop him. The horse dashed towards him, and stabbed Victor multiple times. Then, he kicked him in the stomach. Victor collapsed. When he tried to stand up, he suddenly started coughing up blood. The pain was excruciating.
"No... This can't be happening..." Victor said.
"But it is. You have failed, Victor. You screwed up, and now, they have to pay the consequences."
Victor started crying. "Olivia... Jenny... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
There was a brutal silence.
"...Am I going to die...?" Jenny said.
The horse laughed. "Yes. Yes, little girl. You're going to die. You're going to meet your painful end." The horse held his blades near Jenny's head. "All because your father is a selfish prick. I really shouldn't have expected anything else from him. After all... It's why I hate him so much."
"Don't listen to him, Jenny," Olivia said. "You're going to be fine."
"Yes, Olivia. Keep telling her those lies. If you keep this up, she'll spend her last few moments not only disappointed in her father, but in her mother as well."
Olivia put her arms around Jenny. "You're disgusting."
"Ya think?"
Another painful silence.
“Alright then. Let’s start counting!” the horse said. “Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four…”
One last time, Victor tried to stop the horse, but he was too injured to move.
“Three...”
“No…”
“Two…”
"No!"
"One..."
The creature’s blades cut through the skin of Victor’s wife and daughter. Their screams echoed through the house. Victor looked in terror as his loved ones were being killed. Only a few seconds later, their screams had become silence.
“Finally. I was tired listening to them whine and scream.”
Victor looked into Olivia and Jenny’s eyes. They were dead. The horse grabbed a knife, poured Olivia and Jenny’s blood on it, and put it in Victor’s hands.
“By the way, Victor: the name is Ronnie. It’s a... pleasure to meet you.”
The horse laughed. He walked away from Victor, leaving him and the lifeless bodies of his loved ones behind.



- The end of chapter one - 

Story: The Great Huminal War - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Broken and Confused (Prologue)

Tim was sitting behind the counter of a gas-station. His job, gas-station cashier at night, had to be one of the most boring jobs ever, primarily due to the fact that there was barely anything to do. The only thing he could do was watch TV, which wasn’t exactly something Tim liked to do. However, Tim realized that he could’ve had a better job if he wouldn't have devoted his life to crime in the past, so he figured he just had to put up with it. Tim heard the phone ringing behind him right when he was about to take a toilet break. Just his luck.
“Falcon Oil. This is Tim, how can I help you?”
“Hey, Tim. It’s Gerald.”
Gerald was Tim’s neighbor, friend, and ex-partner in crime. Tim let out a sigh.
“Gerry, I told you, if you want to call me during my nightshift, call me with my personal number, not the number of the business. I won’t be able to get calls from customers that way.”
"It’s important. Something big is happening at your friend’s house. You know, the millionaire.”
Once again, Tim let out a sigh.
“You mean Vic? And what exactly makes you think it’s big enough to call me during my shift?”
“The fact that more than half of the local police department is there.”
That was a decent surprise. "I...I'm sorry, what?"
“Yeah, there's a lot of cops around here.”
"Well, what the hell happened, then?!"
"Nobody knows for sure, but people are saying someone has been murdered."
Tim nearly dropped the phone out of disbelief. "Are you serious?!"
"I already told you, I don't know for sure. Just get over here and see for yourself."
"Gerry, I swear to god, If this is another one of your 'masterful pranks', I will kill you."
Tim hung up the phone. Gerald was the type of person that liked to pull pranks like these, but something inside Tim was telling him that he really was serious this time. Secretly, though, Tim was hoping this would turn out to be a prank after all. Tim quickly hopped on his bike to check it out.

The hope that the news Gerald had just told him would turn out to just be a joke was quickly crushed when Tim arrived at Victor’s house. Many police officers were standing in front of the mansion. Gerald was standing at the fence next to the main path.
“Oh my god. You were actually serious,” Tim said.
“You thought this was another one of my jokes, Tim?”
“Your entire life seems to revolve around jokes, Gerry. At this point I’m starting to wonder why you don’t have a job as a clown at the circus.”
Tim noticed a trail of blood on the main path. He decided to ask an officer to get some answers.
“Officer, what is going on here?”
“Word of mouth has it that a murder has been committed here, but we know just as much as you do,” the officer said.
“Can’t you just break open the door?”
“There’s no point in trying. This guy has tens of locks on his door. We’ve tried going through the windows, but those are nearly unbreakable too.”
Securing his house by placing unbreakable windows and an overly large amount of locks on the door was definitely something Tim could imagine Victor doing.
“Sir, we’ve found a way in!” another officer said. “There’s a small hole next to the back door, we can easily break the wall there. Also, send some backup. It’s not looking good in there.”
“I’m on it,” the first officer said. “Sir, would you please stand back for a moment?”
“Officer, I’ve known Victor since college,” Tim said. “You should at least give me the right to see what’s going on!”
“I’m not allowed to do that, sir,” the officer replied. “Alright, men. Move in!”
“Yes, sir!”
There were ten seconds of silence.
“This is the police, drop your weapon!”
Tim could hear the voices of the officers from outside the house.
“Wait, he’s still in there?!” Tim yelled.
Tim tried to run towards the hole in the back, but Gerald was able to stop him.
“Tim, don’t risk your life for this! The police can handle themselves just fine!” Gerald said.
“Target has been neutralized, we repeat, target has been neutralized!” the police officer yelled.
The hundreds of people who had gathered at Victor’s house slowly moved towards the hole in the back to see what was really going on.
“Victor?!” Tim yelled.
Although Victor was still alive, his eyes looked just as lifeless as those of a dead man. His hands were almost completely covered in blood.
“Victor, what the hell happened in there?!”
“I’m sorry, but you are not permitted to talk to this… murderer here,” one of the officers said.
“What do you mean 'murderer'? Victor is my friend! He's no murderer!”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, sir, but this man has just murdered his wife and his daughter in cold blood.”
Two police officers left the mansion. Both of them were carrying a body bag, one big, and one small. All Tim could do was stare. He had to believe it, but he didn’t want to.
“No... No, no, no... That can't be..."
"Are you okay, sir?" one of the officers asked.
"I...I'm fine... I just... I need a moment..."
They were dead. They were really dead. Victor was right when he called: something did happen to them.
"And I told him to relax... Damn it!"
“Sir, did you know these people?” the same officer asked.
“The entire world knows who they were, you moron!” Tim yelled. He realized he had to calm down. “Yes. Yes, I knew them.”
“When was the last time you saw them?”
“Today, a few hours ago. They were at my house before they… They…”
'Got murdered' is what Tim wanted to say. He still couldn’t believe it.
“If that’s the case, you can provide us with the information we need. We’re expecting you at the police station in thirty minutes. Make sure you arrive there on time.”
The police officer left.

Thanks to the paparazzi gathering at the police station, the place was extremely crowded. Their cameras, or tools of destruction, as Victor liked calling them, had flashes bright enough to nearly make Tim’s eyes bleed. An officer, who was also clearly not amused by the cameras, approached Tim.
“Sir, please come this way,” the officer said, while trying to shield his eyes from the flashes.
The officer led Tim trough a long corridor.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Timothy Hawkins.”
Tim turned around. Standing behind him was Tony Bradbury, a middle-aged police commissioner who didn’t listen to anyone but himself. They had already met a few times after Tim was arrested for joyriding, and burgling some local stores, among other things.
“Bradbury,” Tim said.
“I should've expected you to be back here so soon. What did you get arrested for this time?” Bradbury said.
“As a matter of fact, Tony, I’m…”
“That’s commissioner Bradbury to you, Timothy!”
“Actually sir, this man is a good friend of mister Lynx,” the officer said. “He can provide us with some useful information we don’t know yet.”
“Of course he'd be friends with that delinquent. Criminals usually work together, after all." Bradbury said.
Tim would've gladly punched Bradbury in the face, but that wouldn't exactly have helped the situation at hand, so he decided to hold off on it. For a while, at least.
"I'm keeping my eyes on you, Timothy," Bradbury said.
“I’m sure you will, commissioner,” Tim said. Tim walked away. "Prick."
"What did you just say?!"
"I said..."
"C'mon, move along, sir," the officer said.
At the end of the corridor, Tim saw a big room with a few chairs in it.
“It’s in here, sir,” the officer said.
Tim took a seat. The officer grabbed a notebook, and sat down as well.
“So, mister Timothy Hawkins.”
“You can call me Tim.”
“Right. So, Tim. You told us the victims were over at your house a few hours before they died. Can you elaborate?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Why were the victims at your house?”
“They came to say goodbye. Victor, Olivia, and Jenny were supposed to go on a four-week vacation to France."
“And where was Victor at that time?”
“He was at work. I believe work was the reason he was going on that vacation to begin with.”
"I see." The officer noted a few things in his notebook. “How did you meet Victor and the victims?”
“I met Victor and Olivia during college. I dropped out halfway. They stayed, fell in love, got married and had a child.”
“Do you have any other information you think is important?”
Tim remembered Victor’s phone call.
“Yes I do. Sometime after Jenny and Olivia left, I got a phone call from Victor saying they weren’t home yet.”
“Really?" The officer made another note. "How would you describe Victor in that situation?”
“Panicked.”
“Could it have been a cover-up?”
“No, I don’t think so. Victor has never been very good at acting.”
Now that Tim thought about it, the phone call wasn’t the only thing that didn’t add up.
“Officer,” Tim said. “I don’t think Victor is the one who committed the murder.”
“And why do you think that?"
“Too many things aren’t right. Remember the hole in the back of his house? How did it get there? Besides, I've known Victor for almost 15 years now. He would never do something like this!"
"I see your point, sir. Well, that's all the info I needed. Please come this way."
Tim left the room. When he passed by Bradbury's office, he could overhear a conversation between him and another officer.
"Is Victor Lynx finally starting to talk some sense?"
"He's a total train wreck, sir. Out of all the bullshit excuses he could've come up with, he decides to go with this one: a walking, talking horse wearing a hoodie." The officer laughed. "I mean, does he even believe it himself?"
Hearing that conversation was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tim wasn't standing around while his best friend was being kept in the police department without having done anything. He opened the door to Bradbury's office.
"Commissioner Bradbury, I..."
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Timothy?!" Bradbury said. "Get out of my office right now, or I will arrest you on the spot!"
"Let me finish, commissioner! I can guarantee you that Victor is not a murderer! With the way you and your team go about things, I'm not surprised he's not telling you much!"
"You have some real nerve walking into my office and asking that! I don't care what you do. As long as you get the hell out of my office, I'm fine with anything. Officer, please escort Timothy to the interrogation room."

A broken and confused Victor was visible through the window of the interrogation room. Tim had never seen him like this before.
"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?" the officer said. "This man might be very dangerous."
"You serious?" Tim said. "Look at him. Yeah, definitely Jack the Ripper levels of dangerous right there."
"Alright then."
Tim slowly made his way towards Victor. He didn't seem to care much for Tim's presence. All he did was stare at the ground.
"Victor. It's me, Tim. What happened?"
Victor didn't respond.
"What happened, Victor?"
Still nothing.
"I'm trying to help here. Say something, anything."
"He was in my house... He was there the entire time..."
"Who?"
"The horse..."
That wasn't the answer Tim was expecting.
"...The horse...?"
Tim was expecting to hear 'Just kidding!', or something along those lines, but nothing. That empty look in Victor's eyes was still there.
"Jesus Christ, Victor, think for a second! Who murdered Olivia and Jenny?"
"I just told you..."
What was he thinking? A horse? Whatever happened back there must have been extremely traumatic for him. This wasn't getting Tim anywhere. There was only one place where he could find some answers. Tim left the interrogation room.
"I'm done, officer."

Getting into Victor's house was not as easy as Tim had hoped it would be. The police had blocked off the entire area with ribbons, all reading 'Crime scene - Do not cross'. Tim decided to try the practical way first.
"Officer?"
"Yes?"
"Let me in."
The officer looked surprised. "Excuse me? You do realize that we're in the middle of an investigation here? Get out of here, we don't have time to deal with the likes of you."
Tim had no other option: he had to use stealth to get inside. It took Tim a while before he found an unguarded spot, but when he found one, he quickly snuck past it, only to find more police officers guarding the next area. Tim realized he only had one chance, as some of the officers were armed. After a while, however, the officers turned around, giving Tim a chance to slip through. The last area, which was the hole in the back of the house, was conveniently guarded by only one police officer. Tim used a silent takedown technique, which he had learned during his days in the world of crime, to get past him.
Tim was now inside Victor's house. He needed to keep his guard up just in case there were more officers inside. Nothing in the house struck him as particularly odd. But then, he heard a strange sound coming from behind him.
"What was that?"
Tim was expecting to see an officer standing behind him, but nobody came. Then, only ten seconds later, he heard the same noise. Tim quickly turned around. He could've sworn he saw a silhouette moving across the hallway, but when he checked, there was nobody there. Tim had a bad feeling about it. It was probably nothing. He decided to just ignore it. Tim started searching around the house for clues, but he found nothing. That was, until he arrived at the desk. There was a strange letter lying on the desk. The words on it weren't written with a pencil; Rather, they were cut into the paper, in a rather disturbing fashion. The message written on the paper, however, was even more disturbing:

Come to the basement.
The clock is ticking, Victor. They’re waiting for you.

"What the hell...?"
Tim realized he might've been onto something. Quickly, he rushed towards the basement, hoping to find the proof he needed to prove Victor's innocence. The door to the basement was closed. Tim silently opened the door. What he saw behind the door was brutal: there were two chairs in the room, chains, and a lot of blood. Tim slowly moved backwards.
"Good god..."
Tim bumped against something.
"Curiosity killed the cat."
Tim felt five blades cutting through his back. The pain was excruciating. He collapsed, and his vision became blurry. The same silhouette appeared in front of him, but he still couldn't make out what it was.
"Did your parents never teach you that you should never stick your nose in someone else's business, Tim?"
The figure delivered a powerful blow to Tim's head. He blacked out.



- End of chapter 2 - 


wordt binnenkort vervolgd...








 



dinsdag 24 mei 2016

Story: The Great Huminal War - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Mind of a Monster 

Howling winds were blowing sand into Ronnie's eyes. He was standing in front of his ship, in the middle of nowhere. Ronnie had just returned from Victor's house, where he had finally taken revenge on him. Ronnie pressed a button next to the door of his ship. 
"Please identify yourself," a robotic voice said. 
A small drone came out of a hole above the button. It scanned Ronnie's fingerprints. 
"Welcome back." 
The door opened. Ronnie entered his ship, and pressed a button on the control pad. 
"What do you wish to do, master?" 
"Take off."  
"Affirmative. Takeoff in sixty seconds." 
"Call Skugha." 
"Affirmative." 
Ronnie waited twenty seconds.  
"Hello?" 
"Skugha, can you hear me?" Ronnie said. 
"Yes, master. Loud and clear." 
"Tell everyone they can expect to see me in three days. I'm taking off right now." 
"Understood, sir. We will be waiting for your arrival." 
Ronnie broke contact. 
"Takeoff in ten... Nine... Eight... Seven... Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One... Takeoff starts now." 
The ship took off at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see. 

"Colony in sight. Now slowing down," the voice program said. 
The alien colony was a gigantic metropolis, home to technology most alien races wished they could replicate. It was also the home of the thursugians, also known as the faceless. They were the alien race who had created Ronnie's huminal body. 
"Now preparing to land." 
The gate of the colony opened. Ronnie landed his ship inside the colony in front of an enormous crowd of faceless awaiting his return. They all wore masks, hence the name. Ronnie wasn't sure exactly why they did, only that it had to do with some kind of ancient tradition 
Skugha was standing in front of the crowd. He was Ronnie's right-hand man, and also his advisor. He was different from the other thursugians in the fact that he didn't wear a mask. Instead, he wore a cape and a cowl, which obscured his face. Also unlike the others, Skugha was fluent in the English language; the other thursugians used a translator instead.  
Ronnie opened the door, and left the ship. The faceless kneeled. 
"Welcome back," Skugha said. 
Skugha turned towards the crowd, and told them something in Thursugian. Ronnie and Skugha walked through the crowd, and entered colony's main hallway. 
"I figured you would be hungry, so I ordered our cooks to prepare a five course dinner for you," Skugha said. 
Ronnie nodded in approval. "I'm assuming Bonnie and Bobbie know about my return," Ronnie said. 
"Most likely, yes." 
"Where can I find them?." 
"Bonnie is working in her lab on some kind of new contraption. Bobbie shouldn't be too far off. Shall I leave you to it, then?" 
"Yes." 
"Understood. Don't forget your meal will be served soon. You wouldn't want to be late." 
"Naturally." 
Skugha walked away. Ronnie kept moving through the long, metallic hallway. He walked, and walked, seemingly to no end. Ronnie wasn't feeling right. He stopped, and looked at the ground. Ronnie started breathing heavily. Suddenly, voices started echoing though his head. They were whispering names.  
"Victor Lynx..." 
"Great leader..." 
Ronnie sat down. He put his hands against his head. 
"Thursugians..." 
"Alone..." 
"Dark..." 
"Tests..." 
"Stop it," Ronnie said. 
"Project H..." 
Project H. The first day. Memories started flooding back. Ronnie remembered...   

The horse woke up inside a cramped, black room. Where was he? The last thing he could remember was a bunch of strange figures dragging him out of the stables. Suddenly, a painful rush went through the horse's body. He screamed. The horse was completely puzzled as to what was happening. Everything seemed wrong, somehow. Somewhere close by, the horse could overhear a few people talking to each other. Then, there was a flash. A few figures dragged the horse out of the room, and put him on a chair. The figures were all wearing strange masks, as well as a lab coat of some kind. After a while, the figures started asking the horse questions. 
"Horse. How do you feel?" one of the figures said. 
The horse couldn't put his finger on how he felt. He had so many questions, so many unexplained feelings. 
"It's okay, horse. You can tell us how you feel. We're your friends. You can trust us. You can talk, right? You should be able to." 
Talk? Ronnie had no idea what the figure meant by that. Or did he...? 
"I suppose that if you're not going to talk, we're just going to have to show you." The figure looked at one of the others. "Get the mirror. He might unstabilize, we'll keep him calm." 
One of the figures walked away, and grabbed a big mirror. He held it in front of the horse.  
"Say hello to your new body," the figure said. 
What the horse saw in the mirror was not himself: it was someone else. His body had completely changed shape. It had become much smaller. Not only that, but his hooves were gone, replaced by strange flat objects that had five long things sticking from them. Something inside his head was telling him the first two were called 'feet', while the other two were called 'hands'. The horse panicked. What on earth had he become? 
"Hold him!" one of the figures said. 
The horse tried to push the figures away from him, but their grip was too strong. 
"Horse, stop it! We're trying to help you!" 
"No!" the horse screamed. 
The figures released the horse. He put his hands on his mouth. Did he just... speak? 
"New... Body..." The horse looked at the main figure. "Name... Your name...?" 
"Are you talking to me?" the figure said. 
The horse nodded. 
"My name is Vollthaga." 
The horse stared into the figure's eyes. "Vollthaga... Explain..." 
Vollthaga turned away from the horse. "Very well, then. I'm going to start from the beginning. You may have already noticed this, but we are not like you. We are a race you will come to know as 'Thursugians'. Our race specializes in the development of new, groundbreaking technology." Vollthaga grabbed a chair, and sat down in front of the horse. "Anyway, all of that doesn't really matter. You want to know what happened to you. I'll try to explain it to you in the best possible way. Look behind you, horse. What do you see?" 
The horse turned around. 
"Try to explain to us what that is. In words," Vollthaga said. 
The horse was looking at a strange, red, metallic object. "That's a... machine." 
"Correct. That machine is called 'Project H'. Your new body is a direct result of multiple experiments we have conducted with that machine. Horse, you are the first of your kind: a mix between a human and an animal, created by thursugian scientists, called a 'Huminal'. That's what the H in 'Project H' stands for. Although this new body of yours looks a lot like one of a horse would, it is, for the most part, human. That's why you feel so strange. We have given you a new brain; one that retains your memories. However, your personality has been altered drastically as a result. Not only that, but now, you act, think, and speak like a human being would. This is correct, is it not?" 
The horse thought about what Vollthaga had just told him. He was right; he didn't feel like a horse anymore. 
"I... I get it..." the horse said. "But... why...? Why did you give me this body...?" 
Vollthaga looked at the other scientist. All of them shook their head. "That is not important right now." Vollthaga paused. He cleared his throat. "So, now that that's out of the way, we have to give you a name. Do you have any suggestions?" 
The horse remained silent. 
"Is the name 'Ronnie' okay with you?" 
"...Yes." 
"Very well, then. Ronnie it is. Now, there is one last thing I need to ask. It's nothing much, but very important nevertheless. Can you tell us a little bit about your past?" 
"My... past?" 
The word 'past' made Ronnie feel... Cold, for some reason. 
"Yes, your past. The place where found you... Well... It didn’t look very comfortable, to say the least. Is there something we must know?" 
At first, Ronnie couldn't remember anything. However, after a while, his memories started coming back. Ronnie didn’t want to believe them. He told himself that his new mind was lying to him, that they were just some side-effects of the experiments. But as more and more started coming back, he knew they had to be true. 
"Is something wrong, Ronnie?" Vollthaga asked. 
"Dark room... Can't move... So much pain..." Ronnie grabbed his head. He started screaming. 
"Ronnie, please, calm down!" Vollthaga said. He grabbed Ronnie, but he managed to escape from Vollthaga's grip. 
"Get away from me!" Ronnie tried to run out of the room. However, in his panic, he tripped. He was pulled away from the door by Vollthaga. Then, Ronnie felt something hitting his head. He blacked out. 

The voices had stopped whispering. Ronnie closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.  
"Why is this still happening...?" Ronnie said to himself. 
Ronnie stood up. He walked to the end of the hallway. There, he pressed a button next to a door.  
"Yeah? Who is this?" 
"Bonnie, it's me," Ronnie said. 
"Oh, hey. Come in." 
The door opened. 
"Take a seat, Ron," Bonnie said. 
Bonnie was the second huminal. She was a giraffe, and unlike the others, she had hair growing on her head. What made her so special was the fact that her genetics had been altered, boosting her intelligence to incredible levels.  
"Bobbie's here too, if you haven’t noticed already," Bonnie said. 
Ronnie turned around. He saw Bobbie leaning against a wall.  
"Well, if it isn't the big guy himself!" Bobbie said. "How are you feeling, Ronnie?" 
Bobbie, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He was a black ox, with large, curved horns. Like Bonnie, he had received boosts to his genetics, although his were a little different. His boosts had given him superhuman strength and endurance.  
Even though they technically weren't related, Bonnie and Bobbie considered each other brother and sister, because they were both turned into a huminal on the same day. However, personality-wise, they couldn't be any further apart. Bonnie was rather introverted, and worked alone, preferring to develop technology and weapons for the Thursiugian army, which she and Bobbie were the lead generals of. Bobbie wasn't having any of that, though. He was a fighter at heart. In fact, fighting was all he did. He had developed his own style: a combination between boxing and wrestling, with a lot of his own ideas mixed in. Bobbie also talked a lot; perhaps a bit too much. 
“I’m good,” Ronnie said. 
“That’s good to hear, buddy,” Bobbie said. “So, what’s going on? You just came back from earth, right? Can you fill me in? What exactly did you do to this ‘Victor’ guy? Did you murder him, or something?” 
Ronnie extended his claws, which still had blood on them. Bonnie put her soldering iron down, and looked at them. Bobbie looked surprised. 
“Shit,” Bobbie said. “On second thought, I don’t really think I wanna know. What matters is that you did it, right? You gave that son of a bitch what was coming to him! You know, I think we should celebrate this! Bring out the vodka, who’s in the mood to party?” 
Bonnie face palmed. “Jesus Christ, Bobbie…” 
"What?" 
Ronnie gave Bobbie an unamused look. 
“No?” Bobbie said. “Really? No one?” Bobbie looked at the others, expecting an answer, but he didn’t get one. He raised his shoulders. “Guess not. Hey sis, what are you working on, anyway? Is that some kind of new weapon?” 
Bonnie nodded. “It’s the Zetacannon V3.0.” 
Bobbie burst out laughing. "You've gotta be kiddin' me! Didn’t you just finish making V2.0 a few weeks ago? Did it explode, or something?” 
“Yes, it malfunctioned,” Bonnie said, sounding irritated. 
“Same thing." Bobbie stretched his arms, and cracked his neck. "I have to go. I have a fight coming up. They captured an assassin. You know, the one who executed a bunch of our commanders? Anyway, they sentenced him to a cage fight with me. You know, I never really thought about how harsh that punishment is." Bobbie laughed. "Yup, definitely wouldn’t want to be in a cage fight with myself. Well, see you guys later." 
Bobbie walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him.  
"Good, he's gone," Bonnie said. "I love him, I really do, but he can really get on my nerves sometimes." 
"I'm leaving, too," Ronnie said. 
Bonnie looked surprised. "Oh. That's a... rather quick visit, then. But, I suppose if you want to leave, I'll see you around." 
Ronnie opened the door. 
"Ronnie, wait." 
Ronnie stopped. 
"Are you feeling alright? You're awfully quiet." 
Ronnie turned around. He looked Bonnie dead in the eyes. 
"I just came back from my original home planet," Ronnie said, "where I murdered a man's wife and six-year old daughter in an act of revenge for what he had done to me. I expected to find satisfaction in that. When I walked out of that door, I thought I would be able to finally leave my past behind me. No. No, that same feeling of anger is still burning inside of me, still eating me away like a god damn parasite. And everyone here on the colony seems to think all of my problems have magically gone away. Now tell me, Bonnie. How the hell do you think I feel?" 
"I was just asking..." Bonnie said. 
"You shouldn't have." 
Ronnie slammed the door shut. He walked through the hallways, while trying to get a grip on his feelings. Why did he still feel this way? Ronnie realized his idea had to have lacked something. Perhaps he had had to take more drastic measures. Maybe this wasn't enough.  
Ronnie was standing in front of the throne room. A small drone came out of a hole above the door, which scanned Ronnie's eye. The door opened. Inside the throne room, Ronnie saw a long table, filled with all kinds of different thursugian foods. Skugha was sitting on a chair next to the table. 
"Welcome, master," Skugha said. "As you can see, your dinner has been served. You can really tell our cooks gave it their all with this one." Skugha stood up from his chair. "I shall leave you to it, then. If you need any more, you can call the cooks, as usual. They have it covered." Skugha left the room. 
Ronnie sat down. He picked up some fruit, wanting to take a bite, but he wasn't feeling hungry. He put it down. A few minutes passed by. Ronnie looked around, checking if someone was close by. Nobody. Ronnie stood up, grabbed some of the plates with food on them, and threw them across the throne room. The sound of shattering glass echoed.  

"Huminal 1. Huminal 1, can you hear me?" 
The intercom woke Ronnie up from his sleep. He was lying on the cold, uncomfortable floor of his two by two meter isolation cell. When he tried to stand up, he collapsed. His injuries, which were inflicted by the last huminal test, were too severe. He looked at the camera placed in one of the upper corners of his cell. 
"Huminal 1, I know you can hear me. Speak." 
It was the great leader speaking. 
"I'm not asking you again, huminal 1. Speak, or the consequences will be dire." 
Ronnie shook his head at the camera. 
"I'm not going to talk to you until you call me by my real name." 
"You want me to call you by your real name, you say? Fine. Number 479." 
"Screw you!" Ronnie angrily yelled. 
"I advise you calm down, huminal 1." 
Ronnie looked away from the camera. "What do you want?" 
"I wanted to inform you that the next test will commence in 5 hours." 
"What?! No, you can't do this! I can barely stand up, let alone do another test this soon!" 
"You're missing the point of these tests, huminal 1. We do these to test your limits." 
"Can't you see I've already reached my limits?! Look at me!" Ronnie crawled towards the camera. "Look. At. Me." 
"Whether you have reached your limits or not is something we'll see during the test, huminal 1." 
"Why are you doing this, anyway? What do you gain out of all this?!" 
"Simple. Your kind shows great potential, huminal 1. See, unlike your kind, us thursugians don't have a good physical build to go into direct combat. We have to rely on our equipment to it for us. However, once we find out what your kind's limits truly are, we can create an army stronger than any other. Your strength, combined with our technology, will make us indestructible. Does that answer satisfy you, huminal 1?" 
Ronnie didn't know what to say. 
"I'm breaking contact now," the great leader said. "Prepare yourself for the worst. You are not going to like the next test." 
The great leader broke contact. Ronnie put his head towards the ground.  
"Damn it..." 
Ronnie started crying. He just couldn't bear it anymore. Ronnie tried to remember a moment in his life, just a single one, where something good had happened to him. But there were none. He just couldn't understand why. What made the people who did this to him deserving of such good lives, while he was left to suffer?  
Suddenly, something started resonating within Ronnie. His heartbeat started rising. His sadness became anger. Then, A huge burst of power went through Ronnie's body. A black aura appeared around him, slowly becoming bigger and bigger. Again, he felt a burst of power. His anger kept growing. Ronnie wasn't sure exactly what was happening to him, but whatever it was, it was giving him huge power. All he needed was one more push. Ronnie quickly thought of something. A face. The face of the man who had ruined him. Then, it happened. The black aura erupted around Ronnie. The power was unreal. Ronnie screamed. A bright flash blinded him. Then, it was over. Ronnie opened his eyes. He felt completely different. 
"Huminal 1?! What is going on?! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" 
 A reflexive reaction caused Ronnie to shoot a black energy blast at the camera, seemingly out of nowhere, destroying it in an instant. Ronnie looked at his hand. 
"What... the hell...?" Ronnie said. 
Ronnie was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, this newfound power of his would be his golden ticket to freedom. Ronnie squeezed his fist together. He focused, directing his all of his power to his right arm. The black aura appeared around him once again. Then, he threw out his attack, aiming for the wall. Ronnie punched right through it. Alarms went off. 
"Yes!" Ronnie yelled. 
Ronnie quickly ran out of his cell. He looked around. He was in a small room, with a long hallway in front of him. To his right, he saw another isolation cell, labeled 'Huminal 2'. A third cell, labeled 'Huminal 3', was visible on the left. Ronnie dashed towards the cell on his right, focused his power, and broke the wall in front of him. Inside of the cell, he saw Bonnie, shielding herself from the debris. When she saw Ronnie, she looked surprised. 
"Ronnie?!" She said. 
"Stay here!" Ronnie said. 
Ronnie turned around, ran towards the third cell, and kicked through the wall. There, he saw Bobbie, who had been completely drained of his power.  
"What the hell?!"  
"Both of you," Ronnie said, "follow me!" 
Bonnie and Bobbie walked out of their cells. When Bonnie saw Bobbie, she walked up to him. 
"Can you walk?" Bonnie said. 
"Yeah, I'm good," Bobbie said. 
"Move!" Ronnie said. He grabbed Bonnie and Bobbie by their arms. He started to run, pulling Bonnie and Bobbie with him.  
"Ronnie, what the hell happened, man?!" Bobbie said. "What is this?!" 
"Does it matter?!" Ronnie yelled. "It's not important! Just focus on the matter at hand right now!" 
"What are we going to do?!" Bonnie said. 
Suddenly, a metallic gate closed in front of the huminals. They stopped running. 
“No!” Ronnie yelled. 
Another gate closed behind the huminals. The great leader started talking through an intercom. 
Huminals, we have you under lockdown! Surrender, or you will face your death!” the great leader said. 
The gate in front of the huminals opened. Six thursugian soldiers, who were carrying guns, were standing in front of them. 
“On your knees!” one of the soldiers said. 
Bonnie and Bobbie fell to their knees. 
One of the soldiers looked at Ronnie, who was still standing. “You!” the soldier yelled. “On your knees, damn it!” 
“What are you going to do? Shoot me?” Ronnie said, in an angry, yet calm voice. “We’re way too valuable to the great leader. If you shoot me, the great leader won’t be pleased. You know that just as well as I.” 
The soldier aimed his gun at Ronnie. “Stop trying to manipulate me! I will shoot you if I have to!" 
Ronnie started charging an energy blast. The black aura appeared around his hand. The soldier looked at Ronnie’s hand. 
“What is that?!” the soldier yelled. 
Ronnie leaped into the air, and shot his energy blast at the soldier. The blast hit the soldier's head, killing him instantly. While mid-air, he extended his claws. He dived towards another soldier, and sliced his neck. The soldiers opened fire at Ronnie, but he effortlessly dodged all of their shots. He quickly rolled behind one of the soldiers, and cut him through his back. Ronnie then held the soldier’s body in front of him, using it to block the other three’s shots. He started to charge an energy blast in both of his hands. With the soldier’s body still in front of him, Ronnie slowly approached the other ones. He shot his blasts at two soldiers, incapacitating them. He then quickly ran towards them, and killed both of them with a stab through their heads. The final soldier, who was to Ronnie's right, had stopped firing. He stood there, shaking, nearly dropping his gun. Ronnie dashed towards him. He pulled the gun out of the soldier's hands, and broke it in half. The soldier tried to run away, but Ronnie grabbed him by his neck, and pushed him against the wall. The soldier looked at Ronnie, with an extremely terrified look in his eyes. 
"The great leader," Ronnie said. "Where is he?!" 
The soldier remained silent. He was breathing heavily. Ronnie put his claws close to the soldier's neck. "Talk!" he yelled. 
"Okay, okay!" The soldier said. "The great leader is in his throne room! I... it's directly below this floor!" 
"Directly below? You're a hundred percent sure about this, are you not?" 
"Yes! Yes, absolutely!" 
Ronnie moved his claws closer towards the soldier's neck. The soldier tried to escape from Ronnie's grip, in vain. 
"No! No!" the soldier yelled. 
Ronnie slowly cut through the soldier's neck, who made a choking sound. Ronnie kept going until he had impaled the soldier completely. Afterwards, Ronnie contracted his claws. The soldier fell to the ground. 
Bonnie and Bobbie had silently watched the entire fight happen. Bobbie stood up. He looked at the bloodbath Ronnie had created. He then looked away, and leaned against the wall, visibly almost throwing up. 
"What the hell, man?!" Bobbie yelled. "Ronnie, what was that?! What are you doing?!" 
"You know damn well what I'm doing, Bobbie," Ronnie said. "You don't honestly think I would let the great leader live after what he has done to me, would you?" 
"Ronnie, the great leader can wait!" Bonnie said. "Right now, you should be focusing on getting us out of here!" 
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ronnie said. "Since when were you the one in control here?" 
Bonnie looked at Ronnie, baffled at what he had just said. 
"Stand back," Ronnie said. 
Ronnie put his right arm in the air. He channeled all of his strength to it. Then, he leaped up into the air, and directed a massive blow to the ground. It was powerful enough to leave a huge hole in it. Ronnie landed in a large room below the hallway he had just been in. Ronnie looked around. Behind him, he saw a thursugian in a yellow cloak running away, along with three bodyguards, who were equipped with a sword and a gun. Ronnie recognized the thursugian in the yellow cloak. 
"Great leader!" Ronnie yelled. 
The four thursugians turned around. The great leader ordered his men to kill Ronnie. They unsheathed their swords, while the great leader kept running. Ronnie rushed towards the guards, and extended his claws. He tried to stab one of the guards, but he blocked Ronnie's attack with his blade. They kept trading blows for a bit, until Ronnie managed to cut through the guard's heart, killing him. The second guard had tried to sneak up on Ronnie from behind, but Ronnie had heard him. Ronnie turned around, and smashed the guard's chin with his elbow. He followed his attack up with an energy beam, which he shot through the guard's head. The third guard walked away, shooting a few blasts at Ronnie from his gun. However, Ronnie dodged them easily. He approached the guard, who was still shooting. Only a few seconds later, Ronnie had reached the guard, whom he quickly killed by snapping his neck. 
The great leader had almost reached the end of the throne room. At a blinding speed, Ronnie ran towards him, catching up in no time. Ronnie grabbed the great leader, and threw him across the throne room, severely injuring him. When the great leader tried to stand up, Ronnie was already next to him again. Ronnie grabbed the great leader by his neck. 
"You son of a bitch," Ronnie said. "Say my name!" He put his claws against the great leader's neck, like he had done with the soldier two minutes earlier. "Do it!" 
"No," the great leader said. "I refuse." 
Ronnie violently threw the great leader to the ground. Then, he once again held the great leader by his neck. "This is your fault. You turned me into this!" 
"How did you escape, huminal 1?! What is this power you're using?!" 
"I think you know exactly what this power is. Vollthaga once told me about one very similar to this one. A power which had been considered a myth by your kind for multiple generations. I have that power now, great leader." 
The great leader shook his head. "There's no way." 
"Oh, yes. You know it to be true. Look into my eyes, and you will see." 
There was a short silence. The great leader's composure quickly turned into absolute horror. 
"You could have avoided all of this, great leader. But you pushed me, and you kept pushing... until I snapped." Ronnie moved his claws towards the great leader's stomach. "And unfortunately for you, now you're going to have to suffer the consequences." 
Ronnie stabbed the great leader in his stomach multiple times. The great leader screamed in agony, but Ronnie kept going. Then, Ronnie stopped. He looked into the great leader's eyes. Slowly, a smile appeared on Ronnie's face. He started to laugh. 
Ronnie slashed the great leader's throat. His head flew off his body. The head rolled through the throne room, while the rest of the body fell to the ground. 
Ronnie saw Bonnie and Bobbie leaping through the hole he had created. They both looked at Ronnie, who was covered in the great leader's blood. Ronnie looked back. 
"From now on, I am the great leader," Ronnie said. 

Ronnie was looking at the broken glass on the ground. He could hear Skugha entering the throne room behind him. 
"Sir, is everything alright?" Skugha said. "What is going on here?" 
Ronnie took a deep breath. "Skugha. Start preperations." 
"For what, sir?" 
Ronnie turned around. He looked at Skugha. "We're going to war."