Aranea followed the regulator, trying to ignore the suffering happening in the accursed prison. Yasen walked the length of the corridor before turning right into a narrow passage. At the far end stood two iron poles stained red with blood dripping from above. Her guide exited the passageway and iron bars slammed upward, separating him from Aranea and sealing her inside.

"What are you playing at?" Aranea asked. Yasen faced her and pointed up, grinning, eliciting a gasp of horror from the wolf hag.

Kate and Kaleb were strapped to the poles with crude iron chains biting into their bodies. Kaleb had lost his left leg, and stumps replaced Kate's limbs. Stitches held their wounds closed, failing to stop the flow of blood from their glittering meat. The wolf hag called to her soldiers, but neither responded.

"And here are your friends, ready to be saved! However, just letting you take them off would be quite anticlimactic. No." The smirk disappeared from Yasen's face; his eyes flared with controlled anger. "You made my mistress bleed. Worse, you occupy her thoughts, interrupting the scheduled meetings. Now I will remove this thorn from our side. Your kind prides itself on being warriors. Fearless. Rowdy. Here's a dragon for you to overcome before you can rescue the princess. For my entertainment, make it interesting. Swollen!" he shouted, lifting his head to look past the wolf hag. "Move it up, boy. You have a puppy to skin!"

Wet, slapping footsteps sounded behind the wolf hag as a second person stepped into the passageway. The dim amber of her eyes lit him up. He was a bloated mass of flesh covered by leather straps that pressed various crudely assembled injectors to his greasy, sallow skin. Two oval eyes, leaking water, gleefully watched the wolf hag from the center of the overlapping folds of flesh that made up his head.

His ballooned limbs, hands, and feet produced a loud flap when he moved, and his distorted tattoos and creaking joints bore many needle marks. Some were recent. The man carried a long, rusted knife, spinning it with unexpected agility.

"Can I taste this honey, too?" Swollen asked in a low, excited voice, sucking in air through his mouth.

"Treat yourself, my dear. Do your worst. You may even fashion a blanket out of her hide," Yasen purred.

"Plan to steal from your master?" Aranea asked.

"The mistress will forgive my self-indulgence as long as you reach a certain threshold of suffering prior to your demise. Please, for my sake, do make it amusing."

"I'd call you a dog, but even they are brave enough to tackle their target personally," Aranea snarled. "Release my paws and face me, coward! Take that lump as a second if you're not man enough to do it alone!"

"Unfortunately, heroes don't harm people who can't fight back." The regulator smirked with delight, leaning back to get a better view. "And prisoners must wear handcuffs outside of their cells, I'm afraid."

"What about him?"

"Who would chain a beloved pet?"

Swollen let out a scream, filling the passageway with the pungent stench of chemicals, raising his weapon. Aranea dodged the overhead swing and heard the blade scrape against the bars. Swollen pushed her with his elbow, pinning the wolf hag. The damned maniac exhibited far greater strength and speed than his ruined body indicated.

Aranea stabbed with her claws, scratching his side, and the fatass laughed, ramming her into the wall harder, and stepped back as she caught her breath. He sliced, shearing away a strip of flesh from her shoulder. Aranea dodged a slash to her neck by rolling back into the length of the corridor. The creep pursued her and kicked her in the raised paws, sending Aranea sprawling and bleeding his leg from contact with the claws. The wolf hag rolled to the side, frowning as a swing grazed her temple. She rose, circling the man in an attempt to stay safe from the whirlwind of slashes. She ended up with her back to the iron bars again.

"Feisty!" Swollen sucked in air, his eyes red. "I hate it when prey hops around! Get in my belly!"

"Here." She heard a voice behind her, and a key rolled to her feet. Aranea snatched it, half suspecting it to be another trap.

But there was no other option. Aranea raised her arms, taking the incoming blow on the manacles, and felt the impact reverberating in her bones. She shoved Swollen a step back and twisted her fingers, slipping the key into the handcuff lock. Swollen lunged, opening the skin on Aranea's head with his blade. She kneed him, buying herself precious seconds to open the snare and free her paws and glanced back.

Grug, that weird individual from many years ago, stood near Yasen. Scars, both fresh and old ones, covered him from head to toe; he had gained wrinkles and hunched over as if in constant fear.

"Why did you interfere?" Yasen asked, his voice steady. He turned and punched the larger man in the stomach, sending him flying. Grug fell and curled into a ball, covering his head with his three-fingered paws.

"You told her to make it interesting," the horrified creature whimpered, his teeth chattering. "With her hands tied, she can't do much. Besides, Mistress Blaguna would be very angry if…"

"Dotard! I was asking Swollen!" Yasen stomped on Grug's head, beating it into the stone and drawing blood from an ear. "Who asked for your opinion?! How dare you think, you dirty, ugly, inhuman freak?!"

Aranea advanced toward Swollen, slapping aside his knife and slamming his head into the wall. It left a crack, but the man grinned and slashed. Aranea avoided the attack and returned the favor with her claws, drawing long red lines on his belly.

"No matter," Yasen said, regaining his former demeanor. "Girl, are you sure you have time for dodging? Your friends are about to follow the way of the Old World." Aranea looked at her friends anxiously, and Yasen pulled a remote out of his pocket, pressing a button.

Swollen let out a scream of deep agony and peak ecstasy as the syringes granted him their kiss simultaneously. He burst into action, and Aranea waited for him. She had to finish the fight right now. Her claws tore through his biceps. Undeterred, the maniac brought the blade down upon her right paw, severing tendons. Aranea groaned, losing the control over her fingers. Swollen resumed his frenzied assault, hacking and slashing at her while ignoring any pain caused by her counterattacks. Flesh hung from his body; several veins had burst, and lacerations stretched from his arms to his shoulders. Yet his face retained its stupid, blissful grin.

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"Animal to the core," Yasen mocked. "Because you gave in to the instincts, you paid up with your paw. Swollen, do finish her off, will you, boy? We need to patch you up for the next clown."

Ignoring his injuries, Swollen raised the blade high, lunging in for one final assault. Aranea relaxed, waiting until the blade was about to touch her forehead, and dodged to the side in a single burst of speed. She closed her jaws on the man's wrist, stabbing his ribs with her left paw. Bizarre, intoxicating scents filled her nostrils, and the sweet narcotics in his bloodstream tried to lull her into relaxation as her fangs closed and snapped through his bones, at last forcing the bastard to howl in pure pain.

Swollen stumbled back, holding his gushing stump. Aranea swallowed the disgusting lump of flesh, shaking her head and praying that her immune system would overcome the drugs.

"Oh, for the love of…" Yasen sighed, sinking another button.

The ceiling in the corridor rumbled and lowered, dropping a wide stone plate onto Aranea's back. She used her left hand and right shoulder to struggle against the pressure, trying to keep it from squeezing her like a bug. The gears above released a loud steam and pushed harder, bringing Aranea to her knees.

"You blasted coward," Aranea exhaled, drool dripping from her chin. "How can a traitorous cur such as you even sleep at night?"

"Rather well, all things considered. I have a soft bed and gorgeous courtesans of every conceivable gender and race to keep me company." Yasen scratched his chin, watching the happening with satisfaction. "Now do me a solid and end up as a stain already."

Aranea's fang cracked, and blood vessels popped in her eyes from the strain. The ceiling kept bearing down, merciless, unstoppable, and not leaving even a ghost of a chance to escape. Blood spurted from her wounds, each laceration pulsating and begging the wolf hag to allow them to heal. The lustful voice inside her stirred; her bones ached and her muscles tore.

With a loud click from above, the pressure ceased trying to break Aranea. The mechanisms halted, and a woman dressed in gold and black emerged from the forest of gears, landing in front of Yasen.

"You…" The stranger's youthful voice and fists trembled with barely contained disgust. Aranea recognized her as the silver mask, the one called Geldi. "The hell is your malfunction?! You were my icon, my ideal upon growing up! Never yielding Yasen, the savior of thousands, the bane of the wicked! But the way you treat people, and your inaction regarding the horrors she unleashes on her victims… Are you even human?!" she screamed into his face.

"Course I am, hon." He caressed her chin. "Ask your childish questions yourself. You stood by doing nothing, too." Geldi recoiled, but he held her. "We are human. I can give you a demonstration…"

"Then how can you torture other people?!" Geldi pointed at Aranea and the Wolfkins strapped to the poles.

"People? Babe, if I have to call them people, I'll have to do the same with mites!" The regulator laughed and caught Geldi by the collar, lifting her up. "My dear, naïve, blind girl. The heroes of the old are…" His voice broke. "…dead now. Not my fault; I advised the boss to clear out the house before the viper sprang." He whispered into Geldi's ear. "You think I enjoy myself? Being stuck in here and shit? I was an angel, an inspiration, an ideal. Tens of thousands chanted my name. Women named their kids after me. I've been saving people! ME!"

Yasen shook with anger, running a palm across his head. His eyes changed, filling with deep sorrow and longing. "We were so beautiful then… But monsters took over, and I refuse to die in vain, with the debts unpaid. Geldi, Blaguna took a liking to you, did she not? Keep your mouth shut, and everything will be fine. We must be cautious and reasonable. What was can be again…" He stopped, frowning.

Aranea bent an iron bar, squeezing herself into the resulting opening. She stood up, inhaled, and said, "You owe me a debt now." Her claws twitched.

"I owe many things." Yasen smiled. "But to you, flea-ridden rug, I owe just jack and shit." He pointed a finger at Aranea. "One finger. That's all I need to end your existence. Here's the deal: I am feeling generous. Pick up your half-dead buddies and hop-hop back to the cell. Adults are talking."

"Master…" Swollen whimpered from inside the tunnel, climbing to the exit. "You could've killed me!"

"So? You're trash. An animal to be set loose. I didn't even consider you for a moment, to be honest," Yasen chuckled, and the surprised man stopped.

"But I stayed obedient! You praised me for disposing of those boys and gir…"

Yasen cut him short by pointing at the corridor. A wave of force left his finger, bisecting the center of the machinery maze, holding the ceiling in place. It collapsed, burying Swollen in a lake of stone and metal. A crimson pool, mixed with dust and pus, spread to Aranea's legs.

"Whoopsies. My hand slipped." Yasen let go of Geldi. "What's it going to be, wolf girl? Fight or submission?"

It wasn't a question worth answering. If she let him chain her up, there would be no chance of escape for any of them. Aranea began to drop low when a hand grabbed her from behind and twisted her left arm into a lock. A kick to the back of her knee buckled the wolf hag. A sweep followed, and she found herself lying on her stomach with a knee pressing into her spine and holding her in place with ease.

She caught the scent of lavender.

"Miss Green!" Grug shouted happily. "Please rescue me! A bad person is bullying me…" A woman in a green business suit walked up to him, placing her foot on his chest and driving her heel deep into it. All the while emanating the exact same perfume as the person holding Aranea. "I was good, Miss Green! I was, I was!" Grug shouted, staring in horror at the heel but making no attempt to resist.

"You lazy pig. We ordered you to check out this area and leave. Why were you in the Ravaged Lands for so long? Where are the results?" Two voices asked in unison, one from behind Aranea and the other coming from the woman holding the mutant.

"I have results! Or, I did! I found the clue!" Grug argued, crying and wiping tears off his snout. "But then this bad man took my informant to the wicked woman here, and later that brave lady over there killed her. She shot her in the eye! With a pebble! While the bad man escorted her! And another guy who knew the guy who sold the drive had been fed to that carrion eater over there!" Grug's finger stabbed toward the ruined corridor.

"Oh, poor, loyal Grug," the woman said, removing her leg. She tossed him a round object and patted his head before turning to Yasen. "Is it true, Yasen? Did you really dare to insert yourself into our mission?"

"Cubs…" Aranea growled. "Where are t…" The hand grabbed her by the neck, stifling her words.

"I have no idea what you or it are babbling about," the Regulator snarled. "Hand over my toy back or I…" Another woman, an exact replica of Green, wearing a spotless business suit, appeared from thin air behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck affectionately. Her perfect and sharp nails pressed to his carotid artery, and Yasen stopped.

"You weren't so stingy with information on our latest night," purred the three women. "Say, if I check the recording, would I not see the death of Grug's informant?" Yasen swallowed. "Ah, the answer. One can be an accident. Two is a pattern or a lucky streak. Tsk, tsk, what are you, then? Come on, sing to me, Yasen. Tell me everything and more, lest I decide to tell Blaguna about your private, careless, unprotected negotiations with King. I wonder what spectacle she'll pull?"

"You won't achieve anything," Yasen said. A drop of sweat ran down his head. "Your employer needs war. Without me, the Regulators will fall apart. I am the one keeping order here! What I did, I did to restore Blaguna's focus!"

The woman holding Yasen removed her nails from his neck. Another apparition leaned on Geldi, making her jump from the surprising touch. The Green near Yasen licked his neck and gave him a long kiss, sending shivers of desire through him.

"Presumptuous dummy," she said, breaking the kiss. "Perhaps… how about a carrot instead? Work with me, and I'll give you heaven." Her hand touched his groin, bringing a smug smile to his face. Then the hand squeezed, while another Green rose behind Yasen, catching his arms in a hold. "Get in my way and I'll bury you in an unmarked grave, broken and alive. Your choice."

"I…" Yasen licked his lips, panting. "First, I need to return the prisoners to their cell."

A hand struck Aranea behind the neck, knocking her out cold.

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