Becoming Monsters 1: Ch. 31

Now available on Literotica: Becoming Monsters Book 1, Growing Problems!

All 40 chapters will show up here, so look forward to Honoka's adventures with monster girls chapter by chapter as I figure out how to format everything to fit my vision.

For right now, enjoy the story and join with thousands of people when I say to KEEP HARMONIZING!!

PREVIOUSLY ON BM: Battle has consequences, and of course Honoka needs to masturbate.

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Chapter 31: Gods And Monsters

The long odyssey into darkness did nothing to calm Honoka's anxiety. She felt like Lavinia Whateley being led to the gate out of Dunwich. Honoka tried giving herself more Perception to face her fears, but she couldn't access enough free points to peer through the abyss. Yet despite - or maybe because of spite - the gnawing panic eating away at her resolve, Honoka pressed on and quickened her limping pace, silent and determined as she made her way down the long dark. She would need to ask Miaka to forgive her someplace later. It was the charming Japanese owl who brought it up during their first training meeting about survival and sacrifice.

She had found her 1%.

Honoka couldn't stop herself, speaking towards the being she knew dwelt somewhere in front of her, the terror dissipating. "It is at this point I'm rescued by a sexy princess out of carbonite. I can't see anything from the hibernation sickness, you laugh with a low, booming voice, and I'll say I know that laugh..."

"Funny. The irony is, you might actually recognize me, sweet Honoka. After all, we did meet once upon a dream."

Honoka froze, causing some of the guards behind her to bump into her back. She did know that voice, and suddenly there was no more courage or witty comebacks. How naïve of her to think there was nothing more to fear. She became terribly, terribly afraid. From the White, the voice that sounded like broken garbage disposals, the one that wanted to eat her thoughts, he was here. Deciding she needed to see, Honoka took all the perception possible and pumped her Attribute up to thirty-five points. The aphotic room leapt into focus, her eyes able to use the not-complete darkness to give her enough to work with.

What she saw would haunt her nightmares.

Immediately closing her eyes and allocating all the Perception back to where she had it, Honoka howled at the hideous filth she witnessed. It was a giant over fifty feet tall, seated on a throne made of skulls of every beast and Race available. The form of the creature was of a fat man atop a pair of skinny legs. Fat doesn't do the term justice. Not someone overweight or the jolly friend who possesses a plump and round figure, this was the flop kind of layered fat, like his folds and rolls just kept growing in size downward. Honoka tangentially wondered if there was some kind of mold growing under each piece of overlapping skin. He was similar in shape to a pile of wet mud that slowly built up over the years into a hillish mound, then someone stuck two legs on the bottom of that and gave it life.

His weight and shape wasn't even the beginning of his grotesque nature, because while the obese structure made up his outline, it was not what made him an abomination. All over his body, in patches ranging in size from as small as a piece of paper to as large as Honoka herself, he was a hodgepodge of a thousand things. And not all the spaces were filled. It was like someone would cut out a square of flesh, pull out the same amount of meat from another being, and try to fit it in without quite meshing. The pieces stuck out around him, making it look uneven. And the variety was so chaotic it caused nausea trying to take in the entirety.

His face was the worst offender. Part of his nose was a wiggling mass of tentacles, half of an eye glassy and dead, the second half bubbling out a foot from the socket, swirling in a myriad of colors. The other eye was entirely whole but it sat on an eyestalk, focusing its bloodshot gaze at Honoka. However, the pieces missing were the most disturbing, like the dark holes were someone's sick idea of the anthropomorphic personification of Trypophobia given life.

In the end, descriptions did no justice because there was a Status effect in the air. Despite the wrongness, the awfulness of the being in front of Honoka, his Charisma was so high it drew the eye in and forced the person looking to absorb his essence. In that moment of searching, he was entirely inside her mind. The Ymirian could not look away from her own memory, Status locking her inside herself. Attempting to stay sane, she grasped for any bit of normality to focus on. Honoka settled on the space between his legs, noticing that for all his nakedness and deformities, it was smooth and dickless down there.

"Ha. Playing with Perception is a double-edged sword," said the creature, clearly able to enjoy Honoka's torment in this blackness.

"...eh...I've seen worse..." Honoka replied as she leaned down against her knees and breathed in and out, calming herself down. "...I mean, just yesterday, I was at your house and got a look at your mama in the shower."

"Do you always mouth off against gods?"

"You're not God," Honoka replied with conviction and stood up, deciding this creep wasn't worth her despair.

"Semantics." Honoka felt the giant leaning closer. The next words brushed against her skin like the steam rising from a sewer. "Heralds are the new gods of this world because there are no other beings more powerful than us."

Us. The word rang in Honoka's head. As if a door opened, she imagined continuing to collect more and more women, becoming the thing in front of her. Shaking her head, she thrust that aside because there were more pressing matters than what might be, such as what is and what is true.

"The measure of God isn't in His power, though that is eternal. He is our Father. Like all parents, He is only concerned about what we become, which is more like Him." Honoka might be the size of an insect to this thing, but at that moment, she felt that they that be with her were greater than they that be with him. "God is charity, or selfless love. The love of a Parent."

"Do. Not. Tempt. My. Patience." He bent down with the speed of Wally West, his face only inches away, grotesque lips flicking drops of spittle the size of buckets onto and around the young woman. "You are like a malformed zygote, not even gathering enough cells to think beyond your secluded womb. You know nothing of why the Status came to Earth, what its purpose is or who you are. You are an abortion that already happened, and you are only breathing right now because I am mildly bored."

Honoka needed this information. Gulping down her witty comeback, she tried playing to the ego. "I am sorry, I tend to lash out when I'm scared and ignorant. Would you please explain what we are?"

"Ha. Guess the black cat can sheath her claws." He paused, probably thinking himself magnanimous. "We are the Heralds, crafted by the Status in the image of the collective powers that govern universal truths: Acquisition, Restitution, Consumption, Leisure, Desire, Corruption and...Instinct."

As he spoke the last word, it resonated within herself with the sublime stillness of a vast lake. Honoka knew, even beyond what he said, that this is what she was. Instinct. It made a lot of sense to the young woman, her instincts were a massive force in her new life. Nevertheless, the giant continued as if this wasn't a life-changing revelation.

"Acquisition, Leisure and Corruption died early, killed and collected by those greedy fools Restitution and Desire. We all searched for Instinct, but you remained hidden. We never once considered you might have hibernated your powers until now. Ha."

"Then do I have the pleasure of talking to Consumption?" Honoka asked timidly, or as timidly as she could manage.

"It is a title, an expression of what we are and encapsulate. My name is Enoch." The giant spoke grandly, filling the darkness, enveloping Honoka and the guards - who stepped back a dozen paces without her knowing - with his deluded majesty.

"Enoch. If I may, and I am only inferring, but I am under the assumption I am here because you plan on collecting me." She thought of the lack of appendage between his legs; the Beast was the key to her collecting. Gulping, Honoka dwelt on his title. "How exactly do Heralds collect?"

"I guess I can see your point, you've only one data point. That would make it difficult to extrapolate proper information. The Status gives all Heralds the same Class, but the manner of collection is determined by their Race. I do not know yours; it would be related to the mythology of this world, someone or something involved in a story of creationism. Though the Status is alive, active, it doesn't come from Earth. It sifts through the collection of our stories and applies effects with the closest approximation of relation between what is and what we can understand. I am Consumption, so my Race is Ouranian, from the Roman god who devoured his children. The mythology is meaningless, only a way for the Status to communicate with us as the gods of this world, allowing us to create our own mythologies."

Honoka suspected something, but keeping Enoch talking remained more important. "So...?"

"I will eat you, just as I've eaten all those sculpted in this room. I planned on eating a delectable cheetaur, but when presented with a steak, one can easily put off the salad for another day." He lingered on the moment, sounding wistful. "Before my ascension, I was a nobody, a failed artist. I worked at a gas station and tried to sell my art on the side. No one saw my greatness. The Change fixed that, allowing me to grow in power until now, my art surpassing human and reaching godly ability. You, my delicious Honoka, will be my opus, the final piece before the end and Judgment comes to this world."

That was a lot of information. Honoka paused to winnow through and possibly use it, her head bowed and looking at the floor. In the middle of this contemplation, a radio squawked. Cortez - him and his men trying to remain forgotten in this whole conversation - flipped a switch and spoke softly. "Yes?"

"The hostages are outside and unharmed," answered the scratchy voice of Sanders on the other line. "One of the creatures is insisting on confirmation."

"Honoka?" Quinn's voice came through the radio. After pausing for a moment, Cortez slowly put the radio in Honoka's hand, fumbling a little in the dark. "Honoka, are ya alright?"

Finding the right button, Honoka spoke quietly. "I'm fine. Are you safe?"

"We're topside, went through another tunnel. We're the same as ya left us."

"Good. Not sure what's about to happen, but I love you all."

"Love ya back." And with a click, the line went dead.

Honoka slumped, relieved her family was safe, returning the radio and rubbing her temples to stubborn through the Status headache. She'd improved her Status proficiency over the last few days, only glancing at Status in short bursts, but she'd been doing so much today she felt as if her head had cracked open. With a shrug, she pulled the shield off her back and dropped it to the floor. She couldn't hear it, but maybe the guards relaxed a bit when her destructive weapon clanged upon the ground.

"I honestly can't believe that worked," Honoka said in the direction of Dick Face and his crew. "Those shields only store enough energy for one shot before they require recharging. We dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, and you guys surrendered because I said I was going to drop another on Nagasaki."

That elicited a few growls. The booming laughter of Enoch kept them in check and drowned any response.

"HAHAHA!!" The whole room shook from his laughter, Honoka falling to her knees from the pressure. "I don't know if I should let those women go for your cheek or if I should eat them in front of you. HA!"

Before Honoka replied or reacted, she was crushed in a giant hand and thrust into the air, stopping in front of the grotesque face. Squirming, Honoka resisted the urge to allocate and fight back. Timing would be crucial, saving her few remaining seconds of access to the Status before the headaches grew debilitating. And she wouldn't reach that precious moment without more talking.

"...aren't you scared...uh...I'd just stick my sword in the base of your skull, directly into your brainstem?" Honoka asked loudly. Her arms pinned, her breath coming in gasps, her bones creaked at the edge of breaking, Honoka felt like a gambler with all the money on the table and the dice in her hands.

"I have collected hundreds of potent Races. My skin is as tough as a dragon, my bones as strong as mithril. You, with your pithy collection, could not hope to match my might. With but a moment's thought, I can heal myself of any injury. Truly, I am a god."

Honoka rolled the dice, the final stabbing migraine washing over her. The Ymirian gasped, pushing through to buy herself a few more seconds from the chatty villain. "...there is but one God, and He is not you..."

Enoch leered in the dark, licking his lips. Honoka felt herself moving towards Enoch's mouth and her final collection. "Status proves the only gods are those who rise up above their humanity. Die knowing you are wrong."

The radio squawked again, Sanders coming back online and causing the Herald to hesitate.

"Sir! The giant snake turned into a naked white chick. What are your orders?"

And it was with those words in the air that Padmava, hanging down from the ceiling from her tail much as Honoka did last week, dug her fangs into the base of Enoch's skull and pumped his brainstem full of naga venom, killing him instantly.

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Turn the Wayback Machine to an hour and a half ago!

"New plan," Honoka said while she let Quinn hurriedly bandage her leg. "This boss person seems to want me, so we own some leverage. And as the man said, Leverage: don't make deals without it. Enhance. They might have a lot of people out there and probably kill us all in seconds. However, from their perspective, a hundred of their friends died today from five measly girls. They don't know we're hurting and out of tricks, so a bluff is our best weapon. I think we'll use Pad's empty shields, make them think we can flood this place in magma. I'm the leverage, and the shields enhance."

Banda and Quinn looked between themselves, unsure if something so blatant would work, but it wasn't like they were brimming with options. Quinn was the one who spoke up. "Ok, then what?"

"These people sent an armed squad to capture me, now they want to take me to their boss. They want me. I'm shooting in the dark, but it likely also means they don't care about the rest of you. While I'm escorted to the belly of the beast, we need to make sure everyone else is safe."

"I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for us!" Banda said with heat, though she did manage to keep her voice down.

"Not going to sugarcoat it, it is a possibility. I do have a second part to this plan, though." Honoka winced as Quinn tightened the bandage. Scrambling to her feet, the exhausted woman took a moment to steady herself. "Pad, are you up to killing the man in charge of all this pain and sorrow?"

"Gladly, but I don't know what use I'd be, I'm not much for combat."

"Don't need to be, most of it is you following me very quietly and hoping those people out there can't count. If this works, we might even be able to get all the prisoners out of here as well." Walking over to the naked human girl who suffered so much, Honoka gave a slight bow. "Dolly, I hate to ask this of you, but could you play dress up for a few hours?"

The plan only took a few more minutes to explain and execute. Dolly allocated into a naga, but Padmava kept three important Racial Features: her tongue, her ability to cling to walls and her recently acquired camouflage ability. That camouflage was really cool, looking like a cyber ninja ready to fight a nuclear mech, only the faintest of outlines and distortion in the air giving anything away. Honoka also pumped her full of all the Perception available because the Indian woman would take her cues from Honoka while she was led to the final boss.

When the barrier fell and everyone came out of the cell, Dolly was a naga and wore Padmava's armor, thought it didn't fit very well on her differently sized naga body. Regardless, no one mentioned anything because the plates covered her golden and orange scales. Quinn had spent most of the fight looking like a killer bug, so the fact she looked like an ottertaur didn't send up any flags. And they were leaving a cell holding onto a prisoner, so even Aruna in Dolly's snake arms didn't look out of place.

After both groups left, Padmava quickly sneaked out and found the central guard station, tracing the scent trails with her tongue. As Honoka suspected, it was currently empty because all their manpower was focused on keeping people out. Master Blasters was known to charter only around two hundred members in its guild. Half of them were dead, and another fifty escorted hostages. The rest of their guild was either on guard duty at weak points, or they might not even be on site. Either way, it only took a few minutes for Padmava to read the labeled controls and get all of the chains unlocked and doors opened. Running back to the cell blocks, Padmava found a clustered group of naked prisoners and told them how to escape out the way the girls came in.

It was all Honoka could offer with their limited resources at the planning session, the prisoners left to free themselves. Hopefully, the prisoners would escape but Padmava already made use of her recently acquired Endurance and caught up to the slowly walking troop, employing her tongue to follow Honoka's scent. The escort headed deeper inside, passing a group of skeletons and a lady in a gold mask when Padmava picked out Honoka's voice.

"...how you make the undead? You have someone under a Binding Contract?"

Padmava's boosted hearing snagged the last bit. Spinning around, the naked and invisible wife went back to the woman who pounded a wall in frustration.

"What are the terms of your Contract?" Padmava whispered, causing the tall robed woman to flinch and whirl around, unable to find Padmava.

"I...I am his slave in most ways and forced to create and control the undead until either he releases me or he dies." The voice was quiet as the grave, not breathing when it spoke of a long lost hope.

"Is this boss powerful? Does he have a weakness?"

"He calls himself a god. He is far more powerful than I am, though he was once human, like the rest of us. I don't know how to kill him. That doesn't mean it isn't possible."

"We're going to try. Can you make it to the entrance by the Bridge?"

"Yes. I hope you succeed."

Padmava took off again, silently shadowing while the group entered the throne room and began down the long mile. With her enhanced Perception, she saw a massive figure at the end and reasoned this was the place. Following the plan, the naked woman stuck her hands and feet on the wall and quickly climbed up to the ceiling using her Racial ability. The Friendly Neighborhood Padmava hustled, wiggling her body as she crawled to get ahead of the group. It was close, but she was into position above and behind the giant before Honoka reached the being, his seated head only a couple dozen feet below her.