Strike Team Beta

Hello, MrDawnFluffles here! This is based a bit on LoveWolf AE's work. Enjoy!

CW: Grotesque Monsters, Futanari, Sewers & Scat/Bodily Fluids, Horror Elements

*****

Our lights glared in the darkness, echoing off the sludge that coated the walls. I took a deep breath, my mask filtering nearly all of the smells that were everpresent here. Colt, to my left, said, "God this place must reek."

"Can't smell worse than you after we get back from a week-long trip," said Hex from behind me. I aimed my light further into the tunnel.

"Looks like a fork," I said. The mask dampened my ability to speak, but only slightly. I turned around. "Which way?"

Wolf closed his eyes, picturing the layout of the city above. "Right leads to... town square. Left to the sewage treatment plant."

"Left it is."

"Really, Raven?" Hex said with a sigh.

I let his gentle insubordination linger, not wanting to put anyone more on edge.

The water was up to our waists. The further down it went, the thicker it became, almost reaching solid form with each step we took.

I took another breath, leading the way. "Be careful," I reminded the others. "This thing is supposed to live under the water. Could be a crocodile or something like that."

"For all we know, thing could've mutated or something. Down here, with all these toxic fumes," Hex muttered.

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous," Colt said.

I clutched my gun tighter. The safety was on, but I was ready to switch it off at a moment's notice.

We made our way deeper, the sludge coating the walls growing ever thicker. As we continued, trudging slowly, I stopped, raising my hand. "Wait a second."

I bent over and got a close look at the waters. "There's steam." I took a second to collect my thoughts. The water hadn't changed temperature quickly, but now that I noticed it, it was definitely warm.

The vapour crept up along the walls, snaking its way in every direction. "That probably stinks too," said Hex.

The air grew muggy as we made our way into the belly of our city's sewage system. We came to another fork, and as we stopped a loud splash echoed from behind me. We turned around to see Wolf up to his neck in the water.

Hex grabbed his arm and helped him up. "I tripped on something. Let me see what it is."

He reached down, dunking his head under the water. Luckily, the masks we all wore protected him from getting every disease known to man immediately, but I was sure that wouldn't be good for his health in the long run.

He came up holding a long stick. He shook off the fecal matter that clung to it and brought it up to the light. "Femur. Human, looks like." He turned it over, examining it. "Extremely misshapen. Big bite marks." His eyes widened, so much so that I could see it beyond his mask. "The femur is cracked down the centre."

"Well, that bodes well," Hex said, pulling shit off of Wolf's head.

"Wait... deer. Not human." Wolf tossed the bone back. "Thing is strong, though. Crocodile definitely an option."

We ventured deeper, taking a few more turns at Wolf's discretion. When we arrived at yet another crossroads, we waited for Wolf's reply, but he didn't say anything. I turned around, but he was gone.

My heart jumped a hundred beats, my safety off in the blink of an eye. "Wolf?" I called.

Hex and Colt had their guns at the ready too. We all knew that without Wolf, we would be stumbling blindly through enemy territory.

We walked back a few hundred feet, tracing our steps to try and find him, perhaps having fallen beneath the water and gotten stuck, but we had no such luck. There was no sign of him.

"Fuck," was all I could say.

"How the hell did that happen?" Hex said. "How did he just disappear? If he got attacked, wouldn't he have gotten bit in the ass then screamed, or something?"

Tears began to well in his eyes. "Or at least a splash, right?"

"Keep it together, Hex. Without Wolf, we're lost and we'll need everyone on top of their game." I paused. "Wait, I've got a map!"

I fumbled around in my bag and pulled out a map. As I unfolded it, it slipped from my hands and fell into the water. Hex rolled his eyes at me, but I could tell it was a vain attempt to keep from panicking further.

I dove under, searching with my hands through the murky fluid to find it. Finally, after a few seconds, it found its way into my soggy palms.

I pulled my prize out of the water, holding it high above my head to show the other two that I found it.

Hex was trembling. No, Hex was shaking with all his might. He held his gun, pointed straight at the darkness behind me.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't seem to hear my question. I looked around. Colt was gone, too.

"What took him?" I asked. Once more, he shook in silence. I grabbed onto his shoulders, letting the map fall away again. "What was it?"

He opened his mouth, searching for the words. "It was like-" was all he got out before he was pulled under the water. It rippled slightly but was otherwise silent.

I levelled my gun at the water but didn't want to risk firing and injuring him. Advancing slowly, I aimed my gun at my feet so that I could shoot whatever attacked instantly. As I reached where he disappeared, only a single clip of ammo floated to the surface of the water. I kicked around the bottom of the murky water, but he was gone.

"Well," I said. "What do I do now?"

I walked deeper into the maze of reeking corridors. I was shaking, partially from adrenaline, mostly from fear. In my stupor, I forgot the map and wandered blindly into the labyrinth. I was alone, lost, and scared.

As I ventured further, the light from my flashlight glinted off something a bit further down the hall. I rushed over to it, only to find Colt's mask, shattered and cut down the centre. If he was still alive, he would be inhaling all the fumes. His badge sat next to it, soaked in sewer water. "KarmaCorp Special Ops. 436f6c74." I clutched the badge to my chest and took a breath.

"At least I'm going the right way," I mumbled, trying to comfort myself despite not having any confidence in my words.

My teeth chattered, echoing down the halls, but I couldn't stop them despite my best efforts. It was all I could do to stop from crying.

I dropped my shoulders and took a deep breath. "Okay. Panicking gets me nowhere. What does get me somewhere is either finding a way out or finding this creature."

I picked up the mask. It was broken in a way that made it seem careless, but the placement meant it would never fall below the water. "It's sending me a message. Either warning me to stay away or setting a trap. In both cases, it's this way."

I steeled myself and trudged deeper, the muck sticking to my boots. It was getting harder to walk with each step, and it was getting warmer.

The stench grew thicker, until the fumes were beginning to coat my mask, just like how glasses fog up when you wander inside from the cold.

The smell was getting stronger, even through the mask. It wasn't designed to filter out this much at once. It was made for short bouts of less-than-breathable gases, not this marathon of stink.

Fear clung to my vision, dancing in the shadows, taunting me from afar. "Get it together. You'll need your head in one piece to get your teammates out."

But still, it was hard following my own advice. The horror of my situation crept in slowly but was instilling such a deep terror that I could barely stand straight.

"You've trained for this," I said, but the fear that this creature was alien drowned those thoughts quickly.

I stumbled down the hallway, water sloshing out of my way as I went. There wasn't much I could do at this point other than continue and hope to find something.

I stopped when I heard breathing. Loud breathing that echoed through the caverns of waste, slow and steady. I pointed my light into the darkness, but it revealed nothing. As I stood there, the breathing slowly grew quieter until it stopped.

As soon as I took a step, a scream shot out from ahead. I charged down the corridor, gun at the ready. As I rounded a corner, I saw a pair of feet being dragged away. "I'm coming!" I shouted, more for myself than for the victim. For the first time, I felt in control.

The fumes were getting stronger as I chased the creature, still dragging the person away. We rounded many corners and passed dozens of junctions. Finally, the creature dropped the body and scurried away, though I didn't get a glimpse of it. I ran over, pulling my first aid kit from my bag.

As I neared, I realized the body was a mannequin. It was fairly realistic, but still not any of my team members. As I stood, trying to process this realization, a voice echoed from behind me.

"This one smells different."

The voice was deep, like Wolf's, but was unmistakable feminine. It was almost like a woman who'd spent her life smoking several packs a day. It was coarse and grated my ears, but I ignored all that. I felt like a mouse having just wandered into a hawk's nest.

I aimed my gun into the darkness, but there was nothing. From behind me, again, loud sniffing invaded my ears.

"Not a man thing," it said. "Not like the others. This one will do."

I whirled around, once more seeing nothing. "Show yourself!"

My gun was torn from my hands. Again, I spun, only to be knocked into the water by a swift blow.

I managed to pull myself back up, and as the muck slowly sloughed off my visor, its shape was revealed. Holding my flashlight up so I could see it was a grey-skinned woman with long, gangly limbs. Her skin glistened in the water, and her stringy hair hung limply over her face, obscuring her visage.

She wore next to nothing, save some rags over her privates. She curled her hand in which she carried my weapon into a fist and snapped the barrel in half. The loud clang drew a shriek from my throat, but she showed no reaction.

As she stepped closer to me, I backed up instinctively only to find a wall to my back. I wondered if there was a wall there before, but I had no time to think as she drew another step closer.

When she got within distance to touch me with her long, clawed hands, I realized how tall she was. She towered over me, probably a good two feet larger.

Her skin shone like she had been dipped in glitter, and as she crushed my flashlight, I realized the fumes from the water lit the room enough for me to stumble around.

I stood in awe for a moment before remembering what had happened to my team. I threw a punch at her, but she just grabbed my hand and started walking away, dragging me like a mother would a child.

I tried to fight her, but despite her gaunt muscles, she was much stronger than me. Her skin stuck to my gloves and her grip wouldn't let me wriggle free of them.

I gave up fighting after a few minutes of her completely ignoring all of my attempts. She continued to drag me into the depths, and I realized we were descending. Somehow, it seemed like she knew her way around the nondescript tunnels.

I steeled my courage and dared to ask a question: "Where are you taking me?"

"To your new home."

My fear sparked into my throat, but I choked it back down. "Where is that?"

"My home too. In the heart. You will be happy there. Your kind who live there tell me you will come to enjoy your stay after some time."

I couldn't help stifle a laugh. Was she trying to trick me into going along with her plan?

Despite my fear, I was growing more in control. She didn't seem to want to kill me like she had Hex and the others.

"And who are they to talk?"

She remained silent for a time. Eventually, we reached a section where huge pipes dumped waste into a large vat below. The mask fogged up so that I couldn't see at all, and the smell nearly overwhelmed me.

She took a deep whiff. "Do you smell that? That is the entire city above, all of their excrement. It's amazing, isn't it?"

I cringed. "Whatever you say."

She leaned down before me, allowing me to see past her sweeping hair for the first time, straight into her pitch-black eyes.

"I tire of waiting. This smell is..." she sniffed again. "Invigorating."

She grabbed onto my mask and, with a long terrifying fingernail, cut a crack into it. Green fumes seeped inside, and the stench made my knees buckle. I fell up to my chest in the water, which only made the smell worse.

"Come," she said. "Let us see if you pass the test."

With one motion, she ripped off my mask, and the smell of darkness overcame me.

I awoke with my nose scrunched. It ached from the constant assault, the vomit-inducing smells overwhelming my senses. Snot and tears poured from my face, and I pulled myself out of a pool of my own facial fluids.

The woman stood off to the side, sitting on the edge of an overhang. There was meagre light around, most of which came from a handful of candles scattered around the place. There were a few furnishings, but they were all covered in the same disgusting waste as the rest of the area.

I stood up, my hair a sticky mess. I could see the woman's back now, illuminated vaguely by the candle fire. Her skin was gray but surprisingly smooth. It glittered, reflecting the light all around.

She turned slightly, so she could see me from the corner of her eye. "You're awake."

I felt her eyes crawling all over me, and only then did I realize I was naked. My breasts clung to my chest, sweat dripping between them.

"I am," I said, choking back countless gags as I inhaled through my mouth. The air was nearly solid it was so dense with fumes.

"You survived the test, though you did pass out."

"Test?" She did mention something about a test, before.

"Yes. To be suitable for this environment, you have to be able to survive without masks on. It is deadly to more than you know." She turned a bit more, her hair still obscuring her face.

"Why haven't you killed me?" I asked bluntly. I figured there was no reason to skirt the main thing on my mind. If she was going to kill me, she would have done it before I woke up.

"I don't want to kill you."

With a motion so fluid I could barely see her move, she pulled me against her. Her skin was sticky and vile, but still soft, just as it looked.

I noticed as she pressed my face to her chest that she had removed her rags. She was naked, too. Her breasts were saggy and damp, but her nipples were hard, stark against her soft bosom.

"I am glad you survived," she said, her voice softening from its harsh, deep tones. "I prayed that you would make it. I have finally found you."

She grabbed my arms and pushed me away far enough to gaze into her eyes once more. "You're my second half, love."

I felt myself grow warm. Blood flushed to my cheeks. I couldn't bring myself to look away from her eyes. She was a terrifying monster, but she was surprisingly kind.

"I cleaned," she said, gesturing to the small room in which we stood. "It's not up to your standards, but things do not like being clean down here."

Casting my gaze into the crevices, I saw that the grime was noticeably thinner here.

She pulled me close to her again. She smelled my hair once more. "You smell good, but perhaps I liked you more when you showered."

"And whose fault is that?"

She let out a chuckle, a deep, roaring noise that reached into my soul. Despite her terrifying height, and gangly limbs, she was somewhat adorable. She seemed shy, now that I was here.

"So," I said, pulling away from her and examining the room some more. "Why do you bring 'my kind' here?" She didn't seem like a threat at the moment.

She sighed deeply, gazing out over the edge where she sat before. I glanced over there as well, only to have my attention captured by the huge cavern before me. Deep below, dozens of feet at least, a lake of sewage ran through a glowing village. Candlelight revealed the buildings, sad and decrepit, built atop a landmass made of solid waste.

"These are my people," she said. "We are tied to this place. Cursed to spend eternity here, in the sewers."

My mouth was agape at the size of it. Hundreds of houses stretched out into the distance, dimly lit by the candles, antagonized by the fumes until they went out.

"It is only with the love of a woman that we can escape."

I frowned. "Why didn't you just go to the edge of your domain and ask us politely?"

She cast an arm across the room. "Look at this place. No one comes here willingly. Nor can we use pity. It has to be real love."

She sat and dangled her legs over the edge again. "Our mother told us the story of Beauty and the Beast, where a beautiful young woman is captured by a horrible monster and grows to love him slowly."

She sighed. "She told us that this was the way."

I took a seat beside her. The grimy floor was uncomfortable beneath my bare ass, but I endured it. "So, you said there were other women. Have the others succeeded in escaping using love?"

She nodded. "But they returned after having a brief taste of fresh air. They don't want to taste the fruits of the heavens before every one of us can do it too."

Her eyes cast into the distance, admiring the broken stonework. "They incentivize us with their tales, convincing us to keep going, to find our other half."

She looked at me with intent. "Our Belle. The angel who will carry us into the sky."

I smiled awkwardly. "You think that's me? Your Belle?"

I felt strange. I couldn't explain it. Despite being dumbfounded by her story, it struck me as true. She didn't seem like she was lying.

And deep down, I wanted it to be true. I wanted someone to love, to help. If I could help bring her people one step closer to salvation, how could I turn the offer down?

She nodded. "I believe you are mine. I searched long and far, and you're the only one who didn't run away immediately after waking up, nor did you get sick and have to leave."

A shard of memory struck me. "Wait, what did you do with my team?"

She grabbed my hand. "I didn't harm them. I returned them to the surface as soon as I ambushed each one. You do not need to worry."

I was still worried, but she seemed incredibly genuine: like lying would hurt her more than me. She could have used one of them or even a stranger as bait, but she used a mannequin.

I fell into her arms. They were sticky but comforting. I let out a deep sigh, just as she had. "I can't turn down the offer to help innocents. What can I do?"

"I don't know. My sisters have never told me how they earn their love. They only say that they were kind and that they knew what to do."

She looked at me. Her gaze made goosebumps creep along my skin, a breeze of eyesight flowing over my body until it rested on my lips.

She pulled me in, and I let her.

Her lips cascaded into mine, hers, thin and black, overtaking mine, petite and red. Her hair fell into my face, acting as a blockade between us, allowing only the sensation of flesh to bring us together. Her tongue swirled around mine, filling my mouth with her saliva.

She pulled away suddenly, a string of drool dripping out of my mouth and onto my breasts, causing my nipples to harden in the warm air.

She dove down, her greasy tongue tracing circles over my tits, sending prickles of joy up my spine. My head fell back and I gazed at the grimy ceiling as she made love to my chest. Water dripped from it just as her love dripped from my breasts.

Her hands crept around my back, clawing desperately at me. I ran my fingers through her wiry hair, the sludge still resting in it flowing out of the way as my hands passed.

Suddenly, I was on my back and she was above me. She sat on my chest and pried open my mouth with two claws. A long line of spit flowed off of her tongue and landed on mine, the salty nectar filling my mouth. She forced my mouth closed, and commanded me to swallow, which I did eagerly.