(Warning: This chapter does include a graphic description of a gory nature. I've marked the start and end of that scene with a W in parenthesis.)

A roar of thunder echoed within the school as I made my way through the empty halls. We had maybe fifteen minutes before the teachers sent someone to the bathroom to check on us. Today of all days was the worst possible time for a freak blizzard to hit the Bay. Well, blizzard or thundersnow. I always get those two mixed up…

"Emma, why are we letting Hebert out? We planned this for fucking months."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Soph, I can't control the weather. Humiliating Taylor is one thing. Leaving her here while everyone's trying to get home during this storm?" I grimaced. "With how bad it is, if she gets left in there for a few days while the school is closed and gets hurt," Or worse. "It'll attract too much attention. It's not just a simple prank we can brush away anymore, especially with you on probation." I smiled at her. "Besides, if we rescue Taylor, who's going to believe, we were the ones to put her in there? We put the blame on someone else, everyone in school follows our lead, and we're off scott-free." I leaned over and whispered close to her, "I'm sure it'll even earn you some brownie points with the PRT acting as a model Ward."

Sophia face screwed up in anger as it usually did when the PRT came up. "Oh fuck that. I don't care what they think about me, but… fine." Her face went to a neutral expression. "Less heat's better right now. Wish we could just leave the worthless bitch. Do you know how much time it took to get all that trash together?"

I simply rolled my eyes. As we were getting closer to where Taylor's locker was, I noticed how… silent it was. Shouldn't she be screaming still like she was this morning? I expected her to still be banging on the locker doors to have someone let her out…

"Soph, shouldn't Taylor be making some kind of noise?"

Sophia merely snorted. "Maybe she passed out."

…a bit of worry wormed its way into my heart before I slammed down on it. No… I don't care about her like that anymore.

As we turned the corner to Taylor's locker, I quickly covered my nose. "Ugh, it smells even worse than earlier."

Sophia merely laughed, unbothered by the smell. "Come on survivor, it's not that bad."

"You're only saying that because you've fought Mush before," I nasally retort.

She simply smiled a toothy grin at me.

CRACK-BOOM!

I screamed as light flashed through the hallways from the windows, and the sound of very close thunder rammed into my ears as it shook the school. It took a few seconds to calm myself, and while Sophia looked fine, I could see it surprised her too.

Slowly, we both began to chuckle as we shared a glance. "That was close."

BOOM!

We stopped laughing when the next one hit.

CRACK!

By the next one we were on the floor covering our heads.

BOOM!

And by the one after that I was screaming. With my ears covered, I could only watch as a bolt of lightning entered in through the windows and slammed right into Taylor's locker. I slammed my eyes shut as the bright light blinded me. But even with my ears and eyes covered, I felt it happen again and again and again. The noise and force paralyzed us, and I tried my best to keep the light and noise out.

What the hell was happening?!

The lightning kept coming, and the thunder buffered over us as I shrank on myself to create a lower profile. The frigid air soon became warm, then hot, and then finally scorching.

After a dozen strikes I couldn't help but morbidly count them out, but when I felt my skin start to burn, I lost count somewhere around the fifties. At that point, I tried my best to scoot away from the hellish scene even if it was at a snail's pace. I only managed a few feet by the time the lightning ended. I waited there for a few moments, before slowly opening my eyes and letting my hands slump from my still ringing ears.

I heard a mumble behind me as I stood up. I turned, seeing a small crowd of school faculty and even some students running towards me. They weren't mumbling, from how wide their mouths flapped I could tell some of them were yelling, but I still could barely hear them over the ringing in my head.

Either they heard me screaming or... for some reason ran towards the strange lightning barrage. In a daze I noticed Mr. Gladly get closer to me, saying something rapidly… but the words were indistinct. The other people were talking too, but I still couldn't hear them.

There was a small thud… and they stopped talking and merely looked with wide eyes behind me. The molten remains of what was once Taylor's locker door fell to the ground… and she stepped out with nary a scratch. Not even a stain from the gunk we left in her locker was on her clothes. I couldn't even smell it anymore, my nose stuffed with the scent of ozone.

Then out of my confusion, it finally hit me.

Oh. Oh god. Taylor's a cape… I… I made Taylor a cape. Slowly I stepped back a bit and glanced towards the now shattered and somewhat melted window. The lightning… it had to be her… Oh god. I turned back to her, as she slowly took a shaky step forward towards us, glancing down at her hands. She slowly raised her hands and then gripped her face in a vice. She started to say something to herself, but I couldn't hear her, the ringing still drowning everything out. A few people walked around me, and were trying to talk to Taylor. Mr. Gladly was one, and Mrs. Knotts another. I even saw one kid (Timmy? Tommy?) recording her on his phone.

Before anyone could get too close to her, I saw a sprinkle of confusion on her face, her hands limply slipping back down to her sides, and then she said one word.

Another bolt of lightning, this one blood red, slammed down, everyone backing away from her in a hurry! Instead of coming through the window, it came through the roof of the building, going straight into her. I saw the strange electricity cover her, dancing between her limbs and body, her fingers infused with the crimson energy. Then suddenly… it just cut out. Her eyes went wide, and she immediately kneeled down, a hand to her mouth as if she were about to puke.

(W)

A spew of blood came out of her mouth, and in her reddened palm… I saw her teeth… all of her teeth. She looked up at me, her mouth full of bleeding gums, and simply stared into my eyes in terror.

Then black fangs came out of the empty sockets in her mouth, and she began to scream. She wasn't the only one. The only one I think who wasn't screaming was me. I just stood there… staring at the sight in front of me and unable to force my eyes away.

Blood began to gush in torrents as the fangs finished fitting into place, her jaw shifting and changing. More crimson fluid began to pour from her nose and ears as her skin began to boil, pieces of her hair falling out in big clumps. Her eyes began to glow with a fiery orange light then burst into flames, and with a grisly pop, her glasses shattered. The only thing I could see from them now were those burning lights coming from empty eye sockets, the fire now spreading to the remnants of her hair.

Her scream transitioned into a monstrous roar, as I saw the orange light again, this time from the back of her throat. Another roar came to life as her left shoulder exploded in a gush, a new glowing pit of a mouth ringed with even more black fangs forming there, then another roar as her right shoulder followed suit.

Soon enough the roars were all I could hear as it drowned out everything, including the ringing in my head. I couldn't even hear the nearby remaining windows shattering, but I felt the flicks of a cut here and there as the glass pieces showered down around me. Even the concrete floor beneath me began to crack, as my ears suddenly felt wet.

The roars from all three of her mouths died out as she bent over with her hands on the floor, her horrifying mess of what was once a face hidden from view. Drips of what looked like molten metal fell to the floor. Even underneath her baggy clothes, I could see her back bubble and pop like her face. Then like swords slicing through flesh, I saw black horns lancing out of her back, ripping her sweater to shreds, before settling behind her like some kind of demonic set of wings. Past that, below the small of her back, a draconic tail began to form.

All of her hair was gone by this point, but the fire remained. More horns grew in to replace her missing locks. Two smaller horns were going straight up into the air, while two larger ones were branching out wider, going up in a diagonal fashion. Just like her teeth her nails were replaced with black talons, her hands exploding into huge monstrous claws. Black spikes formed out of each of her forearms and went past her hands, digging effortlessly through the school's floor as they grew longer and more vicious.

That's when she started getting bigger. What was left of her skin began to rip as if she was a molting snake. In most of the gaps of her tearing flesh I saw a mix of red and black tissue. In others I saw more of that hellish light, unnatural vents oozing with a molten glow. Two new arms ruptured from her sides, more blood pooling to the ground. The second pair of arms was smaller than her current claws but still bigger than normal human ones. Soon, she was nearly twice her former size, and she kept getting bigger. Almost nothing was left of the original Taylor, just scraps of clothing and small pieces of discarded skin dressed over what looked more and more like a demon from hell.

Finally, she stopped growing, surrounded by a giant stain of fresh blood, large rolls of shed skin, and bubbling discarded fat. Something fell to the ground beneath her. As I looked, I saw Taylor's nose, empty eyelids, and her wide mouth stuck in a rigor of horror all in a mess of ripped skin on the floor staring back at me….

'Her face was off. Her face was…' She began to stand up, getting off her knees and onto her new hooves. Then she looked up and…

(W)

I stared into the face of the devil. Nothing human was left, just a pure demonic face that screamed evil. It opened its molten light for eyes, and stared right back at me.

TERROR

A feeling of pure horror knocked me down to the ground on my butt. I…I couldn't do anything, nothing but shake in fear as I stared at the thing in front of me.

It stopped rising as the horns and spikes it had as 'wings' ripped into the ceiling. If it stood up to its full height, its head would be on the second floor of the school. So it simply hunched itself over, almost going on to all fours.

It spoke, but… I couldn't hear it. I couldn't… I couldn't hear anything! It shuffled a bit closer. 'No… no… Please stop! Go away! I can't…'

It tilted its head, like a confused dog, and then its eyes brightened.

'Emma?'

A deep voice spoke to me, a bestial voice that only had the barest trace amounts of Taylor's own within it. Beneath it all, I could hear nothing but a chorus of screams. But it wasn't my ears hearing her… It was my mind.

Thoughts of the Simurgh forced themselves into my head. 'No… Oh god… No…' Is this what people felt like when hearing that song?

For a second, its mouth twitched. It tilted its head in the opposite direction. 'You're afraid of me…'

I wanted to laugh, but the sheer mind numbing terror made that impossible.

'And your fear…' It started sniffing. 'I can… taste it?' Molten metal like liquid began to pour out of its maw like drool. 'It tastes… good, Emma.' It took a step closer, the rising motion ripping more of the ceiling apart.

'Get away from me! Get away!'

'No… I don't think I will.'It shivered. 'You can't imagine how good it feels, Emma! If only you knew how tastes your fear! Fear of me… Fear of pain …. Fear of death… Fear of being weak… Fear of…' It stopped, and simply stared at me again, its eyes beginning to glow even brighter. '…being like me?! Like me after my Mom died!?'

Suddenly, I wasn't on the floor in the middle of one of Winslow's hallways with a demon in front of me. I was on the hard floor of a familiar alleyway, surrounded by ABB thugs. They all looked like Sophia in her breaker state, but more solid and with glowing eyes. They started to move towards me.

I shook my head. "No… this isn't real. This isn't happening!" I let out a hysterical laugh. "This can't happen again. Not again. Not again!"

One of the thugs pushed me to the ground, and straddled me, pinning me in place with their weight and my crazed laughing stopped dead. I couldn't force them off me, they were too strong! When I tried to back my face away from them, they simply yanked my head up by my hair, and put a blade against my throat. I stared at them, and even with their features hidden in black shadows, I could recognize that face anywhere from my nightmares.

I let out a sob. 'I'm stronger now! I'm strong, not weak! Don't put me back here! Don't make me like that again! Don't! Please! I'll do anything! Please!'

'You'll do anything? Like what?'

My face paled as I simply froze up as both the current nightmare and my memories became one.

'Then it's the face after all.' Just like last time, the blade moved across my face, a steely kiss on each part as they went. 'Nose… Eye… Mouth… Pick.'

I screamed. My eyes darted around. I spotted the figure I was desperately looking for on top of dad's car, just like back then! "Sophia, save me! Please! I can't do this again!"

The thug turned to look where I called, and jolted back to me, their eyes wider. Suddenly I was back at Winslow, the demon once again looming over me, as I let out incoherent sobs and hiccuping screams.

'Sophia… is Shadow Stalker,' it growled. 'Our friendship was ruined… because of her. Because of your fear of being weak… you modeled yourself after her, lying to yourself, faking your hatred of me until it took root and became truth.'

W-What?

'Confused? I can hear your thoughts and read your soul. Your hatreds, your fears, your acts of destruction, your anguish and pain, your lies, and even your sins; all of it, every single misdeed and insecurity is laid bare before me now, Emma! Not only the whats, but the whys as well. Because… yes,' It began to nod to itself. ', I am those very things made incarnate now, aren't I?'

It simply stared at me, and then looked past me. I followed its gaze now seeing the group of people I had nearly forgotten. Most of them were clutching to the sides of the hall, either staring at the beast in catatonic horror or closing their eyes as if they could simply pretend it wasn't there. A few of the students though, even shaking in fear had their phones out recording the monster.

It ignored them all. It was looking for someone specifically… but Sophia wasn't there. Where did she go? Why… Why did she leave me here with this thing? It turned back to me, and the light from its mouth glowed brighter.

'I know the truth, betrayer. You can no longer hurt me anymore. I now know the true depths of your soul. Fake it until you make it, huh? How pathetic…' It closed its eyes. 'I can finally get payback for all you did to me. I could make you relive your worst fears again and again, give you pain unimagined, or simply rip you apart with my—'

It stopped, and then shook its head. 'What… what was I saying? No I don't…' It gripped its face. 'Be quiet. I'm not…' It stepped back. 'I said shut up! I'm not going to hurt anyone! I'm not going to become like them! Or you!'

A small misty black thing slammed into the demon's face… and then harmlessly fell to the ground. My eyes glanced over it and widened when I saw it was one of Sophia's bolts, one that had just been intangible… and had bounced off the demon. The devil stared down at it and then stared back up its eyes glowing brighter. Another bolt slammed into its face and once again fell to the ground, leaving the monster unharmed.

I turned back and saw a few dozen feet away Sophia as Shadow Stalker. While her mask gave her a stern visage, I could see her hand with the crossbow trembling. My eyes snapped back to the devil.

It stepped forward, its jaw opened wide with flames and lightning spilling forth. It was going to attack Sophia, and Sophia couldn't even scratch it! It…no Taylor was going to kill Sophia! And… and it's my entire fault isn't it? Oh god… oh god… What have I done?

Immediately its jaw snapped shut, and it took a step back, its eyes swiveled back to me, almost as if in shame. It looked down at itself, looking over its claws as if seeing what it was for the first time, and then shuddered. Immediately it turned and ran through the wall to the outside. The wall was ripped apart, pieces of debris going everywhere, the storm outside now blowing into the school, but the devil… Taylor didn't stop. It… she… just kept running, a flaming set of footprints following her across the snow…

AN: Had this idea in the back of my head, and in a bid to get out of my funk with my grandma's passing and back into writing Let's Play A Game, I decided to belt it out real quick. I've checked it over a few times myself, but didn't want my betas to worry too much about going over it, so if there are errors, let me know. If anyone wants to be a beta for this story, also let me know.

Hopefully that scene wasn't too graphic for people, but, hey, demon transformations and exploding blood tumors go hand in hand. I did have it content reviewed on Spacebattles, and I do have approval from a few of the Amicus. Thanks guys! I'm assuming that means it should be okay for SV, but *crosses fingers* If anyone thinks even with the warning it's a bit much, let me know. Of course it should be fine on FFN, I've seen heaps worse there.

Yes, Taylor is now The Prime Evil, with all seven devils whispering into her ear on what she could do and how she should act, but that's not the extent of her full powers. We'll get into that later.

I know Emma calling Sophia "Soph" as a nickname is not in canon, but I liked the idea of it. And yes, it's technically if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a reference to Halloween Town.

Hopefully I can update this one a bit sooner than I normally do with my other stories (ha), but I do want to get back to my Gamer fic since I have two chapters in progress for it. Good news is without a giant spreadsheet, it should be much easier to pump chapters for this out when the muse hits me upside the head.