Guilty Gear Transmigration: Light of Madness

Warning! What you are about to read might be disturbing for many people. Do not read this chapter if you do not like reading about gruesome surgeries while awake or in pain.

-

Daubeny opened his eyes to be met with tiles of the institute's ceiling covered in darkness, with only a steady bright light several feet away from him illuminating them. Having to squint his eyes from the light source, he noticed he was lying down on a cold, smooth, and uncomfortably stiff from feeling its contact with his shirtless chest and the pads of his fingers. A chill crept into his bones, which caused him to realize that the only thing he wore was his pants. 

'Where am I?' 

The memories returned all at once, without sense or order, that shook his mind as if it was almost physical in its intensity.

Daubeny tried to gasp and sit upright but struggled to move his body as small straps held it down. These straps strangled his skin like a python would its prey. They may not have been strong enough to hold an average person, but given his terrible physical condition at the moment, they served their purpose well enough. 

He let out a breath, staring at the ceiling and unable to move his eyes or close them. After a short time of panicking, he calmed down about what had happened and began thinking. 

'Asuka drugged me, so now I am waiting to be transported to a cryopod? How did I not think of this? I expected him to try something, but this surprised me. Who knows, maybe these are my last thoughts before transforming into Justice or some other monstrosity.'

However, he had no hope of rescue or release. All he dared hope for was a quick death or blissful ignorance of becoming a monster. The only thing he could be certain of was that he existed, as seconds turned into minutes until a door could be heard opening.

Sliding open, footsteps were approaching with soft-soled boots, leisurely walking against the rough floor. Then they stopped as metal clicked.

'Keys, knives, something worse? And the sound of those footsteps!'

As soon as it happened, the footsteps resumed approaching him. When they were only two meters from Daubeny, the sound vanished in place of steady breathing and metal crashing against the table he sat on or a nearby object as whoever it was nearby pulled several objects out and placed them on the table. 

He tried to move his jaw back and forth, only feeling phantom feelings of driving them. Then, for a moment, between clenched teeth, he said, "Stop." Those were the last words he would ever mumble as his jaw and tongue began to lose their function again. 

Whoever was there suspended their actions for a brief moment, staring at Daubeny, but continued placing two more objects on the operating table. They walked forward just enough for Daubeny to see Asuka's hair covering his eyes while holding an object. This halted Daubeny's thoughts as dread wrapped around his soul as he examined the object. The glint of a sliver blade was illuminated by the bright light above the two of them. Asuka extended the arm holding the surgical knife, and the blade was raised above Daubeny's belly button, only a hair breath away from touching his skin.

He desperately wanted to scream in terror, run away, or attack Asuka then and there, but it seemed the drugs had fully worked throughout his body, as he couldn't even twitch a single finger or toe. Regardless, the blade sliced open his belly as beads of red started to bubble up at the surface, trickling down the sides of his stomach as the knife made a perfect line across. 

The pain Daubeny was experiencing now was the most intense he had felt in his two lifetimes combined, as the pain didn't register at first. But after a few seconds, it felt like thousands of needles piercing into his chest as the blade cut through the muscle, and it didn't stop there as Daubeny felt even more pain when he felt something with no gripping the insides of his stomach as it continued to stretch open. Leading him to fall unconscious for the moment.

When he next awakened, Daubeny felt that his stomach had been returned to its natural state, only to be met by an unfamiliar pain through his arms and legs. It felt as tho dozens of worms were sinking their mandibles into his skin, stinging with every bite. The cutting had hurt more, but he would have preferred its touch, for the cold knife was impersonal, predictable, and inanimate, all things the worm was not. Something tormented him about how creatures were chewing on him; worse, they were wriggling inside him.

Time was losing meaning to Daubeny; he didn't know if he would be on that table for minutes, hours, days, years, or even an eternity. The only thing that registered that he was still alive was the red flash of pain that terrified his entire being. He wanted to scream out of his mouth but to no avail, as whatever Asuka had done worked its magic. All he could do was scream inside his mind, desperately hoping a god, demon, or anything of that matter would listen to his prayers, only to be met by silence. 

However, one being heard his prayers but decided to ignore them. Rather, it was enjoying the spectacle of Daubeny's torture, munching on cheeses throughout the whole scene.

-

As Asuka was cleaning the blood from his hands, he glanced behind him to see Daubeny unmoving. A wisp of golden radiant light appeared from his chest, stretching across as if to reach the sky only to return to his body. Drying his hands, Asuka was about to exit the room before stopping a foot from the entrance to think.

Daubeny was no longer human. He was something else entirely, something that Asuka had never encountered before in a human being. Looking into Daubeney's closed eyes, he wondered what new developments his friend would be experiencing, with that thing inside his soul sending a chill to the ashen blond-haired man's bones.

Asuka had created two monsters that day. Knowing that neither Daubeny nor Frederick would ever be the same again.

But it was too late to turn back now. Asuka had crossed a line, and there was no going back. All he could do was watch as Daubeny's body healed itself, causing the apostle to shake his head with determination as he exited the room. Leaving behind an unconscious Gear prototype.