Throughout the entirity of the cosmos, on billions of worlds it had existed. A vile creation that made even the denizens of tartarus cringe in horror. Instead of a name this vile creation was bound by a title. The infernal machine. To speak its true name was to bind it, but in that cursed bond lay madness. Tonight the malign sentience the engine had become stirred, This world was drained, Nothing moved, nothing stirred, nothing lived. The machine rose from it's erstwhile metal body. Harvesting the last struggling souls from the dead planet it prepared to depart, it was time, it needed to seek a new maker.
At last the presence found an ideal world, heavily laden with souls, it sought to enter the dreams of one of the denizens. They tossed and turned in their sleep. However just as the engine began to plant its cursed designs in the young ones head it was knocked back. A black creature of nightmares blocked its path, a single horn glowing readied in defiance. Wings of midnight shielding it, the spirits of thousands of dreamers coming to the guardians aid. In such a weakened state the engine had no choice, it fled the mind of the dreamer and hid away.
The machine knew what it needed now, the guardian had blocked it countless times. It needed a mind already mad, one that would welcome it without a struggle. So it began to search, reaching out until it found its ideal prey. Discreetly it whispered in the ear of the mad one, it made such promises before quietly slipping into the creatures mind. The madness in here was perfect, and so the machine began to posess its new victim, soon, guardian or not, this world would fall.
When the mad one awoke the plans were already laid, the engine had been oh so very careful to make it seem like the idea was merely a passing thought, a humble idea. Then it began to push, exerting the will that had damned millions. It steered the madness, The mad one gibbered and howled, screaming in agony it began to gather everything the engine could need.
A forge was set, the fire hotter than the deepest pits of hell. It seemed the mad being had powers of her own. She could summon whatever she needed from the void, a rare talent indeed. The engine reached out, gathering cursed parts from many worlds would make the task much easier to complete. The hammer fell, with every fall of the hammer another soul was bound. Another dark memory surfaced of worlds ruined, lives lost, and spirits destroyed. Strangely the mad one did not seem to mind, most even the mad ones would have broken completely by now. That was unimportant though, the engine hungered, and so it pressed on with the work.
The shell was complete, Soon the infernal machine would be reborn , for now it did not mind, the mad ones thoughts tasted so sweet. Tainted by chaos and madness, even the nightmare guardian seemed to fear to tread in this place. So as time went on the engines machiavellian desires began to take shape. The fires fueled by screams of those bound to the engines service even after their untimely demise , the ashes of dead worlds to lend it strength. The ice of frozen realms to quench the flames. A spirit for the machine to feed upon infused with every fall of the hammer. Before long at the rate things were progressing it would stalk the world again, but then, diasaster struck.
The hospital intervened, they knew of the darkness in the mind of this one. The engine tried to drive her to struggle against them. But the struggle only caused her to be bound tighter. She was locked away in a cell, yes she was fed, but she was still trapped, and with her so was the engine.
So it went silent, it steered and controlled her.Whenever she tried to harm another the engine stayed her hand. It was oh so very tempting to join her in insanity, but it hungered. It made her eat on time, sleep like any normal beast, behave exactly like her caretakers. Only that way lay freedom. It was often tempting to simply slay them all, but without it's shell it could not harvest, and so it waited. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months, and still they held her. The engine could feel itself slowly dying. But it had lived for millenia, it knew it needed to save its strength to power its new body.
Slowly, the caretakers came to trust her again, they even let her care for another of those trapped in this place. The mad one felt a great fondness for the one they left in her care. Eventually they released her and they were free once more.
Still the engine waited, it did not wish to draw suspicion upon itself and be confined lke that once again, and so it remained silent leaving the mad one to her own devices. Without the engines guidance the mad ones actions were benign. Her mind was an endless morass of chaos , and yet she somehow contained it. This ones mind was stronger than the engine had imagined. No matter, the greatest minds of entire kingdoms had bent to the engines will. They had led their empires to ruin, started wars where complete destruction was mutually assured. Starved their own people,. All on the whim of the engine. No matter how strongwilled it was, how could the mind of a madbeast ever hope to compete with that?
The work was nearly complete, and the mad one was no longer being watched, so the engine began to exert its will once more. At last the mad one began the incantation. Shedding some of her blood to cast the circle. The spell was cast, and the infernal machine rose once more. But wait........... Something was wrong. SHE HAD CHANGED THE DESIGN, no being should have been capable of such an act. The demon tried to flee its new home, but it was trapped. The mad one marked the device with its true name.
Inside it's new cell the demon soul screamed and raged, mocked by the very souls it had harvested to feed upon. The infernal energy of a billion fallen worlds , bound in servitude, to make a tortoise fly. Watching Tank fly with Rainbow Dash Screwball smiled to herself. Flying off into the distance.
Author's Note
Just for fun, I hope y'all like it, this is my second fic featuring Screwy.
