Groaning, the young devil was bombarded with pain, her entire body screaming in agony. She attempted to open her eyes but was greeted by darkness. Waving her hand in front of her face, she started to panic as she couldn't see anything. Frantically looking around, she noticed the faintest glimmer of light from above.
Trying to guess the distance, she fell short without a frame of reference. Left alone in the dark, she started calling out. "Hello... Is anyone there?" Her cries echoed into the darkness with no reply as the abyss swallowed her voice.
"Hello?" Her voice cracked in fear as tears pooled in her eyes. The cold embrace of darkness closed in from all directions. Suddenly, a crashing sound echoed from close by. Rotating as fast as she could, she peered into the darkness.
As her eyes slowly adjusted, her supernatural sight kicked in, allowing her to make out vague shapes. Suddenly, another crash echoed from far behind her. Spinning again, she gazed into the abyss, and the abyss gazed back.
Echoing from somewhere deep in the darkness, a grinding sound slowly started as a single minute light appeared suspended in the air. The light began to move closer, its blue glow like someone looking into her soul. Scrambling back in fear, she tumbled off the remains of the robot that had shielded her on the way down, losing sight of the light in the process.
Scrambling in the dark, unsure which way was up or down, Evie tried to find something to guide her. Within the darkness, the grinding sound continued to draw closer as Evie abandoned running and curled into a ball next to the robot, trying to hide.
Clamping her hand across her mouth, Evie tried to be as silent as possible as the grinding closed in. Reaching a spot above her, the grinding sound stopped, replaced by a soft whirring. Still hiding in fear, Evie sheltered her face to the best of her abilities.
Suddenly, with a soft whir, a cold metal object grabbed the back of her shirt and lifted her into the air. Whimpering in fear, the young girl clamped her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable pain of death. Contrary to her thoughts, no pain came. Instead, a speaker crackled to life.
"Hello. I was alerted to your pain by your groaning. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" Freezing mid-motion, her eyes slowly opened. In front of her, two blue lights glowed in the darkness as their owner seemed to wait for her reply.
Caught up in the mental gymnastics of the situation, only stammers left her mouth, yet the robot waited. "Please rate your pain." Unsure what to do, the confused young girl latched onto the first positive thing to happen.
"Uum... Ten... I think?" Nervously stammering out a reply, she tensely waited for the robot to do something. Suddenly, a metal hand reached out of the darkness and patted her head. "There, there. That must hurt. Let's get you to a proper medical specialist."
Turning on the spot, the robot began to move with Evie still in its hand like luggage. Starting to panic again, Evie watched as the only visible light faded from view. Running out of options, she nervously addressed the robot.
"Uhh... um... Mr. Robot? Where... Where are we going? I'm scared." Halting suddenly, Evie swung in the robot's grasp, her shirt slowly digging into her skin. "Do not be afraid. We are going to a medical facility. You may call me BA-MX or Baymax for short."
Relaxing slightly, Evie regained some confidence when the robot—Baymax—continued to show no harm toward her. "Um, Baymax, could you put me down? This is starting to hurt. Also, it's really dark. Can you do anything about that?"
Freezing again, Baymax slowly lowered her to the ground. After a few seconds, a dim red light slowly turned on and illuminated their surroundings. Starting with the robot: it had a half-sphere head with two glowing blue eyes. Its body was an ultra-refined machine, sleek and compact yet powerful and sturdy.
Its arms featured the same design as the body but ended in thick broken plates that looked like they were meant to have cushioning. Its legs were identical to the arms, also with cushioning plates, the only difference being the faint scraps of white material hanging onto them.
Reaching out, the robot delicately picked her up around the torso, holding her like someone would a baby with a full diaper. Mildly displeased, Evie decided to accept it when she reasoned it was better than slowly being choked to death. "Is that better? Patient satisfaction is my number one priority."
Nodding, the robot seemed to accept that as an answer and went deeper in. Held in its arms, Evie's curiosity grew, and she decided to ask some questions. "Hey Baymax... what happened here? Where is everyone and everything?"
Freezing, a soft whirring noise emanated from the robot's head as its eyes flickered. Stabilizing, it looked down at her. "Sorry, miss. I don't know what you mean. Could you clarify?" Groaning in annoyance at the useless answer, she pushed on.
"Why is the city in ruins?" Again, the robot froze and buffered. "Sorry, miss. I don't know what you mean. My database seems to be out of date." Hitting the robot's arms in annoyance, she winced when her hand was the thing hurt. Pouting, she looked away as Baymax started walking again.
Looking around now that she had a light source, Evie was able to actually examine the structure she was in. All around her, concrete walls held strong. Intermittently spaced metal beams were integrated into the structure and held the remains of long-destroyed doors.
Surprisingly, now that she thought about it, the only "corpses" she had seen so far were the skull and the ghoul. Moving her gaze back to the structure, Baymax turned down a corner and continued through a long hallway.
On the roof above, lights sat unpowered but mostly intact. Along the walls, thick cables sat dormant, and on the floor, hexagon plates served an unknown purpose. Growing curious, she thought of something else to ask Baymax.
"Hey Baymax, two questions: One, what is this structure for? Two, how many years out of date is your database?" Faltering mid-step, the robot barely seemed to need to think. "Sorry, miss. Your clearance isn't high enough to access information about this facility. As for your other question, by my calculations, my database hasn't been updated in almost two hundred years."
Nodding along, Evie fell silent as she began to think. Moving through the facility, the only sound audible was the faint thud of Baymax's metal feet against the ground. Stopping in front of a door at the end of the corridor, the robot waited a bit before the door opened.
Eyes drifting through the open door, Evie was torn from her thoughts as her face paled. On the other side of the door, a large machine hung over a single metal bench with attached clamps. The machine above had a myriad of saws, scalpels, clamps, and needles.
Struggling within the robot's grasp, she desperately tried to free herself as they moved closer to the machine. Screaming in fear, Evie desperately smashed her hand down on the thick metal hands holding her in place.
Sobbing in fear, she desperately tried to reason with the robot. "Baymax! Baymax! Please don't do this! Put me down, please! I'm not in any pain—zero out of ten—now put me down! I'm healed!" Pausing just before the machine, Baymax's head slowly tilted to look down at her, the red light ominously casting shadows over his mechanical head.
"It's okay, miss. Please calm down. The machine may look dangerous, but it's perfectly safe. It is, after all, a medical specialist. Now sit still. You'll feel a light jab, then nothing." Placing her on the metal bench, the young girl was powerless to stop the rogue robot.
Suddenly, with a soft click, clasps wrapped around her neck, arm, and torso, tightening enough to restrain her but not choke her. Tears spilling from her eyes, she frantically glanced around the room. Baymax, finishing his task, moved over to a corner of the room and stepped onto a pad.
As his eyes dulled, the light faded, and Evie was cast into darkness again. Sobbing quietly, she was the only noise to disturb the silence until, with a loud whirring, lights turned on and the machine powered up. Blinded by the sudden light, Evie shut her eyes on instinct. Opening them again, she struggled to regain her sight.
Clearing her eyes, she released a shrill scream as the large machine began to move, scanning her with a red laser as multiple noises pinged across the room. Struggling in vain, she watched as a mechanical arm extended from the machine, the end holding a single needle.
As it closed in on her, a whir of motors caused the needle to snap off and fall to the floor. Eyes widening more in panic, Evie watched as the arm accurately moved down next to her remaining arm. Whirring slightly, it shot out an unknown liquid that was obviously meant to go through the needle.
Moving back into the ceiling, the machine fell silent, its mechanism stopping as it seemed to wait. On the bench, Evie's face turned red as she strained against the straps, her supernatural strength not being enough to free her.
Suddenly, the machine above began to move again, opening along the side as another arm extended out. In it was held a small, pristine mechanical arm. From other compartments, less sophisticated and more broken mechanical legs came out.
Then, with a buzzing sound, Evie heard something move just outside her view. Screaming and writhing, the restraints worked as intended, and she stayed fixed in place. Moving into view, the source of the buzzing appeared, and all hope left her as it approached.
Aiming for her severed arm, the bone saw dug into flesh. A gut-curdling scream rang out from the tortured little girl as the old machines worked, oblivious to any failures.
Back in the other reality, a day had passed, and in this time, a lot had happened. First, shocking all the citizens, the 'Crimson Lucifer' Sirzechs had randomly announced a manhunt for some unknown assailant.
Then, without any warning, an unknown group, all covered in cloaks, attacked a major city. Their identities being concealed didn't matter much when thousands of them stormed the city from all angles and leveled it easily.
In response to this attack, the Lucifer had organized the creation of a specialized force under the command of Serafall, one still in construction. But throughout this, Ajuka remained oblivious, cooped up within his lab. His hair was scruffy, and his eyes were bloodshot.
With a cup of coffee in hand, he forced himself to stay awake. Beside him, a picture of his daughter served as a constant reminder of what he was working toward. In front of him, multiple screens flashed by rapidly as he sifted through years' worth of data on spatial-type sacred gears.
Each new log solidified in him the belief his daughter wasn't dead, just lost. So without rest, the distraught father worked tirelessly to bring her home, or at least to get to her.
Deep underground, slow sobs accompanied the rhythmic sound of whirring servos. Illuminated within the only lit room on the planet, a single young girl sat trapped by machines once meant to heal. Cutting through flesh and bone alike, the machine removed anything it classified as necrotic.
Unfortunately for Evie, due to the mysterious energy gnawing at her wounds, the remnants of her legs and arm fell under this category in the machine's systems. Tearing through her shoulder, cables quickly moved into place as small manipulators wove the wires into her flesh.
Screaming in agony, the sweet release of death never came for her as the machine worked, embedding metal and wires alike into her body. Moving to her legs, the machine tore the remnants of bone from their sockets, sinew and muscle mercilessly getting cut apart as it operated on automatic programs.
Mouth held agape, no sound left her mouth as the agony overpowered her ability to breathe. Her heart rate rising dramatically and face turning blue from lack of oxygen, Evie was so close to dying again, but what type of doctor would let its patient die?
Moving fast, the machine shoved an oxygen tube down her throat, forcefully pumping the life-giving gas into her asphyxiating body. Meanwhile, the machine continued to graft the mechanical prosthetics onto her.
Touching a nerve cluster, the sheer pain Evie felt caused her jaw to crack, muscles straining to the limit in a feeble attempt to express the agony her mind couldn't process.
Eyes twisting in their sockets, the tortured girl caught glimpses of machines flitting past. Still, the machine worked on—cutting, tearing, replacing.
Hours passed as Evie became a victim of faulty machines, the sweet release of death seeming so close. Yet she persevered, her mind becoming her greatest enemy as she stayed conscious throughout it all.
Eventually, the machine finished its work, retracting back into the roof as the straps unlatched. Finally freed from the constant agony, Evie felt herself blacking out, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed Baymax powering up again. Then darkness.
{A/N: The story is progressing, get ready for a few time skips in future chapters. Anyway, Check out my patreon @patreon.com/TheFudgeNPC and donate some stones so others can find my story.}