As the elated kids lined up, exchanging folded and crinkled bills for roman candles, Two-Face shivered and chirped lightly. Despite how frightened he was, when the monster had told him his fate, a small part of him knew that it was true. Many forevers ago, when the monster had chosen him, had taken him away from the scary fluffy place, Two-Face had felt so lucky. But the moment that the monster had tortured him and his siblings with the bad water, he had known the truth. There was something deep within Two-Face’s mind that told him about monsters: that they were cruel, that they were scary, and that they hurt fluffies and gave them forever sleepies.
And then he had taken his yellow sister away. It was before the scary hot place, the one where Two-Face had gotten lost, before getting the worstest hurties of his entire life and had lost one of his see places. Ever since then, Two-Face hadn’t been able to sleep well. He had loathed the dark sorry box that he was kept in, but his siblings had made it bearable. But the monster had taken them, and he had been alone.
Now as he peeped softly in defeat, Two-Face stared in panicked anticipation as the monster and his flock prepared more torment for the foal and his brethren. His monster came to Two-Face and the other foals, bringing back the strange shocking pain when he tried to lay down. Unable to even look him in his eyes anymore, Two-Face simply shivered as he looked away until the monster was done. As he saw the smaller monsters line up as before, holding their strange burning sorry sticks that hissed smoke and spat sparks, Two-Face could hear the confused and horrified chirps of the other foals. Even though they had hurt him and even refused to give him huggies, his heart went out to them. He wished he could save them, perhaps even more than he wished he could save himself.
Two-Face grimaced and shut his one good eye, looking away as best he could when he heard the shrill whistling, the horrible noise that had preceded the hail of bright, stinging fireballs. Hearing the popping and feeling the heat as several bursts struck the wall near him, Two-Face’s instincts forced him to jump and scream as he pulled away, occasionally trying in vain to lower himself, only for the terrible shocking pain to lance violently through his small body. His eye opened from the surge of agony, Two-Face saw only a terrible blinding light as he felt the heat set his fluff ablaze. Screaming as he flailed to try and escape the fire that had engulfed his lower body, the foal heard a strange creaking sound as he suddenly plummeted downward, shrieking as he tumbled downward into the cold water below.
As Seth watched the second round volley, he couldn’t help but smile as the foals writhed and pulled helplessly against their bonds. While they were all blind save for Two-Face, they now knew the smell of burning embers, of spent black-powder and the hissing sound that came before the loud whistle and the burning and the pain. The kids clearly had heeded Seth’s advice, as they seemed to focus their shots in a single area, with far fewer outright misses. One of the kids, the shorter one who had named Two-Face was dead-set on hitting the red foal on the lower plank. After his candle was halfway spent, he yelled triumphantly as the red foal’s board came loose and the confused baby rolled violently down into the wading pool.
Meanwhile, another teen had been spraying his roman candle at the foal to the far right, with most of the bursts missing , but the last few found their mark as the foal found it’s voice, shrieking as it’s light fluff began to sizzle.
“*screeeeeee!!! *chirp…*chirp…*chirp…buw’ne huwties!..*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…sab’ ba’beh!..*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
Kicking violently with her back nubs, the scared filly fell over, shocking herself as she shot upright, only to fall over again as she tried in vain to douse her burning fluff. Causing the board below her to fall loose, she fell just as a one of the small plastic balloons near Two-Face was hit, rupturing with a loud bang before several errant blasts struck the maimed brown foal, dunking him into the water as well.
Plunged into the cold water, Two-Face bobbed violently as he struggled to stay above the surface. Flailing his nubs with desperate fervor, he saw the other foals fairing far worse than he was. Close enough to try and help the white foal, Two-Face grasped the filly as he tried to keep the both of them afloat. Looking the foal in her face, her eyes freshly opened, she screamed as she saw his maimed face.
“*screeeeeee!!! nuuuuuuu!!! *chirp…*chirp…*chirp…mun’sta!!!..”
Shocked at her reaction, Two-Face released the screaming foal just as the monster came and began to scoop them up, drying them off roughly before putting them back on the boards. Two-Face barely responded as the monster slowly redid his bindings, still in shock from what the cream colored filly had called him, her face far more frightened of him than even the water they nearly drowned in. Monster! She had called him a monster! Chirping softly as he sobbed, Two-Face slumped down as far as he could, wanting to die.
Seth could only guess why Two-Face was so despondent after he placed him back on the board. Expecting him to struggle and scream, the foal had only gone slack against his bindings, crying as he occasionally emitted a weak peep. Oh well, thought Seth. I’m sure he’ll be far more lively later…" Walking back to address the crowd, Seth noticed that a few of the players were pissed at the kid named Nathan, the one who had hit Two-Face and made him fall.
“Asshole! I still had nearly half a candle left!”
“Damn it Nathan! I almost lost that white foal cause of you!”
Shrugging as he smiled, Nathan simply pointed to the small blackened area on the posterboard, where a blue balloon had once been. “Hey it’s every man for themselves! And I hit what I was tryin’ to! So what’s my prize, old man?”
Grabbing a pair of bloodstained gardening shears, Seth suddenly walked up to the boy, brandishing them towards him menacingly. “Not nice to call someone old man…” Many gasped as Nathan screamed and backed away, with only Jerome laughing as he walked up to Seth. “He’s fuckin’ with you dude. Serves you right for bein’ such an asshole…” Looking back to Seth and clearly still nervous, Nathan walked closer to him, cautiously.
“This is your prize…” Seth said, holding the shears up so everyone could see them. “Not everyone is guaranteed to win a foal to torture. But if you hit a blue target, you get to take these shears to a foal of your choice and lob off something of your choice, as long as it isn’t lethal.” Flipping them in his hand, he then presented the sharpened scissors handle first to Nathan, the excited teen smiling as he tried to hold back a slight giggle.
“Really?! I can cut somethin’ off one of em?”
Nodding, Seth patted the kid on his shoulder. “Sure kid, just don’t kill it.” Taking out his lighter, Seth walked Nathan over to the board. “Once you pick one, I’ll take it down and you can sever whatever you choose…Then I’ll cauterize the wound and we’ll get back to it.”
As Nathan slowly looked to each of the foals, trying to make his decision, the other kids gathered closer, excited to see what Nathan was going to do once he had made up his mind. As he looked through the chirping and peeping babies, he grinned as he heard the white foal talking, noticing that she had opened her eyes.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…ba’beh huwt…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…mu’mah hewp…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
“I’ll take that one” Nathan said, pointing directly to the white foal. Seth nodded, understanding the kid’s instinct. Foal torture was fun, but a talky baby was far better. Walking over to the board, Seth grabbed the foal by her scruff, the baby screaming and chirping as he grabbed her.
“*screeeeeee! nuuuuuuu!!! *chirp…*chirp…ba’ upsies!!!..*chirp…*chirp…nu wike!!!..”
Ignoring the protests of the flailing foal, Seth took her over to one of the blankets and put her down. Looking to Nathan, Seth simply nodded as he gestured towards the terrified fluffy child. “All yours kid. Remember, no killing…”
Taking the shears, Nathan walked over to the foal, the terrified creature trying her best to escape as she wailed and peeped. Flicking her with his finger, Nathan laughed as he used his off hand to roll her over onto her back, holding her down as he leered at the quivering foal, eyeing her limbs as a lion might eye it’s prey. Placing the bottom blade just under her back nub, Nathan smiled as he slowly closed the blades, stopping as they barely held her leg in place. Trying to escape and writhing madly, the foal looked up to Nathan, tears falling down her face.
“*chirp…*chirp…pwe’!..*chirp…*chirp…nu huw’tes!..*chirp…*chirp…”
Her eyes went wide as the shears closed down, the foal suddenly screaming as she shook and seized against Nathan’s hand, her freshly cut nub now laying beside her in an ever growing puddle of blood.
“*screeeeeee!!! *screeeeeee!!! *screeeeeee!!!”
Seth chuckled as he leaned over with his lighter. It wasn’t all that shocking to him that the foal had started talking during the game. He had seen it before, with trauma and shock occasionally making a foal open it’s eyes and even start talking sooner than normal. Hell, he’d even seen it with Kickball! May she melt in peace, Seth thought to himself. It was probably best for the white foal that she probably wouldn’t survive the night, as fluffies that were traumatically forced to speak or open their eyes early usually had developmental issues later in life.
Sparking the lighter, Seth held the flame to the spurting wound for a few seconds, with the foal opening her mouth in a silent scream as the shock of the wound being cauterized was far too much, with her eyes bulging wide before the foal passed out.
“Damn…I guess it was too much for the little thing.” Nathan looked over to Seth, slightly shrugging his shoulders. “Now what?”
Smiling as he went over to the other side of the blanket, Seth grabbed his first aid kit and took out a small capsule. “Don’t worry kid…we always come prepared.” Taking the capsule and holding it near the foal’s slack muzzle, Seth cracked it, with the fluffy slowly shaking her head as she came to, suddenly using her nubs to rapidly wipe her nose, as though something was stinging her nostrils.
“*chirp… …*chirp… …*chirp… …smeww ba’… …*chirp… …”
Her voice was stilted slightly, the trauma of her amputation and the sealing of the wound being too much at once. While able to move and speak again, it was clear to Seth that she wasn’t all there as of yet. Oh well, I’m sure round three will wake her up, Seth thought as he lifted her by her scruff and placed her back on her board.
As Seth refastened the white foal, Nathan shook his head as he let out a low whistle.
“Damn that was fun! But what the hell was in that thing you used?”
Smiling as he turned to the boy Seth walked over and retrieved the next pack of roman candles. “It’s basically smelling salts, except not as strong as what’s used for humans. Far less ammonia, but as you could see, it still really bothers them. Now, line up and let’s get round three going!” One by one, the kids handed over their cash in exchange for their fireworks, each of them taking their positions once again. They eagerly awaited Seth, who began to affix the makeshift wires to the foals, once again prompting a series of startled and pained chirps. Once he had finished, he gave the signal as the kids lit their candles, the silent night once again filled with the terrible hiss and whistle that would haunt the minds of the foals for the rest of their short life.
Seth watched as he used his phone to record the round, as before, noticing with a grin that while some of the kids were still shooting for foals, a couple were now trying to hit the other balloons. Two had focused on the red foal that was on the third rung, the blind fluffy screeching as it could feel the heat of the missed blasts, remembering full well how badly they had hurt him. Trying to lower himself, he raised upward, standing as tall as he could as the battery once again punished the foal for trying to hide, putting the foal’s head directly in the path of several bursts. His chirps now a shrill noise, the foal shook violently, causing it to drop it’s board.
Nathan clearly had a taste for blood now, and kept his focus solely on the white foal, with most of his bursts missing. As she saw the fire erupting near her and felt the familiar heat, her eyes unglazed as she screamed, the foal suddenly very aware of what was coming. Pressing against the wire over and over as she tried in vain to hunker down, again and again her body shook violently as the voltage arced through her. Despite only a few of the bursts winging her, her frenzied and panicked movements were enough for her board to go loose.
With the volley nearing it’s end, the blue foal was struck directly in it’s chest. As it shook and peeped, the singed fluff on it’s belly stinging and burning, one of the balloons nearby was struck. The glancing fireball caused it to erupt, scaring the foal so badly that it flung itself downward, forcing the board to fall.
Seth scooped the three wriggling foals out of the pool, impressed with the kids fervor. There might be a few winners tonight, thought Seth as he dried off the peeping foals, replacing them on the lower boards. As he was affixing the white foal to her nail, the baby struggling to stay upright due to her missing leg, she whimpered as she shook, clearly cold and frightened.
“*chirp…*chirp…pwe’…*chirp…*chirp…sab’ ba’beh…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
Shaking his head, Seth simply chuckled. “Save yourself. Don’t get hit…” Addressing the teens as he walked back over, Seth nodded approvingly. “Much better that round! We have some more foals closer to the bottom now, and Jerome hit a yellow balloon! Jerome, come on over here!” Approaching with a grin on his face, Seth could see how excited the kid was.
“So what did I win?”
Reaching down amongst his tools on the blanket, Seth picked up an old bottle of lighter fluid and handed it to Jerome. Smirking at the confused look on the kid’s face, Seth gestured to the board. “Before the last round starts, you can pour some of that on any board you want, just not directly on a foal.” Tilting his head, the teen was clearly still unsure of the accelerants purpose.
“Ok…but why Seth? I mean, what’s that gonna do?”
“If someone hits close enough to wherever you pour that, then it’ll catch. Now most of the foals may not be able to see, but I assume you’ve noticed how much they’ve been moving, even when they weren’t being hit.” Jerome only nodded, wanting to see where Seth was going with this. “Well, if the fluid catches and they have a fire that close to them, they will squirm and flail far more, making it easier to knock them off. And of course, the foal could always catch…”
Smiling as it finally made sense, Jerome walked over and pondered his choice. Knowing that this would be the last round, the only choice that made sense was the red foal on the bottom plank. As Jerome began to let the lighter fluid fall behind the red fluffy, he could see the char marks all over his body, and the blackened-reddish flesh of his chest. Putting the container down as the foal began to peep, swiveling his head in Jerome’s direction, it was clear that the frightened foal thought that he might be some potential savior, maybe even the foal’s new daddy. Walking away as he cackled to himself, Jerome simply shook his head.
“Not fuckin’ likely little man…”
Once Jerome had finished, Seth looked to the teens, a sinister grin on his face. “Ok guys, last round! Clearly the red foal is the most likely to go, but who knows. Remember, it’s whoever hits the foal the most, not who hits it last. Line up and lets see who will be the winner.” Quickly forming a line, Seth noticed that the kids looked far more determined now. As far as they knew, one of them would be winning a fluffy and access to his tools, while the rest would be going empty handed. Once they exchanged money for the last time, the kids lined up and prepared to light their candles, with Seth reattaching the foals to the nine-volts. “And…go!”
The final volley was unleashed, with many of the kids trying their hardest to peg the red foal. Seth almost dropped his phone from laughing as he watched the panicked fluffy try and wiggle and squirm away from the barrage around him. After several misses, countless bursts struck home with the foal being pelted from all sides, it’s screeching turned into full screaming as the lighter fluid behind it went up. A roaring fire behind him and a seemingly endless swarm of burning orbs in front of him, the foal slammed his body hard against the board, his arm twisting at an odd angle as the board gave way.
Despite the others wanting to claim the red foal, Nathan kept his aim directly on the white foal. Three rounds of practice had honed his skill a fair bit and he grinned as nearly every shot after the first two struck the white foal, with the filly screaming as her light fluff began to blacken. As the sixth blast struck her in her only remaining back leg, the foal flipped forward hard, her head cracking roughly against the board before tumbling awkwardly into the pool.
As the last candles sputtered out, Seth could already hear the arguments, with three of the kids instantly saying that they had hit the red foal the most times. “Settle down! I can play it back right now and tell you who won…” Fishing the foals out and placing both on the towels, Seth reopened his phone. After looking over the footage a few times, Seth smiled. “Looks like Jerome tagged the red foal seven times, which was the most out of you all.” For a few moments, the teens began to bicker once again before Seth slapped his hands together loudly and yelled. “Quiet down!” Once the kids had calmed, Seth continued. “Now I said at the very beginning that I was the final say in all of this and that’s that! But don’t let it get you down. Everyone who played tonight will be getting a foal!” The unexpected surprise clearly pleased the teens, as Seth saw them grinning ear to ear. Besides, thought Seth, it would clear up space for his fluffies anyway.