Bunbuku Island, Amatricina’s temporary home away from home. The tropical island was a verdant jungle paradise, located far in the southern oceans of Earth. The island was among the most remote destinations on the planet, a thousand miles from any landmass of significant size or population. That was why the Demon Lord had chosen the locale as her abode, that and the large and imposing Poco Poco Volcano that is. The fiery mountain loomed like a giant over the modest isle, casting a great shadow during the earlier half of the day and filling the skies above with an every present plume of thick black smoke as its proverbial belly rumbled deep beneath its summit.

Amatricina had spent significant lengths of time on the island, eating, sleeping, or more importantly, meditating. She had a great deal of time to study her island home, gleaming anything of value from it. The island was home to numerous species of animal, which were notably more violent and aggressive than their counterparts elsewhere. The Demoness had learned this to be the lingering effects of an ancient Destron Gas Machine destroyed here centuries ago in a battle long forgotten. The weaker offspring of the isle’s inhabitants perished from the gas’ effects not long after birth, leaving only the strong to survive. Those surviving descendants grew to be larger, stronger, and more ill tempered than should naturally occur.

It amused the demon, who held a highly darwinistic outlook on life and mortality as a whole. Where the earthlings valued compassion, empathy, and mercy, this island favored only strength and strength above all else. It was a refreshing change of pace, in many small ways reminding her of her own native home world. It was one of many reasons Amatricina had come to enjoy the island, studying it keenly when time allowed. In addition to the hostile fauna, the flora of the isle had also been notably altered by the centuries of Destron Gas exposure. Nearly every plant on the island had thorns of thistles of some kind, often both. Leaves were sharpened with serrated edges and bark had become hard and rocky. Many plants had become poisonous, not that the animals that feasted on them had adapted to this quickly. Truly, it was an island of violence.

And on this isle, one creature was king. Amatricina knew not their names, simply referring to them as ‘tyrant lizards’. Huge reptilian brutes grew to over forty feet in length from the tip of their tail to the front of their snout. They had huge blocky heads with a mouth full of dagger sized inwardly curved teeth. The beasts had the keen eyes of a hunter, ever searching wrathfully for more prey. Two huge, well developed hind legs packed with muscle propelled the creatures at speeds capable of outrunning all but the island’s fastest animals. However they seemingly paid for this speed with the cost of their arms. The forelimbs of the tyrant lizards were woefully undersized compared to their legs, with three small clawed fingers no good for anything beyond simple grasping. Naturally, they did everything with their head and snouts. As a result, all of the creatures the demon observed, even the juveniles, held a good number of scars and wounds over their scaly maws. A long muscular balanced the creature out as it moved, a counterbalance to its massive head. The tyrants seemed adept at using their thick tails as clubs and whips to smash into prey or fight each other mostly bloodlessly during disputes.

The demoness had grown mildly fascinated by the tyrant lizards. She enjoyed watching them roam the jungles or grassier coastal regions of the island in search of food as she mediated. They seemed to care little what they ate, so long as it was meat. Equally adept at scavenging for carrion as they were hunting live prey through the jungle flatlands, the tyrant lizards of the island held no fear. The larger males generally appeared more solitary by nature, though the demon had on multiple occasions observed them accompanying females when the later had juveniles in tow. It seemed the adults of the species were somewhat parental in nature, caring for their offspring as parent and child. At least until their young were old enough to hunt on their own that is, at which point larger males only barely tolerated the younger generation. This behavior betrayed a surprising amount of intelligence in the beasts, and multiple times Amatricina had watched the creatures display basic concepts of puzzle solving, object permanence, and self awareness in their hunts. It made them a refreshing change, compared to the other, more basis predators of the land that hunted with only a feral savagery.

There was one such tyrant lizard that impressed Amatricina the most, it was larger and seemingly much older than its kin. A bull male, likely the oldest of the few dozen of the beasts that populated the modest isle. The old bull suffered no rivals, and Amatricina had personally watched it throw down younger challengers into the dirt by the scruff of their neck before mounting yet another female in heat. The creature was fiercely territorial, having claimed out the region nearest the volcano as its own territory. Here the jungle grew most dense from the volcanic soils, and the prey was among the richest and most teeming. The old bull guarded this region jealousy, like a dragon hoarding its wealths of treasure. When as Amatricina slumbered deep within the molten depths of her fiery mountain the old bull tyrant’s primal roar rung out at all hours of the night. A warning to rivals, or a triumphant declaration of victory.

She grew fond of the beast, in an odd way. Like a hunter admiring worthy game, Amatricina had deigned to kill the tyrant lizards. They had earned their rightful throne at the top of the island’s food chain long before her arrival. The demoness need not upset the natural order, simply taking and killing less desirable animals from the lower echelons of the food chain for sustenance. Flighty furry creatures as large as she was with long spindly legs, larger hairy animals with tusked snouts and short stocky legs, and her favored game of choice, chickens. Chickens were among the only mortal animals of the Earth that Amatricina knew the proper names of. As far as she could tell the cowardly nature of the birds made them a frequent choice of insult among Earthlings, and that nearly every odd meat of a peculiar animal somehow tasted of chicken. Besides, killing such a large beast provided far more meat than Amatricina could ever hope to consume before it spoiled. It was be a waste, both of a proud animal’s life and her own time and energy. On Monsigneus, such large game often tasted worse than smaller prey anyways. Their adrenaline fueled bodies yielded tougher, less appetizing or succulent meats.

And so Amatricina left the old bull tyrant lizard alone, allowing it to act as a kind of guard dog to her volcanic lair. She did not bother it, giving it a wide berth in spite of her vastly superior strength. Though initially the island’s creatures had seen the Demon Lord as little better than a human, attacking her on sight, they had soon learned the folly of their actions. Her hunts were swift and brutal, claiming fresh kills with clean blows to the skull or an eye beam lobotomy if she felt particularly slothful. More importantly, the beasts of the isle could smell fear, and none radiated from the demon. That alone made many weary of her, but the nightmarish feeling of dread she radiated from her body coupled with her extremely high body temperature sent chills of fear down most creature’s spines. The tyrant lizards may be king on the island, but Amatricina was Queen. Her every step sent smaller forest dwelling critters fleeing in fear, her aura when bared sent larger prey running in abject terror. It was good to be the Queen, and at present the Fire Demon was slowly walking back towards her volcanic lair with her morning catch in hand.

The demon dragged behind her the carcass of a more moderate sized reptile, it stood twice her height and had a bipedal build with a long thin tail and a billed snout. They grazed on the shutes and roots of the jungle swamps and marshes, and they one had been unfortunate enough to be the first the hungry demon eyed. With the slash of her claws she slit the beast’s throat, grabbing its windpipe through the wound and effortlessly breaking its neck, severing its spine. It died instantly, hitting the ground as tons of meat and muscle collided with damp earth. Amatricina dragged the beast back towards her home, pulling it along by the tail as it bled out heavily behind her. She was in no rush, truth be told her body was sore and aching from a long night spent training deep beneath the planet’s surface. She burrowed deep into the molten rock of the volcano, into the vast underground sea of magma below. It was here, miles below the planet’s surface was the gravity was marginally higher and the pressure much stronger that she felt most comfortable.

Being bathed in molten rock reminded her of her home, and the demoness could train in relative secrecy far below the earth. Her activities sent tectonic waves across the planet, showing up as seismic events great and small across the globe. The mortals could tolerate it, surely their planet experienced such events periodically in the past. Besides, how would a being as weak as an earthling ever uncover a demon training in secret deep within their planet’s mantle? Regardless, the demoness was tired and sore from such rigorous training. She sought to return to her mountain, gorge her stomach to capacity on lightly seared meat, and take a well sought rest in a nice pool of magma. The Demon Lord was in little mood for anything less than solitude as her stuff muscles kept her walking, flight too much of a burden at the moment. Besides, time was hardly of the essence.

As the demon entered the Old Bull’s territory, skirting into the densest part of her jungle in the shadow of her mountain, the old brute’s presence became quite clear. His heavy footprints marred the ground, small trees trampled aside or knocked under foot as he walked. The beast had well worn trails he patrolled when not hunting, endlessly searching for potential mates or rivals to contest. Amatricina heard the monster’s thunderous roar in the distance, a proud and ferocious cry that shook trees and rustled leaves. She grinned slightly, shaking her head as her eyes turned back towards her mountain. The beast seemed especially lively today, she wondered what for? It mattered little, perhaps it simply found another mate and was declaring its victory as it sired a new generation of its kin. Whatever the reason Amatricina continued to trudge her way home.

The demoness continued her slog home, dimly focused on her surroundings. She had walked the isle a hundred times by now, its sights long since becoming more familiar. Something gave the demon pause, and she turned up her nose, eyes scanning as she felt at the air for what felt so off. The ground was shaking, rustling with each step. The Old Bull slowly lumbering towards her location with heavy weighty footfalls. It was unexpected, the tyrant lizards normally kept a wide berth of the demon, they seemed to have the smallest understand of ki or simply were weary of any creature that defied their strength and stood their ground. It gave Amatricina slight pause, not out of any sense of fear, but rather curiosity. She continued her march, listening carefully as the footfalls grew ever louder and closer. The Old Bull no doubt smelled the fresh kill she drug behind her, the slain beast’s blood soaked the jungle carpet behind her in a sickly trail of crimson that insects and other pests were already happily lapping up as she passed by.

Soon enough though, Amatricina spied something out the corner of her eye, a great looming form moving through the treeline, trampling brush underfoot as it lumbered near her. The Old Bull emerged in a small clearing. It stood several feet taller than its kin, its total length just shy of fifty feet tip to tail. The Old Bull had a dark grey coloration, with a brown underbelly and deep scars over its mouth and jaw. The latter likely wounds from an especially close rout with a rival, years before it had grown to be the dominant male of the island. The beast glared at Amatricina, standing motionless its bright yellow eyes locked on her own crimson gaze. It was unlike a predator to stare directly into the eyes of its prey. Amatricina gazed back unflinchingly, letting go of the tail of her kill as it hit the ground with a heavy thud. The two being kept eyes locked, staring at each other. The demon musing to herself what the primitive beast was thinking.

The Old Bull lowered its head and let out another savage roar, the decibels alone sending birds fleeing from the surrounding tree tops into the skies above. Amatricina grinned, did the beast intend to challenge her? Did it see her as a threat, as a rival? The Demon Lord took a single step forward, her aura flaring out around her in a violent crimson flame of energy as she did. Even if this beast couldn’t sense ki, it could feel the raw power emanating from her body. The malevolent presence that wafted off the demon like a thick cloud of haze. The Old Bull paused, growing very silent and still, as if thinking of its actions. It snorted, shaking its head as if to steel its resolve. It began pacing slowly, keeping its radius with the demon but lumbering in an arc around her with its head turned as it sized her up.

“Are you truly thinking of fighting me?” Amatricina goaded the creature, shaking her own head and laughing aloud. “Is that truly going to be your last mistake, Beast?” She began walking slowly towards the Old Bull as he paced. He moved to keep his distance, eyes briefly moving to the corpse then back to Amatricina. It let out more roars, shorter bellows that ended with it snapping its maw shut violently. The Fire Demon knew not what the display was, if intimidation or simply trying to communicate with her as it did its own kind. Once the two had paced a half circle revolution, the Old Bull suddenly stopped, idly stomping the ground and kicking its feet. Amatricina felt out to the beast’s mind… assailing it with her powerful telepathy as she attempted to probe its thoughts and discern its motives. The Old Bull was violently angry, that much she was already well aware of. It pushed feebly as it could against her invasion of its minds. Like a caged beast clawing at its master’s whip even as it lashed its back. Beneath the bestial, primal rage though, there was something more.

“Pride.” Amatricina whispered the word aloud, surprising even herself at the discovery. The beast knew pride, it felt the first sin. This betrayed a much greater intelligence than she initially believed. The animal knew sin, it was self aware. It knew of its great prowess and it bitterly hated Amatricina for being greater than it. The Demon Lord sent out a simple message to the creature through her telepathic link, flooding its mind with the idea as much as the word itself. “Flee.” She told the Old Bull, her voice ringing loudly through its mind. A thought began to formulate in response, the tyrant lizard summoning the full depths of its intellect to reply back as best it could. Amatricina felt it, defiance, and the guttural voice within the Old Bull’s mind bellowed out its reply.

“NO!” It roared within its mind, a simple word that perfectly demonstrated its point.

The towering beast roared again, stamping its feet and swinging its tail. Its frustration clear, as it finished it lowered its head and began to charge the demon. Amatricina was nearly stunned, amazed the creature had not fled. Amazed it had not avoided her as it had hundreds of times before. The earth beneath her feet shook at the thunderous stomps as the Old Bull’s sprint broke into a full blown charge. It opened its mouth and roared defiantly as it charged the demon full force. Amatricina focused her stance, grinning ear to ear as the beast drew close. The moment before impact she vanished, disappearing in an after image and reappearing on the far side of the clearing.

The Old Bull snapped its jaws shut, thinking the demon just before its mouth. To its surprise it collided with nothing, its jaws crunching down on nothing but tall grass and vines. The behemoth nearly toppled over, almost losing its balance as it ground to a halt. It turned sharply, its tail slamming through several thin trees as it did. It smelled Amatricina easily, and when it saw her on the far side of the clearing against the confused beast roared in irritation. Its small mind had supreme difficulty addressing the situation, but its violent temperament compelled it to continue its assault. Again it lowered its head and roared before letting out a grim charge.

Again Amatricina simply dodged the attack, once more appearing far behind the creature, grinning wide as she crossed her arms. “You are too slow Beast, go back to your lair.” She spoke to the creature, knowing full well it did not understand her. Once more the tyrant lizard was angered and annoyed it had missed. Once more it charged at the demon full speed. Amatricina continued avoiding the monster’s attacks, not even toying with it so much as simply avoiding it. The Old Bull continued its assault, futile as it was. It would not retreat, and repeated attempts to probe its mind and telepathically dissuade it from violence only yielded the same result. “NO!” It would bellow again, a one word response before its next charge.

After a dozen passes Amatricina paused, frozen as the revelation came to her. This was how Carambolis had felt. That day when they fought. She had been powerless, useless against the Kabochan in every sense. His speed greater, his psychics stronger, his reactions faster. She could barely so much as land a hit on the foe, much less scratch him. “Just like you…” Amatricina said aloud, softly as she felt a pang of sympathy for the tyrant in her heart. It was just like her. A being that had been a king within his own domain, his strength unmatched and uncontested. Only to be flung into battle against an opponent he knew nothing of. So utterly dwarfed it was beyond measure. And yet still he fought. The Old Bull was proud, and it wished to defend its pride and try to reclaim its title as strongest creature on the island. Just as Amatricina longed to defeat Carambolis and restore her honor to full.

So stunned by the revelation was the demoness that she momentarily lost track of what was happening. As she looked up the Old Bull was upon her, she could smell its rotten breath as it opened wide. A mouth full of deadly sharp teeth opened wide to snap shut on her. Amatricina threw up her arms, grabbing the jaws of the reptilian beast and stopping it dead in its tracks. Like hitting a brick wall, the demon did not budge against the charge. She felt the Old Bull’s jaws break from the impact, bones shattering as they impacted her armored hands, tendons tearing from its jaw muscles. It lost its balance, all that momentum coming to a crashing halt as it toppled over besides her.

The beast roared out not in rage this time, but in pain. It bled from its gums and jaws, having lost many teeth and being entirely surprised by the injury. Amatricina turned to it coldly, and as the Old Bull attempted to rise back to its feet, she stomped on one of its huge ankles with an armored heel. The bone shattered, pearl white chunks sticking out the meat of its leg at odd angles as a again the beast roared out in pain. A howl of raw agony as the demoness looked down upon the beaten creature before her. She had hardly lifted a finger and already the Old Bull was on the cusp of death. It was a predator, a hunter, she’d shattered its jaw and maimed its leg in a second. It was already dead, it just did not know it yet. Unable to stand or walk, unable to use its jaw. It would starve to death if it could even walk, or perish to a rival it could not face. Amatricina watched as the tyrant struggled to stand, unable to rise to its feet. As it put pressure on its right ankle its leg buckled under its great weight, causing it to collapse once more as it howled in pain. It whimpered from the injury, before roaring again angrily at her.

It knew, it knew she did this to it. It knew she had bested it. Amatricina watched the wounded animal. At first she thought its display pathetic, the death throes of a dying beast. She stepped closer, raising a hand as ki charged at her palm. Intent to put the beast out of its misery, Amatricina paused as it lunged at her with a last ditch burst of strength. The movement damaged its leg further, snapping its foot back at a horrid angle as it crashed down again. “You do not flee.” Amatricina whispered to herself. “You won’t run. You will fight to your dying breath.” Her eyes raced back and forth, the revelations running through her as she thought to herself. This beast, it was just like her. It wanted to fight to the last, to die standing. As she did facing the Emperor. It had committed itself to a goal, and would fight defiantly to the bitter end before it surrendered. Just like she had, just like she would.

The demonic ki at Amatricina’s hand faded, and her ruby gaze softened as she looked into the wounded beast’s yellow eye. It snapped its head violently at it, her still trying to bite her with its injured jaws. Amatricina pushed her thoughts into the beast’s mind once more, invading its thoughts. The mind of the Old Bull was a chaotic maelstrom of negative emotions. Rage and pain and defiance, with fear and even shame. It had lost, it knew it, and it knew it was going to die. It had failed, it knew the feeling of failure. Amatricina pushed a single thought into the beast’s mind. “Help.” She said, before withdrawing. The creature did not answer, too lost in its more primal instincts.

Amatricina stepped closer to the Old Bull, as she got close enough it tried to slam its head into her, she held it at arm’s length with one hand. The act alone sent surprise and fear through its eyes. The Old Bull looked at her with pure spite through the yellow eye on this side of its face. The demon placed a hand on the side of the beast’s head, focusing her ki and summoning her strength. It was as she had done before, with Kamui. This time though her subject was much more whole, the damage minor compared to the Frost Demon who was missing more tissue than he had. Demonic Ki began to flood through the demon, into the beast lying wounded before her. Its eyes went wide, and the Old Bull quickly ceased struggling against her as her energy poured through its weary body.

Wounds were unmade, flesh repaired as cells were engorged with demonic ki until they split and regenerated injured tissue. Bones were fastened back together, seamless as if never broken in the first place. Old scars were healing, and a darker more lustrous sheen came to the Old Bull’s scales. As Amatricina poured more mending energy into the creature, she decided to infuse it was Dark Energy, her gift to the beast that thought as a Fire Demon did. The Old Bull no longer struggled and snapped against her as she pinned its head. It had relaxed, resting its head on the earth and breathing heavily as it felt the soothing energies flow through it. This freed Amatricina’s left arm to summon forth a small dimensional rift, a tendril of Dark Energy being drawn forth and pouring into the creature. It spasmed violently, its body beginning to change and mutate. Its limbs grew more armored, with thick black plate-like scales protecting the front of its limbs and clawed appendages.

Ridges of pointed black scales, more akin to spike like fins sprouted from along the beast’s snout all the way down to the tip of its tail. They were most prominent around its back and shoulders, but even small bumps of new black spikes protruded from the tyrant’s shoulders, upper arms, and the sides of its thick neck. Lastly, fiery red demonic markings began to cover the length of the Old Bull’s upper body. Red tiger striped patterns that extended from its nostrils all the way down to the end of its tail. The beast roared in pain as its new growth burst through hold skin, the wounds quickly closing and healing as the process finished. Amatricina smiled at her handiwork, it was much easier when the subject was not so heavily injured.




Amatricina finished her task, dismissing her power and stepped back from the tyrant’s head to slowly inspect its body. The beast lied there before her on its side, panting slowly as it tentatively moved its small front limbs. They dug into the dirt, and the Old Bull once more put weight on its previously wounded leg. Much to its surprise, it felt no pain. With some effort it rose back to its feet, shaking itself off as its muscles rippled and flexed. It could not speak, but it turned its head and looked thankfully at Amatricina. She grinned, placing a hand on her hips and extending her other arm out with open calm. The Old Bull tentatively took a step towards her, lowering its head as its snout could nuzzle her palm. It snorted, breathing out twin jets of fire from its wide nostrils.

The demoness again let her telepathic link establish to the creature, curious to see what it thought. The beast’s mind was clearer now, its primitive emotions in check. Moreover, the infusion of Dark Energy had made its mind more akin to hers. More demonic, more focused… more intelligent. This time it was the Old Bull that spoke, in a low rumbling mental voice. “Healed.” It said, struggling to summon the words. “Stronger.” It added, its eyes locking on the demon’s. Amatricina nodded in approval, patting the beast’s snout tenderly. The first gesture of affection she’d given anything in a long time.

“Yes, stronger.” She said through her thoughts, acknowledging the tyrant lizard’s new power. With that the great lumbering beast shook its head, clearly irritated. It tried once more to summon words, to put thought to sense within its mind.

“No…” It bellowed angrily, frustrated at its own intellect. “You… stronger.”

Amatricina was surprised, taken aback. She nodded again in agreement. “I am.” She replied simply, and the Old Bull dent its head low in a sign of submission. The demoness smiled, grinning ear to ear at her newest demonic chimera. “What is your name?” She asked the beast simply. It paused, thinking to itself for a moment.

“No… name.” It said somberly, such thoughts alien to it only minutes ago. Now it was elevated to a high consciousness, though still quite bestial in nature.

“Then I shall call you Tyrant.” Amatricina replied swiftly, placing a hand under Tyrant’s huge chin and compelling it to raise its head.

“Tyrant.” The Tyrannosaur stated simply in response. “I am… Tyrant!” Its mental voice bellowed with renewed pride, its physical head rising high into the air as it let out a triumphant and deafening demonic roar. The display ended in a great breath of flame even Tyrant seemed surprised it was capable of. It looked back down at the demoness, formulating new thoughts within its burgeoning mind. “What… is… your name?.” It said back curiously, for the first time asking a question of its own.

“Amatricina.” The Demon Lord replied, smiling warmly at Tyrant’s display of rational thought, and display of newfound intellect. The demonic dinosaur nodded slowly in acknowledgement, mimicking the demon’s own gesture.

“Ama.. tric...ina. Pack Leader.” It said in the most coherent manner it could manage.

Amatricina patted Tyrant’s snout and nodded again that she understood its mental words. “Yes Tyrant. I am Pack Leader.” The demoness stated warmly, before slowly turning to walk back in the direction of her kill. The carrion birds had already begun pecking at the corpse, but were startled away with a quick burst of fire breath from the demoness. The low rumbling footsteps of Tyrant could be heard loudly behind her, following along like a child after its mother.

“You killed. We… feed?” It asked, drool dripping from its toothy maw as Tyrant smelled the first fresh kill after his ascension with his newly heightened sense of smell. Amatricina smiled as she plunged a clawed gauntlet into the beast, tearing out its heart in one bloody pull. She began to breath her hellfire slowly over the organ, delicately searing it to perfection before taking a blood bite of the seared flesh.

“Yes Tyrant. We feed.” She commanded her pet simply, and the towering Tyrannosaur leaned in low and took a huge mouthful of meat as its serrated teeth sank into warm flesh like warm knives through butter. To the beast, nothing had ever tasted as sweet before. Amatricina merely smiled, taking another bite of her own as she watched. Long live the King, she thought to herself.

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