Vodka

The skies above were a dark, intimidating burgundy colour. Volcanoes as far as the eye could see, erupted and boiled over with magma. Craters that spewed out toxic gas littered the landscape as deep rumbles of thunder and sharp cracks of lightning broke the eerie silence of the Darkside. A curious Subetan had arrived with their beloved loyal companion to the door of Euclid's Laboratory in the hopes of giving their dear pet a new, unique look. Euclid's infamous Ultimate Pet Zapper lay behind that door and it was surely a sight to behold. For many pet owners, it offered them a chance to turn their ordinary pet...

...into something extraordinary.

"That'll just be 400,000sp" Euclid said through a grin, already counting up the coins in his mind. The excited owner glanced down to their sweet, innocent Jollin who was scanning the dark and cold interior of the laboratory cautiously. "And you're sure it's safe? Even during this storm?" The owner asked as another bright bolt of lightning lit up the room through the grimy windows. "Of course it's safe! I've used this thing hundreds of times and it's practically never failed!" Euclid replied. The Subetan reluctantly handed over the payment to the questionably dressed scientist, a lime-green python slithered down his arm and wrapped itself around the coins, collecting them for it's master before retreating back up his arm and into his lab coat. "Shall we begin then?" Euclid asked as he led the Jollin onto the platform, it's ears pinned back in fear as it became dwarfed by the intimidatingly large laser pointing directly at it.

"Come with me now human, unless you were interested in partaking in the experimentation too?" Euclid chuckled to the owner who quickly shook their head and followed the scientist into the viewing room. The owner anxiously stared back at their pet through the glass as the Jollin seemed to grow increasingly nervous, jumping and flinching at every bellow of thunder and snap of lightning that sounded as if it was coming closer and closer by the minute. "Just a few more..." the scientist mumbled to himself as he pressed an assortment of buttons on his keypad, "and zap!". With that Euclid slammed his fist down on the giant red button and activated the machine.

The Zapper began powering up, drawing in bright blue electrical currents that slithered their way like serpents towards the machine and began charging it. The Jollin yelped as it attempted to run from the machine, but in an instant a cage was raised from the floor, trapping the Jollin in the Zappers path. "Now, now no running!" Euclid called over the loudspeaker from the other room. The Jollin began panicking, running back and forth in it's prison, howling and calling for it's owner. "Wait...I'm not sure about this" the owner said nervously, "Oh no need to worry, they all react like this initially, but trust me, your pet will be so grateful once you two are the talk of the town for becoming a new experimental species at my hand!" Euclid assured the owner, "Now for the finale!" he said slyly, pulling a nearby lever. Gears hidden in the walls began whirring and churning as the dome-like roof of the laboratory began to split in half down the middle unveiling the aggressive eye of the storm in the sky above.

Suddenly the bright blue electrical currents changed a dark red as the machine began drawing in the dark, evil energy from the Darkside storm above. Euclids eyes locked onto the imprisoned Jollin, his hands trembling as the mad scientist practically jumped out of his seat with excitement at the power he was wielding. . The owners cries for him to stop were completely drowned out by the deep buzzing and crackling sounds the Zapper was now making as it engulfed it's victim with a dark, deep red flash before a large explosion filled the experimental chamber. An explosion so powerful it knocked the two observers to the floor in the room next door. Their only barrier of protection, a glass wall, shattered and showered them with razor sharp daggers, as they attempted to shield themselves from injury but...

...their efforts would prove fatal for one

Euclid opened his eyes wearily, his head pounding, vision blurred and his ears ringing with a sharp high pitched tone. He struggled as he pulled himself up, clutching his head with one hand as shards of glass fell from the wrinkles of his lab coat which was now stained with wet red splotches and dark smoking burns. "No..." Euclid gasped as he took in what was left of his lab. The blast had destroyed everything, his machines, his research... and his most recent client. "No..No..NO!" Euclid filled with adrenaline raced over the what remained of the Jollins owner, but it was too late, they had been completely disintegrated. A cold-blooded critter stirred in Euclids lab coat as his beloved pet snake emerged without a scratch, "Oh thank goodness...at least you're okay" he sputtered with tears in his eyes when suddenly he heard the sound of rubble and stones falling aside in the room where the Ultimate Pet Zapper used to be. Euclid raced over to try and save what was possibly left of the Jollin that was at the centre of the blast, but what he discovered was a creature

..unlike any other he had ever created.

The sleek brown fur of it's previous self, now yellow. It's delicate dark brown spots replaced with unorganized flecks of orange and green, it's singular fluffy tail now split into four short severed pieces, but this was only the beginning of what the twisted energy of the Darkside had turned this Jollin into. The creature stood up, shaking the dust from it's fur as it stared up at Euclid with not 2, but 4 eyes. "How... How is this possible?" he muttered in shock as he examined the 2 separate heads of the creature, each with it's own pair of eyes that glowed an unsettling red colour. 4 bat-like ears twitched as they picked up sounds of this strange new world it was born into. Euclid was both fascinated and horrified by what he had created, he knew this experiment was different, something special and he had to contain it quickly.

Euclid attempted to approach the creature, kneeling down before it and reaching one hand out as a peace offering "there there, it's okay" he said. The creatures heads took turns sniffing the scientists hand focusing in on the red liquid covering his coat and hands. The creature withdrew itself, it's ears no longer perched up and inquisitive but slicked back and aggressive, it's razor sharp teeth began baring as it let out a low growl and narrowed it's eyes, glaring at it's creator. The blood that covered Euclids hands, it wasn't just his, the creature knew who it belonged to, it's owner. Euclid realizing the situation unfolding before him he tried to spit out and explanation "Wait, no, I didn't...it...it was an accident! The blast it was..." But before he could finish his sentence, the creature revealed it's final deformity, a fifth eye shared in the centre of it's mutated heads. The creature let out a bellowing roar from both mouths as it leapt toward Euclid...

...in an attempt to tear him apart.

Euclid reached inside the pocket of his lab coat, feeling the cold metal exterior of an experiment trap he kept on him for dicey situations like this. As he tightened his grip around the trap, the creatures fifth eye began glowing a bright yellow, the iris darting around as if seeing things the simple human eye could not. As Euclid threw out the experiment trap, the creature leapt aside, dodging before it could even land. "Incredible" Euclid muttered, "It's like you knew what I was about to do". Euclid sharply inhaled as he realized the full power of this creatures fifth eye. Euclid quickly began scrambling to find what contraptions or weapons were left amongst what remained of his lab in an attempt to contain this powerful experiment. Euclid briefly fought until his body, still weakened from the explosion, gave in under himself and the creature vanished into the treacherous landscapes of Darkside.

Rumors of an escaped lab experiment spread quickly through the world of Subeta, with some citizens claiming to have seen the two headed beast prowling the deadly Darkside cliffs it's glowing fifth eye eerily illuminating the shadows. Opinions on the beast were torn, some viewed it as a guardian of the land, using it's foresight to protect those travelling through the dangerous jagged cliffs, but others viewed them as a harbinger of chaos and that their mere existence was disrupting the balance of time and space. Those who were lucky enough to come face to face with the creature and survive, described the experience as life changing yet terrifying as it's fifth eye did not only offer a glimpse into the future, but also revealed a person’s potential destinies, leaving them forever changed by the possibilities of what could be.

Back in his newly rebuilt lab, Euclid stewed over the creatures escape, due to it's foresight, recapturing it proved impossible. "That Storm" He thought to himself, "If I could just replicate that storm". The infusion of Darkside Power contained in the eye of the storm had unlocked something incredible in the Ultimate Pet Zapper that night and he needed to possess it,

no matter the cost to the world.