Faustus girlbossing

“Mariana? Are you there?”

An engineer roamed about the cluttered laboratory, having been called for help with a maintenance issue. This wasn’t unheard of- in fact, it was extremely common for machines to break down in use. Dr. Kierce practically lived in the lab with how often he was there to fix various instruments and machinery; but usually, there was at least somebody to greet him…

…

… Ah, well. ‘She’s likely busy anyways,’ the man thought to himself. After all, Mariana was married to the wealthiest man in the world- she had things to do all the time in his name. This didn’t bother Kierce. 

He poked and prodded at several different robots on Dr. Borkowski’s side of the lab- they had been created in the spitting image of one of his children. Nick was the least favorite of both Borkowski *and* Kierce- so the robots were generally beaten down on. 

The engineer picked up one of the robots with ease before setting it down on a cluttered desk, eyes briefly scanning the masses of paper and data sprawled out before turning back towards the main problem. He needed to get the robots out of the way so he could put them into the large Angle Grinder machine. 

It was massive, standing at eight feet tall and twelve feet long, with a girth large enough to envelop a human if needed. This was good, since Kierce was here to destroy the Nick-robots as per Faustus’s request. 

He didn’t really blame her. They were sad and creepy. 

As Kierce pulled the first robot from Arche’s desk, he heard a familiar voice ring out. 

“Micheal, there you are.” The tone was oddly monotone, but, the man turned to face his old friend. 

“Mariana! I was wondering what happened to you- I figured a business trip or something,” he chuckled. The genetic researcher stood far away, eyes tired as she didn’t even come remotely close to smiling. Kierce awkwardly cleared his throat, looking away. Tough crowd. 

“… Ahem, anyways. I’m almost ready to start the grinder- it should still be clean from when I fixed it last time, unless you used it, yeah?” Dr. Faustus nodded. 

“Yes, it’s clean. Micheal, would you… Come closer?” Her tone was still oddly monotone in the strangest way, and Kierce felt his stomach churn a bit. He bit the inside of his cheek. 

“I… Well, yes, I can, but… Is everything alright?” A genuine concern rushed over him- did she fall ill, or hear bad news about Matilda? The woman looked dead, but Kierce was aware that she was essentially a walking corpse anyways. He didn’t want her to actually die. 

“Micheal… No, it isn’t. Please, just… Help me..” The woman began to falter, and Kierce felt fear surge through him. No, no- he needed her alive- wanted her alive, even. He dropped the robot on the ground as he rushed towards Faustus to catch her, but stopped midway, pain stinging his left leg. He kneeled over, unable to stand. What had..?

He struggled to get free of whatever held him, but looked down in horror to see that a hook-like device had gone straight through his calf. There was a chain attached to the hook, and slowly, it began to drag him backwards, inevitably towards the grinder. He panicked. 

“M-Marina-!! The machine- HELP!” The woman was still hunched over, her frame shaking- no- laughing. It started off as a quiet murmur, eventually racking up to an earth-shattering roar. Her cackle echoed throughout the lab, Kierce horrified and struggling to free himself from his doom, which was still thankfully at least six feet away. The man crawled at the ground in desperation. 

“You have to turn it off- FAUSTUS! PLEASE!” His shouts rivaled the woman’s laughs as she stood up, approaching Kierce slowly. 

“Turn it off? I’m the one who turned it on.” As the engineer got a grip on the ground, Faustus grabbed a metal pole and smashed his hands with it. Kierce recoiled in pain, being brought closer to his doom. The machine’s resin spikes started to poke and prod Kierce as he was brought closer to the conveyor belt, countless blades awaiting him if he didn’t escape. He gasped, struggling with all of his might. 

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” The man’s voice was terrified, as he tried to crawl back forward, ignoring the sensation of ripping skin and tendons in his leg.  

“PLEASE- MY KIDS- NICK, MATILDA..” Faustus let out a roar of laughter, tears stinging at her eyes. 

“Don’t you DARE pretend like you love them, you piece of shit! I know what you did to Nick- I know how you treated him!” Kierce was inches away from having his toes sliced into salami, as he grabbed at Faustus to pull himself back forward or pull her in with him. 

“N-No, Nick, I didn’t-!! You have to understand, please, I didn’t-“ Faustus tore away, letting Kierce fall into the blades, slowly being dragged through. He screamed in agony and struggled more as they continued to cut and tear through flesh and bone. 

“YOU DEFILED MY SON, AND YOU’LL DIE FOR IT, YOU PATHETIC, USELESS WORM!” Tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks as she took the metal pole from earlier, using it to shove Kierce further into the machine. His screams of agony only grew as the blades tore through his legs and midsection, dissecting and destroying his insides as he reached out towards Faustus. His arm reached for only a moment as his eyes were filled with horror and terror, before his arm fell limp and blood was all that could be seen left of his face. The machine continued to cut, sputtering out blood and chunks of the man as Faustus sunk to the ground, sobbing. She had killed the monster in the fashion he had deserved, but she couldn’t help but tuck her knees into her chest as she cried. Kierce was no more.