Chapter 13

For Katherine, it was not a pleasant journey back to her house. She hadn’t actually been back there in months, since Remilia had decided to keep Katherine imprisoned in her office, even after-hours, so that Katherine was essentially her permanent “office pet.” The ride down the elevator with Junko was totally nerve-wracking, especially since, again, it had been months since Katherine had even left the confines of the A&W office building. Halfway down, she started shaking and shivering from the pure nerves of the situation, and also because she was naked and cold.

“Oh and I suppose now that Kazehana let you off the hook,” grumped Junko, putting her hands on her hips, “You’ll be wanting aaaaall kinds of special treats, hmmm? Clothes, shoes…all the things that normal, respectable people have.”

Katherine couldn’t answer at first. Her skinny arms were wrapped around her shivering body, and she was barely even able to keep her feet. Junko had broken her mind so completely, and subjected her to such a rigorous and thorough program of dehumanization and debasement, that the poor woman had absolutely nothing to go on. She had forgotten how to walk around in public, how to carry on a normal conversation, how to drive a car…how to do anything that ordinary people did. Junko had succeeded in replacing her mind with the essence of total despair, and so the prospect of walking out of the A&W office building on her own, much less getting in her car and driving to the Asmodeus mansion to pick up Clayton, seemed utterly impossible.

“Helloooo!?” came Junko’s irritated voice, as the demon teenager loomed over Katherine, bent down, and rapped on the shrunken woman’s head with her knuckles. “I’m talking to you, Katherine! You’re not impressing me anymore with that lame “despair” stuff — all that’s over now…done, finished, in the books. You were a triumph for me, at least until Kazehana called it all off…RIGHT before you were about to shrink down into nothing…damn it, I almost had you. But noooooo, somehow you just lucked out and squirmed out of becoming my ultimate fantasy. Mammon below, it PISSES ME OFF!!”

The elevator had dinged down at the lobby floor, and as Katherine struggled to deal with the prospect of the doors opening, Junko suddenly unleashed her anger. Before the elevator doors could open, the demon grabbed both of them with her hands, forcefully prying them open with a mighty, wrenching clash that shook the entire elevator car. Junko proceeded to stride out of the elevator, her blond pigtails bouncing up and down, as a group of astonished businesspeople looked on in shocked horror. It took Katherine a few moments to remember that no one else could see Junko, and that they were all staring at her, huddled in the corner of the elevator, naked and shaking.

But almost as soon as Katherine realized they were staring at her, she looked down at herself and realized that she had been clothed. She was now wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and sandals that somehow fit her 3-foot frame perfectly. Katherine didn’t have time to be amazed, though, because she knew, without the demon even having to tell her, that she was supposed to follow Junko out of the building. So she gathered herself together (using only her instinct to follow Junko, since she had no true will of her own left) and quickly shuffled past the group of staring businesspeople, who were staring down at her with a mixture of disgust and fear. Katherine was clearly an adult, but she was so skinny and so frail now that any normal person who saw her would have done a repulsed double-take. No adult woman was supposed to look like that.

Katherine was focused on Junko, though, which was easy enough to do, since the demon was in the midst of lashing out in rage from Kazhana now allowing her to make Katherine disappear completely. As Junko strode through the lobby, she was destroying anything that crossed her path.

“Fuck this!” she hissed at a vending machine that she passed, and as she spoke, she took hold of the machine with two hands and, seemingly without effort, picked it up and threw it straight at the double glass doors of the building. The machine shattered the glass with a loud, crashing bang. The throng of people in the lobby cried out in confusion, having no idea what was going on. None of them could see Junko, so to them, it looked like things were levitating and crashing down in the path of this tiny, shrunken little woman who was tottering towards the door.

“What’s happening!?” exclaimed a man in a suit.

“I…I don’t know!” cried a prim-looking woman in response. “It…it just picked up on its own and went flying!”

“Let’s get out of here!” yelled another man, punching the elevator button as fast as he could.

“No, no, not the elevator!” called another businesswoman, “Take the stairs!”

Katherine had tunnel vision as she heard and saw all the panicked people in her periphery. She knew that she just needed to keep following Junko, though at a safe distance. The teenager was NOT in a good mood. After tossing the vending machine, she walked past the front desk, which was manned by two security guards.

“Aaaand fuck THIS!” Junko trilled angrily, aiming a roundhouse kick directly into the desk, which split and shattered in reaction to her powerful kick. The security guards went flying, crying out in confusion, and one of them fell right into Junko’s path. Without skipping a beat, she picked him up by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the building, out of the gaping hole the vending machine had made. Katherine had to marvel at how powerful the teenager was — Junko’s current size was “only” 5’9, so it wasn’t like she was a giant compared to these people. But she was tossing them aside like they were toys.

“Fuck you,” Junko muttered through her clenched teeth, watching the security guard hurtle into the parking deck. It was like she was going down a list. She stepped outside and immediately encountered two parking deck police officers, who had run over to see what all the commotion was about. Junko promptly grabbed both of them by the necks, lifted them up off the ground, and threw them into nearby cars.

“Aaaaaand fuck you two as well!” she snarled. Katherine was struggling to catch up with her, but apparently not fast enough. Junko glanced over her shoulder.

“Seriously, Katherine,” she warned, her eyes blazing red, “If you don’t hurry up, I’m gonna destroy this whole parking garage. Get a MOVE on!!”

Katherine responded by willing her legs to move faster, and a few moments later she had caught up to the demon girl, who was now traversing in a striding catwalk down the nearest aisle of cars.

“Fuck this!” she chirped, bringing her fist down hard on the hood of a red pickup truck, completely destroying the engine.

“Fuck that!” she added, aiming a powerful kick at a blue sedan close by, which sent the car backflipping over the other cars next to it.

“Fuck this one,” Junko persisted, shoving a grey van angrily to the side, causing the van to tip over completely and land upside-down.

“And fuck that one,” Junko finished, capping off her path of destruction by picking up a large black pickup truck, lifting it into the air over her head, and throwing it into a line of other parked cars. The teenager stopped and stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily, her eyes blazing that same furious red, as she surveyed the damage. The parking deck was wild with the sounds of screaming car alarms, flashing lights, and fire alarms that were responding to the spoke that had started to issue forth from several of the cars. Katherine was once again struck by how strange it was to see Junko this upset about something. For an entire year, Katherine had watched the demon smoothly get her way, in everything she endeavored to do. She had held total power over Katherine’s life, and there hadn’t seemed to be anything that she wasn’t capable of doing. But apparently, there was a firm and established demonic hierarchy, and Junko was below the Asmodeus family.

“Okay!” said Junko brightly, breathing out a big exhale as she looked at all of the smashed, overturned cars. A large smile had come to her face, and her eyes sparkled amusedly. It appeared like she had gotten all of her rage out of her system. “That was fun, haha! Sometimes you just need to twist some metal to let off steam, you know? Guh…anyway, all those cars were uuuuugly!”

She glanced around quickly, and her eyes fell on a flashy red convertible car, that had its hood down.

“Huh,” she chuckled, her eyebrow going up curiously as she sidled up to the car and examined it, “This one actually isn’t half-bad. What do you think, Katherine? I’m thinking this one here is my style.”

“I…I c-couldn’t say, r-really,” forced out Katherine. She was doing all she could to just hold herself together, stepping outside the A&W office building for the first time in months.

“Ha, of course you couldn’t,” replied Junko swiftly, performing an elegant flip as she hopped over the car and into the driver’s seat. “You can’t really think much about anything anymore, can you, haha? That’s why I want a car like THIS — I’m driving out of here in style! I’ve totally hollowed you out, Katherine Williamson, and I deserve to look good driving you away. Come on, get in! Kazehana may have forced me to let you go pick up your pathetic son, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to enjoy the drive to your house!”

Katherine, of course, had no choice but to obey, and, with considerable effort, she raised up her skinny legs and pulled herself into the passenger seat of the flashy red sports car. Junko immediately flipped her finger, and the door slammed shut on its own accord, making Katherine jump.

“Alright, let’s DO THIS, BABY!” yelled Junko excitedly, firing up the car’s V-8 engine without the keys. The engine roared to life, and a moment later Katherine was hanging onto her seat for dear life as Junko screeched out of the parking deck, going way, way too fast. But the demon girl, it seemed, had some special abilities, and she was able to keep control of the car, despite her absolutely unhinged and insane driving.

“So what do you think you’ll do with your midget son, when you pick him up?” asked Junko in a strangely conversational tone as the car flew down the road. She had apparently conjured up a pair of stylish black sunglasses from nowhere, and was now wearing them. They completed the snazzy picture of the teenager, whose blond pigtails were now flying and bouncing crazily in the wind. “You two going to share a poignant moment together? Reminisce about how totally you were both dominated over the past year? God, I bet Clayton has some crazy stories to tell you about his servitude to Scarlet, hahaha…that is, he WOULD have some crazy stories…if he could still talk.”

“Y-you…you don’t think he can…he can talk anymore!?” asked Katherine, looking up at Junko. Being outside was proving very tough for her, but the more she talked with Junko, the more she was becoming accustomed to getting back into the real world. Even though she was only a little over 3 feet tall now, and even though her mind had been destroyed by ultimate despair, she could still at least go through the motions of life.

“Hahahaha!!” laughed Junko loudly, swerving the car dangerously, weaving in between traffic, causing other cars to crash around her, “Are you kidding, Katherine!? This is SCARLET ASMODEUS we’re talking about…the heir to the Asmodeus fortune, the daughter of Kazehana, of the DIRECT LINE from the first Asmodeus, the Primal Demon of Lust. Compared to what she ended up doing to Clayton, I went EASY on you.”

Katherine blinked and then turned her head, staring straight forward. Junko’s wild driving was a mere afterthought to her right now — she barely noticed all the honking, the yelling, and the crashing around them, accompanied by Junko’s exultant and careless laughter. All she was thinking about now was Clayton…her son…her son…the poor boy who she had abandoned to his fate exactly one year before. She couldn’t even be bothered to dwell in the horrible shame and guilt of her decision to leave him — she had already sat in the toxic sludge of that choice for months on end, since Junko had never hesitated to remind her about it. But now that Clayton’s servitude was over, and she, Katherine, was being asked to come pick him up, something new and unexpected had awakened in Katherine. It didn’t have much to do with her personally — as far as she was concerned, she didn’t much care whether she lived or died. Junko had turned her brain into mush, and there wasn’t much that could be done about that. She had seen the terrible face of Ultimate Despair, and once she had seen that rock-bottom reality, its face was seared onto her soul forever. There was no undoing it. But there was still something left, maybe, for Clayton…even if there was nothing left for her.

“Ohhhh yes, the strange, waifish wisps of a broken mind, tumbling over themselves like bacteria in a blind and meaningless dance of repetition,” hummed Junko in a monotone. She was still driving like a maniac, but her voice had suddenly taken on the doleful, doom-laden sound of one who has lost everything, of someone who has no hope left whatsoever. Katherine had become somewhat accustomed to the teenager’s jarring mood swings, but even still, it had never really ceased to strike Katherine how crazy and unhinged this demon girl actually was. She looked up at Junko, and the demon turned to her, her eyes huge and wide with the heaviness of her depressed mood.

“You’re stumbling ahead, trying to latch onto something you want,” continued Junko, nodding slowly at Katherine as she continued to drive. She wasn’t even looking at the road, and from the loud sounds of crashing around them, it was clear that she was causing quite a disaster on the road. But again, Katherine was just focused on Junko. The tormented woman could feel something coming alive in her, something that exited despite her own despair.

“But you have nothing,” breathed Junko down at her. “Nothing at all — I know you think you have some kind of new purpose in life, Katherine Williamson, with your son now back in it, but let me just make it easy for you: Clayton has NO personality anymore. He probably won’t even know you’re there…he’s been tortured into insanity, mark my words. And there’s nothing you can do for him that will change that.”

“I can keep him alive,” said Katherine, almost to herself, under her breath.

“Huh?” asked Junko, licking her lips and then sticking her tongue out at a man in a big truck who was yelling and shaking his fist, since Junko had just caused his car to flip over on its head. “What was that, Katherine? Haha, sorry, I was distracted by all the delicious mayhem I’m causing. And with a single car too! I can’t believe humans think these giant machines are a good idea!”

“I said,” repeated Katherine quietly, “That I can keep him alive. Clayton will be entrusted back to me. I don’t care about my life anymore…but I can still take care of him, and make sure he lives.”

"You know what, Katherine,” yawned Junko, pulling the car to a screeching halt outside Katherine’s house, “Do whatever you want, ok? Go through whatever absurd mental process you need to just to keep yourself putting one foot in front of the other. This whole “motherly” thing is a new one for you, haha, especially since you won, like, the opposite of “mom of the year” for the last 365 days…but whatever…it sounds suuuuper boring, but you give it your best shot, alright? Haha, I’ll be waiting for you here when you get back.”

A minute later, Junko had let herself into Katherine’s house, and Katherine herself was sitting in her own car, with the keys in the ignition, trying to remember how to drive. She took a deep breath and turned the keys, and the car sputtered to life. She was surprised at how quickly she managed to re-learn everything, and it was only minutes later that she was on the road, driving toward the Asmodeus mansion to pick up Clayton. She really couldn’t explain how this “mother instinct” in her had risen up out of nowhere — Junko had correctly noticed it, but even still, Katherine felt that the demon girl didn’t really understand what was going on. Yes, Katherine had lost her will to live, but now that Clayton was about to come back into her life, she had a new purpose outside of herself. No matter how terrible of a state he was in, she was going to take care of him. She was going to atone for leaving him with the Asmodeus family. And as she continued to drive, her purpose and confidence hardened. Maybe…just maybe…she was going to be able to find a way to sever Junko’s hold on her, and let her live out her days quietly with Clayton, caring for him in peace.

Later on that day, Katherine found herself driving back home with the husk of her son in the passenger seat next to him. Katherine had been deeply disturbed by the experience at the Asmodeus Manor — both Kazehana and Scarlet had grown to absolutely titanic proportions, over 70 feet tall each…and it had also been quite a shock for Katherine to see how thoroughly Clayton had been abused. His eyes rolled in his head, seeing nothing in particular, and his head lolled uselessly on his shoulders. His mouth was slack, and Katherine had to periodically touch up his lips with a tissue to keep him from drooling all over himself. For all intents and purposes, Junko’s words were proven right: her son was totally insane, without any personality left.

But even through the trauma of all of that, Katherine felt a sense of vigor and purpose as she drove home. Clayton’s mind was gone, yes, even more so than hers was…but he was still alive. And this meant that there was still a reason for Katherine to be alive. Somehow, in Katherine’s head, this reality translated to hope that she could somehow free herself from Junko. The blood-red sun was setting in the West as she drove down the highway back home. Her jaw was set. She had to try.

When Katherine came back into her house, with the thin, 3-foot Clayton draped in her arms (he was so light that she could easily carry him, despite being only a few inches taller than him), she saw Junko lounging on the sofa, her bare feet up, watching TV as she tossed popcorn in her mouth.

“Oh my GOD!” she laughed, seeing Clayton and sitting up in excitement. “Just LOOK at him, hahaha! Wowwwwww, Scarlet sure put a number on him, didn’t she!?”

“He’s…he’s back home now,” said Katherine in a shaky voice, laying Clayton down in an easy chair. “That’s all that matters.”

“Look at his eyes, hahaha!” squealed Junko in delight, pointing as she continued eating popcorn, “I TOLD you he wouldn’t even be able to see anything! Mmmmm, wow, this is turning me on, just seeing Scarlet’s work! She may be a year or two below me, haha, but geeeez does she know how to corrupt a soul!”

Katherine stood her ground, setting her face as she got between Junko and her son.

“Of course,” continued Junko lazily, tossing more popcorn into her mouth and chewing, “She had it pretty easy…I mean, I did too, haha…the Williamson clan has become LEGENDARY for its ultra-submissive nature. I don’t know what I’m gonna do when I find out that my next project is gonna offer more resistance than you did…but oh well…it’s all about the challenge, isn’t it?”

“Junko,” said Katherine firmly, even as her voice shook, “I want to be free of you. I…I want you to leave me and Clayton alone, and let me live out the rest of my life in peace, just…taking care of him.”

“Oooooo, well isn’t the little harpy a bit upstart now that she’s “rediscovered'' her motherhood!” jeered Junko, laughing as she jumped backward onto the sofa, stretching her curvy figure out as she continued lobbing popcorn into her mouth. “And how do you figure that I care AT ALL what you want, Katherine, hrmmm? You wanna get rid of me…well, tough. I’m staying here as long as I feel like it, and right now, I feel like gawking at the awesome work my friend did on little Clayton right there.”

“Junko…” said Katherine again, balling up her fists. “I’m serious…grant me this wish, or…”

“Or what, silly girl?” laughed Junko, munching on popcorn as she squinted her eyes playfully at Katherine.

Katherine looked at Clayton, sitting vacantly in the chair, and then looked back at Junko. She had a plan…and she was about to put it into action.