[Monsterization, Insanity, Death]

"Rraaaaaaaahhh!"

A pained and furious scream echoed through the small designer apartment that had once belonged to two shining stars. But now, only one girl owned it. And it was all thanks to her own actions, something that she denied every time her mind drifted onto the issue.

The violent singer threw all of the furniture all over the place, her fury having hit a peak that had never before been matched. And who could blame her, considering what she had been facing over the last few weeks?

She was Pearl. Half of the dynamic duo Off the Hook, the half that symbolized the Inklings. The half that should be shining the brightest, considering she was the one that wrote all the songs and sang them from the heart. But no! She wasn't! All the attention went to her costar, Marina!

"WHY WON'T THEY LISTEN TO MY SONG!?" The furious girl shouted, her voice reverberating around the room as any and all glass started to crack. Her fury was so strong, so unstoppable. But it hadn't always been this way.

The last time she was worried about people not listening to her, it was because she felt that she was nowhere near as good as her partner. After following a little bit of advice from a fan, she went through an extreme process... And...

"COME ON! LOOK AT ME!" Pearl shouted as she stomped into the bathroom. Both to try and wash herself back to her senses, and look at herself. She had to do something to calm down. Something...

But no. She knew she couldn't calm down. The anger inside her heart had been growing for too long. The anger that had been let loose as a result of what she had done.

Looking into the mirror, she didn't see the short Inkling that had once been standing on the stage, rapping about her passions alongside her sweet-sounding partner. No. She saw what many called a monster. They were wrong, of course. They were always wrong. She wasn't a monster!

So what if she had transformed into something greater than a mere inkling? So what if her head looked like one of the ancient squids from underneath the water's surface? So what if her legs had been replaced with tentacles that let her slither around, leaking ink all over the place? She was still her! She was still Pearl! And why wouldn't people understand that!?

Okay. She was originally repulsed by this form when she first saw herself. But then she felt the power coursing through her. She felt how she could vocalize her emotions through her voice. And she sang even more passionately than ever. And in the beginning, she really did get more fans...

"What do they know!?" The squid monster shouted as she smashed her hand into the mirror, her voice cracking it before the knuckle made contact. She remembered their faces. Once she started singing her new songs.

They were afraid. Afraid of what she wanted to do to them. Afraid of what she wanted to do to the world. Yeah, the world was USELESS! Of course she wanted to see it burn!

Marina didn't like it either. But that fine! She didn't care about her anymore. She was the one keeping her back, not the other way around. She was pushing away all the fans that she could have! Attracting all of those normal idiots that wanted a common idol instead of a real star!

Pearl grit her teeth as she slithered out of the bathroom, ripping the door off its hinges in the process. She was too strong. And that strength gave birth to more anger.

"THAT DAMNED OCTOLING!" The squid screamed, the wood cracking from her voice. She had gotten better at singing, thanks to what she had done. But it also harmed everyone around her. Something she was painfully unaware of. Because if you were into singing as much as she was, you didn't care about the consequences.

She panted, her blood boiling. She couldn't believe it. Only one person had shown up today. And it was her. It was that weakling. It was that girl who thought they were meant to be part of a greater whole.

Marina had been the one to drive away her fans! Not her! She did everything right! It was her fault! She was the one that has poisoned her fans' minds, telling her that she was dangerous! That liar! That snake! That vile girl who wanted nothing but to steal her fans!

Pearl looked at one of the shelves in the apartment. The one that held all of the pictures of her good times with the Octoling. Their memories. Their first meeting. Their first album. The time they went platinum. So many memories... And all of them worthless, because she was a traitor! Because she betrayed her!

The squid grabbed the shelf, tearing it off the wall and chucking it out the window. It didn't matter that somebody might get hit outside. That Inkling was probably just as complicit! And if she hit an Octoling, good! That's one less of those in the world!

After tossing away her memories like they were nothing, the self-deluded star made her way into the back room. The room that had once been dedicated to their beds, where the two would always chat with one another when they couldn't sleep.

Now? It housed a Throne. Not just any Throne either. It was the terminal that allowed her to link up with the Machine. The thing that had given her this wonderful body! The thing that had taught her that she was meant to be something greater!

It knew that she was insecure. And it had encouraged her to let those feelings loose. She indulged those feelings inside Virtuality, the game that came with every copy of the Machine. In there, she could be the thing she always wanted to be.

Pearl was a god in there. And not a kind one. She let all of her fury, all of her wrath, all of her pent up anger, pour out and turn into a violent ocean. One that devoured anybody that tried to stand up to her.

It was these violent rampages that she vocalized in her songs. It was her love for this simulation that made her feel so powerful. And her current self, the one that had been twisted out of that disgusting Inkling form, was given to her by the Machine.

Tired and exhausted gasps left the squid's mouth as she grabbed ahold of the Throne. Just the cold texture of the seat was enough to make her calm down. Not enough to destroy her fury entirely, but enough to give her peace of mind. And with that moment of clarity...

Right. Her suit. The latex suit that had been morphed and stretched due to her form changing so much. The one that could only fit her now. Her tentacles made sure of that.

Pearl slipped the stretchy black suit on, squirming as it snapped against her skin. It was so tight that it almost felt like it was trying to crush her. But that was part of why it was so wonderful. Because it brought her a feeling that nothing else could...

It gave her comfort. The only thing that could make her happy at this point was the Machine. It let her go wild. It let her act out her wildest fantasy. Making them into reality.

Once the latex suit had slipped onto her body, the next part was attaching everything else. To properly access the Machine, she had to make sure she interfaced correctly.

Wires. Cables. All designed to sink into the skin of the user. Part of why she wore the latex in the first place. It would hurt if she didn't wear it... Well, it still did. But she loved the sensation now. If she didn't love the latex as much as she did, she would've been jamming them into her body without protection, just to make the experience inside the Machine that much more real.

Pearl let out a cry of pure pleasure as juices started running down her leg, leaking through the latex as she took a seat upon the Throne. After hooking up every single wire and cable, dotting her body in such quantity that it almost looked like there wasn't a person underneath that mess, she was ready to log in and experience her fantasy...

Wait. No, she was missing one thing. The most important. Her Visor. A headset that transformed her thoughts into sound, and visualized every bit of Virtuality that much more.

After sinking its respective wire into her neck, she slipped the headset onto her head. It fit her perfectly, despite the altered shape. And now that she was hooked up in every single way, she felt the power of the Machine pour into her.

She could see the world expanding in front of her. Showing the city in all of its uselessness... And how much she towered over it. That was her ego manifest. Her giant size. And with that giant size, came all of its benefits.

"YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE FOR ABANDONING ME!" Pearl shouted as her tentacles knocked down the many buildings in front of her, relishing the sound of the panic that reverberated around her... Utterly unaware of what she was doing in reality.

She had hit a critical component in the Throne. And sparks quickly started to toss themselves around, as the illusion in front of her face quickly started fading...

"NO! PUT IT BACK! PUT IT BACK!" The frantic addict cried out, slamming her tentacles around with reckless abandon. She applied as much blunt force trauma as she could. She wanted to indulge herself! She wanted to escape the useless reality that had been trying to betray her!

And in her mindless fury, she hurt the machine more and more. She didn't notice that the sparks were growing in intensity, or how they were catching onto parts of the floor and the walls. Nor did she notice the flames that were starting to form.

Pearl let out a delightful scream as her furious flailing got her somewhere. Not because they were actually fixing anything, but because the Machine had decided it was her time. Her wild flailing meant that her fleshy body had run its course. And thus, she was pumped full of the energy that connected her to Virtuality.

The buildings reappeared. But not because of the visor. It was what her eyes were seeing, but the simulation wasn't real. It was just a trick. Because it wanted her to keep rampaging. It wanted her to keep destroying herself.

"FINALLY! I THOUGHT IT BETRAYED ME TOO!" The squid laughed, not noticing how the throne was growing warmer with every passing moment. Nor how it was searing into her.

No, she was too occupied with slamming everything she saw. The wires that connected her to the terminal was just another building, as she slammed her latex-covered tentacles into them, causing the sparks to intensify and for the feedback to rush harder into her.

The pain was just an illusion! It was just the simulation trying to make her experience all the more real! And it was real! She was destroying Inkopolis! The city that had abandoned her!

Even as the flames spread onto Pearl's body, even as she started losing the ability to move due to it burning her from the outside in... She still thought she was rampaging. She was destroying everything that those bastards held dear, when she was just destroying herself.

She laughed. She laughed like mad. She laughed at all the destruction that she was causing, and at what was happening to herself. Because that was all that she could do, her mind having truly snapped at this point.

And as the last building in front of her collapsed... her body fell limp. The last cable connecting her to the Throne snapped, which was the only thing keeping her alive. And the flames consumed her completely, burning her as her mind crumpled into pieces...

A victim of her own hubris. A victim of the Machine. Pearl would remain a monster in the eyes of the public, even after her death.

The last thing she thought of, before her mind shut off, was the joy of destroying everything that Marina held dear.