Story #72: Cat and Mouse (2063)

Story #72: Cat and Mouse (2063) (This is a time-warped version of 'A Scan Artist Punished') (Content Tags: Mild violence, humiliation, domination, messy diapers, diapered by a younger kid, diaper sniffing, mind merged with poopy diaper) "This is your next target." Instead of a dull nod or an affirming grunt, there was just a beat of silence, and then... "That's a baby." In this way, and in this way exactly, the defeat of one of the most gifted assassin prodigies had been set into motion. Not just a defeat, but a complete and utter spanking. Nyhm Prism. Nine years old, and ranked in the top ten young assassins in the world. An orphan turned killer for hire. Mentored by a legend, outfitted with million-dollar augments that redefined what it meant to simply be human. His signature tech? An experimental neuro-mod that granted him powerful psychokinetic abilities. He'd been the in the final shadows of leaders and billionaires; he'd cut the throats of mob bosses and dirty politicians alike. And they were sending him off to 'off' a *baby*. Nyhm stared at the picture on the screen, desperately wanting to circle the square on what exactly was being requested of him. "What? Was the abortionist just running late or something? Isn't this more a job for a nanny with Parkinson's disease? Or maybe just a bag of unpeeled grapes?" The man furrowed his brow at the child's snarky remarks. "All done? I'm not sending you out to just smother somebody's bouncing baby boy. Your target, much like yourself, is a lot more than he seems." A cigarette parted his lips, and using the metal fingertip of his mechanical arm, he gave the coffin nail life. His other arm was still flesh and bone, and said hand was beginning to swipe at the digital display. The screen shifted and the man jabbed his stubby finger at a picture of the tot. "Your target is in the same profession that you are." Nyhm gave him a disbelieving look. "It's...a baby." "A test-tube baby, er, toddler. Whatever. The point is, he's hyper-intelligent and highly trained." "...Like, potty-trained?" The man sighed, growing impatient with the childish assassin and the flippant remarks that he kept making. "You know, the dossier really doesn't say. That isn't relevant to the assignment. What it *does* say is that he's snatching clients right out of our hands, so he needs to be dealt with." Nyhm rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair, "Sure, sure. I don't really feel comfortable assassinating a baby though, test tube or not. I'll just wipe his mind; make him as mushy upstairs as a normal baby." The man looked conflicted by the more 'merciful' answer, but Nyhm seemed to have made up his mind on the matter. "...Fine. Just get it done. I'll upload the data on his recent locations to the server. Just go get it done, Prism." "Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist, Zero. I'll tuck the baby in and report back; maybe I'll even take that 'genius' of his for myself." Nyhm smirked, tapping at his temple in reference to his psionic augmentation. So the hunt had begun; the same hunt that'd become Nyhm's demise and the end of his esteemed career as a top assassin. The boy would make a visit to his armory before leaving, picking up whatever tools he thought he might need. While he doubted the physical capabilities of a normal tot, the talk of genetic engineering had made him at least consider the possibility that the tyke wouldn't so easily be put down for a nap. While assembling his loadout, he allowed the digital dossier to download directly into his brain. Information was somewhat limited, which was unsurprising considering the profession of his target, but he did gather that the boy's codename was Nibbles and that he wore a little beanie with mouse ears on it. "Really just throwing it out there that you're 'prey." Nyhm snickered, holstering his weapons and heading for the exit. "Well little mouse, then I'll be the cat that removes you from the house." Two days later, Nyhm was in a completely different country, tracking down the lead that his 'manager' had scored for him. He was going to be intercepting Nibbles' current contract, since that would be the most reliable way to get a 'meeting' with the smaller boy. He'd slay Nibbles' target earlier than the contract stipulated and then lie in wait for the mouse to appear. It was perfect! And while this job didn't technically pay, it *would* remove potential competition, which meant an increase to his net-worth all the same. The apparent target was some skunkworks scumbag that'd dropped the ball one too many times, and he was supposed to be eliminated *after* he'd finished decrypting a data chip and had begun the ransom of some very sensitive information. This had a specific timetable, which just made the job all the easier. He knew exactly when the target would be most vulnerable, and he knew exactly when *his* target would be making his move. The location was a room at an unassuming hotel in the city, security would be light and confined to the immediate radius of the room. While his dossier hadn't narrowed down the exact hotel or room number, that hadn't been an issue for the boy's psionic abilities. A few read minds, an analysis of remnant psychic data, and a track on the brainwaves of this psycho; it'd been a lazy afternoon bereft of any heavy lifting. Nyhm had walked into the lobby of the hotel with a couple that had been temporarily 'assigned' as his parents. A little tinkering in their heads and a whole lot of implanted memories, and they were getting their hotel room for a family of three. Nyhm had just needed a base of operations in the same building as the assignment, but he did allow himself the guilty pleasure of feeling like a normal kid with actual parents, for a brief time at least. He did mental reconnaissance, performing remote viewing to see what the situation upstairs looked like. Two bodyguards inside the room, one patrolling the hallway outside of it. Piece of cake. He bid his temporary family adieu and cleared their minds of his presence, heading casually upstairs to find the patrolling guard. Some mental bewitching kept his presence, as to not tip off Nibbles to things being wrong, but the guard also wouldn't be stopping Nyhm at all. He got the key to the door off the man and went into the next phase of his plan; using telekinesis, he moved a vase off of a table. As it shattered, he opened up the door to the room and stepped inside. The remaining two guards were so preoccupied with the crash of the vase, that Nyhm had gone completely unnoticed. In a matter of seconds, Nyhm had thrown an ice shard into the skulls of both bodyguards and then used his other arm to fire an arc of electricity at the man they had lost their lives over. In under five seconds, Nyhm had entered the hotel room and slain all three of the men, all without too much fuss or mess. It was sloppier than how he might usually do things, but he had to have some fun with it every once in a while. Now all there was to do was to wait, and by his calculations, he had twenty minutes. He grabbed some candy out of the mini-bar and went to go hide, ready for the real game to begin. As he'd planned all along, out from the vents came clattering a small toddler with a mouse-eared cap on his head. That moment of confusion, where the smaller boy was looking at the bodies on the floor, that was where Nyhm's opportunity was: The older assassin tumbled expertly from his hiding spot, a small flurry of icy needles erupting from hos palms in the same motion. This baby was about to be put in time-out! Unfortunately for Nyhm, his opponent had better reflexes than he had anticipated, and the smaller boy handily evaded all of the speeding projectiles. "That was pretty good, but it won't be good enough to deal with me!" Nyhm smirked, staring the lad down. "You're Nyhm, right? The little assassin with the psychic modifications?" Little? Look who was talking! "...Yes. I'm not surprised that you've heard of me; I *am* one of the best in the business." Nibbles nudged the electrocuted man on the hotel floor with his foot and looked back up at the one responsible. "Sloppy. I suppose you thought that you'd ruin my contract and then take me out too, huh?" The older kid in the room was becoming irate, but he kept his composure. "I wasn't going to do a *good* job on something I'm not getting paid for. I just needed bait to get you here with...And don't worry, I don't kill *babies*, but I also can't have you taking clients from me." "...Are you planning on asking me nicely to stop? Or did you have something a little less brainless in mind?" The toddler raised an eyebrow, his smarmy grin not faltering for a single second. "I guess you could say *more* brainless, just not on my end. I'm going to turn your mind into mush, so you'll just be like a normal little nuisance. Though first, I think I'll take your wits for myself; couldn't hurt to boost my own brain!" Famous last words if ever there were any. Nibbles didn't appear phased by the plot against him. Instead, from the pockets of his shortalls, he pulled out what looked like a baby bottle of milk. "I guess that'd be a good plan, at least for someone more competent...Or intelligent." While the toddler started to shake the bottle of milk in his hands, Nyhm was furrowing his brow and readying himself to make another attack. He wouldn't get the chance however, as Nibbles suddenly let go of the bottle and allowed it to hit the ground, and with that came an explosion. Nyhm got pushed back and hit his head on the wall, "Son of a--!" With the dust clearing, all that was left was a broken window leading out nine stories below. The killer got back on his feet and dashed toward the window, taking no time in jumping through the hole and allowing himself to plummet below. Using his abilities, he was able to manipulate the air around him, ensuring that his descent would be cushioned from an otherwise deadly fall. "You can't run off to your mouse hole that easily, brat. Now that I've seen you, I can track you..." With such an unusual brainwave, it was simple to follow where his Pamper-clad prey had run off to. Even in a bustling city like this, he could single out the 'mouse' and not get bogged down by the background. His stalking led him to a baby store that had closed for the night. He rolled his eyes at the choice of location, "Come looking for a stuffy to soothe you? Or maybe I scared him so bad that he pooped his pants." The store was dark, and while he had tracked Nibbles here, he couldn't get a tighter radius than just the store itself. Nyhm began to quietly prowl the aisles, keeping an eye out. "Come on out, diaper boy! I know you're in here! If you be good, then I promise I'll leave a few brain cells left in that big head of yours." His nose suddenly wrinkled at an encroaching odor. "..Ugh. I'm not changing any poopy diapers though, that's where I draw the line!" As foul as it may be, that stench was like a trail that would help Nyhm find his target! He was getting closer, and closer...When he suddenly felt himself getting pounced from above! The tot had been sitting up on a shelf, amidst some baby dolls, and once Nyhm had passed him, it'd been time to strike! The shock was enough to knock the assassin off balance for a moment, and while he bucked to get the smelly tot off his back, he noticed that something was swiftly being put in his mouth! A...Pacifier? Before he could question it, or take it out, a small hand came down and tapped the front of the plastic thing, and a very sweet taste filled Nyhm's mouth. Whatever had been in the pacifier bulb's reservoir, it was powerful enough to make Nyhm stagger and sway. It must have been some intense sedative! He had to finish Nibbles off while he had the stength, he had to-- **THUD!** The older boy fell forward, the pacifier still stuck in his mouth and his muscles feeling too weak to stand. Nibbles crawled off his back and grinned down at his supposed predator, "Get comfy and I'll be right back, 'big boy'." Nyhm was fighting to stay conscious, his lucidity flickering in and out. Once Nibbles had returned, the older boy was only getting snapshots of what was happening. The end result was that Nibbles had gone to the diaper aisle and returned with the biggest size they had, which coincidentally was large enough even for a nine year old psychic assassin. The next thing Nyhm knew, he was in a diaper of his own, and heavily powdered. He wasn't sure what Nibbles was doing, though he suspected that the tot simply wanted to mock him before trying to kill him. "All cozy? Now, I *could* just leave you here. Then again, you were trying to end my career, so I should probably off you, right?" Nibbles had some sort of knowing look, like everything was going according to his own plan. "I wouldn't want my vast intellect to end up in the hands of a simpleton like you, right? But I don't really know if I want to kill a *baby*." He added with a teasing nudge to the diaper around Nyhm's waist. With Nibbles so close, every moment had the added indignity of having to smell the putrid miasma that was fuming from the poopy payload in his Pampers. It was an insult to injury, and even in his dazed state, Nyhm was absolutely disgusted. "Luckily, my beddy-bye toxin has got you too sleepy to use that special power of yours, huh?" That was where Nibbles was wrong! It'd have to be a very close proximity, but the older boy had just enough strength left to take those precious IQ points! He just needed Nibbles to get closer... "..You stink." It was all Nyhm could muster up to slight his prey, and even those two words had been difficult to get out from behind the poisonous pacifier. It looked to have the desired effect though, as Nibbles was getting closer to him. "What was that, mush-mouth? I didn't catch that." He was almost close enough, he was starting to lean his ear toward Nyhm...! If he was going to do it, he needed to do it now! Using all his reserved strength, he activated the most powerful of his mental abilities: he would drain all the intellect from his target and merge that intellect immediately into his own brain! "Oh, you said I *stink*! Are you sure? Why don't you take a closer whiff!" The whole plan was ruined in one swift motion. Nibbles quickly jutted his padded butt out at his attacker's face and loudly began to make a much larger dookie pile in his diaper; there was no time to adjust, and as the expanding backside of the shortalls were right in his way, his power instead targeted the currently filling Pampers. It was instantaneous, but for Nyhm, it felt like it was an eternity of his brain merging with the soiled garment. His thoughts began to be corrupted, his intelligence marred by the most detestable thing possible. "P-p-pooo...**POOOO-POOOO!**" He couldn't resist but to announce from a mouth currently drooling all over his paci. It was all he could think about! **Frrrrtt...BRAAAAAP!** The slobbering boy's face twisted, snot running down his nose as he couldn't help himself but to actively evacuate his bowels into the diaper that Nibbles had put him in. "POOPIE DIAPER!" He announced, grunting shamelessly as he pushed each mushy turd out into the infantile garment, the muck squishing underneath him. "Brain...is...poopie diaper!" Nibbles laughed and let the poobrained moron huff at his filthy Pampers, while he was dropping bombs in his own. "Oh, gee! Were you trying to take my mind? And you got my doo-doo pants instead? Who could've seen *that* coming?" A sudden ringing interrupted the flatulent pantsfilling and Nibbles took out what looked like a baby toy. He put it to his ear and lifted his leg, so he could simultaneously finish pooping himself while talking on the phone. "Mmhmm, yup. It's finished. Yeah, just like you said, he took the bait. Dead? Nah, braindead maybe. I don't think the augment is salvageable... Him? Well, I think I might keep him as a pet or something like that. Send out a ride, with an extra large carseat...Oh, and go ahead and buy some extra big diapers." Nibbles hung up and sighed in relief as he finished in his stinky shortalls. "We need to find you a leash...Follow me, poobrain!" The toddler shook his saggy diaper and began to waddle away; with the poison somewhat wearing off, the older boy crawled after the delightful smell, his own turd-crammed babypants sagging with hot heft. Nyhm's mind would likely bounce back to a more normal level soon, but then the gradual road to complete corruption would begin. In this game of cat and mouse, the snarky kid had been totally wrong on who was playing what role.