Battle Diva Royale It was a beautiful day, perfect for Father Jacob to test G-Force's skills. The two met just outside the temple a few hours after sunrise, with only each other and the chittering of distant locusts as company. The priest looked like he was ready to become a senior citizen any day, though his blue eyes still had a spry sparkle in them. He wore a simple brown exercise suit that was easy to move around in, and only had his hands for weapons and defense. G-Force wore her civilian clothes, shirking the mask and costume, and admittedly looked better because of it. "Begin," said the priest. G-Force—Sally "Salvo" Redinger—grinned wryly. "Are you sure?" "Show me what you can do. If you want to stay here with us, you'll have to show some potential. Don't hold back just because you think I'm an old man." "Okay," she sighed, "you asked for it." Sally put her powers into focus and concentrated, thrusting the gravity field around Father Jacob down a notch. He clearly showed some struggle as he fought to keep himself from getting crushed, but otherwise looked fine. Sally raised a thin golden eyebrow and increased her force, now truly sending the older man to his knees. Wanting to test her limits, she raised the field around her vicinity and used the light resistance to speed over and slam herself into his defenseless body. The priest couldn't raise his hand because of the invisible weights around him, so he was thrown back. Of course, exerting so much energy like that, Sally couldn't rush in and finish the job either, but it was clear she had shown him how capable she was. She helped him up and clasped hands as he smiled. "Good! I could certainly use a person like you. But one more thing." She hadn't expected him to throw her with a Judo toss, but in a mere two seconds, found herself slammed on the ground with his foot gently pressed on her abdomen. "Don't let your guard down even when your opponent is defeated. That is a critical time, my dear." "Okay, okay." He smiled and helped her up. "Now, we make five. I'd like for you to personally train with Miss Masterson; she seems most likely to push your own skills. I am but a human—a very skilled one, perhaps, but human nonetheless. BK Power, on the other hand, can withstand immense force fields, like the one you throw around, so it would be a good match." They bowed to each other, and Sally was allowed to rest for awhile before her training schedule began. It was two days later when the group was first called out to a battle. A strange woman and her cohorts had been razing small villages and cities in the vicinity, apparently hunting for somebody or a group of people. Only recently had word of her actions reached the temple, and the Battle Divas were quick to answer the call. By that time, G-Force and BK Power knew each other fairly well, but she had yet to be acquainted with anyone else. Cobra and Siren kept to themselves, and Bubblegum Black—as Xianq Shou called herself—seemed busy enough on her own. Just another thing to do later. The team got suited up and piled together in a stylish, souped-up car that Shou had bought with her own money. The girls had argued about how to decorate it—Kris wanted lots of weapons, Xianq preferred speed and stealth—but ultimately a compromise had been made, and their car, simply called the Diva, was a happy balance of impressive firepower and amazing speed. It also seated up to six, which was a plus. Directions provided by Father Jacob led them to the town most recently in trouble; they discovered it currently afire, a real holocaust of heat, but no source. "Spread out," instructed Cobra, the eldest. "Siren, you and Beeg check the east end. I'll head west; Power, you and Salvo go north." They broke and dove into the flames, G-Force shielding herself as best she could. She tried lightening the mood, but it was clear that dangerous territory called for action, not humor. "So, am I officially Salvo now?" "Why not? You changed your name before." "Yeah, but G-Force is more relevant to my skills." Kris gave her friend an "I don't care" look as she shoved aside great heaping piles of debris that had collapsed in their way. There was little G-Force could do to help with the fire: she didn't have phenomenal strength or any means of extinguishing flames, so she had to act as an extra set of eyes and protection. An extra. Mere backup. But she still hadn't even gotten used to her own powers yet, let alone the BDE, so starting on the lowest rung of the ladder suited her just fine. Siren swept away great swaths of burnt wood with her waves of spiritual manipulation; Bubblegum Black, true to her name, used her unique gum-wad projectiles to smother the fire as they sought survivors and pyromaniacs alike. The girls truly felt like they were diving into Hell, but whether as a rescue mission or to further chain the damned, they knew not. The could soon hear singing, of all things, through the roar of flames and the screams of people, and wondered where it came from—and who would be demented enough to sing at a time like this. "Careful," whispered Black. "No telling what..." Siren nodded and prodded deeper into the conflagration, nearer to the sound—feeling much like a sailor careening towards sirens. Maybe that was the intention... "Hello?" tested Black, daring to peek behind another corner. One area of the town had been spared the flames, and it was here where their vocalist awaited them. The person had their back turned—their white suit stood out brightly amidst the red and orange of the world around them—and it was clear from the sound of their voice that it was a woman. She turned, sensing company, and greeted the two with a tip of her black top hat. "A fond greetings this merry day," she said. "Wherefore art thou present? Dost thou seek me, O wondrous forms? Hast thou come to entertain devils, for surely you have landed in Hell. Come, tell me." "You have to get out of here," said Siren, approaching the woman; "this place could turn into ash at any time." "Yes, I know that," said the woman with a smile. "You see, I'm rather expecting that. I produced a bit of the flames you see here—for you see, I am searching for something, and little by little, I eliminate places which it could be in. Crude, yes, but quite enjoyable." "I thought so." Siren's face turned to steel as she glared at the woman; the look on her sword was just as deadly. "I guess we know what we have to do. Beeg, be careful." "I know!" she snapped. The woman chuckled and hummed madly to herself as she swung a black cane around. "So it's a scrap you're looking for. I'm prepared for such donnybrooks any time, m'ladies. Just step forth to claim thy doom, and all shall be well." "What a nut," sighed Black—but as they fought, they found the woman surprisingly tough. She could clearly do battle against two experienced warriors at the same time, and held her own even amidst the flames. She even sang—such audacity—twirling her cane around, sometimes connecting, sometimes vaulting herself into the air to snap at an exposed piece of flesh. The tip protruded out into a blade and became deadly; her smile was a starving knife. An equally horrible fate awaited G-Force and BK Power, as their friends battled with the musical warrior: they too met somebody amidst the fires, and they too assumed at first that he was a survivor. But after a single moment staring at him and his eyes full of rage, they knew that he had been part of the destruction. His name was Wrath. The man was large, bald, and muscular; he bore a strange symbol carved on his forehead. Introductions were not his style, for no sooner did the girls learn his name did he attack them—and what ferocity! G-Force and Power could pummel him and he would return with twice the strength; he could soon withstand everything Sally had to hurl at him, and knocked her away with a fierce backhand. BK Power, significantly stronger, was left to fight him alone: she grabbed him and tried squeezing his brains from his head. "Why the fireworks, huh?" she demanded. "Why this town?" "Why so many questions?" he demanded back. He snapped his head at her, smashing her nose, and roared with strength—he had absorbed Kris' immense power and charged after her. He picked the girl up and threw her into a flaming building, and grabbed G-Force by her boots before she could even stand; her fate too was in the fires. She tried to roll and extinguish the dancing devils, but Wrath was relentless. With Masterson's powers still surging through his veins, he pushed against the building's wall until it collapsed on the two. G-Force acted quickly and used the last of her strength to slow the wall until she had time to grab her friend and run. Meanwhile, the vicious Harmonious Killer—none other than Alia, one of the Dead Zodiac—was crushing her foes. She became deadlier by the minute, apparently growing in strength the more she sang. Bubblegum Black was far too busy flipping and jumping around, anything to avoid that quick blade, to respond in kind, and Siren had been knocked out by a brutal blow to her head. Black fought alone—she had to sum up everything she had been taught just to keep a step ahead of Alia! At last, her vision became dark as the Harmonious Killer smashed her cane against the girl's head. She sang with glee and stood over the defeated woman, pointing her blade directly over Black's chest. She grinned, feral: "And just to make sure you do not move," she hissed—the woman smashed Black's abdomen with her boot, grinding her shoe deep into the girl's soft belly. Black cried out in pain; Alia cackled and swiped her cane into the air, then slashed at Black's arms and legs with precision cuts. "Blood before death, agony before misery!" cackled the Harmonious Killer. She raised her staff for a finishing blow—Black winced, unable to move—Siren could only groan and wobble on the hot floor helplessly—but strange coincidence saw to it that their lives were spared. A piece of the city finally gave way as the fires devoured it, and collapsed. Alia noticed the falling debris and jumped away, barely avoiding a brutal demise. Bubblegum Black herself merely rolled, and shot a gum-wad projectile at Alia's feet the moment she could (though her arms were injured). The woman cried out and tumbled. "Black! Siren! Hold on!" Bubblegum Black groaned and managed to sit up just enough to see her partner Cobra rushing over to her, the speed of a serpent in her shoes. She and Siren were plucked up in an instant—Cobra stared at the struggling Alia indifferently—and were away from the destruction before they could speak. "Cobra...that was..." "Pitiful, I know. We were caught off guard." "Where were you?" "I had to help some survivors." "Oh, so you run into the good guys and we don't." "You're welcome." She snorted and found a safe place to deposit her friends. Xianq knew she had said something terrible, but there was no time for apologies. "Gotta go back for the others. We'd best leave this place." "There's still some—" "If that woman survives, then we simply fight her another day—and stop her before something like this happens again. Be right back." That was Cobra, all right. All business. She darted back inside the doomed town in search of the second half of the team, leaving an injured Xianq Shou to take care of her friend. She touched Siren's face, feeling it too warm to be normal, and sighed. "That wasn't our best moment, was it?" G-Force and BK Power were not faring well against Wrath. No matter how much they threw at him, he delivered back in retribution. What could they do against a man who could learn how to resist shifts in gravity, or increases in human physical strength? They had been beaten by him, they knew—now all there was left was their survival, and the dim chance that their comrades would rescue them. But would Siren and Black fare any better, or would their own skills prove useless? As it turned out, Cobra was the one who saved them. She discovered the two girls struggling to break free from a flaming building, and plucked them both in her arms as she ran. Neither of them opposed a retreat—the Battle Divas knew they had been beaten—so all they could do was bear the burden of failure, lick their wounds, and try again another time. "Siren," gasped Power as her older comrade carried them away, "thank you." "You're welcome. I hope next time, we can do better. It's a loss, the town, and we still don't know why it was burned. But at least we're all okay." "Don't look at me," said G-Force; "that guy didn't say anything!" "Oh, so there were two? Black and Siren were fighting a woman." "And they got beat?" Cobra nodded gravely. Kristen Masterson groaned. "That's awful. Those two are exceptional, and yet..." "We'll just have to try again," said Cobra neutrally. "At least now, though, we know who was behind this." Sally and Kris exchanged glances, knowing that was little consolation. And Father Jacob would be most unhappy with the news. ......... As it turned out, he took the news fairly well. The good priest was always a calm sort, not prone to anger unless it was justified, and had a patience that could only come with age. He was watering some hanging plants as he heard the news from the five Divas, and continued his leisure as he deliberated. The Father was quiet the entire time, too: he wanted both himself and the girls to understand what they did, and did not do. "Congratulations," he said at last, cherishing them with a smile. "You're all now very normal people." "But—" "Defeated, I know. Well, you don't expect to win them all, do you? You came back safe," he continued gently, "and in one piece, though I am worried about Xianq's wounds. You discovered who was behind the attack, and perhaps we can speculate why. That is good in itself. If something like this happens again...well, I think now we ought to be able to prevent it. They clearly did not find what they were looking for, so chances are that they will continue this. But for now, rest, and try not to be too upset. Loss is just as important as victory, maybe even more so. It teaches us that we still have a way to go, and we are all still evolving." He gave them a kind smile and a wink, and moved on to water more plants. Cobra gestured into the air. "What a load. Of course, I guess I'm to blame, too. Asking you all to split up, then hiding away like that. I can't excuse my actions, even if they did some good. I just had a choice, that's all, and I made one that I felt strongly for. I suppose in the end I did the right thing." "It's cuz' you still can't work with a team," said Xianq smarmily, crossing her arms. "Of course, both Siren and Salvo have that problem too." "I can't help it, I'm new." "Then maybe you two should work together," suggested Kris. "Beeg and I can focus on Miss Josen over here." She put her hand on Cobra's shoulder, but it got brushed off. "Uh...sorry, I'm still not used to the whole camaraderie thingy. Gimme a few days. I do things slow." "Wise as a serpent, eh?" Mora grinned— "It's just one of the many perks." --And walked away to be by herself. Kris and Xianq shared a sisterly sigh and decided to visit the temple's built-in medical ward, leaving their remaining friends by themselves. They shied away, though, still fairly new to the whole working-as-a-team ideal. "Oh," said Siren, "I never introduced myself, did I? Alyssa Hunter." "Sal...Redinger. Sal or Salvo will do." The two girls smiled; Siren suddenly beamed happily. "So Sally, I heard you like women. What a fine coincidence; we both have the same aesthetic tastes!" "You're gay too?" "Mm-hmm, quite. Hence the suit—well, really, it's more like I like wearing it than a symbol of my sexual preference. I guess it's all on account of my very cool aunt. So...interested in a date?" Sally smirked uncomfortably, not used to anyone being so forward with her. She had politely passed up Thunder-Claw's sweet remarks (and only because of her sexual preference), and Kris Masterson, it seemed, was too bashful to say anything, so she had by now experienced the general aspects of pre-courtship inquiry. "Uh...with you, right? Um...well, I guess it wouldn't hurt." "Great! Meet me at the bottom of this temple in an hour; I just gotta shower and change. Of course, you're more than welcome to join me." "Hey, who do you think I am?" she snorted. "For your information, I'm not that kind of woman!" "Relax, relax!" she sang, "I was just teasing. You look really cute when you're mad—and blue is one of my favorite colors. Well, see ya!" The dark-skinned redhead parted with a wave, leaving Sally rather flushed. Okay, that was strange. How come I could never get a date this easily back home? Maybe it's because I could never find any other girls to be close with...or for that matter, any others that shared my preference. "I...guess I could," she whispered to herself. Sally didn't feel quite right about this, but a date was a date, and she needed to know her partners better. Still, if she had to compose a "wish list" of who she wanted to have a relationship with, Alyssa Hunter would probably be near the bottom. ......... Holivx Dirge knelt. He had to kneel—otherwise, he would be struck down by HIM. Aside from his own shadow, which itself was barely there since the room was poorly-lit, he was alone. He knelt before nothing, but he knew that if his Master caught him standing before the Throne without a bent knee, he would be punished—Wrath would feel wrath. He swallowed and waited patiently; one time his Master took a whole day to greet him, just to test his loyalty. Wrath had collapsed by the time his Master had arrived, but on this day, he didn't have to wait long. "Rise." He did. "Your work is marvelous. I expect greater things in the future. Tell me, how did you like your first true battle as my servant?" Holivx Dirge frowned—his way of showing approval. "I was pleased." "Just merely pleased?" He grinned. "I took great pleasure in it." "I thought you might. It feels good, doesn't it?" "Yes, Master. Very good." "I am glad. However, you must not let your head become too big, my friend. You merely fought two; there were six opponents there that day." "What of the other four?" "Four were acquaintances of the ones you fought. One...well, we mustn't worry about one. Combined, they would give you trouble. But we both know you are not my only servant." "Yes, Master." "Next time, I will see how you fare with a partner. You may choose whoever you like amongst my servants." "Master, about that. It seems as if Pride has taken an extended leave of absence." "Let him do what he wishes; it makes him stronger. I wouldn't dare muzzle a dog that attacks my enemies while it wanders away. Besides, I know where he is." "Where?" "You know where." Wrath grunted. "Oh, that. What a pitiful spectacle. He would be there." "Yes. Poor fool has no idea what he's getting himself into. He's skilled, of course, but there is no way he can survive the Iron Arena Games. Especially now that Dr. Kamaguchi is sponsoring them." "Taichou?" "Yes. My, I'm almost surprised you know that name. It's quite a secret." "I had to do...awful things to learn it." And yet Wrath smiled, not seeming bothered by his actions. His Master chuckled. "Did you enjoy them?" "Yes, Master. They were...quite pleasant." And now Wrath chuckled as well. His Master dismissed him, and once he was alone, called forth another servant—one that had been on another continent two seconds earlier. She stood before him, mildly surprised from the trip, but glad nonetheless. She performed a beautiful curtsey and gave him her prettiest smile. "Lust," sighed her Master fondly, "I'm sorry for the interruption, but could you do me a favor?" "For you, Master Omega, anything." ---------- To be continued. Xianq: WHOA, villain central! How many does that make now? Kris: Personally, one is too many. Xianq: How right you are. In the next chapter, Father Jacob invites the Divas to enter into the Iron Arena Games, a tournament exclusively for people with unique powers like us! Kris: Beeg, I'm gonna be watching you. I expect you to get really far in this thing, and if we have to fight each other, well...just know that I'll give you everything I've got. Xianq: Yikes! If you do that, I'll have a body full of broken bones! Kris: You know I didn't mean it like that. Watch out for our next episode, "The Iron Arena Games, Part One"! Xianq: It's going to be an amazing spectacle!
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