Ruination The Lost were feeling more like themselves than before: they truly felt lost. After the sudden disappearance of Kagemusha, the emergence of twelve others who on occasion came and went (consorting with the eerie Mr. White), and the rather distressing rise in turmoil in the outside world, everybody had been on edge. There was also terrible cabin fever to consider, and fights broke out nearly every day, even amongst friends. Something dreadful was on the horizon, everybody could feel it—but what it was and when it would come remained a mystery. But not for long. Many days passed since Merry's first dip into a romantic life. The afterglow was wearing off and she began to miss G-Force. Marissa had that Sanaa character on the mind, and Lurker, whose charm was starting to wear thin, was soon becoming more trouble than she was worth. Venom was growing close to Technomancer, but the older woman kept herself isolated and shut off from everybody, much like Kagemusha before her. The Disintegrator remained unchanged—immature, dangerous, and unpredictable—but was beginning to wonder, in her own way, just what she could get away with while the "boss" was gone. They could go outside, but the six Lost girls wanted more; they wanted to truly get out, leave the compound, seek their ally (or, if the mysterious Pale had a mind to join them, allies), and do some good in the world (except Shalis the Technomancer, who actually loved being cooped up). It was like having an itch while their hands were tied, and if things didn't start to turn around for them, one or another would have a mental breakdown and flee, or worse. The real question was Whom, and When. On one of the more dreary days, Venom was passing by Shalis' workspace, knowing every area of the compound by heart. Shalis was taking a shower, and had left her computer in the care of a mighty protection system, the likes of which only she could handle. It was displaying information quickly, processing all by itself in the absence of its caretaker, and Venom—now called Namie very commonly by everybody—couldn't help but take a closer look and see what the older woman was working on. Apparently she had built in a new radar system that tracked foreign life forms, and it clicked every so often on the screen. Meaning they had visitors. Namie became uneasy. Lurker had been the last new person to enter into the compound, not counting those others that came and went, so she became suspicious. Who would even know where they were, and why would they visit? A misguided wanderer was too unlikely, seeing as how utterly isolated the compound was (but it was not impossible). According to the new radar, though, there were at least seven of these visitors, and they were coming closer. They knew where to look, Namie thought with a chill. Were they friends or... A violent shudder swept her from her feet as the world around her trembled. A second eruption sent her rolling, and a third nearly broke her leg. She managed to stand, only slightly amused that her body had not burnt the floor away, and ran to see if everyone else was okay. Before she left the small room, Shalis' computer activated the alarm system, which had never been needed until now. It was designed to warn the Lost of invaders. The six girls had all been doing something tedious when the explosions hit, and were all thrust to the ground, even Alisti, who swore violently and demanded to be put back up. Only Julie, the Lurker, found her footing the easiest, and scampered about on all fours, heeding the call of her friend. She lifted Kreager back into her chair, asked the girl if she was okay (getting a foul response), and helped wheel her to safety, or what could pass as it. Julie wanted to find the others, and to see what was going on, but it was a slow process, as Alisti could not be jostled around very much. CAREFUL! she would screech if she was so much as wiggled. "Trying hard. The world is angry, or frightened." EXPLOSIONS. "What, what? What could blast and blaze like that? And where does it come from?" OUTSIDE. "What, what!" she screamed, letting go of Alisti's chair. Disintegrator yelled for Julie to come back as she ran off, but there was no stopping her once she was berserk. Everyone had been itching for a fight for too long, and now that one was right at their door, they would not pass the opportunity by. Lurker was soon joined by Rancor and Marissa, and Venom came in later, desperately trying to keep her balance as the compound shuddered. Flames erupted, and the building stared to cave. The girls screamed and Merry willed her skin to thicken as she stood like a pillar, protecting her friends. Just in time, too—the ceiling looked ready to collapse. "We have to get outside!" shouted Namie. "Marissa, gather everyone here where it's safe. I'll go get Shalis." "Where are Julie and Alisti?" "I don't know, but if they're here, you'll find them! Hurry! Merry, how much longer can you hold out?" "Oh," she said, obviously overwhelmed, "as long as I need. Don't worry about me being smashed. I'll keep this place from falling apart." "Thanks." The two dispersed, but Merry had other problems. As the ceiling completely fell down, into her awaiting hands, she soon became caught, and not a good time for it. She was the first to see the invaders, all seven of them, and glared though she could do nothing. She recognized the one called Pride from the Arena, but the others... "Let me guess," she managed. "The Seven Deadly Sins?" "Right you are," said Avarice, nodding politely. He then directed the others: "I will go see what funds this place has. Don't let it crumble until then. Wrath, Pride, Envy, I encourage you to continue what you're doing and weaken this place. If there are more like her, get rid of them." "What about her?" asked Lust. "She looks divine." "Oh, who cares? Do whatever you like. It doesn't look like Gluttony could stomach her—" The fat man who was obviously Gluttony barked at this terrible pun, but seeing as how he was forbidden to fight one of his own, he simply stomped off looking for scraps. Merry scowled like a cornered dog, and wondered if she could let the ceiling fall and flatten everyone in there. But no, if that part of the compound was lost, then the whole building would soon collapse, and everyone would die—except for her, of course, what with her thick skin. She could not bear to do such an evil act. But she soon wouldn't have a choice. Avarice was giving her a malicious look, and smiled. "On second thought," he drawled. "Sloth, my good man. Please keep this woman company. We'll do whatever we like from here on out." An older man in a wheelchair, willowy and lazy, rolled over to her with a sleepy smile, and stared. Rancor immediately buckled as he came to a stop, and suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to let do, drop to the floor, and sleep, sleep forever. It was all she could do just to stand and keep a hold on what little life she had left. Marissa found Alisti, not in very good shape, and got her to calm down just enough so she wasn't raving anymore. She told the girl what was happening and volunteered to wheel her to safety. Of course there was protesting—Alisti wanted to zap the invaders with her ghastly power—but Marissa knew that any stray blasts of disintegration would cause even more destruction. And besides, Alisti usually blacked out after a few powerful volts, and would be easily slain by survivors. The two got to near one of the back doors before they were stopped. Standing before them were two distractingly gorgeous women, though one looked considerably more confident of herself than the other. The second clearly envied the first, for she stole glances even as they spoke: "Well, what do we have here? Two stray hens from the flock. What are you running away from?" "You, most likely," answered Wainright. Alisti merely glared. "Oh, but we're not going to harm you. We actually want to help." "You...do?" FOCUS! Marissa snapped out of her trance—Alisti's loud telekinetic blasts certainly came in handy—and she was herself again. She glared just to be sure. "Out of our way!" "You there," said Envy, the second woman, to Alisti. "Aren't you always jealous of others? The way they're always prettier than you, how they can walk around freely and use their bodies? How people don't stare at them, how they're able to so easily blend in? Don't you hate being a freak? Wouldn't you give anything to be just a normal little girl?" SHUT...UP...managed the girl, but it was clear she was being swayed. Marissa couldn't knock her out, because she was being affected as well, by Lust. The older girl had slinked over, oblivious to the destruction, and soon had wrapped naked arms and legs around her pale frame. "Don't feel bad," she sang. "I can make all this pain go away. And you're so beautiful, too! Why, I bet you think nobody loves you! I would like nothing more than to be your soulmate, forevermore, my ethereal beauty." Marissa was unaccustomed to such adoration, and even if Lust had not inherited dark powers from her Master, she would've easily swooned. Nobody had ever felt that way about her, ever. And this girl was so wonderfully perfect, her sweet lips closing in like two buds of a honey-flower... "YAAAAH!!!" An animalistic growling broke Lust's concentration, and the flying tackle that came after it nearly broke her shoulder. Lurker had seen the two and came flying across the room like a panther, striking the siren full-on. She now had Lust pinned on the floor, snarling and snapping, her diamond-hard claws clutching Lust's arms tight. The hypnotic woman squirmed under the weight of the creature, but was too afraid and too weak to move. She opened her eyes and decided to seduce the creature, but... "Ugh! What a hideous monster! Get her off me, now!" "I AM NOT A MONSTER!" roared Julie. Envy stared, knowing it was up to her, but...what good would her powers do? This creature was even uglier and more decrepit than she was, and seemed to miss so much from her life that even Envy had. She could not bring her down, though she tried hard. Lurker attacked her next, and took a swipe at her face, cleanly raking four bloody lines on her cheek. Suddenly the girl stood, sniffing the air. "Bad feelings!" she exclaimed. "Bad things come! But bad things also come to bad people who hurt Julie's friends! Fiends!" With that she raked her claws on Lust's shoulders, causing the girl to scream in a very un-hypnotic way. Envy broke her hold on Alisti, who looked ready to blow apart everything in sight, and fell to the floor. Lurker tackled her as well, throwing back a look of unusual ferocity to Marissa. "Go!" she howled. "I take care of them! Alisti must leave!" "What about you?" "Merry in trouble too! I fight them easy! Merry almost done for!" "My God..." Gasping in fright, Marissa picked up Alisti from her chair and dashed away, heedless of danger. Alisti protested again, but there was no going against it: Marissa raced desperately for her closest friend, and would have nothing get in her way. Tragically, she stumbled on a piece of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling, and flung Alisti by mistake into some dark corner. She limped to her feet, wincing terribly with every step. Her ankle had been twisted, but she would have to ignore it. She would rather lose her whole foot than Merry's precious life. Pain was now the least of Marissa's worries as she stumbled into the room where Merry stood her ground. The poor girl, in spite of her armor, was terribly fatigued, but more so than she should've been. Marissa gasped as she saw the culprit: a weak-looking man reclining safely in a chair, his arms tied and his head drooping slightly, a smile of frail cruelty on his mouth. Even as she watched him work his terrible curse, Marissa felt weary as well, and knelt to one knee as her energy sapped. "Good...night," whispered the man, Sloth. He laughed hoarsely and tilted his head back and forth in amusement. Rancor trembled and almost fell. Then something came over Marissa, a spark of power and rage she had seldom felt before. She stood up strong again, and focused every bit of her energy on Sloth. The wave was so terrible that it pushed him back out of the whole compound, and nearly everything else in the room, including Rancor. The whole place was flattened and blown away, leaving Merry with nothing to hold but her own arms, and Marissa with a killer migraine. She screamed and dropped. Merry was at her side, and hoisted her friend up, breathlessly exclaiming how brave she was and how deep in debt she was. But their troubles weren't over yet, and the invaders were still out there, wreaking havoc. It was going to be a long, terrible day. ...... Avarice made his way to Shalis' room all by himself. He apparently knew where to go, for his powers enabled him to zero in on sources of wealth and information, and what better place to look than the Technomancer's own personal database? He allowed himself to walk right inside, waved politely to an amazed Shalis, and shot a tranquilizer dart into her neck. The young woman was mildly surprised, and stood to meet her attacker. Avarice shot her with one more, successfully felling her, then stepped over her body to reap the benefits of his labors. What a find! It would take ages for him to download and process all that information, but he had not become such a tycoon for nothing, and could easily copy the entire system into his own network. This is what he programmed the computer to do (luckily for the Lost, he could not access some of the top-secret files that Shalis had protected, nor could he destroy them), and simply stood there looking at Shalis nap. He shrugged, seeing no further point in staying, and walked away to rejoin his comrades in victory. The woman would burn or be crushed no matter what; why waste energy killing her? Avarice was long gone and the whole place was nearly an inferno when Namie found Shalis at long last. The woman was still out cold, even though her heart was mechanical, and would not recover quick enough on her own. Namie cradled the older woman close to her body, aching to touch that rough skin even for a moment. The impossibility of such intimacy gnawed at her heart terribly, and she wept as she squeezed Shalis close to her bodysuit and clothes. Sighing, she resigned herself to at least wake the woman up, and removed one of her gloves. "Forgive me," she whispered as she lightly touched Shalis' torso. The burning sensation immediately woke her up, and she screamed for a good while before calming down. The burn would heal in time—that is, if the two ever escaped. Namie put her glove back on and helped the wobbly Technomancer to her feet, but it was no use. It was like trying to move a stubborn mule. "Forget about me," implored Torth. "Go on, get out of here. At least you have something of a life to look forward to! Look at me! I'm a monster amongst monsters! What do I have to look forward to? I may as well have died when..." She stopped herself and grimaced, unable to cry. "I have nightmares," she murmured. "Nightmares that I'm pregnant, and my baby is a cyborg. I'm more machine than woman. That thing," she pointed in disgust, indicating the computer, "is all I've lived for. I've kept my old company afloat from here, and they've depended on me. That's why I keep to myself, out of duty. But even if I left this place and found some kind of life, it would mean that I would lose everything. I can't save my work. You go; I'll die with it." "I won't let that happen," Namie said strongly. "I care for you too much to leave you alone. If you aren't leaving, then neither will I." "Don't say that. Your life will be much more important than mine after this place blows." "I won't hear it," said Namie, and she clung tight to Shalis, refusing to let go. Shalis actually shuddered, and wiped her hair away before it could brush against Namie's face. How ironic! It had been she, of all people, who had pulled Namie into the ranks of the Lost, and now she was returning the heartfelt favor, begging for her life! Shalis took a deep, strained breath, and looked deep into the younger woman's eyes. Such a noble soul reflected back at her! "Sorry," she managed. "I don't mean to be a burden. You're right. Help me up, and let follow what may after that." ...... Marissa and Merry both were exhausted and wounded, but they managed to limp their way through the compound in search of their friends. Marissa hated leaving Alisti behind, but she was probably in less danger than Rancor had been. Now they wanted to find her, reunite with Julie, and find Shalis and Namie again, if any of them were still alive. Marissa vaguely recalled the dark room Alisti had flown into when she stumbled, and let Merry force her way inside. What they saw chilled them both. Alisti was on the floor, her body all but useless save for her head and arm, yet she seemed to be holding her own against one of the Seven. Unfortunately for everybody, that one was Wrath, one of the most dangerous to fight, and he had absorbed just about all he could stand from Alisti's destructive power. The girl had clearly been using her disintegration blasts quite liberally since parting with Merry, for the room she was in was almost completely destroyed. Yet even Wrath withstood her fury, and looked prepared to blast back. Marissa and Merry sensed what was coming and shouted. "NO!!" "Feel my vengeance!!" roared Wrath, blasting back with ten times the strength of Alisti's power. The whole room was instantly obliterated, and if Marissa hadn't shot up an impenetrable force field (made by her sheer willpower, it seemed), everything else in a two-mile radius would've been wiped clean. Alisti barked in shock as her power was returned and magnified, and crawled away with her one good limb as Wrath laughed, breathed deeply, and demanded more. "You bastard!" spat Rancor. Even Wrath might've been troubled by her fury; he stood helpless as she chased after him and slammed her fist right in his nose, breaking it to pieces. The large muscular man was thrown down, and Merry might've killed him if her head hadn't been screwed on so tight. She quickly picked Alisti up and raced out of the room, leaving Marissa to faint from power overload. Wrath chased after them, ignoring the young girl, and soon even they were, well, lost. For a short time, Marissa lay there, groaning and whispering to herself. Unbelievable luck was with her, for if Wrath hadn't unleashed all that power (thus blowing off a portion of the building), she would've died from smoke inhalation. As it stood, she had the whole crisp afternoon air to filter that out, and could lay in leisure. Of course, this was not the case, as the ground shuddered under the weight of a massive creature. Gluttony came by, belching loudly after having cleaned out the refrigerator (he had tried to eat some of the others, but they fought back), and noticed the smallish morsel before him. To his eyes, Marissa looked as good as any banquet he had dined on, so he licked his lips and waddled over to her, thinking himself safe as long as she was unconscious. Marissa woke before he could touch her, but her head felt like it had been cracked wide open and stuffed with needles. Her powers were dangerous both to enemies and to herself, which was why she rarely used them. All she could do was groan and rub that poor noggin of hers as Gluttony advanced. "Don't you go anywhere!" he laughed. "Meat that's been running around too much ends up being stringy! Sit down for awhile! It's not like you can run; Master Omega has a keen eye on this place!" "...Who?" "Our Master!" he laughed. "Probably off hunting that White guy he mentioned." "You mean Mr. White? He's gone." "Huh, gee. I guess I should be glad I haven't eaten you yet. Otherwise Master Omega will have searched longer than necessary! Thanks!" He chuckled and lunged after her, and grabbed her by the shoulder. Marissa's face went white—not the pale-pink she had, but real milky white—and though she struggled, she couldn't overpower the vast Gluttony. She decided to use her powers, wanting rather to have a bad headache than to be devoured. She focused her mind on his... A sudden flash of bright light filled the whole room. Gluttony screamed and covered his eyes. Marissa was dropped, where she stumbled around blindly. "Follow me!" said a familiar voice—what choice did she have? Marissa picked herself up and ran, until she was outside of the compound and back in a more normal lighting. She vaguely feared being spotted by this Omega person, but her thoughts were mostly on the identity of her rescuer. When her vision cleared, she was startled to see who it was. "Sanaa?!" "Come on," said Sanaa, taking her hand and running again. "We don't have much time to lose! Just follow me and we'll be safe. I can evade them." "Wait, wait! My friends are still back there! We have to go save them!" "I can't do that." "What!" Suddenly a massive explosion lit up the sky, and as Marissa forced herself to turn around, she screamed as the Lost compound was blown sky-high. Immense, unbearable flames overtook it, and smoke floated into the sky. Marissa yelled for her companions, but was forced away by Sanaa. "Let me go! Let me go, damn it! Let me go!!" "Compose yourself!" snapped the older girl, wriggling Marissa with her hands. "Don't you get it? If you go back there, the sacrifice of your friends will have been in vain!" "What sacrifice?!" "They wanted you to escape, Marissa Wainright!" she exclaimed. Marissa gasped—she never recalled fully introducing herself to Sanaa before—and the concept of her friends making such a sacrifice was even more disturbing. "They wanted you safe," continued Sanaa, "and so they made sure you could leave this place by distracting the Seven." "Wait a minute! What do you mean? Why can't any of this make sense?!" "Just trust me," she assured her, "and keep running. We are by no means safe. Of course, I don't think we will ever be safe, but we can try. Hurry!" "But..." "Come with me," stated Sanaa firmly: "If, that is, you wish to live." Marissa knew she had no choice. Leaving her friends behind, perhaps all of them dead, was the worst thing she had ever done. Now, she wanted to know why, but answers were far and away. A hauntingly similar ordeal had taken over the Battle Diva Enforcement Team, and on that same day no less. The girls (with Father Jacob and Thunder-Claw, of course) were just welcoming a new member of the team, the mute girl known as Skye. They knew her from the Area and the great trip to the beach they had shared with the Lost, and were happy to have their ranks increased. But joy was soon drained from their faces, for a shadow of evil overtook that place, borne on the wings of terrible agents. Father Jacob sounded the alarm: invaders had come, four this time, and they had already made it to the temple. The whole team, counting the men, were now eight strong, so they believed they could win. But the four invaders were only a deception: two more were well on the way, both of them easily more powerful than all the Divas combined. Not knowing this, the BDE met their four invaders zealously, sizing them up before the battle. One was a gold-skinned creature, its head bearing a massive crown and its arms, all six of them, carried weapons; it was called Indira. Still another was a wisp of a beautiful man, carrying his frame on the wind high above; he was Yan. The third was a child, dressed in animal skins, carried on the back of a large bear; he was Valmont. The fourth was a woman, stoic and hawkeyed, bearing a nasty-looking crossbow in her arms; she was Yubami. They were but four of the Dead Zodiac, and four was more than enough to conquer the Battle Divas. The great fight carried out with just as much blood and confusion as the fight between the Seven and the Lost earlier. Indira could've very well taken on everyone there by itself, whirling like a typhoon as its weapons made blurs in the air. Yan battled with Skye and G-Force, the only ones who could pose him any kind of threat, but he laughed and blew them away with mighty gusts, or sent them hurtling to the ground—or worse, calling on his own typhoon to flatten everyone. Valmont was obviously no threat on his own, but he had summoned an army of animals, great and small, to overwhelm everyone. A pride of lions came out of the forest, flanked by a murder of crows above in the sky, and a pack of wolves and wild dogs alongside. Even the insects were on his side, for a swarm of bees were chasing people around, sometimes landing kamikaze stings (though Mora, with her hard scales and immunity to venom, tried to act as a shield). Yubami climbed the temple to its very top, aided by Yan, and stood with her crossbow, firing precisely to make sure nobody would leave the battle. Every one of the Divas was challenged. But the battle became impossible to win after a quarter-hour of fighting. The ground trembled from an earthquake, and yawned open, making way for a colossus of stone and earth. The giant towered over everything, even the temple, and with a single lumbering step, had dislodged everyone from their feet. "There is no way in hell we can fight that!" spat BK Power. "God, who do they think we are?" "Oh, stop complaining!" snorted Yan. He threw a small gust at her and flew off to retrieve Yubami, who looked perfectly happy on her perch. She quietly clung onto him and was carried down just in time: Titus the Golem leaned over the Battle Diva's temple, and with its large rocky arms, began to demolish it mercilessly. "NO! Our temple!" Siren ran after the gigantic monster, screaming uselessly, but was stopped by the sixth and last of the Zodiacs to join the fray. A mere blow knocked her to the floor, where she lay helpless. The man stood over her, crossing his arms, and glared at everyone. "This I prophesy," he whispered eerily: "Lost you shall be, and lost shall be your destiny! You may soon be glad of shadows, and one dearest to your hearts will be denied herself and thrown into the furnace. Yes. One amongst your numbers shall soon fly on the back of a great bird, and I can see myself casting you down to the earth! All who draw breath shall perish; it's merely a question of who goes first." "What is your business?" grumbled Father Jacob. The man before him, old and wild, grinned maliciously. His name was Ezekiel the Seeker. "My business is my own. I was sent here by my master, the illustrious Thirteenth, to give a warning! Thou shalt not cross the Dead Zodiac." "But we don't even know who—" "You have been warned," said Ezekiel sternly. He then looked up, towards the immense golem destroying the remains of the temple, and waved his arm. The creature stopped, turned to the Divas, and slowly lumbered their way. "Uh...girls?" muttered G-Force. "Yes?" "Do you suppose that thing is..." "Coming our way?" The team trembled as one as the monster drew fanatically close in just two steps. It was slow, but gained colossal ground with each step, and soon was almost towering over them. Ezekiel grinned wildly. "Be flattened into the ground, you vile worms!!!" "Not if I have anything to say about it!!" A voice cried out to the girls, and from out of the sky, a large spoon, of all things, wedged itself into the ground. Ezekiel leaped back and stared at the source of the object. "What lunacy is this?" he demanded. A figure stood in the distance, darkened by the sun behind him, and stood proudly with another spoon in his hand. "The villainy that springs forth from the horizon has been drifting around like a disease for far too long! Now is the time for all heroes to take a stand and fight back against this tyranny! I, the Purple Spoon Man, shall be the first to answer this call! Back, devil!" Another spoon hurled through the air, straight towards the golem; a wide purple beam struck it as it twirled in midair, suddenly making it enormous. The spoon then sailed after Titus, and buried itself deep inside the monster's stone belly. Titus grumbled from the shock and glanced down at the weapon sticking out of it. "Heroes of all kinds!" cried the so-called Spoon Man. "I hope my aide is not too late! Come and retreat; you shall have other days to fight!" "Oh, it's you," said Thunder-Claw, who remembered the odd man. Skye recognized him too, and helped gather the other Divas into their great van as the Spoon Man distracted Ezekiel and the other Zodiacs, tossing spoons into the air wildly. Ezekiel himself, shielding his face from the flying utensils, ran back and barked at Titus, who was still stunned. "You wretched buffoon, pull that contraption out of your body and pursue them! Do not stop until they are ground under your foot!" Poor Titus, brainless and impaled, couldn't understand the order, and resumed smashing the temple (although he did pull the spoon out first and fill in the hole). The others pursued, but by then, the Battle Divas were long gone—and so, it seemed, was their home and legacy. It was indeed a day of tragedy, but the worst was still to come. ---------- To be continued... Even superheroes have frailties: the Lost might all be dead, Marissa is on the run with her mysterious benefactor, the Divas are driven from their home, and the evil in the world grows larger with each passing moment. It is Marissa, though, who will face the greatest burden, as she learns more about herself than she bargained for in the next chapter! Some questions may finally have answers next time in "Downfall". Stay tuned!
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