[...] And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. [...] The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. –Revelations 13: 1-4 ---------- "Are you ready?" asked Kali, extending her hand. Lyn nodded timidly and took it. She had came this far, so for better or for worse, she would see it through to the end. Carefully, the two waded their way through the waters again, drenching their clothes in the crystalline water. They began to ascend the spire, that zenith from which the water flowed, presumably to the top where the ritual would take place. But no sooner had Lyn began her ascent did a voice cry out, one she thought would never haunt her ears again. "WAIT!! Hold it! Stop!!" It was Mora Johsen, the Cobra, that miserable creature Lyn hated, yet at the same time, understood and even loved to a degree. She halted as requested, turned to ascertain the truth, and revealed her greatest scowl. Not only Lyn, but the whole gang was here. Kali leaped down from the spire, Lyn coming after her, and grinned maliciously at those who had come to witness this event. "You're too late. There will be no stopping our bonding ritual. Once my sister and I fuse our bodies together in perfect harmony, the world will be under our thumb. We will bring about an age of order and reason again, where death shall cleanse and where life shall renew again. This woman is mine. You have no hope of stopping us." Mora Johsen smiled. She loved it when people said something was impossible. "We'll see about that. But first, I wanna have a word with Lyn! Hey, Bloodbane! Get your stupid ugly ass down here now!" There was no need to egg the silver-haired woman on like that; she willingly came of her own accord, scowling with restrained fury. "What do you think you're doing here, woman?" she spat, as venomous as any snake. More looked at her with indignity. "You don't know? I've come to pull you away from this freak and slap some sense into you." "You're a little late. Kali's my sister and I'm going to bond with her." "What's with all the rubbish all of a sudden? Has she gotten you brainwashed?" "This is just the path I've chosen, Mora. You can't force me to do anything else." "Like hell I can!" she screamed. "Do you even know what you're saying?! 'Bond with her'? Do you even know what that means? You're full of it!" "(Quite the diplomat, isn't she?)" muttered Kristen. Xianq muffled her laughter. "Why are you doing this, Kathlyn?" Mora asked, her voice more calm now. "This woman is a perfect stranger. You've never even met her until she came around. Lyn, this woman is a killer. She put Rin, Kailin, Marissa, and Sanaa out of commission, and nearly did the same to Setsuka. What do you think she'll do next?" "I don't know, and I don't care. I don't expect you to understand me, either." "Understand you? What's to understand? You might be a little nuts yourself, but I'd never figure you to be the type to team up with a psycho!" "I am still here, you know," Kali interrupted. Xianq hissed at her and urged the two women to continue their issue resolution. "You just don't get it," Lyn continued, crossing her arms. "I grew up without a family, without even a home. I don't know where I cam from, and I don't know how I got here. For all I know, I really could be this woman's relative. I do admit that she's psychotic, and dangerous, and even repulsive, but damn it, Mora, she's the closest thing to family I've had. Nobody else has ever cared for me as much as her." "You're damn wrong about that," spat the Cobra, fighting a losing battle with her tears. "I don't know about anyone else, but you and I sure as hell connected. Sure, I hated your guts, and I couldn't stand your attitude. You wanna know why? Because it reminded me of myself, of how miserable and selfish I was. I was looking right into a mirror every time I saw your face, and I hated what I saw. Fighting you was a way of fighting myself; hating you was a way of hating who I used to be. And...during all those peaceful moments when we were good to each other, I felt love, because...I could look at myself and see something new there. Something nice." "You're breaking my heart," grumbled Lyn, heavy on the sarcasm. "If you'd be so kind as to get away from my sight, I've got some unfinished business to take care of. I'll kill you after that, unless you think you can beat me now." "I don't think, Lyn, I know. And if I have to knock some sense into you, then so help me God, I'll do it!" The two women met with great speed; their fight was nigh unwatchable. This was not the graceful, stylized motions of two veteran warriors who could take their time, study their opponents, and come up with a solution to every problem—no, these were just two brutes destroying one another, lashing at each other with whatever they had, like senseless bison dueling over a mate. It was impossible for either woman to take an advantage: Mora had very thick skin and could survive a bullet wound at point-blank range; Lyn was scarred more, but every drop of blood produced another tiny weapon for her arsenal. Like any good sister would, Kali soon realized she'd have to step in if she wanted to tip the scales. She jumped forth, but was tackled suddenly by Kristen, who had to use all of the strength at her disposal to restrain the vile woman. With her briefly out of the picture, Mora and Lyn could resume their fight without hindrance; the battle was so bloody that even the most desensitized person had to look away at times. Both sides seemed evenly-matched; there'd be no end, unless it was brought about by exhaustion. This even became clear to the combatants, who (in spite of their bruises, cuts, and wounds) knew it would now be a battle of stamina and will, not merely ego. "You shouldn't have come here," Lyn growled, a trail of blood forming on her chin. "It would've been best if you had not gotten your nose in this at all. Who knows—I might have been inclined to spare you if you had." "It's too late for that now," Mora stated. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving without you. Damn it, Lyn, you get on my nerves, I hate your guts, and I can't stand the sight of you, but somehow I still manage to love you. I won't give up!" "Stirring speeches went out ten years ago. I hope you won't make any more!" Instead of talking, Mora let her actions speak for her and slugged Kathlyn right in her jaw. She dove quickly and grabbed the woman before she could fall, embracing her with all her strength. Lyn tried to fight back, but Mora's hug was strong, as strong as her determination. "I won't," she said, again and again, "I won't give up, I won't. I'm taking you back with me. Why are you even here, Lyn? Why? Do you need somewhere to belong that badly?" "You don't even know the half of it," she growled. Mora suddenly roared back with all her fury, shocking her rival. "YOU STUPID BITCH, DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S LIKE THAT!! I went through the same Hell, okay? That's how we're able to connect, because we know what the other woman's been through! And now..." Mora couldn't stop it: she was crying. She was actually crying for Kathlyn Shival now. "Now you went and ran away, like what we felt didn't matter at all. You went and...followed this psychopath you didn't even know, believing some shit she spouted just to get you out here and perform this stupid ritual...and I come all this way, because I still felt like you mattered to me! And...and...th-this is how you repay me, damn you... Damn you..." Mora had crumbled, all her strength gone. The sudden burst of emotion had drained her; she was defeated by her own self. And Kathlyn was with her, surprised to find her arms around this beast, caressing her gently, as if she believed she really mattered to someone. The stone that had formed around her heart was melting away; she had never felt something like this before, not even from those who claimed they cared. Mora had done all this and more, and... "I love you," she wept, her voice weary and worn-out. "I love you, Kathlyn. I love you. I want you back. I want you back. Please...please don't go away. Don't leave me alone. I need you with me. Please, Lyn..." "Just shut up, stupid," moaned Lyn, combing through her rival's hair. "Shut up and let me think. God in heaven, for once, let me think for myself! ...And the same goes for you!" she roared suddenly, pointing to Kali. "You stay quiet! I can't be a slave to anyone's thoughts anymore. I have to do this on my own. Now..." She took a deep breath, helped Mora stand, and embraced her. "Idiot," she said with a smile. Kali screamed as they kissed. "This is the path I choose," she said, more or less indicating Mora (having one's arms wrapped around another person's neck is indication enough). "Not because of any previous connection, but because she has shown me more caring and kindness and loyalty than any other person I've met. Besides, I could never be with anyone who wasn't my equal, and who but the Cobra can withstand me in battle?" "Celine," Kali whispered, "no..." "As for you," spat the venomous Bloodbane, "I don't know what came over me when I volunteered to go with you! I thought I didn't care about who you were because I held out some desperate shred of hope that somebody would be nice to me, but how deluded could I get? Mora's right—you're nothing more than a soulless monster, a killing machine, a psychopathic murderer who lusts after her own flesh and blood! I could never be around someone that's killed so many without good reason!" "Celine," begged the goddess, "they're just people. They die all the time. Somebody has to keep them in check, or they'll live forever. I was just—" "Stop it! My name isn't Celine; I am Kathlyn Shival, known by no other name, and I will not be your cohort any more. This is the path I choose." And then, she said the most sensible thing anybody ever heard. "Let's go home, Mora." Together they walked, hand in hand, and slowly, the rest of the ensemble followed them. The last thread seemed wound up nicely, but Kali wouldn't have any of it. She summoned up all her rage and strength, and threw Kristen off her back with a mighty burst of energy. The team snapped into action; Kali's weapon was out first, hurtling towards the one who had forced her beloved sister to become a traitor. Mora saw the energy-snake and, fearing it was meant for Lyn, shoved the younger woman out of the way. Her brave deed did not go without a price; the weapon sliced off her arm at the elbow, producing blood and a horrifying wail in its wake. "MORA!!!!!" Lyn rushed back in spite of the gruesome scene and touched her friend. Johsen winced and clutched her arm. "Don't worry, it's nothing. I can regenerate my limbs. It shouldn't take long." Lyn turned pale, wishing more than ever to embrace this woman, to make up for her foolishness—anything, if it was for Mora. Perhaps then, maybe, she began to feel the first twinges of love—love at last returned, and to the least-likely person. Kali, for her part, growled and went in to finish the job. "Oh no you don't!!" shouted...Xianq Shou?? Mora couldn't believe her eyes as she saw sprightly little Bubblegum Black jump out from the crowd, run towards her foe... "Xianq, don't be a fool!!!" ...and before I could say a word to stop her, one of the few people left in the world that I could call Friend was approaching this monster, and fighting her. I had never seen anything like it, and I've seen enough fights to make me sick with boredom. This was like looking at color for the first time. I had never dreamed that my friend, hyperactive little Beeg, could be so ruthless in battle. I guess all those times of having her face wiped on the floor sent her nerves into Hell, and stoked her fury into vengeance. She wanted to prove that she was worth a damn; she didn't want us saving her measly scrawny hide. I could barely look as she locked horns with the monster. This was not little Bubblegum Black. This was something else, something monstrous, and I watched it happen. I couldn't believe it. I had heard stories about how this demoness could kill; about how little effort it took her to decimate the people around her. It was that weapon and her own freakish design, wrought from corpses by a madman insane with grief. She was a perfect weapon, the true goddess of death, and one of my few friends was handling her the old-fashioned way, fluent like a poet bent on annihilation, savage and uncontrollable. There was no way that Bubblegum Black would lose this fight: she had her honor at stake now, not just the lives of so many people. And she fought like a woman possessed by some demon. The pink little gumwad projectiles I once thought were so useless proved to be her edge in this fight. She matched Kali's ruthlessness and exceeded it with her own. She was unstoppable. Kali could break that wad apart and there'd still be enough to smack her with. She could snap at one pink whip and there'd be two; she could cut two bullets and there'd be four; she could slash at my friend's solid defenses and make them twice as strong as before. That curse of hers, those little pink blobs of goo, they had been so damned worthless in my eyes. After all, she had her ass kicked enough times to humiliate anyone. But here she was, wasting our foe, burying her in attacks too gruesome to describe otherwise. It was the happiest day of my life. I tried focusing on my arm. It felt like a surgeon had inserted a hot coal into my flesh, and was about to seal my amputated limb back on with a blowtorch. Lyn helped me stand as she watched the battle with vague eyes, bless her. I wanted to take her and love her right there; I wanted to best her, to beat her, and to have her beat me too. The smell of blood and sex was overwhelming. I cringed in pain, but I could handle it. I'm part-reptile, whether I like it or not. I get all the curses and all the blessings. When you cut the arm off a reptile, they don't hold much of a grudge. They hate you for a minute, and then they grow that limb right back and bite your legs off. I've grown limbs back before; I can take the pain. I cringe again. Kali was knocked down. Sweet little Beeg has a fire in her that no flood could ever put out. She's vile. I can hear the flesh break and the bones snap as she jumps on Kali's wasted body and pummels her. But Kali fights back, and I think she breaks one of my friend's ribs as she shoves her off. That weapon of hers snaps; Bubblegum Black must've devoured a whole bag of sugar just to get enough juice to power up that pink weapon of hers. It's amazing how much there is to it. I have to wonder if it'll ever end. They're at it again. They don't want to stop. It's a matter of honor and pride now, one woman fighting for her dignity and the other for a lost cause. My remaining hand grasps the sweaty, slimy palm of my enemy, my lover, and she squeezes back. I want her. She looks like she slept in a tomb. I see no end to the fighting. Bubblegum Black looks terrible. She's been messed up real bad—the price you pay for fighting any fight. Kali roughed her up good, but she's the worse for wear. I've gotten hit with that pink slab of goo before, and it sure isn't an experience I'd put on anybody except my real enemies. It looks like she got buried underneath solid concrete. Beeg's body is bruised and her face is almost red with blood, but I can tell that she's still hale, still strong, still gorgeous all over. If Steve doesn't take her and turn her into a woman when all this is over, I'm gonna clobber him. The fight goes on, but I think we all know who the winner is. I wish my arm'd grow back sooner. I don't want to stay like this longer than I have to. Kali's knocked back again, but she gets on her feet. The woman is terrible. You'd believe she was made out of mud from the look of her. Even Lyn can see there's no relation between the two; this is a monster, a spawn of the devil, something that shouldn't have lived in the first place. She looks like she wants to continue...and then, the shadow comes. It's not Amielle—I can see her clutching Alicia's hand firmly as they watch the battle—it's something else, something twisted, something much, much worse. The shadow takes a hold of Kali and pins her with powerful arms. They drive their mouth into her neck and start to chew, like a perverse rat. Everyone's on edge. My arm refuses to come out. We all know that shadow, but what the hell is she doing here? Kamaguchi, you slimeball bitch, what are you doing now? Our worst nightmares are eclipsed by something much more real and savage. The creature before us is neither woman nor organic, but something gruesome instead, dredged up from the intestines of hate. The sky becomes dark. Something terrible is happening, I can feel it in the air. Kali screams as if she's never known pain before this moment. I actually feel sorry for the monster. Even she shouldn't be in this situation. She's too good for it. I want to shut out the horror, but my eyes stay open, some evil magic keeping their lids wide. I wept for fear. Lyn, God bless her, shows character I am unworthy of being around and goes after Kali, thinking she can redeem the creature. Kali understands what her false sister is doing, and even though she's been betrayed, some measure of human kindness still exists in that woman, and she shoves Lyn away from her, saving her from Yohko's death-trap. The doctor absorbs Kali into her body, and we never see her again. I've never been scared so witless before in all my life, and I've seen things that would twist people's minds. Most of our number can't seem to draw away from the carnal show; Joyce seems like she can understand it, that little child of nightmares. My skin crawls like there's a family of roaches buried beneath it. Kamaguchi speaks, but it's not her voice. "What POWER!!! I've never felt anything like this in all my life! This was definitely the vessel of the gods, the fabled Merkavah, the one I've been looking for to store all my wisdom and strength in. Yes...yes... Combined with all the best traits of the two species, and now this body, I can achieve what I have set out to do ever since my brother's death! Take one last look at this face, you devils! It'll be the last time you ever see it! What shall replace her will be too beautiful and perfect to bear!" Nonsense, I know, but it compels us. Then something happens that none of us would've ever suspected: Yohko's body shifts, it changes, it mutates, like it's made out of putty. I can't move. The terror paralyzes me. Even the pain in my arm has died. I'm all out of fright-tears; I can barely cling to the woman I fought for. Doctor Kamaguchi becomes something else, something so vile that to call it a demon would be an insult to demons everywhere. A nightmare made real wouldn't be able to stand up before this thing, this horrible abomination. I feel like retching. It's everything we've ever feared and dreaded, made real and personal. It was you. It was me. It was man and woman, weak and strong, love and hate, darkness and light. It was everything. Everything. And I knew we had to kill it. Omni. It called itself Omni. The name had a ring to it. To be continued... Epilogue: Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" –Revelations 13:4
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